Wednesday 15th August 2012 Twin Falls to Wells Nevada (check) to Laramie Wyoming 726 miles.

Wednesday 15^th August 2012 Twin Falls to Wells Nevada (check) to Laramie Wyoming  726 miles.

One forgets that travelling further south, and in mid-August, the sun rises much later, 6:30AM in fact. It didn’t really rise to-day for quite some time as it was very hazy leaving Twin Falls, and very cold. It made for a good ride down US93 towards the Nevada border, although the scenery was much the same, scorched brown. The first town in Nevada is Jackpot, and I counted 4 casinos together in the main street as one rode past. So on to Wells, and the scenery was the same. The only wild life being a mangy coyote, and a few scraggy cows trying to find some nourishment from the burnt grass.

Once in Wells I turned east on I80 and then into Utah, where I headed for the Bonneville Speedway. Quite a thing to see. Loads of RVs, campers, and even tents camping out on the salt flats. I rode to the end of the paved road, about 4 miles in, where the real story begins. Two lines of vehicles were there, one for sightseers, other for racers. RVs, campers, you name it were lined up to head out to the tracks to see the action. Some of the speedsters were real home jobs. According to a knowledgeable guy I spoke with, there are 4 tracks out there, two for the real stuff, and two for the public. Some had their dirt bikes out on the salt, and I have no idea if the RVs were speed tested. One thing’s for sure, my Ultra didn’t go there. I have seen the effect of salt on metal from living in an area where they salt  the roads in winter.

So it was back onto I80 and to Salt lake City. The scenery heading there was with salt flats on either side for miles and miles, turning to salt ponds. Quite amazing. I didn’t stop in the City, having visited the Temple area last year, so kept on I80. The scenery east of the city is quite grand, with red high cliffs, then into Wyoming where it was much the same as before. Burnt scrub. I80 is in great shape, plenty of road works though. Where they have repaved is so smooth, and even the areas not yet paved are infar better shape than I5. As traffic was fairly light I wasn’t held up too much by all the works.

The temperature heated up around Salt Lake City, although not as hot as yesterday. Crossing Wyoming the main problem was gusty side winds. Northern Wyoming is much more scenic than the south in my opinion. About 50 miles from Laramie, then temperature suddenly dropped, by about 20 degrees I reckon. I was glad of my suit, and it became all zipped up. Crossing Nevada, Utah and Wyoming one forgets how high they are. I saw a couple of summit signs, one for 7000 feet, the other just under. The road is straight and mainly flat, so it is easy to imagine it is a lower altitude, not a massive high level plain.

Laramie should be called ‘windy city’. It does blow here. I had to ride into town for a meal, but no Alan Ladd sightings. Bummer.

So it is east again tomorrow, and take in a few more states to check off.