From Mormon into Cowboy Country

Slept like a log, had breakfast at 8 am and out we drove in our brand-new car, westward from Mormon to Cowboy country. Straight ahead on I-80, vast, empty land, high desert (Great Basin), sparsely populated and framed by impressive mountain ranges. About 30 deg. F (-1 deg C) this morning and bright sun! First, we passed the Great Salt Lake and noticed the salt plants for the first time. There are several on the edge of the lake, nowadays Morton plant is probably as the largest one, founded in 1918. White salt was piling up high and it would have been interesting to get a tour through the production site.

On our drive on Interstate Hwy. 80 we passed the Bonneville Salt Flats, a fantastic dessert-like area of sand, salt and water. This densely packed salt pan is public land, and known for land speed records at the "Bonneville Speedway". This race track can't be seen from the highway but it must be quite an event when races take place! The salt flats were first used for motor sports in 1912, but only became popular when Ab Jenkins and Sir Malcolm Campbell competed to set land speed records.

Wendover(UT) and West Wendover (NV) are divided by the Utah-Nevada border and besides many casinos and open land, there is Wendover Will, a 63 ft (over 20 m) high cowboy, who could move his arms and was lit up at night. Originally, from 1952 on, he stood in front of one of the large casinos, but a couple of years ago he was moved and is greeting people now at the point "Where the West Begins." Will was made by the same SLC company who made a smaller version, Vegas Vic, for Las Vegas (Fremont Street).

The other "attraction" in Wendover is the Victory Highway Monument with its bronze eagle marker. The Victory Highway was completed in 1925 and used until the 1940s. While the Lincoln Highway is more celebrated, the Victory Hwy. was the first major through road in many parts of Nevada and Utah. Also, the California Trail, a famous emigrant trail of gold-seekers and farmers during the 1840s and 1850s passed through this area.

Pilot Peak Ghost Town, our next little detour, is a ghost town which is currently fenced in and not accessible, but buildings can be seen from outside. It was a mining town (gold, silver, and copper), in operation from 1872-1938 with a Moonshine Still, a General Store and other buildings in pretty mint condition. Outlaws visited the town on their way to and from robberies in the Wild West.

Around 2 pm we arrived to Elko, NV, picked up our media credentials in the Western Folklife Center, went grocery shopping and moved into our Red Lion Inn guestroom, our "home" for five nights! We will be attending the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering - for the 2nd time! - and are still proud of the article about it for which we won last year's IPW Travel Writer Award. Enjoyed a warm welcome here.