There were at least 8 weddings in process in the Temple's yard.The mormons believe that a wedding in the Temple means a union for eternity. So, they are busy there.
This time I was fortunate to visit the historical Beehive house, the residence of Brigham Young, the founder of the city and the prophet of the church of LDS. That was a highlight! The tour lasted 20 minutes. Two absolutely charming young girls - they call themselves sisters - took us around the house that boast every luxury a Victorian home had to offer. The formal dining room and a music room, beautiful personal quaeters of Brigham Young and his wife, a nursery, a parlour, a library, a kithen, etc. Some of the wooden furniture was handcrafted by Young himself, who was a trained carpenter. An interesting detail: there is a smallish bell near the front door above the entrance to the sitting room. Brigham Young used it to call his family together twice a day - for conversation, discussion of plans and prayer. To the point that he would drag officials and merchants to his home in time for the evening meets...
We left firendly Mormon capital at 11. By 4 we were up on the hill at Crescent junction at the same spot where we stopped four years ago with Larissa.... I took a nostalgic picture with the willows, they are still there...
We could not resisit a temptation to glance at the Arches - and so we drove through through the park for an hour. Then - to Moab, I needed gas. The main drag changed quite a bit. Mexican restaurant now is a sports bar. Ice cream palour where they served hand-made icecream is replaced by an Italian restaurant, only the chequered tables reminded us our favorite spot. We still had ice-cream in a small coffee shop on the other side of the Main street.
By the time we entered Colorado it was already evenong. I rushed as much as I dared to make it at least to Cortez before the sunset. We were lucky: we made it all the way to the gates of the Mesa Verde park before the nightfall. GPS gave up on us at that point. It does not know about the Far View Lodge. There were no friendly rangers at the gates, and no signs. We stopped at a camping site and inquired at the store there. A kind soul, a waitress explained to me which turn to take, told me not to worry, not to hurry and gave me a hug. We still had 11 miles to go. I was actually glad to drive in the dark, as I could not see the precipices openingon both sides. Adrenalin did wonders to mt parents: mom's cheeks were positevely glowing. By 9:30(!) we finally made it in complete darkness.
A super-helpful young man at the desk - he happened to be a Bulgarian, Georgi, told us encouragingly that some guests arrive as late as 11...
Well, I am certainly glad I am on a bed in a cabin. I took two pills of Valerian root and fully intend to not dream about serpentine roads and endless orange road work markers.
No comments:
Post a Comment