What do Amelia Earhart, Salma Hayek and the notorious Orrin Porter Rockwell have in common?
They all crossed paths, geographically, in Eureka, Utah. Three souls from different eras converged on a small mining town in the Utah dessert. More on that later.
I have a little fun sometimes with math and life. I KNOW! Math! Don’t run, it’s fun!
Most things in life can be described in a math equation, no joke. Try this one:
boredom + free time + an insatiable desire to explore + a full tank of gas = a trip to Eureka, Utah
See?! Now you try, leave me a comment and share what you came up with, I wanna see some math skills!
Last Summer, I was trying to find stuff for me and my darling daughter to do when a co-worker suggested visiting ghost towns. Really? It actually sounded like fun so the very next day we hopped into our road trippin machine (a little red Chevy Sonic, aka the ‘Tinamobile’), and headed south of Salt Lake City. It was a little over an hour from our house, so close, who knew? The town is Eureka, a small living ghost town on Route 6. Technically not a ghost town but it does have a ghost street.
Fun facts about Eureka, Utah
This town was a mining town that was rich in natural resources, tin, gold, silver, ‘everything but uranium’. I don’t think there are any active mines now but the relics were left behind and a town seem to grow around it.
Famous happenings
Amelia Earhart had to make an emergency landing in Eureka in 1928 and had to wait for weeks for a part from Salt Lake City to be delivered.
Salma Hayek and Peter Fonda made a movie here called The Maldonado Miracle which was released in 2003.
Orrin Porter Rockwell had a cabin here which has been restored and is situated across from the ghost street. A close friend of Joseph Smith, Orrin is also known as the ‘Destroying Angel of Mormondom’. He has over 100 deaths attributed to him and was quoted as saying, ‘I never killed anyone who didn’t need killing’.
So when the summer seems to drag on with nothing to do, search for ghost towns on the internet and see if there are any near you. If you do, leave me a comment, I might want to visit too!
Now onto the pictures. We were having fun trying to figure out how to use a DSLR snapping up Pulitzer quality photos for you to enjoy. Definitely bring a camera and maybe some bolt cutters, ghost towns are very picture worthy.
More Travel Stories
Girls Trip To Venice, Italy
Girls Trip To Florence, Italy
Girls Trip To Dallas, Waco and Austin, Texas
