We slept in a little bit this morning so we could avoid some of the rush hour traffic. We left the hotel at 8:10 and the temperature was already 70*. Our first mission was to get to the Great Salt Lake for pictures. Even though I knew it was just a big, salty lake, I wanted to see it. We ended up taking a detour because of road construction and man, did we get lost! Things were pretty tense until we found the lake! The Great Salt Lake occupies 2,500 square miles, though was once part of the much larger Lake Bonneville, which 18,000 years ago extended across 20,000 square miles including parts of Idaho and Nevada. The average depth of the lake is now about 10 to 28 feet. The lake is famous for its high salinity (which varies between 10 and 25%), second only to the Dead Sea.
A mining operation just outside Salt Lake City
We finally found the lake!
Great Salt Lake
Great Salt Lake
Great Salt Lake
Between Salt Lake City and Bonneville Salt Flats
The Bonneville Salt Flats is one of the most unique natural features in Utah, stretching over 30,000 acres. A spectacular sight is provided by the great expanse of salt flats, remnants of the former Lake Bonneville, that extended south and west from the lake - this huge desert is almost completely white and level for over a hundred miles in some directions. It looks like a frozen lake bed covered with snow. No vegetation grows in that area. It is said to be possible to see the curvature of the Earth at the horizon.
People wrote their names or initials
with rocks on the sand
I-80 was built on top of the salt flats
Of course, I had to walk out on the salt!
It was real windy here.
Nice rest area at the salt flats
Bonneville Salt Flats
Washing feet after walking on the salt
You could walk out a long way on the salt flats.
We had to be quick to get a picture of this sculpture, Metaphor: The Tree of Utah, sometimes called the Tree of Life. It is an 87-foot tall sculpture located in the desolate Great Salt Lake Desert about 25 miles east of Wendover, Utah.
Metaphor: The Tree of Utah
Near Utah/Nevada border
Entering Nevada - State #9
We just couldn't get enough of the mountains!
We made a quick stop in Lovelock, NV to see the only round courthouse in the country. At Lovers Lock Plaza behind the courthouse people can practice an ancient Chinese tradition by symbolically "locking their love." The custom is to affix a lock to a chain and throw away the key.
Pershing County Courthouse in Loveland, NV
Pershing County Courthouse in Loveland, NV
Lovers Lock Plaza
Dust devils in Nevada
Another great view!
One last view for today!
We stayed at the Best Western Boomtown in Verdi, Nevada, a suburb of Reno. It was a large casino. We checked in, dropped our stuff off in the room and went to the dining room to eat. We were so tired and just wanted to go to bed. The room was $76.40. We only had 3,991 steps for the day with 9 flights of stairs. We drove 570 miles today...lots of windshield time!
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