Sun, Sailors, and Scenery

One day out of Portland, Eclipse Day, and here we are in Arco, Idaho for a small town viewing party in the Path of Totality.

Arco's one claim to fame

Cameras at the ready

 We met a man from California that couldn’t believe we had driven all the way to Idaho.  Hadn’t we heard that the eclipse was visible in Oregon too?   The local Kiwanis was serving breakfast in the park, but we had other plans. We toured the festivities, checked out the town (one stop light), and headed down the road to a place we had discovered on the good old internets.

The only business in Butte City, Idaho

Notice the flintlock hanging on the back bar

The 4 Winds Bar wasn’t quite open when we got there, but they opened early for the big day. We parked and went in for a really great hamburger and fixin’s. They were so good to us and we hope they didn’t mind us sitting as far from their ashtrays and cigarettes as we could get. Then it was out to the parking lot with the locals to view the total eclipse. Wasn’t it a fantastic sight?

A terrific pic of the eclipse taken by someone else.  We were too busy watching it.

Leaving downtown Butte City,  we hit a lot of traffic on I-15.  Heading south to Salt Lake City, we checked in and took the night off.  Next day, to the Temple Square we went. A really impressive place with beautiful grounds and lots of helpful young people in long sleeve dresses anxious to tell us all about Mormonism.

Uh, excuse me, which building is the Temple?

Lots of very well maintained gardens around the temple

The Family History Library is a wonderful facility.  Tom spent a couple of hours checking out the interactive displays and looking at German church records on microfilm.

Some of our famous relatives on the interactive display.  Thought of the Past Lives Pavilion in "Defending Your Life"

Catching up with Cousin Brigham.

We took a short drive out to the “Great” Salt Lake at Antelope Island State Park. The edge of the water was a long way out there, but out there we went!  Kinda buggy and full of debris , but we had wanted to float in it since seeing pictures in our 5th grade Weekly Readers.

The trek across the salt flats

Feeling buoyant

Got the salt.  Where's the margarita?

We continued South to St George. On the way we passed the road to Silver Reef.  We hope that Rising Star is still running in the high country with his grandchildren.  In St George we went exploring in a city park and an artist colony west of town, Kayenta.  Beautiful  scenery, yes?

Pioneer Park in downtown St. George, Utah

A nice starter home in Kayenta

Daybreak on the road to Zion National Park.  We had no idea how thrilling that experience would be. We hiked several of the easy trails for a few hours.  It’s perfectly beautiful, and even though hot weather surrounded the area, down in the canyon was cool!

Zion National Park

Riverside walk not too far from the narrows

Enjoying an us moment in Zion Canyon

It was on to Las Vegas for sensory input of a completely different type. Staying downtown for the first time, we had the full Fremont experience. The Golden Nugget was really nice.  We even upgraded to a suite so we could get early check in.

Fremont Street, Las  Vegas Nevada

Note all the loudspeakers. Not the best environment for a deaf person

Strolled the strip for an afternoon in 100 degree heat.  Decided to give the High Roller a pass.

For the second time in a week, we were able to connect with a Portland Timbers’ game, this time at the Plaza Casino sport book. We remember it as a fantastic win, but in reality, we tied with the  Flounders in Seattle.  Boy, was that sweet. Then Tom stepped up to collect his winnings from a couple of bets.

A well played game and a well deserved point

Made a $10 bet to win and a $10 bet to tie.  $14.50 profit.

Tom’s Navy reunion for all the crew who served on the USS Samuel Gompers was a very nice gathering. Hospitality room, luncheon, souvenirs, and great people from all over the country to talk to.

Former crewpersons - USS Samuel Gompers  AD-37

The only crewmen from the 1960's still spry enough to brave Fremont Street

The luckiest sailor at the reunion.

Winding up our travels, we stopped in Orange County, CA to visit family. It was hot there too, so relaxing both by and in the pool happened. 

Bring the dessert cart around please

Next it was up to Corning, then home through all the smoke from the fires.  Good to be back home, but planning another drive next month.  

Tasty Travel Tunes:

Who Loves the Sun? - Velvet Underground
We are Family - Sister Sledge
Salty Dog Blues - Doc and Merle Watson
Ooh Las Vegas - Gram Parsons