Celebrating Wayne's Birthday:The Arts and Outdoors

Wayne's birthday celebration weekend began on Thursday, May 15. We went to Abravenel Hall to see the Utah Symphony perform 3 of Bach's Brandenburg Concertos.

It was wonderful and we had great seats, 10 rows back on the right side of center. It reminded me of when Beth's orchestral small group performed the first movement of the 4th concerto in High School. Whenever I hear this piece I think of them.

We also heard the 2nd ( lots of high trumpet trills that were very impressive) and the 6th (the Masterpiece theater theme-lower, melodic, nice). My favorite was the third part of the 4th, when the solo violinist did some amazing sounds with his strings.

It was a short concert, just one hour, so afterwards we walked to Temple Square and enjoyed the sights and smells at night. The square was still full of blooming bulbs and the buildings and fountains were all lit so we could enjoy it at night.

Friday night we had tickets to the opera, Don Giovanni! I was excited to see it and Wayne knew he would enjoy the music played by the Utah Symphony if not all of the Operatic voices.




The staging and costumes were wonderful. We sat up high in the balcony so we could easily see the English translations posted above the stage without bobbing our heads up and down. In retrospect I wish I had gone with the front row tickets. In opera, the words are repeated so many times that you only have to glance up occasionally to understand the gist of the words, and there is nothing like being up close to really enjoy live theater.


My favorite performer was a soprano, Donna Anna who rejected Don Giovanni's advances and wanted revenge after he kills her father in a duel.
The story is about a Don Juan character who seduces women and then leaves them. There were only 8 characters, with only a minor character of the men, a tenor. The major men roles were baritone/bass. The women were sopranos or mezzo soprano. Because the music seemed lower to me, I found it more interesting. (I agree with Wayne and am not a fan of the high operatic soprano voice). I enjoyed the production but never felt anything for the title character who was a womanizer and especially preyed on the lower class. We will have to try going to the Mn Opera again when we return home. It is an artistic event. It was fun to mingle in the crowd during intermission. Most attendees were dressed up; with a few in evening gowns, top hats and tails!

Saturday May 17 was Wayne's actual birthday. He opened my gifts early after a big breakfast and a crossword, and then took off on his bicycle for a haircut downtown. Although I have accompanied him to his barber in the past, I stayed home this day to rest my back. One of the disadvantages of attending a performance at the Capitol Theater are the seats, which are set closer together than modern theaters, leaving no leg room. A few hours at the opera last night had rekindled my sore back so I stayed home to rest it. Wayne came home and we put together a picnic lunch which we took to the City Creek Park where we had had a picnic lunch in August of 2002.

I then drove him up to the mountain above the Avenues neighborhood so he could take his bike and try to get to the top without having to do all the city streets on the way. These hiking/biking trails are part of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail; a system of trails that traverse the sides of the mountains at about 5-6000 feet with spur trails following the crests of the lower peaks.

The trails run the length of the Salt Lake Valley, all along the Wasatch Mountains and give gorgeous views of the valley once you climb the 500-1000 foot entrance trails. It is one of our favorite things to do; Wayne by bike and me on foot!

Wayne started out at the Morris Reservoir Trailhead and then enjoyed climbing to the crests. He followed the shoreline trail until he met up with a few bikers who pointed out the entrance to the "bobsled", an exit trail with many turns, high banks, and even jumps over abandoned vehicles. Wayne had ridden half of it once before but was really pleased to try the whole trail, avoiding the jumps, and at a slower pace than some of the younger, crazier bikers.


Meanwhile after dropping Wayne off at the trail head, I drove home and left the car in the garage before walking to the library to return and get new books and music. On the way to the library I discovered a festival spread across the grounds of the City & County building and the street separating it from the library. I could see and hear live music, dancing and lots of food and drink booths. Naturally I hurried through my business at the library and then went back outside to enjoy the Living Traditions Festival. It looked so interesting that I reached Wayne on his cell phone and encouraged him to come there instead of going back to our place when he was ready to ride down the mountain.


The Festival was running for three days and had started Friday evening. It included 2 stages for live music and dance, a workshop tent to learn more about types of music, a kitchen tent that gave ethnic kitchen cooking demonstrations, an area just for kids to try all sorts of things, five craft tents with 4 demonstrators per tent as well as the blacksmith just outside the craft tent area, a craft market tent that sold the items being demonstrated in the craft tents and finally 20 different food booths sponsored by local clubs representing food from their native region. We could choose from Hawaiian, Basque, Tongan, Bolivian, Lebanese, Tibetan, Philippine, Tahitian, Pakistani, Laotian, Salvadoran, Thai, Swiss, Scottish, Vietnamese, Bosnian, American Indian, Italian, Chinese and Sudanese. Also the local brewery had a tent. Who knew there was such diversity in this predominantly Mormon valley!


Wayne met me at a corner entrance to the grounds and we wandered through the area, stopping to enjoy music or dance or to ask a question of a craft demonstrator. We decided to come back on Sunday to further enjoy the event and partake of the food, as we had already made plans for dinner and theater for Wayne's birthday evening. Wayne rode his bike home to shower and get ready and I visited the craft market tent before walking to the TRAX and my ride home.


Wayne wanted to eat dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, The Acme Burger Company. We were dressed nice casual, and enjoyed the few blocks walk to dinner. We requested outdoor seating and had a nice table for two where we could enjoy the fine weather and all the action of the street on a Saturday night. SLC's dining business was sponsoring a promotion called Dine Around the Town where each restaurant would have a three course meal menu choice that week for only $15 (or $25 at the high end restaurants). We decided to both try that and had incredible soup, (clam chowder for Wayne and squash bisque for me) lamb burgers, and ginger/guava/honey sorbet with cookies. It was plate-licking good! We were entertained by a valet service operating just across the street. The valets would take off at a run, weaving around traffic, heading we presumed to the lot where the cars had been parked. We never seemed to catch them coming back!


After dinner we walked a block to the Rose Wagner Theater Arts Complex where we had tickets at the Jeanne Wagner Theater for the 5th annual Slam by Plan B Theater. It was a 24 hour effort by writers, directors and actors to create a play in 23 hours and perform it in the 24th. There were 5 plays created, Jewel in the Crown, Burning Desire, Hootenanny, Oh My Goth, and Into the Black. Each writer was given a title and what the stage set would look like and then ran with it. Each play had 5 actors chosen by lot before the writing began. It was fun to see how creative the plays were, although we didn't understand them all. The audience was mostly 20-30s but we saw a few our age, and the troupe had gotten permission to serve kegs from the brewery across the street in honor of their fifth year ,so the audience was pretty happy even if sometimes clueless about a play.


All five plays took less than an hour and a half to perform (about 10 min each with a little time between), so after the Slam was done, Wayne and I walked a few more blocks back to the Festival to listen to the last performers of the night, an Irish band of three instrumentalists. The crowd had filled the chairs and were standing all over the lawn on the North side of the stage. Before Buille was done performing, a group of happy listeners started snaking their way to the front of the stage where they stayed and danced to the music. It was fun to watch. The band ended by 10:15 and we walked home, enjoying watching all the people out on the town. Beth, Emily, and Katie had all called during the day to sing for Wayne their Happy Birthday wishes. Ellen and Scott had sent him a package containing their favorite tea and an artsy rope handle to use with his beer bottles to keep the beer from getting warm, which he tried and enjoyed!


Sunday morning found us back at Mt. Tabor Lutheran church, sharing with our new friends our adventures at Arches and Canyonlands NPs. It is nice to be missed by our church community.


After lunch we headed out to the Kennecott Mine in Bingham Canyon, UT., the largest man-made excavation on earth. It is an open-pit copper mine, more than three quarters of a mile deep and two and three quarter miles wide, and can be seen by astronauts in space. There is a visitor center which gives a history of the mine, explains the mining process and has many displays on mining, and the use of metals in our everyday lives. There is also a short film that follows the copper from a low grade ore to 99.9% pure in their refinery. Outside the visitor's center, the overlook gives visitors a view point to watch the giant trucks deliver the ore to the in-pit crusher. Through the viewing scopes you can also see the shovels dig out the ore and drop it into trucks. The mine has produced more than 18 million tons of copper since it opened in 1906.


From the mine we hurried home to drop off the car and then walk back to the Festival where we were meeting our friend Carol and her colleague Christie, who were in town for a conference. We enjoyed a beer while we each chose a different ethnic group to provide us with supper. We visited at the picnic tables, finished our food, and then wandered through the craft areas and watched performers on the stages. Carol and Christie came back with us to our place via the TRAX and we showed them the Gateway and had some water before they had to return to the convention hall for an evening program at 8. Wayne and I enjoyed a competitive game of Carcasonne that the girls had brought out as a gift for Wayne when they visited. It was a great end to a wonderful weekend.

Canyonlands and Arches National Parks

Wayne and I enjoyed a weekend visit to Canyonlands, (Island In the Sky district) and to Arches National Parks the weekend of May 2-4, 2008. Wayne took a vacation day on Friday and we left SLC by 8:30 AM and arrived at Arches NP about 1PM. Unfortunately the campground was full and as I later discovered, most of the sites are reserved, and the open ones always fill by 9 AM.

We headed back up the highway to the first entrance to Canyonlands and about an hour later were able to set up in the last site in Willow Flat Campground, all unreserved but only 12 sites. Maybe the reason it was open is that there is no water available in the Island In the Sky part of Canyonlands. I don't mean no showers, I mean no water. There are two vault toilets in the campground with antiseptic gel dispensers. There are no pumps, no pipes, no water at all.

You can see water 1500 feet below in the Green and Colorado Rivers which carve the canyons and made the island plateau where we are now camped. Luckily we came with water jugs full for hiking and biking, but it never occurred to us that there would be no water for cooking or clean-up. This camping experience really gave us a taste of the difficulties of living in a high desert!

After setting up camp and eating lunch, including wiping our dishes clean with paper napkins, we set out to explore our island in the sky. We drove to the Grand View Point overlook to look down 1000 feet to the white rim (a step down on our plateau) and another 500 feet to the rivers.

From the lookout we followed a trail, the White Rim trail(2miles one way,elevation change 25 feet) to the very SW point of our plateau with gorgeous views of the Green River canyons. The trails on the "island" are interesting. Although some of the area is grazing land with wild grasses, most of the trails cross vast areas of rock, called slickrock, and the trails are denoted by cairns, man made piles of rock 1- 2 feet tall. So when following the trail, you approach a cairn and then search the rock for the next one, maybe 40 feet away.

On the Rim trail, the Cairns were made of neatly cut rocks so they were easy to distinguish from the natural land. Besides rock and some grasses, there was lots of prickly pear cactus growing out of breaks in the rock. This surprised me as the Island is at an elevation above 7000 ft. and I didn't realize that cacti could grow in that high elevation.




From the southern overlooks we drove to the northern part of our Island to an area called the upheaval dome. Scientists are uncertain what caused this unique landscape, originally thinking it was caused by salt pushing rock up from under layers although a new theory involves a meteorite. We parked and walked to both lookouts. The first was relatively easy, just under a mile with a climb of 100 ft and a clear gravel and rock lined trail the whole way. The second overlook continued on another almost 2 miles with a 150 foot climb.

Some of the time there was a gravel trail, but most of it crossed slick rock with cairns as guides. I had picked up a brochure about the site and there was a warning not to build your own cairns as it could be dangerous for other hikers. Wayne and I got off the real trail following false cairns and ended up on a rock spine with a great but somewhat dangerous view of the upheaval dome. We knew we were off as our trail ended in a drop-off and the real trail was to end at a fence. Looking around we saw the real trail several hundred feet below us and soon found where we had been lured off the trail and took the real one to the end. We ended up climbing several hundred feet more than the trail advertised but the false trail views were well worth it.

We drove back to our camp and were able to listen to the Twins on XM radio while preparing supper. The temperature was diving fast and we ate bundled up in our winter coats and devoured our beef stew and bread. After supper to warm up we hiked down our road to the Green River Overlook hoping to see the sunset. From our island most of the view is 1000 feet down to the White Rim. The Rivers are another 500 feet down and off in the distance.

Gazing at the White Rim we could make out a trail and even something moving on it. This turned out to be the White Rim road, a 100 mile loop traveling near the edge of the white rim. It was for 4-wheel drive vehicles, motorbikes, and hikers. There are 10 primitive campgrounds along this trail that you register for at the visitor center. It was fun to watch for any sign of life along this road. You could also see the remains of roads made by the trucks that hauled out uranium when it was mined here in the 1960s before becoming a NP. Rangers say the high desert land is so fragile that it will take many more years before the roads made by the trucks disappear in the wilderness. For that reason hikers are asked to stay on trails or on slickrock.

On our way out to the viewpoint, we passed a Ranger in the parking lot who was setting up his telescope for viewing after dark. The temperature was close to freezing with a breeze from the North when we rejoined him. A total of 7 brave souls took a quick class with him on the night sky and enjoyed great views of Saturn through the telescope as well as stars and constellations. The cold drove us back to our tent and our warm sleeping bags.

On Saturday after a hot breakfast which tasted wonderful in the still chilly morning air, we hopped on our bikes and rode to the visitor's center about 7 miles away. The road was mostly gently rolling with views of grasslands and only a few challenging hills.

We stopped to catch my breath at the Shafer Trail overlook. This is a 5 1/2 mile trail that drops 1000 feet to the White Rim by a series of switchbacks and is the entrance to the White Rim Road. We watched one 4-wheel drive vehicle inch its way along the single lane cliff hugging road and about 10 motorcycles zoom by him. The road is narrow and rough and you need high clearance or maneuverability to miss the many rocks. Most people take it only one way and exit on the Potash road that leads to Moab. It might have been fun to try with our bikes if we didn't have to come back up! We found out that the visitor center sold water in gallon jugs and planned to come back with the car for water and postcards.

On the way back to camp we stopped at the Mesa Arch turnout, locked up our bikes and hiked to the arch. By this time the weather had turned gorgeous and we enjoyed snacks and water near the arch before heading back to camp. Back at camp we sat in our folding chairs, drank some orange juice and read our books while we rested and enjoyed the rest of the morning.

After lunch we stopped again at the visitor center and got 2 jugs of water and the cards. From there we drove to the Murphy's Point trail head. This trail started out crossing grassland and we could even see the remains of corrals used by ranchers. Eventually we got to the slickrock and enjoyed following the cairn trail to the cliff edge and gorgeous views of the white rim and green river valley below.

It was a 7 mile trek round trip but with only 100 feet of elevation change. The afternoon sun got hot and we had stripped down to our bottom layers including zipping off pant legs before we were back at the car. It was only about 3 miles back to our camp and we enjoyed a beer and hard lemonade as we finished our books in the setting light. The evening was milder and we could keep our heavy coats open as we ate spaghetti and later walked to the lookout. The Ranger was setting up his star show again, but we only stayed for a bit and then took a starlit walk for a couple of miles til the spreading clouds covered our sky and convinced us it was time for bed.

Sunday morning we were up and breaking camp so we could visit Arches NP on our way home. The Park has a scenic drive that traverses the area from the southern entrance to almost the northern tip and from the west to the east. If you have seen a UT license plate in recent years you have probably seen the Delicate Arch, the most famous of the arches in the Park. It is on the Wolf Point turn-off, about 12 miles from the Park entrance. We enjoyed the scenery along the road but did not stop (after our stop at the visitor center for water, restrooms, and souvenirs) until we reached the Delicate Arch trail head at Wolf Point. We had hoped to get to the trail head parking area early enough to find a spot but were disappointed. The designated parking area was full as were all the overflow onto the nearby road.

We decided instead to drive to the overlook and take the trail to the upper viewpoint and then use our time to visit other, less popular trails. This was a great decision which I highly recommend to anyone contemplating a visit to Arches NP.

The trail to the viewpoint is only 1/2 mile vs. 3 miles to the arch itself. Although it is a steep climb over 400 feet, most climbers stop at the top of the regular trail where there is a nice view of the arch across the canyon. However if you enjoy climbing on slickrock, you can follow cairns up another 100 feet to the very edge of a cliff directly across from the arch. We only saw 2 people on the upper slickrock portion of the trail and were alone for 15 minutes while we rested, snacked and took pictures( a rarity in the popular Arches NP.)

We used the time and energy saved from not walking to Delicate Arch itself, to explore the Devil's Garden Trail. This area is right by the campground and a picnic area and is at the northern end of the park, another 8 miles from Delicate Arch. We stopped at the picnic area but just missed getting the last table in the shade. Arches NP is definitely desert country and in the summer is often over 100 degrees. In early May it was much cooler, 70s, but sitting for any length of time in that direct sun can wipe out your energy. Luckily the young couple who beat us to the shaded table offered to share it with us, and we had a nice visit over lunch.

Although we didn't get into the parking lot for Devil's Garden, we found a nice spot on the shoulder of the road not too far from the trail head. It is the longest of the trails in the park, 7.2 miles if you complete all the spur trails to the points of interest. It is listed as strenuous although it doesn't have an extended uphill climb, but does cross narrow ledges (fins) with lots of ups and downs over rocky surfaces and scrambling across slickrock. We ran out of time before we were able to do the primitive loop of the trail, but really enjoyed being on the slickrock.

The trail starts as a popular gravel road that has short spurs to see Tunnel and Pine Tree arch. The trail begins to change as you approach Landscape arch and can see Partition arch up above. Here most of the tourists turn around as the trail turns to sand, or crossing and climbing up sections of slickrock.

There used to be a trail to Landscape arch which was closed in 1996 when a huge under section of the arch fell making the remaining arch very fragile. A huge sign asked hikers to stay clear for their safety and we only saw a few cross the chain to get closer.

We passed the spurs to Partition and Navajo Arches and decided to go for the Double O arch, near the end of the trail. It was a great hike. We scrambled up slick rock and crossed 100 foot long fins with drop offs on both sides and a gusty wind blowing.

But the fin was about 8 feet wide and the rock wasn't slippery so we didn't feel unsafe and had gorgeous views of the surrounding area. We stopped on a rock ledge for a snack with a great view of the Double O arch below us, and also the dark angel rock formation.

The trail climbed down to the base of the arch, about 100 feet below us and we decided we didn't have the time or the energy to go to the end of the trail.

So instead we ate orange slices and fruit leathers, drank water, and thoroughly enjoyed an awe-inspiring view of the northernmost canyons in Arches NP from our perch on a rock ledge of the fin.

The hike back to the car went quickly, mostly downhill and not a lot of other hikers to wait for, and we were back to the car and heading home by a little after 4. Of course I had forgotten that we still had to take the scenic drive back out of the park, 15 miles at 30 miles an hour, so it was almost 5 by the time we were back on the highways heading home. We took the shortcut through the mountains, and stopped at a small brewpub/restaurant near Helper for a late supper. (Thanks Beth for looking up directions on-line for us when our AAA book just got us lost!)

We were back in SLC before 10 after trying to visit with Wayne's folks and having the mountain passes cut off our reception. We had the best reception at 10,000 feet when we were crossing a huge valley in between two great mountains. We brought our clothing and food up to the condo, but left most of the camping gear to be unpacked and put into storage the next day.

There is something so uplifting about walking through the natural wonders preserved in our National Parks. It is something I urge everyone to do in your lifetime. If you don't like to camp, all the NPs have small towns just outside with accommodations from tent camping to luxury resorts. Some of the larger Parks have lodges within the Park itself. Try it and I'm sure you will like it!

Salt lake City with Our Girls May 8-12

We had a wonderful, though short, weekend with our girls; Beth, Emily, and Katie. They arrived around midnight on Thursday, May 8th, and settling in quickly, were probably asleep before 2AM.





We were going to let them sleep in, but Em and Beth were still on work schedule time and the commotion got Katie up and going early too. Friday morning after a big breakfast we went out and explored the Gateway complex. There were crowds of people, even school-age kids, which surprised us. It turned out that we were in time to see David Archuleta from American Idol drive down Rio Grande Dr standing up and waving in the back of a limo with hundreds of screaming fans to cheer him on. He was in town to sing the National Anthem at the Jazz game, and had given a concert the night before at his high school (where he is only a junior in Murray, a southern suburb of SLC.) The girls didn't really know him but thought it was fun to be part of the experience.

From our mall, we walked through Temple Square (the headquarters of the Mormon church) and admired the still gorgeous blooming bulbs, buildings, and fountains. There were a few brides there getting pictures taken in front of the Temple which added to the fun.

(I had learned from a tour guide that couples come from all over the world to be married in the SLC Temple, and that these ceremonies are performed Tuesday through Saturday, one right after another. So it is almost unusual not to see a Bride in Temple Square. The grooms are harder to pick out!)





We walked back to our condo through downtown Salt Lake City, admiring the architecture, street art, and warm atmosphere of this metropolis. Once back at the Gateway, we picked up our car and drove through the neighborhoods surrounding the Capitol, eventually making our way to the trail head for Ensign Peak. We climbed Ensign Peak for a view of the city and then took biking/hiking trails on the hills behind and above Ensign, that really gave us great views of the whole valley to the south all the way to Provo and also looked down into City Creek Canyon to the East and the Wasatch Mountains beyond.

We ate mid-afternoon at the Red Iguana, claimed to have the best Mexican food in the city. We only had to wait about 10 minutes for a seat which was really unusual as it is a small restaurant and is crowded even at that time of day. The Mexican food was delicious and we were so glad we had finally made it inside to enjoy it's delicacies.

Then we headed to the SLC Bees Baseball game where we enjoyed a beautiful evening of outdoor baseball, another Bees win, hot dogs, peanuts, fries and Wasatch beers to wash it all down.

The girls loved watching the game and enjoying the views of snow-capped mountains over the outfield fence. We even stayed to watch kids run the bases after the game. At home we watched the animated "Bee Movie" to end our day with popcorn and drinks.

Saturday we started the day listening to noises coming from the Olympic Legacy Plaza, outside our windows, and going out to look from our plaza, saw tents set up with a stage and chairs and the street lined with boxes of oranges, bananas and water.

As we watched we saw runners arriving so we walked down to the upper walkway of the mall and heading towards the theater plaza, we saw trickles and then hundreds of runners and walkers cross the finish line in the Race For The Cure. We stood and cheered them on, especially the survivors, and it made a great start to our day.

We had wanted to ski at Snowbird but when I called, the beginner runs were all closed and they weren't recommending even intermediate skiers on the runs still open, so instead we drove to Provo and took a scenic drive along the Wasatch mountains with stops at the Sundance Resort, Heber City, Park City and the Olympic Park. Returning to SLC through Emigration Canyon just like the Mormons!

Our first stop was at Bridal Falls, the largest waterfall in the state

Next we stopped at Sundance Resort, famous for the Sundance Film festival in January. It is a small resort that hosts conferences all year, with a special emphasis on Nature and the Arts. There was a photographers conference at Sundance so some of the buildings were closed to the public, but we enjoyed climbing the steps past cabins and wandering the paths throughout the resort, listening to the rushing water in tumbling streams and enjoying views of the mountains.

Our stop in Heber City was just to pick up lunch at a Subway and some allergy medicine for Katie. The drive into the city included some great views along the reservoir with mountains behind.

We drove to Park City and ate our lunch at the city park at the north end of the old town. It was a beautiful sunny day, although a little chilly up in the mountains, and we played Frisbee to warm up after lunch. Then we drove up through old town and found a place to park on a side street. We walked over to Main street which was blocked off for the bottom 2 blocks in order to hold car races. The cars were like boyscout carved wooden cars only big enough for kids to ride in down the hill ending in a wall of hay bales. They also had adults riding down luge-like sleds on wheels. Just above the starting line a band was providing music for the event. It looked like a family band with the lead singer a girl just in high school. We walked up the street past the races, and music, and then on up past lots of charming stores and restaurants. At the top of the street and hill, we crossed over and walked down the other side, enjoying all the other visitors, locals and pets out enjoying the day. There was a commotion by the top of the racing area (we think someone must have gotten hurt) so we turned aside and bought some delicious desserts to share at an outdoor table in a nearby plaza. Newly fortified, we continued down hill to our car and on to the Olympic Park.

The day had gotten a way with us a little time-wise, so we didn't go into the museum at the Olympic Park, but enjoyed looking at the ski jumps and luge and bobsled runs. Just as we were getting ready to head for home we noticed someone was coming down the bobsled run. Beth and Emily ran across the empty parking lot to get a closer look and were rewarded with another bobsled run. They wanted to take a few other pictures so we drove the car to meet them on the ski jump side of the museum. Then we headed back to I-80 and Salt Lake City.

A friend had told us of the Emigration Canyon turn-off which took only about 20 minutes more than the freeway so we turned off and took winding canyon roads back into the city, coming out on the hills where Brigham Young and the earliest Mormon pioneers first saw the Salt Lake valley, near the present day University of Utah.

Streetlights cooperated and we were down the hill and into the Parc condo in plenty of time for showers and getting ready for a fun evening out on the town. We drove back up to the University and parked near the Pioneer Theater and walked a few blocks to our restaurant. We ate at a fun Greek Restaurant, Aristos, in their outdoor patio. It was a little chilly by the time we were finished but we were dressed warm enough and enjoyed eating outside. We then walked back to the Pioneer Theater on the U campus, where we saw "The Producers". We all enjoyed the show as well as the short walk around campus that we were able take before the show began.

(This is a picture I took of the Tabernacle back in February- notice the snow instead of flowers)

Sunday morning we got the girls up to go hear the taping of "Music and The Spoken Word" by the Mormon Tabernacle choir and orchestra. It was a beautiful special Mother's Day show. The girls had bought me a bouquet of flowers at a grocery store after the show Saturday night and had made me a corsage from the flowers which I wore all day. After the taping, we hustled through Temple Square, still enjoying all the flowers, and exited by the Lion House (Brigham Young's wives home) where we had parked our car. From there we drove to Mt Tabor for a regular worship service that turned out to be celebrating Pentecost, Confirmation, Mother's Day and saying good-bye to a member. It was a full service that took 1 and 1/2 hours.

We drove to Eccles stadium at the U of UT campus

(where the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2002 winter Olympics were held), and walked around the Olympic torch

and glass panel arch before heading back to the Gateway where we had lunch outside at Rumbi's Grill, enjoying the lovely warm weather and the bustle of visitors to the mall.

We hustled home, changed, and drove up to Ogden for an afternoon of bouldering, climbing rocks that had fallen off the mountain. We started on trails and then following Katie, tried to climb up the last 50 feet to the boulder field but kept running into Green Scrub Oak blocking our way. We finally found a trail that came to the bottom of a pile of boulders and then just started climbing up. I stayed with Beth, who is afraid of heights, and we proceeded at a more cautious pace. Katie was in the lead with Wayne trying to see who could get to the top the quickest and Emily was in-between. Beth and I eventually caught up with Emily and found a large boulder where the 3 of us could sit and enjoy the views of the valley about 700 feet below us. Kate and Wayne had made it to the sheer rock wall, "the cliffs of insanity", from which all of the rock we had been climbing on had fallen.

It took us all afternoon and everyone was sore, hungry and thirsty by the time we made it back down to our car (despite the snacks and water we had carried with us and enjoyed from our seat on the large boulder). The girls all napped on the 40 minute drive back home while Wayne and I listened to the Twins on XM radio.

We were able to watch the end of the Twins game on our computer when we got home and visited with Wayne's parents (as well as Ellie and Scott in the car on the way to bouldering). We walked to Squatters, our favorite brew pub, for dinner and came home to watch "An American President" while Katie studied for her last final that was coming up the following Tuesday. A nice quiet way to end a full Mother's Day!

Monday Katie slept in while the rest of us had tea, breakfast, and played games. Then some opened birthday gifts, and we shopped in the Gateway for last minute gifts and souvenirs for the girl's friends.

They got all packed up and we walked to Jason's deli and Ben's Cookies where we got picnic lunch to go. We drove to the Great Salt Lake Marina Park and had our lunch, played Frisbee

and climbed the boulders of the sea wall as well as skipped rocks and waded in the lake. Then it was time to take them to the airport and say goodbye. It was a busy and wonderful weekend. We only wished that there had been more time to do all the other things we had wanted to share with them, and we wished that Ellen and Scott could have been here, too. But now we have a great excuse to return to UT again with the whole family!

A Three B Weekend :Bees, Ballet and Bouldering

The weekend of April 25-27, we did a little of everything. Friday night started with our first tickets to a Salt Lake City Bees game. As I wrote a whole blog on just the Bees, I won't say more about that here. We warmed up at home and watched 3:10 to Yuma before heading to bed.


On Saturday night we went to our second Ballet in SLC. This one was entitled 9 Sinatra Songs, and was actually 4 separate ballets with intermissions. All 4 pieces were dance set to music previously written but which inspired the choreographer to create the dance.


The first was Serenade set to Tchaikovsky's Serenade to Strings. It was a traditional style ballet which showcased the women of the cast and had solos for 2 men. The costumes were the traditional longer ballet skirts for the women and tights and shirts for the men. It was fun to watch the change in expertise of the dancers, with group dances by the youngest members and solos by the principles.


The second was a pas de deux, Hamlet and Ophelia, featuring my favorite of the men as Hamlet, and another of the principles as Ophelia. It was initially performed in 1985 set to Martinu's first symphony. Their dancing was wonderful, with costuming and staging that reflected the Shakespeare play. Wayne thought it was a little crazy and I reminded him that they were going mad in the scene.


The third piece, Continuo, set to Torelli's Trumpet Concertos was first performed in 1981 and was written to show off the athleticism of the men. It was all the men of the company, and it was easy to pick out the principles and the rising stars. The costumes were flamboyant coppery color and added to the festivity.


The last piece was 9 Sinatra Songs and was the only piece that didn't use the Utah Symphony. Instead they danced to recordings of Frank singing his songs. It was choreographed by Twyla Tharpe and first performed in 1982. It featured 7 couples dancing ballet's version of ballroom dance in Oscar de la Renta dresses and tuxes. In the first 3 songs, just one couple danced at a time, and then they all came out and danced to My Way in their own style. Then 4 more songs with a different couple for each and another version of My Way that first had the 4 couples dancing and finally all 7. Each couple had their own character including 2 comical couples and one battling couple. It was amazing to watch and enjoy. The Ballet evening lasted about 2 hours and 15 minutes so by the time we walked home we were ready for bed.


On Sunday we drove up to Ogden to investigate the boulder fields on the east edge of town. There is a section of the mountain, maybe a mile long, where the rock face cracked off the mountain and fell to the hillside below. This left a climbing training ground that brings climbers from all over to practice. Some of the rocks are as tall as 20 feet and others are the size of your fist. They lay all jumbled together where they fell on the side of the hill about 100 feet above the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. We saw climbers carrying mattresses on their backs on the trail, heading up to practice on rock face and over hangs. Once climbers become accomplished on the boulders, they graduate to climbing up the rock face from which the boulders broke off. It is a place where climbers do bouldering, climbing without the use of ropes or other paraphernalia.


We struggled up the desert hillside until we found a trail that brought us to the bottom edge of the boulders. We climbed on a few moving up the mountain maybe 40 feet before deciding that it would be a fun place to bring the girls. Sitting on one of the larger boulders, we spotted the Shoreline Trail below us and climbed down and then hiked along it for a few miles to waterfall canyon and then back to the boulder field and our car. We were tired and thirsty after walking/climbing on the western face of the mountain, always in the sun, and were ready for cool drinks, dinner and a movie, Atonement, by the time we got back to SLC. A great way to end a great weekend!

Salt Lake Bees AAA baseball in SLC

Since arriving in SLC we have been to many artistic/cultural events but only a few sporting events, the Jazz basketball game against our Timberwolves (a disastrous loss by the Wolves of 30 points) and 2 SLC Bees baseball games. The baseball games were our favorite by far.

The first game we saw was the weekend after Zion/Bryce on a Friday night. It was a beautiful night if a little chilly. The giveaway that night was a SLC Bees fleece blanket. We saw a few but didn't get there early enough to receive one. By the time the game was over we wished we did have one, as the temps were in the low 40s.

The Bees won their game 8-0 and were off to a great start with a record of 19 wins and only 1 loss. They are the AAA team for the LA Angels of Anaheim who have a lot of good prospects here in SLC.Some of the things that make baseball in SLC special:

1) gorgeous views of the Wasatch Mountain Range over the center field fence

2) general admission seats are on a grassy knoll beyond the outfield fence-you bring the blanket

3) a train that runs back and forth beyond the outfield fence giving rides to the littlest fans

4) entertainment between innings-most to win souvenirs

5) kids running the bases after the games

...and best of all-seats close to the field in an intimate outdoor stadium

The second game we saw was the Friday night the girls (Beth, Emily, and Katie) were here in SLC (5/9/08). We had milder weather which added to the fun of outdoor baseball. Once again the Bees won their game (4-2) which always makes the games fun.

We were all attired in our MN Twins hats and shirts. Some fans sitting behind us shared that their best AAA team was back in the mid-90s when they were the Twins minor league team. That team stayed together for a few years and then almost the whole team graduated to the big leagues. That team's records remain the best in AAA.

It was really fun to see a baseball game again with the girls who enjoyed every moment. We didn't have kettlecorn like at the dome, but we did enjoy hot dogs, fries, peanuts and Wasatch beers! It was a great way to end their first full day in SLC. If only Ellen and Scott could have joined us!

Zion and Bryce National Parks

On Thursday April 16 we loaded our vehicles and took off South on I-15 for Zion National Park. it is about a five hour drive so we stopped for a picnic lunch at a wayside rest and didn't arrive in Zion until almost 3 PM. We waited in line to enter the Park, and when it was our turn to talk to the Ranger she thought there were only 10 camping sites left and wished us luck in getting one. It turned out that we did get the last electrical site in the Watchman Campground. (For some reason they wouldn't let us stay in the tenting area, no electricity, even when Jon told them he didn't need to have electricity for their camper). But we could only stay there Thursday night, as the sites were all reserved for the weekend.

We set up our camp which means we put up our tent, blew up our mattress, laid out our sleeping bags and moved our suitcase into the tent. Jon and Linda took only minutes to settle their camper so they put their tablecloth on the table to add to the occupied look of our site.

When we were ready we walked to the Visitor Center and caught one of the Park shuttles which drive up the canyon and drop visitors off at various sights along the way. (The shuttles run from March 21-Nov 2, and on weekends in Nov. When they are running no private vehicles are allowed in the canyon). We rode to the end of the line and took the Riverside Walk which was pretty flat along the bank of the Virgin river. It climbed 57 feet in 2 miles. We were not able to hike into the narrows as the river was high, filling the gorge, and there was a danger of flash flooding. On the way back down the canyon we got off the shuttle to hike to the lower Emerald pools,1.2 miles 69 feet ascent. Both trails had many hikers enjoying the beautiful day. By the time we got back to the shuttle, we could feel the day cooling down and were glad to get back to our campsite before dark. We were cleaning up supper as the sun set and enjoyed a small campfire before L&J retired. It was almost a full moon, so Wayne and I took a hike along the river a bit before bed. It was a cool night and we were glad we had our new sleeping bags to keep us warm.

The next morning, Jon and Linda broke camp and hurried to the South campground, which was first-come first-served sites, where they picked a nice place for us. We took down our camp, packed-up, and moved down the road to South and were set-up again by 10 AM. We decided on a morning hike just outside our campground up Watchman. It was a beautiful climb, 2.7 miles long and 368 feet ascent. There were warnings that it could get hot in the afternoon, and we did get a little warm, but the flowers were blooming all along the trail and we had great views of the Park entrance and campgrounds.

By the time we got back we were hungry for lunch and enjoyed a picnic at our campsite. Then we were ready to take on the most challenging hike of our weekend, Angel's Landing. It is a 5 mile hike climbing 1,488 feet and is expected to take 4 hours (Wayne and I did it in 4hrs,10 min with a long rest at the top). We had been walking the trails in about half the time listed so we thought we could do Angel's Landing in at least 3 hours. The first 2 miles were like most other trails except that we climbed constantly. Then we hit Walter's Wiggles which is a steep ascent of 21 switchbacks that end on Scout's point. We stopped there for a snack break (We stopped for water all the way up) and enjoyed the gorgeous view of the canyon. The last half mile of the Trail follows a steep narrow ridge connecting Angels Landing to Scout's Point with the end climbing up rock walls with a chain to guide and help you stay on narrow trail. The worst part was trying to pass hikers going in the other direction. J&L started out with us but after a particularly treacherous section of narrow slanted trail with sand and gravel adding to the danger, they decided they had had enough and eventually decided to meet us back at camp. It took Wayne and I an hour to do that last 1/2 mile and back with steep dropoffs down to the canyon floor, but the views from Angel's Landing and the adrenaline rush from successfully reaching the end of the trail made it well worth the shaky knees and thumping heart. I thought we would get down in about half the time as usual on these uphill climbs, but my legs were so sore from the last 1/2 mile of climbing both up and down, that when we reached the regular trail I found it hurt as much to brake going down as it had to push going up and so our descent was as slow as if we were still climbing. We had a nice visit with a UT man who visits the Park annually but couldn't talk his wife into doing Angel's Landing again. He shared with us other sites around the state which we should try to visit and kept us going, distracting me from how much I hurt. When we got back to the road I didn't know if I could climb the steps into the shuttle, but I surprised myself and got in and out without trouble.







Jon and Linda were waiting back at the camp. They had gotten back an hour ahead of us. We had a nice hot supper finished in the dark and then Wayne and I hiked the Pa'rus trail along the river in the moonlight before heading to bed and a little warmer night, but still grateful for warm sleeping bags.

Saturday we had a hearty hot breakfast, and then drove 85 miles to Bryce National Park. The topography of this part of UT is like a staircase from Bryce to Zion to the Grand Canyon. The rock formations at the top of Zion are the bottom layers in Bryce, and the bottom layers of Zion are the same as the top of the Grand Canyon. Bryce and Zion are basically sandstone cliffs, what used to be giant several thousand feet sanddunes which cemented together over eons as the prehistoric lake covered this area, and then were carved by wind and water into the canyons we admire today.

Bryce seems to have the softest stone so it is carved into fantastic shapes called hoodoos that look like castle spires of white and pink and red Unlike Zion, the park entrance is on the top of the canyons above 10,000 feet so it was much cooler here. We started by walking the Queen's Garden/Navajo combination loop that was almost 3 miles and descended 580 feet. It was good to begin by going down, as I was able to start slow and gradually work the kinks out and get back to normal before climbing back out of the canyon. The colors of the sandstone carved walls as we descended and the gorgeous blue sky above were postcard perfect and enjoyed by all.

We had a picnic lunch by the general store and in the afternoon hiked the rim trail from Inspiration Point to Bryce Point, about 3 miles with many small ups and downs but probably less than 100 feet. The challenging part of this trail was the wind which tried to blow us off the narrow ridge near Bryce Point, and the snow which covered parts of the trail and made some slow going. The views all along the rim were breathtaking. We enjoyed visiting with fellow hikers going in the other direction, with accents from all over the world.

After our rim trail hike we got in the car and drove to the South end of the Park where we got out and took short hikes to Rainbow and Yovimpa Points. We saw mule deer and pronghorns on our drive as well as many predator birds, maybe golden eagles. We drove back to Zion as the sunset, stopping just outside to buy firewood from a house with a guarddog who reminded Wayne to leave money for the wood he was taking! It was a beautiful night for a fire and we enjoyed it before during and after dinner as the camp grew dark. L&J went to bed and Wayne and I once again took a beautiful full-moon walk along the Virgin river. When we got back to camp Jon was worried that we had not put the fire completely out and had gone to bed. He was relieved that we were back and could stir the coals and add water to make sure the fire was out before heading to bed.



Sunday morning was our last time to enjoy the park. We got up,ate, and took down camp and moved our vehicles to the Visitor Center parking lot before it filled at 10 AM. We climbed into the shuttle bus for one last drive and hike up Zion canyon. This time we took the Kayenta Trail, a mile long and climb of 150feet from the Grotto to the Emerald pools. It was a beautiful fairly level walk (once we climbed up the 150 feet) with many wild flowers and prickly-pear cacti alng the trail. Then we decided to climb up to the highest of the emerald pools. It was only .3 mile from the middle trail, but climbed another 200 feet and we were hot and dusty when we suddenly found ourselves going down to a beautiful little pool of water, getting sprayed by mist from the waterfalls feading our pool from the canyon rim, and feelin suddenly chilled as the temperature dropped 20 degrees. It felt wonderful to sit and enjoy this little piece of paradise hidden from the rest of the hot dusty canyon. We hiked back down to the middle emerald pool,(not nearly as nice) and took that trail a mile further down the canyon and descended the 150 feet back to the canyon floor.

We all got on the shuttlebus and Wayne and I got off at the museum. Jon and Linda left us there and they headed back to their van to continue on their journey through the Southwestern states. Wayne and I went through the museum, watched the short film and bought postcards before heading back to our car and leaving Zion by the SW entrance.

We only traveled on I-15 a short time before getting off and entering Zion at the NE Kolab Canyon entrance. We wound up through the canyon and ate a picnic lunch at the picnic grounds, then got back on the road to Salt Lake City and home

Salt lake City with Linda and Jon

I had a wonderful time showing Linda and Jon around Salt Lake City. We had them as our guests for three days, and then we traveled with them to National Parks in Southern Utah.

Our first day was spent exploring our neighborhood, the Gateway complex, the TRAX system, and the downtown area. We had a gorgeous day with temperatures reaching 80 so our outer layers were shed, and despite lotion, we got a little sunburn in our trek around town. We ended our day with a climb up Ensign Peak to see the valley at sunset. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate and a cold North wind almost blew us off the mountain top. This wind was blowing dirt everywhere so our views were hazy at best. It was impressive to see the grid of streets as lights came on and the sun set, but the cold hurried us down off the mountain.

The next day we spent exploring Temple Square, taking the main tour as well as one of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building (the old Hotel Utah), and enjoying all of the gorgeous flowers and water displays that decorate the square. We enjoyed the acoustic demonstrations of the Tabernacle and got to hear the organist warm-up for the noon concert. We enjoyed our young tour guides who enthusiastically shared their knowledge of this special place with interesting tid-bits of the history of their church as well as insights into their faith.

The Church of the Latter Day Saints has made a huge impact on the state of Utah, and visiting their church headquarters at Temple Square is a glimpse into the history of this religion as well as the birth and growth of the state of Utah itself. The Mormon people who work there are welcoming and eager to share their beautiful square and their faith with guests from around the world. We had a perfect day to enjoy the outdoor gardens (one of my favorite places in SLC) and the views of the city from the 10th floor of the old hotel.

We ended our day with dinner at Crown Burgers, a Greek fast food-like restaurant, and a stroll through the neighborhoods of Capitol Hill. Wayne joined us late and he ate while we enjoyed a few games of Farkle and and then we watched a movie to end our day.

The last day we visited two new places to me; the Hogle Zoo, and This Is the Place, Heritage Park. The cold winds had continued and brought freezing temperatures and a little freezing rain/snow as we toured. We visited the zoo first and got in free with our reciprocal memberships to the MN Zoo. The cold weather kept most of the animals indoors, where we could see them but in much more confined spaces than their outdoor habitats. We did see the elephants outside which surprised us. They were fun to watch.

I also enjoyed the wild turkeys who were all puffed up and strutting around the place. A middle school group was there with us and it made me want to scold some of the kids who came to the zoo without jackets, and some even in sandals! The tropics building held a large group who were just trying to warm up but succeeded in blocking many of the walkways.

The history park was just across the street, so we headed there for lunch and to walk around. Although the park opened April 1, they wouldn't have actors on site until the 15 of May so we couldn't go into most of the buildings. There was a school group there so they had a few places open and we were invited in to see one of the homes that was getting a new paint job in preparation for the new season. We had fun hiking around and reading the plaques outside of the buildings. Most of the buildings were original, and moved to this sight from pioneer Mormon villages all over Utah. A few were replicas of buildings still standing at the original building site.
Together they told a story of the earliest Mormon pioneers who came to the Great Salt Lake valley and built thriving communities out of the desert. It was interesting to walk around the 50+ buildings, peeking in windows and imagining what pioneer life had been like for them. We were disappointed that we didn't get to go in more and listen to the actors tell about their life.

We enjoyed the little play village they made for children and took some pictures for Brynn and Charlotte of these special kid houses.

We ended the day with a hike up city creek canyon and by the Capitol building, and then back to our condo where we met up with Wayne.

We ended the day with a take-out Mexican meal from Rancheritos. We had hoped to eat at The Red Iguana (supposed to have the best Mexican food in SLC) but the line was long outside the building both before and after grocery shopping for our camping trip, so we ate at home instead and made plans for our camping adventure to the National Parks which will be the subject of my next post!