A Salty Day

We slept in and then enjoyed a wonderful breakfast in the lobby. We then drove off to Antelope Island which is on Salt Lake. We drove to the beach. First off, the only thing that can survive in this water from what I understand is brine shrimp (sea monkeys). On the road in, there was kind of a bad smell, but luckily that went away after arriving on the island. After arriving on the beach, we had a long hike to the water. Think Wildwood times at least 2 or 3. We started hiking through loose sand. It was horrible. There were these tiny little buzzing bugs attacking us. They just hung around your face, and the buzz was horrible. After about 20 yards though, the sand hardened up a bit and the bugs went away. Then we had to cross a sandy rocky area, then back to hard sand, then back to rock and then close to the water, millions of tiny little flying bugs that just skimmed the sand, no higher. Finally we made it to the water. We only put our feet into it up to close to our knees. And yes, you could see the brine shrimp. We had stopped earlier at the visitor center and they had a gallon jug that they said they filled with water and let it evaporate. About a quarter of it was still filled with salt. So guess what we had to do. We filled up a water bottle, and when we get home, we'll see how much salt is left. After our dip in Salt Lake, we drove to the other side of the island where there was a drive up to the "ranch". We saw bison. They had free access to the island and could roam wherever they wanted. We even saw some in the water. Really cool. After our excursion to Antelope Island, (no we didn't see any antelope) we drove to downtown Salt Lake City. We took a very short tour of Temple Square where they have the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and we listened to an organ recital in the Tabernacle building. The accoustics in here were incredible. The organist gave a brief demonstration. We were about 50 yards away, and he tore paper which we heard clearly. Then he dropped a pin, again we heard it clearly. The first song he played was by Bach. It's the one used in a lot of horror movies. It sounded so cool. We then went to the family reasearch center just to see what it was about. The showed you a short story and from there we were able to go to computers to research our ancestors. We decided to do the Heil's. We were able to print out census reports for Grandpa Heil, his father, and his grandfather. This was really incredible. I could have spent all day here. Wow, like I need another obsession. I was going to do the Good's, but I couldn't reach dad (Ray) to get some information, so we left. Afterwards we went on a search for Cassie. There were 2 candy shops listed on the map. Neither of them were there. They really need to update their maps. We then went to check into our new hotel for the night. As it turns out, it was about 200 yards from our old hotel. That also happens with priceline. Tonight we will go to the pool and then probably bed early. Tomorrow we head to the Grand Tetons.