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Cadillac Owners.com First National Meet
Des Moines, Iowa — May 18-20, 2007
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Cadillac Owners.com First National Meet
Des Moines, Iowa — May 18-20, 2007
BRRRRRR! It was in the 30s and 40s most of the way across Wyoming. We saw lots of snow on the mountains and it even spit some snow as we drove along I-80. It was still cold and spitting snow when we stopped for lunch in Evanston, a few miles east of the Utah border.
Since we came through Utah too late to visit the Golden Spike National Historic Site last week, we stopped on the return trip. We only had an hour before closing time, but that was enough time to check out the site where the transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869. We also got a bonus--the two locomotives there are replicas of the Union Pacific's 119 and the Central Pacific's Jupiter that were used in the original ceremony. I had thought they were just static displays. But they are working locomotives, built mostly to the original design specifications with only a couple of modern modifications for safety. The locomotives are brought out from the engine house every day around mid-morning, then they're driven back to the engine house at 4:00 (119) and 4:30 (Jupiter). So we got to see both locomotives in action. 19th century engineering is pretty impressive.
After leaving the Golden Spike site, we stopped for a few minutes to look at the rockets and missileson display at the nearby ATK Launch Systems plant. The largest and most impressive is one of the solid fuel rockets used to launch the space shuttle.
I had heard there was a beautiful canyon along the Snake River near Twin Falls, our stop for the night, but I wasn't expecting to see something so impressive. When you're driving along U.S. 93 from I-84 to Twin Falls, you're on a high plateau and wouldn't know there was this deep canyon until you get to the bridge. There's a golf course at the bottom of the Snake River Canyon that I'd love to play sometime. We also saw BASE jumpers with parasails jumping off the Perrine Bridge. I managed to get a couple of pictures; one parasail didn't open immediately--and there was a collective gasp from the 20 or so people watching from the viewpoint--but it did finally open, and the jumper ended up in the Snake River.
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| Note the temperature outside in the display to the right | Snowing on the Medicine Bow Mountains west of Laramie along I-80 | ||
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| Snow on the Medicine Bow Mountains west of Laramie along I-80 | |||
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| Snow on the Medicine Bow Mountains west of Laramie along I-80 | |||
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| Hard to see, but it's actually snowing along I-80 across Southern Wyoming. | |||
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| I-80 westbound near Rock Springs, Wyoming | Back in Utah; 1-80 westbound | ||
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| I-84 westbound through Weber Canyon | Marker at the Golden Spike National Historic Site | ||
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| The Union Pacific's locomotive 119 heading into the engine house for the night. | |||
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| The Union Pacific's locomotive 119 heading into the engine house for the night. | U.S. flag circa 1869 | Last tie laid for the transcontinental railroad | |
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| Central Pacific Railroad's locomotive Jupiter | |||
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| Central Pacific Railroad's locomotive Jupiter | |||
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| Jupiter heading to the engine house for the night | |||
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| Promontory Summit | ATK rocket display | ||
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| Space shuttle booster rocket | |||
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| Space shuttle booster rocket | U.S. Air Force missile | Hansel Mountains in Northern Utah | |
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| Welcome to Idaho | I missed the Utah sign both ways going in, so since I had pulled over to get the Idaho sign, I turned around to get the sign for Utah | Snow on the mountains in Idaho | Snake River Canyon at Twin Falls, Idaho |
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| There's a golf course at the bottom of the Snake River Canyon in Twin Falls Idaho | |||
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| There's a golf course at the bottom of the Snake River Canyon in Twin Falls Idaho | |||
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| Perrine Bridge across the Snake River Canyon | |||
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| Snake River Canyon | |||
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| Parasailers jumping off the Perrine Bridge | |||
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Send me an e-mail: gary@gdwriter.com
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