While in Utah we decided to take a trip to see the Golden Spike in Promontory, Utah. We drove on the only single paved road to bring visitors in-and-out of the site . We didn’t see another car for more than 45 minutes and there wasn’t even cell phone service. There were also warnings that medical services were limited due to the remote location. I laughed as we drove out there – how can this vast land be the same country that holds New York City, Los Angeles, or even Virginia Beach?! It felt like a different country.
The land is so vast here – it’s truly as far as the eyes can see.
The Golden Spike National Historical Park sits on 2,735 acres of land surrounding 15- miles of the original Transcontinental Railroad and is located at Promontory Point, which is where the First Transcontinental Railroad in the United States was officially completed on May 10, 1869. (nps.gov)
If you aren’t familiar with what the Golden Spike was, don’t worry, I wasn’t either. But, I am so thankful that we had the chance to go see this historical site. The Golden Spike and Promontory Point are where the first transcontinental railroads across the United States met. Union Pacific No. 119 and Central Pacific No. 60 (better known as the Jupiter) locomotives were drawn up face-to-face on Promontory Summit, Utah Territory.
By Andrew J. Russell – Cropped, edited and restored from original file, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=94268577
A fun fact we learned, the two owners of the two different railroads were supposed to hit the ceremonial golden spike – both missed! A railroad worker had to step-in and complete the job. ha!
Before we left, we got to experience them putting the replication of the Jupiter train to sleep for the evening, which was full of steam whistles, and horns.
As we made the hour-ish drive back to the hotel we saw two rainbows – this seems to be a recurring theme on our drives now.
Life with Mary and Jay 