# 16 Union Station Ogden, Utah

July 23, 2019

 

On a very hot day we walked from our hotel to have breakfast then after walked to Union Station a few more blocks away.   

They had a nice outside area with some trains to look at with paths between.  But between two of the trains we went down the path which was really skinny and the sides just dropped off but I didn’t think too much about it. When we got to the end there was no place to turn around.  So my dad had to back my wheelchair with me in it all the way back out along the path which was terrifying and an adventure in itself.

 After the outside part we went back inside to cool down and see what else they had.  Which was four different museums and an art gallery.  

The train museum was the most fascinating to me.  They had a caboose display that I could actually get into, a display about train signals and the Golden spike as well as a model train display.  

In the art gallery I really enjoyed the nature pictures.  The other museums were mildly interesting. A cowboy museum, firearm museum and a car museum. These museums were alright museums I guess, but just not as interesting to me.   

After all of this we headed back to the hotel to rest up. I had quite a bit of fun at Union Station in Ogden seeing all the trains and museums and could’ve spent even more time there.

# 15 Cheyenne Botanic Gardens

June 27 2019

On a really hot day in Colorado we drove up to Cheyenne for the day since it was a bit cooler.   

 

They had a sculpture display throughout the gardens with sculptures of many animals’ a bear, a turtle, an elephant, a rabbit and a couple of pigs. The sculptures were spread out throughout the outside part of the gardens as well as in the conservatory.

We took quite a bit time taking pictures inside and outside of the various plants. 

Also next to the gardens was Rotary Park which had a train and more paths to walk on.  We also wandered around the three level conservatory which was very nice.  After this we went back outside again to the herb and rose gardens out in front of the building. There were nice shady areas to sit and rest.  We pretty much saw all of the gardens except we did miss the children’s garden.

 We had a very fun day at the botanic gardens and enjoyed the sculptures, plants and the train and look forward to returning to this quiet botanic garden.

# 14 “The Sandlot” movie tour- Salt Lake City and Ogden Utah

“You’re killing me, Smalls!”

One of my all-time favorite baseball movies is “The Sandlot”. The movie is set in California but I recently found out much of the movie was filmed in the Salt Lake City, Utah area. So we were able to visit some of the locations this past summer.

We started out on a very hot day just like some in the movie.    

 

Our first stop was the little league field at Rose Park.  We first parked in the lot next to a baseball field. The field looked fairly new, and turned out to be the wrong field but we took some pictures and found 7 cents laying on the ground almost enough to buy a 98 cent baseball.  We noticed another field in the distance and walked a ways and found the older field which was next to the other parking lot. 

We immediately knew it was the actual field we were looking for.  Rose park field basically looked the same today except for the new advertising. This was where they took on the little league team and “kicked the crap out of those guys.”

Our second stop was the Sandlot.  Most of the movie was here including losing the baseball signed by ”Some lady named Ruth. Baby Ruth.” and getting that ball back, trash talking including “you play ball like a girl” and of course so much baseball.  Now days there’s not much to see just a little open area between houses.

Small's house

Benny's house

Next was Small’s and Benny’s houses. We just drove by for a couple pictures.  Multiple scenes during the movie were here. This was where early on when smalls just moved in and was unpacking, where Smalls tried to learn to play catch with his step dad and Benny inviting Small’s to the Sandlot.                    

 

 

               

After this we stopped at Liberty Park and had a nice walk around. The park was where the Founder’s day celebration was held. This was briefly shown when they were being chased by the dog after getting the Babe Ruth ball back. They then ran through the picnic and flipped the cake. I’m not sure what part they ran through.

                               

 

  

Our last stop in Salt Lake City was the Vincent Drugtore which was where they bought the 98 cent baseballs. We drove by for a couple pictures but the place looked like it was empty/closed and according to google is permanently closed.

 

Our final stop was the next day at the pool in Ogden, UT.  The pool was similar now days but they have added a slide and the pool had a different name. This was the pool scene that everyone remembers where “We got banned for the pool forever that day” I didn’t remember until we rewatched the movie but while being chased by the dog they go through the pool again with little kid saying big doggie! Then they crossed a bridge and river just like we did.

This was a great adventure and maybe the best yet. I had so much fun seeing all these places which brought back great memories of one of my favorite movies.

#13 Peruvian food - Longmont CO

 

Rosario's Peruvian Restaurant May 15, 2019 

I have never had Peruvian food but I had a tip that this place was good and thought since we were in Longmont it was the perfect time to try Peruvian food for the first time.

 I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into or even what to order, but luckily they have different Peruvian Tour plates with two or three different items on them. So I ordered tour plate number six and mom and dad both got plate number five. Plate number six had a Papa Rellena which was a potato stuffed and fried, Aji de Gallina which was a chicken dish and Tallarin Saltado which was a beef noodle dish. Tour plate number five had Lomo Saltado which was a beef dish. This plate also had the same Tallarin Saltado beef and noodle dish I had. Each plate was 16.99. 

The Papa Rellena was really good. It was basically a really good baked potato stuffed with a meat mixture that included a few peas, carrots and hardboiled egg pieces. Then was battered and fried making it a little crispy around the outside. 

The Aji de Gallina was a chicken dish with a creamy Aji yellow pepper sauce and topped with a hardboiled egg slice and an olive. I thought this was excellent

The Tallarin Saltado was a stir fried beef noodle dish that resembled and tasted kind a like lo mein but also had tomatoes. 

The Lomo Saltado was stirfried beef with onions and french fries.

Also included on the plate was some sort of green sauce that was spicy but very tasty and went well with everything.

The food here was great and I couldn’t tell if the Aji de Gallina or the Papa Rellena was my favorite but my whole meal was excellent. 

This was a fun and tasty adventure. I’m really glad I was able to try out Peruvian food and can’t wait for more!