Utah – Page 12

Early Voting in Davis County, Utah

October 24, 2008 by rickety 9 Comments

For the information on voting in the current elections go to Vote.Utah.Gov.

I am accustomed to voting early. The process is not at all rickety and is rather simple. A few days ago I went to Leave Your Print to find a list of the times and locations where I could vote early. Here are all the remaining times left to early vote in Davis County:

Bountiful Library, 725 South Main, Bountiful
Friday, Oct. 24, 7:00am – 11:00am
Saturday, Oct. 25, 12:00pm – 4:00pm
Monday, Oct. 27, 12:00pm – 4:00pm
Tuesday, Oct. 28-30, 3:00pm – 8:00pm
Friday, Oct. 31, 10:00am – 5:00pm

Davis County Courthouse, 28 East State Street #107, Farmington
Tuesday, Oct. 21-24, 8:30 am – 4:30 pm
Monday, Oct. 27-30, 8:30 am – 4:30 pm
Friday, Oct. 31, 8:30 am – 5:00 pm

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Utah Temples Tour: Manti and St George

October 17, 2008 by rickety 5 Comments

Manti Temple

With eleven temples visited during Day1, Day 2, and Day 3 it is time to visit the two remaining temples. Day 4 of the Utah Temples Tour began, as you may have guessed, at a rickety 4am. We left the Wayside Motor Inn in Monticello at 4:50am bound for Manti but hunting for breakfast on the way.

The Manti Temple

Manti Temple tower

We traveled all the way to Manti before we found breakfast. We passed up the 8:30am session so as to eat and then we just managed to catch the 9:30am session. This is an awesome temple. Every room is big. The celestial room is the largest of all the Utah temples. This is a real pioneer structure with ornate ceilings and wooden bench seating. A temple worker showed us the sealing rooms. Very beautiful. Daniel and Spencer hung back and were shown the spiral staircase that goes to the top of the tower. This is a temple built on hill. Walking around the grounds meant some steep climbs to get some great photographs. If I were to choose two Utah temples to visit, other than the Salt Lake temple, it would be the Vernal and Manti temples.

The St. George Temple

Leaving Manti we drove to St. George and took some photographs in the temple grounds before attending the 4pm session. The temple is the first completed by the Church after the Nauvoo exodus and is similar in its design to the Nauvoo Temple. It is the oldest LDS temple still actively used by the members of the Church. There are three ordinance rooms and 18 sealing rooms, and a total floor area of 110,000 feet. In the 1970s the temple was closed and underwent extensive remodeling. The temple has an all white exterior and quiet grounds with some very old trees. When we left we ate at Subway before leaving St. George and arriving home at 10:45pm.

Reflections

On this tour I have enjoyed seeing the interior of eleven Utah temples and working for the dead in all of them. Eight of those temples I have never entered before. Jake and Daniel saw nine new temples. Paul seven new temples. Spencer six new temples. And of course we also visited the construction sites of two temples. But most importantly we have helped to provide saving ordinances for the dead.

A thank you to Andrew for joining us for a day and kisses to Jill for providing the snacks and participating with us at the Ogden temple. What I will remember most is the time spent traveling and being in the temples with three of my sons.

St. George Temple

Utah Temples Tour: Vernal, Monticello

October 15, 2008 by rickety 6 Comments

Vernal Temple

After a successful Day 1 and Day 2, Day 3 of the Utah Temples Tour began at the usual 4am. Some of us are a little rickety at this hour but we had roads to drive and temples to see.

Daniel outside the Vernal Temple

The Vernal Temple

We left Kaysville at 5:15am arriving in Vernal in time for the 8:30am session. Like the Logan temple we moved to a terrestrial room half way through the session. The celestial room was beautiful. It was quite large, bigger than Ogden. It had a high ceiling and a large painting of Jesus Christ — what one would expect in a celestial room. There was a comfortable feeling about the temple. Beautiful brown woods communicated warmth and added to the “You’re at home” effect. Originally, the building served as the Uintah Stake Tabernacle for eastern Utah. The building was built with donated labor and was dedicated on August 24, 1907 by LDS Church President Joseph F. Smith. Smith reportedly said he would not be surprised if a temple was built there some day.

The Monticello Temple

In Vernal we ate at Subway before leaving for Monticello. We arrived in time to take all our photographs and then attended the 5pm session. As with Vernal, half way through the session we relocated to a terrestrial room. The celestial room was smaller than the one at Vernal but still very beautiful and peaceful. A temple worker showed us one of the sealing rooms. It was about the same size as the Bountiful sealing rooms that I have attended for weddings. She said there was another sealing room and just one endowment room if you don’t count the terrestrial room. The temple has few buildings around it and a local told us that a herd of deer will sometimes come through on the land across the street from the temple. This was a very friendly temple with the temple workers shaking our hands, asking where we were from, and insisting that we come back again.

Tomorrow will bring Day 4 of the tour and the remaining temples: St. George and Manti.

Monticello Temple

Utah Temples Tour: Logan, Ogden, Bountiful, Salt Lake

October 11, 2008 by rickety 7 Comments

Spencer, Jake, and Daniel relaxing on the way to the Ogden Temple

Logan Temple

After a lot of talk and a little bit of planning the Utah Temples Tour actually got underway today. I rose at 4am, showered, and then awoke Paul, Jake, and Daniel. We stopped by to get Spencer a few minutes after 5am and headed for the Logan Temple. Now the neat thing about an early morning session is that you can’t miss the temple in the dark. It is on a hill and well lit. Which is just as well because we went past our turn. But no worries, we knew right away. We entered the waiting room just as the 6:30am session was due to start. When we left the temple I took photographs around the temple grounds. There was a cold wind blowing as a storm moved in. The boys are hungry after a session — this is a really curious phenomenon — even though they are sitting 98% of the time. We were going to eat at Burger King but Paul complained, “They don’t have sausage egg McMuffins!” We ended up at McDonald’s.

The angel Moroni atop the Ogden Temple

Ogden Temple

We headed out to the Ogden Temple to catch the 10:40am session. Jill called to say she would meet us there. Jill being with me at the temple reminded me of over 28 years ago when we were married for time and eternity in the Ogden Temple. The ceremony was short and simple but the result was very powerful. Knowing that you are bound to each other forever makes you try a little harder in your marriage. You are also more likely to be open to be guided by correct principles. Anyway, back to today. Either our session started early or the session that we ran into started late. As we neared the end of our session we had to wait ten minutes for another session to finish. That must have really made the boys hungry.

Bountiful Temple

Next it was the Bountiful Temple for the five of us. Jill left to take care of the grocery shopping — it is nice to have someone responsible in the family. We hoped to get some photographs but by the time of our 2pm session it was snowing. After the session of course it was time to eat. We ate at the temple cafeteria and finalized our plan to push on to the Salt Lake Temple.

Salt Lake Temple

We took our photographs of the Salt Lake Temple before going into the 6pm session. Fortunately there was a lull in the storm though it was quite cold. This session made four in all which is a record for me for one day. When I used to travel overnight to the London Temple the members of the stake I was with used to do three sessions in a row. Over the years since then all I ever did was one session. That was because the temple was just down the road so I could go more often. Today we got home at 8:30pm after a successful start to our Utah Temples Tour. By taking in the Salt Lake Temple we jumped one temple ahead so that on Tuesday we will go straight to to the Jordan River Temple.

The Salt Lake Temple at night

Update

The Utah Temples Tour continues on Tuesday.
Rickety signature.

Utah Temples Tour Update

October 7, 2008 by rickety 2 Comments

The Tour

I am finalizing the Utah Temples Tour. We begin on Saturday 11th. October. I will be blogging via Rickety for each of the four days if you care to follow the tour online. Those definitely going are my sons Paul, Jake, and Dan, Dan’s friend Spencer, and myself. That makes five so we have room for two more in the minivan. My wife is staying behind to help Sarah with Bryson. I have the gas budgeted and two rooms in Monticello taken care of. So there you go, most of the cost is taken care of but you will be expected to buy your own souvenirs. :)

The Details

You can get an idea of the tour by reading the posts from August and September. However there are changes that are reflected in the table below. We will visit 13 temples in 4 days, completing sessions in 11, and traveling 1,526 miles. As a bonus the Sullivan family have requested we take some of their family names with us. On checking the session times it was interesting to find that Provo and Vernal have Monday sessions. Monticello I had to call and they have sessions during the week at 10am, 12 noon, 5pm, and 7pm. What’s the deal here, do they take really long lunches? They also have no clothing rental or cafeteria so it can’t be that they are doing the laundry or cooking the food. I’m getting spoiled living by all these large temples. Anyway, it prompted Jake to go and acquire temple clothes of his own.

Utah Temples Tour
Date	Temples	Start	Finish	Miles	Map	Notes
Oct 11	3	Kaysville	Kaysville	154	Map
Oct 14	5	Kaysville	Kaysville	125	Map
Oct 15	3	Kaysville	Monticello	499	Map	Stay over
Oct 16	2	Monticello	Kaysville	748	Map

WordCamp Utah 2008

September 27, 2008 by rickety 2 Comments

WordCamp Utah

Today I attended WordCamp Utah 2008. I would have felt a little rickety going by myself so I asked my son-in-law Derek to come along. Rather than report what was said at WordCamp I will tell you my impressions. I will provide links to blogs that reported on the speakers.

I didn’t know what to expect as this was my first time at a blog gathering. As I stood in line to register I felt a little out of place because everyone else had brought their laptops. We all tend to notice the financial aspects of attending events and in this I am like all of you. The cost was $20 which is a small sum for an all day event. But that bought lunch, a WordCamp tee shirt, a snack, and all the bottled water you cared to drink. I’m used to having to pay exorbitant prices for food at the events I attend, for example the movies. I’d better mention the free stickers though they didn’t do anything for me. The free Bluehost tee shirt was cool though.

Speakers

There were about 200 people attending. The speakers were interesting and kept to their topic. One of the co-founders of WordPress, Matt Mullenweg, was the keynote speaker. I tracked him down later in the day and got his photograph that you see above.

The next speaker was Richard K. Miller from the More Good Foundation. He did especially well in interacting with the audience. I have communicated with Richard by email on various topics, mostly in conjunction with MormonWiki.com to which I have contributed several articles. Last year he invited me to be an administrator on the site which turned out to be a fun assignment, especially when vandals decided to attack late one night. I caught up with Richard and got my photograph taken with him which is at the end of this article.

Summary

Our fellow bloggers were friendly and listened attentively to the presentations. We didn’t stay to listen to the last speaker but I think all the presenters did very well to keep our attention all day. The building was comfortable and I was told that the bandwidth was huge, which I would have known all by myself if I hadn’t have left my laptop at home. I would definitely recommend that if you have the opportunity to go to a WordCamp that you do so. But don’t forget your laptop.

Links

Using WordPress as a CMS (also see related articles links).
SEO Tips Ash Buckles (also see his other posts).
UStream TV
Laura Moncur WordCamp Photos
WordCamp Utah Highlights

Utah Temples Tour Details

September 2, 2008 by rickety 2 Comments

First Day

Before I begin I will mention that we won’t be traveling in any of the rickety old cars you see on this page. The first day we get to sleep in our own beds. We start and end in Kaysville. This will work for those of you who just want a day trip. We drive north 18 miles to take in a session at the Ogden Temple. North again for 47 miles to the Logan Temple. Then it is back south for 76 miles to the Bountiful Temple. Back home with a drive of 14 miles. That adds to a total of three sessions and 155 miles. The drive time is approximately 3 hours and 17 minutes.

Second Day

We start off in Kaysville driving 20 miles to get an early session at the Salt Lake Temple. Another 20 miles takes us to the Jordan River Temple. In the same city is the site of the Oquirrh Mountains Temple just 3 miles away. Just a 13 mile drive takes us to the site of the Draper Temple. South for 14 miles delivers us to the Mount Timpanogos Temple. After we are finished at Mount Timpanogos it is a leisurely drive to the Provo Marriott where we will stay the night. For the day the total miles is 85 taking about 2 hours 23 minutes. Three sessions will have be completed and a look at two temples under construction.

Third Day

You could walk the three miles from the Marriott to the Provo Temple for the first session of the day. After a session we go east 153 miles to the Vernal Temple. We are not done yet as we drive the 272 miles to the Monticello Temple. Once the session is complete we stay over at the Days Inn just a mile away. Total for the day is three sessions and 429 miles that will take 8 hours and 3 minutes.

Fourth Day

We are in for a lot of driving today to pick up the last two temples. The St. George Temple is 392 miles away so we start early. You can take a nap on the way but no snoring. After St. George our last stop is the Manti Temple for a drive of 213 miles. Soon we can head home with 143 miles before us. This leg would add two more sessions and 749 miles. Total driving time for today would add up to 11 hours 32 minutes.

When?

Two people who have signed up are attending the University of Utah. So it looks like we will go sometime during Fall break (Monday 13th October to Sunday 19th October). The four days will be 13th to 16th of that week. An alternative would be to do day 1 on Saturday 11th and days 2, 3, and 4 on 13th, 14th, and 15th. Or we can come up with another date. Incidentally the times for each day is the drive times only. I would allow 2 1/2 hours for each temple visit. 90 minutes for the session and another hour for changing and wait times and outside photography. Jake reminded me that we would need time to eat. It will be good to have one or two hungry RMs along!

Utah Temples Tour

August 30, 2008 by rickety 14 Comments

Utah has eleven temples with two more under construction. I am planning a road trip to visit all the Utah temples, including those under construction. By the time I get going perhaps the temples being built will be finished. I am considering going through a session at each temple, except of course those under construction.

[Read more…]

Cove Fort

August 28, 2008 by rickety 2 Comments

Ira Hinckley's Coalville cabin relocated to Cove Fort shown as two stitched photographs

While in southern Utah, Jill and I visited the Utah Shakespearean Festival, Mountain Meadow Monument, and Old Iron Town. On our way home we visited Cove Fort. Click on the images to enlarge.

Cove Fort

Cove Fort is located on Cove Creek a mile northeast of the I-15 and I-70 junction in Millard County, Utah. It was founded on 29 April 1867 by Ira Hinckley at the request of Brigham Young. Ira Nathaniel Hinckley is the paternal grandfather of Gordon B. Hinckley. Other workmen were called to the site, including Ira’s brother, Arza Erastus Hinckley. The fort is made of volcanic rock and dark limestone, rather than the wood used in many mid-19th century western forts. Lumber, mostly cedar and pine, was used for the roof, twelve interior rooms, six on the north and six on the south, and the massive doors at the east and west ends of the fort. The fort is 100 feet square, 18.5 feet tall, 4 feet thick at the footings, and 2.5 feet thick at the top.

The site for Cove Fort was selected by Brigham Young because of its location approximately half way between Fillmore, then the capitol of the Utah Territory, and the nearest city, Beaver. It is the only fort built by the Latter-day Saints in the 19th century that still stands.

Safe Shelter

Jill by the north wall of Cove Fort

It provided a way station for people traveling the Mormon Corridor. The abandonment of Fort Willden in 1865 left travelers without shelter from hostile Indians during the Black Hawk War or from severe weather conditions. In addition, it was also necessary to afford safety to carriers of the U.S. mail, operators of the Deseret Telegraph, agents of the stagecoach line, and freighters.

A town would have been constructed at the Cove Fort site, but the water supply was inadequate to support a sizable population. Another key factor in the selection of the site was the prior existence of a wooden-palisade fort, Willden Fort, which provided shelter and safety for the work crews who constructed Cove Fort. Willden Fort was erected by the Charles William Willden family in 1860.

Cove Fort Interior

The fort has two sets of large wooden doors at the east and west ends, originally filled with sand to stop bullets, and contains twelve interior rooms. The six rooms along the south wall were used for business, domestic, and social activities. The last three rooms along the north side of the fort served as a private residence for the Hinckley family.

Hinckley family residence

Postal express riders delivered and picked up mail collected at the fort from nearby residents, ranches, and miners. One mail carrier, William Anderson, would leave Fillmore at 6:00 a.m. on Monday and arrive in Cedar City Wednesday evening near 6:00 p.m. He would average 47 miles a day.

As a daily stop for two stagecoach lines as well as many other travelers, Cove Fort was heavily used for many years, often housing and feeding up to 75 people at a time. In addition to providing a place to rest, a blacksmith/farrier resided at the fort who shod horses and oxen, and also repaired wagon wheels. With its telegraph office and as a Pony Express stop, it also acted as a regional communications hub.

Selling Cove Fort

In the early 1890s, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints determined that the fort was no longer required and leased it out, selling it outright on 21 August 1919 to William Henry Kesler, who had leased the land since 1903. In 1988 the Hinckley family purchased the fort and donated it back to the church. On 9 May 1992* LDS general authority Gordon B. Hinckley dedicated the newly restored fort.

Ira Hinckley with one of his wives

What has been done is a great and significant thing from the point of view of the Church, the state, and the nation. Once forts were found in abundance across this great land. Now there are very few left. Cove Fort is the only one of the pioneer Church forts which still stands in its entirety.
President Hinckley, First Counselor in the First Presidency, at the dedication.

The Church also transported Ira Hinckley’s Coalville, Utah cabin to the site, constructed a visitor center, and reopened the fort as a historic site.

It is our hope that Cove Fort will serve as a modern way station—not as a shelter from physical fatigue or protection from the elements. Rather, we hope it will serve as a spiritual way station where we can be reminded of the faith of our forefathers, where we can refresh our sense of sacrifice and obedience and our dedication to duty, where we can be reminded of the values of work, provident living, self-sufficiency, and family unity.
Elder Stephen D. Nadauld of the Seventy, at the dedication

* I read of two dates for the dedication: 9 May 1992 and 21 May 1994. If you know which of these is correct, please communicate through a comment.

The Manti Temple

The St. George Temple

Reflections

The Vernal Temple

The Monticello Temple

Logan Temple

Ogden Temple

Bountiful Temple

Salt Lake Temple

Update

The Tour

The Details

WordCamp Utah

Speakers

Summary

Links

First Day

Second Day

Third Day

Fourth Day

When?

Related Posts

Cove Fort

Safe Shelter

Cove Fort Interior

Selling Cove Fort