10 August 2011 - Panorama - They say there's burros around here...

 I’ve seen these and other warning signs plenty of times, but I really can’t ever recall actually seeing a burro   Red Rock Canyon is part of a federal wild horse and burro management area and it’s not like they’ve got a whole lot holding them back from the road, so I guess the signs are a good idea…

10 August 2011 - Blue Diamond, NV - Burro population unknown

 I’d never actually turned onto the road into Blue Diamond, NV before but it looked like a place that might be worth seeing just for the heck of it.  Curiosity can be a real pain sometimes and end up costing plenty of time but there’s times when it pays off   I just loved this road sign and absolutely had to get a pic of the bike with it   Now, where the heck are those burros hiding

10 August 2011 - Blue Diamond, NV - Correction, burro population at least two

 I swear I didn’t notice these two burros until I was getting back on the bike after taking that picture of it with the road sign   Yes, those are wild burros munching on the lush, green grass of the local park in Blue Diamond, NV which is directly across the street from that great sign

10 August 2011 - Another burro along the road to Bonnie Springs

10 August 2011 - A couple of burros grabbing dinner in Red Rock Canyon

10 August 2011 - Burros heading off into the desert

 And then I saw even more burros along the road and even off the main road   I go from not remembering ever seeing a burro in Red Rock Canyon to having them practically everywhere I look   OK, I’m having a little fun with the smilies, but I really can’t remember seeing a burro out in Red Rock before today and then here they are all over the place.  I can’t say just why it is, but I like ‘em   Maybe it’s because they add even more character to one of my favorite places

10 August 2011 - My V-Star with the Old Spanish Trail historic place marker

10 August 2011 - Old Spanish Trail historic place marker west of Blue Diamond, NV

 I wasn’t really in the mood to stop today – I just wanted to keep riding   Why not ride up to Mountain Springs?  It’s there and the road to get to it has a nice 65 MPH speed limit and some nice, sweeping curves after all   I’d only been down that road one time before, but remembered it was nice.  It was back on my trip around Mt. Charleston that took me through Indian Springs and Pahrump and I didn’t remember seeing a marker for an historic place.  Having nowhere to be and all evening to get there, I turned around and rode the bike across the gravel (which was entertaining to say the least) for a couple pictures and to learn a bit.  I never knew about the Old Spanish Trail, but now I have yet another piece of fairly useless knowledge in my head

10 August 2011 - Panorama - Motorcyclist's view of the moon over the desert

 During my later evening travels through Red Rock Canyon, I noticed how the moon was coming up in the light sky, but still very visible.  I figured why not stop and get the shot for the blog?  I think it came out pretty good even if  it doesn’t live up to 10% of how it looked from inside my helmet

10 August 2011 - Panorama - Yamaha motorcycles at Red Rock Canyon Overlook

 My last stop during the ride (aside from grabbing sodas on the way home) was back at the Red Rock Canyon Overlook.  I noticed that just about every parking space was full, but there were also a couple of sport bikes parked off to one side.  I decided to be friendly and go say hi

I wish I could remember their names, but there was an older eastern European guy who was riding the blue bike and a young couple who’d arrived on the red bike.  All very nice people and we had some fun talking bikes for a while   The guy from the red bike asked if I was Jeff after seeing the plate and said he thought it was nice

I couldn’t pass up the chance to get this picture and I’m glad it came out as well as it did   All three of these bikes are Yamahas and they’re lined up in order according to their performance levels.  My bike’s really rather slow all things considered and is meant for cruising around, enjoying the sights, and doing so in comfort for a long time.  The red bike is a Yamaha R6 which is meant for spirited riding and fun on twisty bits of the road.  Think of it as a reasonably quick sports car with two wheels.  The blue bike is a Yamaha R1 which is fairly similar to the R6 only much faster   If the R6 were a Camaro Z/28, the R1 would be a Corvette Z-06   Both are more than capable of delivering power and handling in huge doses and both can also land you in jail before you’re out of second gear if you’re not diplomatic with the throttle   I’d love to ride one once I lose some more weight and after I’ve had a good deal more experience on the road

Well, it’s now properly late/early and I need to get some sleep before I head back to work in a few hours.  I’m going to end this post here, but I hope you enjoyed it at least 5% as much as I enjoyed riding the roads and taking the pics   Thanks again for reading and have a great Thursday

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Now that I’ve gotten around to it, I hope you enjoy the pics and such   Don’t forget to click on the pics for full size

24 June 2011 - Panorama - Goblin Valley State Park

24 June 2011 - The Three Sisters in Goblin Valley State Park

24 June 2011 - Valley of the Goblins - Click for full size and look at the people for scale

 After arriving in Utah at the end of a 10+ hour drive (3 of those hours due to my own :censored: stupidity ), I settled in for the night at Cindy’s place and got some sleep.  The next day we packed up her car with the two of us, Cindy’s mom, and her 90 year old grandmother for a relatively short trip down to Goblin Valley State Park   I love interesting desert landscapes like this

Goblin Valley is named for the “goblins” you see in the pics above.  Click here for the park’s website and more info

25 June 2011 - Entrance to the American West Heritage Center

25 June 2011 - Barn and pasture with horses at the American West Heritage Center

25 June 2011 - This foal just loved to run

25 June 2011 - Pathway along the creek

25 June 2011 - Panorama - The Wasatch Mountains in the distance

25 June 2011 - The visitors came by horse drawn wagon...

25 June 2011 - And they came by tractor as well!

25 June 2011 - Wild roses at the American West Heritage Center

 After our visit to Goblin Valley, we headed north past Salt Lake City and spent the night in a hotel.  We wanted to get an early start to the day as we’d planned a few different stops   The first stop is the location you see above – the American West Heritage Center   Now, if you’ve ever thought about what it was like to live on the American Frontier, but wanted to know the truth you’ve got to go there   Aside from what you see above, there’s a blacksmith’s shop, a carpenter’s shop, sod house, dugout house, mountain man encampment, Indian village, and quite a bit more.  The people in the shops make truly wonderful crafts and sell the products to help fund the center.  Admission was very affordable and I highly recommend this stop to everyone.  Folks, take your kids and show ‘em what it was like instead of leaving ‘em to read history books in school

Speaking of living history, wait until you see the pics and video in the next part of this post!

25 June 2011 - Monument at Golden Spike National Historic Site

25 June 2011 - Monument at Golden Spike National Historic Site

25 June 2011 - An authentic piece of history from building the Transcontinental Railroad

25 June 2011 - Jupiter and No. 119 on the rails at Promontory Summit

26 June 2011 - No. 119 with coal smoke rising at Promontory Summit, UT

26 June 2011 - Jupiter with wood smoke rising at Promontory Summit, UT

26 June 2011 - Historic marker for the site of the Golden Spike at Promontory Summit, UT

26 June 2011 - No. 119 with coal smoke rising at Promontory Summit, UT

26 June 2011 - Jupiter with wood smoke rising at Promontory Summit, UT

26 June 2011 - Controls for No. 119

26 June 2011 - Big lumps of coal in the tender for No. 119

26 June 2011 - No. 119 and Jupiter face to face

26 June 2011 - Info about No. 119 - Click for full size so you can read it

26 June 2011 - Info about Jupiter - Click for full size so you can read it

26 June 2011 - Information about rails and how they've evolved

26 June 2011 - Controls for Jupiter

26 June 2011 - Looking at No. 119 from Jupiter

26 June 2011 - Builder's plate on Jupiter

26 June 2011 - Sand container on No. 119

26 June 2011 - Sand container on No. 119

26 June 2011 - No. 119 just about to start moving

After we left the American West Heritage Center, we headed for another history lesson.  This time it was to be a truly historic site with nearly perfect replicas of the machinery of the time to bring it to life

The National Park Service operates the Golden Spike Historic Site and the two replica steam locomotives that run there.  On May 10, 1869 the Transcontinental Railroad was completed at Promontory Summit just north of the Great Salt Lake.  This rail link was incredibly important to the growth of the west coast of the United States

Sadly, but understandably the original locomotives – Jupiter and N0. 119 were scrapped in the 1920′s.  They were worn-out machines of a bygone era that nobody was all that interested in at the time.  The National Park Service decided that they wanted replicas of these engines and approached Walt Disney to see if he could build them.  Walt declined saying he could not give them the realism the project deserved.  Chadwell O’Connor Engineering Laboratories of Costa Mesa, CA stepped in and underbid the government itself while spending twice what the contract paid so that they could do the job right

And folks, they got it RIGHT!  I felt like I’d been dropped back in the 1860′s for a couple of minutes as No. 119 huffed past me with the smell of steam and coal smoke wafting on the wind and the sound of the bell and whistle ringing into the distance.  This is another one of those places to take your kids for an experience they won’t forget.  It’s places like Promontory Summit and people like those who keep these locomotives running who allow today’s kids to make a personal connection to what they read in their history classes.  That personal connection can make all the difference when they’re learning to enjoy learning and very likely can be the difference between good grades and wanting to play video games

Click here for a great deal more information at SteamLocomotive.com

After the fun and interesting time we’d spent in the past so to speak, Cindy and I headed on over to Crystal Hot Springs to soak in the mineral rich waters   I didn’t take pictures due to the number of kids around and the possible misgivings of the other visitors, but we had a nice, relaxing soak and felt even better   After that we found a hotel nearby and called it a night.

27 June 2011 - Avionics bay in an F-111 at the Hill Aerospace Museum

27 June 2011 - Inert B-61 thermonuclear weapon - I've been told I can't have one

27 June 2011 - F-16 and Old Glory at the Hill Aerospace Museum

27 June 2011 - A-10 Warthog (Glenn's jet's sister ) and the First Navy Jack

27 June 2011 - SR-71C at the Hill Aerospace Museum

27 June 2011 - SR-71C at the Hill Aerospace Museum

27 June 2011 - SR-71 start cart at the Hill Aerospace Museum

27 June 2011 - SR-71 flight/space suit at the Hill Aerospace Museum

27 June 2011 - Too much good stuff at the Hill Aerospace Museum

27 June 2011 - Cushman scooter at the Hill Aerospace Museum

27 June 2011 - Cushman scooter at the Hill Aerospace Museum

27 June 2011 - Cushman scooter info at the Hill Aerospace Museum

27 June 2011 - B-1B on outdoor display at the Hill Aerospace Museum

27 June 2011 - More good stuff on outdoor display at the Hill Aerospace Museum

 We didn’t actually have plans for our final day up north, so we headed somewhere we’d been before so I could drool all over the floors again   The last time we went to the Hill Aerospace Museum we only had about 45 minutes to see everything.  This time that wasn’t a problem!  Cindy glanced around and read a book outside for a bit while I appreciated the cool flying machines, but we both had a good time.  Oh, and in case you’re wondering – Yes, I want one of those Cushman scooters

Finally we headed back down to Price, UT and kicked back for the evening with a movie.  I really didn’t want to go home so soon, but we can’t always get what we want.  At least it was an overall good trip with wonderful memories that also provided ideas for the next time I head north in search of cool old stuff and new experiences

That’s it for this trip report.  Here’s hoping you enjoyed reading it 10% as much as I enjoyed the trip itself and that you also might have learned a bit here and there   Have a great Tuesday, everyone

I’ve paid admission at a movie theater once in the last three years.  That was a short time ago when I went to see the last of the Harry Potter movies.  Say what you want, I like the books and the films

Red Tails tells the story of the Tuskegee Airmen – the first black pilots to fly in combat for the United States Armed Forces back in WWII.  I’ve met a few of the real Tuskegee Airmen and they were all humble, down to earth guys.  I thanked them for their service and they very sincerely thanked me for showing up and stopping by.

I’ll gladly spend my hard earned cash to see this movie when it comes out and I’ll probably buy the DVD as well.  The story needs to be told and re-told so that the sacrifices of these brave men are not forgotten.

Click on the video above, select the 720p HD setting, and select full screen.  When you’re done, tell me if you think it’s worth the few dollars to go see it

To the Tuskegee Airmen and all who serve, thanks again for your service and sacrifices

This is one that needs to get out to the world. This is my little piece of that.

The hard left is nothing but a lynch mob with alternative tools.

Justice Thomas paid the media mob the compliment of calling them a “high-tech lynch mob.”  Clarence Thomas was born in the South at a time when lynch mobs were very real.  But technology just amplifies what they already are, as moral low-lives.  Bull Connor passed out ax handles to the mob in the sixties, but today’s high-tech lynch mobsters are no different when they try to destroy the careers, jobs, and reputations of good and decent people — and even their children, like one-year-old baby Trig Palin.  Michele Bachmann was just threatened by one of the media mobsters, because now her 23 foster children are free bait for the media lynchers.  This is like mafia thugs walking through your nice family home and telling you what a fire hazard it is, and are you sure you don’t want to sell out?

They have no decency.  None at all.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/07/lynching_palin_cain_west_and_bachmann.html

Barracks on Worm Island

I lived in the closest one on the first deck. For real.

The Accommodations!

The inside of the barracks.

The Naval Training Center and Recruit Training Command, San Diego closed for good in 1997. Lousy BRAC Bastards. Should have kept this one open and maybe even Orlando and closed that dump called Great Lakes.

Sometimes my Navy can still piss me off!