Mountains, Desert, and Salt

We headed through western Utah early on Wednesday morning, and drove past the Great Salt Lake and the salt flats before we crossed the border into eastern Nevada.  There were piles of salt along the road with a Morton Salt sign and factory producing that which sits on our tables.

Morton Salt!

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It seemed to take forever to get through those flats and the state of Nevada.  Three things I remember about that day; first of all, the sign on the Interstate in Nevada that had us both laughing....it just struck us funny.  We did see several prisons while driving through the state on our way out and our way back.  Also, we stopped at a Flying J that was a big truck stop.  It.  was.  awful.  Casinos, tough looking ladies and tougher looking truckers were watching TV, gambling, and eating.  This was our second bad experience with a Flying J so needless to say, we crossed them off our list for nicer gas stations to stop at.  At the top would be Mavericks and Loves!  The third thing I remember about Nevada was the scenery.  Mountains, desert, and endless miles of nothingness.  No animals, no people, no ranches visible, and very few cars or trucks.  It is definitely a sparcly populated yet vast and rugged land.

Nevada tunnel

We drove through Reno and Sparks to get to Carson City where we spent the night in a spendy but very nice hotel!  The city itself was clean, fresh, and nice to get around in.

Thursday morning we headed south to Lake Tahoe, driving the scenic drive around and up north to Truckee NV.  It was so beautiful!  A clear sunny day made the views even more stunning.  At times the height would get to this lady, and even one time Joel loudly proclaimed, "Oh my gosh!" as we crossed an area with deep drop offs on both sides. Wowza.  We managed to get our pictures taken at the top by a couple who did not speak English.  We made hand gestures to them and through that language were able to convey that we would take their pictures if they would take ours.  It was an amazing day of breathtaking views and we both were so happy we decided to take the time to go there.  God was really showing us His best creation when He made this area of Nevada and California!