Road Trip: Ski Incline, NV to Park City, UT

On our summer road trip, today we drove over 580 miles. Most of it was across I-80 in Nevada and Utah. Of the former, our 12-year-old daughter said “it’s got to be the most boringest state in the world.”

We passed over mountain passes and through high desert chaparral, but it was indeed boring and butt-ugly. We stopped for lunch in the town of Elko, which is about 100 miles from Utah. At Matties Bar & Grill, the food was actually quite good, with a large assortment of salads, sandwiches, pastas, milkshakes, and virtually anything you could want that was battered and fried, from steak and chicken strips to mushrooms, zucchini slices and mozarella. Gil Bob says check it out.

Once we crossed into Utah, everything changed noticeably. We saw the Bonneville Salt Flats, profiled in the recent Anthony Hopkins movie, “The World’s Fastest Indian” and home of countless land speed records by motorcycle and car drivers.

We stopped in Saltair, a mosque-like building that was a once-famous resort from 1893 to the 1960s, catering to people who wanted to play “Will It Float?” in the Great Salt Lake. Today, it’s a run down roadside attraction sellings postcards, t-shirts, kitsch and salt water taffy. We stuck our feet in the warm waters and marveled how far out some folks could walk and still only be in water up to their waists.

Once we neared Salt Lake City, we saw beautiful mountains and a decidedly brighter architecture. We’re staying overnight in Park City, one of the numerous ski resorts that dot the landscape here.

More tomorrow from Denver via Cheyenne…

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