We left bright and early at 6:30 with a lot of ground to cover in our first day. I had purchased an Italian made Wingamm 18’ long mini-RV to complete the balance of the Trip Across America that we suspended heading west from Milwaukee on August 31, 2012. We put completion on hold when Timi and I bought the first of three yachts and backtracked over the next dozen years by sea from Chicago to Miami, then Pacific Northwest then Southern California.
The RV is new to the US so I ordered it sight unseen last December and it finally arrived at the only west coast dealer in Salt Lake City, UT ready for travel this month. After picking up the RV our first activity was an audio tour of of the Mormon center of worship, Temple Square and the Utah State Capital. No better way to quick learn about a few sights than through a GPS based audio tour. In 1847, when Mormon pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley, church president Brigham Young selected a plot of the desert ground, initially referred to as Temple Block and proclaimed, "Here we will build a temple to our God." Temple Square remains the global spiritual headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and serves as a major 10-acre cultural and historical landmark. It is significant as the religious center for church members and a monument to early Mormon pioneer history and faith.
We accidentally left a drivers side door open when leaving the RV from the passenger side to begin our tour and even though it beeped like the doors were locked, it wasn’t. Fortunately when returned two hours later, everything was still there as we left it. Next was Mexican lunch in Salt Lake at the Red Iguana featured on Drive Ins, Diners and Drives to refuel and logging over 10,000 steps before 1:00 from our audio tour. We then set out on a 3 1/2 drive to our overnight in Rock Springs, WY. Matt drove the first half so I could organize the stuff I purchased for the RV and get the Starlink internet and TV set up and running. Nothing to write home about in Rock Springs other than a decent Holiday Inn connected to the Chicago Pizza and Pub where we enjoyed drinks and dinner before heading to bed for the evening.