Queen of the Brine

I pushed off at 8am under a chilly slate grey San Jose sky, I sailed out of the bay area, through the Carquinez Straits by 9am. I waved hello to the Donner party as I summited the Sierras at 11am and was soon plummeting down the back side of the hill heading for the salt.

I have a trip computer in my truck, it computes lots of interesting things, like how many miles till you run out of gas. Maybe you have one too? Ever wonder if it was correct? Yeah, so have I.  The computer said I have 15 miles to empty, and the next gas was 20 ... So WTF I chanced it.  10 miles ... 5 miles ... 3 ... 2 ... 0  - you are out of gas, OH crap!. I cruised another 5 miles and stopped at Lovelock Nevada.

This place was a trip. There was a whole bunch on bikers talking loudly, joking and cussing. Hey they were my age and I thought I'm not the only one taking a midlife crisis tour :-) That's where I ran into the biker dog. 

Most of the afternoon I skirted thunder storms while clipping along at 85 through the vastness but mercifully avoided the rain ... until 20 miles east of Elko where it rained and snowed briefly.

At Wendover I saw the salt and Aerosmith Draw the Line was playing ...

"No dice honey
You're the salt, you're the queen of the brine
Checkmate honey"

I stopped at the Bonneville salt flats were most of the land speed records are set. The salt looked like (and felt like) compacted frozen slush... crusty and wet but hard to the touch. Of course it was not snow but my eyes refused to believe that.

I pulled into Salt Lake city at dusk, just in time to snap this pic of the sun setting across the Great Salt Lake.

Today I rode about 800 miles, the whole LA trip was 970, but it's easy to put on miles with the speed limit at 75 and the cruse control set to 82 you cover about a mile every 45 seconds.  Joel suggested that I post a map of the trip so folks can see where I am.  Good idea Joel.