Upon Arrival in Salt Lake City

I have just arrived in Salt Lake City. Rather, Em, the Subaru (newly christened Rex), and myself have arrived in Salt Lake City. We drove from the California side of Tahoe, through Nevada (passing a whole five towns, probably), and into Utah. It's strange to be here. We arrived after dark, after discovering that this area is in a different time zone than the west coast, scanning the city for the Mormon temple (no such luck, must find it later).

We stopped in Wendover, Nevada--partially because it was the first town we came to after several hours of NOTHING in Nevada, partially because we couldn't stand being in the car any longer, and partially because we figured it was probably the last place we could gamble and drink before we hit Utah (based loosely on rough calculations and guessing as the pixelated map from Google maps showed nothing between Elko and Salt Lake City). We had a Budweiser ($1 schooner), collectively lost $4 on penny and nickel slots, and continued into Utah. Maybe it was the slight buzz or the hours of driving, but the earth became immediately unrecognizable. I don't know what Em was thinking but I felt as if the world had morphed into something complete alienupon entering the great state of Utah. It was a flat, white valley, with nearly nothing for as far as I could see. Disconcerting, to someone raised in the lush and mountainous Northwest. We had entered the salt flats, but it took a little reasoning to figure that out.

I have two days to spend here, and it most certainly will not be enough. This trip has revived my wanderlust--more specifically, to see more of this country. We drove through so many different landscapes, each stunning in its own right. I can't wait to see the island in the Great Salt Lake with the bison and the bighorn sheep (in the middle of a salt lake!? what kind of place is this?).