After lunch we decided to visit the Family History Library because it was indoors and heated. When we first enter the building we each receive an ipad that we used to enter our name, birthday and enough family information so that we could be found in their large database. Once the ipad figured out who we were, we were able to go to a number of different station around the room and plug in our ipad to learn about our relatives, where we came from, famous people that we were related to, and a host of other information.
Andrew learned that he had German ancestry, so he can now officially wear lederhosen!
There was an elaborate scale model of the Mayfower on display in the library, which was of interest to me because the Mayflower arrived in America in 1620 and my relatives arrived on a similar ship in 1635. A placard next to the display gave the following information about the Mayflower:
"In a cargo space of about 1,200 square feet with a ceiling height of just over five feet the majority of the 102 passengers lived with each other, their belongings, makeshift beds, two dogs, chickens, goats and pigs, cannons and a thirty-three foot sailboat. There were no bathrooms or cooking facilities. It was wet, moldy, smelly, and noisy with crying, scared and sick children and passengers. Limited privacy came only when blankets were strung-up between sleeping areas blocking neither smells nor sounds."
Adjacent to the Family History Library is the Church History Museum that contained some elaborate displays and works of art.
Yes - they even had quilts on display!
One interesting display was "The 55-Cent Dress." A placard stated that "Helen Gygi...made the dress from fabric remnants, estimating the value of all materials used to be 55 cents."
Another interesting display was "Silk for Susan." A placard stated "One of Susan B. Anthony's most prized possessions was a 'beautiful dress pattern of black brocaded silk' from the Utah Silk Commission, given in honor of her 80th birthday. Miss Anthony said, 'I had some fine jewels, and pretty things of both silver and gold, but none of them can equal in usefulness that dress made by the hands of women, women too, who are politically free and equal with men.'"
Carter had one of the leading rolls in his school's production of "Curtains," so we attended the play on two different nights. The play is a murder-mystery-comedy-musical about a production staff preparing for a play entitled "Robbin' Hood of the Old West;" thus, the western outfits.
While we were in Utah, Carter also received a call to serve a two-year Church mission in Taipei, Taiwan. He will graduate from high school in June and then leave on his mission July 1, 2020. He did not open the email to see where he was going until after his school play was over; so his destination was a surprise to everyone, including a lot of the kids from his play.
In preparation for his two-year mission, Carter is learning how to climb every mountain!
BONUS HISTORICAL PICTURES
Once the plane was airborne the stewardesses turned off the cabin lights (it was 11 AM in the morning) and I didn't ever see them again until the plane landed. During the flight there was an unusual quietness on the plane. No one talked. No kids screaming (actually, there were no kids on the plane). No stewardesses walking up and down the isle asking if you wanted anything. It reminded me of another flight I made 19 years ago.
On September 11, 2001, I was attending a banking conference at a country club about 30 miles outside of Austin, Texas. When the terrorist attacked the World Trade Center, people went crazy. Most of the people started trying to find rental cars, bus or train tickets, and some people even bought cars, so that they could get home. I kept trying to convince people that we were perfectly safe, our families were perfectly save, and if we just waited a few days the airplanes would start flying again. Most of the people didn't believe me and were convinced they had to leave immediately. As the last senior managers left, they told me that I was in charge, since I was the senior bank officer left behind.
That evening I got the remaining people together for dinner at one of country club restaurants to decide what everyone wanted to do. Since there was nothing to do at the country club, we decided to have someone from the country club use their van to drive us into Austin where we had our choice of rooms in any of the downtown hotels.
While we were waiting for the airlines to start flying again, we tried a different restaurant each night, went to movies, and watched the news on TV. The women really enjoyed it because it gave them an excuse to go shopping each day and buy new clothes. (I didn't check to see if they were using their company credit card.) In general, the guys just bought some underwear and sock and made do with the clothes they had brought on the trip.
For some unknown reason, I had decided to grow a beard before I went to the conference. I probably need to explain that my beard is not a nice looking full beard like some men have, instead it is shaggy, spotty, and hard to control. Everyone kept telling me that I should probably shave off my beard before I went to the airport because I looked like the terrorist, but I didn't listen to reason.
Arriving at the airport, I was immediately pulled to the side, patted down, and practically strip searched. After answering a lot of questions and showing a lot of documentation I finally convinced the security people that I really was an American and a bank employee.
The flight home was like the recent California flight. There was an unusual quietness on the plane. No one talked. There were no kids on the plane. There were no stewardesses to be seen. (There were two women on the plane that said they were airline employees, but they were dressed in street clothes.)
When I arrived home I assumed everyone would be heart-broken, sad, and lonely while I was away, but instead I found out that Kolohe, Linda and some neighborhood women had been having a great time. Las Vegas was like a ghost town, so they went down to The Strip each night and ate at the best restaurants without needing reservations. And, they even got discounts on their meals.
Since I had a rather unappealing beard, I didn't want people in Las Vegas to label me a terrorist; so I meditated about what I should do and it came to me that I needed to wear different ethnic clothing when I went out at night.
My Japanese friends had given me some clothing, but their clothing just didn't seem to match my personality.
I think I may have some Spanish heritage, so that was kind of a natural for me. Everyone said that I looked like a matador, or maybe like Pancho Villa.
I thought about dressing as a French painter because I studied French Art in college. Well, not really. But one time I looked at some French paintings.
In the end, I just gave up and shaved off my beard and mustache!
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