From Salt Lake City we headed across the Utah desert for Elko, Nevada. Hot and dusty! But it cooled off that night for a good night’s sleep.
But…does anyone know where our Morton salt comes from?? Just west of Salt Lake City!!
Salt Lake is salty because it doesn’t have an outlet. With the desert temperatures, the water evaporates and salt is left as a residue. Morton Salt extracts the salt from the lake and salt ponds that have formed west of Salt Lake City. Morton Salt and other salt companies bring over $1 billion to the Utah economy every year! As we’re driving, it looks like snow out in the desert! With snow (salt) drifts!
If you look closely, you can see the drifts!
Copper mining is also a very big industry in the Salt Lake City area. This smoke stack is 30 feet shorter than the Empire State Building! Some day we hope to take a tour of that mine!
Great Salt Lake is in the distance in these pictures. The lake is lower than usual, so it was difficult to get a good look at it.
Some pictures as we’re leaving Salt Lake City. Mountains, desert and smoke, which made for hazy pictures.
We stopped at a rest area in the salt flats. How interesting! John was able to walk out onto the lake of salt. There was a Mustang driving, ramming, doing donuts out there! It looks like you could sink into it, like snow. But it’s as hard as rock.
Of course, we need a flower!
After Elko, Nevada, we planned a couple of days in Reno, Nevada. No, Mari, I didn’t even spend my $20!!
The first thing we had to do was to find an Emergency Vet clinic that would be open. Between the wind, smoke and dust, Lucky got an eye infection. Our poor puppy…! We found a clinic close to the campground. They were fantastic and took good care of us. Lucky got some medicine and is doing much better!
One of the reasons for Reno, was that we could drive down to Lake Tahoe. What a beautiful area! This is a big ski resort area in the winter. And lake recreation in the summer…boating, scuba diving, kayaking, swimming. We went into Sand Harbor State Park to check things out. It is a perfect example of God’s creation!
Following are some pictures of our day spent in the Lake Tahoe area.
It was a bright sunny day, but the smoke made it a hazy day!
Onward to Corning, California for an overnight stop. The first part was mountain driving…up and down…down and up! John has gotten real good at mountain driving! I only had to use my “Fred Flintstone” brakes twice!!
We made it around Sacramento just fine. Driving north on I-5 gave us a good glimpse of the farming in California. Lots of fruit trees, strawberries, almonds, sunflowers. Those we could identify!
And organic rice!
We know there were mountains to our east, because we had just come out of them, but the smoke from the wildfires was too thick to see them. We did find out that the Carr fire is now 95% contained. We knew we would be driving east of that area, so we were glad to hear it was under control.
Where are the mountains?
We arrived in Corning safe and sound. Corning is the Olive Capital of the World! Some of the orchards we couldn’t identify, but now know what was growing! The campground had olive trees/bushes growing there, with olives on them!
We left Corning this morning, Sunday, August 26th, after watching Immanuel Lutheran Church service on FaceBook. We are thankful for this opportunity to hear God’s Word when traveling. The smoke is heavy and burning our eyes, noses and throat. Please pray for the people who have lost their homes and property. This whole area has suffered. We were hoping for a quick trip up I-5 to Klamath Falls, Oregon, but God had a different plan! Alternator problems…! We are safe and sound, with a mechanic coming in the morning, in Redding. Of all places! The Carr Fire is just west of here! But we know who is in control, and will roll along with whatever happens! God is good! We’ll keep in touch! Everyone have a blessed week. Love you all!
There are mountains out there somewhere!
One more flower!
Grand West Coast Adventure 
So glad you are safe and having a good time. Fixing the motor home is just a bump in the road. As bad as it’s been, it must be interesting to be near the Carr Fire. Take care! Love you!
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