The rest of Nevada is mostly desert, despite the elevation changes. It's almost pretty in June, when all of the sage brush is green, and most of the other plants are flourishing. The weather was also ideal. It was cool enough in the morning where I needed my neck warmer and the winter gloves. It didn't really start to get warm enough to remove them until after 11:00 AM. Cruising at 80-85 MPH tends to cool you down a bit. Even later in the day the temperature was mild, probably low 80's.

My first stop of the day was Elko, where I gassed up, even though I had only gone 70 miles. The events of the day before had taught me a lesson, and I didn't want to chance stretching my tank too far. My mileage slipped to 29 mpg. This was a real surprise to me. This being my first trip, I had no experience with sustained high speeds. My assumption was that it would drop a bit, perhaps 35 MPG at the worst, but hey, I'm allowed to be a little ignorant the first time out. The extra weight and the headwinds really took their toll.

The first really stunning sight of the trip appeared as I crested the mountains and got my first glimpse of Wendover, Utah, and the Bonneville salt flats. What a sight!! White as far as your eye can see. When I was boy of 10, we rode through here in my parents car, but my memory of the trip was sketchy at best. More than likely I was fighting with my brother, or whining about something, or whatever else 10 year olds do to annoy their parents.

It is hard to imagine the stark beauty of the salt flats until you see it yourself. No picture can do justice to the sight of land that flat and that bright a white for as far as you can see (I took some anyway).

After a pit stop (30.7 mpg) I headed out across the salt flats. I discovered an art form taken to new heights. Salt Flat Graffitti!! It seems that even the lack of buildings or overpasses to deface does not deter the creative human spirit!! If nothing else is available, you can always deface mother nature. All along I-80 you see names, pictographs, hieroglyphics, JR Loves SM, whatever, spelled out in rocks. After a while the white gives way to brown and white, then off in the distance you see Salt Lake City. It was here that I realized how poor early memories can be. All I remember of Salt Lake City from my childhood visit was that it was hot. My mind pictured desert, and of course I had no memory whatsoever of the lake itself. I remember my Aunt's house, my cousins, and getting stung by a bee (always did hate that!!). I vaguely remember being intimidated by my cousins, who were all either Utah State skate board champions or piano virtuoso's, and I could barely stand on a skate board, and was proficient in playing only chopsticks. What I didn't remember was how beautiful that city is. Perhaps I was just too young to appreciate it, or maybe it was really ugly back in the 60's, but it's a fact that it is one of the prettiest cities I have seen. Another plus-- the traffic!. Although it was rush hour when I rode into Salt Lake City, it seemed like Sunday afternoon in the Bay Area. No Problemo!! Even saw a few SQUIDS sans helmet and protective gear zipping around on sport bikes! Ahh, the ignorance of youth! Most surprising to me was the kid with spiked hair. It appears not everyone in Utah is a Mormon and listens to their parents (Won't Dennis Rodman be amazed to hear that!).

Locating my Aunt & Uncle's house was no problem. They live in what is without a doubt the finest neighborhood in Utah. Around the corner from her is Larry Miller's (owner of the JAZZ) soon to be completed opulent palace. In the other direction is Karl Malone's house. She is surrounded by wealth (good thing they bought the place years back when it was affordable). The view from their deck has to be seen to believed. You can see the entire city, the Great Salt Lake, the mountains on the other side of the city, pretty much the entire Western U.S!! They told me stories of dazzling lightning displays, and of seeing ball lightning travel around and knock out power to the entire city!! We barbequed some steaks on the deck, had dinner, then drove down to the city center. I wanted to get some photo's of the Mormon Temple. It's hard to picture how those folks built that imposing structure back in the 1800's. It's worth the time if you're in the area. There wasn't enough time to take the tours or go inside, but it was great strolling around the grounds. Lovely shaded gardens and plaza's, and the architecture is something to see. Stopped off for some frozen yogurt, then back to the "heights", or whatever the rich people call their neighborhood. The low point of the day was when we tried to log on and send e-mail. My aunt has the misfortune of being on AOL. It seems that she is rarely able to even get on line, and when she does, it's a 2400 baud connection!! ARE YOU LISTENING A.O.L??? YOU SUCK BIG TIME!! That is why I and zillions of other subscribers dumped you or are going to dump you! Get your shit together!! After explaining to her how easy it was to get a decent Internet provider, we decided to call it a night and try sending e-mail in the morning (she told me they ARE able to log on around 5 or 6 AM, how convenient!!!).

Tomorrow: On to Wilson, Wyoming

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