We drove to Hill AFB in Ogden, Utah from the Red Rock RV Park in Island Park, Utah. The distance was about 180 miles. The drive was uneventful (always good) except for some really rough freeway going through Ogden. The lanes were very narrow, so we had to be be extremely careful. Getting on the base was pretty easy and the Family RV Camp was right next to the south entry to the base. We did not have reservations, so we had to spend a night in the overflow lot and dry-camp.

The fun started right away. We extended our long push-out and then tried to extend the bathroom/bedroom push-out, but is became bound immediately. The two push-out motors were out of sync and a 15 amp fuse blew every time I tried to install a new one. We were able to force one side of the push-out out a little so that Lisa could squeeze into the bathroom and then the bedroom. She slept in the bedroom on the first night and I slept on the sofa. The next day was Sunday so there was no way I could find a service dealer to help us out. I lowered the Happy-Jac bed in the garage and we slept out there on Sunday night. The base recommended a company to work on the push-out, but they would not touch the one we had. They were nice, but refused to work on it. I drove to Camping World in Kaysville (five miles south) and found that they were backed up three weeks for service. When they saw the tears in my eyes (not really, but I did lay a "sob story" on them, they agreed to look at it on Wednesday. So, another night in the garage. On Wednesday we dropped it of at 8:00. By mid-afternoon they had fixed the problem and also found the frayed wire causing the electrical short. When we went to pay, they had researched the warranty and we did not have to pay a cent for the labor or the new controller unit. Happy! Happy! After a reasonable tip for the service manager, we were on our way and back in business. Unfortunately, back to our nice parking slot for another night, but the next morning we would be back in overflow for a day. At least we could access our bed. The next morning we moved back to overflow and then decided to go to the Mormon Temple for the afternoon and evening.

On Thursday afternoon we drove to Salt Lake City (25 miles) to visit the Mormon Temple and watch a rehearsal of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir that evening. The grounds at Temple Square are absolutely beautifully maintained with gorgeous flowers everywhere. The Temple is a magnificent building and I took a lot of photos; some in the day and some after dark. We cannot go into the temple, but we did see a replica model in the Visitor's Center. Pretty amazing. We looked at the Assembly Hall building next to the Visitor's Center and went inside. A beautiful building. We then went into the Tabernacle and listened to a young man practicing on the massive organ; impressive. What a fantastic sound. Later, at 7:30, the Choir was rehearsing for a recording session. We could watch until 8:15 when they would ask all to leave so that they could record without any possible strange noises. The seats were covered with quilts to absorb the sound of the music as if there were an audience in place only there would be no extraneous noise. We went to dinner at the "Lions House" cafeteria for dinner. This is the actual home in which Joseph Smith once lived. It was comfort food with me getting a large portion of meatloaf, mashed potatoes with gravy, broccoli, and two home-made rolls. Yum-Yum!! After dinner, we proceeded to the tabernacle to wait for the doors to open. Once inside, we got to listen to the rehearsal for the orchestra and choir; the conductor was clearly in charge. Things moved very fast as he gave orders to the choir and the musicians on what to do to improve the sound; pretty impressive.

On Friday we had rain, so we worked on the blog and Lisa put in her four hours with the company. We just stayed around the RV and got things done. We watched a movie in the evening; only the second movie that we have watched on the trip.

On Saturday, we drove to Antelope Island, Utah. The weather was much nicer with low winds, no rain, and white, puffy clouds of the Wasatch Range mountains to the east. This is an Island that is about 20 miles long and is situated on the east side of the Great Salt Lake. It is completely surrounded by water from the Great Salt Lake and it is a State Park. There are campgrounds, a visitor center, and a couple of homestead farms that go all the way back to 1848. There are also antelope and bison on the island. We drove the island and then hiked on trails to the tops of peaks. The views were spectacular. (See the photos posted) We had lunch at the small cafe and watched people hiking down to the water's edge. After lunch, we decided to drive 50 miles to Promontory Point which is where the first transcontinental railroad joined. The National Park Service has created a visitors center at Promontory Point and they have two replica engines that exactly match the engines that took part in the ceremony in 1869. We were also able to see the engines operated and be moved to parking for the night. Engine "119" with the Union Pacific is powered by coal and were able to see it operate. "The Jupiter" was the engine that pulled Leland Stanford's special car to the ceremony. It was powered by wood, since there was wood available in California. Watching the two engines operate was super fun. We were also able to drive our truck on a section of the railroad bed that has been converted to a gravel trail. We barely fit between the weeds growing on both sides of the path. We went through cool "cuts" and over "fills" on the drive.

On Saturday, we decided to go back to Antelope Island and ride the tandem. We parked at the entrance to the park on the causeway and rode the seven miles to the beginning of the island. From there, we rode the additional 11 miles to the Fielding Garr Historic Ranch. We ate our picnic lunch and then rode back to the entrance for a distance of 37 miles.