Skiergirl: Winnemucca to Garden City

I got on the road again by about 9:30 this morning. I had no other plans for the day than making as much distance as possible. I drove through the high desert in Nevada, and finally made the Utah border. I looked at the map slightly before I hit the border and noticed that the highway went straight through the Bonneville Salt Flats. It was around lunch time so I stopped at the gas station/restaurant that was right there. I had an absolutely amazing meal of tacos, enchiladas and something else, with rice and beans. I had enough to have for dinner again that evening and it only cost $5! There's no way they can make money charging that much! It was delicious.

I asked the guy at the gas station for directions to a good view point for the salt flats. It was only 3 miles away so I decided to take a little detour. I took the road out into the salt flats, and then it just ended in a bit of a cul de sac. There was a cop car, a guy in with a jeep, and some trucks washing vehicles. The guy with the jeep looked like he had something to say so I rolled down the window. He informed me that the flats were closed today, but I could get out and walk around to take pictures. This had been all I had intended to do, so I asked him what else there was. Apparently you can normally take your car out there and let 'er rip! When I bought my tires they told me they were rated up to 130 mph, at the time I thought that was crazy talk, but now I was in a spot where that could have been a reality! That would have been fun.

I got out and took some pictures. It really was beautiful, and absolutely huge. I couldn't believe how far it stretched. In the distance the flats looked like water, and the mountains in the middle looked like they were floating islands... hence one of them being named Floating Island. A couple of women came along and were talking to the guy so I asked why the flats were closed. Turns out they were shooting Pirates of the Caribbean there, Johnny Depp had been there the day before. Now that's something I'd like to have seen. He's hot!

From there I drove to Great Salt Lake, which was just that. I stopped at the marina and took some pictures, but got back on the road again pretty quickly. I drove through Salt Lake city, almost saw a major accident on the highway, they only missed by inches. I passed by the exit for Park City and all the ski hills outside of Salt Lake City and was longing for it to be winter so I could ski. Someday.

I had grand plans to make it to Jackson, Wyoming but that wasn't looking feasible. Wolf had told me about a spot called Bear Lake that was on the way to where I was going so I decided to head there. It was very good advice, it's a beautiful lake in the mountains. The local Raspberry Festival is happening right now though, so I had a really rough time finding a place to camp. I almost paid $35 for an RV site but held out and found a sweet spot for only $10. Tomorrow will be Grand Tetons and Yellowstone, hopefully making it well into Montana for the night. Sunday I should be home!!!