Salt Lake City, Utah

Dear Friends:

This week, I visited Salt Lake City, Utah.  I was only in town for a full day, but still made the most of it.  This was a personal trip, as I was attending a gathering of Scout leaders who will be working at the Boy Scout National Jamboree later this year.

As with every single trip to this state, I continue to marvel at the Wasatch Mountains.  The weather on this day was exceptional, and I took the time to appreciate the stunning mountains towering in front of me.

Another interesting thing about Utah, is that it seems to be a consistent testbed for consumer products.  I always manage to find different flavors of products there - most are on a limited trial basis.  Here are just a couple:

By the way, the Sugar Babies were NOT good.  I hate to see that happen ; )

For lunch, I decided to go to J Dawg's - a fantastic hot dog place, right near BYU campus.  The hot dogs and freshly-baked buns did not disappoint at all:

With a little time to spare, I took a walk across campus.  It was a beautiful day, and the grounds were just as gorgeous as always.  I remember attending school in the spring and loved how quiet the campus was, for the most part.

I drove to Salt Lake City for the meeting, but stopped at the house of a dear family that used to live in Austin.  They have three boys that I adore, and it was great to meet up with them again.  I'm so glad I had the chance to reconnect with them!

I stopped at Temple Square, at the very heart of Salt Lake City.  I admired the incredible flowers that can be found across the grounds. It seems that you can just never take a bad picture of the Salt Lake City Temple:

My meeting took place inside the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.  This was originally built as a stylish, grand hotel.  It still looks stunning inside, complete with a very peaceful feeling that permeates the rooms and hallways throughout the building.

Upstairs, we gathered for the meeting.  This was about the best picture I could get from my seat - I didn't want to stand during the presentation and snap a picture.  They served some lovely desserts, and we had a chance to get to know each other:

At the front of the troom, they had a couple of displays - memorabilia from past Boy Scout Jamorees.  This is where thousands of Boy Scouts gather in one place, and enjoy a ton of activities.  We'll be participating in a grand tradition of Scouting when over 50,000 Scouts and their leaders gather in West Virginia in July.

As I left the meeting that evening, I saw this plaque on display. I guess it really does summarize the way that I feel about volunteering as a Scout leader.  That would explain the entire trip to Utah, actually ; )

Thanks for reading!