It’s Sunday, Father’s Day, here in Hurricane, Utah. It’s going to be a scorcher today, 104 degrees, so I won’t be hiking, walking the dogs, or doing much else other than sitting in the air-conditioned RV, watching TV and slurping ice cold drinks.
I will watch the U.S. Open golf tournament later today. Our local (Murrieta, California) golf hero Rickie Fowler is two shots out of the lead going into today’s finale. He’s never won a “major” golf championship, and the U.S. Open is the biggest of all.
Rickie is an unusual golfer. He has all the talent in the world, but he also has good looks and a winning personality. Sort of like Arnold Palmer. And, just like Arnie, Mr. Fowler has made much more money off the course than he has on it. Rickie is only 28 years old and has more endorsements than many more accomplished golf pros.
The biggest question about Rickie is, now that he’s got all the money he will ever need, is whether he will reach his golf potential, or just be happy with being a celebrity. As his golf coach said this year, “Do you want to win championships, or do you want to be a Kardashian?”
Hopefully, our Murrieta Valley High School superstar will bring his “A” game today to the U.S. Open.
We will be leaving Hurricane on Tuesday, heading north to Moab, Utah. It’s been a nice stop here: good hiking, a nice RV park, lots of amenities nearby, and we’ve met some nice people, too. WiFi reception has been acceptable, if a bit slow. Charlie has said that she would return to this RV park.
I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it before, but Hurricane is located about 26 miles north of the Arizona-Utah state line. At that point, there are two sister cities, Colorado City and Hilldale, which straddle the border. They are home to the FLDS cult (Fundamentalist Mormon) that has become infamous for polygamy, child abuse, welfare fraud, tax evasion, kidnapping, false imprisonment, and sex crimes against minors. Other than that, I suppose that they are good God-fearing, Bible-thumping Christians, with love in their hearts.
Hurricane is the closest legitimate city to Colorado City/Hilldale, so the FLDS cult women (captives?) come into town to shop for groceries at Lin’s Market, which is a block from the Willow Wind RV Park (where we’re staying). It’s hard not to notice these gals and their children.
No, this photo wasn’t shot on Sunday. This is how they dress everyday, everywhere. The women and their daughters are covered from head to toe with old-fashioned dresses, and wear ugly, clunky shoes. They also appear to wear no makeup whatsoever, and all of them have long hair which is combed up high on the head. It’s a weird, severe look, certain to chase off amorous advances from men, which is, I’m sure, what the FLDS polygamous husbands intend.
In the ten days that we’ve been here, I’ve seen many of these gals at the supermarket, and I’ve yet to see one smiling. They look grim. (Maybe that’s because their husband has twenty other wives, and their primary job in life is to produce more female children for their husband to abuse?)
During the past week, the acting FLDS cult chief, Lyle Jeffs, who had been on the lam from law enforcement, was apprehended in South Dakota. He’s facing multiple charges, including food stamp fraud, in association with the many other scams that the FLDS cult has been running for many years. Lyle’s older brother, Warren, who is the “Prophet” and spiritual leader of the cult, is serving a life sentence for a variety of crimes, mostly against women. The brothers’ father, Rulon, was the former Prophet, and had 75 wives. When Rulon died, and his son Warren took over the reins, he married his father’s 20 remaining wives (his stepmothers). “Hey, Mom, you’re looking pretty sexy tonite; come to bed!
Anyway, it is a sad spectacle here in southern Utah, seeing these captive, brainwashed women and children trudge about, like zombies. It fills my heart with sadness to see women mistreated like this.
The mainstream Mormon Church (LDS) is dominant in Utah, and the people here seem to be very fine folk. Polygamy, which was a key original tenet of Mormonism, was outlawed in the LDS faith over 100 years ago, so the FLDS adherents are tolerated, but looked down upon as an embarrassment to the faith. Mormonism has moved on, they say. Now, if they would only permit alcohol sales at the supermarket…
The best thing about Utah are the beautiful red rocks in various shades and shapes. On Tuesday, we will be driving about 5 hours north, and will be driving through a lot of them. I can hardly wait to get to Moab and resume my hiking mission.