Before I got my trip to the Museum, we had to get to Utah first, and that involved airports. Back in the day when I used to travel regular, I’d walk in, get my ticket and go get on the plane. This time I check into a prime example of what the Soviet Union looked like back when I was traveling regular. I believe what happend on the fourth airplane that fatefull day, is what’s going to happen the next time some poor stupid fucking terrorist try’s to take one over. I understand about a heightened sence of security, but I think we can do that pretty good ourselves.
The Security people involved, treated us with utmost respect as I had to pass through with a frisking rather than the machine. I’ve an implanted defib and the machine kinda messes with them. Both ways, the guys who did it “used the backs of their hands in the more sensative areas”, and didn’t gawk when they discovered how far down my leg that area is. Once I got through all that the ride to Denver was overcast all the way.
We flew on Pioneer to save money and there’s a reason they’re the least expensive. I haven’t flown on Northwest or United in a loong time, but my ass didn’t hurt when I’d get somewhere. The people were all very courtious and professional and the shitters didn’t stink. You have to go into a bar and purchace a drink in order to smoke at the Denver Airport. I’d prepared myself for several hours without a cigarette so I didn’t even bother with the bar. I would think though, that airports would supply a space rather than encourage the consumption of alcohol. The cloud cover from Denver to Salt Lake City broke up and I could see the tops of snow covered mountain ranges. Either the plane was at a lower altitude or the planet a higher one, it didn’t look that far from me to there.
I come from a geologic formation which contains vast amounts of clean, blue water and the Great Salt Lake, looks like shit. I’ve seen pleanty of pictures of where it looks good, but once you see it, you know different. There isn’t any of the typical lush vegitation surrounding it, or of the deep blue of deep water to the gradiently altered hues as it grows shallower. The shore line looked dead from the prespective I had flying in and would later learn it wasn’t quite that bad. The airport in Salt Lake City has the best greeting view that I’ve ever seen. No matter which exit you take, your eyes are going to see vast distances and snow covered mountains.
Matt was waiting at baggage claim for us and took us to his apartment to see Hoa, Mia and my new grandson, Henry. Henry looks remarkably like I did at his age, but yet I can see Hoa’s genes involved, and it worked on him pretty good. (This kinda reads like I had a physical involvement in this situation, but you’ll understand more when you see what a swarthy lookin’ guy his dad is. After Hoa feeding us a homemade pot pie, Matt took us for a ride around town and a trip to the Union Pacific Railroad station in Ogden. We took some pictures there but weren’t able to get into the museum due to a wedding. They were going to ask the bride and groom if they’d mind us walking around, but we stopped that before it got started. We decided to come back the following Monday and do it up right.
This is the view Matt and Hoa get every time they come out on their porch.
Matt had to work on Wednesday, so the rest of us went looking for a dinosaur museum. Hoa had checked on the internet and came up with three options and one of which was close by. After punching in the co-ordinates into a GPS unit they have, we followed the arrow through the streets of Ogden until we came to a dead end in the middle of a small industrial park. Hoa then called and got directions from the museum and we found out had we turned right instead of left, the rest of the co-ordinates would have worked.
The George S. Eccles Dino Museum sits on 8 acres at the very bottom edge of the Wasatch Front. The mountain range runs the entire length of the Great Basin that holds Salt Lake and it makes for a great setting for a Paleontology museum. Most of it is taken up with a walk through park and life sized dinasaurs placed throughout.
Mark and Mia at the entrance.
The Stewart Museum holds the actual fossils in several exhibits and a working lab where someone was using a dremmel tool to expose bone that hasn’t seen daylight in several million years. The Museum didn’t have the quanity I’d hope to see, but what they had was well displayed and presented. I’d highly recommend it to someone who wanted to give their kids a great beginning.
