Colorado Road Trip Day 3: Utah

Sunday, August 20, 2017
Trip Odometer: 685

Bonneville Salt Flats

After breakfast, we continued east on I-80. Our first stop was after only about 10 miles at the rest area adjacent to the Bonneville Salt Flats, where many land speed records have been set. We stopped there on an earlier trip (2006), but it’s striking to see the very white landscape, very much like snow.

After passing through the deserted western part of Utah, civilization returned. We stopped again at the Great Salt Lake state marina to have a look around and our morning snack. The snack was quickly cancelled because of the thousands of tiny bugs in the parking lot. They weren’t actually all that annoying but we didn’t want to let a bunch of them into the car. The marina was worth a look around, even with the $3 parking fee.

We then drove into downtown Salt Lake City, passing by the Mormon Temple and Tabernacle and then up to the State Capitol, high on a hill. There were an unusual number of motorcycles, which we found out were there for the annual Ride for Fallen Officers.

The Great Salt Lake

Continuing east on our winding climb out of SLC, we decided to stop at Park City for lunch. This took us a few miles off the road, but we loved breathing the mountain air and enjoyed our lunch at a local cafe.

After a few more miles of winding road, things straightened out somewhat and the speed limit again went up to 80.

Soon after crossing into Wyoming, we came to Evanston, Wyoming, where we thought we would find a good place for ice cream. We checked out a couple of possibilities, and one was closed (it’s Sunday) and another looked like it had gone out of business. We decided to stop by Wendy’s for their Frosty (sort of a cross between soft serve ice cream and a milkshake), and were pleased to see that they were on sale: a small Frosty was only 50 cents. They weren’t all that small, either. $1.58 for three Frosties (including tax) will undoubtedly be the most economical ice cream stop of the trip.

Continuing from Evanston, we passed through some picturesque rock formations to the way to our destination for the night, Rock Springs. It’s striking how much the scenery changes each day.

This article is part of a series about our recent road trip to Colorado and back. To see the introductory article in the series, click here.