We are back home after spending a whirlwind-ish four days in Utah. We skied and enjoyed the snow, but we also had a chance to check out Salt Lake City, and see the home of Mormonism up close and personal. I was raised a Catholic (okay, I wasn’t confirmed but it wasn’t my fault – I blame my family entirely for it and plan on arguing the point when I get to the pearly gates if they try and hold it against me) and if I am forced into a corner and must choose a religious affiliation, I choose Catholicism just cuz. I have always been fascinated and a little admiring of people who have that unquestioning faith in God and religion, who just believe. I recently read Under the Banner of Heaven (a fabulous book that at the simplest level is about a double murder, but examines the history of the Mormons and their culture), and found myself again pondering that faith thing. So when we were planning the trip to Utah, I was looking forward to spending a day in Salt Lake City. We went to Temple Square figuring that we’d get a fair dose of proselytizing. We were almost immediately accosted when entering Temple Square by two fresh-faced young women (and they were almost all young women there – an interesting fact probably designed to make people feel less threatened) who offered to give us a 30 minute tour. They were very sincere, and explained that they were missionaries, serving their time in SLC. Their almost surreal good cheer was somewhat unsettling, at least to me. They were very nice tour guides, though, and showed us all the sights (except the Temple – no non-Mormons go in the Temple, which led us to ponder how they KNOW you’re not). The Tabernacle was closed for rennovations, but we did get to see the new Conference Center which was quite grand and where an organist was practicing (nice acoustics!). Then we went to the Visitors Centers, where in one you can find a couple of computer terminals for geneaology searches, and in the other you get to see a nifty model of Jerusalem and a Jesus diorama (I really think they need an animatronic Jesus, but that’s just me). Anyway, at the end of the tour, we had the chance to get a Book of Mormon delivered to our house AT NO COST by some fresh-faced oozingly sincere young people, no doubt much like our tour guides! What a deal! We decided to pass up the opportunity. We would have liked to hang around and check stuff out on our own, but they really don’t leave you alone there, and we kept getting offered more tours. By the time we left, I was feeling a little tense and was itching to slap the next person who smiled at me beautifically. Anyhoo, we then headed up to the Park City area where we were staying. It’s very different from SLC up there – more cosmopolitan, sort of. First stop was the state-run liquor store to stock up on beer and wine (booze, it turns out, was not sold on Sundays or Mondays, and this was Saturday night). The oddity of other states’ (like Utah’s) liquor laws is a puzzle to me. Coming from California, I never realized that in some places it could be so hard to buy beer or wine or the harder stuff until my first trip to Pennsylvania, which also has silly liquor laws. While once upon a time there may have been a religious basis to the whole thing, now it just seems like a way for the state to corner liquor sales. Having stocked up on booze, we were ready to face the snow.

Pics are here.