The Road to Knowheresville: Toxic Tooele

Next time you're planning on taking your high-level nuclear waste on vacation with you, be sure you don't visit Skull Valley, Utah... Unless, of course, you have your permit...Then, apparently your high-level nuclear waste is welcome here, and I guess you are welcome to bring in low-level nuclear waste at your own convenience, and without a permit. Tongue in Cheek?


Skull Valley is no stranger to toxic governmental activities, and has seen it all - from rocket tests, to open-air biological weapons tests.

Highway 196 is a long windless road and serves as the primary access from the north.
The old Tekoy Test Range, once a high-tech test area for rockets and related operations, appears more like a ghost town now.
Behind the gate a lone, cracked and overgrown road heads west across the desert.
A bit further south is the location where thousands of sheep mysteriously died in 1968. The infamous Sheep Incident, as it has come to be remembered, was the result of an accident during one of hundreds of open-air chemical weapons tests at the nearby Dugway Proving Grounds. Oops!
Dugway Proving Grounds is off limits to anyone other than official personnel. And they're dead-serious about it too.
Dugway Proving Grounds has hosted hundreds of open-air biological and chemical weapons tests, even intentional meltdowns that were conducted for research purposes.

Looking back into Skull Valley from Lookout Pass reveals part of the expansive property of the Proving Grounds. The Lincoln Continental Highway once passed through Dugway, but now, that route is closed to tourists and historians alike.
To the east of Dugway, over the Stansbury Mountain Range, in Rush Valley, sits the south area of the Tooele Army Depot where Uncle Sam has been busy destroying the United States' chemical weapons stockpile at the Deseret Chemical facility.
TAD was home to the majority of the United States nastiest weapons of mass destruction stockpile. Now, nearly all of the chemical weapons have been eliminated in this high-tech incineration facility.
The Tooele County Emergency Warning System was designed to alert local citizens of chemical and biological leaks, threats and accidents at the proving grounds. Numerous announcement towers are located throughout the county, in the event of an emergency. The system is tested every Wednesday afternoon.

With Deseret Peak in the background, this tower serves the Grantsville Reservoir area.
This tower serves the South-East edge of Tooele. Notice the Tooele Army Depot north area in the valley behind the tower.




If this had been an actual emergency, you may have heard one of the following prepared messages:

"Warning. Warning. An emergency condition exists at Deseret Chemical Depot. Stand by for instructions and tune to a local radio station or television station for emergency information."

"Evacuate. Evacuation is required for your safety. Evacuate quickly and calmly north toward Interstate 80.""Go inside. Stay indoors. Close all windows and doors. Turn off all heating and air intake systems. Stay indoors."

OR

"If you have not evacuated, go inside now for your safety. Close all windows and doors... Stay indoors and stand by for information."

Enjoy your stay in Tooele.

Eurostars Blue Tulum

The best part of our recent Mexico trip was the food and the people. I'm a Mexican food fan, but I certainly didn't expect culinary delights to be the best part of the vacation. Actually, I was a bit frightened by the prospects of getting ill from unsavory food, but once I got there I found all the eatables to be very good and fresh.

I was so happy to arrive at Tulum. We had been trekking through the hot jungle all day. We spent a couple of hours exploring some cenotes earlier in the day and were ready to do some relaxing. And that is exactly what we got to do at Eurostars Blue Tulum.

The guard opened the large metal gate, and we entered another world. We were met by two very friendly smiling faces. On a large silver platter were fluffy, small, moist towels that felt as though they had recently been pulled from a cold refrigerator - and had a relaxing herbal scent. I held it to my sweaty forehead for a moment before draping it across the back of my overheated neck. Incredible! We were then escorted on a tour of the facility en route to our room.

The hotel grounds were stunningly beautiful. Perched on the edge of the world, overlooking the lovely blue waters of the Caribbean on one side, and the relentless dense jungle on the other.

Our room was beautiful and very comfortable. I loved everything about it. There was a nice-sounding Bose stereo playing music on a provided iPod. I replaced it with my own iPod, and played Mountain Animal Hospital's Startled By Deer. It sounded great in our lovely room.






Our hotel in Tulum provided absolutely the most helpful and accommodating service we received anywhere on our trip through the jungle. The food was exceptional, and the chefs and servers were all a pleasure to meet.

We were there for only one night, but it would have been easy to stay there forever.

Skirtin' Behind the Zion Curtain

I've been behind the Zion Curtain for the past week on a business/family trip. Here are some photos from the journey through the Beehive State.

A Sneak Peek

I had the opportunity to see some sets and personalities of an upcoming full-length stop-motion film. Soon, these characters will be everywhere. The secluded warehouse in the old industrial part of Salt Lake is filled with lots of impressive miniature sets and elaborate mobile camera mounts on tracks that will make it all come alive.

Grandfather Interupted

My dear old dad hadn't been feeling well, and had been praying all week that he'd be well enough to attend the wedding dinner for his granddaughter, Michelle, the first of his grandchildren to be married. But God had other plans for my dad that night. About three hours before the dinner, his heart was beating irregularly, at about 140 beats per minute. I followed him to the hospital, and checked him into the emergency room where I was impressed with the promptness at which the Tooele Valley Hospital staff attended to him. They provided exceptional service and were successful at shocking his heart back into a normal rhythm. They released him later that night, but unfortunately, he had already missed his granddaughter's wedding dinner.

Wedding Bells

On Yom Kippur, my niece, Michelle, got married to her fiance, Carson, in the Salt Lake Temple. While the bride and groom attended a private wedding ceremony within the walls of the Mormon mishkan, the kids and I toured the downtown area. What a surprise. Everything in Salt Lake is different now. The freeways have all been replaced and changed since I moved away fifteen years ago. There were lots of things I wanted to show to the kids, but every place I tried to take them, was no longer there when we arrived. Much of the city looks like a war zone with all of the construction going on. The once bustling Trolley Square was like a ghost town. We saw only about four shoppers there as we strolled the empty corridors looking for a place to buy black socks. Most of the stores were gone. I bought a Polygamy Porter T-shirt at Cabin Fever, one of the few stores that was open.



Temple Square in Salt Lake is always impressive. The Salt Lake Temple is one of the finest examples of nineteenth century architecture anywhere in the world. Every stone is a work of art. I've spent hours contemplating the exquisite construction and accompanying symbols.

One of my favorite things to do while in Salt Lake, is attend the daily organ recital inside the historic Tabernacle. It was so moving to experience this king of instruments again. There is really nothing like it. The acoustically friendly Tabernacle allows this powerful instrument to be experienced at it's fullest. Every tone sharp, crisp and audible. We had time to hear the first couple of selections before we had to leave to rendezvous with the wedding entourage for photographs in front of the temple.



Michelle looked beautiful as she posed for photographs with her handsome new husband, Carson, on the steps of this magnificent edifice in the heart of Great Salt Lake City.

It was entertaining to watch the photographers work so hard to get the perfect shot.
This was the first time I had been close enough to get a picture of these amazing door knobs. My key didn't work.
Later that night, at the wedding reception, I got to see my my Aunt Mae and my cousins LaRee, Jan and Bette. I hadn't seen any of them for ages and it was a nice but short reunion. I got to see lots of other folks I don't get to see very often. It makes me realize how far away I truly am out here in California, and that I need to spend more time with my family who live behind the Zion Curtain.

Park City Snow Storm

We spent the night in Park City, and woke up to a blustering snow storm. The snow that makes Utah famous was accumulating fast. There was already two inches on top of the Prius. I grabbed a broom and swept off the fluffy almost weightless snow, and began loading the car in hopes of getting off the mountain before more snow fell. By the time I had finished loading the car, another two inches had fallen. I swept off the car once more, and it was time to find out how the Prius would perform in slippery conditions. It didn't.

Most of our descent from Parley's Summit was a controlled slide. There was no way we could stop, and we observed many close calls before we had dropped in elevation below the snow level. Mason said that "Driving down Parley's Canyon at 20 MPH was much more intense than driving fast across Nevada."


Historic Salt Lake's Unseen Backside

The Rio Grand used to be where Amtrak stopped. Now the passenger trains stop at a cheesy mobile trailer unit a few blocks southwest from this beautiful historic building which used to house one of my favorite restaurants (Rio Grande). Maybe it still does. I didn't stop to find out.

A half block east of State Street on 1st Avenue, there's a place you won't find on any tourist map. The grave of Brigham Young is relatively unknown and almost invisible to passers-by. Only a handful of people know about it. I hadn't been there for years. I used to like going to this spot because it is so quiet, and no one else ever goes there. It's a great place to be alone. Ironically, this small cemetery is only a couple of blocks away from the hustle and bustle of Temple Square where tourists come from the ends of the earth to see historic Mormon sites.
This life-like bronze sculpture of Brigham Young and three of his children seemed almost real. It was like being next to real people.

Go West Young Man

Saying goodbye to my aging parents is always the most difficult part of traveling to Utah. I remember how my Mom would cry when she would leave her own sweet mother standing on the porch of her Pang Town home. Now I understand her angst. On Sunday morning we set out to travel west to our home in California. Native American music on KRCL's Living the Circle of Life program* helped to create a nostalgic ambiance as we rolled across the Salt Flats listening to the radio. The Tree of Utah bid us farewell as we passed by on the cold stormy morning at 75MPH. It was a long drive.


Twelve hours on the road is too much too much too much too much!

* I had listened to the program regularly before I moved away fifteen years ago. Now, I can hear it on the Internet, and I get up early every Sunday to listen to the program.

Creatures of the Yucatan Peninsulae

We encountered lots of different kinds of creatures on our recent trip across the Yucatan Peninsulae. Here are a few of my favorites.

These big bugs were in one of the aeropuertos we passed through on our way to Cancun.

This cute little Iguana scampered off to safety.

The locals got a kick out of me calling it el gatito (kitten).

This lovely winged creature was waiting outside our door on our first morning in Cancun.Crabs @ Tulum.All the dogs we saw were either having a siesta, or standing around doing as little as possible. It was hot so the pooches were not active.We found this lovely little mariposa outside our bungalow in Chichen Itza.Mexican TV was surprisingly strange.
Couldn't resist taking a picture of these creatures on the boob-tube.Mighty Mo loves Earwigs.
This Earwigish creature was in our hotel room in Uxmal.This little lizard joined us for breakfast in Valladolid.So did his friend.Here, Rhetro Zenberg demonstrates buoyancy in the Caribean.
It was good to be back to Cancun where the air was slightly cooler, and the water felt most refreshing after our thousand mile trek through the hot jungle. When we got home to Santa Cruz, we found that we had a new resident...
actually three. A momma dove and her babes.