Salt Lake City to Reno - Oct 23

My trip to Reno was uneventful - probably my longest drive day of the whole trip. Since I was alone, I made it a point to make frequent stops. I spotted this mound of salt along I-80 so took a quick detour to find out what it was and to snap a picture of it.  It's at the Morton Salt plant in near Grantsville, UT. They harvest the salt from evaporation ponds around the Great Salt Lake. The last time I drove across Utah was in 1980 when I moved to California, but I don't remember seeing this.  The topography across this part of Utah varies from a lot of dirt and rocks to the salt flats.  Towns are well off the highway.  Driving along the salt flats I noticed different formations of "dots", which turned out to be beer bottles embedded in the flats - neck down.  My guess is that college students go out during the night to party and leave behind their bottles in a decorative way.

I knew I would cross the Bonneville Salt Flats but wasn't quite sure exactly where it was.  Lo and behold, the final rest stop I made in Utah turned out to be at the BSF.  I walked out onto the flats and was surprised at how hard the surface is.  It looks like I'm walking on snow.  I think it would be fun to go there for to watch a race sometime.

At this point, I was only a few miles from the Nevada border and the city of West Wendover.  By now, it was time to get something to eat and a little play time.  I don't remember the name of the casino I stopped at for lunch, but they still have machines that pay out in real coins, not tickets as most are doing now.  I walked away with a little extra cash.  My next stop was Battle Mountain but just for gas and a quick stretch break.  I made it to Reno about 8 pm - had a reservation at Harrah's so wasn't too worried about when I would arrive.  My stay at Harrah's was uneventful and not profitable, but that's okay.  The next day I ventured out to the Peppermill Hotel for lunch and a little more play time.  It was my last day on the road and I stayed most of the day at the Peppermill and came away with a little extra cash.  I procrastinated as long as I could and about 4:00 pm I made my way 'down the mountain' and into the Sacramento valley. 

I arrived home about 6:00 pm on Oct 24 and was greeted with a very cute Welcome Home sign on my bedroom door - courtesy of my very dear friend Darlene.  In one sense, it felt good to be home but bittersweet - I hated for my trip to end. I had a week and a half left before I had to head back to work.

Stay tuned for my trip wrap-up post.