Desert Destination: Golden Spike National Historic Site

 With our son's love of trains and a desire to see as many National Park Service units as we can, we headed to Golden Spike National Historic Site over Memorial Day weekend. It's open seven days a week (important to know in trip planning, as so many places are closed on Sundays in Utah). It's about an hour's drive from Ogden, Utah. The first "Golden Spike" sign we saw was not inspiring, so I felt relieved when I saw this cool park sign.

 From the visitor center we could see the two engines, Jupiter from the Central Pacific Railroad and Engine 119 from the Union Pacific Railroad out on the tracks, gleaming in their recreated glory to celebrate the meeting of the Transcontinental Railroad. This was a key moment in our nation's history, as it reduced travel time to get from the East Coast to the West Coast from weeks or months (by horse and wagon or sailing around Tierra del Fuego) to about six days.

 The original engines were used as freight engines after the historic meeting, then later scrapped for about $1000. So the engines out there today are not originals, but they have been rebuilt to the original specifications.

The attention to detail is fantastic. I had to point out the flag to Desert Boy and ask him if he noticed any difference between it and the one at the visitor center. He didn't quite see that there were a lot fewer stars on the 1869 flag.

Every day during the summer Golden Spike has steam demonstrations, starting up the engines. They said Jupiter has a square wheel (something I don't quite understand), so they were only using the 119.


The ranger warned us it could be noisy. (Desert Girl's fashion choices amuse me every day.)


We all stood back as engine 119 departed.

 Then it chugged onto a siding near the visitor center, then backed up and returned to its starting place. The demonstration was just the right length to keep the kids interested. On Saturdays they do a reenactment of pounding in the golden spike (there were actually four spikes pounded in the ceremony).


We tried for a family photo. Some day the kids will appreciate these, even if they don't at the time we're taking them!


Then it was time for Desert Girl to work on her Junior Fireman booklet (ages 3-5) and Desert Boy to work on his Junior Ranger booklet (ages 6-12). They both had quite a few activities, which meant that we learned more than we would have without doing them!

Next it was time to get the books checked and get their badges. It was the first badge Desert Girl had earned, so she was mighty proud.

From there we went to take the West Auto Tour route, but for some unknown reason, it was closed. I would have liked to have continued on to the Spiral Jetty, but we were in our van and the road becomes high clearance for the last three miles, and I really didn't want to walk with two kids that were starting to get whiny.

So we turned back and took the East Auto Tour Route, which follow along the old railbed.

 From the drive we could see the flats with their occasional pools of water. This is quite a desolate spot, and if it weren't for the meeting of the railroads, very few people would come out this way.

 Can you see the two cuts in the photo above? The two railroad companies built miles of parallel track to increase the amount of government land they received. Finally, Congress put a stop to it and declared they would meet at Promontory Summit. Nevertheless, the land still bears the tales of this competition nearly 150 years later.

 We stopped so Desert Girl could climb by the Chinese Arch. It was difficult to get and keep railroad workers during the construction, as mining enticed many would-be workers with promises of quick gold. The Chinese were instrumental in completing the railroad.

 Desert Girl doesn't care if she's wearing a dress, she'll still climb.

 Life is good.

After leaving Golden Spike, instead of turning back towards the Interstate, we turned the opposite direction and drove about a mile. I had read on the blog Tips for Family Trips about the ATK rocket display and figured that might be fun.

 My husband was absolutely enthralled! Desert Boy had fallen asleep, so Desert Girl and I wandered around. She wasn't too excited about rockets, but she really, really liked the pink rocks.

 She also like balancing on the curb (clutching the rocks and with her new badge attached). It's nice when we can all find something to be happy about!

A Jaunt through the Woods

 Back in mid-May I took the kids and their friend Charlie for a quick hike on the trail between Grey Cliffs and Baker Creek Campground in Great Basin National Park. It was a cold day, so we had to bundle up, but we were all eager to get outdoors.

 I had my camera in tow and took a lot of flower photos. A lot. But I'll refrain from posting them all and just include a couple of the best, like this beautiful Erigeron (fleabane--such an ugly name for such a beautiful flower!).

 This short trail has a fun bridge on it. Bridges are always fun.

 We stopped and took a closer look at these tent caterpillars (at least I think that's what they are) on the rose bushes. I was surprised how many tents were there, and when I got closer I saw the caterpillars crawling. The kids loved that!

 Charlie and Desert Boy puzzled over the huge skeleton under a pinyon pine. They examined the very large hoof, and with some help determined that it was an elk skeleton. A few years ago a mountain lion killed it, and it's so cool to still see the remains. The reminder of the mountain lion makes me tell the kid to stay close enough that they can see me.

 We progress further up the trail to a huge meadow with a pyramidal contraption in it. I know it's part of an old grazing study, but the kids decide it's a trap. They take long sticks to poke whatever might be in it.

After a long snack break, we head the short distance up to the trailhead. We get to it and I tell the kids we can turn around.

 They take off running down the trail. I guess I hadn't worn them out enough!

 I really like the aspens with their newly leafed-out appearance. They seem so gentle and romantic. The kids actually pause long enough that I can take their photo.

Okay, one more flower photo, a shrub with reddish bark that is now bright with white flowers: Saskatoon serviceberry.

Just thinking about what other flowers makes me want to grab my camera and head back in the woods. In fact, we're going to do that in just a couple hours. Have a great weekend and week, and I hope you can get out and enjoy some wildflowers!

Come to the Color

So many flowers are blooming right now. I feel like I'm seeing old friends as I recognize them. Some flowers are new to me, and they become new friends. I'm a bit behind in identifying some, but I do try to take lots of photos so I can eventually learn their names.

As I was driving to work this week, I spotted cactus blooms from Plains Pricklypear Cactus (Opuntia polyacantha). Flowering cacti have a special place in my love for flowers. The contrast between the prickly, mean cactus pads and the beautiful, delicate blossoms is something I will never be able to fully comprehend. But I can enjoy them, so I braked and went over for a closer look.

  I quickly saw that I wasn't the only one attracted to the colorful flowers. Bumblebees buzzed from one flower to another, and upon closer inspection, I could even see the pollen sticking to the bees hairs.


Flies and beetles wandered around the petals. National Pollinator Week is June 17-23, but I'm already appreciating our wonderful pollinators! I've planted native flowers in my yard to try and encourage even more pollinators to come visit.

 I was surprised to see this little spider hiding out in the cactus flower. What was it doing? Eating some of the insects that were attracted to the flower? Maybe visiting beautiful flowers isn't quite as peaceful as we think!

 I've been developing a better appreciation for spiders as I get ready for the Great Basin National Park Arachnid BioBlitz, to be held July 8-10. If you want to learn more about spiders and other arachnids, this is an event you won't want to miss!

I've got to go--so many wildflowers to go and visit this weekend!

Desert Destination: Utah State Railroad Museum and a Real Train Ride

Desert Boy still loves trains, so we decided to make the Utah State Railroad Museum in Ogden, Utah one of our destinations on Memorial Day weekend. 

 The museum is part of Union Station, a beautiful building with an impressive main hall. We stopped briefly in the train store and then got our tickets for the museum.

 For the entrance, we walked under trestles from the very long Lucin cutoff, which was built in 1903 across the Great Salt Lake to shorten the train route. It was quite an engineering feat. In the 1950s the trestle was replaced with a causeway, which separates the lake into a northern and southern section with very different salinities, which support different lifeforms and thus cause the lake to be different colors.


I spotted a golden spike in a vault--the golden spike used for the bicentennial celebration of the meeting of the Transcontinental Railroad (coming soon to a Desert Survivor blog near you!).


I was excited to see this Gandy Dancer handcar, as I recently read Frank Wendall Call's book Gandydancer's Children: A Railroad Memoir. It talks about life on the railroad in rural Nevada and Utah during the Great Depression and is fascinating.

We got up on the handcar for a family photo. We still have troubles getting everyone to smile at the same time, but at least we're all looking in the same direction!

 Desert Boy found toy wooden trains in a corner and happily played for a few minutes. To my surprise, he didn't protest much when I said it was time to keep going.

 Maybe because he could go into a real train car and pretend to drive it.

 Then we went out in the hallway and found the model trains. The kids kept running to figure out where it had gone once it had entered a tunnel. The train was running towards us, against traffic flow, so we spent quite a bit of time in the hallway.

 All the detail that went into the scenery surrounding the model trains was amazing.

 Union Station not only houses the Utah State Railroad Museum, it also holds the John M. Brown Firearms Museum, which my husband found fascinating. The kid weren't too excited, so I took them to the next museum.

 We went right next door to the Browning-Kimball Classic Car Museum. All three museums are included in the ticket price, so we had to check them out! The classic cars were stunning. I particularly liked the hood ornaments--much more elaborate than today's!

We still had a little time, so the kids wanted to go back to the train museum. Desert Girl was so excited that she could climb up and down to the cupola in the old caboose.

 She also had a turn "driving" a train.

 The trains outside were quite a sight, with the massive machines exuding power.

We really enjoyed looking at the trains. While we were there, a FrontRunner commuter train passed by. I had picked up a schedule inside and glanced at it. Then I looked at it a little more carefully. An idea was forming--perhaps we could actually ride a real train. The commuter train doesn't run on Sundays or big holidays, like Memorial Day, so if we were going to ride it, we had to ride it that day. We made a plan: we could take the 5:16 train from Ogden to three stops away, at Layton. We would get off, wait 15 minutes, then get back on. Total time: about one hour.

So we bought our tickets ($7.40 each for the older three, Desert Girl was free, so this wasn't the cheapest diversion around, but the kids really wanted to do it). We boarded the train and the kids got to pick where they wanted to sit.

 Desert Boy was all ready for this grand adventure.

 Desert Girl didn't look so sure.

 The Front Runner is relatively new. It's clean, shiny, and has double-decker cars.

 The weather was perfect for a short wait at the station. Plus the kids then had the anticipation of waiting for the returning train. I'm a big fan of making them wait--it's a good life skill!

We got back to Ogden just fine. A twenty minute ride each direction was just the right amount of time for them.

So if you're in the Salt Lake area, you could easily make a trip up to Ogden, walk two blocks to Union Station and see three museums. There's also a great cafe nearby, Karen's Cafe on 25th Street, just a couple blocks from Union Station. A nice lady on the train had suggested it, and we were very glad--great food, reasonably priced, and a great way to finish our train adventures for the day.