I am just returning back to my life after an unexpected trip to Oregon. I received a phone call late on Christmas Day from my sister in Utah. I had already spoken with her for the day so I was on the alert that something might not be right. She told me that grandpa was sick in the hospital and would probably not live through the night.
I quickly did an Internet search for flights to the West Coast and found it would cost anywhere from $650 to $800 for one ticket. Right away I knew that would not be possible. Plus I was not really interested in spending time away from my family over their Christmas vacation. I did that once before.
Bruce had arranged for two weeks off from work and the kids had no school until January 6th. Wait, what was that? Bruce no work obligations....kids no school? Two weeks of unscheduled family time? Sounds like a road trip to me! So the day after Christmas we started our trek to Southern Oregon making multiple family and historical stops along the way.
Our first stop was in Indiana to visit Bruce's sisters, Sandy and Judy. We visited Friday and Saturday and left Sunday morning for Nebraska. Nebraska would be our half way point to Salt Lake City. Along the way we made a stop in Independence, MO. We had a quick tour of the visitors center and a brief history lesson about the how many people used to live in a one room house (up to 10 families). We saw a reproduction printing press used to make the first Book of Commandments and Doctrine and Covenants. We listened to the story of two young girls, Mary Elizabeth Rollins and her sister Caroline (just about Alyssa's age) who rescued the Book of Commandments from a mob and hid in a field of corn just blocks away from where we sat.
While driving through Nebraska and Wyoming we saw the frozen North Platte river that the Saints crossed on their way to the Great Salt Lake Valley. We felt the bitter cold and winds of the Prairie. We thought of those faithful early Latter-Day Saints whose journey took months instead of days. Who walked along side wagons and slept on frozen ground. We thought of Saints who would never make it to their Promised Land.
As we crossed into Utah and started our climb up the Wasatch mountains I thought of the struggle it would be to drive a team of oxen and a wagon up those steep inclines. I looked forward with anticipation of descending into the Salt Lake Valley through Parley's Canyon. To see Salt Lake City laid out before me in the way it did for my ancestors as they too looked upon their place of refuge. I shared stories with my children on how the canyon we traveled on came to be named after my 5th Great Grandfather, Parley P. Pratt.
Our first stop in Utah, after dinner, was Temple Square. The Christmas lights were still lit and I could not wait to show my children how fun it was to see over a million lights in one city block of space. Magical only begins to describe it. We meet my sister Sheri and her family there. How much fun for my kids to meet their cousins Alek and Annika. They all ran around like kids in a candy shop. The snow, the lights, the crowds, just being out of the car was a treat for them too!
We planed on staying in Utah for several days while we waited to hear updates on Grandpa. Oregon was only a days drive from where we were. Grandpa was home and Grandma had hospice nurses helping with his care. We spent our nights with Bruce's Aunt Janice and our days with my sister and her kids.
Our first family outing was again to Temple Square. It is teaming with history. Specifically my childrens history. I want my children to soak it in. This is their heritage. This is the city their ancestors built and I love it alone for that reason. We stopped into the North Visitors Center to see the 11' statue of the Christus. We have seen similar ones in Washington D.C. and Independence, Missouri but what is special about this one is the circular ramp that leads to the Christus. The rotunda the statue is housed in is large and nearly imposing but what I find fascinating about this is the whole circular surface and ceiling is painted as the galaxy. It's amazing. And Christ at the center of all this is so very symbolic. We took a moment to sit and contemplate this as a family.
We went to the Tabernacle to listen to the daily concert held at noon. There is nothing quite like hearing 11,000 organ pipes in a near acoustically perfect building. To sit in the building my children's ancestors helped to build. To hear the organ my father once played. To return once again to a place I came to for personal enrichment and solace. I loved every minute of being in the Tabernacle. I loved visiting Temple Square!
We toured the LDS Conference Center. We learned that it is the largest open auditorium in the world. It holds 21,000 seats and over a million square feet of space. The roof holds 4 different gardens which we could not see because of the snow. We did however see the original art work for some of the prints we are so familiar with. Specifically the prints that are included in the missionary version of the Book of Mormon. The kids were most fascinated by the waterfalls that ran along the front of the building and backed by glass so that you could see out onto them.
At the Church history museum the kids had a hands on exhibit of how printing presses work. They had a chance to print their names, but first they had to spell it backwards. They sat in a replica ship birth that early Saints sleep in on their journey to America. We saw personal artifacts from all the Presidents of the Church as well as the opportunity to stand behind the podium that once stood in the Tabernacle. There was a children's exhibit where Alyssa made rubbings of different CTR (choose the right) symbols in languages from around the world. Austin used blocks to play architect for a new temple and Andrew used color to create one of a kind stained glass art to be inserted in temple windows. All in all they had fun.
After lunch we toured the home of Brigham Young also known as the Beehive house. We saw where the government of Utah was formed and the desks used by the early clerks. We saw the early filing system that was located on the balcony up a narrow stair case that was hidden in a closet. We saw the living quarters of the Young children and Brigham's bedroom. We snacked on famous rolls at the Lion House cafe and we ordered Root beer and Sassafras.
Our last stop for the day was the Joseph Smith Building, formerly known as the Hotel Utah. We meet my sister and her family and took an elevator to the top of the building. We enjoyed the view from the top and had the unexpected surprise of seeing the lights on Temple Square turn on for the evening.
All said and done we were enjoying the first part of our unexpected family road trip to Oregon.
