Promontory Point & the Spiral Jetty

So, for one of our day get-aways this summer we decided to head to Promontory Point where the Golden Spike was driven in to finish the Transcontinental Railroad. The day we decided to go they had a re-enactment of the event, plus, we got in free! Bonus!

Part of the re-enactment

One of the engines "whooshing" its steam


All of the groups during the re-enactment

It was raining and cold, so Scott was hiding in his jacket


Watching the re-enactment in the rain

After we watched the re-enactment we went inside the museum and watched a demonstration on the use of the bayonet. At the end the presentation, Braden hobbled over and told me that his toenail was falling off. (A week or two before that, he was running outside and fell and scraped up his toe pretty badly. We had just been waiting for the toenail to fall off.) It started bleeding, so we sat there until everyone left, then Brandon went in search of a bandaid while I took our little Swiss Army knife scissors and trimmed the rest of it off.

After that, we saw that people were climbing right up next to the engines, so we went back outside and took some pictures next to the engines. We couldn't get in them, but we got some good pictures up close.

Up close to the engine

B next to one engine - these engines are HUGE!!

My sweetheart

We noticed the sand on the track, and decided it must be for traction when they need it

Follow the gold tube up - the top of that is the sand "bucket"

B trying to pull the engine - he must not have had his Wheaties this morning!

By then, everybody was freezing, so we loaded back up in the truck and headed out to the Spiral Jetty in the Great Salt Lake. We had overheard a museum worker telling someone else that you had to have 4-wheel drive to get out there, as it was a bumpy ride. And it was. Very bumpy.

But, we made it out there, saw the jetty, picked up some cool pieces of salt, and then it started to rain. So, we hiked through the rain back up to the truck, where I realized that my feet were quite sore. So, I took off my sandals and found that my feet were really swollen. The marks from my sandals stayed on my feet for another couple of hours before fading. Yikes!

The Spiral jetty

Gavin & Brandon posing - G insisted on wearing his swim suit even though we told him it would be cold

Standing on the jetty looking out at the lake - you can see how wet Scott's jacket was

The sandal marks on my feet

As we left, we were looking out the window at the lake, and saw this HUGE ball out in a drained part of the lake. So, Brandon & Scott headed out to investigate. They decided that it was probably an old, rusted out anchor that was used to anchor a boat dock at some point.

The anchor

Scott investigating the ball

All in all, we had a lot of fun, even if it was cold and rainy! If you ever get a chance you should come out this way and check out Promontory Point, and if it's warm, head to the lake to play in the salt, then head our way for a visit! My door's open!