NO-TRAVEL DAY 1

Salt Lake: Visiting Friends

First thing in the morning, a new windshield. Yesterday a truck in front of us dead-eyed a rock unto the glass and caused a crack that grew rapidly. Happily we got to the hotel last night and arranged to have a new windshield installed this morning. (The tape is not really holding it together...)

Love the Internet! I wanted to find my old missionary companion whose information I had not secured, so I trusted my impressive detective skills to locate her... And, abracadabra, found her address, though not sure it was actually hers but perhaps her son’s, but what’s the difference! His family could direct us to the right place. Well, it was hers and she had just gotten home from the temple and on her way to visit a neighbor who had come home from the hospital. Interesting  how nicely we fit in the “crack" of her activities! I call that simply providential... It was wonderful to visit with her. We had been companions on our mission Finland, mmmm..., many decades ago. Then she was on a mission back in Finland when Frosty and I were there, so we got to meet and take care of each other then. So you see, it was truly fantastic to see her again! 

Here is a "synopsis" of our mutual paths:

In Jyväskylä 1965 (I think); in Helsinki, 2012; and now in Sandy, UT

On the way to the next attraction, we passed my favorite store and the NSA massive data center. Mixed feelings about both...

The road to see some "old" friends took us by the Museum of Ancient Living at Thanksgiving Point, Lehi. We stopped there for a spell, to make sure we appreciate our life this day and age...  We took a brief look at the ancient skeletal displays and had some lunch (not any of the bony animals; there is an eatery inside the museum). 

And the happy reunion with Heli from Vaasa, who was visiting her daughter who lives in this area. Heli and her usband had taken great care of us while we were serving a mission in Vaasa: Thanks-giving, Christmas, and much more fun stuff with them. (Notice how Heli and I "think" alike: we both are wearing black-and-white stripes!)

The last visit today was with my best friend from Joensuu, from time immemorial... when there was lava on the Earth, or when we were all young. We went through some incredible events together at school and church. Wonderful times. Love all my Finnish friends!

Here we are, then and now:

What a nice surprise to happen to spot Frosty's cousin's son (what is that called?) on TV! He is the Evening News anchor at Fox13 in Salt Lake City.

And so, September comes to an end. We've been on the road for two weeks.

GO TO NO-TRAVEL DAY 2

SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY: PROVO, BYU

MORE FRIENDS

TRAVEL DAY 10

Leaving Rock Springs. We did not encounter anything extraordinary... Saw many windmills in various locations, atop higher ground, looking like crippled spiders.. 

Snows driven by strong winds would hide the highways were it not for these “snow-corrals” all along the roads. Another sure indication of snow and ice danger was the abundant signs of “chains required” and “chain removal area.” 

The further West we drove, the rockier the terrain became. We named these rocks “The Three Sisters.” No reason why. A sure sign of approaching the forbidding, majestic Rockies ...

We decided to visit Fort Bridger, since it was practically on our path. 

Fort Bridger, Wyoming

Fort Bridger was built in 1842-43 by mountain men Jim Bridger and Louis Vasquez. The first “fort” was nothing more than two log houses about 40f long, joined by a pen for horses and a small blacksmith shop. During the oncoming years the camp grew so that by 1858 the fort had developed into an important resupply station for early western pioneers. Wagon repairs, trail directions, food supplies, animal replacements, ammunition and  liquor were available for a price. The fort ownership remained unchallenged until the arrival in 1847 of the Mormon pioneers, who settled 104 miles southwest of the fort in the Salt Lake Valley.

Reports of liquor and ammunition being sold to the Indians near the fort reached Brigham Young as early as 1848. This practice was in violation of federal law, and Brigham Young, as federal Indian agent, was determined to stop the practice. In August of 1853 a Utah territorial (Mormon) group of forty-eight men started for Fort Bridger from Salt Lake City. Jim Bridger was warned and escaped minutes before the group arrived. They discovered ample liquor which they destroyed, but found no ammunition. This was the start of the so-called Utah War.

And soon we were in Utah!

We took a small detour to Heber City to see what it might have to offer. How about more beautiful scenery, including a large reservoir for water sports. What else would you need?

Uh-oh, is Happy Valley under a cloud?

GO TO NO-TRAVEL DAY 1

SALT LAKE CITY, FRIENDS

MUSEUM OF ANCIENT LIVING

TRAVEL DAY 9

Difficult goodbyes as we parted with the little family who give us endless hours of entertainment and pleasure... But a plan is a plan, so off we went.
Soon after we were on the road, we entered the State of Wyoming.

A huge oil refinery by the side of the road

Buford

Interesting things dotted the otherwise rather boring terrain. This town marker was just inside the state line: 

The "town" is an unincorporated community consisting of a convenience store, gas station and a modular home. Population: 2, the owner and his son. His son moved away, so the number changed to 1. The property was bought by a Vietnamese pair who changed the name to PhinDeli, by which name it appears on the map. We remembered stopping here earlier on our way from Utah to North Carolina as we were in the process of moving to Pinehurst in 2002. Two gentlemen became fast friends comparing their Jag XK8s...

Rawlins

Part of the reason we had chosen Rawlins as a half-way point between Denver and SLC was a gorgeous Queen Anne style mansion that now is a bed and breakfast place. What better place to spend the night! But we soon changed our minds.

The George Ferris Mansion in Rawlins, WY, is one of the most significant Queen Anne style buildings in Wyoming.  The house was built during 1899-1903 for George and Julia Ferris. The Mansion was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 and has served as a bed and breakfast place since 1986.

George Ferris was born in Michigan. He moved to Wyoming and pursued a variety of vocations, but his wealth came from the Rudefeha Copper Mine (later the Ferris-Haggarty Mine).  Work on the house began in 1899, but was interrupted when George Ferris was killed in 1900 as he was thrown from a runaway carriage near his mine. The house was completed in 1903, and Julia Ferris lived there until her death at 76 in 1931.

We were going to stay here the one night we were in Rawlins, but changed our minds when we read this:

“The mansion has had a few ghostly encounters, which began after the death of Cecil Ferris during the early 1900s.  Cecil was the son of George and Julia Ferris, who began constructing the mansion in 1901. Cecil was killed by a fatal gunshot accidentally fired by his brother who was playing with their father’s gun. . . . Owners and guests have reported seeing the apparition of whom they believe to be Cecil and a lady adorned in white who frequently roams the kitchen area–which many believe to be Julia Ferris.  Other mysterious happenings reported include the sounds of footsteps, whispering and banging noises.” 

No, thank you just the same!

(The pictures above of the Mansion are not mine; it was cloudy and rainy, and mine did not turn out well enough to share. The picture above right is by Glenn Cunningham. I'm using it because I think it is perfect to show the aura of a haunted house...)
After we left Rawlins, the weather declined. We encountered strong winds,  thick fog and heavy rain. 

Visibility kept getting worse and worse as we drove through the highest point on our trail: 8,640f.

Another notable marker was the Continental Divide at 7,000 feet.

The Continental Divide of the Americas (also known as the Continental Gulf of Division, the Great Divide, or merely the Continental Divide) is the principal, and largely mountainous, hydrological divide of the Americas.  Basically, the Continental Divide extends from the Bering Strait to the Strait of Magellan, and separates the watersheds that drain into the Pacific Ocean from those river systems that drain into the Atlantic Ocean. Though there are many other hydrological divides in the Americas, the Great Divide is by far the most prominent of these because it tends to follow a line of high peaks along the main ranges of the Rocky Mountains and Andes, at a generally much higher elevation than the other hydrological divisions. I did not realize that the Divide goes through both the Americas, North and South. (The picture below shows just the ridge of the Divide within the USA.)

 And so we ended our day in Rock Springs, WY.

GO TO TRAVEL DAY 10

WYOMING: FT. BRIDGER

UTAH: HEBER CITY

"HAPPY VALLEY"

DAY OF ARM-CHAIR TRAVEL

While we are still in Colorado—though not “traveling”—I want to include two more destinations that escaped us: the Bishop Castle and Cano’s Castle. (Full disclosure: There are many beautiful castles and mansions in Colorado, and realistically speaking, one could not cover all of them in the short time that we had allotted for this area. So look for more additions to this annals in the future.)

Bishop Castle

Bishop Castle is a fun and popular tourist attraction in Colorado. It is a weird and wacky structure that strangely reminds me of Antoní Gaudí’s works in Barcelona, like a conglomeration of his imaginative use of form and shape, though void of the fanciful colors that distinguish Gaudí’s  designs.

The owner of the castle, Jim Bishop, is also its builder. In 1969 he started working on a family cottage, which he decided to surround with rocks. Several neighbors noted that the structure looked something like a castle. Bishop took this to heart and began building his castle.

Wrote one traveler : “Jim Bishop is truly a man after my own inner child. For the past 40 years, Bishop has been building a castle in the mountains outside Rye southwest of Pueblo. He’s not having a castle built for him on his property nor does his house merely look like a castle. Bishop goes to work every day of the summer hauling and setting stones, casting iron and digging foundations for his personal fortress.

The Castle is a massive structure. At a glance, its most impressive feature is the main tower, which rises so high visitors struggle to get the whole castle in one photograph. The cast iron stairs leading to the top echo the loud clank of footsteps belonging to the bravest of Bishop’s guests.”

For the sake of comparison (and to somewhat prove my point), let us see how the two have at least similar air and playful spirit, albeit separate degrees of sophistication. Obviously, I am an ardent admirer of Gaudí’s.

             LEFT: Bishop                 RIGHT: Gaudí

This (below) to me is the most striking resemblance, a detail that sent me doing this comparison in more detail.

Again, not claiming that similarities are undeniable; just saying that perhaps the details would place them in the same genre of fanciful architecture.

Cano's Castle

An other "weird and wacky structure" is located in Antonito in southern Colorado, a striking specimen of a sort of folk art. 

"One man's junk is my treasure," muses Donald "Cano" Espinoza, a Native American Vietnam veteran,  pointing to his masterpiece of a collection of empty beer cans. He lives in Antonito with his mother and set out to build his “castle” after his mother repeatedly demanded that he do something about his growing pile of junk. After more than 20 years he has nearly completed “the Knight” in his series of structures. The first and largest is called “the King,” next to that is “the Queen” and flanking the King is “the Rook.” Surrounding the property is “the Crown.” Cano credits his artwork to his religion and his devotion to God. The land is a gift from God. 

Scrap aluminum gives the castle its dazzle: wire, hubcaps, grills, screen doors, window casements. Bicycle reflectors add notes of color. Countless beer cans, carefully cut apart, predominate. The tops and bottoms are nailed to the walls in repeating patterns; the middles have been turned inside-out and hammered flat to create aluminum siding.

There are thousands of aluminum-sided square feet in Cano's castle, but he lives across the street in a trailer behind some trees. He claims Jesus has the castle to Himself, though perhaps a more practical reason is that the local utility company has shut off its water supply.

Some more details:

GO TO TRAVEL DAY 9

 WYOMING: BUFORD, RAWLINS HAUNTED MANSION

CONTINENTAL DIVIDE