Where The West Begins

I suppose All of us cousins have memories of Wendover. Of course I remember Jack rabbit hunting with David & Uncle Chet and trying to sit as close as I could to the air conditioner as I could in Uncle Chet's truck while David & Adam teased me. But mostly I remember lots of different sounds.The sounds of the big rigs as their jake brakes gave way as they barreled into town. The sound of the beads in Grandma Anna's room at the old hotel where she lived. The sound of the mother cycles at uncle Jim's and the endless array of fast cars that sournded us on the salt flats. The sound of the excitement in the patrons voices when they hit a jackpot and the endless noise of coins in the slot machine trays as we were drug through the casino with an aunt or mother tightly grabbing your hand as you were drug through the casino trying to figure out what was going on. I was also fascinated by the sound of the air compressors and the bell that would ring as cars drove over that little black hose at the service station. We always wanted to see what car was on the next racing trailer or if somebody had a new Ford mustang or some other fast and shinny car. The sound we all looked forward to of course was the splash into a pool or the noise of the trampoline springs followed by the laughter and pure screams of joy of cousins reunited nothing of course beat those sounds.

Wendover was never short on delivering adventure. Sometimes it would be exploring spooky caves in the mountains where we would look for baby rattle snakes (remember this was the era of no helmets or seat belts we were sooo stupid) or a visit down to the old air base where we would peek into a window hoping to catch Ball lightning in one of his experiments again. Or riding flat out on the back of Adam's YZ 80 down a dirt road that later would become Interstate 80. Of course there were the endless snype hunts the older kids sent us on or looking for salt Bears so much so that by the time the told my of this mythical horny toad creature I had all but given up believing there was anything that lived in Wendover other than Jack Rabbits.

Believe it or not one of my most favorite memories in Wendover was the train Grandma had in the laundry room basement and we were entertained for hours while she would do laundry down there In hindsight it may have only been minutes but when you were able to ride it your self it was true heaven. There are so many more memories of the Smith Family but I will keep this one as an early child hood memory of Wendover finishing with a bang. Who of you remembers 4th of July on the salt flats and the fire crackers they would bury in the salt. I remember running trying to doge flying salt and the load bang and not being able to wait until my cousins would share some of those coveted fire works they were able to obtain!

By

WF Barnwell