We spent most of the day again in the car. This is not our favorite thing to do. We drove about 350 miles through desert mountains and flat desert. An interesting thing was meeting a couple from Quebec City. I saw their surname was Gagne, which is the last name of an NHL player. I asked the woman if it is a common name and she said no but that her husband was not a relative of Simon Gagne who plays for the LA Kings. About 3 hours later, at a rest stop, we saw them again. The woman said that they are on a 4 month trip. What are the odds of seeing them a second time. We stopped to eat and again at a used bookstore before seeing them again.
This is looking at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. We were in a valley but the elevation where we were was 4,218'. The "road" on the flats is 80' wide by 10 miles in length. The "measured mile" where they time cars is somewhere within that 10 miles. There is a black line down the center so the drivers can stay on the road. Going 600 mph it would be hard to stay on a white road surrounded by white salt. The first speed record was set there in 1935 at 301.13 mph. The latest was 622.407 mph in 1970.
For many miles you can look in all directions and all you see are the salt flats. How barren!
West of Salt Lake City for 47 miles, I-80 goes perfectly straight without a hill and only a very occasional overpass. There were many signs warning of drowsy drivers having accidents and to pull off. The speed limit from just east of Reno, NV to just west of Salt Lake City is 75 mph. There isn't much traffic and it is mostly straight.
This is just west of Salt Lake City. This dried lake has a dry top but is wet and soft underneath. Many wagons started out on the then sunk into it and had much difficulty getting their wagons and oxen out of the "mud."
This is a picture of a desert mountain taken from our motel parking lot in Winnemucca, NV. These are the type mountains that we saw most of the day.
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