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Utah, the Scenery and the Inside Scoop
By miranda | March 20, 2008
So we are now in Salt Lake City, nearing the 49th parallel again. The past two days of driving showed us some of the most spectacular scenery imaginable. Two days ago we made the drive through Monument Valley near sunset. It was hard to figure out what not to photograph. The variety of colours and shapes of rock we saw blows the mind. Yesterday we were treated to more of the same as we went from Northern Arizona through Southern Utah, going from a Mars-like landscape right through to snow-capped mountain scenery. Just fantastic.
We arrived at our hotel in Ogden, just north of Salt Lake City, in time for a late dinner with cousin Darryn and his friend Celestia (oh, by the way, before we left Texas we did manage to fit in a visit with Jennifer, Judith and Josie). Celestia was raised in the Church of Latter Day Saints, and so she was able to give us some insight into Mormons in general and Utah state in particular. On our way through the state, Harry and I had noticed that many acreages around the countryside had two or more houses each, and we hypothesized that this was for multiple wives, something she confirmed for us. She also said the state is having some troubles with these kinds of families as the secondary wives often claim to be single mothers and receive welfare from the government. It’s also interesting how the state licences liquor. Restaurants are allowed to operate as normal, but a bar must be run as a private club, members only. ip So to go to any bar, you either have to pay for a membership (around 5 dollars) or get a member to sponsor you, something that they are mostly happy to do. Also, the liquor stores here are still state-run, with limited hours. But in the States beer and wine can be sold at grocery stores, though the state of Utah controls this by mandating that any alcohol sold in grocery stores can only be half-strength.
All in all, an interesting view of an interesting state.
Topics: honeymoon, polygamy, utah | 1 Comment »
March 22nd, 2008 at 7:29 am
I’m glad you got to see Darryn and Jennifer each, hope they’re well etc.