Religious Freedom in the Desert

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” – The Constitution of the United States of America, 1^st Amendment (Proposed 9/25/1789; Ratified 12/15/1791)

Many of the first settlers in the American colonies were seeking freedom from religious persecution in Europe. In the same way, some of the settlers of the American West were seeking freedom from religious persecution in the Eastern United States. Our Constitution protects our legal right to practice any religion, but that has not necessarily changed the way people perceive and interact with those who have different beliefs.

Mormonism began in the Northeast but resistance to these different beliefs led Joseph Smith to take the followers of this new faith to Illinois and ultimately Brigham Young led the followers to Salt Lake City. In the same way that the Pilgrims found freedom an ocean away from Europe and in the less populated colonies, Mormonism was finally able to put down its roots across the continent from its birth and in the isolation of the Utah desert. Visiting Salt Lake City reminded us of the diverse applications of freedom in the United States; the Mormon family-oriented, conservative lifestyle is a stark contrast with our previous urban desert experience—the hedonism of Las Vegas.

We took the opportunity to learn about Mormonism from the experts. We visited Temple Square and attended a movie about Joseph Smith shown in the memorial building of his namesake. It was insightful to learn about his journey and the beginning of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

We also enjoyed the modern day benefits of Salt Lake City’s location—the ski slopes! A little bit of powder and warmth reminded us we were not in the Northeast. It is a mystery to me how it can be warm enough to eat lunch on the patio of the ski lodge and then ski down the mountain on fresh snow—must be a miracle.

Eastward HO!?

The Expedition of Lewis and Clark, the California Gold Rush, the Louisiana Purchase, the Oregon Trail. America's cultural narrative is Westward. Even our pre-nation history is told by European explorers sailing into the sunset to the New World.

Whether it is cultural indoctrination or innate aesthetic appreciation, there is something I love about going West. Watching the sunset over the Pacific Ocean after crossing our great nation filled me with a sense of hope that tomorrow will be even better than today. But what if tomorrow means going East?

Our road trip is no longer mimicking the historic expansion of the United States. Now we are driving east. I can't help but think how the trip is more than halfway done--and, for me, concluding an adventure can hardly compete with the adrenaline rush of beginning one. The outset of an adventure is filled with expectations--the end is filled with great memories, but the potential and unknown are no more.

I shouldn't get ahead of myself here, we still have a continent to cross, friends and family to revisit and more exploration of what makes America great. The route back will be further north so pray we don't have to use our snow chains (since we don't have any;).

California, the land of reduced service levels...

We will only comment on this for a moment, but I thought it was interesting to mention. On the east coast we hear about California being broke and their budget not being balanced, but I did not expect to experience the results of this. We stopped into a state park in Northern California to see the redwoods, we expected to find a state park with information and rangers…we saw one ranger. We walked up to the visitor’s center and were greeted with a sign reading “please note due to budget cuts you may experience reduced levels of service”…hmmm we thought. So we proceeded to get a map, and we tried to use the bathroom which we soon discovered was locked…reduced levels of service. We decided to try and do a short loop to see an old redwood, called “old tree” that was supposed to be 12” across, we found the path and soon encountered a fallen down tree, we walked on and found several fallen trees across the path…apparently more reduced levels of service…

We continued into San Francisco that evening and the next morning on our walk along the wharf were continually greeted with folks trying to save the state parks, we were clearly not the only people noticing the reduced levels of service…

Northern California, more American dreams

We drove up Route 1 and 101 along the California coast, it is tremendous scenery. The rolling hills and incoming fog reminded me of Jurassic Park and yet we were right between two of the largest cities in America. We arrived late to Palo Alto and the next morning went running around the campus of Stanford University. It is unlike any other school, with Spanish influenced architecture and wide expanses of lawn. It is a school known for its tremendous scholastic ability and its business school prides itself on its entrepreneurial flavor.

Today we enjoyed the beauty of the Napa wine valley, we drove through the hills and stopped to taste the local varietals. The people are friendly, relaxed and encouraging. At one vineyard we ran into a gentleman originally from Wales who has become an American citizen and is a chef. He has decided to leave the wine industry and start his own business being a private chef. He said in this country you have to have a dream and a goal, it’s great to be an American but if you aren’t living your dream and you don’t have a goal, you aren’t living up to what this country stands for.

California, the land of the American dream...

We did it; we made it to the Pacific Ocean. Now some people have told us, that if we get tired of driving, we can always book a flight home once we get here…I think we’ll keep driving.

Driving from the city of human desires and imagination in the middle of the desert, we have now made it to Hollywood! Hollywood an American creation entirely different, a place where we create dreams, stars and stories.

We started our time in Los Angeles in Santa Monica, with a run along the beach and stroll down the 3^rd street promenade. We noticed something truly interesting on the promenade, people like to stand out, here in LA they want to be individuals and be seen, become a star. In New York everyone wants to be an individual but you want to blend in. We walked down the promenade with our tea latte, which my sister told me I had to try, and listened to the musicians, watched the dancing trefoils (girl scouts dressed up as cookies trying to sell cookies, they were successful I should mention since my husband is truly a cookie monster at heart), and enjoyed the flavor of the evening. We made our way back to dinner to share in some good old family reunion time with all the cousins.

We continued our Hollywood experience by getting the specialized tour with a studio tour, and private viewing of a new film from my cousin Greg. He then showed us the walk of fame and the Chinese theatre, and we saw the red carpet being prepped for the Oscars the following evening. It was a true taste of Hollywood, and it was a great flavor of the excitement that is found in this industry of creating the uncreated and limitless possibilities that the human mind can come up with.

We met up with another cousin, the rocket scientist and enjoyed another side of LA seeing the rose bowl and having some fantastic Chinese American food at a dumpling house. Here we heard about the latest in the scientific, space and robotic community in LA. It is the side of the human mind that strives to achieve the unachievable, discover the unknown and each question is taming the impossible. Her latest project is creating a robot to carry an astronauts' living facility, enabling scientists to explore and understand the moon--this is a challenging task! It is so precise and yet it is so creative in an entirely different way than the Hollywood films and New York Fashion.

LA reminded me of the unique privilege we have as Americans to dream, to build and create intellectual capital.

Dam, Sin City

To contrast God's creations, we thought we'd visit a few of man's creations.

The Hoover Dam was the largest concrete structure and largest hydro-electric power plant ever erected when it was finished in 1936. Over a football field high and a football field thick--it takes a lot to harness the mighty Colorado River. As we drove over the Dam we couldn't help but be impressed by what humans can accomplish with a bit of planning.

And then there is the human creation in the image of human creation--Las Vegas. In only a few short steps we revisited places we have actually visited--Egypt, New York, Paris. Only the last time we were in each of these places I didn't remember as many slot machines and strip show advertisements.

At each step of the Johnson Family Vegas Vacation I was reminded of the lovable Clark Griswald--all the signs for the dam tour, our awful luck at the casinos (we lost all $2 we bet), the lone mobile homes in the desert and the remembrance of how important family relationships really are even amongst all the glitz and glamor of the Vegas Strip.

America’s amazing land formations…

After departing New Mexico we hopped back on the road and our next destination was Sedona, Arizona. As we drove through this area of the Southwest we found lots of open space, land formations and lots of Native American reservations.

There is nothing quite like the national parks, a place where we can enjoy the wide open space and natural beauty of our country without all the tourism and all the hustle and bustle of modern life. We decided to see what Arizona had to offer and made our first national park stop, the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest.

The Painted Desert is truly fantastic, the landscape is a movement of color, beginning red and orange and becoming purple and blue as you drive on. Scattered throughout all this landscape are pieces of petrified wood from when this used to be a tropical climate. The petrified wood is both unique and fascinating; the trees crystallized and became stone.

We left the Painted Desert and continued down the interstate driving through the Coconino National forest. It’s amazing you drive through a beautiful national forest with several feet of snow on the ground, and then come over the ridge of the mountain and enter the desert. As you drive into Sedona it is absolutely beautiful with its red rock formations but it is a stark contrast to the wide open unobstructed views of the national parks. Sedona has become known not only for its red rock but also its spiritual energy and vortexes.

The town has become a center for retirement, tourism and spiritual growth. When you walk into the main strip in Sedona, you can find jeep rides through the red rocks, massage centers, UFO siting tours and centers for photographing your aura. Now I don’t know exactly what photographing your aura means or looks like but it appears to be a popular activity.

We took advantage of the red rock country and went for a hike up to Cathedral rock, the most photographed formation in Sedona. It was truly fantastic, and quite strenuous. After completing our on the ground tour we took to the skies in a helicopter ride. We spent about 15 minutes flying around the area and around the formations for a very unique view.

After departing Sedona we took off up north to see the most famous formation we American have, the Grand Canyon. We arrived just in time for sun set, and despite the cool temperatures it was still an amazing sunset. How do you really even try to describe the Grand Canyon, it is truly huge. We often make it larger than life, and I don’t want to do that, but it is difficult to put into words the canyon created by waterways slowly eroding the land and showing us the sediments going back 1900 million years ago, it is hard not to be impressed.