Sightseeing on the Wasatch Front

Last week our friends, Narcisso and Ruth Casteneda, from Mexico City came to SL for a visit.  They arrived on Friday and they loved being here on Conference weekend!  They got to attend two different sessions.  On Sunday after the last session they came out to Grantsville to have dinner and meet some of the family.  Narcisso is the director of LDS family services in all of Mexico and is based out of Mexico City. Ruth is also a psycologist but works for a different firm.  Rick and  Narcisso met in Monterrey, Mexico all those years ago when they served their missions together.  Narcisso was Rick's trainer.  We joined up a few years ago when we took Gary and Kendra  on a trip to MC.  We got to meet Ruth at that time (The kids and I had met Narcisso previously on one of his earlier trips to the US) as well as one of their sons, Ricardo.  When we were in Mexico they were so good to us in showing us the sites of the city so we wanted to return the favor when BOTH of them could make the trip to SL together. Well,  I had the opportunity of doing just that on Monday and Tuesday of this past week.  Despite the language barrier (Ruth speaks very limited English and I speak NO Spanish) we had a great time.  I confess I did have the help of google translate when I desperately needed it.  We just enjoyed being together without a lot of jibber jabber:) Monday was a TERRIBLE day for sightseeing because it was cold and rainy.  I knew that I wanted to show her all of the temples in the SL valley so we started out in Bountiful.  It was nice because it was snowing on the benches and she was enthralled by it.  This was a first for her! As we were coming down the hill in Bountiful I could see her wiping her eyes with a tissue and she just simply said,  "I never think I see this."  That was sweet to me.  Do we realized how blessed we are to live in a land of liberty let alone in the Zion dreamed of by our pioneer ancestors.  We are truly blessed!  After seeing the temple we went back downtown to visit the State Capitol. 

 A truly impressive building.  

 

 

Next we had lunch at the Lion House (soup in a breadbowl)

It helped to warm us up!  Ruth was not used to the weather at all!

It is very hot in Mex City.

 

 

Next was the Beehive house.  Thank goodness for Spanish speaking missionaries!

 

 

For the rest of the afternoon we visted the other temples in the valley.

The Draper, Jordan River, and Oquirrh Mountain

 

 

The next day Rick took the afternoon off and went touring with us.  We first had lunch at Kneaders (always a favorite) and then walked over to the Capital Theatre.  The girl at the ticket office told us how to get in through the side door and we walked all through the building.  It is an incredibly beautiful building.  We were the only ones there and I felt at any time someone was going to come in and kick us out.  But they didn't and I just really enjoyed being in this place.  I have only been there two other times.  Once for "The Nutcracker" and once for "The Phantom of the Opera" many years ago.  I forgot how breathtaking this building is:)

 

 

Next we drove over to the Utah Pioneer Building.  Wow!  There are some pretty neat artifacts in there.  Some of my favorite things were: a hundred year old indian head dress in mint condition, a couple of human hair wreaths,  six rattles from rattlesnakes caught by Hilda Erickson (yes, of Grantsville fame....she actually had her own case of her belongings because she was the last living pioneer in UT), antique pianos, portraits, and a myriad of amazing collections.  We only had time for the first floor.  I can only imagine all the other stuff that's in that building!

 

 

Ruth wanted to go to Provo (because it is such a symbol of the church...you know BYU and all) so we drove around the campus, to the MTC and to the Temple.

 

 

We took the scenic route home and stopped at Bridal Veil Falls in Provo Canyon and then drove through Midway and down Parley's Canyon back into the city.

 

 

We had a wonderful time showing the sites to Ruth

and hope we helped to making some lasting memories:)