Utah Vacation: Promontory

Today, Andrew and I got up before dawn to get some early morning sunrise photos. We didn’t even bother to get dressed. I threw on my fuzzy jacket over my PJs and we headed out. We walked a short way down the hill and watched the nearby, snow capped mountain slowly change from pink to orange to white.

Morning glow on the nearby mountaintops

As we walked, we eventually came to the Homestead Crater Mineral Dome. According to their web site:

One of the unique activities at the Homestead Resort in Midway Utah is our one-of-a-kind Homestead Crater. The Crater is a geothermal spring, hidden within a 55-foot tall, beehive-shaped limestone rock located on the Homestead property.

Over 10,000 years in the making, The Crater formed when melting snow on the Wasatch Mountains seeped deep within the earth. Two miles below the surface, the earth’s interior heated the water. As it percolated upward, it picked up minerals, which were then deposited on the surface — eventually forming the volcano-shaped limestone deposit called The Homestead Crater.

The hole at the top of the dome lets in sunlight and fresh air while the interior stays heated by the mineral water at a constant range of 90 – 96 degrees Fahrenheit.

Homestead Crater Mineral Dome

After our walk, we got ready for our drive to Promontory Summit to see the re-enactment of the pounding of the golden spike on it’s 150th anniversary. Along the way, we stopped at a rest area just East of Weber Canyon. The rest area had a hill with a great view of the surrounding mountains and the railroad tracks coming out of the canyon. Note this location as a possible viewing spot for when the Big Boy returns to Cheyenne.

Top of the hill at a rest area

After over two hours in the car, traveling past Ogden and through a very long stretch of desert, we arrived at the Golden Spike National Historical Park. According to Wikipedia:

It commemorates the completion of the first Transcontinental Railroad where the Central Pacific Railroad and the first Union Pacific Railroad met on May 10, 1869. The final joining of the rails spanning the continent was signified by the driving of the ceremonial Golden Spike.

We were a day late for the official anniversary, by choice. We wanted to avoid most of the crowd. Expecting large crowds, the park service required a ticket to enter on a specified day. Even with that, the place was still a bit of a mad house. There was a large field roped off for parking. All the cars coming in kicked up a lot of dust.

We parked and made our way to re-enactment site, which was part of a village of small, wooden buildings. We could see it in the distance, but the crowd was so thick, we could only make slow progress forward.

UP No. 119 meets CP 'Jupiter' at Promontory Summit

The re-enactments were happening about every hour and a half. We arrived just before one was starting. We saw the Union Pacific No. 119 and the Central Pacific ‘Jupiter’ pull up to each other, nose to nose. We could see the actors, but we couldn’t hear what they were saying. We stayed and watched for about 30 minutes, then decided to head out.

Crowds gather for the re-enactment of the golden spike

When we left, I unfortunately turned the wrong direction in the field and was heading the wrong way on a one way loop. Oh well, there was nothing I could do but to just keep going. :-)

On the way out, we stopped at the Big Fill/Big Trestle Viewpoint, one of the pull offs that describe where the original rails were routed over the summit. We ate a quick snack and talked about what to do next. I wanted to hike to the location of the trestle, but we also wanted to stop at the rocket garden that we could see in the distance.

In September 2017, Northrop Grumman purchased Orbital ATK. As an NGC employee and a rocket fan, I was intrigued by the rocket garden. Of course, Andrew was enthusiastic as well. Orbital ATK was involved in many rocket programs, but I was most familiar with their work on the Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster. We explored the garden and Andrew took a hundred pictures before heading out to our next destination.

The Northrop Grumman rocket garden

Rather than heading straight back to Midway, we made a quick snack stop at Golden Spike Burgers, then headed south towards Helper. Helper is a small town that sits along the Union Pacific’s Soldier Summit route. This destination was a must see for me and Andrew.

To get there, we passed through Ogden, Salt Lake City, and Provo, which are basically one megatropolis. Once out of Provo, I needed a break from driving and Andrew wanted to fly his drone. We stopped at Spanish Fork River Park. The park is along a small river and has nice mountain views.

Drone shot from Spanish Fork River Park

After a quick drone flight, we continued over Soldier Summit to Helper. Once there, we quickly turned around and headed back, hoping to catch the evening light on the canyon walls. Along the way, we passed some cool railroad scenes, including a pair of tunnels cut into the rock and towering canyon walls on both sides of the river. But the coolest natural thing we saw was a terraced waterfall along the side of the highway.

Unknown waterfall along the highway

At this point, it was time to head back to Midway. Today was very long, but we saw a lot of amazing things, both historical and natural.

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Utah Vacation: Salt Lake City

Our first goal of the day was set by Andrew. He wanted to get some drone time over Midway. To achieve this, we got up early and drove to a nearby park.

Early morning drone flight in Valais Park, near the condo

After a quick flight, we continued our first day adventure by heading to Salt Lake City. Our first stop was the Utah State Capitol. The capitol building is located on a hill that overlooks the city and the entire Salt Lake valley. It contains the house, senate, and ceremonial supreme court and is open to the public. We were very impressed with the beauty of the architecture. While on the grounds, we noticed that many signs had a picture of a beehive. I was curious, so I asked a guard what it meant. He told me that the beehive is the state symbol. Early settlers used the bee as a symbol of hard work and industriousness. Cool. The only thing that would have made the visit better is if we could have gone up into the dome. Before leaving the grounds, we had a picnic lunch out on the lawn.

Utah State Capitol

Our next stop was the Temple Square, home of the Mormon Temple and the Tabernacle Choir. We parked downtown and walked a few blocks to the entrance. The Temple is simply breathtaking. We stopped at the Visitor Center and talked to a guide, who told us about the Mormon traditions and the layout of the Temple. Only Mormon’s in good standing are allowed inside the Temple.

Mormon Temple

Then we walked to the giant, white building - that looks a little like a bounce house – where the Tabernacle Choir performs. On our way, we passed at least three wedding parties. Apparently, getting married in the Temple is a popular thing to do. I guess it was our lucky day because, soon after arriving, a man sat down at the organ and began to play.

By now, we were feeling hungry again and we wanted to ride the city train. We walked to City Creek Center, a two-level outdoor mall in the heart of downtown. We found a Johnny Rockets, ordered some burgers, and ate on the patio near the waterfall. After eating, we caught the train back to where we parked.

Downtown Salt Lake City

By this time, we’d had about enough of the big city and were ready to see something natural. We jumped in our car and headed North to Antelope Island State Park. The island is accessed by a long causeway. We were initially disappointed to see a sign that said drone flying was not allowed. Once on the island, we quickly realized that there was wildlife. We first saw a few Pronghorns (aka American Antelope), then we saw herds of Bison. But the wildlife I’ll never forget were the swarms of biting gnats! Every time we stopped to get out and take a picture, we were greeted by them. The swarms were clearly visible, like small dark clouds, along the sides of the road.

Bison in Antelope Island State Park

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Utah Vacation: Meeting Big Boy

The day started dark and early for this vacation. We left home at 3:00 AM to catch our flight from Orlando to Salt Lake City. The first leg of the flight took us through Dallas Love Field. By 2:00 PM we were in our rental car in Salt Lake City, heading to Ogden to see the main attraction.

Planning for this vacation started when we discovered that the Union Pacific railroad was restoring Big Boy 4014 to participate in the celebration of the 150’th anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad at Promontory Summit, Utah. The celebration included driving the Big Boy, along with the “Living Legend” 844 from Cheyenne to Ogden and back. We had seen a Big Boy once before. It was on display near the interstate in Omaha, Nebraska. We were on our way to Jackson, Wyoming and it was too late to stop and see it close up. Seeing a fully functional Big Boy running on the tracks became a must-see for us.

Once in Ogden, it was clear that something special was happening. Many streets were closed and we had to search for a place to park. After parking, we walked about a half mile to Union Station, where Big Boy and The Living Legend were on display.

Big Boy 4014

We were too late to see the official celebration, but we were still able to see the two steam locomotives, along with the passenger train they were pulling. In addition, the museum was open and contained a nice collection of other Union Pacific engines.

After getting our fill of trains, we went searching for something to eat. Ogden was having a street fair with food vendors and live music. We found something to eat and we also found a vendor who makes and sells Bison Brew Root Beer and Creme Soda Stout in refillable bottles. We bought a bottle and promised ourselves that we would come back for a refill later in our trip.

Eventually, we had to start the long drive to our WorldMark condo in Midway. The drive took us through very scenic Weber Canyon, which is also the route the Big Boy would follow back to Cheyenne in days to come. The drive also took us past Park City, which is one of the best ski areas in America and home to the 2002 Winter Olympics.

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Buying A Camper

When I was young, my family did a lot of camping. The first experiences I remember were in a large tent. This was fun, but I remember one particular morning where we woke up with several inches of water in the tent. I think that was the final straw for my parents. Soon after that, they upgraded to a pop-up camper. We traveled all over the Eastern US and even into Canada with that little camper. At the time, it was just for the adults, so I still spent my nights in a tent. Eventually, the pop-up was replaced by a bunkhouse camper, and our camping adventure trips were done. We parked that camper in a permanent location and rarely traveled with it.

I wanted to revisit those adventures in the pop-up with my family. I started looking into the options and prices of small campers on the Internet. I boiled the choice down to two brands. When you choose a specific brand, you narrow your choices dramatically. Sometimes the nearest dealer is hundreds of miles away. In our case, one dealer was in Winter Park, Florida, and the other was in North Carolina.

On Friday, we drove to Winter Park to look at the Rockwood Freedom, by Forest River. We went with the idea that if we didn’t like it, we would drive to North Carolina, buy our other choice, a Jayco, and continue on to the Smoky Mountains. Well, we liked the Rockwood, but not enough to buy it on the spot. But then, the dealer sent in their secret weapon. A woman invited us into her office and started telling us stories of how much her young daughter loved camping in their pop-up. I knew I was being fed an emotional sales pitch, but it worked. We bought the camper. We asked for one optional feature that is a must in Florida – an air conditioner. They needed time to install it, so we arranged to come back on Saturday to pick it up.

Today, we went back to Winter Park to get educated on how to operate all of the systems in the camper and to take it home. A sales rep showed us everything, from opening the camper, to turning on the refrigerator – either by battery, electricity, or gas – to running the heater, and to storing and pumping water. That’s about it; it is a pop-up after all.

At lunch time, we decided to run into town and grab lunch. Winter Park is a very fancy little town with a lot of nice places to eat, a college, and an Amtrak station. After parking and checking out the train station, we walked along the main street and came across a place called Burger Fi. It is an upscale burger joint that serves burgers made with the finest meats and shakes made with real ingredients and frozen custard. We ordered burgers and a strawberry shake. I think this was the best strawberry shake I ever had. I’m sure we will be visiting this place many more times.

After lunch, the dealer wired up the Honda to have electric trailer brakes. We walked around the nearby neighborhood until they were finished. Afterwards, we determined that we didn’t have the correct trailer hitch, so we drove over to the nearest U-Haul and bought the proper hitch. Then back to the dealer to pick up the camper, then finally back to Melbourne. But we didn’t go back home.

Honda pulling the Rockwood Freedom into Wickham Park

In Melbourne, we went to Wickham Park instead of home. We really had no choice. How can you buy a camper and then not spend the night in it? Besides, we needed to practice setting up and tearing down the camper, else we might forget the details. And when I say 'we', I mean me and Susan. Andrew, on the other hand, doesn’t forget details. He helped me get everything setup just right.

Rockwood Freedom at Wickham Park

Kennedy Space Center

Today, Susan scheduled a field trip for Andrew to the Kennedy Space Center. Luckily for me, this is my off Friday and I got to go along, too. NASA offers a Space Operations class for 5th - 8th graders. The class discusses the history of landing vehicles and how they've changed over the years. The two main goals for a good lander are 1) land safely and 2) be lightweight. After the presentation, the kids joined teams and were given a goody bag containing straws, mini marshmallows, tape, cardboard, a small cup, and two normal marshmallows. The challenge was to create a lander that could safely deliver the astronauts (the two normal marshmallows) to the surface from drops of 30, 60, and 90 centimeters.

Andrew was on the 'Cricket' team. They quickly got to work on their lander. After about 15 minutes, the time was up and the teams had to test their creations. The 'Cricket' was the first lander to be tested. It was 23 grams and successfully protected the astronauts. Every team was tested. Some didn't do so well - they either fell apart or dumped the astronauts onto the table. Two other teams passed all the tests. Unfortunately, 'Cricket' was 4 grams heavier than one of the others that succeeded, so it did not win the competition.

The 'Cricket' before testing

After testing, we were free to explore. We were stuck inside for 10 minutes while the rain came pouring down, then we found the nearest café and ate lunch. After lunch, we headed straight to the new Atlantis exhibit.

The new Atlantis exhibit

The Atlantis exhibit is incredible. I highly recommend that you come to Florida and see it for yourself. This is Bucket List material. We spent hours walking through and could have stayed all day.

When we finally left the Atlantis exhibit, we wondered if we could also take the bus tour. We walked over and asked someone, but she didn't know. She suggested we ask another person over by the bus. When we headed that way, we realized that the last tour was about to leave. The person near the bus hurried us towards her and guided us quickly onto the bus. So, I guess the bus tour was included, at least for us!

The bus tour was different this time. We were driven very close to the old shuttle launch pads. One is now being used by Space X. The other is being configured for the next NASA human-carrying SLS rocket; the most powerful rocket ever built. I hope I'm still living here when that ginormous firecracker is lit.

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Dalton Fall Colors Vacation

According to the Fall Colors website, the foliage was peaking this weekend in northern Georgia. With this in mind, we planned a trip to Dalton on my three day weekend. Dalton is near the northwest corner of Georgia and is in the foothills of the mountains. It is also well known among rail fans because two major railroads - Norfolk Southern and CSX - cross in the center of town.

With only three days, Saturday was our only day to tour the area. We decided to first go hiking in the hills, then eat lunch and watch trains in Dalton, then go see the railroad tunnel in Tunnel Hill. After some quick research, we decided to go hiking at Cloudland Canyon State Park. The drive to the park took us up and down over many ridges.

About an hour after leaving the motel, we arrived at the park. Our first stop was the Visitor Center to pay for our pass and check out the trail map. We found a trail that led down into the canyon and passed by two waterfalls. It was a quick drive over to the trail head. The trail head was at an overlook with a view all the way down the canyon.

Andrew at the trail head

 The hike down was very quick and easy. We passed a lot of people enjoying the outdoors on a fine fall morning. The most interesting was a family with a black lab. They were putting booties on the dog's paws to protect them from the rough metal stairs. The trail was a mix of dirt, gravel, boardwalks, and stairs - over 500 of them.

Near the bottom, we took a branch trail to the left. This branch led us to Cherokee Falls. The valley was narrow with boulders lying everywhere. After taking a couple pictures, we spent our time climbing up, over, and around the big rocks.

Andrew and Susan at Cherokee Falls

Family shot on the rocks

After climbing on the rocks, we continued along the trail to Hemlock Falls. The falls were very nice, but we couldn't get close due to the steep cliffs surrounding the falls.

Finally, it was time to return to the car. The climb up the stairs was long, but not too difficult. Along the way, we found a nice little cave to climb in and cool off.

Andrew in a cave

After our hike, we returned to Dalton for lunch and to see some trains. We started at the Visitor Center, then searched up and down the main street, trying to find a place to eat. It was like the restaurant guide was for another town. We couldn't find several of the places we wanted from the guide.We settled on a small place a block off the main drag. While we ate, three trains went by.

The next stop was the museum at Tunnel Hill. Due to our long search for a place to eat, we arrived 5 minutes before closing time. We drove down the road a quarter mile and checked out the old tunnel that is now a trail, but it was gated and locked because it was after normal business hours.While there, an old man pulled up. We expected to be told to move along, but instead he was a very nice southern gentleman. He saw Andrew and told us he had something for him. He left and came back a few minutes later. He gave Andrew an old, lead bullet from the Civil War days. Then he went on and on and on about his family and the history of the area. We finally had to get in the car and drive away, else he would have just kept talking. :-)

We once again returned to Dalton. We decided to go back to the Visitor Center to watch trains. This time we discovered a computer screen with a map of northern Georgia rail lines. After studying it for a few minutes, we realized that it showed live signal states and train locations. We soon realized that we could see trains approaching our location from miles away. We could predict with a minute's accuracy when the train would appear. And the trains just kept coming, one after another. We saw several Norfolk Southern and CSX trains, but we also saw a BNSF leading a Norfolk Southern train. We eventually called it a night and returned to our motel.

The next morning, we got an early start and headed for Stone Mountain. When we arrived, there was a low overcast and fog. We couldn't see a thing. Even so, we hiked to the top of the mountain. From the top, we pretended how awesome the view was, but in reality, we could only see about a hundred feet in any direction.

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