Coffee Break with Liz and Kate

We are starting a new feature today called “Liz (or Kate) Goes on an Adventure”.  Whenever Liz (or Kate)  gets the chance to go somewhere interesting, unusual, cool, exciting or just plain weird, that we think you might be interested in, we’ll be snapping  pics of them there and sharing them with you.

So for the first adventure we present…

Kate Goes on an Adventure: Bonneville Salt Flats Speed Week

You’ll notice Kate there in the picture on the left, joined by Doug Steck and his Alfa Romeo, which set a new gas record this past Thurs.,  clocking in at a quick 230.368 mph.

Entering the world of the Bonneville Salt Flats is like entering an alien land.  At first view it appears as if  you have been transported into  a frigid, cold world of ice that stretches out for as far as the eye can see.  All you have to do is step out of the air conditioned car, and into the 95 degree August heat, to realize that it’s all an illusion.  The  Salt Flats, located in northwestern Utah, 4 miles from the Nevada border,  are 159 sq. miles (about the size of Lake Michigan) of strange, beautiful, flat, surreal land – a remnant of the ancient dried up Lake Bonneville from the Pleistocene era of dinosaurs.  In many areas the salt is 6 feet deep, and the land is completely inhospitable to plant life.

The fact that this land  is extremely flat, covered in salt and aligned nearly perfectly with the shape of the Earth, make it the the ultimate spot for men and women from all over the world to test out their need for speed during Speed Week at the Bonneville Speedway. More  speed records have been set here than anywhere else in the world, some in excess of 600 mph.

On the left…the black line painted in the salt as a reference point for the pilots (they don’t like to be called drivers)

On the right…a tire caked in salt after racing

So on with Kate’s Adventure…That picture above of the salt flats is really what it looks like. There are no buildings,  no electricity, no water, no vegetation, no signs of civilization…just flat, blinding-white barren land.  Even for the world famous Speed Week.  Apparently all the racing fans need is a few porta- potties, some shade awnings, their campers, a few generators, plenty of testosterone,  and of course their prized cars, trucks and motorcycles.  I tagged along on this trip with my husband and nine year old son, armed with plenty of reading material, snacks, and a camping chair, anticipating being  slightly bored with the whole thing.  Boy was I ever WRONG.  This is undoubtedly one of the coolest, most amazing and exciting  things I have ever done.

I met people there from all over the world who came to the salt flats with life-long dreams of running their custom-made vehicles across that salt, all attempting to set new speed records in their specific categories.  Let me tell you about the French team, with their pastel teal blue and yellow Renault with the engine of a Suzuki 750 motorcycle. They spent their time and earnings building their dream vehicle and then shipped it off in a container to America, only to find that somehow in the process their  car had been destroyed in transit.  They frantically pieced her back together just in time for speed week.  And all this for a completely untested car (it seems there is no where in France to even make a test run.)

It was absolutely exciting to stand at the starting line with the French crew as their Renault made it’s first ever run. And leave it to the French to bring a sense of style to Bonneville, with their color coordinated pastel crew and car.

On left…the French Renault takes off on it’s maiden journey

Here are some of my other favorite  people and images from my adventure to the Salt Flats.

~Kate

Enjoy your Coffee Break!

Want to submit your own story to be considered for the Guest Headline post to run on Fridays?  Just let us know at lizandkate@live.com.

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