Filed under: AwesomeSauce, Favorite Things, Proof that I'm a Nerd, Revvin' Red Roxy, Utah: Life Elevated
People, I have a crush. A really big one. There are times when you just can’t get someone out of your head, you think about them all the time. Thinking about them gives you butterflies and you are constantly reliving the last moments you spent together. You secretly hoard any shred of evidence you have of your time together and make grandiose announcements like “This will change my life!” You feel like doing cartwheels and are perpetually googly.
I’m totally there.
Did you see my crush? Frankly, I don’t know how you can miss it. You know how I get nerdy-obsessed with things like bridges and buildings and dams, right? Well, you can now add “vast expanse of salt” to that list.
Isn’t it beautiful? I’m afraid I’m falling in love.
The Bonneville Salt Flats are about 120 miles west of Salt Lake City and I can’t believe, as a Utah native, I had never been there before. Kind of on a whim, HRH and I woke up early on Sunday morning and headed toward Nevada. By 9:00 am we were on the vast expanse of sparkling white salt, a place so flat you can actually see the curvature of the earth and my crush hit me full force.
The Salt Flats are really left overs from an sea bed from Lake Bonneville, an ancient lake the size of Lake Michigan that covered the bulk of western Utah and small bits of Nevada and Idaho. Over time the lake mostly disappeared–the Great Salt Lake is the only remaining puddle–creating the Salt Flats of the West Desert, which is the best place in the world for land speed records.
I seriously considered taking Miss Roxy out for a spin on the Salt Flats. Their dry and flat nature makes them perfect for breaking speeding records. My next trip I’ll detour over to the speedway and see what she can do without speed limits and cops and the like.
I am already planning my next trip west, I would love in the evening and watch the sun set behind those mountains. I would love to lie in the middle of the flats and watch the stars come out. People, I’m seriously crushing.
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Wow, those are some AMAZING shots – I love it, seemingly just you and the wilderness. Amazing.
This reminds me a lot of Monument Valley – almost alien, but very, very cool.
You’re so cute!
Comment by alyndabear 2009 August 18 @ 4:56 amSo, so pretty. I want to go to there.
Comment by Angella 2009 August 18 @ 7:09 amUtah is such a freak of nature! I love it!
Comment by Brittany 2009 August 18 @ 7:44 amI’ve never been either. I’ll have to plan a trip out there.
I’m crushing on your pictures, who took them?
Comment by Monica 2009 August 18 @ 7:50 amHRH took the ones of me, I took the ones of her, and the fancy camera timer took the ones of both of us.
Does this make us pro’s? ;o)
xox
Comment by heidikins 2009 August 18 @ 9:08 amI wanna go there!! (3rd rock quote) but seriously fab photos Im putting that on my things I want to visit & photograph!!! Awsome seeya hugya G
Comment by Grungedandy 2009 August 18 @ 8:09 amoh man aren’t they awesome, my sister had her bridals taken out there and it was amazing! it is really almost “alienish”, but so cool!
Comment by lacey 2009 August 18 @ 8:29 amThose are some awesome pictures! That is one place that I would like to visit.
Comment by Cady 2009 August 18 @ 8:30 amYou are so cute doing your cartwheel. And I dated a guy once who went out there to do motorcycle racing. It scared the shit out of me.
Comment by Jess 2009 August 18 @ 9:02 amThose pictures are awesome.
Comment by Inna 2009 August 18 @ 10:01 amI so wish I knew how to do a cartwheel. It looks so cool!
Oh, I have a crush on the salt flats, too. It’s a very worthy crush.
Comment by Naomi 2009 August 18 @ 11:29 amI would love to see that! I feel like Utah is edging its way up on my list of places to visit.
Comment by nancypearlwannabe 2009 August 18 @ 1:09 pmI read a book called “Refuge” about a lady from Utah (I need to recheck the title, but she talks about losing herself out there. Also, apparently there are some giant art pieces made in the salt. I’ve seen some of them from the air. But if you love the Flats, I recommend the book too! If the name has changed, I’ll get it to you.
Comment by Jen 2009 August 18 @ 1:31 pmI’m in love with your photos. Looks like an amazing time.
Comment by Erin 2009 August 18 @ 4:11 pmThere was a photo shoot in this month’s Glamour at the salt flats. I haven’t been out there, looks amazing.
Comment by Colleen 2009 August 18 @ 4:47 pmlove these pictures! such an amazing landscape.
Comment by katelin 2009 August 18 @ 5:22 pmThey are SO very cool! Would love to go someday.
Comment by Leslie 2009 August 18 @ 5:47 pmDid you get as far as the Tree of Life? It’s about 15 minutes out of Wendover, and I find it amusing.
Comment by Sra 2009 August 18 @ 9:16 pmFriend – ALSO never been! I must go… and steal your love away. That’s probably a song. “Steal your love away…”
Comment by Andrea 2009 August 19 @ 2:36 pmI saw these pics on facebook and I loved them! So much fun!
Comment by Jennie 2009 August 19 @ 6:03 pmLove your picts!!
Comment by Heather 2009 August 20 @ 11:02 amI love those photos! The crisp blue sky. The natural color of the salty earth. And that pop of green for you, red for Roxy, turquoise for HRH. Awesome stuff. Our country sure is beautiful when we don’t trash it!
Comment by SoMi's Nilsa 2009 August 26 @ 9:47 amDoing my Utah research thanks to you, and so happy this is on our route. I’ve been dying to go to Bolivia for its salt flats for years now, but until then…Bonneville will do =)
Comment by Camels & Chocolate 2011 March 16 @ 12:46 am[...] to drive from Elko, Nevada to Salt Lake City, Utah without stopping, but that’s until I saw photos of Bonneville Salt Flats on Heidi’s blog. I needed to go there.Prior to researching for this trip, I’d never [...]
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