Antelope Island – Utah State Park

Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative.

Antelope Island was only about 30 miles from where we were parked. I had read a little about it. The island really is an island right smack dab in the middle of the Great Salt Lake. Getting from the mainland to the island was via a causeway which is a little over 6 miles long. We headed that direction Saturday morning. We figured it would be the better day to visit since the clouds hadn’t started coming in yet and the skies were still blue.  The high wind alert didn’t go into effect until later in the day.  We were on our way about 10:00 AM.




We discovered two campgrounds and many of the sites had nice long pull-thrus.  They also had cabanas and picnic tables.  All of the sites had a great water view.

 

The island has a little bit of everything for the people who enjoy being outside with sand, hiking trails, wildlife, beaches, boating and even horseback riding.  The marina is one of the first things you see when you get to the end of that 6 mile ride on the causeway.



Many different types of birds visit the island during different months including bald eagles.  Bisons can be seen grazing along the roadways.

-------------------------------------  Answers to questions on previous blog ----------------------------------

Information on portable hand scanner:  I had several questions on the portable scanner I mentioned on my previous blog. The little scanner works perfectly for what I intended it for.  It takes a micro SD card and two AA batteries.  I took extra batteries with me on Friday because I wasn’t sure how long the first set would last.  There was still juice in them at the end of the day.  The only difficult part is making sure that what you are scanning is flat and you get the whole page under the scanner.  If you're scanning a page in a book, you just need to be careful that you have the whole page under it. Then, you just slide the scanner over the piece you want to scan.   It scans in 300, 600 or 900 dpi and either in jpg or pdf format.  This is a sample of what I just scanned at 300 dpi out of the Mountain Directory West book.

 I also have a flat-bed scanner but this one is so much more convenient to use for items I would like to have a quick scan.  It doesn't  require a computer and it doesn't need to be plugged in.

The 2011 Exit Now book I mentioned was purchased on sale at Camping World for $4.99.  I'm not sure if you can still get it on sale.

 Family History Library:  I did mention that it is the largest genealogical library in the world.  The library belongs to the LDS church but it is free and open to all to use their facilities.  The documents, articles, books, film and microfiche are not limited to the United States but covers the entire world. Information contained at the library has been accumulated from 110 different countries.   The library is huge and there are different collections of research items on different floors.  As an example on Floors 2 and 3, research is limited to U.S. and Canada.  Floor B1 contains the International Collection for Africa, Asia, Europe, Scandinavia, Latin America and the Pacific Islands.  The British Collection which contains research material for Australia, England, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland and Wales is located on Level B2.

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There really is plenty to see and do in the Salt Lake City area.  There’s also a lot of history and  beauty in this area.  If you haven’t been, Utah and even Salt Lake City should be put on your bucket list.

PS *** Monday morning note --   The mountains are beautiful around us.  The snow level has dropped and the background is gorgeous.  Well, it's gorgeous as long as it stays there and doesn't reach us.  The forecast for the next couple of days is for nice dry weather before more snow and rain blow in on our northwest trail.  If we leave today instead of tomorrow as planned, we won't have to sit the new storm out along the road.  We could be down Deadman's Pass aka Cabbage Hill in Oregon on dry roads.  I think we're like the horse that runs towards the barn every time we turn.  When we head south we get in a hurry to get south.  When we head north we get in a hurry to get north.  Either way though ... all is good.  If we head for the barn now, we just may be able to spend Easter with the kids.  We will see.

‘Tis life on the road.