The Golden Spike

"A journey across the plains was a formidable undertaking that required great patience and endurance. Now all is changed...The six months' journey is reduced to less than a week. The prairie schooner has passed away, and is replaced by the railway coach with all its modern comforts."

That was the quote displayed to the entrance of Utah's very own Golden Spike State Park, where the two rails met that connected the United States from sea to shining sea. We took a little trip to Promontory, Utah on Monday to celebrate that great event that happened 141 years ago. I let the kids miss school that day and we went up with my brother, Steve, and Grandma Harker. It was so worth the 1 1/2 hour drive out to the middle of nowhere.

These are exact replicas of the two engines that met there, the Jupiter and the 119. It was so cool to hear the bells ring and the whistles blow!

They did an hour long program to celebrate the event. Everyone was dressed up in period dress. They reenacted the entire ceremony, from the telegraph, to the placing of four special spikes, to all the words that were spoken 141 years ago. It was so well done and helped us to see how exciting that event was to the whole country back then.

All of these people are volunteers passionate about preserving the history of the "Golden Spike."

The engines were really amazing.

I was a little worried about having my kids miss a day of school, but it was so worth it! It made us all appreciate a little more living in Utah. We live in a great state, and this is one part of our history that I am glad I and my children now know more about. Thanks Steve for inviting us to go with you! I hope you get an A+ on your paper. And Grandma Harker, thanks for taking this adventure with us and helping with the kids. It was a wonderful day and I am so glad we went!