Golden Spike National Historic Site & Salt Lake City

09/11 – 09/17/2022

The Journey East 2022 – Leg 1

But first a little about our summer…

We had a GREAT summer with our boys and their girlfriends! Spent July and August in the Pacific NW where we visited some new places, revisited some of our favorite places and even snuck in a family vacation to Myrtle Beach SC. We celebrated some birthdays and even went on a ride-along with our youngest. While in Oregon, we got all of our doctor and dentist appointments squared away and celebrated our 1 year RV-aversiary! Enjoy the quick slideshow of our summer fun!

One Year in the Rig

What has it been like? Did you take everything you needed? Is there something you wished you had taken but didn’t? These are some of the questions we get asked a lot. It has been wonderful! We have learned so much .The most important being, you really don’t need all that “stuff” that we tend to collect when we have a sticks and bricks. We are enjoying such great experiences and seeing many wonderful sights. Visiting family and friends and reestablishing those relationships. It has been FANTASTIC!

When we arrived back in Portland, I went thru the rig and pulled out items that we brought and did not use… at all. Ended up putting one box of “stuff” into storage along with our golf clubs. I would say we did take everything we needed and not much more and really didn’t find anything we missed. All in all, we planned very well. We are ready for year two. LET’S GO!

Off to Utah!

It was still hard to say good-bye to the boys but we will see them at Christmas; just a few short months away. Wanting to stick to our plan of traveling US and State highways as much as possible, we left town on US 26 and picked up I-84 in Ontario OR. What a pretty drive thru the Ochoco and Blue Mountains. We boondocked at a little sno-park on Dixie Summit.

Brigham City

As we pulled into Brigham City a day later and made our way to the KOA just outside of town, we passed peach orchard after peach orchard and fruit stand after fruit stand. Did you know they grew peaches in Utah? We didn’t. The KOA was very nice and our spot provided us with a great view of the Wasatch mountains and farmland. If you are in the area, this is the place to stay!

After work one afternoon, we wandered into town and explored a little. Brigham City has a cute little downtown area and of course a quilt shop that I had to check out. (I have a feeling this journey east is going to have a quilt theme to it 😉) We stopped for some fresh peach shakes, checked out the tabernacles, visited an Amish market and stopped at one of the roadside stands for some fresh peaches to enjoy during the week.

Another place to check out is Maddox Ranch House. They have a sit down restaurant and a drive-in. The place is ALWAYS packed. I read several recommendations for the place and I loved their sign. They boasted having the world’s best steak and all the reviews raved about their dinner rolls. Bill asked, “when are we going?” Well, I wasn’t really planning on eating out but hey, why not? The food was excellent and the prices reasonable. We were not disappointed.

Golden Spike National Historic Site

The day finally arrived! A few years ago, Bill and I found a series on Prime called “Hell on Wheels”. It is a historical fiction, drama series that takes place between 1862 and 1869 about the construction of the first transcontinental railroad. The story follows the Union Pacific line and the mobile town “Hell on Wheels”  as it travels with the railhead as it is being built. Anyway, after watching the show we discovered there was a National Park at Promontory Summit where the two rail lines met and we knew we wanted to visit this site. We made two trips east and both times our timing was off and we were not able to stop. This year, it was on the itinerary and our main objective for stopping in Utah.

The Visitors Center

After driving 32 miles from Brigham City out to the park, we arrived just in time to see the Union Pacific locomotive cross the road from the Engine House on its way to the site where the last rail was laid. Our first stop was the Visitor Center where we watched a 30-minute film and walked through the small museum. Next, was a short walk to the site where the ceremonial golden spike was driven. If you are hoping to see the original spike, you will need to go to Stanford University where it now resides. Inside the Visitor Center is a replica spike.

The steam powered locomotives are gorgeous; bright, shiny and ornate. They are both exact replicas of the originals with a few mechanical exceptions. The Central Pacific Line owned The Jupiter (my favorite) and the The Union Pacific owned the 119. The Jupiter was fueled by wood and the 119 was fueled by coal. Which one do you think is the prettiest? Let me know in the comments below.

Every morning at 10:00 and 10:30 the locomotives make their way from the Engine House, where they are stored at night, out to the viewing area. During the summer months the park does a costumed reenactment of the ceremony. There is a ranger led program during the spring and fall months and during the winter months the locomotives can be viewed in the Engine House. Check the NPS website for all the details. We missed the ranger led program because we wanted to drive both the west and east grade auto tours.

Self-Guided Auto Tours

The west grade tour is 7 miles long and follows the Central Pacific’s last stretch up to Promontory Summit. You are literally driving on the rail grade! Once the Lucin Cutoff was completed in 1904, this line was no longer needed. The iron from the track was removed in the 40’s and was used to support the war effort. Now all that remains are some of the old ties which have been cast to the side. The east grade tour is just 2 miles long. Both drives will take you thru cuts and over fills. You will leave with an appreciation of the hard work it took to complete this monumental task.

Let me just say, if you come out to the park you must do one of the auto tours. We could not believe we were the only ones out there!

Salt Lake City

Nestled up against the foothills of the Wasatch Mountains is Salt Lake City. Thanks to our refrigerator dying on us, we got a late start on what was going to be our day sightseeing in the city. It was a beautiful day with a hint of fall in the air and we had no plans. Earlier in the week I learned that Temple Square was being renovated and this was the one place I wanted to see. So, we winged it.

Utah State Capitol Building

As we were making our way to the square we drove right by the Capitol Building. The building and grounds were beautiful and we decided to park and walk around. To our surprise the Capitol was open (it was Saturday) and there was a self-guided walking tour. Guess what we did?

Spending the better part of an hour here, we walked around all four floors of the building. The House and Senate Chambers were open for viewing as well as the Supreme Court Chamber. The Rotunda with its seagull mural was beautiful. There are several monuments and statues scattered around the beautifully landscaped grounds. Well worth the stop!

Temple Square

A short drive away is Temple Square, home to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Not knowing much about their religion, Bill and I read a little bit about it on Wikipedia one night at camp as we were swatting mosquitos and enjoying the mountain views. I don’t subscribe to some of their beliefs, but I do enjoy seeing beautiful churches. A few days before when I was researching what exactly to see and do here, I discovered the whole 2 blocks of the square was under a major renovation. MAJOR renovation. The entire temple was covered in scaffolding and the entire 2 blocks were fenced and everything behind the fence was torn up. Oh well…

We walked around the two blocks anyway and found some sights to enjoy. Brigham Young Historical Park was a nice little park depicting life in Salt Lake when the Mormon settlers arrived. Continuing on around the block we came across Eagle Gate. Eagle Gate once marked the entrance to Brigham Young’s homestead. It is now a tribute to the pioneers who founded the commonwealth. Across the street is “The Bee-hive House”, which was built in 1852 and was Brigham Young’s home until his death in 1877. We had the opportunity to tour the house or continue on to the Family History Library. Time would not allow for both.

Family History Library

To the Family History Library, we went. I wanted to learn more about my genealogy and I read that the LDS have one of the largest genealogy databases in the world, next to Ancestry. (Side note, the gentlemen that started Ancestry were once part of the Family Research group) Okay, we met with one of the volunteers here and she helped me set up an account and showed me how to start building my family tree. It was amazing to see all the connections I could make and information already there, just by entering one grandparent’s name! This could be a HUGE rabbit hole that I’m not sure I want to fall in to just yet. We’ll see… Do you want to start your own search? You can create your account here.

All in all, we enjoyed our walk around part of SLC. It is a very clean city and the people are super friendly.

Mishaps with the Refrigerator

As I mentioned earlier, our refrigerator decided to die. Great! What are we going to do with all our food? I have a freezer packed with meat and we know that is not cheap these days. We debated about getting a small portable fridge and just plugging it in or going the route of a couple of coolers and ice. The coolers and ice won out.

I always try to look at the bright side of things. Yes, this is a MAJOR inconvenience, MAJOR. But…

• Luckily it was almost time to go grocery shopping again, so the refrigerator was almost empty except for condiments and a little bit of produce.
• Luckily we will be staying with some family in a few days and maybe they can store our meat for us while we are there.
• Luckily, we were able to get an appointment with a company in Shipshewana IN to get the fridge fixed and it will not disrupt our schedule much (just 2 days) and…
• Luckily Shipshewana is an Amish community and home to a few fantastic quilt shops! (see, part of the quilt themed journey LOL)

So, with a little luck and a prayer, we will not lose any of our food. Our appointment is October 11th, 3 weeks away! Stay tuned and I will keep you updated 😊