Nevada to U, You, Ewe, Utahhhhh...

The ride from Diamond Lake, Oregon to our first stop, Winnemucca, Nevada, was like something out of the Twilight Zone. We drove for almost 100 miles on a one-lane highway loaded with mountain passes (Rt. 140) before we reached any sort of civilized “town,” and I use the term “town” loosely. We climbed up to the top of Quartz Mountain Pass (5504 ele.), Drews Gap Summit (5305 ele.) and Crane Mountain Pass (8456 ele.). Little Miss did a great job of getting us up and over each and every one of them. Gone were the lush, green Oregon forests and back were the central mountain ranges that are tan and mostly barren, yet intriguing.

Rt. 140 treated us to some magnificent views and one was more beautiful and unique than the next. Some of the mountain ranges we crossed or viewed were the Bilk Creek and Jackson Mountains and the Santa Rosa and Black Rock Ranges. I snapped photo after photo, thinking that what I was seeing just had to be the best...then, we would crest another mountain pass and see even more sublime vistas.

Lunch break up at Emigrant Pass (6114 ele.)

Now why aren't there more of these tunnels through the mountains?

Beautiful rock formations caused by erosion.

 

Our stay in Winnemucca, which is located in north western NV, turned out to be at the local Walmart. The lot had many RV's and tractor trailers already positioned for the night. George befriended the gentleman in the RV on our driver's side and came to find out that he had been full-timing in his Class A for 30 years. 

Some of the other RV's looked as if they could actually be full-timing there, and George's new friend confirmed our guess. It was his second night there and he said the Class C opposite us had been there when he arrived and they didn't look like they were leaving anytime soon. I don't think George's friend was leaving anytime soon either.

In the morning, we walked down to the store to pick up a few necessities, bid a farewell to our neighbor and got back on I-80 East towards our next stop, Wendover, NV. 

West Wendover KOA turned out to be a pricey dive of a place with the only attractions in the area consisting of about four casinos, several hotels/motels, a gas station and a couple of RV parks. We were glad we only needed one night, because it was a little eerie and quite desolate - even with all the neon lights.

As soon as we got settled in,  I booked us a three-night stay at our next stop which would be the Springville/Prov KOA in Utah. We were ready to get off the road for a couple of days.

Another sticker on our map!

A "point of interest" along the long highway.  Turned out to be artwork imitating nature.

Not snow and ice, but the white salt that makes up the Great Salt Lake Dessert.

Lttle Miss with the mountains in the distance.

The next stop was a KOA in Utah that turned out to be a very nice campground with large pull-through sites. Only the last night found us with a pretty full house. We were lucky to book these RV parks without any problem during this Labor Day weekend.

Our last day there found us discovering and exploring Salt Lake City, UT.  We both fell in love with the city - its clean, modern look, the museums, artwork, transportation system, restaurant choices and ease of parking make it a vibrant, friendly, busy, yet accessible city.

 

My main reason for us driving up to Salt Lake City was to access ancestry information contained in the Genealogical Society of Utah building. Upon entering, I was shocked at the enormity of it all. The huge building had several floors and each floor was dedicated to one or more nationalities. After a short introduction with a Greeter, we were instructed to go to the 2nd floor to search for my European ancestors.

Once the elevator doors opened, we found ourselves standing in an immense library filled with huge books, maps and art decor to match the region. There was a section, the size of half a gymnasium that held dozens upon dozens of computer stations that were equipped with 30" monitors. Comfortable chairs and plenty of space between stations provided the necessary room to spread out your paperwork or research books - and this was just one floor. 

It was a wonderland to me and I could have spent the whole day there. I was assigned a "Missionary," named Diane, who was a specialist in Italian heritage research. All of my queries were left unanswered due to the fact that Italy has not yet fully published their records for public viewing. Currently, records only go back to 1845 and the ones I needed started at 1863. 

Diane was quite helpful, though, in showing me how to contact the proper jurisdictions to obtain birth, death and marriage certificates. There is even a link that will help me write the letter in Italian. I was totally fascinated with the entire process, which is free to the general public. It was founded (and funded) by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and all the individuals working in this building are Missionaries for the purpose of helping others. They will assist anyone, of any religion, and I found that to be a wonderful service. For anyone interested in researching your family heritage, they offer a free ancestry search link: https://familysearch.org

Captain America.

Interestingly for us, our visit to Salt Lake City coincided with the 4th Annual Comic Con Convention. Comic Con has a huge following and at its first convention in 2013 over 120,000 comic book aficionados attended. If you like comics or superheros, this was THE place to be the first weekend of September of 2016.

George and I recognized several of the fans who were decked out in costumes, like Captain America, Superwoman and Batman, but there were many of which we had no clue and couldn't even guess. We did ask a guy I called "Fox-Face" who he was dressed as, but couldn't understand what he said, so I just snapped the picture, smiled and walked away.  

We ended up touring the city and even riding the FREE train that drops you off at several major intersections. This same train will also take you to the cities just north and south of SLC, but there is a $2.50 charge for those distances, which was a real bargain. The train was immaculate, quiet and swift. George remarked that he thought we were on a Disney Monorail.

We had a great day made even better by fabulous weather. Temps pushed up to 91 degrees, but very little humidity and a slight breeze made it feel cooler.

 Below is a pictorial essay of our day:

 

Fox-Face - besides the mask, I think he had a speech impediment, so couldn't understand who is his character was.

We saw several families attending together.

Notice the red paint on the signs. I couldn't figure it out until much later - see below.

We saw a lot of bows and arrows.

No idea....

You could take a ride in a bike pull-cart. Most peddlers were dressed for the occasion.

This original log cabin was furnished as it would have originally been. It was amazing that this tiny home held two full-sized beds, a dresser, a dining table, a yarn spinner, a stove for heating and cooking and shelves for storage.

I decided to play around with the settings on our camera and succeeded with this photo.

The train, as you can see, runs right down the center of the city.

One of the city buses. Red, white and blue designs emblazon all the public transportation.

One section of interesting artwork outside of the convention center.

Another section...very thought-provoking.

Last section... 

It wasn't until I uploaded this photo that I saw the message within the messages.

This guy was available for "free lap warming and petting." You just had to ride in his owner's bike pull-cart.

Deep thought for the day:  Stand still and be moved by all that surrounds you. ~ vc

I really like my most recent quote above. I should write a book. lol