Rainy too warm here for any snow. Will we get snow soon? Will we get snow soon?

Let's stay here!

Throughout our ten-year odyssey, we got together with family and old friends, meeting fellow campers and making new friens along the way. People everywhere were helpful and accommodating. We visited familiar communities and childhood haunts. We explored places because of their interesting sign out front: Finnish American Cultural Center in Ashtabula, Ohio; The National Quilt Museum in Paduca, Kentucky; C.M. Russell House and Museum in Great Falls, Montana.  

Some events and places were destinations: meeting Big Boy #4014 steam locomotive in Morgan, Utah, a; attending the Golden Spike 150th Anniversary Commemoration at Promintory Point, Utah; driving three laps on the track at Watkins Glen Raceway in Watkins Glen, New York; camping at the edge of Lake Onterio, in Henderson Harbor, New York; taking the grandkidsand their parents on a motorhome day trip from Fairview, Oregon, to Cascades Locks in the Columbia River Gorge; camping at the beach of Lake Coeur d'Alene, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

We were happy travelers and only once wondered if sitting on the front porch might have been not such a bad idea. I thank you, Roger. We didn't take a vacation; we experienced a new lifestyle. 

And now we have decided to stay here. Our reservation is confirmed. The weather is temperate. And what a view from the deck!  

It's 2020 . . . we're staying at home

 what a year . . . let's hope we'll be out and about in 2021

A doe set up camp in the backyard and gave birth to a lovely faun. We welcome these new neighbors. 

             

Return to Salem

Our second outing for this season is camping at Hee Hee Illahee RV Resort in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. Mild temperatures and occasional showers make this a very comfortable home base.

 

more puzzling than expected 

Rocky

just looking

at the Salem  depot

Yes, we do love trains.

Steam locomotives and Salt Lake City

Our home base at Pony Express RV Park in North Salt Lake

What a surprise! 

It's May and we're on the road. In all ten years of our motorhome adventures, this is the earliest we have ever gone anywhere. Ever! 

And here we are in Utah. We've come to see family and steam locomotives.

   

Meeting Big Boy #4014 

May 8, 2019

                             


                    At Morgan's train station we wait for Big Boy to arrive when we see our cousins, Jeanine and Kathy.

During the 15-minute stop at Morgan, everyone could come on the tracks right by Big Boy #4014 

Coming down Weber Canyon after meeting Big Boy #4014 at Morgan, Utah

Big Boy #4014 fans

At Ogden Union Station
May 9, 2019

Transcontinental Railroad Ceremony presented by Union Pacific at Ogden

Big Boy #4014 articulated locomotive with its tender is almost 133 feet long 

love at first sight

844

   

Promontory Summit
May 10, 2019

Turning off UT-83 N on the way to Promontory Summit and the celebration of the
completion of the Transcontinental Railroad 150 years ago on May 10, 1869

Alan, Lynn, Jan, Steve, and Roger at Promontory Summit

About 20,000 people made the trek to honor the Chinese and Irish laborers who built the transcontinental railroad

We visited the Transcontinental Railroad display at Utah State Capitol. This outstanding installation included many annotated photographs, the golden spike (on loan from Stanford University), the silver spike (from Nevada), and the new-this-year copper spike (from Rio Tinto Kennecott).

Getting Together with Family  

At the fuel stop in SLC

Roger took the motorhome to a fuel stop near Redwood Road with Jaxson, Jan, Lynn, and me

Plaque on Uncle Reg's saddle shop in Sandy

Steve and Jan took Lynn, Roger, and me on a tour around the west side and the south end of Salt Lake and the north part of Utah counties. Lots of growth and development, along with old communities: Copperton, Bingham Canyon, we checked out Muz and Uncle Reg's place in Sandy, visited our old neighborhood on Vine Street, and stopped at The Iceberg Drive Inn on 9th E and 39th S for a traditional chocolate cherry shake!  

Sophie and Bella

Coming home through the Blues

It's still spring!
close to the snow line near La Grande, Oregon

Some favorite pics of Union Pacific #4014 and 844
shared with the UP Steam Club