Well, here we are in Nephi, Utah. It’s about right in the middle of the state. Today was especially incredible. We slept well and got started towards the Utah border. Up until today, everywhere we have stopped has been very (!) windy and cold. Most of this trip since we crossed over the Blue Mountains (they really are blue!) has been between 3 and almost 5 thousand feet above sea level. No wonder it’s been sooooo cold. The hiway to Salt Lake follows a wide valley right between the Wasatch Mountains on the East and some other beauties on the West. These mountains just keep going and going. It is so cool that they are right there! The slopes start right at the hiway and go to 3 to 4 thousand feet of snow capped peaks only a mile or 2 away! It’s incredible! We stopped at a rest stop right after we crossed into Utah that had some info about the area. When the glaciers melted this huge valley filled with water until it overflowed into the Snake River. When it melted back enough the lake started to evaporate and it formed the Salt Flats and what is left is the Great Salt Lake. At the highest point the lake was 20,000 square miles of surface water. Whoa!
We couldn’t pass by Salt Lake City without seeing the sights. It was snowing when we got there. We toured the Tabernacle, not the Temple; the public is not allowed in there. The Tabernacle is where the huge choir sings. The acoustics are phenomenal! They demonstrate that with a young lady speaking in a normal voice and you can gear her clearly any where inside. She even dropped a pin and it sounded like a nail dropped on a hardwood floor. The architecture is also amazing. They build most of those buildings by hand. The city near the Temple area is mostly those carved stone structures and it is something to behold.
After the tour, we went to the Hall of Records. Thea found out much information about her dad’s side. She already had a good idea about some of them and that sped up her search. She found a step sister of her dad’s that he probably never knew about. She found her great-great-grand father in the census records. He fought for the North in the Civil War. His name was Sealy Kaster and was born in Pennsylvania in 1812. I located ( and have copies of) the census from 1880 and 1900. I didn’t know much about my dad’s side and found his dad, Sherman R. Beaty (born in 1887), his dad who was William R. Beaty (1845) and his dad who was also a William Beaty. I’m not sure of his B.D. William R. had 4 brothers and sisters, Henry, Robert, Winchester and Sarah. Winchester and Sarah were twins. It’s really the tip of the ice berg and we didn’t even get started on my mom’s side. They have many records of even the Hungarian relatives. I think I’ll look further into all this. They gave us a couple tools to continue the search. It’s truly fascinating!
We wanted to push on so we joined the rush hour headed South. The speed limit is 75 mph and we were just keeping up at 85! We got passed a few times like we were parked! Holy C*#p! Tomorrow we are taking another scenic hiway that will go past Brice Canyon and we’ll cross the Grand Canyon at Page which is the dam that forms Lake Powell. I’m betting it will be another day full of wonderful sights! Stay tuned.