Waking up fresh, with only a tinge of a hangover, we departed Boise early in the morning. Listening to Tina Fey’s “Bossypants” audiobook, we set out for Nevada, and the Bonneville Salt Flats.

Quietly, we drove all the way to Twin Falls. Once there we were both in desperate need of coffee. Being from Seattle, we both are accustomed to espresso stands being on every corner. This is not the case in Idaho. Like two dope fiends unable to find a dealer, we were increasingly frantic in our search until we finally located Java Express. We downed our coffee and finally had the gumption to face the car problems that had been plaguing us all morning.

A sight for hung over eyes

A couple of zip ties, a quart of oil, and an engine warning light later we departed Twin Falls. After another quick car issue related stop in ironically named Jackpot, NV we finally had a fully functioning car and adequate caffeine levels.

We had to drive quite a while before we got anywhere interesting, so we settled into our favorite conversation topic: music. Between that and the generous speed limits in Nevada we made good time on our way to Wells, NV. While in Wells we refueled. We were intrigued by a sign we saw across the street advertising discounted liquor. Naturally, being drunks on a trip, we had to stop in and check it out. Finding nothing “discounted” about their prices, we bought a fifth of Gentleman Jack and left.

The next stretch of road might be the most boring of the entire trip. Just seemingly endless 80mph drivings in straight lines. Well really it was only 45 minutes, and occasionally pretty, but it *felt* like it took forever.

We couldn’t resist stopping in Wendover, NV. The 40 foot tall prospector was too cool to not stop and check out. They also had an outdoor city museum. Must be a thing that people do in drier states.

From Wendover, you could see the salt flats. The Bonneville Salt Flats are important to me. As an afficionado of speed, this is like a foody eating at a Michelin rated restaurant, or an art major visiting the Louvre. I had always heard of the texture of the sand, how it was a unique racing surface, and (rather unfortunately) how the flats are shrinking. I was very pleased. It was everything I wanted it to be. Seemingly endless, flat, mirage-laden salt. I took the opportunity to take several pictures and drive a short ways on the surface just to say I’d done it. It was beautiful.

That done, we settled in for another long slog through Utah. I had anticipated liking Utah, but it was even better than I had hoped. Utah is vast. Imposing hills, mountains, and of course a large salty lake. 

We were surprised by the advertising leading into Salt Lake City

We cruised through SLC, being sidetracked shortly in a quest for fuel. We were both getting hungry, and Jordan had some experience in a nearby town, so we went there.

The town Jordan had visited is Park City. It’s like a yuppie paradise. I haven’t been to Aspen, but I can’t imagine it being much different (except having more bars). We drove around until we found a pub, parked, and went in for a burger. Except we couldn’t get a burger. The “pub” we had selected was not a pub in the classic sense. There were no mozzarella sticks or chicken wings. No Rueben sandwiches or even french fries. It was fine dining with the wrong name. I ended up selecting the roast beef with squash spears and horseradish mashed potatoes, ordered a beer, and relaxed by looking through Zillow’s Park City housing guide and balking. After two low quality beers and some delightful beef, I bought enough chocolate covered graham crackers to drop Wilford Brimley and turned the keys over to Jordan for the rest of the day.

Seeing as I’d had two beers already, and wasn’t driving, I decided to continue the trend with our bottle of Gentleman Jack and some coke.  At this point things get a little blurry for me, but I distinctly remember introducing Jordan to Kendrick Lamar’s Section 80, Run the Jewels, and making him guess what rock band I was playing at one point (Deftones).

We were on our way to Dinosaur National Monument the next day, so this drunken music-filled trip must have lasted several hours until we realized we’d arrived at a very closed National Monument.

We turned around, checked into a motel in Naples, UT, and watched Top Gear (UK) until we fell asleep.

As Ice Cube would say: It was a good day.