Made it to Salt Lake City

We were on the road by 7:30, and the landscape had not changed….but the skyscape was looking good.  And yes, it is a word….click on it and see…

   

Yep, the sky was our canvas this morning, that is for sure.  (It surely wasn’t the green grass!)  But from my friend Joe in Pine Bluff is this quote pertaining to yesterdays transition from California to Nevada, “This post defines transition — from towering green to widely scattered, scraggly bushes. The lesson is, without contrast, life would be a terrible bore.”

One thing I remember in going through Nevada as a kid were the letters up on the mountains near the town……”L” for Lovelock, “W” for Winnemucca, and yes, “BM” for Battle Mountain.  Even as a kid we wondered who would want to live in a town with “BM” all over their mountain.  As an adult, one still wonders such things…..

     

Well, there were a few neat rock formations, and we even ran into a few trees after we passed Elko and climbed up and back down a thousand feet or so.

And now and then we would see snow capped ranges, which brought a lot of character to the mountains.

And as we got close to Utah, Marcia found a mountain that she really liked.  I told her that she needed to enjoy Nevada….because very soon, we would be in…

…Salt Country.  Yes, the Bonneville Salt Flats of Utah, where land speed records have been set and reset.  Craig Breedlove broke the 400, 500, and 600 mph speed limits about 7 miles out from this point. Gary Gabelich broke Breedlove’s 600.601 mph record set in 1965 by going 630.388 mph in 1970.   Later land speed records surpassed this, but they were made in Black Rock Desert in Nevada.

The salt flats go on and on for many miles in all directions, and I don’t know what it is about them, but it seems to make people do stupid things…..

….and it makes artist make silly things.  Metaphor: The Tree of Utah, an 87-foot sculpture created by the Swedish artist Karl Momen, who was moved to create the tree after having a vision of a tree while driving across the desolate Bonneville Salt Flats.  It has been a laughing stalk, I mean landmark of the flats since the 1980’s.

And as you get closer to the Great Salt Lake, you sometimes get mirror perfect pictures from the small ponds to the south of the Interstate.

We did hook up with Stephanie tonight, taking her out to dinner to the DoDo Restaurant near our hotel.  Did not get any pictures today, but will get some tomorrow.