Salt Lake City, Utah

May, 2009

Our Salt Lake City stop served several purposes: we wanted to see more than just the airport, and we could fly to Texas from this air hub.

Salt Lake City is beautiful with much to see and do. We took the free shuttle from the huge west side SLC KOA campground to the LDS Headquarters in downtown. They have many buildings covering an area of at least six city blocks. Russell did way better than I did searching ancestors. Our tour of the public buildings and beautifully gardened grounds was informative. There are several restaurants within the headquarters. We went to a roof-top garden at the Joseph Smith Building, once the Utah Hotel. The food was delicious, with gracious service and the gilt building was amazing. The day was so glorious that the roof was open allowing sun and fresh air.

We took an interesting day trip to Ogden to see the old Union Depot, once the center of railroading to the west. Currently it houses a restaurant, train museum, Browning Arms exhibit and antique car museum, all for the price of $5. The genius of John Browning is no secret to true collectors, but I was surprised. This man completely revolutionized weapons of all types and sizes. His designs and inventions continue in today’s guns. He and the Browning Co. designed guns for Winchester, Colt and many other large manufacturers. Rare autos from the Browning family are in the first floor museum. There were cars here we had never even heard of before and all are in beautiful condition. Most of the cars are still drivable and participate in local parades. We always knew that east met west at Promontory Point, Utah and Ogden was the hub of activity in creating that link. We did not know that in 1904 a shorter route was built that crossed The Great Salt Lake. They had a depot in the middle of the lake on a man-made island in the form of a wooden landing that was wide enough for a row of buildings. People lived out there!

Another day trip took us to Park City, a popular ski resort town. Unfortunately, ski season had ended but summer season hadn’t begun yet. Most events and many shops and restaurants were closed for vacation. We did enjoy the walk through down and certainly got some exercise getting back uphill to our car.

Another day we drove to the Kennecott Copper Mine, now owned by Rio Tinto. This rich copper mine began as nearly 10 different mining towns with workers heading underground to capture the many ores found here. In the early 1900’s strip mining began and is projected to continue for at least another 20 years. This has become the deepest man-mad hole on earth, 1 mile deep, and has produced more copper than most other mines put together. It also produces gold, silver, and other commercially useable ores. It is so weird to drive into the area and see these “Hot-Wheel” looking toy trucks way down in the pit, only to find that they are really massive dump trucks over 23 feet tall! The museum and video were equally amazing.

NEXT TIME: The State Capital, The Mormon Tabernacle Choir practice