I don't think I've mentioned it, but all along the way, along small roads, highways, superhighways, through big cities and in the tiniest of towns, there are road signs that indicate the path of the trail(s). They're quite well marked, including turns. I'm not quite certain that you could follow the trail all the way without any other directions, but it's pretty close. This is what the signs look like (or two of 'em anyway--some signs have only one, some signs have all four, and everything in between):
You might not have expected that discussions of the Mormon religion (close your eyes, imagine ME explaining this to Phoebe.....stop laughing) would enter into this journey. You would be wrong. We went to a wonderful museum yesterday which had a very moving film about the Martin Handcarts, the Martin Encampment, and the rescue of the snowbound and quickly dying group by Brigham Young. The film was one of the most riveting things in the museum for Phoebe, maybe because it was narrated by a young girl about her experience, and also because it was very well done and fascinating.
And then, today, we find ourselves in the thick of it. Salt Lake City. We ate dinner downtown, in the shadow of the immense and ornate headquarters of the LDS. For the last 50 miles or so that we traveled today, we were no longer on the Oregon Trail, but on the last leg of the Mormon Trail which ended right here. No, we didn't take a wrong turn. We came here to catch a flight tomorrow morning to San Francisco (this is the second hiatus that I spoke of earlier) to help my mom out with some tasks and meetings related to my dad's death a few weeks ago now (in case you didn't read that far back, my father passed away suddenly on June 29). So we're leaving our car here in Salt Lake City and we'll be back to continue on to the Oregon Trail, which we'll pick up at the edge of Wyoming and Idaho, on Sunday afternoon. While I'm in California, I'll have a bit of down time (it's amazing what you can get done when you aren't driving!), so I will catch up on what we have done and seen and learned in the last few days. There's a lot of it!
As for today, we woke up this morning in Green River, Wyoming (coincidentally, that's also where we went to sleep last night!). You may recall that sometime back, I dedicated a Willa Cather quote to my sisters in Voices Rising. Today, the shout goes out to folks at Mudflat Pottery studios (where I do pottery, in case you didn't know)...who I HAVE NOT HEARD FROM ON THIS BLOG....AHEM!!....A big hello from Green River, the Soda Ash Capital of the World. Did you know that 3/4 of the soda ash in the world comes from this small part of southwestern Wyoming (did you even know what soda ash was?)? Well, now you do!
This part of the country is so beautiful. If you haven't ever been to Utah and southern Wyoming, you should do it sometime. We stayed in a little not-fancy hotel last night, getting there after dark, and when we went out to the two-block-long little street (where the parking lot was) this morning, this was our view. I mean, I know there are wires in the way, but STILL...there it just is, right at the end of the little street. Phoebe came around the car, mouth agape, and said "LOOK AT THAT!" My point exactly.
Our second and only other trail related stop of the day was at Fort Bridger. This was an important way station for all four trails, with a very active trading post, a Pony Express stable....which moves me to mention that I also am realizing how little I knew about the Pony Express, which is so legendary. Did you know it only existed for a year, after which it was made obsolete by the transcontinental telegraph (referred to as "The Singing Wires" by the Indians--I love that)? Did you know the riders were scrawny teenage boys, preferably orphans (no kidding, it's in the ad) who rode 100 miles a day at extraordinarily high speeds (like racehorses run) and stopped at various points, traded horses and kept going? Did you know they never lost ONE piece of mail? Did you know they rode from Kansas City to San Francisco in 10 days (that's less than we're doing in a Subaru!)? Amazing stuff.
In any case, our visit at Fort Bridger was cut short by an ENORMOUS thunderstorm, which was a bit frightening for Phoebe, so we got back on the road, but not before we took a few great photos of the restored trading post (with many original goods, and ALL the original ledger books--fascinating to see the actual lists of names and what people bought), the one-room school house (in honor of you Phoenix School folks!), and the Pony Express Stables. Thought you might like to see a few of those, so I'll post them here, and close for the day.
I will post and let you know when I complete the updates from the days I've missed. I know it's no crime to miss a day or two, but they were incredible days with SO much seen and learned, I would hate for you (and us, when we read this later) to miss those parts of this story (not to mention the photos, of which you're seeing a tiny sample, of course).
Signing off from Salt Lake City....
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