Saturday I took a drive down to Ephraim, Utah to clear my head after a really long and arduous work week.  The COVID mess is stressing us all, and especially those clients who are in, or nearing, retirement and wanting stability in this insane time.  It was a tough week.

Ephraim is a little college town in central Utah along US highway 89; you may have seen my previous post about Highway 89.  The town was named after an Old Testament figure, Ephraim, and was founded in the 1850’s by Mormon pioneers.  Ephraim is the home of Snow College, my wife’s alma mater.  Back in April, on my birthday, we drove down there, and Sheri gave me a tour of the campus.  Snow College was founded in 1888 by some Danish Mormon settlers who wanted to educate their children .  The school was originally called Sanpete Stake Academy as Ephraim in located in Sanpete County.

The name was later changed to Snow Academy in 1900 in honor of then current LDS (Mormon) Church president Lorenzo Snow who gave the struggling little school much needed operating funds.  In 1923 the school took its present name, Snow College.

So why of all places did I drive back to Ephraim?  Well, for two reasons other than what I said about clearing my head above.  First, every June I go to the Rat Fink Reunion car show in Manti, Utah about 12 or so miles south on US 89.  Rat Fink Reunion is a celebration of Ed Roth, a Utah based hot rod designer.  And if you have been following me for awhile, Rat Fink is my favorite car show.  The show was cancelled this year due to the COVID issue, but the place was calling me.  The drive from my place is really beautiful, and a nice opportunity to properly exercise the Porsche Cayman GTS.

Second, in April I took a photograph of a large bell and clock tower in the center of the Snow College campus that didn’t turn out like I wanted.  I didn’t notice this until I had gotten back home, but there was a big ugly COVID sign right in my photo frame.  So, that shot has been in my mind ever since.  Anyway, here is the photograph that was causing me all of this anxiety.

What caught my eye was the repetition of the tower structure along with the adjacent lamp poles.  I love how those poles mirror that tower structure, growing smaller as they get further away just like the tower gets smaller for each phase upward.  I like the black and white as I feel it removes a little of the realism of the scene, making it more of an artistic statement and less of a photo of a bell tower.  (This is just my opinion, however.)

Now, my wife likes this photograph better in its original color, so here is that image.

So while on campus, I found some other shots as well.  Here are a few of my favorites.

Here is the same shot in its original color.  And yes, that is my car over on the side.

Lastly, here is a closeup shot of the center of the Noyes Building with its gorgeous details and architecture.  This is definitely older craftsmanship, not seen on newer buildings.

After photographing the campus, I made the little drive to Manti, and got a burger and drink at Miller’s Drive-Thru.  I took my burger the park in Manti and had lunch in the mostly empty park while contemplating current state of affairs regarding Rat Fink, COVID-19 and the world in general.

Here are a couple of photos from my last Rat Fink post for old time’s sake — just to remember how things used to be.

So, while the burger was quite tasty, maybe not quite as good at The Malt Shop’s burgers (the Malt Shop is on US 89 in Ephraim, just around the corner from the Snow College campus), lunch was bitter sweet.  While I certainly enjoyed the drive down and the opportunity to do a little more photography, the lunch experience was indeed strange.

While a few families were in the various park pavilions (the family near me was celebrating a 1 year baby’s birthday), the Manti park was mostly empty — no cars, no band, no crowds, no food vendors, just grass and trees.  Maybe it was Mother Nature reminding me how insignificant and temporary we humans are.

I hope you enjoyed my photos and the little history about Snow College.  Drop me a note and let me know what you like in some of the photos — monochrome or color.

And thanks so much for taking time to visit my blog.  Wishing you all well.