Road Trip Day 14: Salt Lake City, UT

Another long drive today. We knew that if we headed all of the way out to San Diego, it was going to mean some long days in the car on the way home. We had stayed in Carson City the night before and now we had to drive across Nevada and into Utah to make our next stop in Salt Lake City.

It was about an 8 hour day, but there was some landscapes to see? Maybe? Nevada is pretty flat and desert...but there were some hills and things. All of the towns along I-80 had their initial in a large letter on the side of hills, which was interesting. But there wasn't much going on.

As soon as we crossed the border into Utah, the land became a huge salt flat. It was so interesting how we literally drive between two giant rocks on the border and the whole landscape changes. This has been one of the most interesting things that I've noticed driving through all of these states across the country. So driving across Utah was interesting because the sun glittered off the road and made you see things. There was nothing there but a lot of flat salt, but it was almost mesmerizing. They also had signs up along the highway that said "No Drowsy Driving". This made us chuckle because New Mexico was very adamant about DWI's and keeping drunk drivers off the road (which is good), and Nevada was adamant about No Meth (also good)...and then we get to Utah, and they are focused on no drowsy driving. Better safe than sorry in all aspects I guess!

The Great Salt Lake

Arriving in Salt Lake, it was getting to be evening time, but we had a couple of stops that we wanted to make, because yes, there is beer in Utah...despite what you may think. Our first stop was at Desert Edge brewery, where we shared a sampler and learned about the crazy liquor laws in Utah. Maybe crazy is the wrong word...but they are very different from everywhere else that we had been. They had a nice restaurant there, but after our stop at Taco Time in Nevada, we were both still stuffed!

Beer at Red Rock Brew Pub

We then headed to Squatter's Pub, where we had another great sampler and met a new friend from Canada. He was taking a road trip by himself and just meeting up with friends along the way. So we sat there and chatted with him for a while and then headed to our last stop, Red Rock Brew Pub, where we planned on grabbing dinner.  Red Rock has great food and average beer...but was a fun place to people watch and enjoy the night. From there it was time for bed, with another long drive ahead...

Salt Lake City is a nice town. I've been there a few times before, spring and winter...it had a beautiful setting, basically surrounded by mountains, with the Great Salt Lake on the west side. It's a small city, so it's easy to get around, and the night life is better than what you would imagine. Definitely someplace for everyone to visit, especially if you take time to hike, bike, or ski. Check it out!