UTAH

Friday April 16 we drove all the way across Utah.

Salt Flats along route 80 in UT.

Morton Salt Processing Plant. We could see a picture of the Morton Salt Girl that is on the boxes of salt we buy.

Route 80 took us around Salt Lake City, we could see a lot of the homes which are built on the side of the mountains.

Leaving the city limits we immediately came into these mountains/canyons, which went for miles. They still amaze me. We were up over 4000 ft. at this point. Occasionally there'd be a valley with some houses. The snow was still very deep there and it's April.

Some of the rock formations were red and some were yellow/mustard color.

We didn't stay in Utah, we went on to Evanston, Wyo. and stayed at a Good Sam's RV Park. On our way to Laramie, Wyo today where we'll stay overnight at a KOA RV Park.

Elko, Nevada

The first good sized town after Reno was Elko. We didn't know anything about it so stopped at the visitors center, which happened to be a very old original log cabin. There were other small log cabin buildings around it; a school house, barn, creamery, blacksmiths. The gal that was incharge at the visitors center was very friendly and helpful. She recommended we also visit the museum, which we did.

The logs were hand hewn with these neat dovetail corners. This is a very historic building that was moved to accommodate the visitors center.

The museum was one of the best I've ever seen. The history of the West was well depicted with artifacts, pictures and text. We didn't arrive until a little after 4 and it closed at 5. The lady in charge said we could come back the next day useing the same ticket, which we did.

I'm standing beside a stage coach which is similiar to the one my great grandfather Jackson Green use to drive from Northville to Lake Pleasant

I bet you never thought you'd see me serving behind a bar. This was in the museum. I found a paper cup and a bottle of water under the bar.

There was a huge room full of animal trophies. They were displayed very realistically. I'm not fond of viewing such things but this was done exeptionally well.

We stayed at an RV Park in Elko.

NEVADA

How do I describe it? First of all, there's Casino's on every corner in the towns/cities, it's amazing. The terrain goes from snow covered mountains, high desert, salt flats, miles and miles without seeing a building or human being other than in the cars, trucks, motorhomes, trailers etc. The name Nevada comes from Spanish word nieve meaning "snow-capped." We passed by hill country that contains gold mines. There are many other minerals that is mined here, as well as gold.

Miles and miles of this terrain

And I don't like tunnels. When we got inside Larry said, "Hope there isn't an earthquake while we're in here". I didn't need that!!!

Snow? Nope Salt. Miles and miles of salt flats.

"There's gold in them there hills"

The next blog will be about the city of Elko, NV.

RENO, NV

172 miles into Reno, NV from Colusa, CA. We first found the RV park that we'd be staying in, then went to find the National Automobile Museum.

The museum building was huge. There were streets with curbs, street lights, shops and wooden side walks. A lot of the cars where parked on the streets. http://automuseum.org/

Larry probably took 25 or 30 pictures, but I'm only including the Hudson's. This one is a '36 Hudson. It looks like his '36 Terraplane. I think he said the hood is longer than on the Terraplane, and it's an 8 cylinder.

1929 Hudson Dual Cowl PhaetonOne of 16 built. An AACA classic. One of them is owned by a man in Northville.

1932 Essex
Boattail Speedster

1953 Hudson Jet

Can you tell Larry edited this?

SIERRA MOUNTAINS

We left Colusa, CA and had to go over the Sierra Mountains on route 80. This road had been closed the week b efore because of a snowstorm. We were a bit apprehensive the trip, but found that it was absolutely beautiful.

There was 4 feet of snow off the sides of the road, but the roads were clear. We did follow a sand truck for awhile and also caught up to a snow plow.

I couldn't stop taking pictures. Every scene was breath taking. These pictures just don't do the views justice.

ESCAPEES

Tom and Ginger belong to several RV Clubs, one being the Escapees. They invited us to go to one of their club rallies, which was in Colusa, CA. It was on our way, so we went with them. We thought we might only stay one night but we had so much fun and the people were so friendly we decided stay two days. We found out there is an Escapees club in NYS, so we just might look them up.

Some of the ladies teaching me how to play "Hand and Foot". It was a little complicated at first, but think I figured it out. They were very patient with me.

I think they called this "Friendly Hour". Everyone brought a snack to share and it was a time of getting to know each other and catching up on friendships.

The second day there Tom volunteered Uncle Josh to entertain them. They must have enjoyed it because they all were laughing.

Cramer's and Moulton's "Rigs" side by side again.

Ginger and Tom

Larry discovered the big wheel/machine and of course had to find out what it was. It is a steam powered wheel to power a rice processing plant.

Happy Birthday Larry

Family Reunion and Birthday Party
April 10th

Late Saturday afternoon about 38 Moulton/Kested/Cramer families gathered at Tommy Moulton's for a feast, reunion and birthday party.  Just 20 years ago this month the same group met, but a lot of new ones have been born since then.  A video from April 1990 was shown.  Many laughs and awwwwww's were expressed.  Concensus was that the best of show was, Alysha and Holly and the least changed was Larry Cramer.

Robin made this cake for Larry...a super job Robin. He really appreciated it.

Hot taco sauce and refried beans. Just what he wanted!!!!  Haha

They made him wear this hat to celebrate.  He received several neat cards.

I made jello wiggles for the kids, just like I do for my grandkids

Alysha and Holly.  They were just toddlers 20 years ago.  There were some cute shots of them on the video playing with each other.  Who pulled who's hair???  They were the stars of the video.

Kevin Moulton (Richie's son)  He wants to be a cartoonist.  He had his sketch pad with him and was practising. He drew a basketball player for me.  Nice job Kevin

Tom trying to get everyone to be quiet so he can tell them to sit down so they can watch U. Josh perform and then have a group picture taken. 

Good job Tom. You got everyone sitting at one time and looking at the camera

This is part of Robin's family.  They had to leave unexpectedly before the party, so we made sure we got a picture of them.

Michele and her baby, Mark, Matt. Robin and Liana

They asked UJ to tell a story.  He told the one about the circus and put Tom in the cage...they loved it.

Watching the video

Part of the kitchen crew.  Actually everyone contributed to the meal.  Lasagna, salad, chips/dip, jello wiggles, garlic bread, cake etcetc