Time to meander home. Why “meander”? The fact is that all the primary east-west routes via the Interstate Highways I’ve already explored. Sure, there’s alway more to see but they’re not the rich passageways as they once were. By taking secondary highways and especially diagonal highways I come across abundant new veins of discovery to mine.
Not in keeping with the above, I started down the Columbia River Gorge which I love, love, love to drive. However, once I emerged on the east side of the Cascade Mountains I jumped on a quiet road, the John Day Highway, to the National Monument I had once visited too briefly. Then I cut east through the Blue Mountains to historic Baker City.
Embarking on a diagonal I visited a couple of museums in Boise to learn of its history which was somewhat what I expected though I’m still learning to understand the geography of the State which had a huge influence on its development. Down the road I came across Devil’s Overlook over Malad Gorge above the Snake River. In a word: Wow! Later, I had the moving pleasure of watching a pink sunset cast its glow on snow-covered hills.
Ogden was fun in many ways but I particularly enjoyed its Union Station, the primary reason Ogden was once a major city. At the peak of rail transportation, if you wanted to go east-to-west along the northern States then passing through Ogden was very likely. The museum preserves this heritage nicely but I’ll need to go back since I didn’t have time to see the Golden Spike National Historic Site where the rail networks east and west first connected to form a transcontinental system. It’s about 50 miles out of town and I just didn’t have the time to make the trip.
Salt Lake City is anchored by Temple Square. The surrounding area is full of museums, gathering places, government buildings, churches and some very important structures of the Mormon Church. You would have to spend several days in this few block area just to see it all. To the west I visited Fort Douglas and the University of Utah which have a commingled history due to sharing the same plot of land. I struck gold in finding the Fort Davis Museum Director who plowed me with an hour of history. Very enjoyable.
I left SLC again traveling on a secondary highway. My last stop for the day was Park City, site of the 2002 Winter Games. Since Kelsey and I had just been to Vancouver after the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, this seemed like an important stop to make. The facilities are still in tact and being used for training; tours take you across the entire grounds. While I enjoyed my visit I came away with the feeling that the facility had not quite kept up with the times and felt dated. Eight years is too short a time for this to happen.
I stayed in Vernal, UT which is the self-professed “Dinosaur Capital of the World” Why do they say this? In part because many discoveries were made in the area but more importantly they are the nearest town to launch a visit to the Dinosaur National Monument. What can you see at the monument? Not dinosaurs. The primary exhibit there has been closed for seven years due to the building’s lack of structure integrity and the lack of funding to build a new facility. No, what you’ll find is an unobstructed river network running through gorgeous canyons where rafting, canoeing and kayaking are great fun. I told the Ranger they should rename the park Dinosaur Canyons National Monument. If it happens then you’ll know who to credit!
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