In my attempts to wean myself from commercial hygiene products like shampoo, soap, and now toothpaste, I am happy to report that the blogosphere is a bountiful resource of information and testimonials about recipes for homemade scrubs, moisturizers, shampoos, soaps, laundry soap, all purpose cleaners, and toothpaste.
I found a toothpaste recipe a few days ago on Crunchy Betty's blog and bought the ingredients yesterday.
Homemade Coconut Oil Toothpaste
3 tbsp coconut oil [this was news to me - coconut oil is more of a gel or puree than a liquid oil]
3 tbsp baking soda
25 drops peppermint essential oil
1 packet stevia
2 tsp vegetable glycerin (optional) [note: Some commenters on Crunchy Betty said glycerin wasn't good for your teeth so I chose to not use it.]
Put the coconut oil and baking soda in a bowl and mash up with a fork until blended. Add the peppermint essential oil, stevia and optional vegetable glycerin and continue to mash and stir until you’ve reached toothpaste consistency.
Being the geek that I am, and armed with my trusty digital kitchen scale, I weighed the ingredients and did a cost breakdown:
coconut oil - $9.99 for 414 ml
baking soda - $1.99 for 500 g
stevia - $10.99 for a box of 70 packets (works out to 1 g per packet)
peppermint essential oil - $8.99 for 30 ml
I weighed out the ingredients as called for in the recipe:
coconut oil - 45 ml (weighed 41 g)
baking soda - 49 g (volume 45 ml)
stevia - 1 g
peppermint essential oil - ended up with just less than 1/2 tsp, which worked out to an estimated 2.3 ml.
The ingredients mixed together really easily and smelled strongly of peppermint - just like the commercial stuff. I rubbed some between my fingers and it had a very slightly gritty texture from the baking soda.
I dipped my toothbrush in and gave it a run. First impression was a very salty taste from the baking soda (sodium bicarbonate). Bleh. New trick - keep my tongue away from this stuff while brushing. In the past I briefly tried brushing with baking soda. It tasted terrible, but my teeth felt clean - although it also seemed to dry out my mouth. This new recipe, while salty, had a much nicer consistency. My teeth definitely feel very clean, but the coconut oil left a really pleasant softness in my mouth. The salty taste pretty much beat out the peppermint taste, so I may have to adjust either the stevia or peppermint amounts, or both, to get a better flavor. I don't miss the sodium lauryl sulfate foam at all!
Cost Analysis
coconut oil - $9.99 ÷ 414 ml x 45 ml = $1.09
baking soda - $1.99 ÷ 500 g x 49 g = $0.20
stevia - $10.99 ÷ 70 = $0.16
peppermint essential oil - $8.99 ÷ 30 ml x 2.3 ml = $0.69
Grand total for approximately 92 ml of toothpaste = $2.14
So the cost is much cheaper than the Sensodyne I've been using for the last year or so, which is currently about $5.00 for a 100 ml tube - although the homemade stuff may not address the tooth sensitivity, the Sensodyne wasn't really eliminating that either. If you can catch a sale you can get 100 ml tubes of Colgate for $1.29 or something, so that may be a better deal for you, but I'm liking the fact that I know exactly what my toothpaste ingredients are. I also didn't shop around for coconut oil. I could probably get a better price at a health food store or whole foods store. The store I got it from had just a few jars of one brand, so that doesn't scream "we price competitively!" to me.
Another nice feature is that if I don't want to make any more toothpaste, I haven't wasted money on specialized ingredients. I can use everything but the essential oil in the kitchen.
Friday, July 27, 2012
Monday, April 16, 2012
July 5, 2010. The night out with Catherine.
So my cousin Catherine had been in contact with me during the first part of my road trip and wanted to get together while I was in Toronto. She came to the memorial service but didn't come to the cemetery or the gathering at Nicole's house.
To clarify, Catherine is a step-cousin from my dad's side of the family. My dad had an older brother, John, who was the the only one of the nine kids in his family who lived in Ontario. Everyone else was in Alberta and Saskatchewan. So, because of the distance, we didn't see him very often and I didn't know him very well. My dad seemed to think John was always grumpy about something, and I remember thinking that John looked very much like Christopher Plummer in The Sound of Music. Handsome guy. He had come to Calgary a few times but we didn't visit very long. I knew he was my uncle and that was about it. He passed away about 10 years ago after suffering from Parkinsons for many years.
John's second wife, Anne, had a daughter, Catherine, from her first marriage. Catherine was still young when John and Anne married, so she knew him quite well.
I met up with Catherine near her work after she was done for the day, and we went to a nearby restaurant and planned to see a movie afterwards. During the meal she talked about John and I was so happy to learn more about him. He was a father to her, and she loved him. I wish I could remember all she told me about him, but I do remember feeling really glad to know he was a happier person than I ever knew, and that Catherine appreciated and loved him. It made me wish I had known him better. Really, truly. I feel like I missed out knowing a really good man. Kind of sad how sometimes these good things don't come out until it's too late.
We talked about my trip and the places I would be seeing soon, and we talked about church. She seemed interested in what a tremendous positive influence my faith had on my life, and the confidence it gave me to take this long, adventurous trip on my own, brave enough to do so because I felt inspired to take this trip and felt totally safe and secure wherever I went. After our visit, when I was in Palmyra I ordered a church video for her, about the beginning part of the restoration of the church.
We went to see Toy Story 3, I think it was. She said it was the first movie she'd seen in a long time.
It was a nice visit, and it was really nice to get to know her better.
To clarify, Catherine is a step-cousin from my dad's side of the family. My dad had an older brother, John, who was the the only one of the nine kids in his family who lived in Ontario. Everyone else was in Alberta and Saskatchewan. So, because of the distance, we didn't see him very often and I didn't know him very well. My dad seemed to think John was always grumpy about something, and I remember thinking that John looked very much like Christopher Plummer in The Sound of Music. Handsome guy. He had come to Calgary a few times but we didn't visit very long. I knew he was my uncle and that was about it. He passed away about 10 years ago after suffering from Parkinsons for many years.
John's second wife, Anne, had a daughter, Catherine, from her first marriage. Catherine was still young when John and Anne married, so she knew him quite well.
I met up with Catherine near her work after she was done for the day, and we went to a nearby restaurant and planned to see a movie afterwards. During the meal she talked about John and I was so happy to learn more about him. He was a father to her, and she loved him. I wish I could remember all she told me about him, but I do remember feeling really glad to know he was a happier person than I ever knew, and that Catherine appreciated and loved him. It made me wish I had known him better. Really, truly. I feel like I missed out knowing a really good man. Kind of sad how sometimes these good things don't come out until it's too late.
We talked about my trip and the places I would be seeing soon, and we talked about church. She seemed interested in what a tremendous positive influence my faith had on my life, and the confidence it gave me to take this long, adventurous trip on my own, brave enough to do so because I felt inspired to take this trip and felt totally safe and secure wherever I went. After our visit, when I was in Palmyra I ordered a church video for her, about the beginning part of the restoration of the church.
We went to see Toy Story 3, I think it was. She said it was the first movie she'd seen in a long time.
It was a nice visit, and it was really nice to get to know her better.
July 3, 2010. The day of mom's memorial service.
It was a hot and humid day in Toronto. I'll let you pause a moment to reflect on that revelation. (That's sarcasm. Summers are always hot and humid in Toronto.)
A bunch of cousins, some of whom I'd never met before, met at the church in Longbranch. It was noon, I think, so the sun was really strong and the priest was running late so we had to wait outside for quite a while. It was July 3, 2010. Fifty-six years earlier, on this exact day, a Saturday in 1954, my mom and dad were married in this church. It seemed fitting to have a memorial there on that day.
Once we got inside we all appreciated being able to get out of the sun. The service was short, but it was really neat to be inside that little church and imagine what it was like in 1954 on their wedding day.
After the service we headed out to the cemetery in Mississauga. We had a small wooden box containing a portion of mom's ashes and the cemetery had excavated a small hole over my grandfather's grave for us to place her ashes in. Aunt Denise put the box in and then every took a rose and placed it in the hole or leaning against the headstone.
The next stop was a gathering at my cousin Nicole's house. They have a lovely big home with a large yard and pool and SHADE! It was really nice. There were lots of people there, lots of visiting, and everyone was glad to be able to get together, even though it was kind of a sad occasion.
I had made a DVD of pictures and music for mom's funeral in Calgary, and I brought several copies to Toronto to share with family there. We gathered in the house and watched it. My uncle John was quite emotional and my cousins (Denise's kids) were too, when they saw their dad's picture in there. He died suddenly in 1998. My cousin Andre saw a picture of his dad, my uncle Jack, that he had never seen before. They all really enjoyed it and were glad I put that together.
Oh, yes, can't forget this. Andre's wife Judy was there that day. She was beautiful. Attractive, friendly, and fun, and I got a nice picture of her standing there smiling. Several months ago she passed away unexpectedly. She had been diagnosed with breast cancer and was in hospital starting treatment, presumably chemotheraphy, when she had an adverse reaction to something and suffered organ failure. That just hit me in the gut. It seemed so wrong and unfair that someone so vibrant was gone so fast. The cancer wasn't terminal, but the treatment was. I still ache about that. What a devastating loss. They had a son and a daughter, both married, and a young grandson. :(
I had the chance to visit with my cousins and some of their friends in the shady back yard and I told them about my trip so far and the church history sites I planned to see. I think it surprised them that someone in this day and age still felt religion had a place in every day life! It was good discussion.
A bunch of cousins, some of whom I'd never met before, met at the church in Longbranch. It was noon, I think, so the sun was really strong and the priest was running late so we had to wait outside for quite a while. It was July 3, 2010. Fifty-six years earlier, on this exact day, a Saturday in 1954, my mom and dad were married in this church. It seemed fitting to have a memorial there on that day.
Once we got inside we all appreciated being able to get out of the sun. The service was short, but it was really neat to be inside that little church and imagine what it was like in 1954 on their wedding day.
After the service we headed out to the cemetery in Mississauga. We had a small wooden box containing a portion of mom's ashes and the cemetery had excavated a small hole over my grandfather's grave for us to place her ashes in. Aunt Denise put the box in and then every took a rose and placed it in the hole or leaning against the headstone.
The next stop was a gathering at my cousin Nicole's house. They have a lovely big home with a large yard and pool and SHADE! It was really nice. There were lots of people there, lots of visiting, and everyone was glad to be able to get together, even though it was kind of a sad occasion.
I had made a DVD of pictures and music for mom's funeral in Calgary, and I brought several copies to Toronto to share with family there. We gathered in the house and watched it. My uncle John was quite emotional and my cousins (Denise's kids) were too, when they saw their dad's picture in there. He died suddenly in 1998. My cousin Andre saw a picture of his dad, my uncle Jack, that he had never seen before. They all really enjoyed it and were glad I put that together.
Oh, yes, can't forget this. Andre's wife Judy was there that day. She was beautiful. Attractive, friendly, and fun, and I got a nice picture of her standing there smiling. Several months ago she passed away unexpectedly. She had been diagnosed with breast cancer and was in hospital starting treatment, presumably chemotheraphy, when she had an adverse reaction to something and suffered organ failure. That just hit me in the gut. It seemed so wrong and unfair that someone so vibrant was gone so fast. The cancer wasn't terminal, but the treatment was. I still ache about that. What a devastating loss. They had a son and a daughter, both married, and a young grandson. :(
I had the chance to visit with my cousins and some of their friends in the shady back yard and I told them about my trip so far and the church history sites I planned to see. I think it surprised them that someone in this day and age still felt religion had a place in every day life! It was good discussion.
Sigh - such a slacker. Time for an update! The bridge. July 1, 2010.
So here it is almost two years since my awesome road trip and I read the post where I said I'd talk more later about some sights I saw. Well, two years later *is* later, so don't hate! :)
The blue bridge at Sarnia...I had a couple of options available to travel from Michigan to Ontario. One was going through Detroit to Windsor, the other was going through Sarnia. I felt that Sarnia was going to be a less busy and perhaps more scenic route, so I chose that one.
By the way, Kalamazoo is really lovely. Just putting that out there. If you're on a road trip through the area and you need a place to rest your head for the night, consider stopping there. The name is funkily awesome and it really is nice.
Somewhere in Michigan there was a sign on the highway that made me laugh. "Prison nearby. Do not pick up hitchhikers!" LOL. They have a lot of faith in their prison security!
The bridge in question is actually called the Bluewater Bridge. Google streetview has a shot from the bridge but it's nothing like what I saw that day. The bridge (connecting Port Huron, Michigan and Point Edward, Ontario) is a very long bridge and goes very high. It was July 1, 2010, and it was a clear, sunny, hot day. Coming up to the top of the arch of the bridge, I looked to my left to see Lake Huron and was blown away by the beautiful rich blue hues of the lake. There was a sailboat skimming along that looked so small from way high up on that bridge. The lake is so vast that I could see nothing beyond the curvature of the earth, just nothing but the various shades of blue almost glowing in the bright sun. It was a spectacular sight. I wish I could have stopped to take a picture. At least I'll always have that image in my head. Beautiful blue waters on a bright summer day. Stunning.
The blue bridge at Sarnia...I had a couple of options available to travel from Michigan to Ontario. One was going through Detroit to Windsor, the other was going through Sarnia. I felt that Sarnia was going to be a less busy and perhaps more scenic route, so I chose that one.
By the way, Kalamazoo is really lovely. Just putting that out there. If you're on a road trip through the area and you need a place to rest your head for the night, consider stopping there. The name is funkily awesome and it really is nice.
Somewhere in Michigan there was a sign on the highway that made me laugh. "Prison nearby. Do not pick up hitchhikers!" LOL. They have a lot of faith in their prison security!
The bridge in question is actually called the Bluewater Bridge. Google streetview has a shot from the bridge but it's nothing like what I saw that day. The bridge (connecting Port Huron, Michigan and Point Edward, Ontario) is a very long bridge and goes very high. It was July 1, 2010, and it was a clear, sunny, hot day. Coming up to the top of the arch of the bridge, I looked to my left to see Lake Huron and was blown away by the beautiful rich blue hues of the lake. There was a sailboat skimming along that looked so small from way high up on that bridge. The lake is so vast that I could see nothing beyond the curvature of the earth, just nothing but the various shades of blue almost glowing in the bright sun. It was a spectacular sight. I wish I could have stopped to take a picture. At least I'll always have that image in my head. Beautiful blue waters on a bright summer day. Stunning.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Day 25 - in Baker City, Oregon
Sorry I didn't write an update yesterday. By the time I got back to my room I was so worn out I could hardly stay on my feet. It was a busy birthday!
Let me start with an update to the night of the 19th. My friend Marlyse, who I met when I was first investigating the church in 1988, now lives in Draper, about a 30 minute drive south of where I was staying. She sent me a message on Facebook with her phone number and said she'd like to visit. I called her around 6:00 and we chatted for a bit, then she said to come to her place and she'd drive me around to see a few of the temples close to her house. We had a nice salad out in her back yard and caught up a bit. It's probably been 15 years or so since we've seen each other. She lives down the mountain from the Draper temple, and in the winter when her trees are bare she can look out her kitchen window and see the temple up on the mountain. It took five minutes to drive there, and that even included her stopping to chat with a friend who was out for a walk! From there we drove across the valley to see the new Oquirrh temple (pronounced O-ker, I didn't know that) and just down the hill from there was the Jordan River temple. When I had been in the conference center earlier in the day I had mentioned to one of the older sister missionaries there about how many temples there were in such a small area. She said she worked in the Jordan River temple on Wednesdays and that it is always jam packed. She said, "We have lots of temples here because the members are always using them." That was so wonderful to hear.
Marlyse and I had a chuckle as we were heading down to the Jordan River temple. She stopped and said, "Okay, count the church spires!" I think we counted seven of our church buildings between us and the temple. I wanted to say I found it funny, but that wasn't the right word. I found it wonderful. Wonderful to have so many Saints in one area that there's a church every few blocks, and temples dotted all over the valley.
Then we stopped in at a place called Coldstone, one of Marlyse's favorite places. It's like the Marble Slab in Calgary, where they mix up your ice cream order with various treats like nuts or candies or chunks of chocolate on a cold stone and then serve it. We had something with a base of sweet cream ice cream, almonds, and crushed Heath bars. Oh my word, that was the best ice cream I've ever tasted. At home Foothills Creamery gets the title for best ice cream, but overall, Coldstone stuff takes the gold medal, no question.
It was a lovely evening and I really enjoyed the drive and the visit with Marlyse. She and her husband moved to Utah from Calgary about 10 years ago and they just love it. They have a beautiful home and they love the climate and the absence of mosquitos! There's a good selling point right there.
The next morning I got back to Temple Square around 9:30 and parked under the conference center again. I decided I'd start there and take a tour of the building. My tour guide, Susan, was really nice and I enjoyed how much she appreciated all the art pieces throughout the building. I've never been one to really stop and look deeply at art, but she kind of made me do it and I really liked it. We went all over that place. Back and forth on each floor, into the auditorium, and up on the roof to see the landscaping and water features. I told her about my trip, why I was on it, and told her some of the experiences I've had so far. At the end of the tour she gave me a hug and said she had really enjoyed talking with me. That was a great start to the day.
I crossed the street to Temple Square and took some pictures of the temple and flowers and fountains. I found the Deseret Book store across the street on the south side of the square and spent a lot of time in there. The day before, while I was wandering around the square, I had a real desire to sit and read scriptures, but I didn't have my smart phone on me, with the scriptures downloaded onto an e-reader. Even if I had, I don't know if it would have satisfied that craving to feel pages under my fingers. So yesterday I fixed that and I finally bought myself a mini set of scriptures, the little quad with the snap cover. I got them to emboss my name on it, too. Happy birthday to me! I've been wanting one of those for years but could never justify the cost. Now I can always have scriptures with me whenever I travel.
From there I went to the church administration building to take some pictures from the observation deck on the 26th floor. I had been up there on my last visit in 1992, but security has really been ramped up since then. In '92 you could just get on the elevator and go up, but now you have to go with a tour guide who needs a key to get on the elevator and it goes only to the 26th floor. So much for hoping to randomly run into an apostle on the elevator. Bummer.
After that I went back to the conference center for an organ recital. We were encouraged to sit right up front. The organist spoke to us first and told us what he'd be playing, and what to expect, and what he enjoyed about each song. He also told us about the construction of the organ, the sizes of the pipes, and some other technical things. It was truly awesome to listen to him play, and to hear the immensely wide range of tones produced by those pipes. He played one soft song called "My Shepherd Will Supply My Need." He played it very softly, and the organ's voice was sweet and kind of breathy. It was an unusual sound but I really liked it. It really seemed to make the pipes seem like they were singing. Just beautiful! He played only for 30 minutes. I could have listened to that for a couple of hours. But it was a nice break from the heat and from all the walking around.
Next on my list was the Family History Library. They sent me up to the US/Canada floor to see what I could find about my paternal grandfather's parents. I didn't have much luck and I was getting tired, hungry, and crabby, so I left there and went next door to the museum. By now my feet were getting really sore, I was tired and hungry and I didn't do the place justice. I did a quick walk through the "Presidents of the Church" display and enjoyed seeing photos of some of them when they were toddlers. I really need to go again when I'm not so burned out.
I realized it was time to call it a day, and it seemed like I still had to walk forever to get back to the car. When your feet hurt every step feels like hard work. I got back to the hotel, then went out for a bite to eat, took most of it back to the hotel (I had a fridge in the room), then read myself to sleep.
This morning was quite cool and very windy, and during breakfast the news program was saying the Salt Lake area was going to be getting some blustery weather. Great day to be leaving! I had mixed feelings about leaving. I felt so comfortable there and I really felt like I was leaving so many things undone. Ah well, that will be an excuse to go back for another visit.
The drive to Oregon wasn't too bad. The landscape through Idaho was mostly very dry, very brown, and rather hilly. The drive was definitely more interactive than crossing Nebraska and Wyoming. I'm sitting at my desk in my room right now looking through my sliding door. The sunlight is pouring in and I have a view of the mountains. They're not quite as forested as I had expected from Oregon, but I suppose that will change tomorrow as I drive further north and west.
I'll be crossing the border back into Canada tomorrow, so tonight I have to go through my receipts to figure out the value of the stuff I'm bringing back. I sure am looking forward to seeing my friends and the new Vancouver temple!
Let me start with an update to the night of the 19th. My friend Marlyse, who I met when I was first investigating the church in 1988, now lives in Draper, about a 30 minute drive south of where I was staying. She sent me a message on Facebook with her phone number and said she'd like to visit. I called her around 6:00 and we chatted for a bit, then she said to come to her place and she'd drive me around to see a few of the temples close to her house. We had a nice salad out in her back yard and caught up a bit. It's probably been 15 years or so since we've seen each other. She lives down the mountain from the Draper temple, and in the winter when her trees are bare she can look out her kitchen window and see the temple up on the mountain. It took five minutes to drive there, and that even included her stopping to chat with a friend who was out for a walk! From there we drove across the valley to see the new Oquirrh temple (pronounced O-ker, I didn't know that) and just down the hill from there was the Jordan River temple. When I had been in the conference center earlier in the day I had mentioned to one of the older sister missionaries there about how many temples there were in such a small area. She said she worked in the Jordan River temple on Wednesdays and that it is always jam packed. She said, "We have lots of temples here because the members are always using them." That was so wonderful to hear.
Marlyse and I had a chuckle as we were heading down to the Jordan River temple. She stopped and said, "Okay, count the church spires!" I think we counted seven of our church buildings between us and the temple. I wanted to say I found it funny, but that wasn't the right word. I found it wonderful. Wonderful to have so many Saints in one area that there's a church every few blocks, and temples dotted all over the valley.
Then we stopped in at a place called Coldstone, one of Marlyse's favorite places. It's like the Marble Slab in Calgary, where they mix up your ice cream order with various treats like nuts or candies or chunks of chocolate on a cold stone and then serve it. We had something with a base of sweet cream ice cream, almonds, and crushed Heath bars. Oh my word, that was the best ice cream I've ever tasted. At home Foothills Creamery gets the title for best ice cream, but overall, Coldstone stuff takes the gold medal, no question.
It was a lovely evening and I really enjoyed the drive and the visit with Marlyse. She and her husband moved to Utah from Calgary about 10 years ago and they just love it. They have a beautiful home and they love the climate and the absence of mosquitos! There's a good selling point right there.
The next morning I got back to Temple Square around 9:30 and parked under the conference center again. I decided I'd start there and take a tour of the building. My tour guide, Susan, was really nice and I enjoyed how much she appreciated all the art pieces throughout the building. I've never been one to really stop and look deeply at art, but she kind of made me do it and I really liked it. We went all over that place. Back and forth on each floor, into the auditorium, and up on the roof to see the landscaping and water features. I told her about my trip, why I was on it, and told her some of the experiences I've had so far. At the end of the tour she gave me a hug and said she had really enjoyed talking with me. That was a great start to the day.
I crossed the street to Temple Square and took some pictures of the temple and flowers and fountains. I found the Deseret Book store across the street on the south side of the square and spent a lot of time in there. The day before, while I was wandering around the square, I had a real desire to sit and read scriptures, but I didn't have my smart phone on me, with the scriptures downloaded onto an e-reader. Even if I had, I don't know if it would have satisfied that craving to feel pages under my fingers. So yesterday I fixed that and I finally bought myself a mini set of scriptures, the little quad with the snap cover. I got them to emboss my name on it, too. Happy birthday to me! I've been wanting one of those for years but could never justify the cost. Now I can always have scriptures with me whenever I travel.
From there I went to the church administration building to take some pictures from the observation deck on the 26th floor. I had been up there on my last visit in 1992, but security has really been ramped up since then. In '92 you could just get on the elevator and go up, but now you have to go with a tour guide who needs a key to get on the elevator and it goes only to the 26th floor. So much for hoping to randomly run into an apostle on the elevator. Bummer.
After that I went back to the conference center for an organ recital. We were encouraged to sit right up front. The organist spoke to us first and told us what he'd be playing, and what to expect, and what he enjoyed about each song. He also told us about the construction of the organ, the sizes of the pipes, and some other technical things. It was truly awesome to listen to him play, and to hear the immensely wide range of tones produced by those pipes. He played one soft song called "My Shepherd Will Supply My Need." He played it very softly, and the organ's voice was sweet and kind of breathy. It was an unusual sound but I really liked it. It really seemed to make the pipes seem like they were singing. Just beautiful! He played only for 30 minutes. I could have listened to that for a couple of hours. But it was a nice break from the heat and from all the walking around.
Next on my list was the Family History Library. They sent me up to the US/Canada floor to see what I could find about my paternal grandfather's parents. I didn't have much luck and I was getting tired, hungry, and crabby, so I left there and went next door to the museum. By now my feet were getting really sore, I was tired and hungry and I didn't do the place justice. I did a quick walk through the "Presidents of the Church" display and enjoyed seeing photos of some of them when they were toddlers. I really need to go again when I'm not so burned out.
I realized it was time to call it a day, and it seemed like I still had to walk forever to get back to the car. When your feet hurt every step feels like hard work. I got back to the hotel, then went out for a bite to eat, took most of it back to the hotel (I had a fridge in the room), then read myself to sleep.
This morning was quite cool and very windy, and during breakfast the news program was saying the Salt Lake area was going to be getting some blustery weather. Great day to be leaving! I had mixed feelings about leaving. I felt so comfortable there and I really felt like I was leaving so many things undone. Ah well, that will be an excuse to go back for another visit.
The drive to Oregon wasn't too bad. The landscape through Idaho was mostly very dry, very brown, and rather hilly. The drive was definitely more interactive than crossing Nebraska and Wyoming. I'm sitting at my desk in my room right now looking through my sliding door. The sunlight is pouring in and I have a view of the mountains. They're not quite as forested as I had expected from Oregon, but I suppose that will change tomorrow as I drive further north and west.
I'll be crossing the border back into Canada tomorrow, so tonight I have to go through my receipts to figure out the value of the stuff I'm bringing back. I sure am looking forward to seeing my friends and the new Vancouver temple!
Monday, July 19, 2010
Day 23 - still hangin' in Salt Lake City
I had a day of rest finally, on Sunday. No driving around, no rushing to get somewhere else. It was really nice for a change. I went to church at a nearby building, then came back to the hotel to read and have a really long nap. In the evening I drove up the mountain to the Bountiful temple. Amazing view from up there. It's a steep climb, in a few places I had to put the car in 2nd gear to keep it going! The altitude gives an amazingly wide view of the Salt Lake valley, with the Great Salt Lake not too far in the distance. I took a half hour drive out to the south shore of the lake but the drive-in access had closed an hour before. Not much to see there, but it has a really briny smell. What a surprise!
So that was it for excitement for the day. Watched some Youtube stuff and went to bed.
This morning I headed over to the Salt Lake temple and got there in plenty of time to do the 11:00 session. There were lots of people there. It was very interesting. I had never seen a live session before, and it really seemed to add something to the whole experience. It seemed, I don't know how to put it...it just seemed better with actual people standing there doing the talking, rather than watching a video and hearing the recorded voices I've heard so many times before.
And that temple is absolutely stunning. Just gorgeous. I'd recommend a visit there for anyone, to see it at least once. It just reopened today after two weeks of maintenance, and one of the staff there told me they'd been replacing some wall paper. I got so lost in there! I guess they had removed the signs telling you which way to go to the change rooms. I wandered around for a while until I smelled chlorine, then I beat a hasty retreat. The smell of chlorine meant I was getting close to the baptistry where the teenagers do baptisms for the dead. I was decked out in all my temple clothes, and the teens aren't supposed to see all that stuff until they get endowed for themselves, so I turned right around and tried to find another way. I finally found my way back. That place is really big and without signs you can get turned around really fast.
I wandered around Temple Square for a bit and soaked in the beauty of the gardens and how serene it was. There wasn't a lot of traffic noise in there, despite being right downtown. It's a real sanctuary in there, lots of statues and fountains and flowers...ahhhh. I could have spent all day in there.
I went into the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. Wow, that place is gorgeous, too. I went up to the 10th floor to have some lunch and enjoyed a west view overlooking temple square. However, for some reason (even at 2:00 when the lunch crowd was pretty much gone), it took the kitchen about 40 minutes to make me a sandwich. The manager brought it out and said they'd comp it. So, whee, an annoyingly long wait and I was very hungry, but I got a free lunch. If I were spiteful I would have ordered a few desserts to go, too! :) But I'm not like that. I was really tired. Nap time for Pammy.
I went back down to the lobby and watched tourists for a while, then went to see the movie about Joseph Smith in the Legacy Theater. There were a lot of people in there. The tissue boxes at the theater entrance should have been a hint. I thought I had a pack on me and had to resort to sniffing during loud musical moments to clear my nose. So many things in that movie turned on the tears. When Joseph's father was dying, he asked Joseph, "Will I see Alvin again?" Alvin was Joseph's oldest brother who had died several years before, as a young man. I knew the answer was yes, but those tender feelings of loss and grief in the movie made me miss mom again. I wish she was here.
I had parked my car under the conference center (free parking when you get a token from the temple), so on the way out I stopped in and peeked inside for a few minutes. Oh my goodness. The place seats 21,000 on two levels and it was constructed so that there are no supporting pillars blocking anyone's view. Fantastic! Here's a link to some photos of the place. http://byuvirtualtours.blogspot.com/2010/03/lds-conference-center.html
And now I'm back in my hotel room. Tomorrow's my birthday, although it felt like the celebration started today with being able to be in the temple. Tomorrow I'll go back to Temple Square with my camera and try to spend some time in the family history library. So much to see...should have booked myself an extra day here!
I've been thinking about home lately. I don't know what it's going to be like to be back and not have an itinerary to follow anymore. Well, for a couple of weeks, anyways. I'll be back in Utah in mid-August to go to BYU's Education Week. Can't wait for that!
There have only been a few times I've wished I had company on this trip. Today waiting for my lunch was one. But the rest of the time I'm really happy to be doing this by myself. I've spent a lot of time thinking and listening instead of doing all the talking. It's been precious time. I'll be kind of sad to see it end.
So that was it for excitement for the day. Watched some Youtube stuff and went to bed.
This morning I headed over to the Salt Lake temple and got there in plenty of time to do the 11:00 session. There were lots of people there. It was very interesting. I had never seen a live session before, and it really seemed to add something to the whole experience. It seemed, I don't know how to put it...it just seemed better with actual people standing there doing the talking, rather than watching a video and hearing the recorded voices I've heard so many times before.
And that temple is absolutely stunning. Just gorgeous. I'd recommend a visit there for anyone, to see it at least once. It just reopened today after two weeks of maintenance, and one of the staff there told me they'd been replacing some wall paper. I got so lost in there! I guess they had removed the signs telling you which way to go to the change rooms. I wandered around for a while until I smelled chlorine, then I beat a hasty retreat. The smell of chlorine meant I was getting close to the baptistry where the teenagers do baptisms for the dead. I was decked out in all my temple clothes, and the teens aren't supposed to see all that stuff until they get endowed for themselves, so I turned right around and tried to find another way. I finally found my way back. That place is really big and without signs you can get turned around really fast.
I wandered around Temple Square for a bit and soaked in the beauty of the gardens and how serene it was. There wasn't a lot of traffic noise in there, despite being right downtown. It's a real sanctuary in there, lots of statues and fountains and flowers...ahhhh. I could have spent all day in there.
I went into the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. Wow, that place is gorgeous, too. I went up to the 10th floor to have some lunch and enjoyed a west view overlooking temple square. However, for some reason (even at 2:00 when the lunch crowd was pretty much gone), it took the kitchen about 40 minutes to make me a sandwich. The manager brought it out and said they'd comp it. So, whee, an annoyingly long wait and I was very hungry, but I got a free lunch. If I were spiteful I would have ordered a few desserts to go, too! :) But I'm not like that. I was really tired. Nap time for Pammy.
I went back down to the lobby and watched tourists for a while, then went to see the movie about Joseph Smith in the Legacy Theater. There were a lot of people in there. The tissue boxes at the theater entrance should have been a hint. I thought I had a pack on me and had to resort to sniffing during loud musical moments to clear my nose. So many things in that movie turned on the tears. When Joseph's father was dying, he asked Joseph, "Will I see Alvin again?" Alvin was Joseph's oldest brother who had died several years before, as a young man. I knew the answer was yes, but those tender feelings of loss and grief in the movie made me miss mom again. I wish she was here.
I had parked my car under the conference center (free parking when you get a token from the temple), so on the way out I stopped in and peeked inside for a few minutes. Oh my goodness. The place seats 21,000 on two levels and it was constructed so that there are no supporting pillars blocking anyone's view. Fantastic! Here's a link to some photos of the place. http://byuvirtualtours.blogspot.com/2010/03/lds-conference-center.html
And now I'm back in my hotel room. Tomorrow's my birthday, although it felt like the celebration started today with being able to be in the temple. Tomorrow I'll go back to Temple Square with my camera and try to spend some time in the family history library. So much to see...should have booked myself an extra day here!
I've been thinking about home lately. I don't know what it's going to be like to be back and not have an itinerary to follow anymore. Well, for a couple of weeks, anyways. I'll be back in Utah in mid-August to go to BYU's Education Week. Can't wait for that!
There have only been a few times I've wished I had company on this trip. Today waiting for my lunch was one. But the rest of the time I'm really happy to be doing this by myself. I've spent a lot of time thinking and listening instead of doing all the talking. It's been precious time. I'll be kind of sad to see it end.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Day 21 - destination Salt Lake City
Oh my word. The last two days were spent crossing Nebraska and Wyoming. Talk about monotonous. Very flat, very boring. When I got into Utah today the terrain changed and it got greener and much hillier. Lots of fun, tight curves to zoom around. Whee! It's great to be in the mountains again. I hadn't seen them for just about three weeks. When you're used to seeing them lurking on the horizon every day, you kinda miss them after a while.
So I'm here in Salt Lake City for several days, and the plan is to hang out downtown for a day or two, go to the temple, check out the new conference center, the Joseph Smith Memorial building, the Family History Library, and at least a couple more of the many temples in this valley. I'm looking forward to going to church tomorrow. Last week I missed it because I had a long drive from Palmyra to Ohio and I needed to get on the road early in the morning. Next Sunday I'll be in Vancouver with my friends. I am so happy about seeing them again! It's been a long time. I had such a great time with them when I lived there. I moved from there to Calgary nine years ago. Where has the time gone?
So today, as I was trying to keep my mind interested and awake behind the wheel, I was listening to some of the general conference talks from this past April. I could feel the spirit very strongly and I shut the CD off and asked, "Is there something you want to tell me?" These words came to my mind a moment later: "Stay on this road."
Profound, as usual. The literal meaning was, of course, to stay on this road to get to Salt Lake City. The figurative meaning is to keep doing what I'm doing. I've been on the road for 21 days now and most of my time has been spent listening to church talks and the MoTabs (Mormon Tabernacle Choir, haha), pondering the events of the restoration of the church, and of course soaking in all the beautiful historical sites. I've been very focused these last few weeks. It's been such a great trip, and I'm sure it's due to feeling so absolutely confident, calm, and peaceful because I followed a prompting to take this long driving trip. This time alone has been a real time of spiritual growth for me. I've had many long hours on the road to think about things, about myself and about the youth in the church in general and the challenges they face. I'll have to keep these things in mind when I start teaching the seminary classes in September.
Just as another example of how profound the spirit is, I'll tell you a story about an experience I had many years ago. I was watching a movie about a volcano. I had seen it before and there was a scene where some scientists were right at the crater of the volcano, and a small tremor shook some rocks loose and injured one of them. I thought, wouldn't that be something to know that stuff like that was going to happen? I knew that the town at the foot of the mountain was going to be destroyed. How neat would that be to be able to tell everyone, "Listen up! There's trouble coming. You have 12 hours to get your stuff together and get to safety!" This idea was firmly in my head, and I continued giving it a lot of thought.
I knew that Christ had the power to control the elements. He did so when he calmed the storm and walked on the sea. He certainly could provide a warning to people that disaster was about to strike, to give them time to evacuate. I figured it was a righteous thing to want to help people to avoid destruction, so I bravely asked, "Could you give that power to me? What would it take to be able to do that?"
And right then that still, small voice spoke and said, "You need to know the will of God."
Wow. What a great answer. Of course He knows all the things that will happen to the earth, and He certainly could warn people. Sometimes a warning comes. Sometimes it doesn't. And we can't even pretend to know His will when something like an earthquake or tsunami or hurricane happens, because sometimes it is His will that some perish and some suffer. Often you hear people say that when the community came together to help each other after a disaster, it was such a time of bonding and love and they became closer and stronger by working and grieving together. That's part of His plan sometimes.
I asked for a superpower and got shot down because it would have to be used in accordance with God's will. I have trouble understanding His will for me sometimes, let alone the rest of the world! That little voice packs a punch in such few words.
So I'm here in Salt Lake City for several days, and the plan is to hang out downtown for a day or two, go to the temple, check out the new conference center, the Joseph Smith Memorial building, the Family History Library, and at least a couple more of the many temples in this valley. I'm looking forward to going to church tomorrow. Last week I missed it because I had a long drive from Palmyra to Ohio and I needed to get on the road early in the morning. Next Sunday I'll be in Vancouver with my friends. I am so happy about seeing them again! It's been a long time. I had such a great time with them when I lived there. I moved from there to Calgary nine years ago. Where has the time gone?
So today, as I was trying to keep my mind interested and awake behind the wheel, I was listening to some of the general conference talks from this past April. I could feel the spirit very strongly and I shut the CD off and asked, "Is there something you want to tell me?" These words came to my mind a moment later: "Stay on this road."
Profound, as usual. The literal meaning was, of course, to stay on this road to get to Salt Lake City. The figurative meaning is to keep doing what I'm doing. I've been on the road for 21 days now and most of my time has been spent listening to church talks and the MoTabs (Mormon Tabernacle Choir, haha), pondering the events of the restoration of the church, and of course soaking in all the beautiful historical sites. I've been very focused these last few weeks. It's been such a great trip, and I'm sure it's due to feeling so absolutely confident, calm, and peaceful because I followed a prompting to take this long driving trip. This time alone has been a real time of spiritual growth for me. I've had many long hours on the road to think about things, about myself and about the youth in the church in general and the challenges they face. I'll have to keep these things in mind when I start teaching the seminary classes in September.
Just as another example of how profound the spirit is, I'll tell you a story about an experience I had many years ago. I was watching a movie about a volcano. I had seen it before and there was a scene where some scientists were right at the crater of the volcano, and a small tremor shook some rocks loose and injured one of them. I thought, wouldn't that be something to know that stuff like that was going to happen? I knew that the town at the foot of the mountain was going to be destroyed. How neat would that be to be able to tell everyone, "Listen up! There's trouble coming. You have 12 hours to get your stuff together and get to safety!" This idea was firmly in my head, and I continued giving it a lot of thought.
I knew that Christ had the power to control the elements. He did so when he calmed the storm and walked on the sea. He certainly could provide a warning to people that disaster was about to strike, to give them time to evacuate. I figured it was a righteous thing to want to help people to avoid destruction, so I bravely asked, "Could you give that power to me? What would it take to be able to do that?"
And right then that still, small voice spoke and said, "You need to know the will of God."
Wow. What a great answer. Of course He knows all the things that will happen to the earth, and He certainly could warn people. Sometimes a warning comes. Sometimes it doesn't. And we can't even pretend to know His will when something like an earthquake or tsunami or hurricane happens, because sometimes it is His will that some perish and some suffer. Often you hear people say that when the community came together to help each other after a disaster, it was such a time of bonding and love and they became closer and stronger by working and grieving together. That's part of His plan sometimes.
I asked for a superpower and got shot down because it would have to be used in accordance with God's will. I have trouble understanding His will for me sometimes, let alone the rest of the world! That little voice packs a punch in such few words.
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