Utah is spectacular! We enjoyed a beautiful day of bright sunshine and gorgeous scenery today. Started out at the Bonneville Salt Flats which are just on the outskirts of Wendover UT. Usually you can drive off the pavement onto the flats ... however the flats are now mostly under water.
Heading east, I80 is a straight, flat, 100-mile run to Salt Lake City. Straight. Flat. Well, there are a couple of teensy curves. Speed limit is 80 mph. I managed through about 80 miles then just couldn't keep the panic down any longer - had to get off to a side road with more scenery changes.
Utah Hwy #36 is a roller coaster ride! Follows the mountains and the lake, along the typical grassland vista. Some irrigated spots start to show up near Vernon, including corn.
Refuelled at Santaquin, right near I15. We were running on fumes so happy to see the gas station - there had been none along the way until here. Well, none that were open.
Hopped on I15 to head a bit north to Hwy #6 which has green dots on the maps. It definitely earns those dots - through mountain passes and valleys, up and down and through and around. Terrific pavement with lots of passing lanes.
The only scenic turnout is just before Helper, with a nice wide area to stop and a handful of monuments explaining the coal mining operations ... and explosions.
The last bit of #6 flattens out back to the mesas and buttes and mountains and grassy vistas. Land at Green River UT for the night, just in time for the Melon Festival. Dinner at "Tamarisk", a local eatery the hotel recommended. They had a 45 minute wait but it was terrific! Had both a cabernet sauvignon and a petroglyph white from Castle Creek Winery - yummm!
Both bikes turned past 20,000 km today. Don has a couple side trips more than I do, so he has a couple hundred more km than my bike. It is interesting - we record every fillup with the trip and odometer reading, price of the fuel, etc. His bike always goes two or three tenths of a km than mine - even when we ride exactly together. He does tend to take a wee bit wider curves ...
 |
| Bonneville Salt Flats - under water! |
Utah Hwy #36 is a roller coaster ride! Follows the mountains and the lake, along the typical grassland vista. Some irrigated spots start to show up near Vernon, including corn.
Refuelled at Santaquin, right near I15. We were running on fumes so happy to see the gas station - there had been none along the way until here. Well, none that were open.
Hopped on I15 to head a bit north to Hwy #6 which has green dots on the maps. It definitely earns those dots - through mountain passes and valleys, up and down and through and around. Terrific pavement with lots of passing lanes.
The only scenic turnout is just before Helper, with a nice wide area to stop and a handful of monuments explaining the coal mining operations ... and explosions.
The last bit of #6 flattens out back to the mesas and buttes and mountains and grassy vistas. Land at Green River UT for the night, just in time for the Melon Festival. Dinner at "Tamarisk", a local eatery the hotel recommended. They had a 45 minute wait but it was terrific! Had both a cabernet sauvignon and a petroglyph white from Castle Creek Winery - yummm!
Both bikes turned past 20,000 km today. Don has a couple side trips more than I do, so he has a couple hundred more km than my bike. It is interesting - we record every fillup with the trip and odometer reading, price of the fuel, etc. His bike always goes two or three tenths of a km than mine - even when we ride exactly together. He does tend to take a wee bit wider curves ...
 |
| Stone sculptures in the boulevard outside the restaurant |
