Brigham City and Beyond!

We had an adventurous day Saturday in Brigham City, Utah. There were several things on our “must see” list, and we were going to try and accomplish them all.

The first stop was at the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. This is located just outside of Brigham City where the Bear River flows into the Great Salt Lake. The refuge protects the marshes that are located at the mouth of the Bear River, and provides a wonderful habitat for migrating birds from both the Pacific and Central Flyways of North America.



We stopped in at the Visitor’s Center to pick up brochures and information about the refuge. We also watched an excellent movie about the refuge. Then we headed out. There was a 12 mile auto tour of the refuge, but to GET there, we had to drive about 7-8 miles, all on gravel roads.



The trip was well worth it. Although there weren’t a lot of birds yet, we saw American Avocets





Clark’s Grebe



Yellow-headed blackbird



Tons and tons of American Coots. These ducks are hysterical. When they take off, or get scared, they literally run across the water before they take off flying.



American White Pelican





Sandhill Cranes



And we even saw a skunk crawling alongside the road, but he ducked into his den before I was able to get a picture.

The marshes were beautiful, and even though it was a cloudy day, the sun peeked out every once in awhile.









There were an awful lot of bugs around. Jim called them "midges". I just called them a nuisance.



Bear River


We spent a much longer time at the refuge than we had planned. We also didn’t plan to drive 10 mph on a gravel road! Jim wanted to go to the Golden Spike Museum where supposedly the East met the West and the famous “golden spike” was nailed into the rail for the trains to connect across the United States. (There’s some controversy as to where the real site is at.) Anyway, we raced to the museum, only to get there 5 minutes before they closed. So that was a bust. BUT, also on the list was this thing called the “spiral jetty.”

Robert Smithson, a sculptor, took black basalt rocks and lined them up from the shore of the Great Salt Lake, and then formed a coil. This “spiral jetty” can only be seen if Salt Lake is low; otherwise it is under water.


Photo courtesy of www.treehugger.com

There were supposed to be signs showing the way to this sculpture. Well, we saw the first one right past the museum. Then we saw a second one, and then that was it. The directions on RoadsideAmerica.com said the road starts out gravel and then turns into just a dirt road. At one point we came to a fork in the road. We did not see any sign saying “spiral jetty THIS WAY”. We stayed to the right; the road to the left said, “Promontory Ranch”. We followed this road to the left, to the right, up hills, down hills, through cow pastures. Signs were posted that it was personal property on BOTH sides of the road, but I guess it was okay to DRIVE on the road. Again, we didn’t see any signs for the “spiral jetty”, but we continued driving. Oh, and did I mention that it was an “Open Range”? This means that cows can wander wherever the heck they want to go. This means that if you’re not careful? BEEF. IT’S WHAT FOR DINNER! We had to stop at LEAST three times for cows to saunter off the road.



I remember reading that a one point we’d either have to have a 4-wheel drive vehicle or we’d have to walk a little bit. Well, Jim just kept on truckin’. Sometimes the road would go down, but the sides inclined up. This seemed to be a great place for tumbleweeds to collect. I mean, collect like up to 3 FEET deep.



Jim just plowed through them with Big Blue. They exploded into the air!

It was fun, but this is the result of it! Look at all the scratches on the truck. Jim thinks most of them will come off with a good wash. I hope so!



I was starting to get nervous. We kept driving, and driving, and driving. By now I was wondering if I even wanted to see this stupid jetty, you know? But I felt Jim wanted to make a point. We got this far, right? We drove until the road ended. We had to turn left or right. We couldn’t even see the lake anymore. What the heck? Jim turned left and continued driving. We were in NO MAN’S LAND.



I said, “You’d better turn around. I don’t think we’ll ever get out of here. No one will find us!”

So Jim turned the truck around, and we headed up the road the other way. We didn’t go back on that other road, thankfully, but stayed on the second road which actually lead us back to where we needed to go. Soon we were back on the highway. I was discouraged because after all that and I didn’t get to see the spiral jetty.

Here is a short video of the spiral jetty.



It was still light out, so I instructed Jim to do some drive-by’s so I could take pictures of some buildings in town.

This first one is of the old Brigham City Train Depot, which was built in 1906 by the Oregon Short Line railroad. It is now a museum.




This is the Box Elder County Courthouse and was built in 1855 as the first public building in the area. It reminded me of the building they used in Back to the Future.




This is the Box Elder Tabernacle. The site was chose by Brigham Young, himself. Construction began in May of 1865 and wasn't completed until 1889 due to men working on the local railroad. In 1896 a fire began in the furnace room, and within an hour only the charred stone walls were left standing. But this time, the rebuilding of the tabernacle only took one year.




After all the sightseeing and picture taking, it was a long day and I was not in the mood to come home and cook. We stopped by a little restaurant in town and had dinner. I ordered some fried chicken. When our young waitress brought my dinner, she plopped down this bottle of light pink stuff in it and walked away. Hmm? What could it be? I squeezed a little on my plate and tasted it, and it tasted like, well, nothing, actually. How could that be?

When the waitress came back to our table, I asked her, “What is this?”

“That? Why that’s Fry Sauce!”

“What is in it?” I asked.

“Mayonnaise and ketchup.”

“What do you do with it?” I asked, still puzzled.

“You all must not be from around here. It’s for your French fries or tater tots. It must be a Utah thing.”

So there you have it.

Oh. She was cute. She said that she was sick of the weather being “bipolar” - “One day it’s warm and I can wear shorts and the next day it’s cold and I have to dress up and wear long sleeves and pants.”

The things you learn in a small town.

Bipolar weather.

Fry sauce.(I looked it up. It's even in Wikipedia! "Fry sauce is a regional condiment served with French fries. It is usually a simple combination of one part ketchup and two parts mayonnaise. In the United States, Fry sauce is commonly found in restaurants in Utah, as well as available by mail-order." WHO KNEW?)


Photo courtesy of Wikipedia



And by the way? We found out later when we got back home that we should have taken the left in that fork in the road to get to the spiral jetty. THEN we would have found it. Darn it!

Laughlin in the rearview mirror

We've been on the road a couple of days and are now settled in Brigham City, Utah for two nights. Before I take you along our road trip, I have a quiz for you. This is a close up of something. Do you know what it is?



Does this help?



It is a close up of the "unshaved" part of a palm tree. This is the trunk of the tree, showing the bottom half that is shaved, and the top half that is not shaved. I like the unshaved look, myself. And, no, my own legs don't look like that!




We passed Vegas in a heartbeat; Jim barely batted an eye. Me? My palms were itching but I didn't say a word. We donated enough money in Laughlin.



We drove through and around a lot of rock formations and gorgeous scenery out of Nevada.



This is the Virgin River winding its way around the mountains.



A beautiful ribboned mountain showing off its different layers.



Mother Nature's own cairn.



This is what I call an "uh-oh" sign. This is when Jim puts the truck in lower gear and we still go flying down the mountain. It's like being on a roller coaster ride. Did I tell you that I don't much like going on carnival rides anymore?



You make think I'm holding the camera crooked, but no. It's the ROAD that is slanted. I.Kid.You.Not.



Hold on!



Did you ever wonder where they make Hidden Valley Ranch dressing? Could it be at Exit 88 off of Highway 15 in Nevada?



Who would name a town "Browse?" Do you think people actually stay there long enough to live? Or do they just pass by?



We were still in Nevada when I saw this billboard. Now, I don't know much about guns, but isn't this an AK-47? Why don't y'all come on in and try one on for size! Are they kidding?



I could spot Utah in the distance by the snow covered mountains.





What's that white stuff? Eek! Snow!



I knew we crossed over into Utah. This was the first Mormon temple I spotted in the distance.



I noticed on this farmer's land that he trashed all these cars. (Click on the picture to enlarge it.) Now, I ask you, what possesses someone to say, "You know, I want to junk this car. I think I'll park it way out there at the edge of my land near the ditch." And then he continues to do that. And other people take note. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe it's public land. I don't think it's a landfill because I didn't see anything else but cars. It's an automobile graveyard.



This is called Seven Peaks Mountain. The clouds were so low that they covered some of the peaks.



This billboard caught my eye.



And this one.



If I were still in town I'd be tempted to go to the expo. Maybe I'd learn more about my husband. What makes him tick. I wonder if I'd have to go incognito? Hmmm.....

Grapevine Canyon

Laughlin is not made up of just casinos. (And it's a good thing the way our luck runs!) We took a short ride about 7 miles northwest of the campground to Grapevine Canyon. The directions said that we were to look for a gravel road off of the main highway. Sure enough, there it was! It's called Christmas Tree Pass. We turned onto the gravel road, questioning our sanity, but there WAS a sign stating that Grapevine Canyon was that way!

Road to Grapevine Canyon



Jim drove about 25 mph so as not to stir up a lot of dust. We only saw a couple of cars in about 3 miles! We turned left into the parking lot and saw one other car there.

Grapevine Canyon is a natural gorge located on the side of Spirit Mountain (also known as Newberry Peak).

Spirit Mountain




I grabbed my camera, water and walking stick and followed Jim down the path. I wasn't sure how far we had to walk, but I was hoping it wasn't too far. It was a beautiful day, and there was a light breeze so the sun didn't feel too hot.



I smelled something sweet and I think it was coming from the yellow sunflowers.



There were also some of these.



Petroglyphs are found all over the sides of the canyon.







We came across two small waterfalls, only about a foot or so tall. They created a stream of water that lead out to the wash and finally just dried up. I was fascinated by the pattern that the ripples made in the water over some of the rocks.







The surrounding scenery was stunning.









It was nice to get out and stretch our legs AND smell some fresh air.

"C" stands for Casinos, ca-ching$$ (as in money I lost), and coughing (from the smoke)

Jim and I started our day with our .99 cent breakfast - ham and eggs with a side order of hash browns. Can't beat that with a stick, right? I'd rather throw money away in the slots than the breakfast table!

This is AVI casino that is connected to the RV park where we are staying.



This mural is painted on the parking garage. I like how the shadows of the palm trees fall across the mural.



We had access to the hotel pool and beach. We didn't go into the pool area, but did walk by the beach and lagoon area. It was beautiful.



Our casino was located about 12 miles south of town, so we had to drive into town to visit the other casinos.

This is looking down the Colorado River near the Davis Dam.



In front of all the casinos along the Colorado is a river walk.



The river is so clean and clear. And the current is so swift. We watched this poor duck fight to go upstream.



I was amazed to see palm trees growing right in the water. This is looking straight down in the water.



You can take a water taxi across the river to the other side. Here are couple of unoccupied taxis.



This taxi is make a run!



This is the Colorado Belle casino. It is a replica of a 19th century Mississippi paddlewheel riverboat that is 600 feet in length and 6 decks high.

Photo courtesy of Colorado Belle

We went into about 5 casinos and then we had our limit. For today, anyway! The smoke was really getting to me, as was the sound and the flashing lights. It's a miracle I didn't get a migraine! And I'm here to report that our luck didn't change. We're still losers. Although I can play with a $10 bill for at least 30-45 minutes! That's something isn't it?

I'm sure glad we're not going to be here during "Ride" week, when over 50,000 bikers are expected to show up. Of course, that would have given me an excuse to wear my leather bra with the fringes hanging off of it.

A blonde went to Las Vegas. She had been in the casino for about an hour, and realized she was thirsty. So she went to the pop machine in the hall. She put $1.00 in and a Pespi came out, she put another $1.00 in and another Pespi came out, she put one last $1.00 in and another Pespi came out. A man saw her, and he said: "What are you doing?" And the blonde said: "Duh!! Winning!!!