Exploring Utah, Part 1 - Summer 2020 Episode 22.1
[Music] in this episode we are going to explore salt lake city utah's capital and home to the latter day saints church we're going to test the colorado's top speed or not at the bonneville salt flats we're going gonna take a dip in the great salt lake we're gonna drive the alpine loop with trailer in tow not recommended then the road will take us south and we'll drive on legendary state route 12 through red canyon kodachrome basin escalante capitol reef and eventually dead horse point and island in the sky in another action-packed episode coming up next [Music] wherever i want to be cause i'm free in my rv [Music] so i've been here in salt lake city now for a couple of days got a visit from long time viewer bill and he treated me to some crown burgers a local delicacy [Music] now it is saturday september 5th 2020 and italy just arrived last night so let's do some exploring this is the heart of downtown here the latter day saints imposing office skyscraper here to the right that's their office building the actual temple should be nearby seems like a pretty cool downtown we shall come back later and visit but first let's stop by the capitol building as we usually do in capital cities here we are very classic design with the central coppola and the two wings built between 1912 and 1916 symbol of industry and the motto of the citizens of utah no wonder there are so many bees at the campground beautiful views of the city from up here downtown and the mormon temple which is undergoing renovations by the way actually by the time you watch this it is probably done [Music] across the street the old city hall nowadays the office of tourism [Music] it is such a lovely city surrounded by mountains and here's the mormon battalion monument commemorating the 500 mormon volunteers who joined the us army during the mexican-american war [Music] [Music] here is a sculpture of indian chief massasoit he was the one who greeted the pilgrims at plymouth rock [Music] nice houses up on the hill beautiful grounds and beautiful building one of these days we'll return and go inside [Music] on to our next destination we're going to drive west almost to the nevada border to the bonneville salt flats should be very interesting is that the great salt lake i see it sure is oh check it out morton that's where they make the salt or extracted from the lake rather and there's cargill they make diamond crystal salt i think we're getting close to the salt flats i don't know why i get that feeling and we are approaching this roadside sculpture called the tree of utah built in 1986 by european sculptor carl mohman and in the past you were allowed to stop on the side of the road take a selfie and all that but now they have a sign clearly stating emergency stopping only so that's a buzzkill [Music] this seems to be the rest area where you can stop and access the flats so let's take a little break [Music] i guess lots of people come to take pictures and drive their vehicles in this unique place it kind of reminds me of the racetrack playa in death valley just because of its perfect flatness [Music] should i do it or should i not do it try to break that speed record you guys want to see how fast the colorado can go yes we didn't come here just to see we also came to do so let's drive on the salt flats shall [Music] we [Music] [Music] i think we've had enough fun for one day and i totally got disoriented and i think i got out at the wrong place but it is still i-80 so let's continue west there's another spot i want to check out called bonneville salt flats international speedway which is the official racetrack here and it has been the venue for many land speed records [Music] it is actually a lot smoother here no wonder since we are so close let's drive a couple of miles farther west into the town of wendover went over nevada of course they're gonna have a bunch of casinos right because nevada of course but what happens in wendover stays in wendover [Music] let's go back to salt lake city [Music] we took a pretty long nap after our trip to the salt flats and west went over and now we're gonna try and see some of downtown with the little light we have left [Music] here we are now let's look for parking and all this construction here around the temple square doesn't really help now does it [Music] you think they sanitize this every night let's check out city creek center which is this upscale shopping center and there's once again the temple which is kind of hard to appreciate behind all the cranes and the scaffolding it seems like a really cool city actually they've got this light rail system unfortunately we won't be able to explore it in depth this time around well city creek here is really more than an outdoor mall apparently it has office and residential space as well and fountains and the fake creek [Music] let's go for a stroll around the temple square it is very nice i like the juxtaposition of the classic with the modern [Music] also where else in the world would you find two young women taking selfies with jesus christ it is an imposing temple even under [Music] renovations [Music] here's the impressive office building belonging to the church of the latter day saints there's something about this place that exudes power and wealth it is very palpable as you walk around the streets of salt lake city at dusk [Music] so [Music] the beehive house here built in 1854 was brigham young's home he was the second president of the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints also known as the mormons he was the governor of the utah territory and the polygamist hence the large house there's also the lion house very historic [Music] [Music] no visit to salt lake city would be complete without visiting the great salt lake right well that's exactly what we're going to do we're going to antelope island state park just for the day 15 to get into the park for up to eight people seems a little steep but we're here i mean for five dollars more we would have been able to camp i think but um campgrounds are full so we're gonna see we're gonna see if we can see the lake see uh maybe do a trail or something like that and then by noon or maybe a little later we'll start heading south kind of a bummer that is so hazy you know it's like the smokes are back it's nature you know you can't control it it's supposed to be a pretty cool park they have a bunch of hiking trails a beach area campgrounds and bison [Music] they have some bison sculptures here to greet us let's hope we get to see the real ones [Music] let's take a break i'll did a quick launch here just a couple of sandwiches didn't show you guys and now let's see if i can make it to the beach and maybe we can float in the super salty waters of the great salt lake wouldn't that be cool i see some people down there yep definitely some people in the water [Music] this is the visitor center here and they have a white bison sculpture pretty cool [Music] we got buffalo way out there all right let's continue [Music] so here's the parking for the beach let's go on a little hike first and then we'll return and there's another one another buffalo [Music] all right how about my parking skills let's go for a little hike this is called the buffalo point and it's like 0.4 miles it should be should be easy so apparently this is it we are here and it's just a quick loop and i guess this is it this is the actual buffalo point it's 0.4 miles one way let me tell you this it's actually a little disappointing that it is so hazy because the views here coming up are truly spectacular that must be one of the campgrounds down there [Music] beautiful views to both sides actually [Music] [Music] almost at the top yeah what have you and let's come this way take a picture and start heading back and that's the other campground [Music] apparently that's a pretty nice view of the great salt lake there's minitini 2 all the way down [Music] there [Music] let's go to the beach [Music] okay all i've got is the handheld gopro because we're going all the way to the lake and i'm gonna see if i can float in the water it's supposed to be a thing let's do this now we are swimming in the great salt lake [Music] all right everybody we're floating in the great salt lake [Music] yes we did it now that we've checked that off the bucket list let's continue the rest of utah waits look at that even the grain elevator is owned by the [Music] church [Music] [Music] just a little smoky definitely smokier than i'd prefer let's go to the mountains and there's this scenic drive here that comes highly recommended it is called the alpine loop entering yuinta national forest let's take a break i'm gonna take a quick lunch here but check it out we have a view of this creek from our dining room yep that's the way to do it with the hammock and there's the minitini two [Music] so [Music] just one quick stop here along the way is fall coming or is it just me [Music] at summit 8060 feet above sea level and let me tell you this road not for the faint of heart and perhaps uh it's very narrow that's the one thing the alpine loop but it's an adventure [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] we're getting some incipient fall colors here on this side of the mountain let's go see a waterfall [Music] [Applause] [Music] this is bridal veil falls and you can see it from right here just off us-189 also known as bravo canyon road it is beautiful and look at all the people taking a shower provo canyon here absolutely gorgeous and so are the falls here's the legend of the false [Music] all right beautiful waterfalls here and um check it out it's beautiful beautiful work our day is nearly over in 600 feet turn left onto us 189 south thank you lady and uh we're gonna stay at take a wild guess koa koa at filbert i think philbert or film or philbert and it's not like i love koas or or i'm not you know they're not paying me or anything like that but they have a 21st century booking system and it's so easy just to to open your app what's the closest koa i don't have to close you know call 10 different campgrounds if they have a uh opening and uh that to me is it's turned left onto us 189 where the the small premium you pay to stay at a koa this is a koa journey it's right next to i-15 and it should be a just a quick overnight for 43 bucks and tomorrow tomorrow we explore the the the beautiful parts of southern utah i don't know if we're gonna do bryce canyon or zion but we're gonna be in the area and eventually make it to canyonlands national park if all goes well we'll see if i can ever make a left here at this busy highway we will it's not a bad view though [Music] provo here pretty good looking town let me tell you we should revisit someday [Music] check it out that looks like a raging wildfire no wonder it is so smoky [Music] well yeah that's a scary fire it's got that ominous volcano eruption look to it right look at the little plane dropping the flame retardant on the fire [Music] i had every intention of making a two-hour feature of our time in utah in 2020 and that movie is coming eventually but this is where we're gonna end this one as we zoom south on interstate 15. our destination today fillmore utah and from there we're gonna start heading east into the most strikingly beautiful vistas this state has to offer but more about that on the next episode until then thank you so much for watching and see you on the road well this is what we're gonna call it right here at the fillmore koa and we have this view of this mountains here quite nice actually [Music] i'm riding riding in my rv
2021-02-15 22:35
