I guess I need to do some catching up. We left Great Falls, Montana on the 10^th working our way along the Missouri River. We paralleled, crossed and crisscrossed this great river with the Rocky’s to our west. At one point we pulled into a recreational area to photograph this, the longest river in North America. It is 2,341 miles long and spans 10 US states. We left it as we got closer to Helena.

The Missouri River

"Big Sky" Montana

On the 11^th we stayed at a campground in Idaho Falls, Idaho and headed for Utah the next day. I don’t really know what happened to Idaho but when you’re whizzing along on an interstate it’s easy to space out on the landscape.  Next thing I know we are in Utah. Because we had time to kill before getting to Salt Lake City, we decided to take a side trip to the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge outside of Brigham City. This refuge, located on the north end of the Great Salt Lake and at the mouth of the Bear River, consists of over 74,000 acres  of marsh, open water and alkaline mudflats. It supports migratory waterfowl, shorebirds and other water birds. Before we even got to the 12 mile loop we had seen avocets, white faced ibis, yellow headed blackbirds, black neck stilts and more. The ride through the loop proved even more exciting with the sightings of white pelicans, rudy ducks, western grebes and more birds that we couldn’t identify. What an experience!

Avocet in Flight

Rudy Ducks

White Faced Ibis landing

The last two nights we were in Salt Lake City. We got the motor home serviced and Lily groomed. While waiting for both, Michael and I took a ride out to the Great Salt Lake. We had seen it so many times as we traveled across Utah in our trucking days that we needed to take one more look. We actually remembered most of the places along the way.

the Great Salt Lake

One of the most intriguing places along I-80 outside SLC is Saltair.  It was built in 1893 and was meant to be a resort/amusement park.  Known as the Coney Island of the west, it became very popular & has been struck by fire three different times (& rebuilt each time).  I (Michael) knew  of the structure from a 1962 cult movie titled Carnival of Souls.  The movie was set in SLC & the derelict building figured prominently in it as an atmospheric setting to a troubled woman’s life.  It wasn’t a particularly good movie; however, the setting stuck with me for years & the first time Barbara & I drove across I-80 in the semi, back in the ’90’s, I flipped out when we drove by it.  We couldn’t stop because we were in the truck back then, but now was our chance!

Presently, the structure is a shadow of it’s former glory.  It’s used now as a concert venue.  It can hold 4500 people inside & I don’t know how many outside.  We ran into the guy who runs the place now & he gave us a short tour & explained all the ins & outs of the place.  What a cool afternoon!

the Saltair "Ballroom"

the Saltair exterior

the Saltair "amphitheatre"

Here are a few links if you’re interested (just copy & paste the URL in your address bar):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saltair,_Utah  – the history

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055830/ – the movie

http://www.thesaltair.com/ – the present venue

After 2 days in Salt Lake City, with a metro population of over a million, 2 heavily traveled interstates and a haze that seems to envelop the city and obscure parts of the Wasatch mountain range, we are happy to be on our way. Today we head for Escalante and the canyons areas of the state.