May 29.....May God continue the unity of our Country as this Railroad unites the two great Oceans of the world.  ~~engraved on the Golden Spike  

True to form, we woke up a little late (can you believe that one?)and hurried to get going on our way to Promontory Summit to visit the Golden Spike National Park.  Our drive took us about 45 minutes to get there but it was a nicer part of Utah than we had previously seen,  fields and some hills.  Seeing so much of the country, I feel like a real estate expert by this time.  Utah is not really my favorite.  It is pretty dry and not particularly nice to look at.  When we pulled into the parking lot, it was still early so there were only a few cars. 

The kids had the full attention of the rangers and that was great.  They immediately started to work on the Jr. Ranger books.  They were excited to do one last book, since we had thought that Arches would be the last one. 

We were pleased to know that the train would arrive around 10:00 which was shortly after our arrival.  Christian rushed to go outside to the tracks in great expectation of seeing the train come in.  In no time at all, No. 119 pulled in to the station which is located on the actual site of the final meeting of the rails. About 1.7 miles of track have been relaid on the original roadbed where the rails were joined.  No. 119 is a replica of the Union Pacific steam locomotive that met the Jupiter, the Central Pacific steam locomotive, on the tracks at Promontory Summit on May 10, 1869. 

After a golden spike was symbolically tapped, a final iron spike was driven to connect the railroads binding together the East and West.  In the end the Central Pacific had laid 690 miles of track and the Union Pacific had laid 1086 miles to make a grand total of 1,776 miles of track.  It took 6 years and about 50 million dollars to complete this monumental task.  Both sides required immense amounts of laborers.  The Union Pacific would employ Irish, German, and Italian immigrants, Civil War veterans from both sides, ex-slaves and even American Indians, 8-10,000 in all.  The Central Pacific would rely on several thousand low paid Chinese workers to do the bulk of the work from Sacramento into the Sierra Nevada and on to Promontory.  Coming from the east, Union Pacific started on easier terrain but they had raids by the Sioux and Cheyenne to worry about.  In the west, the Central Pacific faced the rugged Sierra Nevada range almost immediately.  Both faced logistical problems with keeping supplies replenished.  Every rail, spike, and locomotive for the Central Pacific had to be shipped 15,000 miles around Cape Horn before even getting to San Francisco to be transported up to the railway crews.  The Chinese workers hand chiseled with picks and then nitroglycerin to blast 15 tunnels through the Sierra granite, sometimes only gaining 8 inches a day.  At one point, the Union Pacific laid 8.57 miles of track in one day and laid down the gauntlet, with a $10,000 bet, that it could not be beaten.  The Central Pacific gladly took up the challenge and on April 28, 1869 successfully laid 10 miles 56 feet Of track near Promontory.

  There is a marker there that recognizes this accomplishment.  Both sides used surveyors, grading crews, tunnel crews, trestle builders, and track layers to get the railway put through.  Indian raids, the weather, and disputes between laborers were all deterrents to the success of the quest.  But persevere they did and eventually the work paid off to open America’s final frontier to better supply and trade routes, better postal service, tighter army control over Indian disputes, and quicker intercontinental travel and emigration.  The nation’s second transcontinental telegraph was strung alongside as the track advanced, allowing better communication through the country.  The ones to suffer through this expansion were the Native Americans who stood by and watched more of their lands open up to expansion and the buffalo almost die off due to overhunting and senseless killing.   Still, the indomitable spirit that drives us as Americans helped to settle the west and bring our country closer linked.  This spirit lives on in our quest for space travel and progression in technology.  We as a people have a desire to work hard and achieve our dreams......something we have seen on this journey we have been on, we can all appreciate and learn from this.

 

As we came into Bountiful, we decided to stop for gas, SLURPEES (a new favorite reward for doing writing...that and licorice, gum and Adventures in Odyssey.....who says bribery doesn't work), Starbucks and taco salads from Chipotle for the drivers(our rewards for hours of driving through the miles of nothingness)!  Bonus:  Starbucks had city mugs for Utah and we scooped them up.  Gracie, with all of the innocence of a child, asked us the other day "where are we going to put all of these new Starbucks mugs?"  Hmmmmm...guess we are cleaning out a cupboard.  I may have to convince a certain aunt of mine to get me the ones from Copenhagen and Paris.  While we were in town, we mailed the final few postcards.  WOW....I can’t recall how many postcards my little family has written on this incredible adventure but I would venture to say it may be close to 100 or more.  I know that sometimes I have mailed 20 at a time.  On top of that the kids have been writing in their history books about every place that we have visited...which has been no small task.   

 

at the Salt Lake Marina...that is the lake in the blue

passing MORTON salt on the way to the salt flats...

walking on the salt flats at Bonneville, UT

As we began our next leg towards returning home, via hwy 80 (yeah it's our hwy), we would traverse the same desert that some pioneers went through in wagons and horses.  It was a hot and dry day on the desert leaving Salt Lake City and on into the Bonneville Salt Flats. 

We got out and walked on the salt and the girls bagged some to bring home.  Christian had a good time digging in the salt.  There was a film crew staging a scene with two horses and we watched them as they set up on the bright sunny flat.  They told us they film from 4-9 am and 4-9 pm when the sun is not directly overhead.  Easy to understand why, we were so hot!! 

strange desert art on the way to the salt flats.....on Hwy 80

Hello Nevada....Goodbye Utah

Entering Nevada gave us all a "getting closer to home" feeling.  Although, this part of Nevada is not like home at all....dry, desolate land.  Stopping for gas, Christian was surprised to see gambling machines in the gas station.  I have to say, it was sad to see people sitting mindlessly staring at the gambling machines.....gas is going up $3.79-$4.09 along the way. 

our classroom on wheels.....state facts.....

The drive was mind numbingly boring, so we popped in the Adventures in Odyssey to listen to in the break times from writing.  The kids were very motivated to finish their writing in order to listen to a few episodes...no worry we had plenty of time to do both on this drive!!  We finally pulled into Tahoe around 1:00 am.  Good thing that we got an extra hour back today when we left Mountain time and entered Pacific time.  Pam and I, very trickily, parked the RV in the small spaces (we did take up more than one) at the condos that her dad owns.  Phew, glad that is done with.  On the door of the condo, there was a notice posted that all vehicles have to be moved out of the parking lot by 7:00 am tomorrow morning for resurfacing and striping...WHAT!  We were so looking forward to sleeping in...darn!!!  Better wake up early....by the time we fell into our beds it was around 2:30.......