Would you like a little salt with that?????

The last time I did a trip one of the places I wanted to stop and didn't was The Bonneville Salt Flats.  Lots of tv commercials are filmed there, and when it dries out, lots of land speed records are attempted there as it is perfectly flat and extends for miles.

So a cool but clear morning riding the highway:

Not a bad way to spend your time eh???

I had originally planned to stop in Salt Lake City to try and get my laptop fixed, but by the time I got there I had decided to wait until Vancouver, and just use my tablet.  It turns out my tablet works fine for updating my blog, but for some reason it won't upload pictures... so I am currently on the hotel computer.  Oh well....

While stopped for lunch I figured I should find out exactly where the Salt Flats were, Wendover UT as it turns out, a mere 150kms away.  So bundled up against the cold and impending rain I set off again.  The only thing between me and my destination is a WALL of clouds from the road up, and you can see beyond it is sunny through it.

It was BY FAR the worst weather I have ever ridden through.  It was about 5 miles deep, HIGH winds, rain, hail, and just as I was entering it....lightning!!!!  I have never had wind try to push me into the road before!!!  I could see the clearing on the other side, so just kept going.... the weird thing was my gps didn't work the whole time through!!!!

This is what it looks like from the other side:

Only about 2 miles through the storm is my destination, still quite windy, but sunny!!  Unfortunately with the storm just going through, it wasn't so much The Bonneville Salt Flats, as The Salt Lake!!!  So I will attempt to go back tomorrow morning and hopefully it has dried out some what.

The nearest town as I said is Wendover Utah, so riding in it looks just like any other small town.  Motel 6, Super 8 hotels etc.... then all of a sudden there is a sign for The Mandelay Hotel....  Isn't that a casino in Las Vegas I thought.... It turns out part way through Wendover is the Nevada state line, and EVERYTHING changes.  The Mandelay Casino, and The Nugget literally have their front door on the state line.  Following that are a dozen other casinos, very small Vegas like....   The price of gas also goes up 30 cents a gallon from a block ago too!

So I try the Mandelay and it turns out they are full, as are most of the other casinos.  So back into Utah, the one whole block back... and I am in my usual hotel, for half the price.  So by 6:30 I have taken a dip in the unheated pool(brrrrrrr!!!!!) warmed up in the shower, taken a walk through a couple of casinos, couldn't get out fast enough!!! and had dinner....

So a nice relaxing evening in watching some tv, then off again tomorrow for The Flats...