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Saturday, July 26, 2014

Golden Spike to Bear Lake

Aloha Everyone,

Golden Spike National Historical Site was the meeting point of the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific Railroad tracks. It took place at Promontory Point in the territory of Utah in 1869.


The enactment of this historical event is held every Saturday at 11:00 am during the summer. What a treat for us who happened to be able to join 50 plus people to witness this.




I even got to take a souvenir photo with the volunteer cast members.


The Great Salt Lake changes size and its salt content based on the season. For example, if there a lots of snowfall then the lake size may increase and its salt content would decrease. We were told that currently its salt content is approximately 30% which could even be higher than that of the Dead Sea.

Unfortunately surrounding fields are covered with alkaline deposits, which makes the soil not suitable for farming.


J.J. and I had a lunch at McDonald's. The last time we were in one of their establishments was in Subic Bay, Philippines when we visited last January. We shared a soft cream when we saw a family with 4 little boys were all enjoying one each.




Barb at the Visitor Center at Malad City, Idaho was very informative and helpful. J.J. jokingly said that based on what Barb told us about Idaho, we will have to stay for at least several weeks.



Caribou Targhee National Forest in the Southeast Idaho is A visitor friendly location. There were many turn-around places and parking areas. We were able to enjoy some interesting rock formations.




Half of Bear Lake is in Utah and the other half is in Idaho. It was a round about drive for us to get here. However, the scenery were like impressionist paintings with many hues on a canvas. This scene of the field of yellow flowers were particularly beautiful. J.J. believes flowers are used to make vegetable oil.


Here is a close-up. Let me know if you know the name of the flower.



The Bear Lake is approximately 18.3 miles long and 7.1 mile wide. It has a shoreline of 48 miles. As we started to drive on the road which ran parallel to the lake, we noticed that the water was very blue. The turquoise color is caused by reflection of limestone deposits in the water.



We saw many weekend holiday makers enjoying picnic on the lake's sandbars. Tonight we are staying at RV park on the Utah side of Bear Lake.



Finally, prior to leaving Golden Spike RV Park this morning, we had an enjoyable conversation with a fellow RVer. Bo is an electrical engineering student. His home town is Chenchun, China. Bo and his family were on their way to the Yellowstone National Park. When we parted company, Bo called out, "Maybe we will see you in Yellowstone!"



Aloha -- Cathi