North Salt Lake City Utah

We departed Idaho and drove the yet to be named rock star bus to Pony Express RV Resort in North Salt Lake City, Utah.

I spent my high school years in Sandy, Utah, and decided to drive down to visit Alta High to see how it has changed.  We visited on a Saturday and did not enter the grounds due to the Covid 19 pandemic.

Well, the school is currently undergoing a $54-million expansion and renovation as it is now 42 years old!!!! Am I really that old?  My freshman year was the first year it opened!

From the outside, the major change was the creation of a freestanding performing arts building.

Panorama of Alta High School

The freestanding performing arts building

We also drove the short distance to the house my parents purchased in 1978.  I spent four years in this house.  When I graduated High School, I joined the US Navy in October of 1981.  IIRC my parents sold this home in July of 1997 to move to Aurora, Colorado, to be closer to my sister, Annette, and her family.

They changed the color of the siding.

 

Also, while in North Salt Lake City I was able to meet up with one of my high school friends, Darryl, and his wife Patti. Darryl and I became friends while working at Ream's Grocery Store in Sandy, Utah.  The store we worked in is gone, but the chain is still in business in Utah. This was my first paying job, where I bagged groceries and later became a cashier.  This was before bar codes were required on products. Darryl and I spent a lot of time together at work and after work. We met up for lunch at a quaint place he recommended.

Harold and Darryl at the Red Iguana

The Red Iguana was featured on the TV show Diners, Drive Ins and Dives (DDD).  I do enjoy going to DDDs for a meal, and I do recommend the Red Iguana.

MMMM great food

Patti commented that it is great to see old friends meet up and connect like they haven't aged a day. However, it had been about 35 years since I saw Darryl last.

We took a day trip up to Golden Spike National Historical Park.  Here they have a replica of the Jupiter (CP# 60) and a replica of UP# 119, which were the two locomotives to meet up where the golden spike was driven that joined up the nation's first transcontinental railroad.  If you look in your pocket and find a Utah State Quarter Dollar, you can see the event immortalized in coin form.

Hanging out in the engine house with the replica locomotives

The original "golden spike" is on display at the Cantor Arts Museum at Stanford University.  It is on my list of places to visit.

A special tie of polished California laurel was chosen to complete the line where the spike would be driven.  Here is the replica tie as the original was lost in the fires caused by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake

We had a GREAT time with an old friend and seeing the area.  Next it is off to Heber City, Utah for an entire month to see two of my nieces and their families!