Southwest 2021:
Day 7 - Salt Lake City


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Southwest 2021: [Day 1 - Missouri] [Day 2 - Kansas] [Day 3 - Kansas] [Day 4 - Ft. Collins] [Day 5 - Perry] [Day 6 - Salt Lake City] [Day 7 - Salt Lake City] [Day 8 - Salt Lake City] [Day 9 - Goblin Valley] [Day 10 - Torrey] [Day 11 - Kodachrome Basin] [Day 12 - Coral Pink Sand Dunes] [Day 13 - Lees Ferry] [Day 14 - Grand Canyon] [Day 15 - Grand Canyon] [Day 16 - Lyman Lake] [Day 17 - Carlsbad] [Day 18 - Davis Mountains] [Day 19 - Marathon] [Day 20 - Arlington] [Day 21 - Hot Springs] [Day 22 - Bowling Green] [Day 23 - Heading Home]

Monday, February 22, 2021: While we slept in the hotel, we left the heater on The Ocho set to 40 degrees so that it wouldn't freeze overnight in the 28-degree weather. That's why there's a little red light on it.
We delivered it to Off Highway Van, ...
... where they would be installing a 3" lift package, all-terrain tires, and Sumo springs.
Then we got breakfast at Del Taco and headed out for a little road trip. The rental car seemed so tiny after a week in our Class B.
We passed an impressive series of pipes at the Rio Tinto facilities.
There's a glimpse of the Great Salt Lake.
We got on I-70 heading west ...
... and were treated to several series of signs letting us know that casinos awaited us at the Nevada state line just an hour away.
We passed salt mining operations ...
... at Cargill ...
... and Morton Salt.
We continued to fail to get a good photo of these Auto Tour signs. This one featured the California Trail and the Mormon Trail.
The next time we encountered one, Tom pulled over so we could get a good picture.
This pretty sculpture is called "The Tree of Life." No stopping is allowed on the road near it so you have to be fast with your camera.
As we got closer to Nevada and the Bonneville Salt Flats, we started to see random things in the dirt/salt by the side of the road. Some were makeshift memorials but this one was just hilarious.
More driving. Those mountains ahead are in Nevada.
We arrived at the Salt Flats West rest area, which is where your navigation system will take you when your destination is the Bonneville Salt Flats.
Next to the conveniently-located (and most likely not working in winter) foot wash is ...
... this excellent sign welcoming us to the Bonneville Salt Flats.
You can walk right out on to the salt!
For real!
Here's what the surface looks like up close.
The Bonneville Speedway is in that direction somewhere, ...
... toward the Nevada border.
Welcome to Nevada! We crossed the border just for fun. Such a shame that The Ocho wasn't with us and couldn't claim another state.
In Nevada, we finally got a good picture of the Pony Express Trail sign.
Welcome back to Utah!
We headed into Wendover, where it is very obvious where the state line of Nevada is. See all those casinos? Yeah, Nevada is on that side of the street.
We were here to visit the Historic Wendover Airfield, ...
... specifically, the B-29 "Enola Gay" Hangar, ...
... which is currently undergoing restoration.
We passed rows of old barracks, ...
... this C-123K cargo plane, which was used as the convict transport plane in the movie "Con Air," ...
... and a restored F-84G Thunderjet, which was the first plane used by the USAF Thunderbirds.
We headed back toward Salt Lake City on the ubiquitous Purple Heart Trail, ...
... to the twin rest areas. We'd already visited the westbound one on the left, so it was time to check out the eastbound one on the right.
It didn't have the Bonneville Salt Flats at its feet, so it made up for it with this overlook.
Let's go and see!
Yep, there's the salt.
We spotted a car having fun driving on the salt.
We also spotted a couple for whom we had taken their picture when we were at the other rest area. They had walked out quite a way and were having fun checking out things in the salt.
We walked back down the ramp and noted that the view south was pretty boring.
But this rest area had a pretty mural on its trash can, ...
... and a little informational sign about the first transcontinental telephone line being completed in 1914 on the border of Nevada and Utah at Wendover.
When we got closer to Salt Lake City, we stopped at another rest area, this time to actually use it. A handy sign noted that we needed to watch for snakes and scorpions. We saw none.
Maersk!
We passed the Great Saltair, which is the third version of this building to sit on this land. Previous versions haven't fared well, and this one has struggled as well. It is now a concert venue.
We headed to the Great Salt Lake State Park.
It has five or six small RV camping spots right in the parking lot with views of the lake.
The base of this light pole commemorated the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics of 2002.
We went to the overlook to get a good look at the lake.
There was a large compass rose in the center to orient us.
Her's the view to the west.
A helpful sign pointed out what we were seeing if we looked straight north, ...
... like this, ...
... and there's the view toward Salt Lake City to the east.
A sign told the sad tale of the Great Saltair, visible on the water's edge in the distance.
We opted to walk down by the water, which we hear is a pretty unpleasant experience in the summer time, but it was great this time of year.
We looked at the water up close, ...
... and back at the overlook up the hill.
We went into the tiny visitor center for a few minutes where they had a huge green tube holding actual Sea Monkeys (with a few kits at the base).
This display noted that Sea Monkeys are basically just brine shrimp originally taken from the Salt Lake that have been bred over the decades to hatch better and live longer to be sold as pets.
This display discussed the brine flies that swarm the shoreline in summer and why they are useful to the ecosystem.
We passed this display after we left the park. Historic signs on either side discussed resorts that used to exist nearby, ...
... but the main reason for the photo is the California Trail logo on the center sign.
We had Del Taco again for lunch, making it the third Del Taco visit in the last four meals. We love Del Taco and wish we had it back home.
We spent the rest of the day relaxing in our hotel room ...
... and working on this very travelog especially for you, gentle reader.

Day 8 >


Southwest 2021: [Day 1 - Missouri] [Day 2 - Kansas] [Day 3 - Kansas] [Day 4 - Ft. Collins] [Day 5 - Perry] [Day 6 - Salt Lake City] [Day 7 - Salt Lake City] [Day 8 - Salt Lake City] [Day 9 - Goblin Valley] [Day 10 - Torrey] [Day 11 - Kodachrome Basin] [Day 12 - Coral Pink Sand Dunes] [Day 13 - Lees Ferry] [Day 14 - Grand Canyon] [Day 15 - Grand Canyon] [Day 16 - Lyman Lake] [Day 17 - Carlsbad] [Day 18 - Davis Mountains] [Day 19 - Marathon] [Day 20 - Arlington] [Day 21 - Hot Springs] [Day 22 - Bowling Green] [Day 23 - Heading Home]

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