We had been toying with the idea of heading somewhere warm(er) in the week after Christmas since we didn't have school or work and also wouldn't be skiing since our passes were blacked out that week. We looked at Mesquite, Las Vegas, Pahrump (thinking we could see Valley of Fire or Red Rock Canyon or Joshua Tree or Death Valley) . . . and nothing ever felt good. So we started looking at smaller day trips closer to home that would still get us out exploring instead of sitting around the house all day (nothing wrong with that, per se, just looking for a little adventure).
It's been a while since we'd been out to Spiral Jetty, so we threw that around as an option. And since the Golden Spike National Historic Park is right on the way, we decided to see if it was even open. Amazingly, they were scheduled to have steam engine demonstrations the very days we were thinking about heading there! So we made a quick call to my parents to see if they wanted to join us, booked our reservation for Tuesday, December 29th, and made a plan!
And then we didn't tell the kids! That was an extra fun element for us, and them, I hope. We just said we had some surprise adventures coming up and they guessed and guessed, but nobody came up with this one!
It was a gorgeous (and freezing) morning in Promontory, but we bundled up good and the blue sky was such a great contrast to the steam clouds. It was really cool! And educational! I loved that we could get right up close while it was stopped and then we watched the train puff backwards to a crossroads, then forward again behind our viewing spot, then back again and forward again to right in front of us. We had a great time!
bonus videos!
After the demo, we drove down to Spiral Jetty, which was totally accessible, even on the dirt road (thank goodness!) and ate our lunch on the way. (That feed 'em while we drive trick still comin' in strong for us!) We walked out to the jetty and then beyond to the lake. This is the lowest we've seen the lake in the (now) three times we've been to the jetty. We walked across a lot of hard flat salt and finally got to the water and then we walked back. My parents and Mugs ate their lunch on the tailgate of the truck while we chatted and then parted ways.
They went back to Cache Valley but we decided to check out Promontory Point (which isn't the place where the Golden Spike was driven - that is Promontory Summit; the point is a peninsula a ways away) since we've never been out there, and why not? We were listening to a fun book and had plenty of snacks and happened to see a couple of trees with 12 bald eagles roosting in them! That was perhaps the best part of that drive. It was a cool to see Ogden just across the water, but it did take a while to drive the road instead of the train tracks back into town. ;)
One last surprise finished off the evening . . . we snagged some sushi rolls for dinner at Smith's on our way back up the canyon. The kids had been curious about trying sushi and we were getting hungry, so it worked out great. They were good sports and liked it (without the spicy sauce) and we had a yummy, exotic (for us!) dinner. We demolished the gingerbread houses after for dessert (dunked in hot cider, of course) (and the kids gorged themselves on candy once more before we tossed it all!).
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| Thanks to Mugs for this artsy shot of the colorful salt! |
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| A view of Fremont Island, which I knew nothing about until Gregg's dad sent us that article telling how it is now open for people to visit . . . if you can get there! (This drive was a little of a scouting mission to see if it was accessible from this side - and it doesn't appear to be very easily accessed from Promontory Point anyway.) |
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| I spy twelve bald eagles sitting in the trees! |
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| The moon was amazing and huge and bright as we came through the canyon by the dam! |
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| This was a delightful surprise. Sorta Mary Poppins, sorta Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, mostly something of its own. We enjoyed this one! |
That was a fun day! Thanks for the invite!
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