In 1955 my Grandma McElligott took me to Salt Lake City on the train to visit Aunt Gerry who was about to have a new baby. G’ma had a widow’s pass with Missouri Pacific that paid for our tickets. I remember riding in the observation car (a car with a raised, transparent bubble with several seats) while we went through Royal Gorge in Colorado. The train tracks ran along the bottom of a deep gorge with an auto bridge high overhead. What a beautiful sight!
When we made it to Salt Lake City the Fritz family lived out on the edge of the city (at the time). We used to go out and run around the countryside. There was a place we often went which we called “Purple Rock”, a short distance away through open country. When Carmen and I visited fifteen years later it was in the heart of the suburbs, with an interstate running between it and the mountains.
One thing I remember about the visit is Uncle Bill giving me a bloody rare steak which he grilled on the carport, we (my “double cousins” and I) had a wonderful time together and it was the one time I spent a lot of time with Grandma. We had almost two weeks together. I treasure that.