Speed Week, Days 2 & 3

Day 2: Wake up, break camp, shoot some of the area we camped in. Rick gets bit by some kind of red ant and discovers that Carmex does a pretty good job of killing the pain of ant bites. Motate our way to Winnemucca and allow our GPS to lead us to McD’s for a quickie breakfast and then on to Walmart to pick up some necessities. Gas up and we’re back on the road. Oh, yeah. When we gassed up the car we discovered it got 42 mpg on this tank! Woohoo! 

This day was spent mostly on an interstate freeway with an occasional side trip to try to find ghost towns. Unsuccessfully. We continued on in the same manner until we finally arrived in Wendover, Ut. 

So we got our $$$ room settled and decided to head over to the salt flats for a quick look-see. The girls at the entry waved us in so we just began to meander. The scenery is best described as other-worldly. It just doesn’t look like anything one has ever seen. It resembles snow but not exactly. And the way the sky seems to just blend into it is so beautiful. Looking one direction as far as the eye can see is nothing but salt. Turn around and the salt extends all the way to some chiseled rocky mountains. 

We found ourselves in the “pit” area and finally decided we had too many questions that were still unanswered. So Rick found some folks at the registration area to ask. They were very friendly and helpful. They even told Rick that he was at the friendliest place on earth! 

Next we headed up to the starting area. A whole world we knew nothing about. It was fun to learn, though! 

The western half of Wendover lies in Nevada so we decided to check out the casinos to see if they offered any discounted meals like I remember finding in Vegas back in the 70’s and 80’s. Nope. We ended up dining in one anyway since it was late and their prices were decent. 

Day 3: Today was the big day! I set the alarm for 5:30 so we could be at the salt flats to view the sunrise. It was such a fantastic red – no doubt thanks to the fires that are probably still burning… 

It was a very comfortable temperature for a while in the morning due to a nice layer of clouds but about 8:15 the sun came out full blast. Then the temperature started to rise! 

We had been warned about certain things so we were pretty well prepared. We had the necessary hats (virtually EVERYONE wore a hat!), comfortable shoes that cover the feet, light clothing, sunscreen and plenty of water. I found some Bullfrog SPF30 spray-on sunscreen that worked fantastic. We applied it before we left the motel and touched up lightly around noon and have no burns! That was nearly a solid 8 hours in the blazing sun that was also being reflected off the salt! 

We wandered through the pits. Then we parked ourselves on the course to watch the 200+ mph cars flying by. Next we moved closer to the end of the course to see their parachutes open to slow them. Finally we headed to the starting area again. It was so entertaining to watch all the goings on. Everything was so interesting to see. Many cars had a crew, a crew car, a push car (to start them down the track) a truck and trailer, a pop-up shade over a tarp, drivers, mechanics, small vehicles to ride up and down the 5 mile stretch alongside the course which could be bicycles, motorcycles, or anything they choose to create for the purpose. We saw all sorts of motorized skateboards, bar stools and whatnot. We were having a wonderful time but I finally needed a break from the heat. At one point I began to feel nauseous. I was going to the bathroom constantly and the honey buckets were saunas, they must have been 120°! 

So for a break we spent a little time in our room enjoying the air conditioning while we looked at our photos before we headed back to the salt for one last visit. Rick decided he wanted a souvenir t-shirt so that gave us the excuse to explore some more. Being as late as it was though, we knew we could get away with just driving everywhere and shopping from the comfort of our air conditioned car. Rick found 2 shirts that met with his approval (not easily accomplished!). 

Finally we bid the beautiful, interesting salt flats goodbye and headed out to find the abandoned Wendover Air Base buildings. In doing so I found a Kingdom Hall, the first of this trip, and it was a Spanish one! 

So the main focus of this road trip was well worth the hype. We enjoyed it immensely and agreed that we’d love to attend again in the future. Maybe in another 4 or 5 years.

Tomorrow we hit the road again for the final 2 days of this vacation. Check back in a couple days!