This is the Place

Finally some adventure for this bear!  It may have been to a place I've been before, but in a completely different season and context, so I'm ok with that.  *happy bear dance*

Today Robin and Clare took me up to Salt Lake City to "This is the Place Heritage Park".  I vaguely remember checking out this park on our first trip to Utah in 2010.  It was December, and they were only open in the evenings for their Christmas activities.  I thought it was cool then, so I was excited to see what it looked like in both daylight, and summer!

Slight history detour for my new readers (if you know the history of Utah, you can skip this paragraph completely.  I doubt even I can make it interesting).  Basically, the early settlers of this great state were the Mormons, who had been persecuted so much that they kept leaving their towns and relocating further and further west, until they finally settled in the Salt Lake Valley.  As they came over the mountains and saw the valley, the then president of the church declared "this is the place".  And now a monument stands in that place, and a pioneer village has been built around it, allowing guests to see what it was like to live in that age.


Ok, boring out of the way...

We started our exploration in a small cabin where we learned all about milking cows by playing with a little wooden bear on a string.  Uh huh, you figure it out :).  We tried out washing boards, watched square dancing in the street, and checked out the paintings of some early Mormon guy who got famous enough to paint inside the temples.  It was just getting good when we had to do stupid human stuff, like stop for lunch.  *sigh*

After lunch we hopped on the train to the Treasure House, where we got to pan for gold and prospect for gems.  I think this was my favourite part of the day (and not just because it was the only time they actually remembered to take pictures of me!)

We then checked out the giant teepee and watched a neat presentation on the Shoshoni people and then made beaded necklaces.  Nobody took a picture of my beautiful necklace.  I guess the lack of photos could be an indication that we were all having too much fun to think about stopping for photos.  It could also be a complete disregard for my needs and MY blog.  Sheesh.

Once we finished in that area, we got back on the train for a tour around the grounds, and then stopped for an ice cream (and to empty the water out of a backpack thanks to a leaky water bottle - I know you all just wanted to know that).  We explored an original printing press (and now have a copy of the first edition of some paper I don't care about).  Robin tried out leather stamping at table filled with Cub Scouts (no room even for me). 

Then something magical happened.  The place emptied out of all the kid groups.  All day it had been filled with groups of matching t-shirt kids from summer camps, scout groups, day cares and who knows what else.  Then, as if by magic, the place became a ghost town, except for the few other families wandering around.  Sadly, we didn't get to enjoy this quiet for very long, as Clare (ever the spoil-sport) said we needed to get on the road to beat rush hour.  She's no fun at all.  I think I'm going to fire her and hire Robin instead.  I like her better anyways :)

Whatever!