Yesterday we left Evanston Wyoming. But not before Fred got involved with a bear!!! Okay it was a stuffed bear, but a bear nonetheless. We drove through Salt Lake City on our way to Elko Nevada. We made the decision to drive through Salt Lake and not make any stops because we managed to get there for rush hour traffic. Not easy for the driver. However, just a point of interest. If you ever have the chance to drive from Evanston Wyoming to Salt Lake City Utah, DO IT. It could be one of the prettiest drives I have ever seen. As we make this drive through the country I am constantly amazed that our forefathers made this journey in covered wagons. I would have been the first one to say, ARE YOU CRAZY!!!! The rugged terrain is beautiful, but to think it was done with no conveniences is amazing.

Anyway, once through Salt Lake the terrain changes again. The Great Salt Lake is incredible. And once you get by the lake you get to the Great Salt Lake Desert. It actually looks like a huge expansive beach with no ocean. As you drive along that portion of Interstate 80 there is absolutely nothing, but one interesting site along the way though. The state paid to have a metal tree put in the salt flats. It is the only thing for miles. It is called “Metaphor – The Tree of Life”. The picture I took was as were driving since you aren’t allowed to stop at the area. It was dedicated in 1986 as “A hymn to our universe whose glory and dimension is beyond all myth and imagination.” Now I will say the sentiment is beautiful, not sure why you would plop it in the middle of nowhere. But lovely.

Then we went to the Bonneville Salt Flats. This is where numerous land speed records were made. Every year there are races over Labor Day weekend. Drivers that reach 200 mph get a hat letting everyone know they did it. The interesting thing about the salt flats is when it rains they get muddy and you can get stuck in the salt. Anyway, Fred and I did not go out on the flats because neither one of us thought we needed to be able to say we drove the flats. Amazing how things that may have once sounded like fun lose some of its appeal when we get older.

Not to disappoint we did go to a cemetery yesterday. Not to visit a grave but to see the curvature of the earth. Apparently if you go to the Wendover Cemetery and look out at the salt flats you can see I-80 curve over the rim of the earth. Okay not that I don’t believe it, I did it and it didn’t look any different than looking out over a straight stretch of highway.