Salt!

Phew! We finally finished travelling through northern Nevada! The routes we took, Rt. 140 and I-80, meant hours of driving through arid, colorless land. The towns along the way were not much; in fact one, Battle Mountain, has the dubious distinction of being named the “Armpit of America” by the Washington Post. Thankfully, the cell towers were abundant, and I could entertain myself with my phone.

Thursday night we camped at a KOA in West Wendover, Nevada, which, because of its casinos, is prosperous. There’s not much besides the casinos, though, and we walked to one to have dinner. I did resist the urge to gamble, mainly because the slot machines were nothing like I remember. You couldn’t just drop a quarter in and pull the lever...there were tokens to buy and tickets to cash in. At least our dinner was good. We walked around town for awhile, as it was lit up by many neon signs.

The next day we entered Utah and were amazed by the Bonneville Salt Flats. The flats stretch over 30,000 acres, and we stopped to admire them at the site of the Bonneville Speedway. For miles and miles, all you see is white crusty salt that resembles snowpack. Bill and I walked on the flats for awhile and saw a family in their Dodge Caravan have fun speeding around on them (Bill said we would be doing the same if we were in the Audi). As many of you know, I love salt, so I couldn’t resist tasting! Our drive continued through the salt flats for many miles, and we even passed a Morton’s Salt Factory!

We are spending the weekend on Antelope Island, which is in the Great Salt Lake. There’s a state park here with trails to hike and wildlife to see. We’ve already seen bison, antelope and coyotes. As I type this I am looking out onto the lake from our campsite. The land is still desert-like here, so it’s very different from the mountain lakes we have visited. The Great Salt Lake is five times saltier than the ocean, and yes, I’ve already tasted it too:)

By the way, on our walk out to the lake last night I found a twenty dollar bill! Take that Nevada and your gambling ways!