There and Back Again

You might have noticed another gap in entries.  It is because we were on the mainland. 

Salt Lake LDS Temple

 

We went to Salt Lake City Utah for our annual visit to the LDS General Conference and Chaplain's Seminar.  Each year Layden needs to attend - it is his annual endorser's conference.  Each Chaplain, in addition to being rated and accepted by the Army,  must be endorsed by their sponsoring religious organization.   We look forward to this all year.  It is a chance to meet with Chaplain's in our own faith group, get relevant and timely training on issues that we as Chaplain's and spouses deal with, and to be able to attend LDS General Conference in person. 

 

This conference center seats 21,200 people, who come from all over the world to attend.  We are glad to get good seats.  One of the best things is getting to hear the Mormon Tabernacle Choir live.

 

We got to eat at the Blue Lemon Cafe at City Creek with Doris and Tab.

 

 

Layden received a particular honor this year when he was asked to officiate at the wedding of Sarah Brown, daughter of my college roommate Susan.  It was a lovely ceremony, and since it was outdoors we were all glad that the weather was warm and clear

 

Next, a trip to 

 

   From these pictures it is very clear that we are NOT in Hawaii -            so much space.  So little traffic. So much speed.

 

We got to visit Theresa, Layden's mother.  She made us a marvelous Italian dinner - brigiole, one of Layden's favorites.

 

And we got to visit Layden's brother and his family, which is alwyas a treat.  They live in a charming older neighborhood with a wonderful yard and big trees.

Of course, big trees often mean big squirrels.  This one made a great feast of the pumpkins on the porch.



Zane and Heather always manage to come up with something interesting when we visit.  This time it was the Idaho Ice Cream Potato, which really did look like a potato and which also happened to be quite delicious.  What a fun treat!

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the way back to

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

we found this very odd and rather fun gas station and store.  It featured alpacas, and we loved the sign in the restroom that was a stand-in for the mirror.

 

We drove all the way to southern Utah, enjoying sights along the way. 

 

One of them was "Y" Mountain.  We saw this at night as we passed through Provo, all lit up for BYU Homecoming.  This big block letter, 380 feet high,  is on the hillside above BYU campus.  When Layden and I attended, the Y was made out of rocks and rubble.  Every fall, there would be a day designated as "Y Day" and students would participate in campus clean-up projects, and in whitewashing the Y.  The Y used to be lit with flame pots, but in 1985, due mostly to fire hazard, the pots were replaced with electric lights.

 



                                   

A better daylight picture.

 

After living on an island it was really amazing to see such vast amounts of open land. 

 

 



Yes - it really is a big boat behind a truck.  Hard to get the shot through the window, but there it was.  Odd to see a boat in the middle of high desert, but it is not uncommon.  There are quite a few lakes and reservoirs which are popular, not to mention Lake Powell recreation area.

 

 

We stopped in Richfield, where Layden's grandmother lived and where she is buried

 

and got the chance to catch up with Layden's Uncle Rusty.  He now lives in the family home, an old early 1900's brick farm house on a lovely piece of land at the edge of the city.

From Richfield we drove to Hurricane, where JenniLynne and her family live.

 

Dinner in St. George - us with Jenni, Travis and baby Diesel.

 

Grandpa gets acquainted with Diesel, our newest grandson, born in May.

 

We also got the chance to see Marin.  Ansd Joshua too, but he managed to evade any pictures.

 

We stayed with friends in St. George (next to Hurricane) with Layden's mentor and former professor, R. Wayne Pace, adn his wife Gae.  They avoided pictures too. but the landscape stood still.  It is such a dramatic landscape, full of colors

 

and strange shapes.  The evidence of water, now long gone, is still here.  It is such a contrast to the beach and the ocean, yet equally as arid and as compelling.

 

We saw some of this landscape on the way to Veyo, up the canyon from St. George. Veyo's claim to fame is that it is nestled amid conder cones and dormant (very) volcanoes.  Also, it has an awesome warm springs swimming pool.

 

And, a great pie shop

If you buy this ranch (a very nice piece of property) you get free pies for a year.  They are good pies - we were tempted.

 

 

We had a great trip - seems like we were gone a lot longer than 16 days. 

 

 

ALOHA