Utah: The Salt of the Earth

With the Rockies behind me, the cows of Wyoming and Colorado had given away to horse ranches and run-down trailer homes with expensive RV trailers parked behind them. There was virtually no agriculture without extensive irrigation and some operations were growing large fields of alfalfa using huge, self-propelled water-spraying rigs. Little towns like Vernal, and Roosevelt, UT had spread themselves carelessly along either side of the highway showing off the economic benefits of oil and mining. Looks like everybody has been buying “4-wheelers” for playing in the desert.

As a youngster, and a "car nut" already,  there were three places that epitomized motorized speed to me: Indianapolis, LeMans, and Bonneville. Okay, maybe Lions Dragway in Southern California should be on that list, but that’s long-gone, plowed over and turned into a strip mall or 10-screen cineplex. Here I was in Utah, driving what used to be U.S. 40, and heading toward that peculiar pre-historic expanse known as the Bonneville Salt Flats. The early evening had me descending from the Wasatch Mountains with Salt Lake City spreading before me and the Great Salt Lake beyond it. The sun was heading down and I tried to make time with the little truck to reach Bonneville before the sunset. Since becoming a motorsport venue in 1912 and the site of numerous land speed record attempts over the years, it’s a place on most car guys’ list of “must-sees.” 

Utah salt flats before sunset

On arriving, I was not surprised by the collection of race car trailers gathered along the highway preparing to head back to California, but I was by the sight of an overstuffed chesterfield, side table and a floor lamp out on the dry lake with a well-dressed couple apparently reading. And apparently posing for a photo shoot.

Peculiar goings-on in the land of speed and salt

The nearest place to Bonneville where one can get a room is West Wendover, NV, a short run down I-80. I recommend the Comfort Inn for one reason, and it’s not for their breakfast waffle batter dispenser. In the lobby of the Comfort Inn, I spotted a large portrait of MG model EX135 and Lt. Col. Goldie Gardner, a hero to aficionados of the British MG sports car. In 1951, Gardner set six international and ten American records in this MG-powered streamliner. But,  casinos tend to “low-ball” their rooms to attract gamblers and I looked for the crassest one along WestWendover’s little “strip.” It was The Rainbow, right across the street from the Pilot Truckstop.  I booked a hot shower and a forgetable bed for $34.

Now that's class!

Sunset at Bonneville