Day Seventeen - Why did the Antelope cross the road?

We woke up this morning and drove into downtown Salt Lake City. One thing that Salt Lake is well known for is the Mormon temple, so we headed towards Temple Square to have a look around. We realized that it was a Sunday morning, but were still surprise to see just how bear the streets were, all the shops were black and there was hardly anyone moving along the sidewalks.

Finding a parking place, we followed the looming temple steeples until we arrived at Temple Square. Even though Sunday morning is obviously church time, the gardens are still open to the public. We were both amazed to see all that was around there. Temple Square boast a variety of shops and restaurants, two visitor’s centers, various other buildings, statues, a reflection pool, gardens and fountains, AND the temple itself. Tours are not given of the inside of the temple, but we were able to walk around and snap some photos of the grounds.

Heading out of Utah, we began our long days journey through Wyoming. I wish there was something to say about the state, but there really isn’t. We saw a few chemical plants and mines along the roadside, but other than that we passed the time playing travel games, and looking for anything along the roadside that would spark our interest. To answer the question which titles today's post: Q. Why did the antelope cross the road? A. Because there's nothing else to do in Wyoming.

Finally we crossed the boarder into Colorado. It was amazing to see how quickly the landscape changed. Wyoming’s roadsides were very rocky, and reminiscent of some places we’d been further south, like New Mexico; Colorado’s landscape soon turned plush and green with a sweeping blue sky and fields that went on forever. The air changed too. We could see lightening and storm clouds off in the distance, and the air smelled of rain and felt must moister than it had in the desert states.

We were glad to be in Colorado, until we reached the toll road. Previously, our highest toll had been $4 to get out of California (money well spent), but Colorado gave us a new surprise. We got on the toll road, paid a reasonable $2 price, and took off down the highway. About 8 miles later we met another booth asking for another $2. We told the lady at the counter that we had already paid, and she told us that there was a series of booths all along the road, about 8 miles apart from each other, and that we would be paying one more before our exit. Three tolls, at two dollars a piece? We re-routed.

Tonight we’re staying just outside of Denver, and tomorrow we’re going to scale Pike’s Peak outside Colorado Springs….well, when I say scale, I mean we’re going to drive the dirt road up to the summit.