NTOurs - National Parks Tour - October 12, 2012

October 12, 2012



Another early morning - raining - buffet breakfast at the Switchback Grille next door to the hotel. Departing Springdale, Utah, we had a two-hour drive to Bryce Canyon. Bryce is distinctive due to geological structures called hoodoos, formed by frost weathering and stream erosion of the river and lake bed sedimentary rocks. At our first overlook - clouds and fog had settled in  - we couldn't see anything. We continued to other overlooks and discovered some spectacular views of the red, orange, and white colors of the rocks as well as a hint of snow. The formations reminded me of the times I made sand castles on the beach. I would get a handful of sand - get it wet - and slowly let the sand drip forming a "hoodoo" on the castle wall.

After lunch at Ruby's Inn Restaurant, we settled in the motor coach for our ride to Salt Lake City. It began to snow and sleet shortly after we left Bryce Canyon. It wasn't long before the air cleared and we all settled back for the drive ahead - some read, others took a nap.

Before arriving into Salt Lake City - just outside of Page, Utah - we pulled off at an exit. An ambulance had been called to take Madeline, a member of our tour group that had fallen at the Grand Canyon, to the hospital. (We found out later that Madeline had to be airlifted from Page to Salt Lake City and she underwent surgery for 4 hours.)

Arriving at the Salt Lake Plaza Hotel in Salt Lake City (at Temple Square) - we were welcomed with lemonade and cookies. After a few moments a group took off for a tour of Temple Square. Gathering at the Visitor's Center, we met our tour guides - one from Canada and one from Hawaii. They first took us upstairs to the rotunda. There we saw an 11-foot statue of Jesus, a replica of the statue originally crafted in 1821 by the Danish Sculptor, Bertel Thorvaldsen. Here, the replica statue stands with a background mural of the universe, symbolic of the role of Jesus Christ had with the creation. A writing under the mural states that 'it is by him, through him and of him that the worlds were and are created'. Most replicas depict Christ with two outstretched hands inviting all people to come to him.

Our next stop was the Tabernacle - built to house meetings for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS church), and was the location of the semi-annual LDS General Conference for 132 years. The Tabernacle is the home of the world-renowned Mormon Tabernacle Choir. The Tabernacle was built between 1864 and 1867 on the west centerline axis of the Salt Lake Temple. The roof was constructed in an Ithiel Town lattice-truss arch system that is held together by dowels and wedges. The building has a sandstone foundation and the dome is supported by forty-four sandstone piers. The overall seating capacity of the building is 7000, which includes the choir area and gallery (balcony).

The organ in the Tabernacle has the organ case positioned at the west end above the choir seats, and is the focal point of the Tabernacle's interior. The original organ was made by Joseph H. Ridges in 1867 and contained 700 pipes. The organ has been rebuilt several times with the total pipe count being 11,623, making the Tabernacle organ one of the largest pipe organs in the world. The current organ is the masterwork of G. Donald Harrison of the Aeolian-Skinner organ company, and was completed in 1948.

After visiting the Tabernacle, we were taken to see a model of the inside of the Temple. The Salt Lake Temple took 40 years to build with its highly ornate interior being completed in just a year. The Salt Lake Temple features beautiful hand-painted murals on the walls of its progressive-style ordinance rooms: Creation Room, Garden Room, World Room, Terrestrial Room (no murals), and Celestial Room (no murals). The Salt Lake Temple is one of only seven temples where patrons progress through four ordinance rooms before passing into the Celestial Room. Rich symbolism adorns the exterior of the Salt Lake Temple, depicting mankind's journey from mortality into the eternal realms. Perhaps Elder J. Golden Kimball expressed it best when he stated, "When I think about that building, every stone in it is a sermon to me." The golden Angel Moroni placed on the capstone of the temple symbolized the angel mentioned in Revelation 14:6 that will come to welcome in the Second Coming of Christ.

Following our tour of Temple Square - several stopped for dinner. Lisa and I went back to the room to try to make contact with out kids. We looked at a list of restaurants and found The Garden Restaurant in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, with a view overlooking Temple Square. The food was wonderful! It wasn't until we had been seated that we realized that we would not be having wine with our meal. (Mormons don't drink alcoholic beverages.) For our appetizer we had Shrimp and Chorizo Bruschetta (with fontina, boursin cream cheese, roasted tomatoes and arugula). For our entree, Lisa had the Garden Lasagna (artichoke hearts, caramelized onions, spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms, ricotta and mozzarella cheese, in roasted garlic alfredo sauce). Phill had the Baked Hawaiian Sea Bass served with layered ratatouille and mediterranean puttanesca sauce. We finished the meal with the chocolate cake and strawberry gelato. When we ordered dessert we also remembered that Mormons don't drink caffeinated drinks - no coffee with our dessert!
 (Doesn't chocolate have caffeine in it?)


When Lisa and I left the restaurant it was raining. We were soaked when we got to the room.