April’s Mini Adventure: Golden Spike, Rocket Park, & the Spiral Jetty
We went on a fun one day adventure in April…with mom! Here’s what we saw:
Golden Spike National Historic Park
This site commemorates where the western and eastern lines of the railroad finally came together, creating a Transcontinental Railroad that connected the western US to the rest of the country.
This site commemorates where the western and eastern lines of the railroad finally came together, creating a Transcontinental Railroad that connected the western US to the rest of the country.
We watched a video about the challenges involved in constructing both lines (traversing huge mountains! and vast deserts!), and about what a big competition it was and about the celebration that happened when the lines finally converged!
And, of course, saw the actual spot where the railroads joined:
But the best part was seeing two locomotives that made that first fateful journey. These were actually re-creations, but they were very, very cool to see. So fancy! The park ranger rightly said these were the ‘sports cars’ of their day!
ATK Rocket Park
En route, we stopped to see some historic rockets outside a Lockhead Martin facility. I didn’t really care to see the rockets used for bombs (boo!), but it was kinda cool to see a few that were used for the actual Space Shuttle!
A Delicious Jac Picnic
After all that sightseeing, it was time for a yummy feast, prepared by Jac using our fantabulous travel canisters!!! We had two kinds of gravlox with cream cheese and other toppings, plus toast points to build it on. I love gravlox!!! Jac also packed steak, pasta salad, pesto sauce, and more. We ate better than anyone has at Golden Spike all year!
Spiral Jetty
Our last spot was the Spiral Jetty — a piece of “land art,” constructed in the 1970s into the northern shore of the Great Salt Lake. We didn’t hike out to see it up close, but it was interesting to see from the shoreline. 🙂
Our last spot was the Spiral Jetty — a piece of “land art,” constructed in the 1970s into the northern shore of the Great Salt Lake. We didn’t hike out to see it up close, but it was interesting to see from the shoreline. 🙂
Here’s a shot from above from the internet. It’s pretty cool.
En route, we saw some wild horses…in the wild. (Maybe they were wild. There are wild horses near the Salt Lake. I’m choosing to believe these are them. Wild horses!!!)
And that was it…our Day of Adventure for April. It was fun! 🙂