POST 19: Bonneville Salt Flats, Wendover, Utah

HIGHLIGHT OF THE TRIP FOR BILL

June 19th & 20th, 2017

This was the HIGHLIGHT of the trip for Bill, he was really looking forward to seeing the  Bonneville Salt Flats :). Staying two nights here was a must after driving all this distance. 🙂

We pulled off the highway and drove down the road to the end. We could see the signs marking the edge of the Bonneville Salt Flats. White salt was there as as far as the eye could see . YES, it was FLAT lol. Aside from the mountains surrounding it on one side, it was very very flat, and very very impressive.

Bill just HAD to go out on to the flats with the truck and trailer lol. Joy being the good sport and wife that she is, went out with Bill.

Joy was terrified of getting stuck in the thick soft salt in areas. lol. Out we went and Joy took pictures of Bill in front of our truck and trailer on this famous racing surface. Oddly enough with only standing on it for a few brief minutes, Joy could taste salt in her mouth. Was the oddest thing.

After admiring it for a bit, we left and went up into the foot hills to find a campsite. With this being BLM land, it was open and free to use.

FOOTHILLS ABOVE

The BLM land was easy enough to find. We simply  drove down the road from the flats to the gas station. At the gas station we turned right, up Leppy Pass Road and followed the dirt road to the right. If you have a big rig, the dirt road is  a bit bumpy. This area is more suited to big rigs. Lots of open spaces.

The higher up you go, the less buggy it seems to be, and the better reception you get on Verizon 4 G. We don’t have AT&T so I can’t tell you how that was:).

The next day, Bill decided to go back down to the Flats  to explore. We came here for Bill to enjoy this.  🙂  He wanted to see if he could find the race track. Bill returned with the truck  COATED in salt. Every nook and cranny.

Unfortunately it took many thousands of miles and many truck washes to get all the salt off this poor vehicle.

We were like Hansel and Gretel, we left a trail of salt where ever we went or stopped.

BEING SELF SUFFICIENT

One thing we have forgotten to mention. On our way to California, we stopped and picked up a pair of Solar panels. We now use these solar panels to Trickle charge our batteries. We were really glad we had. The solar panels were a big investment. (see our blog for more information on the Solar panels)

We had enough water to camp for 2 days. Our solar panels charged our batteries which enabled us to have power as well.

CAMPING IN WIDE OPEN SPACES

The only thing that took a bit of getting used to was the total blackness at night, and we mean TOTAL BLACKNESS, it is a little daunting at times lol. We found leaving the bedroom blinds open letting us see the stars helped. If we didn’t see the stars, we felt like we were in a box. lol.

The peacefulness is amazing. Sunsets will make you want to take up painting allowing you can catch them on a canvas. Some how, pictures just don’t seem to do them justice.

SHARING YOUR AREA

As you camp in deserts and rocks and heat, don’t forget about the wildlife. Snakes, biting ants and other critters that may be about. Just be aware and be careful, don’t leave garbage out to attract them or your shoes, and watch where you walk if the ground is not flat and open.

We learned a trick from our cousins in Calif that if you use powdered Borax soap and sprinkle it around your stabilizers  the ants won’t crawl up into your trailer. This really seemed to help. We tried sprinkling the powdered Borax around our outdoor mat which seemed to cut down on bugs coming into the trailer.

We were told, Rattlers don’t want to attack you, they will only do it out of self-defence, and you can hear their rattle from 10 yards away. If you hear it, you are to just back up slowly and leave immediately. Hmmmm not sure I could do the slow part. Just hoping it doesn’t come up at any time lol.

Prairie dogs are our puppy’s favorite. She makes the strangest sounds. Puppy just wants to go play. lol.

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