This trip started after church a couple of Sundays ago. We left home and drove to our dear cousins' home near Boise, Idaho. After spending the night with them, they got up to work, poor folks! We got on the Harley and rode to The Dalles, Oregon. What a beautiful ride. Oregon was greener than usual because of the wet winter we just experienced. After a night at The Dalles, we rode on in to visit the Portland Temple. It's a beauty to be sure! But even more beautiful than the outside is the woodwork in the ordinance room which about took my breath away! To be certain, the craftsmanship in every temple is unexcelled. But the woodwork and detail of the Portland Temple Ordinance Room about floored me! Loved it beyond words!

We spent the night in Portland and then rode to Kennewick, Washington. The Columbia River Gorge is always beautiful but this spring it is spectacular.  Loved it both directions! Wish we would have had some time to wet a fishing line or two!  We attended the Columbia River Temple in Kennewick. It's one of the "smaller" temples but it sure is a beauty!

But we weren't quite done yet! Off to Seattle to spend a night or two. Crossing the mountains was a bit chilly and the wind was blowing to beat the band before we got to the mountains but safely over the top we went and down the other side. What a beautiful ride this was too. After the first night we rode up to Vancouver, Canada to visit the temple there. Another of the "small" temples with big beauty!

But, even that much was just not enough so we rode back to Seattle. The next morning we attended the Seattle temple. What a setting in all those trees, up on that hill! No words!

After our time in the temple we were back on the Harley to Kennewick. Then on Sunday to my cousins' house near Boise, again. A little golf on Monday and headed home Tuesday in time for a granddaughter's dance concert Tuesday night. What a beautiful time we had on this trip. Something like 1625 miles on the Harley.

The Harley has been parked and the snow has been flying this winter, and continued to fly at home this past week. We had trailered to St George and then rode to Boulder City, Nevada (in a pretty good rain storm). Some of our friends rode all the way from northern Utah to St George and it was snowing when we passed over Beaver pass! Hardy souls to be sure! Last Friday we rode from Boulder City to Tucson, Arizona. Then Saturday Grandma M and I rode back to Phoenix to visit the temple. Traffic was a disaster so we barely made the 2:00 endowment session. Loved being in the house of the Lord, again. And enjoyed getting there on the Harley! Being there with my wife reminds me of the eternal nature of the family and the feelings of the temple help to soften my heart and bring me closer to my family.

Leaving the temple we rode for about a hour to meet some friends for dinner, still in greater Phoenix.

Then back to Tucson for the night!

Sunday after church we rode over to sit in parking lot and watch the Thunderbirds perform at the local airbase. Love watching their amazing precision flying!

Tuesday we visited the Tucson Temple. Wonderful building in a beautiful setting. Temple keys are the same in all the temples. The ordinances and covenants made are all the same. But, each building is unique. Tucson is more unique appearing than most.

We left there and visited the Gilbert Temple too. What a beauty sitting in the middle of a crazy busy city!

"We love thy house of God"!

https://youtu.be/c-9IKOgc_uA

I found this article in the March 2018 Ensign. I hope it helps you understand better the whys of the temples.

The Blessings of Temples in My Life
By Elder Helmut D. Wondra
Area Seventy

My love for the temple goes back to my childhood when I knew it only from pictures and stories. Every time my parents came back from a visit to the Bern Temple in Switzerland, they always seemed happier and brighter than before--and they always brought back delicious Swiss chocolate. This way I gained a very positive connection to the house of the Lord at a very young age.
At the age of 13, I had the opportunity to see and enter a temple for the first time. Even just by looking at the exterior I was moved by the sanctity and purity of the temple. In the temple itself, I felt close to heaven. These feelings have only become deeper and clearer over the years.
Above the doors of the temple is written: “Holiness to the Lord, the House of the Lord.”
The Lord Jesus Christ is indeed the Lord of the temple. These holy houses are consecrated to Him and our Heavenly Father. Temples are sanctified by the presence of the Holy Ghost. Christ is the source of the power and the light emanating from the temple. All symbols and covenants, all ordinances of the temple, point to Him and His great Atonement and help us to become more like Him.

Our everyday life is often characterized by noise and turmoil. To leave it behind from time to time, to come to the house of the Lord and to open ourselves to an environment of peace and holiness brings peace to our soul.

In this pure environment it is easier for us to find answers to our deepest questions and concerns. In his first message as President of the Church, Russell M. Nelson promised the following:
“The ordinances of the temple and the covenants you make there are key to strengthening your life, your marriage and family, and your ability to resist the attacks of the adversary. Your worship in the temple and your service there for your ancestors will bless you with increased personal revelation and peace and will fortify your commitment to stay on the covenant path.”
The fulfillment of the great promises of the temple depends on how faithfully we keep the covenants of the temple and how much we actually consecrate ourselves to the Lord and His work.
We do not have to be perfect to go to the temple and to receive the wonderful blessings that await us there. But we should strive for the necessary worthiness and bring the sacrifice of a broken heart and a contrite spirit. For me, this means that I have to develop a malleable, soft heart--a heart that aligns with my Father in Heaven. A contrite spirit means to me that I adopt an honest attitude, that I am aware of my imperfections, and that I need the help of the Lord to return to my Father in Heaven.
The Lord has promised:

“Blessed are all they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost.”

The greatest blessing I experienced in the house of the Lord was that I was able to lay the foundation of an eternal family together with my beloved wife. Because of the covenants of the temple and the sealing authority that is exercised there, we have the promise that our marriage will last for time and for all eternity, if we remain faithful to the covenants. We have the promise that, together with our loved ones, we may live forever in the presence of Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father.
The fulfillment of this promise is worth every sacrifice.
Let us be a people that comes to the temple as often as possible to be sanctified and cleansed, to receive revelation and power from on high, to serve our ancestors and, through the covenants of the gospel and the grace of Christ, to receive all the blessings our Heavenly Father has in store for us.

Listen carefully as this educated woman (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendy_Watson_Nelson) testifies of her husband's calling as a prophet, seer, and revelator, Christ's chosen at this time to lead us:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTlS3BitHgo#action=share

This month we celebrate and rejoice in the newly dedicated Rome Temple. I think you'll enjoy this brief video introducing this marvelous facility:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhWgPwEQQ98#action=share

Can we fully understand temples without understanding He whom we go there to serve and to worship? To that end, here is a link to the testimonies of His modern apostles:

https://youtu.be/j6G1CtoJqQU

We got a bonus temple trip this year! The weather wasn’t good enough for us to be comfortable making the trip all the way on the Harley. So, we trailered it to Boise on November 2, 2018. By the time I got out of a doctor’s visit, and drove to Boise, unloaded, and rode to Meridian it was close to 6:00 p.m. The temple was slammed busy and we made the 8:15 (last) endowment session of the day. We had to catch the Meridian temple that weekend because they would be closed the following two weeks for their annual deep cleaning.

The baptismal font is nice and large and sure is beautiful! The Spirit was so strong tonight in font that I was emotional as I tried to recite the baptismal prayer. One of the temple workers commented on feeling the deep feelings as well. So did GrandmaM.

Saturday morning we visited the Boise Temple and had a great experience there. The baptismal locker room is a bit small. The lockers are built into the walls rather than being free standing. They could use more changing booths and showers too. But it sure is beautiful! Enjoyed very much our time there and it wasn't busy like Meridian which was nice.

Tuesday we were at the Twin Falls Temple. This visit completes our visits to the Idaho temples, until the announced temple in Pocatello is built and dedicated! The mural in the first ordnance room is reminiscent of the the Snake River Gorge and since the temple is pretty close to the gorge that was a nice touch. The mural includes birds, brush, deer, and antelope. Loved it! Perfect for the setting.

You meet the nicest people in the temples too. We met a couple serving in the temple having recently returned from a mission. Prior to going on the mission they were members of the Temple Riders Association too! Sure enjoyed chatting with them!

The Spirit is so poignant even palpable in the temple! Especially, again, today in the baptismal font!

The temple Matron came in for a devotional for the two of us and shared D&C 109:22 with us:

And we ask thee, Holy Father, that thy servants may go forth from this house armed with thy power, and that thy name may be upon them, and thy glory be round about them, and thine angels have charge over them;

We hope and pray to realize these blessings.