Moving day today. I move a couple of hundred miles south to the Great Salt Lake for a few days. What I don’t anticipate is the effect the heat is going to have. Each day the thermometer rises a few degrees higher, until my last evening here it hits 108 degrees F at around 8p in the evening. Since I am once again dry camping, all I can do is sit in the trailer in the heat. It is a bit cooler outside, but thousands upon thousands of shrimp flies and ultimately deer flies make that a miserable proposition as well.
The only productive thing I manage to accomplish on Wednesday is catch up on my blogs, edit the rest of my photos and take some shots of sunset over the Great Salt Lake. Despite the fact that it is quite hazy here due to the heat, I do get some beautiful shots.
Sunset on the Great Salt Lake, island namesake and a bison.
White Rock Bay and ‘No Swimming’. Ya think!
On Thursday, I head out early and go to the Golden Spike National Historic Site and visit the place where the railroads joined the eastern United States with those states in the west. As I arrive, I hear a familiar sound of an old steam whistle as the ‘119’ pulls out of the engine house. I have just enough time to check in with the ranger at the front desk and setup for some live action photos of the ‘119’ making a run down the line.
I stay and listen to a volunteer give a short history lesson and he has some interesting insight into the two engines used for the historical event itself, the ‘119’ and the Jupiter. It seems that neither of these engines had been originally selected by their respective railroads to represent them at the big event, however each company had to fall back on an alternative engine when their primary selections failed to appear.
Also, the event itself occurred two days late due to delays in getting the engines and railroad execs on site. Proof is that the event actually occurred on May 10, 1869, but the Gold Spike that was prepared was engraved with the date May 8, 1869. In addition, the Gold Spike was only tapped lightly for a photo op. It was then removed, and a different spike was used as a permanent replacement.
The ‘119’ and road on the old railroad grade
For the afternoon, I select an inside diversion where I can escape the heat. The nearby Hill AFB has an Air Museum and I head there. I initially walk the outdoor static display and take a few photos. Then I move inside not really expecting much.
I was happily surprised. This is a first-class air museum on the caliber of the Wright-Patterson Air Museum in Dayton Ohio (I’ve not been to the Smithsonian). They have two complete hangers of aircraft, including several non-Air Force aircraft, including two Navy fighters and two Soviet aircraft.
They also have a ‘uniform’ room which is a display of a uniforms collected over the years by a retired Air Force Major, including many of his own personal uniforms as well as a number he had managed to obtain. There was also displayed his collection of helmets supposedly the most extensive collection of pilot helmets anywhere in the world.
My Fav Bird, the F-4 Phantom, an F-16 Falcon and a La-z-boy with a KICK!