Well, that’s not entirely accurate. But it WAS a rental car, so in a way a “no-namer”.
I celebrated my 50th birthday in Vegas in 2011 and while there we took the Heli USA Grand Canyon Helicopter Tour which landed at the remote Grand Canyon Ranch Resort, where we enjoyed a great breakfast and a couple of hours wandering around the “authentic” 1800’s style setting. And though the ranch was in the desert in Arizona, I never really got that true “desert” sensation and I was left wanting.
That desire was fulfilled on my visit back to Nevada during my extended business trip in August of 2012. After playing golf just outside of Salt Lake City on a late Saturday afternoon, I jumped in the rental car and headed due west to West Wendover, Nevada. I checked into the casino/hotel a little bit after dark, headed to the buffet, played the slots for a bit and then retired to my room. Honestly, when you’re so used to non-smoking venues (and you don’t smoke yourself) it is extremely difficult to re-adjust to that type of environment.
So after a good night’s rest, I woke up exceptionally early in advance of my 8:30 a.m. tee off. Well, after wandering the nearby neighbourhood (which was really a bit of a slum) I decided to jump in the car and simply tour around a bit. After quickly finding myself outside of the town limits (within a very short 2 minutes) I decided to continue on down the road into nowhere. The sign on the side of the road did read “next gas 130 miles” after all. After venturing out about 10 minutes, I noticed a small dirt road that ran off the main paved one I was on. Always up for a bit of adventure, off I went.
What came next I can only describe as being an experience of total peacefulness. No, I did not run into any Native Americans and share some peyote with them. I simply parked my car, climbed up to the top of a nearby, sandstone outcropping and watched the remainder of the sunrise as it came up over the Rockies way off in the distance. Silent and serene, I sat there for about 15 minutes, simply enjoying the spectacle laid out before me. I felt blessed to experience the magnificent surroundings. I marvelled at the lonely road I had just travelled on as it disappeared into nothingness well beyond my range of sight. A brief few minutes of my life, that I shall forever treasure.
Later that day, after having played 36 holes of golf in the scorching heat, I found myself marvelling at another wonder of nature just a few miles back toward Salt Lake City. That being the Bonneville Salt Flats, home to most of the land speed records. I pulled off the main highway at the exit to the Flats with the somewhat silly plan of seeing how fast I could get my rental car going. But I chanced upon Motorcycle Speed Week, where they congregate yearly in attempts to set various speed records and the flats were closed to cars (well anyone stupid enough to do what I was going to attempt). I opted not to pay the entrance fee to drive the additional few miles onto the flats to see things up close, but I was treated to witnessing the start of an attempt by one rider. I was informed that they run the bikes over this straight course (can’t remember the exact length but I want to say approx. 10 miles) and the speed is measured at some point in time. As I stood at the end of the paved road, I could hear the roar of the bike engine as it was being revved..and then it was off and out of sight within seconds.
A dried up old sea bed are the Flats, but another marvel to behold, with or without the speed demons.
