The following is a piece of my catalog of travels from the great state of Virginia to the great state of California, up the coast to Washington (also great), and then back east, back home. Nothing in this account has been embellished and/or fabricated. It all really and truly happened. For real. Seriously. I would not lie to you.

Tuesday, June 13, 2006
UTAH

Salt Lake City
How is it that a lake can be made of salt? I probably should have asked someone while we were there. Argh. I'll have to research that when I get back. For now, it remains a mystery.* And I kind of like it like that.

Dan's in the Air Force. Have I mentioned that already? When he was in EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) school, he met this dude named Andrew. When we got to Salt Like City, Andrew took us out to dinner and then showed us the sights. Well, one sight anyway: the Mecca of Mormon Faith, the Church of Latter Day Saints, the Salt Lake Temple.

(I'm not going to get into religion here, if you're looking for God, you'll have to go elsewhere. I'm just cataloging what I saw. Disclaimer over.)

The grounds upon which the temple sits encompass about five city blocks. The temple lives up to its name. It is a palace fit for a king, or, more appropriately for a God. It is about twice the size of New York City's St. Patrick's Cathedral.

An angel made of solid gold stands atop the palace, poised and ready to blow her golden bugle when Jesus Christ returns. According to the Mormon faith, He will, and He will walk right through the gates of the temple. And the horn will alert all of Salt Lake City of his return. Make of it what you will. Believe what you will. To each his own.

All religion aside, the temple itself is very beautiful. It's image reflects in a pool of water outside the palace gate. Lit up at night, it is very peaceful. I enjoyed the aesthetics of it all immensely.

*According to Wikipedia: "The Great Salt Lake is endorheic (has no outlet besides evaporation), and therefore has very high salinity, far saltier than the ocean. The three major feeder rivers deposit around 1.1 million tons of minerals in the lake each year, and the balance of evaporated water is mineral-free, concentrating the lake further. Because of its unusually high salt concentration, most people can easily float in the lake due to natural buoyancy as a result of the higher density of the water, particularly in the saltier north arm (Gunnison Bay) of the lake."

Reno
What happens in Reno stays in Reno. Oh wait, that's Vegas. Um. Reno was cool.

Next stop ... Cali-for-ni-a!!!