At the far end of this island is Egg island where 500,000 seagulls lay eggs in the spring. Although there is not a lot of biodiversity in the lake, just algae, small shrimps, larvae and flies, there is so much of it that the birds have plenty to eat.
We hopped back on the bikes to head over to Buffalo Point. Along the way we saw a few!
There was a nice 1/2 mile hike to the top of the ridge where we could see all around the island. It was quiet with very few people about. Sunflowers were starting to bloom all over.
We headed out of the park around 9:45 to make our way to Wendover for lunch.
Back on Interstate 80 West, Rob set the cruise to 70 mph.
Not far away, we passed Morton salt and Cargill plants.
We also saw curious items in the salt flats.
We took this same route to Wendover two years ago on our Yosemite trip, but it was nearing dusk then. We got a better look this time.
Rob decided to take a quick detour to Bonneville Salt Flats so Jerry could see them. Admittedly, we wanted to see them again also. We were surprised by all the activity on the salt. Lo and behold, it was Speed Week!
Apparently there was rain last week that delayed the start of the time trials from Saturday to today. It was really busy and we were lucky to see two racers zoom by. It's a really cool sound. There were campers and spectators all over. After a few pictures we made our way to lunch at the Copper Kettle in Wendover. After lunch, just a few minutes down the road, we crossed into Nevada. Not long after that, into Pacific time zone.
This part of Nevada looks much like the southern route we took two years ago. The colors are surprisingly vibrant and there are mountains the entire way. It's extremely remote out here with many signs to towns that seem to be one or two houses and a few trees.
We thought we discovered a volcano, but realized it was another mountain range.
There were a few dust devils today.
Not too much longer after Michele mentioned it would be cool to see a tumbleweed, we got attacked by a gang of tumbleweeds crossing the road! She was so excited she didn't frame the shot too well.
The rest of the day we continued along I-80, stopped for fuel and cooling off breaks. At 5:30 local time we arrived at our hotel, Winnemucca Inn and Casino. We cooled off, got the bike cleaned up, cleaned ourselves up, and walked to dinner at the Pig BBQ. It was packed! Our waitress said Tuesdays are always nuts for some reason, more than weekends. We got the last table. It looked like a mix of locals, ranchers, and passers-through. Our food was really good.
Today we drove 420 miles and the temperature got to about 92-94. We were toasty by the end and are feeling the heat and mileage now. Tomorrow is our first scenic volcano day, as we head across Nevada into California.
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