This log is a portion of a redwood tree which contained 45,000 board feet of lumber. This tree drifted onto the Crescent City, California beach during the 1964 flood. The log is 1477 years old (540 CE) and was cut from the largest piece of driftwood ever collected.
It was presented to the city of Winnemucca as an appropriate marker for the beginning of the 'Winnemucca to the Sea Highway'.
Lots and lots of nothing....
...with occasional bits of something.
The Victory Highway is a near-forgotten relic of the early 20th century roadways, a path traversed by early auto-pioneers from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans.
The road was completed and dedicated in 1925 and used until the 1940s.
I can only imagine driving across country on the Lincoln Highway. It was improved and straightened out a little, then renamed the Victory Highway. In the 1950s it was replaced by Interstate 80.
In 1912 roads were dirt, bumpy and dusty in dry weather, impassable in wet weather. The Lincoln Highway was the first improved automobile road across the U.S. It ran from Time Square in New York City to Lincoln Park in San Francisco, traversing 14 states.
As an 'improved road' it was graded and topped with gravel.
As the first automobile road across America, the Lincoln Highway brought great prosperity to hundreds of cities and towns along the way. The original length was 3,389 miles.
Lake Bonneville was a large ancient lake that existed from 32,000 to 14,000 years ago. For thousands of years, ancient Lake Bonneville was contained by mountains acting as natural dams. The largest area covered by the lake was more than 20,000 square miles, and with depths of just over 1000 feet,
The lake was freshwater, with its source from rainwater and melting glaciers.
As the lake expanded in size it gradually spread over much of Utah and into Nevada and Idaho.
Approximately 14,500 years ago, the lake broke through a natural earthen dam and spilled into the Snake River in Southeast Idaho, discharging an immense volume of water. The once great lake retreated into what is today, the Great Salt Lake located next to the city in Utah which bears its name.
The Bonneville Salt Flats or the Great Salt Lake Desert was established when Lake Bonneville emptied and evaporated and left behind a vast concentration of salt and minerals. The composition of minerals ranges in thickness from one inch to six feet.
The Salt Flats are one of the flattest areas on earth. The Flats cover 3,000 square miles and are larger than any other salt bed, worldwide. Sunlight and heat rise from the blinding-white surface creating images and mirages.
The purest salt is hard as concrete when dry and makes the world's best racing surface. Known as the greatest speedway in the world, it has been used to set records of speed and endurance.
In 1970, Gary Gabelich, in the Blue Flame Jet-powered rocket car, produced a top speed of 622.40 MPH, a speed that stands as the fastest documented time on Bonneville.
Spirit, Daisy and I chugged our way down the road at 58 MPH--but we can reach 75 on a downhill run with a tailwind.
That night we parked at a casino in Wendover, Nevada and this vehicle pulled in next to us. (This photo is for you, Glenn. I didn't get a chance to meet him but I suspect his outlook on life is similar to yours.)
'Wendover Will"
The weather was starting to change--rain, wind and colder at night.
Leaves were changing colors...
...and this was the most sun I saw for several days. I still had a lot of driving to do before heading south--I felt an urgency to keep moving.
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