We started off at 06:00 and went directly into the mountains. We went up to ≈12,000′ – it was quite cold & there was snow & a strong wind. We did some climbing on snow for awhile. Steamboat Springs was our next stop — we mailed some letters and got some ‘provisions’. We played some Frisbee in the park for awhile and then returned to driving. We got into Salt Lake City at 6:00 pm and after driving through the city, we stopped, because of the spectacular (understatement) sunset over the Great Salt Lake. Now I know why they call it ‘Great’. We went to the beach along the lake and parked the car on the sand. The water was incredibly warm even though there was a 40 knot wind blowing — the sun was somewhat obscured by haze and high clouds. It was a stirring & psycho-impressive scene. My senses overloaded. We stayed for awhile to soak in the unbelievable sights, sounds, stimulus,
and atmosphere, and then we drove on. The road at this point was perfectly flat, straight, with nothing on either side. It was quite eerie. We played with the spot-light for awhile until some cops arrived and passed us a few times. We reached Bonneville Salt Flat at 11:30 pm & stopped for some refreshment at a gas-station-casino-store. After a tremendous meal consisting of a can of sardines, a can of vienna sausage, and a box of bacon thins, we continued. After reaching the point of total exhaustion, we pulled off the road behind a bill-board & stopped to sleep. I put the cooler outside so I could recline the seat. About an hour later we both woke bolt upright, and with an unexplained 6th sense of fear, I reached out, threw the cooler in the back seat and we quickly pulled out and drove off. We wondered & still wonder what entity was there in that desolate salt flat. I drove for another half-hour to Deeth, Nevada — just a dilapidated motel — and parked in the front dirt lot and slept. There were numerous noises around, but the next morning, I found them to be the product of an Irish Setter puppy wandering around, trying to get into our cooler. We slept (or I did) until Gary pulled the sleeping bag off & I froze. I started driving again. Then later in the night while Gary was driving, my nose started running, so I used the beach towel to blow it, it kept running, and I kept blowing, until finally I was trying to figure out what was going on, I turned on the Light and the towel was covered with blood from a bloody nose. Argh!
