ROAD TRIP! Utah, Colorado & Wyoming

We headed out on our recent road trip September 3 with a flight to Salt Lake City, Utah. Our first stop was Park City on the way to Vernal, Utah. We were planning just a quick stop but ended up having such a fun time at Olympic Park that we stayed for several hours.

Both Lou & I are sports nuts, but Darrin & I are Olympic junkies. Every two years we are glued to the TV until all hours of the night. The Park City Olympic Park was almost like a mini Disneyland for me. To our surprise there was a competition of aerial skiers at the park. One guy from the last Winter Olympics was competing. 

In order to practice during the summer months, they have built a ramp that allows the skiers to do all their twists & turns in the air before landing in a pool.

There was a great museum commemorating the 2002 Winter Olympics held in Salt Lake City & Park City as well as a lot of history of Utah athletes. The Olympic bobsled run gives rides to the public in the winter months. That is something I've always wanted to do so we may make our way back early next year & do it!

Downtown Park City looked like a fun little town but we only had time for a drive down Main Street. If we make it back for a bobsled run, we will definitely enjoy the sights.

Day Two was devoted to exploring Dinosaur National Monument which occupies part of both Utah & Colorado. The huge concentration of dinosaur fossils is just part of the park.

From the visitor center you are taken by tram about 1/4 mile to this building, the Quarry Exhibit Hall, which is built over a huge wall filled with dinosaur fossils. There are over 1500 fossils embedded in the rocks which are now protected by the building.

This is a tiny area of bones in the large wall of fossils. The rangers are available to answer questions & give short talks. In 1909, paleontologist Earl Douglass was searching for fossils for Carnegie Museum. He discovered this place layered with prehistoric plant & animal fossils.

I zoomed way in to show this preserved head of an ancient dinosaur. The ranger explained that there are few heads because the skulls are much more delicate than the leg or back bones.

This gives you an idea of the size of these bones next to my 6'3" guy. It was a fascinating place & I highly recommend a visit if you ever get the chance. 

Utah definitely has some of the most scenic landscapes in our country. Dinosaur National Monument has some striking scenery as you drive around the park - some of the roads are dirt or gravel. Fortunately, the weather was good for us since some of the park can be impassable at times.

Box Canyon in a remote area of Dinosaur National Monument. We did a short half mile hike to the end of the canyon.

In 1914, Josie Morris moved here & lived alone with no running water or electricity for 50 years. This cabin, built in 1934, was where she lived off the land until age 81 when a fall resulting in a broken hip ultimately ended her life in 1964. She did have friends who checked on her periodically & helped her with large projects. She kept her livestock in Box Canyon, raised chickens & devised a way to channel rain water into barrels. I'm amazed, Josie - but , no frickin' way!

It is believed that the Fremont Native American people created these petroglyphs 10,000 years ago in what is now part of Dinosaur National Monuments. I thought this looked like one of the first still life works of art - a vase with flowers carved on the rocks.

The rocky landscapes were stunning as we drove the roads in the park. I particularly like this photo with all the colors & shapes of the rocks.

Both Lou & I thought, "Are we back in Kauai?" This canyon reminded us of Waimea Canyon that we visited in July. It never ceases to amaze what there is to see in this incredible country of ours.

I believe this is goldenrod in the foreground but I could be wrong.

We awoke early to hit the road to Cheyenne - Wyoming's State Capitol. We have been on a mini quest to see all 50 state capitols. The two on this trip were Lou's 49th & 50th! I have 3 more to go.

The Wyoming State Capitol in Cheyenne.

The historic Supreme Court chamber which was the site of important Women's Suffrage events in 1869. Women were given the rights to vote, control property, work in a trade & control their own earnings. This became a positive example for all of the United States of America.

Several stops were made at Lincoln Highway monuments or attractions along the way. Since that is Lou's "thing", not really mine, I chose to focus more on the amazing scenery & places we encountered. If you want to see photos of Lincoln Highway sights, check out Lou's Facebook page.

The Governor's Mansion in downtown Cheyenne.

The Union Pacific Railroad Depot now houses a railroad museum. They had these huge painted cowboy boot statues throughout the city.

We stayed at The Plains Hotel in the middle of downtown Cheyenne. It was a fun place to stay & I had one of my best meals on this trip in their restaurant - salmon stuffed with crab & garlic mashed potatoes - delicious!

The Ames Monument marks the highest point of the Union Pacific Railroad which came from the east to complete the Transcontinental Railroad (which has since been relocated). It is dedicated to the Ames Brothers who were instrumental in making that a reality. We drove two miles on a dirt road to reach this in the middle of nowhere - literally.

Driving across southern Wyoming our first stop was the Wyoming Territorial Prison State Historic Park in Laramie. Their most famous inmate was Butch Cassidy. Not sure if that was before or after his association with the Sundance Kid.

This is a recreation of the Wyoming Territorial Prison which was built in 1872. It served as a federal penitentiary until 1890 when it became a state prison until 1901. Butch Cassidy spent 1-1/2 years here beginning in 1894. 

The three story cell blocks did not look like a fun place to live. At most the prison had a capacity of housing 150 inmates.

Apparently the main job for inmates who followed the rules was making brooms in the workshop.

Looking at the blue sky in the above photos, it's hard to believe that this was a few hours down the road as we encountered heavy rains, thunder & lightning.

There was so much gorgeous scenery that we passed on this trip I must have taken 100 shots of breathtaking mountains, rivers, trees & clouds.  I could include 30 scenic pictures but narrowed it down to keep from boring you to tears with beautiful landscapes.

Another drive down a dirt/gravel road ended at this river. The ruins of Fort Steele were along the banks. When this train passed I took this photos & it is one of my favorites on the whole trip.

This was near a Pony Express stop in Utah close to the Wyoming border.

These mini sunflowers were everywhere along the roads. I asked about them & a woman said they are called "mulliens". They are basically large weeds (about 3-6 feet tall). She said that two weeks prior there weren't any & they came out almost overnight. I thought they were really pretty so I guess we were lucky.

This strange formation called Devil's Slide is along I-84 on the way to Ogden. An old man at a visitor center said he was told as a child that the devil would slide down into the river (not visible in this photo) to take a bath every night. I needed some blue sky but unfortunately it was overcast.

Our first stop in Ogden, Utah, was the Union Station. Finally, we had arrived early to our hotel for some much needed kick back time only to find that our room wasn't ready at 4:20 PM! Check in was 3 PM & I was not a happy camper. They rushed the housekeeper & we checked in at quarter to five.

After lunch & before attempting to check into our hotel, we visited the Union Station which now houses five different museums - a transcontinental railroad museum, a cowboy museum, a car museum, an art museum & a firearms museum. They are all pretty small so it was easy to see everything in a couple hours.

There were several full size horse statues painted with bright colors & crazy designs such as this one with a dinosaur on the side.

The Utah State Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.

An exhibit at the Browning-Kimball Classic Car Museum.

The Golden Spike National Historic Park was the inspiration for this trip. The 150th anniversary of the Transcontinental Railroad this past May motivated us to make this trip. When we discovered that the Wyoming Capitol & the Timpanagos Cave were both closed due to renovations, we postponed it until September. It was a good thing, the ranger said they had over 20,000 visitors on the actual day in May. Normally, they have 60,000 visitors in a year.

The Golden Spike National Historic Site in Promontory, Utah, is the point where the Central Pacific & Union Pacific Railroads met to complete the Transcontinental Railroad. You can see the tracks behind these bushes.

 

The gold board is the spot where the golden spike was driven into the final tie to complete the railroad across the United States.

The Jupiter that came from Sacramento was a wood burning steam engine.

The coal burning steam engine #119 arrived from the east. The Golden Spike NHS brought out both engines from their roundhouse to take their places just as they did back in 1869 when they first met here.

We didn't realize that we would be able to see both engines arrive in a recreation ceremony that took approximately an hour to complete. That's the Jupiter on the left & #119 on the right.

There are two gravel drives of several miles that follow the bed of the original railroad which has since been relocated. There are markers along the drive that correspond to a pamphlet with interesting facts & thoughts on the railroad construction.

The Chinese Arch has been designated as a memorial to the Chinese workers whose strength & stamina contributed to the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad.

It was on to Salt Lake City for a tour of Lou's last capitol building & a visit to Temple Square. A friend commented that Temple Square was "the land of the Stepford people. Can anyone be that nice?" She was right, I've never experienced such helpful, friendly people - even when you really didn't want any or need any help.

The Utah State Capitol in Salt Lake City.

The interior of the Capitol building with its grand staircase.

The Beehive House on the corner of Temple Square. It was the home of Brigham Young & one of his 56 wives, Lucy Decker, & their 9 children. This was our first experience with the "Stepford people". Our tour guide was a good Mormon woman with 6 children & 21 grandchildren who was just as friendly & positive as could be. She had us believing that Brigham Young was a great guy who could do no wrong.

The gardens in Temple Square were magnificent. They were all carefully planned & maintained beautifully. There must have been a hundred flower gardens in the Square.

Flowers outside the Beehive House.

The Mormon Temple is the centerpiece of Temple Square.

And more flowers. I could have taken 50 photos of the amazing displays - hell, I did take 50 photos but am only sharing a few to give you an idea how prevalent the gardens were.

The Tabernacle in Temple Square was open to listen to a man playing the organ. You can see him lit by a bright light in the lower center of the picture. If you click on it to enlarge the photo, it might be a little clearer.

Our last full day was reserved for the Timpanagos Cave trek. The tour includes a 1-1/2 mile hike up the side of a mountain gaining 1092 feet in altitude followed by a half mile cave tour & the 1-1/2 mile hike back down to the visitor center. Knowing there was likely a better than even chance I would not make it, I made separate reservations so I could cancel mine if needed. My hip & feet were not cooperating with my brain. When I found out that the uphill hike started at 6000 feet & ended over 7000 feet, it was reality check time. I cancelled & spent a nice couple hours reading in the car while Lou made it with no problems. This getting old is a bitch!

Lou on his hike to Timpanagos Cave.

Following Lou's cave tour we drove the scenic highway that passes by Sundance Ski Resort & ends up in Orem, Utah, south of Salt Lake City.

There were aspen trees all over the mountain drive.

I'm not sure why but I really liked this photo with the bent gate, part of a wooden fence & a few purple thistles with aspen trees in the background.

As we approached Orem there was a lookout to view Bridal Veil Falls. Most of the places we stopped were windy & this was no different.

I learned not to believe advance weather reports on this trip. It showed no more than a 10% chance of rain & temperatures in the 80s or low 90s everywhere. Not! We planned to spend our last day on Antelope Island in the middle of the Great Salt Lake since our flight didn't leave until 6:35 PM. With iffy weather Lou discovered Hill Aerospace Museum in Ogden to take up the morning inside. It turned out to be a real trip down memory lane for me!

This is a 1918 Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny". My son, Darrin, did his first back loop in this exact plane when he was about 7 or 8! His father jumped from this aircraft at many airshows. We were good friends with Jim Nissen & his family who owned the Jenny & flew it at his airfield in Livermore. I had no idea it was at this museum but it seemed really familiar. I texted Darrin (who is now 43) but he didn't remember the number. As I read the information plaque I discovered it was indeed Jim Nissen's Jenny. Jim had passed away about 25 years ago & I never knew what happened to the plane. Now I do!

A display with an old-fashioned tower & a Stearman at Hill Aerospace Museum.

We stopped at a Subway & picked up some sandwiches for our last picnic on Antelope Island State Park. I had no idea there was a habitable island in Salt Lake, let alone that it turned out to be a great destination. It is 15 miles long & 5 miles wide. 

As we crossed the causeway to Antelope Island this is looking back towards Promontory Point on the mainland. People mistakenly believe that Promontory Point is where the railroad met but that was in Promontory about 30 miles north.

This is a statue of a mule deer which are on the island along with bison & pronghorn antelope. You can see the causeway crossing the Great Salt Lake from Ogden in the background.

The rugged terrain doesn't allow for roads to circumvent the entire island but there are a lot of hiking trails on the island.

A pronghorn antelope off the side of the road. This is Lou's photo - mine weren't quite as sharp.

Our high zoom cameras are a great asset for travel photography. This herd of bison were way off in the distance but I managed to zoom in for this picture. We saw a herd of mule deer, too, but they were even further away & I didn't get any good shots.