Where was I?

I have been away from Rensselaer for a few days and may need some time to catch up with with has been happening here.

See if you can tell from the following pictures where I was. And if you can do that, see if you can identify what each picture shows. (I will add some comments to the pictures in a day or two or three.)

Update 1: Two commenters have correctly identified the area as the Salt Lake Metro area. Now for the hard part. Each of the pictures represents something important about Salt Lake City. What is each picture trying to show?

Comments on the pictures:

1. The first pictures suggests that the city is a state capitol. SLC is the capitol of Utah. The other thing of interest in the picture is the street name, South Temple. Turning left takes one past the headquarters of the Latter Day Saints--i.e., the Mormons.

2. The mural is in an old railroad passenger station that no longer is used, at least not for train passengers. The date above the mural is 1869, and if you remember American history, you might recognize that that is the year in which the first transcontinental rail route was completed. The meeting of the line coming from the east with the line coming from the west did not happen in SLC, which was south of the line, but it was in Utah.

3. The plane is a SR 71, Blackbird. It was introduced in 1964 and still holds a number of aviation records. A spy plane, it was never shot down--the Russians did not have a fighter that could fly high enough to reach it, and when a surface-to-air missile was launched against it, it would simply speed up and outrun the missile. The plane is at the museum at the Hill Air Force Base north of SLC. The museum is large and impressive.

4. The Kennecott Copper mine to the south west of SLC claims to be the biggest man-made hole on earth. It is three-fourths of a mile deep and two and ha half miles across. The ore contains only about 1% copper, but it is mined on a massive scale, and the mine has produced over 17 million tons of copper over is long life. The valuable minerals are the result of an volcanic intrusion, so the ore continues as deep as they have drilled. As long as they can keep going deeper, there will be ore. The refining process is quite complex, and part of it takes place about twenty miles to the north of the mine, near the Great Salt Lake. There are miles of tailing along I-80, and a smelter with a chimney 1200 feet tall.

The mine seems to be on the itinerary of every tour bus that goes through SLC.

5. The Great Salt Lake as seen from Antelope Island State Park. The water here is very shallow, and one can walk out for hundred of yards. There are no fish the live in the lake but apparently some insects can breed in it. It is not a lake with a lot of recreational potential.