Better late than never
The problem with trying to do stuff along the way on a 1500 mile road trip on a schedule is that you’re always off it. We were running late pretty much the entire time, because we always wanted to stay a little longer, even though we knew where we had to get by the end of the night. Therefore, we didn’t arrive into Salt Lake City until well after dark. It ended up seeming a little creepy to be outside Temple Square around midnight, with the security folks wizzing the block around in carts. We stopped and took some pictures, but really I think Salt Lake City would be better served by a day trip!
Utah State Capitol Building
Of course, we didn’t really learn our lesson, and after driving north of the city, we spent several hours exploring Antelope Island - a 75 square foot island in the Great Salt Lake before heading across Nevada.
The causeway on to Antelope Island
We had planned on doing a 7 mile hike to see some of the wildlife - the island is home to the country’s largest publicly owned bison herd, but it turned out it was breeding season for biting gnats and a lot of other bugs. So after about 1.5 miles, we turned around.
All the bugs that got smashed on our car as we drove across the causeway!
Checking out the lake was more fun. We didn’t wear our swimsuits because we didn’t think it would be warm enough, but we could have. But even so, it was fun to wade through the water. It smelled just like the ocean, but was nice and calm.
Dan in the Great Salt Lake
After getting a bison burger for lunch, we headed back to I-80. Of course, we had to make another stop before we really got going. The Bonneville Salt Flats are right near the Utah-Nevada border, so we had to swing by.
Bonneville Salt Flats
The Bonneville Salt Flats are a natural feature - over 30,000 acres that are the remnants of ancient Lake Bonneville. Each winter, a shallow layer of standing water floods the surface of the salt flats. During spring and summer, the water slowly evaporates while winds smooth the surface into a vast, nearly perfect flat plain.
Pools of water remain on the salt surface, which is made up of potassium, magnesium lithium and sodium chloride (common table salt).
While the salt flats are famous because they are perfectly flat, and therefore became the grounds of many attempts to set new land speed records, there’s nothing there if you don’t come when speed trials are held at the Bonneville Raceway.
Dan amidst the vast flats of salt (not snow!)
So, after a few minutes exploring, it started to rain a little, and we figured that was Mother Nature’s way of prodding us on. Of course, not before we heard a little girl ask her dad if the rain would turn the salt flats into the ocean. :-) It was these sorts of little things that were always delaying us. But given that we had to drive all the way across Nevada before we got to our next hotel stop, it was time to get another late start on our driving.
Along the road in Nevada
Nevada was full of wide open spaces. One thing that we were struck by was the number and size of the mirages on the road. I guess the big skies make these much more common there than back home.
One of the many, many mirages we saw along I-80 in Nevada - there’s no water on the road - just an optical reflection of the sky above.
Unfortunately, the rest of the drive through Nevada wasn’t particularly remarkable. The best we could do getting a “Welcome to Nevada” picture was making a pitstop at the welcome center.
We arrive in Nevada
We had planned to stop at a cool place that sold savory hand pies for our dinner, but I kind of forgot that we’d be driving through on Memorial Day. That meant that pretty much every interesting place in Elko was closed, and we didn’t want to push our luck, given that the towns were each an hour apart. So in the end, Nevada being Nevada, we ended up eating at a casino.
Fine dining in Elko, NV
We did get a nice sunset, and then some downloaded podcasts carried us through to Reno.
The sun setting in the West
Ultimately, when we showed up at our hotel in Carson City, we must have been the last guests to arrive with a reservation, given the way the lady at the desk greeted us saying “You must be Mr. Bock.” Better late than never.
