My parents and I headed down to Salt Lake City in order to check out the Mormon Temple this morning. I have to say, I was more impressed with the Air Force Academy chapel than I was with the Temple. Of course, I didn’t feel like I’d been to church, preached at by tour guides and I didn’t have to fend off a conversion attempt at the Chapel.

That said, the interior decoration job of several of the buildings was quite impressive, especially the pipe organs that I saw. I was pretty surprised to find out that visitors weren’t allowed in the actual temple though, apparently one has to be Mormon in order to enter. The gardens were also pretty nice, lots of flowers, lots of trees, a couple fountains. I doubt I’d ever want to go again, but hey, I can say I’ve seen it now.

Tomorrow morning, we hop in the car and head to Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Monument Valley and hopefully, the Grand Canyon.

Travel Distance: 65 miles

Not a whole lot going on today, got caught up on picture editing for the most part. Speaking of which:

Shoshone Falls:

The family at Shoshone Falls:

Scott at Craters of the Moon:

Sarah walking through a tunnel at Craters of the Moon:

Craters of the Moon:

This morning, we tumbled (well, we were supposed to tumble, we were late getting off so it was actually more dignified than that) into my parents’ car and hit the road for Idaho. A few hours later, we pulled into Shoshone Falls in Twin Falls, ID. We were a bit worried that the flow wasn’t going to be much to look at (the falls dry to a trickle in the summer) but the sign at the gate still said the flow was medium, and it was really impressive.

We wandered around for a bit, looking for some decent shots in the noon-day sun (the one advantage of daylight savings time is that at noon, the sun is actually in the 11 o’clock position). Then we hit the road again for another few hours, to get to Craters of the Moon National Monument. The name is… apt, to say the least. It really is like an entirely different world. Volcanic rock is everywhere, and yet plants still take hold. We did some exploring, even headed into a lava tube for a hike. I’ll get some pictures up soon.

All in all, a great day. Lots of fun, but a ton of time in the car.

Travel Distance: 522 miles

Well, I can’t say that today was too exciting for anyone who will be reading this. It was a pretty laid back day. I got a call from Scott at 7:30am to run him some papers that he’d forgotten before heading into the office and then I worked on pictures from Rocky Mountain Natl. Park. Went to his Colonel’s house and fixed his laptop so that it would work on his home internet, then spent some time at the Officer’s Club on base.

My parents got here tonight and it looks like we’ll be heading to Shoshone Falls and Craters of the Moon National Monument early in the morning.

Not a terribly busy day, which again, was rather nice. Got some photos processed, a blog entry or two done and the rest of my laundry. Took Roxy (Scott and Sarah’s dog) out to the dog park and did some shopping at the Commissary.

We ended the evening with a trip to Rooster’s in Layton, a local microbrewery. Pints were a little over $4 each, which is a bit of a difference compared to the KBC’s $2.50. I also encountered a silly Utah law, apparently if you’re sitting at a place that serves alcohol, you have to have food in front of you if you are not at the bar. (Oh, and only two servings in front of you at a time.) Quite the difference from Michigan. (What does this tell you about Utah’s culture?)