September 24, 2008
Drove from Lake Point, UT to Winnemucca, NV
We left Lake Point around 10:30 a.m. and headed down I-80. It wasn't long before we realized there wouldn't be many pictures taken today. It was hazy and the landscape was BROWN.......
We went for miles and miles and saw nothing except totally flat land with mountain ranges in the far distance. It was so hazy that we couldn't even get a good view of the mountains. According to the Atlas, the goverment has a testing site in this area and it's off limits to civilians except for the road through the land. It's a good place for a testing site because NOTHING could live there. We went for miles and miles and saw nothing, not even a bush or blade of grass.
Flat Hazy Utah landscape on our drive to Winnemucca, NV
Finally, some hills instead of all flat.
We finally started seeing a whitish substance instead of the brown and Merrell thought it might be sand and we wondered if it could possibly be salt. The further we drove, the whiter it got. We stopped at a rest area to see if we could find out what it was and the adventurer in Merrell decided to taste it!!! Well, it was salt!!! Coarse, white salt. It was packed just like sand on a beWe saw some people out on the "salt beach" and it looked like they were having some kind of foot race. After we left, we drove a little ways and saw lots of cars and trucks on the "salt beach" and it looked like they were having a race. I read in some of our papers that the Great Salt Flats was where the record for land speed was set. It was because there is such a large expanse of hard surface suitable for driving and trust me, there is NOTHING to get in your way!! :>)
The brownish white salt flats in Utah on our way to Nevada.
Chuck and Carolee on the "salt beach" in the Bonneville Utah area.
Donna and Carolee on the salt beach in Utah. The salt was so white and the sun so bright that we couldn't hold our eyes open.
Donna and Merrell on the salt beach in Utah
Donna and Merrell on the salt beach.
Cars and trucks on the salt beach near the Bonneville Speedway.
Salt processing plant in Utah on the Great Salt Flats.
Finally some green!!! Of course, it has irrigation pipes to it, but it sure was nice to see some green after hundreds of miles of brown.
Brown again, but at least there is a little color in the sage brush.
After we got past all of the flat areas, we went up some pretty high hills. I think the highest elevation was 6,000+ feet. It was still a nice change after all the flat we had driven through. And, we got to see some water!!! I took this from the top of the mountain looking down on the road we would be on driving down the mountain.
We finally got back to civilization and BARNS and old buildings. Yeah!!
It's the older barns that I love the most. The more they are falling down, the better I like them. Strange, aren't I??? :>)
We finally made it to Winnemucca and are staying at the Winnamucca RV Park. Carolee's friend Marge and her husband Bill Workman came out for a little while to visit. Carolee and Marge are going out to lunch tomorrow.
Our Motor home has been turned into a spa mobile!!! I tried to convince Merrell that if Chuck could do a foot massage, he could. But, no luck...................
Carolee, Chuck and Marge Workman.
Well, I guess that's enough pictures for now!!! Merrell and Chuck are going to put a part on the motor home engine tomorrow and I guess we will pull out of here on Friday heading to California.
Take care,
Love, US
