The Great Salt Lake

Sunday, July, 18, 2010

Yesterday we started out late in the day. We extended our stay here yet another night and took our time getting out. It was hot and we wanted to go to the lake, but did not want all the heat of the day.

Around 6pm we headed out. The Great Salt Lake is about 40-45- miles North West of where we are staying. We drove to Antelope Island and accessed it from there. We saw almost 100 Bison just doing their own thing. It was awesome. We also saw Antelope, but they were skiddish and kept their distance. On the way back from one end of the island we ran into baby coyotes. They were the cutest things, and no where near the scary creature we encountered in Moab.

We first drove to the South end of the island and visited Garr Ranch. It is one of the oldest ranches in America. Parts of it has been modernized due to the fact that it was a working, lucrative ranch up until the 70's. Now it is part of the State Park and can be toured. They family that lived and worked this ranch must have been wealthy because it is huge and they have alot of different buildings, including a house for the hired help. There is an underground fruit cellar and another underground building used as the refrigerator in the winter.

After seeing the ranch we then heading West. There was a bit of a hike to the shoreline from where we parked the car. (It reminded me of how long the trek was on Cedar Beach to the water). We both changed into our suits and headed towards the water. The Great Salt Lake has 10x's the amount of salt as the sea. Tommy tried to swim but all he could do was float. I did not venture in that far. There are no fish except brine shrimp that live there. The birds, which are abundant, love the shrimp. There are several little islands in the lake and when the sun sets they start to roost. Its is the neatest sound. Very loud. The sunset was beautiful. As good as Key West, if not better.

Its still very warm here, today is expected to be 100 degrees so I will be running to Macy*s - I have to - while I'm in a big city! I'm having withdrawals. It will be fun to see what kind of style clothes they sell because the Mormon women do not wear shorts or pants. They wear only ankle length skirts. And whomever cornered the market on the footwear was a genius, and a millionaire. They all wear the same exact flat shoes with one strap over the arch. The only difference is in the color they choose.

After my shopping experience I am getting a mani/pedi, and then heading over to the Mormon Family Research Library for more lineage on my family tree. Tommy will hang around camp for the day. Tomorrow we leave for Yellowstone. (If we don't decide to stay - again.)

Thanks for reading and have a good Sunday!