Wyoming - So Happy We Made The Drive

After we left the Denver area we drove most of the day

in order to get to this destination:

MARTIN'S COVE

If any of you are familiar with church history, or have read The Fire of the Covenant you will know what this site is all about. My great, great grandfather, Peder Mortensen, his wife Helena and children were members of the Willie Handcart Company who were caught in an early snow storm as they were crossing Wyoming, trying to get to the Salt Lake Valley.

Many men, women and children succumbed to the freezing weather and were buried here.

Thankfully, the Peder Mortensen family were spared and with rescuers help, made it to Salt Lake.

Since it's part of our heritage, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to

have our picture taken with one of the handcarts that were available.

If you had the desire to pull it to the actual location where the

Martin handcart company had been found, you could make

the 5 mile hike (round trip).

Since the majority of us had sandals on, we decided it wouldn't be

a wise decision to make the hike. I was pretty disappointed; after

driving such a long distance I really was looking forward to taking

it all in. I would have possibly considered it if there hadn't been such

a monstrous storm looming over us.

We did tour the little museum the church has set up there.

This is an example of what the families were allowed to carry

in their handcarts. There was a weight limit in order to make it

over the many passes along the way.

Mother, Hannah and I are standing in front of the list of names

that were members of the Willie Company.

Ane Kristine, Anders, Hans, Lars and Mette Kristine

are of course the children - one son was left in Denmark

and joined the family later in Salt Lake.

Lars was Grandma Hess' grandfather.

It was late when we left Martin's Cove. We stayed in Rawlins, Wyoming

that night based mainly on the time of day and the horrific rain storm that

rolled through. The next morning we awoke to spectacular blue skies.

We piled into our car and headed west to Salt Lake City, Utah.

But when we saw signs for Fort Bridger Historical Site we made

a slight detour. We didn't want to miss an opportunity to site see!

This was an absolutely beautiful place.

The location and setting were picture perfect.

The fort had the pony express stables, bath house, school house,

as well as the many other facilities that were needed for families

and soldiers of the fort.

I chose not to include all of those pictures.

I was captivated by the beauty of the place.

SEE FOR YOURSELF.....................

This picture was taken on the front porch of one of the homes on site.

It was a Carter family that lived there.

I just couldn't resist putting Hannah in this little outhouse and snapping a picture. She and Grandma were the only ones thin enough to fit through the door.

Our day at Fort Bridger was well spent and enjoyed by all.

Mother, Becky and I were all glad we took the time to stop.

I was surprised when Hannah admitted she really enjoyed it as well.

My H2O Memories

Before we leave Sanford I have to share some of my favorite

areas that I waded in or swam in as a child.

The canal was Randy's and my swimming hole on a hot summer day.

I don't mention Natalie because I honestly don't remember her swimming here.

Maybe she was smarter than we were since there was never a life guard on duty. Not to mention LEACHES!

Dad would bring us to the river somtimes too.

My memories of this swimming hole?

Almost drowing! Or maybe it was just being scared

after trying to rescue Randy and having him panic and drag me under.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This area is Aspen Glade Camp Ground. Our family would drive to this

location with Grandma and Grandpa Mortensen and camp for the weekend.

Who is that? Is that you Grandma???

Natalie, Lon, Becky, Hannah and I took the opportunity to dip our

feet into the cold water of the Conejos River. It was a Kodak moment.

Now you have had a glimpse into the memories

of my childhood swimming holes and camp sites.

Memories can be a wonderful thing.

Cumbres & Toltec - Enjoy the Ride!

What you are looking at is the coal burning steam engine that was fired up and waiting for Becky, Hannah and I (and maybe a few others) as we arrived at the Antonito Railroad Terminal in Antonito, Colorado.

We picked a gorgeous day for our train ride. Normally, the train carries passengers only; but on this day our train was also transporting railroad ties. After the crew checked the brakes and ties the whistle blew and it was time to board. This was the cutest girl on the train in my opinion. And this is the train car that we were assigned to. We didn't know it was the VIP car, but we discovered quickly that we were VIPs and we had our very own lavatory! I couldn't help but snap this picture of Hannah as we were pulling away from the terminal. Elevation: 7,888 ft.

I called this open car the "cattle car" because you had to stand the entire

time you were out there - just like livestock do when their being transported.

But the open car is where we spent most of our time because the

scenery was magnificent and we didn't want to miss any of it!

We could always tell when we were going up hill; the smoke

from the engine would get darker and thicker.

Hannah loved the whole experience. She would sit inside the car for awhile,

then go back out to the "cattle car".

This little house stands in Sublette, it was built for the workmen who worked on the railroad laying the lines.

Elevation: 9,276 ft.

This is one of the beautiful vistas we encountered along the way.

This was called "mud tunnel" because of the muddy conditions of the mountain

the tunnel went through. They had to built what we would now call shoring

to re-enforce the walls from caving in.

Black smoke; we were climbing again. The higher we climbed the greener, and more beautiful it became.

Below:

Calico cut.

A very narrow cut between the mountains.

Avalanches and mudslides cause problems here when the dirt and rocks are wet.

This woman was a very happy tourist.

She took pictures and video the entire distance!

Check out this rock. Do you see the old man sitting there?

These are called Telltale's.

When brakemen are on top of a car and get hit on the head by these hanging wires, they know it's time to get down because there is an approaching tunnel.

More beautiful scenery.

This is Osier. Where we stopped for lunch.

Elevation: 9,637 ft.

Becky and I had a choice of turkey dinner with all the fixings

or soup and salad bar.

Becky had the turkey dinner - I had the soup and salad bar.

Hannah's was a child's meal which consisted of:

Hot dog, corn, mashed potatoes and gravy, roll and dessert. We didn't go away hungry!

This is Cascade Trestle.

Built in 1889.

137 ft. high, 408 ft. long.

All of that to go over little Cascade Creek - seen below.

Our little reliable engine was really blowing some steam here.

These two pictures are out of order.

We stopped to drop the railroad ties when we reached Cumbres

(which means "crests" or "summits" in Spanish)

The photo below shows the cars being prepared to be disconnected.

The photo above shows the brake hose popping off and the cars

separating from one another.

The sign reads:

Cumbres

Elevation 10,015 ft.

If I remember correctly, we pulled into the Chama station around 4:00 p.m.

There was so much fanfare; bands playing, people cheering......so much noise that we could hardly hear ourselves talk.

See for yourselves!

After we made our way through these crowds we spotted the stagecoach

that we would be taking back down the mountain.

We had front row seats which we enjoyed the entire 45 minute drive back down to Antonito - we continued to enjoy beautiful scenery all the way back as well. By the way,

Chama, NM.

Elevation: 7,863 ft.

Twenty five feet LOWER than Antonito!?

P. S. Becky and I were no less for the wear after the long day of sight seeing.