OCR Text |
Show Wifliin) this pir In sgining Utalhi By CHERIE HUBER Vacation time. ..you've waited for it all year. Now that it's here make the most of it. The following are some tips that should make your Utah vacation the best one yet! , 1. Plans f )r your vacation should include plans for your home while you'r : gone. Call the post office and have them hold your mail. Make sure all milk and newspaper deliveries are stopped. Let your neighbors know you will be out of town so they can watch youi house. You can return the favor when they go out of town. 2. Take time to find out as much as you can about your vacation destination before you leave. The library has background back-ground information. The Utah Travel Council has information and brochures. 3. Check ahead of time for closing hours. Find out if you need reservations for campgrounds or motels in the area. 4. Take a scenic route whenever possible. The interstate is fast and direct but don't miss the charm of the little towns that are all along the way. Any extra time you spend will be well worth it. 5. Don't try to see and do too much. Remember this is a vacation, not an endurance test. If you feel you must plan every minute of the vacation, plan for rest stops. Check your Utah map for rest stops along the interstate. Many of these stops also offer interesting historical information along with a chance to stretch your legs. 6. Pack your camera to capture the highlights of the trip. Collect brochures and souvenirs too. Remember these can always al-ways be recycled for show-and-tell and other reports at school. 7. Take the names and addresses of your friends and their children. Everyone likes mail. A postcard to your friend's child .will mean a lot to your friend and the child. ' , .- -v . Cs, A'?, t 4 t if h!' A', v"'V - v - t rr saurs and other kinds of prehistoric animals have been uncovered unco-vered here and some have been sent across the country to the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburg. Visitors here have the rare opportunity of watching technicians uncover the bones of many kinds of prehistoric reptiles. Most bones are no longer removed from the quarry but uncovered so they can be seen and studied. More than 2,000 fossilized bones are on display at the quarry. Dinosaur National Monument covers more than 325 square miles in Utah and Colorado. In many sections there are no fossils being uncovered but there are deep narrow gorges with wind-carved, delicately tinted sandstone cliffs. Scenic overlooks over-looks along the road provide spectacular views of the green and Yampa river. 3, Camping, hiking, fishing and river trips make this area an ideal spot for a family vacation. The Day They Drove the Golden Spike It was near noon on May 10, 1869. A crowd of 600 excited people watched as dignitaries set four ceremonial spikes into holes in a polished laurel tie while the telegraph operator tapped out a description of the event to a waiting Nation. The vice president of the Union Pacific railroad and the governor of California were supposed to drive the final iron spike. They swung and missed but the telegraph operator tapped out "done" and the celebration was on. The locomotives of the two railroad companies touched cowcatchers and the "wedding of the rails" was complete. The site of that history-marking event is just 32 miles west of Brigham City. During the summer a visitor center is open daily. During the summer, steam locomotives are displayed outside and you can even take a self-guided driving tour over the old railroad grades. Special programs that capture some of the excitement of that historic day go on from Memorial Day to Labor Day. JlSSsailiiill TWO THOUSAND FOSSILIZED bones are on display at Dinosaur Din-osaur National Monument. a place to lose a cow." Bryce Canyon is not a true canyon but a series of horseshoe-shaped horseshoe-shaped areas on the edge of the Paunsaugunt Plateau carved by tributaries of the Paria River. The Indian name for the area has been translated as "red rocks standing like men in a bowl-shaped canyon." Iron oxides give red, yellow and brown tints to the limestone and mag-nanese mag-nanese oxide adds the lavender hues. The park is on a high plateau, about 8,000 feet. Forthat reason vacationers should plan on taking it a little more easy on their hikes. There are horseback trips daily into the canyons until Oct. 31. A visitors center at the park headquarters has displays to acquaint you with the plants and animals of the region. Other displays recount the history of the region and how it was formed. Park naturalists give free conducted hikes and illustrated illus-trated talks every day from Memorial Day to Labor Day. BEAR LAKE Imagine coming up over the crest of a mountain and looking down at a lake. If the lake is the most incredible shade of blue you've ever seen, the lake must be Bear Lake. At Bear Lake you get to decide whether you will go wild and rustic or plush and pampered. Luxury condos are available but there is also a large stretch of beach that is available for primitive camping. People on the lake are always busy water skiing, boating, swimming and sunning. Pedal boats can be rented at at least one lake side resort. At night there is the Pickleville Theatre for action complete with villains and heroes. Check at the theatre for times and details. If your car is tough, try driving completely around the lake. You'll find more wildlife as you get further away from civilization. civiliza-tion. The State of Utah maintains two recreation areas on Bear Lake, Bear Lake Marina, one and one half miles north of Garden Gar-den City and Bear Lake Rendezvous Beach which also rents cottages on the beach. RIDE ON HEBER Creeper is 'real treat.' THE HEBER CREEPER ' A ride on the Heber Creeper is a double treat. First you leave ' from the old 1890's-style Heber City depot to find out first hand what it was like to ride an iron horse, the same kind of train that always gets held up in the Westerns. Second, and just as enjoyable, enjoy-able, the train goes through Heber Valley, possibly one of the most scenic areas of the state. The train rolls past numerous springs and streams and then runs elong the edge of Deer Creek Resepoir and into the forests of Provo Canyon and then on to Vivian Park. It was back in 1899 that the Utah Eastern Railroad Company began operating a railroad line from Heber City to Provo. In IvOO the track was sold to the Rio Grande Western, and in 1920 the line was made part of the Denver and Rio Grande Western line. At one time, future plans of the railroad included a line from Heber Valley over Wolf Creek Pass and on to Colorado. The plan never became reailty. The Heber Creeper is one of the last active steam railroads in the United States. Heber is just about an hour from Davis County on Interstate 80 and U.S. Highway 40. Once you arrive in Heber, the depot is only six blocks west of the town's only red light. . The Deer Creek Scenic Railroad Company is a non-profit, historical and educational organization. The group operates the trains, a Visitor Center and the museum. Profits and donations go toward projects like collecting and restoring antique railroad equipment and artifacts for the education and enjoyment of present and future generations. Donations are tax deductible. Reservations are not required but nice to have so the kids, young and old, won't be disappointed if a tour group shows up. The Heber Creeper has a Salt Lake line, 531-6022. DINOSAUR NATIONAL MONUMENT Digging up old bones isn't just for Fido. At Dinosaur National : Monument it's a science. One of the world's largest concentrations concentra-tions of fossilized dinosaur bones are found in a sandstone cliff in Dinosaur National Monument. Silicified bones of bronto- ENTER A FANTASY world of strange rock creatures at Bryce Canyon. BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK If you like rocks, there are about 36,000 acres of them waiting for you at Bryce. Some of the earth's most colorful rock formations forma-tions are found in Bryce Canyon National Park. Wind and water erosion have created a fantasy world of strange creatures. The geography of the area led one Mormon settler Ebenezer Bryce, who lived in the canyon for five years to describe it as "A hell of V i 5 --yiS5' RE-FNACTMENT OF DRIVING of the Golden Spike. 1 BOATS AWAIT THEIR owners for another day of fun at the Bear Lake Marina 1 |