3-SALT LAKE CITY AREA

Salt Lake City traffic was not as bad as we expected. Also, a lot of the anticipated road construction has been completed making it was an easier drive than we expected.


As we approached SLC, I noticed red areas on the mountains.

Eventually I figured out that the trees were turning colors, almost all red. I don't know what kind they are, but they are really pretty.


We were planning on spending the night in another Interstate Rest Area on I-15 near Springville.  

Two web sites that I check as we drive said there was a rest area in that location. Also a sign was on the highway saying there was one, “Courtesy of Flying J” at the same exit. That was convenient as we had already planned to stop there for gas. 

Unfortunately, it turned out that Flying J only provided use of their restrooms to the public, not any place to park. OK, it was noisy there anyway. So we moved on.


We turned off I-15 and traveled about 45 minutes down Utah Highway 6 to where the map promised that there was a Rest Area.  

We have driven Highway 6 a couple times before. It is a beautiful drive down a winding canyon with a stream rushing down one side. The bonus here this time, was those wonderful red trees and furthermore they were a lot closer to the road.

They provided quite a show of color in addition to all around beautiful scenery.

We were beginning to think that we were facing another “missing rest area” as we had never seen one on this road before and we weren't finding one now. 

Then there it was. Brand new since the last time we traveled this way and without a doubt the most interesting Rest Area we have ever been in.

Not only was there grass and flowers, the entire Rest Area was built to be a replica of an old railway station.

It was called Tie Fork and apparently there is a lot of Utah history in this location. For a short while, way back when, this was a major railway area.

There was an actual old steam engine…

…a water tower and an area representing a round house.

In the round house area there were numerous large posters detailing the history of the area in several different ways, like native peoples and geological formations.

Inside the building were the restrooms. The “waiting room” even had benches reminiscent of an old train station waiting room.

As I wandered around the area, a Magpie stopped and posed on a fence post to check out what I was doing.

A few other rigs had pulled in to park by now and Don took this opportunity to wash about a gazillion bugs off the windshield. 

We always try to start out the day with a clean windshield as it makes taking pictures a lot easier, not to mention just seeing the roadway. 

However, today, thanks to a rather heavy coating of bugs, I was hanging out an open side window to get pictures of the red trees. What I won’t sacrifice for a picture!

Lest you think we spend all our time in Highway Rest Areas, tonight we will be in Moab, Utah in an actual RV Park for a couple days. From there we will be visiting Canyonlands National Park. It should be amazing and we are looking forward to it.