Catch-up Collage

 

Before today's posting of our road trip I have missed several other events. Here is a smattering of pictures:

Aspen, Ethan, and Haley took part in a play at their school. The name - "Hamlet, Zombie Killer of Denmark"!!

Our grandson, Jackson, became an Eagle Scout. I've never been this close to an eagle before:

So proud of you, Jackson! [Isn't his mom a beauty?!!!]


I had an activity day with most of the grand kids. They made Easter people and cookies - it was actually quite a disaster.

Easter Sunday ties

Easter Egg hunt

We are dividing the candy up evenly between all of the grandkids. {And eating the ones we like the best in the process!}

Aspen was in her Middle School choir. The teacher told the class, at the beginning of the term, that they could either do the concert Karaoke style or one of them would need to find a pianist. Aspen found me. :) It was a lot of fun - and they even gave me a "special thanks" on the back of the program.

I accompanied the last 3 songs before the solos

Here we are perfoming

 

Grace was our conductor. Sorry for the scary zombie eyes - not sure how to fix that!!!

 

 

 

Aspen sang a solo in the song "Clarity"!

 

After the concert the choir presented me with flowers, a card, and my favorite candy! Wow!!!

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Road Trip! Day 2

 

 Goodbye Wendover - hello more dirt roads!

 

 

 

 

"Why more dirt roads?" you ask. We followed the Pony Express Trail today.

This tells you why the Pony Express was started:

This is the remains of one of the stations. Not a safe place, really, for those who lived there. Many died from Indian attacks. Actually, more station workers died than riders.

Some of the stations were there merely for the riders to change horses. That happened every 15-20 miles or so. After 75-100 miles the riders would change as well.

 

This is a replica of what a station would have looked like. Notice the rider approaching to change horses. :)

More amazing scenery:

 

 And a very dirty car!

This was our lunch stop. The wind was blowing so hard that we had to finish our meal in the car. I mean, hard - it blew half of my sandwich and my full cup of soda off the table! I needed help opening the outhouse door. HARD!!!



I took this because it was written by Lavinia Porter - possible ancestor. :)

 

Out in the middle of this barren desert is the Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge

 

We drove on all of the open roads in the refuge. But, they close of some of them when the birds are nesting - to protect them.

Now back on the Pony Express trail

Shocker - a paved road!!!!

 

We did eventually get back onto nicely paved roads {not as in the example above :) } It was nice to get home - and wash the car.
Thanks for a great trip, Kent!

Road Trip!!!

Kent and I just returned from an awesome 2-day road trip. We like to go on roads we've never been on before - adventures! :) I was the designated driver.

We headed north to Brigham City and then turned West towards the Great Salt Lake. Our first stop was at ATK {where the rockets are}. Wow - I was amazed at the size.

 

 

The long one in the back is ONE of the solid rocket motors that helped to launch Space Shuttles!!!

Our next destination was the Spiral Jetty:
This is a piece of land art created by Robert Smithson in April 1970. When the water was high enough, it was underwater. It is 1500' long and 15' wide.

It looks pretty hard and solid but there were a few soft spots where I sunk in a bit:

It was hot! Thank heavens for a nice air-conditioned car and lots of water. :) Our next stop was at the Golden Spike National Historic Site. It was interesting and we were able to have lunch there. SUBWAY!!! 

We didn't stay for the "show" at 1:00. We still had miles to go in even more heat and isolation.
We went to the Great Basin Desert - out in the middle of nowhere - to see the Sun Tunnels. These were built by Nancy Holt in 1976. Ha, ha - she married Robert Smithson [see Spiral Jetty]!

I missed the 4th tunnel. But there ARE 4 concrete tunnels in the form of an X. Each one is 18' long and 9' in diameter.

Supposedly, during the Winter solstice you could see the sun rise and set directly through these two tunnels. That is why I'M standing there - December 21 is my birthday. The other two work the same way for the Summer Solstice. 

Kent WISHES he were born on the Winter Solstice!

The artist also drilled holes in each of the tunnels to match some of the constellations. I can't imagine wanting to wait around for nightfall in order to see them, however!

Here we are zeroing in on the mountain in the background.

Our final stop before Wendover {where we spent the night} was to see the Bonneville Raceway. Actually, not much to see before the racing starts later this summer. :) But, we can say we've been there.

We spent most of the day in very barren, desolate country:

 

 

But, even the desert is beautiful this time of year!:

 

Kent thinks its about time we stopped for the night!!!