Desert Destination: The Great Basin Museum

Last week Desert Boy and I had the opportunity to visit the Great Basin Museum in Delta, Utah. It's located at 328 West 100 North. It has both an outdoor area and a covered museum.

The building used to belong to the telephone company.

Inside a sign mentions some of the displays and those who are responsible for making these exhibits possible.

One of the things that Desert Boy first had fun with was an old X-ray machine that was used at a shoe store to help size shoes. It makes you wonder what we are doing today that in 50 years we'll shake our heads about. 

Desert Boy wasn't quite tall enough to look down and see his feet, but he was still entertained.

With Desert Boy's fascination with trains, he thought the photos of trains were great. There used to be a lot of railroad tracks around Delta to reach the sugar beet fields. Alas, this was a short-lived venture, with a bad virus attacking the beets only about four years after production. Soon the museum will have a corner dedicated to a small train--something we'll have to go back to see!

Desert Boy was momentarily entertained by this display about farming.

And then he found a typewriter and started typing.

With permission and supervision! LaWanna Peterson gave us a tour of the museum, and she was super. She said she had a great-grandson Desert Boy's age, so she was very patient with his energetic ways.

She also let him sit in the seat at the dentist's office display. I'm not sure he would have enjoyed it quite so much if he had to experience some of the older dental tools, though.

A storefront display was packed with old time merchandise.

And a decorated parlor gave a taste of what life was like in the early days. There were many more displays showing life in earlier days, with a classroom, woodworking shop, hospital gurney, and more.

Another part of the museum was focused on rocks and minerals. The area around Delta (and for that matter, most of the Great Basin), is rich in rocks and minerals. They had many great examples of trilobites.

I'm always amazed at how many different minerals can be found in the area. One corner has a display where a black light can be turned on. It was really cool.

Then we headed outside. Our first stop was one of the bunkers from the Topaz Internment Camp. This "camp" was located about 13 miles from Delta and was used during World War II to house American citizens of Japanese descent.

I was overwhelmed by how many people they had living in such a small space--Topaz was the fifth largest city in Utah while it was occupied. Another day we'll go out to the Topaz site, but for now, if you'd like more information, click here.

Also outside was a variety of old equipment and machinery. Trying to imagine bouncing over the hard ground in this Conestaga wagon made me sore. 

We also got to see the inside of a pioneer cabin--a one room cabin for a family of eight. That would have been one close family!

The Great Basin Museum has something for everyone. During the summer, it's open from 10 am- 4 pm Monday through Friday, and on Saturday from 1 pm - 4 pm. Winter hours vary, and you can call 435-864-2759 to get current information.

The Great Basin Museum has plans to expand and move to main street, where visitors will be able to find it more easily. Topaz Museum and Daughters of Utah Pioneers are slated to have their own exhibit halls, while the chamber of commerce would be located near the main entrance. The museum is looking for funding to make this dream a reality. 

You can learn more about the Great Basin Museum on Facebook and at the Great Basin National Heritage Route website. 

West Millard Swimming Pool

Desert Boy and I took a trip to Delta, Utah the other day, and I got to introduce him to one of my favorite spots: the West Millard Swimming Pool. It's located near the high school at 201 East 300 North (there are swimming signs with arrows off main street). 

The pool is usually open to the general public six days a week, year-round. There is lap swim from 5:30-9 am and open swim from 6 - 9 pm. During the summer, the pool is also open for open swim from 1:30-5 pm. There are also swim lessons, swim practice, swim meets, and party rentals at the pool. You can call 435-855-3133 for the latest schedule.

The pool is impressive. It has a shallow section for little kids, six lanes...

and a diving well with a low and high dive. You can also go down the waterslide or play some pool basketball.

Desert Boy really wanted to go down the slide, but he's going to have to learn how to swim a little (or a lot) better first!

State of the Economy

Here's a sight you wouldn't have seen until this last year: A UPS Freight truck hauling a load of hay.

Yep, that's right, it's really UPS Freight. I sure did a double take.

It turns out that these UPS trucks are subcontracted to take loads of pipes from California to Utah. But in order to make the trip worthwhile, they need to haul something back to California (that's called a backhaul). Someone figured out that hay would be a good load.

So a couple of the UPS trucks showed up on our ranch yesterday and got loaded with hay.

This friendly driver said they started backhauling hay about a year ago. She seemed to really like her job.

I guess you might say that some creative options are being explored to make a profit in the current economy. Have you seen some other creative ways to make a buck?

Snake Valley Festival--Part Three

Here are some more photos from the Snake Valley Festival.

First, a few from John W. of the parade.

And a few from Kathy R.:
Here's Smitty driving the old loader. It was quite a contrast to the ones used today.

Molly did a great job keeping her horse under control.

The parade made everyone smile.

Reita and her family kept busy flipping flapjacks.

Back to more photos from John:

All ages came to the festival.

The yard sale was hugely popular. It alone raised more than $1,000. Nothing was priced, so people just paid what they thought items were worth.

Patricia made an eye-catching figure with her witch's hat. There were more holiday goodies to be found on the tables.

This booth doesn't look busy--that's because the toilet paper throwing part of it was right next to it and was the attention getter. 

It's great seeing photos from different points of view. There was so much to see and do!

Snake Valley Festival--Part Two

This is a continuation of the Snake Valley Festival report. If you missed the first part, click here!

Booths were set up along main street, and one of the larger ones was the used book booth. There were all sorts of books, from childrens to books on tape and all genres. There was also some delicious lavender lemonade and plants. In this photo, they're still setting up the booth, so there aren't people around.

This booth had some beautiful rocks and jewelry for sale. I didn't manage to get a photo of every booth, but there were cookies, crocheted blankets and other crafts, turquoise jewelry, Fish Springs t-shirts, local honey, cookbooks, and Snake Valley telephone books (because Snake Valley encompasses five counties in two states, no commercially produced telephone book covers it all!). 

Now the booths are getting some customers!

The Snake Valley cookbook contains a wonderful assortment of recipes. It will soon be available for purchase through the Internet, and I'll give details when I learn them.

Here's a little cowgirl enjoying some lunch.

The shaded picnic tables were crowded as people felt their stomachs grumbling.

Food options included pizza,

burgers, hot dogs, juice, and beer.

Over on the lawn at Baker Hall, I found one very wet little boy. He was happy about it, though.

He had just played Soak Your Sweetheart and was about to get his revenge. In this clever rendition of a dunk tank, one person sits on a lawn chair under a basket holding a water balloon. When the thrower hits the target, a nail pierces the balloon, drenching the person sitting underneath. The thrower has to pay $1 to throw 3 bean bags, and the target has to pay $1 for the honor. Amazingly, there was no shortage of people willing to play. I guess it helps to be in the desert!

Wearing a hat could help a little--but not much!

There were also free kids' games with prizes. The all-time classic ring toss was a hit.

Lots of kids (and a few adults) also participated in the parachute game.

Later another game arrived: toss the toilet paper into the toilet bowl. It was fun to watch! 

Inside Baker Hall there was free entertainment.

Glenn Terry read some of his cowboy poetry. He sure has a way with words.

In the back part of the room was a silent auction. It doesn't look too busy now, but...

...after some more cowboy poetry (with a good dose of humor),

singing and music acts,

the silent auction got downright crowded! It really brought out the competitive spirit of some people

In the evening was the barbeque, live auction, and dance. I am sorry to say that I forgot my camera (it was a long day!). Perhaps someone else got some photos and I'll post them. 

Anyway, the barbeque lived up to its expectations, with absolutely mouth-watering food. The live auction was entertaining, and the dance was a lot of fun. Desert Boy even got to dance with a couple little girls his age. 

There were a few more events on Sunday, with the pancake breakfast delivering a delicious start to the day, a bike ride for those up early, a continuation of the SnakeDance film festival that had started the day before at the Border Inn, and a night sky program at Great Basin National Park.

Over the entire festival, almost $10,000 was raised!! That sure beat everyone's expectations, and will certainly help protect Snake Valley. More than that, the festival was a wonderful community event, and it was so good to see neighbors, meet visitors, and have a lot of fun.

We'll be meeting soon to decide if there should be a second annual Snake Valley Festival. 

I have to end with a couple parting shots--the part of the festival rarely seen: the cleanup! 

Boy, some of that parade candy sure was sticky!

Hopefully we'll be back next year, and we hope to see you!