As we continued our vacation to Yellowstone/Grand Tetons last week, we saw more views of the Clay Springs Fire as we headed north from Delta and the Great Basin Museum. More than half the mountain range burned.
The kids were good travelers, although we had to take a couple impromptu bathroom breaks. Fortunately there's plenty of open country.
Some of that open country!
Our next destination was Tooele. I had looked on the Internet to see what there was to do around Tooele and found that they had a train museum. Knowing Desert Boy's fascination with trains, that became a necessary stop.
The first thing the kids noticed was the mini-railroad. We lucked out and they were offering rides that day. (If you want a ride, be sure to call ahead, as the days and hours can vary.)
Desert Boy, wearing his train conductor hat, was in his element.
The little train and track were adorable.
We even got to go through a tunnel.
Following the train ride we toured the steam locomotive, a couple cabooses, and the train depot. The train depot had lots of info about area mining, as the train had been developed to transport ore. That made us decide to go to our next destination (coming soon in a future post!).
The museum was free, but I wanted to support them, so the kids got cute matching t-shirts that say 'I love trains.' How appropriate!
How fun is that mini-train! Desert Boy looked like he was having the time of his life :)
ReplyDeleteThat road/open sky shot is AMAZING! I absolutely love shots like that.
I am looking forward to the upcoming posts. We are planning a trip to Yellowstone in September as long as lets it happen!
I'm from Tooele and I grew up with that museum. Road that train a few times as a little kid too. I also got to drive the small HO Trains in the rail car out back, and I'd love to do it again!
ReplyDeleteI wrote the first draft of the Wikipedia article about the Tooele Valley Railroad. A lot of photos that were at the museum are now published in Emma Penrod's "Tooele Valley Railroad" published by Arcadia Books. She has a few small historical errors in her book, but the pictures are well worth a look.