Ramble Around

Charley Crockett Live At Red Rocks – Morrison, Colorado

Written by Kyle

We have been listening to Charley Crockett (and if you haven’t heard the man, you better check it out!) for a few years, his are some of the favorite records on rotation in our house. We saw him live the first time a few years ago at a small 500 person venue here in Colorado. I feel we were lucky to see him when he was still playing small venues; The last time we saw him was in a 5000 person venue, and generally speaking I’m not a fan of venues that size, you tend to lose the feel and energy of a packed small house.

When we heard he would be playing at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, Colorado this June, we jumped at the chance to buy tickets! We decided to plan a little trip and head out to the show, then swing through Rocky Mountain National Park on our way home. The plan was for this to be a motorcycle trip, but weather can be pretty unpredictable here this time of year, especially in the mountains.

The day we planned to leave the whole front range was getting hit with thunderstorms, so we decided to jump instead. That was a good decision, after a very eventful drive with torrential downpours and flash flood warnings, we arrived in Morrison and met up with a couple friends from out in our area. We all drove up to the venue together and began the hike up to our seats. If you’ve never been before, it literally is a hike just from the parking lot to the entrance, and then about 1 billion stairs to the seating areas. It’s an amazing venue though, the wide stepped seating nestled into the red rocks, and a beautiful view of the plains surrounding Colorado Springs and Denver.

We grabbed our seats and enjoyed the opening band Rattlesnake Milk, we have heard them plenty on Spotify, and they were fantastic live. The second band Chaparelle came on but immediately had to stop due to lightning! We waited patiently and watched the storm rolling through with lightning, thunder, and rain in the distance. We were definitely worried the show would be canceled, but after a small break, the second band came back on and finished their set.

Now came the moment we had been waiting for, Charlie Crockett and his band, the Blue Drifters hit the stage. His stage presence, set design, and lighting were better than ever. The lightning over the stage in the background added even more effect to the show. He played a mix of hits from his many albums, as well as a bunch of tracks from his newest release Lonesome Drifter, and a couple from his upcoming album.

I only took a few pictures and videos because I was too busy enjoying the performance and venue. He’s absolutely one of our favorites artists to see live, and the venue made the performance that much more memorable. Thanks Red Rocks, and see you down the road Charley!

Wild Bill (Ain’t Here) Mountain Man Rendezvous 2025 – Creede, Colorado

Written by Kyle

Summer has come around again which means mountain man rendezvous are happening! Last year I was able to attend my first rendezvous when the Rocky Mountain National Rendezvous was held here in Creede, Colorado. This year the nationals are being held in Lonetree, Wyoming, however the Wild Bill Rendezvous was held right down the road from our cabin here in Creede, CO this June. This year Wild Bill didn’t make it….hence the (A’int Here) in the name this year! Jay and Ramona Weber from Wild Beaver Mountain Man Emporium did all the heavy making this Rendezvous happen, so if you are in Creede make sure to visit their store!

I spent the winter working on some new clothing, which would be correct to the fur trapper era, as well as building a black powder muzzle loader rifle as well. I also pulled Bee into this project, utilizing her sewing skills to help with some things like making an appropriate shirt and helping pattern my vest. She also made a new shirt and dress of her own so she could join me at this years event.

The nice thing about this rendezvous being so close to home is I was able to pop in and out through the week and still work my day job. I went in the first day of the weeklong rendezvous to get the lay of the land, said hello to everybody, and checked out the short-term camping situation. I acquired a canvas wedge tent, but I had not yet waterproofed it…and of course, every afternoon that week it rained!

Later in the week I was able to test my newly built rifle out. It changes the experience shooting in costume and loading from my possibles bag, and because that day there weren’t too many people at the range I was able to really test the limits of my rifle, backing up further and further until I was 100 yards from the target. I was pretty impressed at the accuracy for a black powder rifle with iron sights.

During the week I managed to get my tent waterproofed (or waterproof enough any way), and decided Friday morning I would go in and set up camp. I arrived and the weather that day was beautiful, I set up my camp using period correct items as much as possible, and spent time hanging out with the rest of the attendees. Bee joined me in the evening so I could cook her a steak dinner over the open fire!

That evening I attended the auction, the proceeds from the donated items helped to pay for the event. That evening, we all gathered in the main tent to listen to the band play some music, listen to Woodman tell some trapper tall tales, and there may or may not have been some mason jars passed around.

The next morning, I was woken up at 6:15 AM by the sound of a cannon! This was new to me, I’d heard the cannon before, but I had no idea there was a wake up call: I think if I had known I may have gone to bed a bit earlier! I spent the morning chatting with a couple people and cooking breakfast over the fire. At 9 AM there was a flag ceremony signaling the end of the rendezvous so I said my goodbyes, packed up camp and headed back home.

This was definitely a lot of fun, and not just a normal camp out. The fact everybody is dressed in a certain era of clothing and using equipment from those eras definitely made it feel completely different from any camp I’ve ever done. It’s really interesting talking to some of these people who have been doing this for decades, listening to their stories and journeys in this world, and discussing all the clothing and accoutrement they have made themselves. Goodbye camp until the next rendezvous!

East Coast Timing Association Land Speed Racing 2025

Written by Kyle

After attending World of Speed last September at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Wendover, Utah to help my brother out, I decided to pull my bike out of retirement. My brother Tyler and bike whiz Tim Fiorucci had a large part to do with getting me back on the horse.

I spent a couple of months last fall working on the bike at home in Creede, CO, going over everything, upgrading the brake system, and making sure the bike was in running condition before hauling it back to the motorcycle shop in Ohio. My brother and Tim offered to handle swapping out the front wheel, as well as replacing tires, and installing some new Mikuni 34 mm carburetors. They also took it to a dyno, which allows you to run a motorcycle in a controlled environment, to tune the motor and make sure it was running well before racing. They were able to get the motorcycle tuned and running well ahead of the spring ECTA land speed racing event which is held in Blytheville, Arkansas on an old airstrip. I met my brother, my dad, Tim, and a bunch of our friends in Arkansas to test the motorcycle under real world conditions. My brother also brought his dual engine Triumph out to do the same, all in preparation for Bonneville 2025.

Waiting for technical inspection to clear my 1967 Triumph motorcycle for racing

We arrived at the track on Thursday and went through registration and inspection. During inspection they go over the bike to make sure it meets all the rules and regulations and to be sure you are placed into the proper class. This year they added a new classic class so I was running on open records, which means any speed sets a record in that class. I went in, hoping to be able to run about 130, which puts it on par with past racing and gives us a good baseline. Most importantly, this event gave me a chance to get back on the bike after five years of not racing. Purpose built race bikes are very different from a street bike, you are pushing the limits of these vintage motors and testing all the fabrication and engineering you have done. They’re a very different riding position as well, they are extremely low to the ground so you need to get a position laying down on the bike with your feet back behind you. The idea is just creating a smallest hole in the air, trying to maximize aerodynamics, which is especially important with a larger rider, such as myself! We made it through inspection with no issues and spent time preparing and readying the motorcycle for racing on Friday.

Friday I woke up, excited and nervous, but with a heavy rain coming down. We decided to hold off on heading to the track since there would be no racing until things were dry out. We headed back after lunch, the rain had stopped and they were actively working on drying the course off so we would be able to run later that afternoon. Once they started racing we got into line to wait our turn to run! By the time I was able to run it was the end of the day, but I was able to run the full 2 km race course. The bike faltered in second gear, but eventually did pull through, and I was still able to complete a run and shake off the cobwebs. We headed back to the pits and started looking over the bikes to reset everything, check oil levels, fuel up, etc. and I discovered one of the slides in the carburetors was out of adjustment, possibly from transport, so we planned on synchronizing the carburetors again first thing in the morning.

Saturday morning was supposed to be be clear, but again we woke up to rain. Luckily this time it was much shorter lived! Around 10 in the morning, we pulled the bikes out of the trailer and synchronized my carburetors, which made an instant difference in how it ran. We did discover my tachometer, the only instrument on the motorcycle, died. These are electronic gauges and mine is a bit older, and unfortunately it chose that day to die. I knew this would be a challenge. This is the instrument I rely on, because of data from dyno sessions I know at what RPM the power is being generated and where I should be shifting, but without it I had to do everything completely by feel and sound. It is a challenge on such a fast short race track, there are so many things going on quickly. We headed back to the starting line; “Hurry up and wait” as we say in racing. I was able to do my second run of the event, and this time the bike ran absolutely amazing. I wound it out high in every year and was able to put up much higher speeds than the previous day, raising the records I already sent the previous day. Looking at the timing slips I did notice I had lost some speed between the 1 mile and 2 km mark, I tried to determine whether this was the motorcycle or my fault. After after reviewing the video my brother was able to take near the end of the race track we were able to determine that I let off on the throttle before heading through the 2K park. Again, it’s amazing how quickly things happen, I would’ve sworn I did not let up, but subconsciously I must’ve seen the flags and let off the throttle.

I headed back to the pit and reset the bike again for another run and had lunch with the crew. It is always great to hang out with our friends at a race! We headed back to line to do another run and worked our way up in line. This time I felt much more ready to go and comfortable on the bike, and I had a fantastic start. It is difficult to do identical runs, you have to guarantee every shift is clean, you get into position fast, and you need to run the bike into the power band in each gear….and terribly hard to do without gauges! When I got the timing slip, I found that I had unfortunately gone a little bit slower. I had more of a cross wind this run, which can affect things, but most likely I just did not shift quite as well as I did on the second run. After going over the bike, I made the decision to run further this weekend. Without being able to do consistent runs it’s extremely difficult to achieve faster speed, or sort out tuning issues.

My brother on his dual engine motorcycle

I’m still thrilled with the weekend, it felt great to get back on the bike and the changes we made all seem to be positive. My bike went back to our shop in Ohio, where it will receive some more work on the exhaust system and tuning in the search of more horsepower. It will also receive a brand new tachometer so I don’t have the same issues with that, as well as a few other small tweaks. The goal is to get everything back and ready to go to Bonneville in September for the World Finals! In 2011 I set the class record for A-PG 650 at 116.541 mph, and it was taken from me a couple years later and set to 130.51. Last time I ran at Bonneville in 2020, I was only 1/2 mph off the record, I’m hoping to be able to go back and take my record back. To be continued!

Current ECTA Records set by Kyle Malinky
Class A/PC-65-/4
1/2 Mile: 118.172 MPH
1 Mile: 126.086 MPH
2K: 124.550 MPH

Roadside Attractions – UFO Watchtower – Hooper, Colorado

Written by Kyle

In the middle of the San Luis Valley near Hooper, Colorado is an interesting Roadside attraction – the UFO Watchtower. About 25 years ago Judy Messoline decided to build, as far as she was aware, the only UFO watchtower. In picking the location, the San Luis Valley is perfect for this, with extremely low light pollution and surrounded by the beautiful Sangre de Cristo mountains, the watchtower gives you amazing views of the night sky.

We rode our bikes out, and during the off-season we were the only people there. We were able to walk around the site, go up on the watchtower, and view the “Garden”. In the early 2000s Judy began construction of a garden, the corners of which were marked out by psychics surrounding two vortices. Over the years, the garden grew with people bringing more items and art (Beulah left one of her own!). Now it’s a pretty large installation, even if you’re not planning on trying to meditate or absorb the energy, it is fun to walk through!

Check it out if you’re heading through the San Luis Valley. There’s also seasonal camping, maybe you could be lucky enough to spot a UFO on your visit!

2 Weeks on 2 Wheels – Part 3

Written by Kyle

As Beulah mentioned in the last part we got pinned down for a couple days in Missoula. It was A big change of plans as originally we had planned on heading up to Glacier National Park and doing the ride to the sun road. I was very much looking forward to this as I’ve never been, but when it starts snowing and you’re on a motorcycle… That is not the type of road you want to ride! It wasn’t a total loss, we got to spend a couple days exploring Missoula, eating good food, and resting up, as well as seeing her kids longer.

Day 9

The weather mostly cleared up so we started heading our way south east towards Yellowstone National Park. We enjoyed riding through the beautiful countryside and took our time getting to Mammoth, Wyoming. We passed through the Roosevelt Arch in Gardiner, Montana, and crossed the border of Wyoming and headed right to the Mammoth Hot Springs.

I’ve been to the Mammoth Hot Springs before, and I can say that every time I’ve been there it’s different. Several of the springs were fairly dry this year, but others were more active than in past years. We took our time walking the entire area and enjoying all of the surreal sites!

After this, we backtracked to Gardiner, Montana where we were staying for the night. Considering this was full tour season the town was not overly packed and we were able to enjoy a great meal at The Yellowstone Mine restaurant.

Day 10

We started out on our bikes early in the morning and dropped back into Wyoming and into Yellowstone National Park. We beat the morning crowds and bypassed Mammoth Hot Springs since we’d already seen them the day before, and enjoyed the beautiful roads and riding through the national park. We made plenty of stops on the way, watched some buffalo roll in the dirt, stopped at waterfalls on the way, ultimately making our way into the thermal areas.

We stopped and hiked around many of the springs and geysers, and of course the Grand Prismatic Spring, spring overlook, one of the most beautiful places in the park in my opinion.

And what trip to Yellowstone is complete without seeing Old Faithful Geyser? The timing couldn’t have been more perfect, we walked up and it erupted minutes later. The photos unfortunately were not so perfect as Bee’s lens was unknowingly dirty! We took the time to go to the Old Faithful Snow Lodge to admire the architecture and grab lunch.

From here we headed to Yellowstone Lake and hung a right, heading south towards the Grand Tetons. This was never part of our original trip so all of these beautiful roads and scenery were just a huge bonus and helped to make up for the fact we had to Skip glacier. I can definitely say that the Grand Teton Mountains are some of the most impressive mountains in the country, riding along the Snake River and the base of these mountains is pretty amazing, especially on a motorcycle with nothing obstructing your view

We made our way southeast towards Dubois, Wyoming. This is a really cool little Western town which I’d always wanted to visit and had never been to before. We stayed at the Stagecoach Inn and walked down Main Street and decided to have dinner at the Lone Buffalo Steakhouse. An absolutely fantastic meal and a couple cocktails closed out the evening.

Day 11

We kicked off the morning with a huge breakfast at the Cowboy Cafe, and started heading south for home. A lot of the area is pretty open prairie, for several hours we skirted some storms and pushed our way through before hitting the Colorado border. Because of the weather, we just pushed hard through the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest and rolled into Leadville, Colorado just ahead of the storms.

We were both pretty exhausted, but went into town and grabbed a good Mexican meal, but didn’t take long to explore the town since it was late and we were both exhausted. We headed back to our hotel, got cleaned up, and called it a night.

Day 12

The next morning we hit the road fairly, it was just above freezing, the rain from the night before frosted over on our motorcycles. Luckily, leaving Leadville at 10,119 feet elevation, we dropped down the valley quickly, heading towards Buena Vista, and down into the San Luis Valley. At this point, we were more less than our backyard and we were excited to knock out the last few hours and get back to our own mountain home in Creede, Colorado!

Overall, this trip was really amazing, about 2500 miles in a little under two weeks, crossing multiple state lines, exploring areas we had seen before (but not together), as well as new areas for both of us. We got to spend time with family, and hit tons of attractions and national parks. We had to dodge a little weather, but overall it was just an amazing trip and a ton of great memories. Just laying this post out and looking through the pictures brings them back and gets me more excited for this summer‘s adventures!

2 Weeks on 2 Wheels – Part 2

Written by Beulah

It’s day 4 and we are in Montana for family visits. My sons Jakob, Ethan, and I haven’t been in the same place together since November of 2022. This part of our trip was more focused on family time than 2 wheeled adventures but we still got to squeeze in some fun on the bikes. Kyle and I saw rain in the forecast for the next leg of our trip and we visited another motorcycle dealership to find more gear before checking in to our airbnb for the weekend. I already have a full set of rain gear and we wanted to find some for Kyle too. We visited Five Valley Honda Yamaha just up the road from my son’s place in Lolo, MT and were able to find a pair of FrogTogg pants to add to Kyle’s all-weather arsenal. The owner was super helpful and also let us take a spare helmet on loan for the weekend so I could ride with my future daughter in law (more on that later), Cynthia, on my bike while we were in town.

When we got back to Ethan’s place I threw Cynthia on the back of my bike for a quick little rip down the highway to our cabin for the weekend. The road was straight, the traffic was minimal, and the weather was warm; it was a good day to be on 2 wheels.

Our first full day together with the family started off gray and chilly so we opted to jump in Cynthia’s truck and be chauffeured around. As we drove towards our first destination the rain started and we were glad we decided to stick with 4 wheels instead of 2 today. We drove an hour and a half in to Idaho where Ethan proposed to Cynthia on a bridge over the Lochsa River. We planned on hiking to Jerry Johnson hot springs from there but it was fully raining at this point. The proposal went ahead as planned but the hike did not, so we opted for a dip in the Lolo Hot Springs before a celebratory dinner at the Lolo Creek Steakhouse.

This steakhouse is no joke. There were at least 50 people lined up before the doors opened at 5pm and not a second sooner. This well-oiled machine had staff lined up to greet each table of guests to get everyone settled as quickly as possible to get the orders up and the steaks cooking. Friendly staff, delicious food and a cozy atmosphere. Zero complaints, 10 out of 10 would recommend (and would recommend getting there early to line up, it’s absolutely worth the wait.)

Day 6 was a day of rest (and food!). We saw that it was going to be snowing at our next destination, Glacier National Park, so we had to scramble to change the details of our trip. We were so disappointed because months earlier we had scored passes for Going To The Sun Road that are only valid for one day and we had to cancel that whole part of our trip. We ended up staying at the C’mon Inn in Missoula for 2 nights to wait out the cold wet weather. We explored the town and a few local spots for sight seeing.

First we visited the Garden of One Thousand Buddhas and took our time walking around and through the whole path on the grounds that are open to the public. Then we drove about 20 minutes more to the Bison Range in Charlo, MT and drove through the short loop of the 18,766 acre preserve and saw buffalo and deer roaming near the roads. We didn’t get too far in, there’s a longer loop that my son drove through after our visit and saw bear, elk, deer, and buffalo and said it was definitely worth the second trip out.

On Day 9 the weather was in our favor and we were able to start the next leg of our trip back towards home. Kyle is going to take over for this part of the journey. I was a little disappointed we had to cancel parts of our trip for weather but it gave me more quality time with my kiddos so I really can’t complain.

2 Weeks on 2 Wheels – Part 1

Written by Beulah

On our first day heading towards Montana, Kyle and I left Creede while it was still in the low 50’s and by the time we made it through the canyon it had warmed up considerably. Our first stop was at the Durango Harley Davidson to pick up some all-weather gloves because being on a bike for 2 weeks leaves you at the mercy of the elements and we wanted to be prepared for the cold and rain we were sure to encounter. After our gear stop we started our trek over the million dollar highway and we were lucky that there was not a ton of traffic over this scenic byway on this particular afternoon.

We got in to Silverton just after the lunch rush from the Durango-Silverton round trip train stop. We were seated right away at the historic Lacey Rose Saloon but had just missed the live entertainment that the earlier guests had enjoyed. After lunch we continued our way towards Ouray with views that I think are best taken in on 2 wheels. Every turn and overlook was so stunning it would have taken me 3 days to make it all the way through if I had stopped to take a photo every time I saw something amazing.

Kyle made the reservation at the Historic Weisbaden Hot Springs in Ouray for us. They have an outdoor pool, a private soaking tub and underground vapor caves all fed by the warm, natural hot springs on the property. After taking a dip in all the pools we walked a few short blocks to dinner at the Outlaw Restaurant then took our time meandering back to our room, checking out quaint town tucked in to the mountainside.

Day 2 was the start of what was going to be a long hot day. We were coming out of the Colorado mountains now and started to hit the desert. We crossed our first state line of the trip and made a quick detour to Dinosaur National Monument in Utah. I had never been but Kyle has and knew where he could take a dip in the river. I was impressed by the dramatic landscape as we rode closer to the river. Afterwards we took the shuttle from the visitors center up to the Quarry Exhibit Hall. The building is built around an area of exposed rock that holds over 1,500 dinosaur bones as well as other exhibits and information on the excavation and the surrounding area.

We decided to go as far as Heber City for the day. We got out of the desert heat and had a lovely scenic ride past Strawberry Reservoir and through a buggy mountain pass in to town. This was just a place to stop and rest for the night and we weren’t expecting anything exciting to happen. While we were checking in we got a recommendation from the front desk to try Don Pedro’s for dinner which was walking distance from our room. We had an excellent dinner and fun funnel cake fries for dessert!

Our third morning started with a surprise view of a hot air balloon over our hotel! We wanted to avoid Salt Lake City and the traffic around it so we chose to take the 89 out of Utah and it criss crossed state lines so our route today was UT-WY-UT-WY-ID-WY-ID-MT. We stopped at Yankee Doodle’s Cafe in Wyoming to check the weather and consider our route. We checked the conditions and there was a flash flood warning further on up the road we were currently on, then we checked the radar but it didn’t look ominous so we decided to try to keep heading northwest to Montana. We were aiming for Lolo to visit my family but still had one more night before we needed to get there. If the weather was bad we were going to stop in Idaho Falls but we were able to keep pushing forward and didn’t hit any bad weather. Stopping in Dillon MT for the night meant that the next day to Lolo was going to be a short ride and we wouldn’t show up exhausted.

A Western Experience At Old Tucson

Written By Kyle

I was familiar with Old Tucson Movie Studios, although I had never visited. Back in the day Old Tucson was an active film ranch with 300 acres of space used for a movie and television productions; over 500 films and shows have been shot there over the years! As a fan of westerns, I was excited to see some of the areas where movies such as El Dorado, Tombstone, Joe Kidd, Rio Bravo, Three Amigos, and many more were filmed.

Unfortunately, there was a large fire in April 1995 and many of the historic western buildings, sets, props, and wardrobe were destroyed. Since then entire new buildings were constructed, and the streets were widened, (unfortunately the movie studio soundstage was not rebuilt). During the pandemic Old Tucson was closed down and sat vacant until they were purchased by American Heritage Railways (Also owners of The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad in Colorado!) and reopened in 2022. Here is a great article about the reopening with tons of historic photos.

The park today features and old W. Main St., including staged gunfights by stunt performers, a small narrow gauge railroad which circles much of the property, and tons of attractions for the kids (We made sure to swing by the petting zoo to pet the goats). There are still exhibits featuring original movie memorabilia and some of the buildings you would have seen in the old westerns, blacksmithing demonstrations, snake oil salesmen, and events for Halloween and Christmas.

It’s an interesting stop, however, I wish I could’ve seen it in its heyday. The studio is currently working with the state of Arizona on tax incentives to try and encourage filming to return, so maybe Old Tucson will be home to some future western classics!

Roadside Attractions – Cadillac Ranch – Amarillo, Texas

Written by Kyle

We are big fans of roadside attractions, so we decided maybe we should do some spotlights on fun and quirky stops along the road. On our way home through the panhandle of Texas we stopped off on I-40 passing through Amarillo to see the Cadillac Ranch.

The installation was created by Chip Lord, Hudson Marquez, and Doug Michels, members of the San Francisco art group Ant Farm and unveiled in 1974. The Cadillacs all range from the years 1949-1963, and are all “planted” in the ground at 60 degree angle. Originally the installation was located on Route 66, but was moved in 1997 and is now located on private land along Interstate 40. Texas Highways has a great article you can check out HERE on the history behind the attraction.

Besides the striking visuals of a row of Caddys planted in a corn field (we visited off season giving it an even more desolate feel under the huge Texas sky) the fun part is looking at the graffiti…. and if you bring your own or buy a can from the trailer at the entrance, adding your own mark to the layers and layers of spray paint. Bee did just that, scrambling up on the roof to leave our names. It is a quick stop, but a fun one!

Wendover Air Force Base – Wendover, Utah

Written by Kyle

Wendover Air Force Base was an interesting afternoon exploration while attending Bonneville World of Speed 2024. Located in the town of Wendover Utah, stradling the Utah and Nevada state lines was a WWII air force base used for training B-17 and B-24 bomber crews. It was also the training site of the 509th Composite Group, the B-29 unit that carried out the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We were able to walk and drive the grounds and visited the Historic Airfield Museum, located in the service club building which containing tons of exhibits on the people who trained there, information on the mission of the base, and even replicas of the Fat Man atomic bomb.

The base was chosen for its location, 100 miles from Salt Lake City, in a mostly uninhabited region, but still serviced by the Western Pacific railroad. After the beginning of WWII it became the Army Air Force’s largest bombing and gunnery range, and the base was also assigned the research and development of guided missiles, pilotless aircraft, and remotely controlled bombs.

During 1943 training began to prepare for the use of atomic bombs. The 509th Composite Group was created on December 17 1944 and practiced dropping non-nuclear prototype atomic weapons until they were ready for deployment overseas. The training of B-29 aircrews and the testing of prototype atom bombs was the last major contribution of Wendover Field during World War II.

After the war’s end the base was continued to be used for various purposes and was officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 1 1975. Today most of the hospital complex and many barracks remain, as does a chow hall, chapel, swimming pool and many other World War II-era buildings. In 2009, a hangar at the base dubbed The Manhattan Project’s Enola Gay Hangar was listed as one of the most endangered historic sites in the United States and a local group, Historic Wendover Airfield, is attempting to preserve the former base. The base has also appeared in many films and shows including Con Air, the Core, Independence Day, Hulk, and Fallout. If you ever find yourself in Wendover it is worth the visit to see one of the most original remaining Army Air Bases.