Cathedral of the Madeline & Utah State Capitol

Before we knew it, we were back at the airport again - this time headed back to Utah for the annual Colorado Family Reunion. We sure spend a lot of time at the airport. This time we left from Columbia, which is always more convenient.

We had heard that we needed to try Garrett's popcorn the next time we were in the Chicago airport.

They had some amazing flavors!

Their sweet and savory option is famous and was super tasty.

Jalen was a fan.

Amazingly, we made both our flights without any problems. Grandad picked us up at the airport and we decided to visit some places in Salt Lake that I wanted to take the kids to during this trip.

Our first stop was the Cathedral of the Madeleine. It's a Catholic cathedral in downtown Salt Lake City. I visited it on a high school field trip and have always wanted to return. It was as beautiful as I remembered.

Altar

Organ pipes

Confessional

Stunning colors

Next we headed to the Utah State Capitol. I have always wanted to go inside. My family went once when I was in third grade, but I was in the hospital having surgery at the time. It's a beautiful building inside and out.

They only do tours once an hour and there was a lot of construction, so I was worried we'd miss out, but we made it in time.

The main floor is a wide open gallery made of marble shipped from Georgia.

Beautiful murals

Mural of Brigham Young.

Mural of Father Escalante.

We took a ride in the old elevator.

Interesting sign in the bathroom.

The main floor has a circle of large medallions for the counties of Utah. San Juan County is the one I grew up in.

This is a salon where dignitaries meet. Shortly before we were there, all the governors of the United States were here for a meeting. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, president of Ukraine, was there to address them. Kind of cool to think about.

Governor Cox was not there, but I took a picture with him. I fed him when he was a young missionary in Mexico.

View from the balcony.

House of Representatives.

Women in Utah were the first that were given the right to vote - 50 years before the 19th Amendment made it mandatory. The ceiling includes a painting of Seraph Young, the first female to cast a vote.

View from the gallery of the House of Representatives.

The Senate

View of Monument Valley in Southern Utah.

Another view from the balcony.

Supreme Court of Utah

I loved the colors and details.

I'm glad my family is willing to go along with me on these little adventures.

The original capitol building

Monument to the Mormon Battalion

Martha Hughes Cannon - first female state senator in U.S. History. Utah women rock! A statue of her is also in the United States Capitol building.

These are things I have wanted to do for a while so I was grateful Grandad was willing to take these side trips with us.