Beyond Yellowstone

It was getting cold and wet at Yellowstone and we had been hitting the tourist circuit pretty heavy for most of a week and we felt it was time to move on.  So much more to see and do at Yellowstone, but couldn't do it all in one visit even if we stayed another week or so!

So we checked the weather and headed south toward Salt Lake City.  Road was good and we passed thru Idaho Falls and caught I-15 SB toward Salt Lake City. BJ took over a good part of the driving that day and I enjoyed the sights (or rather the inside of my tired eyelids) most of the way.   At the UT state line we stopped as usual at the welcome center to collect info.  About 35 miles later we arrived at Hill AFB in Ogden UT just north of Salt Lake City.  The base had a nice FamCamp and had FHU on the end of the row.

Weather was bright, sunny and warm and stayed that way for the entire duration of the visit.  For a day or two we just relaxed and caught up on administrative duties.  We reformatted BJ's laptop back to original condition trying to eliminate a pesky blue screen of death that has been a persistent problem.  I started and restarted the blog entry for Yellowstone and was really frustrated with my inability to describe such a wondrous place.  I spent better part of one day replacing the vacuum breaker value on the commode.  I will not bore you with the gruesome details of that day!!

We found Ogden to be a large and prosperous town that was neat and clean and well organized.  Hill AFB was a large depot level base charged with doing depot level maintenance on several weapon systems for the US Air Force.  The Minuteman ICBM, the C-130, and the F-16 most notably.  It also is the single point manager for conventional munitions in the Air Force and because of that I was TDY there several times over my career in the USAF.  But, I don't remember much about the area, I came in, I did my work, and then left!  Wow, did I miss a neat place to be.

We spent one afternoon at a Harvest Festival in downtown Ogdon.  Lots of family activity with kids in abundance.  

Simulated snow, aka suds!

A fun bus at Harvest Fest!

The fun school bus!!

Also, there was a program where businesses sponsored life size horse statutes as a fundraiser.

Ogden and the base are sandwiched between the mountains to the east and the Great Salt Lake to the west.  From the lake shore the terrain gradually slopes to the base of the mountains, about 10 miles away.  In the Great Salt Lake west of Ogden there is Antelope Island State Park. 

Ogden and the bedroom communities around it fill the space.  Salt Lake City is about 25 miles south and we had planned to visit there, but stayed busy in Ogden and only saw Salt Lake City from the interstate when we left headed further south. 

On the mountain on Antelope Island St Park

Namesake of Antelope Island

More on Antelope Island State Park in the next post!  It is a beautiful, very large, island in the northern end of Great Salt Lake!


Always at home, no matter where we are!!