Westward Bound to Utah

May 2-8, 2011

Since we don't have a specific schedule to keep until the Mesa Verde rally, we decided to take a little extra time and do some sightseeing along the way to Salt Lake City; it helps to relieve the boredom of Nebraska and Wyoming.







First stop was the Plainsman Museum in Aurora, NE. It focuses mostly on eastern Nebraska history. This is a replica of a sod house. Sod houses were built in the rural areas of the plains states where lumber was scarce. This was one pretty dry since it was inside the museum building, but I imagine that, in real life, they were pretty damp. I don't think I would want to live in one.









The interior of the sod house. It was one room with little in the way of windows.








These strange looking vehicles are "Chair-E-Yachts"; they were made in Shoshoni, Wyoming in the 1970s. The idea is that a wheel chair bound person can roll his wheel chair up a ramp into the back of the vehicle and drive it around town. They are basically motorized tricycles, and were said to be capable of going about 15-20 mph. About 1200 of them were built, but apparently are no longer made. An interesting idea, nonetheless.







The next stop was the Stuhr Museum in Grand Island NE. We stopped here once before, but the Railroad Town had closed for the season, so we missed it. This time we spent our time in the Railroad Town, which is a reconstruction of a typical plains town in the 1890s centering on the railroad. Many of the buildings and homes were moved here from other parts of Nebraska.








Several of the businesses and homes had interpreters dressed in period costumes. This delightful woman, who is feeding her goat, knew all about the history of the house she was assigned to; it was fun listening to her.







The next stop was the Depot Museum in Cheyenne, WY. The Depot Museum focuses on the role of the Union Pacific railroad in building part of the transcontinental railroad and in developing the west. It was interesting, but not particularly photogenic. Of more photographic interest were these supersized cowboy boots in Cheyenne, which is their state capitol. In contrast, we have life-sized artistic models of cows around our state capitol and in Madison.







This is the Wyoming Territorial Prison in Laramie, WY. It was built in 1872 and served as a prison until 1903. It is said to be the only prison in which Butch Cassidy served time. Frankly, I was expecting a larger facility.








One of the cell blocks in the prison. This wing held 42 cells , and up to 80 prisoners. Despite the thick concrete walls and iron bars, about 25% of the roughly 1000 prisoners that were incarcerated here managed to escape; this was probably due to not enough guards and lax procedures.






This pronghorn wandered by while we were having dinner in a truck parking area along I-80 in Wyoming. They are usually pretty skittish and bolt at the first sight of humans. This one, however, continued his stroll when I stepped out of the RV to get his picture.






Mother's Day in Salt Lake City. We attended the Sunday morning broadcast of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. When we were here last summer the broadcast was done in the LDS convention center, but this one was in the Tabernacle.  With a choir of about 360 and a full orchestra, the music was fabulous. The  broadcasts are carried by about 2000 stations, with some carrying it live, while most carry it tape-delayed. It was interesting to see how they used the video cameras and we could watch what was being broadcast live on the monitors. After the 30 minute live performance, they re-taped one piece which they said had a glitch in it. Presumably they will edit the retake into the taped version of the show.