EP and The Bounder: Leg 38- Oct 11- Corinne, UT and Promontory, UT

Gemini Rocket Section

This was an absolutely rocking day that we took as a day trip. We had to go south to head towards Promontory and on the way we passed the Morton Thiokol (they built the Gemini Spacecraft and Solid Boosters on the Space Shuttle). A little park off to the side had a ton of artifacts just sitting in a field you could visit. I foamed at the mouth and took a picture with a piece of a Gemini space launch vehicle. We moved onto Promontory, Utah where the transcontinental railroad met. It is mindblowing to think about this achievement (and the terror it portended for the Native People's living in the west). Famously (or not famously depending on your viewpoint), William Tecumseh Sherman would say in 1865 that he didn't think he'd live long enough for them to complete. The railroad was completed in 1869! The sheer amount of labor utilized by poorly paid persons from China, Ireland and the LDS community were travesties in terms of human life lost. Just near the national park, there were 9 cut and fills of stone moved by hand. You can now drive your car on the old railroad grades (which is incredible and I highly recommend). What I think is really great is the Central Pacific sent their best train engine, the Jupiter, while the Union Pacific just sent a good utility workhorse train engine, the 119.

Reproductions of the Jupiter and #119

Later in the evening, we returned back to the RV where a snowstorm was building and wind gusted to 45 mph. We could barely keep the RV warm as the wind whistled through various small RV gaps. I did manage to take our diaphragm pump apart, rebuild the connectors, and reinstall it. It feels good to make some part of the RV better.