August 28, 2008 - Another Canyon and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir

Note: Photos for this day have not yet been posted.

I didn't get much sleep the night before. I was quite tired when I woke up today. But, I started to realize the trip is getting to me a bit. It's been great and I've had a lot of fun. But, it had started to become a situation of seeing too much at once.

My plan for today was to see the canyons around the Timpanogos Cave National Park. This was south of Salt Lake City just off I-15. From there I would see Provo.

Canyons in the Uinta National Forest
The Uinta National Forest surrounds the Timpanogos National Park cave. In fact, the National Park is just a small area. I was able to use my national parks pass to get into the national forest without paying an entrance fee. The ranger told me to just leave my pass on the dashboard whenever I parked my car. This became a problem a few days later because I didn't bother putting it back in my wallet.

The national forest was nice. There were a lot of nice rock formations. However, I will say that other areas had better displays. The foliage was becoming too much like the foliage seen in the Northeast. Being out west, I've grown accustomed to seeing much different types of plants.

Timpanogos Cave
I finally got to the national park portion. There were group tours of the cave. Several tours ran each day and you needed to purchase a ticket in advance. From what I saw via postcards, the formations in the cave were amazing. They were much nicer than what I saw near Whitehall, MT.

When I went to purchase a ticket, I was told it was a 1 1/2 mile walk up a steep mountain with an 1100 foot grade. I was just too exhausted due to lack of sleep the night before. I asked the ranger if there were groups of people going up at once. She told me people go up by themselves. Between the wildlife, the potential for an accident with nobody around to help, being so tired, etc. I decided to skip it. It would be 1.5 miles up, possibly a mile through the cave, and then a 1.5 mile trek down the mountain (not so bad going downhill). With all of that, I could justify skipping it. I thought about possibly coming back the next day after more sleep.

More Scenery
I drove further along to examine more of the canyons. I got some nice photos. But, I just wanted to get on to the next thing. Finally, I got myself to turn around and head towards Provo.

Provo, UT
I had been told by the Mormon volunteer that Provo is a college town. Brigham Young University is the biggest thing in that city. Everything was geared towards B.U. In the mountains that border the town, there is a big "Y." Even the streets have "Y"'s on them.

This was a very congested area with lots of impatient people. The downtown area was nice. But the surrounding area was not fun. I remember seeing a 1950s malt shop (literally there since 1956). I decided to go there for a quick dinner. I was in the left turning lane waiting to get across. Someone got behind me and kept leaning on his horn, despite the fact that there was a solid line of cars between myself and the parking lot. When he leaned on the horn again, it was like he wanted me to plow through a tractor trailer! A Pontiac G6 vs. a tractor trailer... Hmm... Which one would win? I just waited until everything cleared up and allowed him to amuse himself blowing the horn.

After having a quick dinner, I started back to Salt Lake City. I planned to hear the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. But, I wanted to rest a bit in the hotel first. It was rush hour traffic so the trip back north took a little while. Finally, I got back to the hotel and had a rest for an hour.

Temple Square
When I got to Temple Square, I immediately went to the Mormon Tabernacle. There were some people explaining the Mormon faith to visitors. They demonstrated a song. It was absolutely beautiful. But, they were humble and said it was due to the acoustics.

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir
I found out that the choir was practicing across the street in the convention center that night. The LDS Convention Center is beautiful. It seems to be fairly new but is very tasteful. There are interior and exterior fountains. There is a huge auditorium where the choir was practicing. A number of the songs were the same as what I hear in Catholic churches. But, the singing was beautiful. I stayed for a short time. But, I was so exhausted that I just wanted to get back to the hotel.

Once I got outside, I noticed the temple was lighted up at night. It was beautiful and allowed me to practice night photos. The exterior fountains were also lighted up.

Drive to Walmart
I needed to pick up more water and lens cleaning solution. I found a Walmart via the GPS. The route took me through a not so nice part of the city. There were tattoo shops and other not so pleasant things there. It was of course congested.

"Multi-level" Walmart
Finally, I got to Walmart. Because this was on a hill, the parking lot was above the store. There was a device to send a full cart up to the parking lot level. That was something I've not seen before.

Notes on Street Names
I should also note that Utah has a strange street naming system. While some streets have a traditional name (Redwood St., for example), others have things like "3800 West." There is no street, avenue, boulevard, etc. that follows. I saw this in both Salt Lake City and Provo.