After a fuel stop and a quick breakfast (more strawberry cereal bars) we were back on the road.
Wyoming is really, really gorgeous. I just can't say enough, and we're making plans to go back for a longer vacation so we can take it all in.
As we moved into "The West," though, we were both struck at how many manufactured homes and trailers we saw instead of houses, and the vast distances between them. Since we're both from the rural Midwest, we thought we understood isolation. Not so much. Out there? That's isolation.
We stopped near the Utah border for lunch at a regional chain called Taco Time. It was *packed,* so I guess that's what passes for good food there. I had a chicken soft taco that looked suspiciously like a burrito, and their signature Mexi-Fries.
The secret's out -- Mexi-Fries are tater tots with seasoned salt. I make those at home, but I didn't know I was recreating a Wyoming treat.
And then there's Utah.
OK, I'll admit, ever since I read Under the Banner of Heaven I've found Mormons to be kinda scary. And I watch Big Love, so you know ... :-)
I entered Utah with a little trepidation.
Pretty mountains, pretty mountains ... bam! Salt Lake City!
Salt Lake City is *huge,* yo, and it's interstates are some of the most twisted and convoluted I've ever seen. We saw the temple from a distance, and then we headed to the Great Salt Lake.
I bought a Coke at the last cluster of gas stations and civilization before the lake. Caffeine for the win!
The Great Salt Lake is huge, and very flat, and incredibly impressive in a bleak way. There was that sense of isolation again, because there were miles and miles of nothing but road and the lake.
I kept noticing messages spelled out in rocks. People wanting to leave their mark on nothingness. It was very ... human. But as we zoomed past, I wondered if anyone would ever stop to read those messages.
A cluster of casinos told us we were in Nevada. Day Three isn't over, but Nevada deserves its own post.
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