02.-08.10.2006: Park City - Salt Lake City - Utah Olympic Park On Monday it was raining and then we also had hail. We washed our hair in the motorhome and then waited for a break in the rain. It was 2-40pm when we finally set off and drove further along scenic highway 92. There were really dark clouds above us but the yellow leaves brightened everything up. It is really quite beautiful here, no wonder there was a traffic jam yesterday! We stopped off to do some shopping and then went to a library to use the internet. Then we drove through the rain to Park City. By the time we got there, it was raining so heavily that we could hardly see. So we parked up on an Albertsons (supermarket) car park for the night. On Tuesday we hunted around for a new solar shower because ours has ripped but we couldn't find a replacement. After another visit to the library and the internet, we drove the short distance to Utah Olympic Park. The 2002 Winter Olympics were held in Salt Lake City and part of them took place at Utah Olympic Park - ski jump, bob sled, luge, skeleton amd free style skiing. We went to the visitor centre and found out that all the rides are now only open at weekends so we will have to come back. But at least we managed to get discount vouchers and information. Then we drove down into Salt Lake City and the first thing we did was to hunt for "London Market" a British shop where Helen spent $30 buying various food items and chocolate from England! We managed to find some free street parking near the city centre and walked to Temple Square, the main square in the city. Although we know about the Mormons, neither of us know what they actually believe in or why. So we took a free tour. One of the guides was from Hamburg! Apparently, all members have to do service for the church. The women have to do 18 months and the men 2 years and they can apply to do this service in any place in the world where the Mormons have churches. We found out that Joseph Smith founded the church in 1829 after praying to God to find out which church to attend. In a vision, God told him not to go to any of them because they didn't have God's authority to exist. So Smith should start his own church - the church of the latter day saints (AKA Mormons). They believe in the Bible and all its teachings but they also have their own Bible which includes new books from Scrolls that were given to Smith by God which Smith had to give back. So no one else saw them. Needless to say, when Smith went around telling all the other religious faiths that "his" church was the only one with God's authority, some people got very upset and Smith was murdered. The church then moved from Palmyra, in New York State, to Utah where Brigham Young, the second self-proclaimed prophet, carried on Smiths work. We found it interesting to find out about. Only members of the church are allowed in the Temple itself, but there are plenty of other buildings to see. We then went to the Olympic cauldron - the olympic flame and medal ceremony arch used for the 2002 Olympics and then drove down a very steep downhill road with great views across the city and thought we were in San Francisco!! We went back to Temple Square to take some night shots. Finally we drove to a Wal-mart. The next day it rained and there wasn't much point doing any sightseeing and we used the battery power on the computer to do some work on the website until it ran out of juice. On Thursday we found an RV supply shop where we bought a new solar shower and sewer hose. We could also use their dump station for free. Then we drove to "Summerhays" which is a large music store. Helen doesn't play the piano any more because there is no room for one in the motorhome! So she decided to try a smaller instrument - one that is easily transportable and small enough to find a place for it in Winnie. We spoke to Tess, the resident string instrument expert, about the possibilty of buying a violin and whether such an instrument can cope with the temperature differences we drive through and high humidity that we also experience. We were only there for about an hour before the shop closed and so we said we would return the next day. But the owner came along and gave us a good deal on a used Mahler violin (German) and we also met Christian from Germany who is a qualified violin maker. The next day we returned to the shop and spent about 4 hours there. It took ages to get the violin fitted with a rest etc and getting it adjusted for Helen. It also took a long time for Tess to explain how to look after a violin and what to do with the bow etc. There were also lots of other customers there. Tess made the mistake of showing us a violin worth $12,000 so we kept pretending we had smuggled that one inside our case before leaving the shop! We finally left with a violin (not the $12,000 one!) and Christian came for a cup of tea in Winnie. We ended up chatting for over 3 hours before we drove off to a Wal-mart around the corner for the night. It was Christians birthday on Saturday so we went back to the shop and took a candle in with us to sing happy birthday. Helen had practiced "Happy Birthday" on the violin the night before but could only play it slowly with too many pauses in the wrong places so we gave up on that idea! We got to see the workshop and Christian spent about an hour getting the violin into tip top condition for us. Then we bought some music books for Helen to start teaching herself. We drove into the city centre and went to the "Family Search" building where people go to find out about their ancestors. Britain had its own floor and Germany was grouped with the rest of Europe and was also closest to the ground floor. So we got into the lift and went to see if we could find anything out about Kirsten's family first. We thought we could just type in our names and "hey presto" we'd get the whole family tree. Wrong!! Firstly, the only information on computer is about family members who are no longer living and were born at least 105 years ago. So that really put the kybosh on Kirsten. She might know a surname but where were her paternal grandparents born? There are a number of search engines used here and unfortunately, they are subscription sites unless you come to this building. We were told that people come on two week holidays here and spend the whole time searching backwards to find their family trees. They start with the computers but very soon will have to start manually looking through various old books with lists of births, deaths and marriages. We suddenly realised what a huge task it is. We still went down to the floor for Great Britain but with not a great deal of hope. Helen may have found her paternal grandfather on the computer but she doesn't know his middle name or correct birthdate, so there's no way to be sure. Plus, there were no clues as to where to look for his (grandfather's) parents. The only way to go about it is to talk to all living family members and get full names, dates and places of birth of grandparents and great grandparents and as much info on where these people lived and worked or if they had travelled from other parts of the country. Trying to find out about the maternal line would be a nightmare! You could always pay for a professional geniologist but at about $75 per hour, that will add up to a lot of money and you still need to get all the info about grandparents etc so that they have a place to start. On Sunday we went into the conference centre to see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and orchestra to perform the weekly broadcast. We saw the 4,023rd live broadcast (started 1929) and it is the longest running live broadcast in the world. We weren't allowed to video the performance but they were really excellent. There are 360 in the choir, the women wear white chiffon dresses and the men are in black suits and bow ties. Behind the choir are the huge organ pipes and the orchestra (110 musicians) are on the stage in front. After the broadcast the choir and orchestra practiced and performed several pieces that we could record and take photos of. The narrator of the days live broadcast even came up and shook Helen's hand!! We didn't leave until 11am and then drove back up to Park City to go to the Utah Olympic Park. This will be the only chance we will have of taking a bob sled ride because the runs are not usually open to the public for complete beginners around the world. Kirsten wasn't sure whether she would be able to do it so we only paid for her entrance fee and tour. Helen went for the Gold package which is the cheapest way to do all the rides. The bob sled ride alone costs $56 - in the winter it is $220 per person because it is on ice and the run has to be meticulously prepared and constantly redone. Before we went onto the tour we watched the ski jumpers at the practice pool. There are numerous ski jumps leading down into a large swimming pool which has special air jets that are activated as the skier comes down the jump. This gives them a much softer landing because of the bubbles and means they can practice year round. At this time of year they have to wear wet suits because the pool is not heated and the water would be very cold. It was about 20°C today but a lot less in the pool. We also found out that ski jumping is the second safest winter olympic sport - after curling! Then Helen went on her first ride which was the Ultra Zip ride - where you go up a ski lift and then sit in a harness attached to a metal wire and shoot down to the bottom. The heavier you are, the faster you go, so it was too slow for Helen because she doesn't weigh much. Then she went on the Quicksilver which is like being on a luge. Kirsten decided she wanted to go on the Ultra Zip aswell and videoed herself on the way down. Then we went on a guided tour and had some lunch in Winnie. Then Helen went on the Extreme Zip which starts twice as high up as the Ultra and is twice as long - stopping at the end is also twice as jarring! Now it was time for the big one!! By this time Kirsten had worked up the courage to do the ride. So we drove Winnie up to the start and had to watch a safety video first. Then we got fitted with our helmets. The summer bobsleds are on wheels and travel at speeds of up to 75mph, the winter bobsleds do up to 85mph. This sled run is the fastest in the world. The ride lasts about 1 minute and is about 1 mile long. But if you sit at the back of the sled you go through 4G force! So Kirsten sat at the front behind the driver and Helen sat at the back. There was also someone in between us. Helen had to get in first, followed by the third person, then the driver and then it was Kirstens turn. You have to hang onto hand straps, and force your elbows into the padded sides of the bob. At the same time you are supposed to hunch up your shoulders to stabilise your neck. Unfortunately, when you get to 4G force it is not easy to keep your head up in the correct position as Helen found out. The ride is exhilarating and very fast. It certainly seemed faster than the 67mph that our bobsled actually did! We were also the fastest run of the day! Probably because we don't weigh much so the pushers can send us off a lot faster at the start. Don't forget that bobsleds do not have brakes!!! The driver is just there to steer us into and out of the corners. It was also very bumpy - you get shaken, rattled and rolled - and as the bob goes around the 15 curves you get turned 90 degrees onto your side. The winter bobs are on ice and are a lot smoother but we didn't want to come back in the snow and pay $220 per person! We both managed to survive and we can now say we have been down an Olympic bobsled run!! We even went further down the run to try and take photos and video of other bobsleds, but they went by so fast it was nearly impossible. After going to the museum, we left the park at 6pm and drove back to Salt Lake City, where we had been invited to park up at Christians flat and go for a meal. We thought we would be going to a restaurant but when we got there, Christian had already cooked! We enjoyed the pasta with tuna fish and shrimp sauce and spent the rest of the evening chatting.