WIDE OPEN SPACES

I’ve always liked The Chicks. I still call them the Dixie Chicks. There’s something magical about female harmonies. The Dixie Chicks had their beginnings as a traditional bluegrass group in the 80s, but the band struggled to get traction for a number of years with different lineups. When Natalie Maines replaced the lead singer, that’s when the band’s sound and music took off. The band took a lot of heat with comments about George Bush in 2003. Meh. A girl’s got to speak her mind. I like a lot of their songs, including Wide Open Spaces. Good listening. I give it five paws on the five paw scale.

Speaking of wide open spaces, we visited Utah. We made our first stop outside of St. George. The town is growing and it’s a beautiful area. It is also very close to Zion National Park. According to the Wiki machine, Zion NP is home to numerous plant species as well as 289 species of birds, 75 mammals (including 19 species of bat), and 32 reptiles, which inhabit the park's four life zones: desert, riparian, woodland, and coniferous forest. Zion includes mountains, canyons, buttes, mesas, monoliths, rivers, slot canyons, and natural arches. The lowest point in the park is 3,666 feet at Coalpits Wash and the highest peak is 8,726 feet at Horse Ranch Mountain. A prominent feature of the 229-square-mile park is Zion Canyon, which is 15 miles long and up to 2,640 feet deep. We traveled through the canyon and were amazed. The photos I’m including cannot do justice to the beauty and awesomeness of Mother Earth.

Speaking of Zion, we traveled to Salt Lake City and took in the sights. It’s a beautiful city with several historic districts. The state capitol is perched way up on one of the hills and there’s a great neighborhood surrounding the capitol complex. Downtown is down the hill from there. The Latter Day Saints church doesn’t let anyone enter the Temple unless s/he is a member of the church. However, we stopped in to see the Tabernacle. You know - the famous choir. I don’t know what I was expecting but that wasn’t it. The outside looks a little more like a spaceship than a house of worship. But the inside of the spaceship is like a regular church. While we there, we heard an organ recital. That was a treat. The acoustics are reputedly perfect in the space and the organist even did the famous pin drop to demonstrate the acoustics.

I’ve got to say that the Mormons lived up to their reputation for friendliness. Buster and I were surprised a couple of times (I jumped both times) by “Hi!! How are you?!I and “Welcome!!” We were walking around the grounds and I peeked in the door of the historic Meeting House. All of a sudden there was a couple behind us who basically pushed us in the door. “Go on in! It’s a short one! Just get a taste!” Anyway, Buster and I stepped in but made a pretty quick exit out the side door. They speak with a lot of exclamation points.

We also noticed that if a business served alcohol, it had to serve food. If a place only served alcohol, it had to post a big huge notice on the window which said, “THIS IS A BAR. NO FOOD SERVED.” I guess they don’t want someone to mistakenly order food in a bar. What a public service!

Buster and I decided to take in a ball game. The Salt Lake City Bees were at home in Smith Park taking on the Round Rock Express. It was very pleasant evening for a ball game, but the home team lost. Love the minor league! Wow! I’m starting to speak with exclamation points.

Finally, we went out and saw the Great Salt Lake - some people say it’s evaporating faster than it’s taking in water.

Your best friend,

Betty

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