We went to an "authentic Mexican" diner for some delicious mexican food before leaving California. (Yes, my bouquet is gone.) We stayed in a very unique Hampton Inn that was decorated and set up to fit in with the western lodge motif of the area. It was fantastic, except that apparently the room spray they used got to Georgia's breathing and we had to leave very early this morning. That in turn was a blessing because our goal was to make it to here 
in Salt Lake City because we couldn't find a Hampton Inn between Truckee and here; and mapquest said it was a 7.5 hour drive. (It was more like 9 and we didn't dilly dally.) As we left California, we descended through the clouds into something called the "great basin" I had heard about it, but knew very little. The biggest thing I got from it was that now I understand why gambling is legal in Nevada... On the road we took there wasn't much else to do and after the first 100 miles of the great basin, it was pretty much the same. It included the "40 mile desert" where many pioneers starved to death trying to 
reach the "promised land". We did see some neet stuff amidst the sagebrush and tumbleweed, including this tunnel, the hot springs that spewed little steam puffs along the road. I think this was close to what I was supposed to see when watching for whales spouting. These, I could see. Another cool thing was that although we were in the middle of a desert, there were snow-capped mountains all around us. That had to be frustrating to the early travelers. A plaque said they mostly traveled at nite because it was so hot (must not have been during April.).. Anyway, it must have been frustrating 
for them to endure that heat and see the snow all around them. As you can see, however distance is really decieving in this expanse. Here are a couple attempts to capture the mere size of this basin, which seemed to go on for miles and miles and miles. First there is the shot across the basin to the mountains beside us. Then there is another one of my "patented" mirror 
shots where you an see how far the flattness goes in front of us while seeing what is behind us in the rear view mirror. I'm sure this would be more effective if I weren't driving at the time, but with all of this nothing, what else can a guy do? I can't whistle!There were some interesting rock formations as we got nearer to Utah. We also saw a couple of groups of Antelope. There was one place where there were scrubby cedar trees and bushes. Although we saw horses and cows grazing the sparce vegetation along the
route, among the cedars Georgia saw a couple of horses that seemed out of place, with no "homestead" around. Later we read about a pioneer party that suffered severe hardship in the "cedar mountains".. aptly named... and now the wild horses roam the cedar mountains. So surely those were wild horses. I remember from my Animal Science days that in the midwest, farmers managed their herds by limiting the number of cows that were set 
to graze an acre of ground and that in parts of the west, ranchers used similar formulas, but it was "acres per cow" rather than cows per acre. This area had to be such an area.Probably the most interesting thing about Nevada was their rest stops. First, there were few. I made a composite picture of several of them, ranging from a glorified portapotty to something similar to that seen in other states. Needless to say, (sorry Greg... if it was needless to say, then why say it, right???) anyway (to use one of
my worn out phrases) we didn't have to wait in line. The shocking thing was that they were all very clean, and the brick one was one of the nicest and cleanest ones we have ever seen, and believe me, we have seen a few. When you're my age, you never trust a fart and you never miss a chance to pee. Well, with all of this driving, we have seen rest stops in 10 states since the last week in January and I'm good for about 2 hours. nuf sed.
So that was Nevada. The cheapest gas so far on the trip. Georgia got a little sleep time because with a simple straight road from Reno to Salt Lake (not really, but close) she didn't have to "help" me drive so much. Gambling casinos in the middle of nowhere. But just like Reno which surely draws from California, on the other side was Wendover which draws from Salt Lake City, 120 miles 
away. We saw one of the busses from Wendover near Salt Lake City. Leaving Nevada and entering Utah on I-80 is really a dramatic experience. Check out this picture where you see the gap in the mountains for the road to go through. When you go over that rise, you see the Bonneville salt flats. I mean flats. I'll never complain about the flat prairie of Illinois again. The funny thing (to me) was that when we came across here in the opposite direction 
19 years ago, I don't remember Nevada being so "nothing" and in my mind, we came around the end of the Great Salt Lake and right into the salt flats. I remember driving the Chevy out on the flats. However a couple of reality checks came my way on this trip. First was the fact that the mountains you see in the distance on the picture looking down the road are as best I can tell, about 100 miles away. If I am mistaken, I know they are at least 50 miles away. When there is nothing between and the mountains, you can 
virtually see forever (taking into account the curvature of the earth.) Again, those pioneers surely thought they were seeing a mirage when they could never reach the other side. Along this line, it's worthwhile looking at a map of this area to see what a really straight road looks like. It looks like someone used a ruler to draw it. Speaking of the mountains, I couldn't resist "treating" you to one of my "artsy" shots (again, while driving somewhere between 75 and 80.) Notice that through the water, the obligatory fence along the interstate is held with wooden posts rather than metal. 
My guess is that the brackish water would rust the metal posts quickly. That reminds me; the rest stops in Nevada, had cattle guards. We found this confusing because the cattle, although apparently free-ranging outside the bounds of the interstate, were fenced out of the highway zone. Anyway.. (again) there were cattle guards at nearly all of the Nevada rest stops. (If you don't know what a cattle guard is; look it up; http://www.barnworld.com/sa/c/Cattle_Guards_3434.htm
away. We saw one of the busses from Wendover near Salt Lake City. Leaving Nevada and entering Utah on I-80 is really a dramatic experience. Check out this picture where you see the gap in the mountains for the road to go through. When you go over that rise, you see the Bonneville salt flats. I mean flats. I'll never complain about the flat prairie of Illinois again. The funny thing (to me) was that when we came across here in the opposite direction 
19 years ago, I don't remember Nevada being so "nothing" and in my mind, we came around the end of the Great Salt Lake and right into the salt flats. I remember driving the Chevy out on the flats. However a couple of reality checks came my way on this trip. First was the fact that the mountains you see in the distance on the picture looking down the road are as best I can tell, about 100 miles away. If I am mistaken, I know they are at least 50 miles away. When there is nothing between and the mountains, you can 
virtually see forever (taking into account the curvature of the earth.) Again, those pioneers surely thought they were seeing a mirage when they could never reach the other side. Along this line, it's worthwhile looking at a map of this area to see what a really straight road looks like. It looks like someone used a ruler to draw it. Speaking of the mountains, I couldn't resist "treating" you to one of my "artsy" shots (again, while driving somewhere between 75 and 80.) Notice that through the water, the obligatory fence along the interstate is held with wooden posts rather than metal. 
My guess is that the brackish water would rust the metal posts quickly. That reminds me; the rest stops in Nevada, had cattle guards. We found this confusing because the cattle, although apparently free-ranging outside the bounds of the interstate, were fenced out of the highway zone. Anyway.. (again) there were cattle guards at nearly all of the Nevada rest stops. (If you don't know what a cattle guard is; look it up; http://www.barnworld.com/sa/c/Cattle_Guards_3434.htm
The other reality check for me was that there was "stuff" between the salt flats and the salt lake. It's worth a look at a map of the area, using the satellite view to see the huge salt flats, then rough terrain, then the lake. Here is a sample of the stuff between them. We found the Salt Lake City Airport Hampton Inn because it was the most western one and we didn't want to driver further than we had to. This is probably the most elegant Hampton Inn I have ever seen. I used to say that you were never surprised at a Hampton Inn. Well, these last 2 were surprises, in the positive sense. (except for the room spray at Truckee.) Tomorrow, we hope to get to Laramie. It's supposed to be only a little over 5 hours. The stretch between Salt Lake and Laramie will be a repeat of our trip out.. Hope we don't get bored with this repeat. PS; if my use of the "F" word offends you, feel free to let me know. I wouldn't want to lead the grandkids astray against their parent's wishes.
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