Departure: Salt Lake City, UT - May 13, 12:30pm MST

Arrival: Sparks, NV - May 13, 7:30pm PST

Miles: ~520 miles

Cities: Elko, Sparks

See the Photos

Of course, the day we could sleep in, we both woke up fairly early. We walked downstairs for a breakfast buffet at JB’s Restaurant. It was pretty good. From there, we set out to explore SLC. We passed through a portion of Temple Square on our way to see the Capitol building. It was so pretty (I know I’m overusing that word but it fits). There were yards and yards of tulips in full bloom. I honestly couldn’t think of another city I had been in with so many flowers. It was beautiful but impossible to escape a sign that said “mormon” or “church of latter day saints” or girls in long skirts and guys in white shirts. I don’t buy in to their belief system but kudos for knowing how to plan a gorgeous city.

At the bottom of the hill where the Capitol sat, we passed by 2 more park areas, one which had winding creeks and little stone bridges. It was quaint and lovely. How amazing to have such areas around for lunch or just a stroll. There was also no smoking allowed in any of these outdoor areas. It was kind of awesome. The hill leading up to the Capitol was lined with gigantic homes, many with Victorian/Edwardian influences. The trees were so dense, it was impossible to get a photo with all of them, but it seemed like a lovely place to live, especially with City Creek Park between you and downtown.

The Capitol was a bit of a disappointment after what we had seen on the walk up. It was a huge grass lawn with no landscaping, but it did allow us a great view out to the mountains. We walked back down to Temple Square. There was a wedding at the Mormon Temple that had just let out and we did pause to watch the bride and groom be awkwardly filmed in different poses. The doorknobs to the Temple were incredibly ornate. I’m uncertain of the history, but the beehive is a big symbol in Utah. It’s the shape on their road signs and appeared numerous places around SLC, including several places on these doors, so it must be a religious symbol. Assembly Hall was next door and I think it was my favorite exterior, despite some temporary plywood doors. Not sure what that was about.

As I was taking photos, I was backed up to the Tabernacle and heard bits of the pipe organ. We had to run back to our hotel but luckily, we decided to come back and catch the last 10 minutes of the recital inside the Tabernacle. It was a spiritual experience. Since we were late, we had to sit in a viewing booth but we still had a perfect view of the 11,600-something pipe organ with the dome glowing in different colors behind it. It was so beautiful, as was the playing. Sadly we missed hearing Mars from the Planets. What we caught still gave me chills, though. When the recital ended, we were allowed to walk inside and take photos. I overheard one of the workers explaining that the large pipes that were visible were real and are still working, but the rest was an organ facade. The actual organ was roped off. I would have loved to get close enough to see all the knobs. I have no clue how someone plays that thing. It sounded so incredible. I wish I had tried to secretly record some on my camera.

After all we had filmed in SLC, we knew a Best Buy run was in order to buy more DV tapes. It’s funny to walk in to a store that is identical setup to the one in your hometown. It’s kind of a time warp. We headed north out of SLC, connecting with I-80 which would take us to Reno. It was on this stretch of road that I passed a Mini convertible with their arms stuck straight up waving at us. It’s nice to have family on the road. We drove alongside the Great Salt Lake for some time and I won’t lie. I was disappointed. We’re guessing the other side that was closer to the mountains was more like what I had envisioned. We continued along through the New Foundland Salt Basin and past a Morton salt factory. It was certainly a unique landscape.

Now, we expected that as we arrived in Nevada, we’d see cacti and desert. We were sadly mistaken. Nevada was fairly lush, especially in the northern part. Apparently, we weren’t going to see any desert on our trip which made us pretty sad, as we had seen almost everything else. It was a peaceful drive down to Reno, though, rolling through flatter areas and around mountains. It was a beautiful sunset as we neared Sparks (just outside of Reno). We stopped in Elko for gas, a large city that seemed to be a smalltown. We got our first taste of gas price gouging. I paid $4.29 and then had to use a footlong key to go to the bathroom, which my Mini motoring field guide definitely advised against (cleanliness of bathroom is in reverse proportion to size of key…umm yes). When I pulled up to the pump, a man started approaching us and I worried if I had parked in full service. I panicked and quickly said “Oh, are we in full service?” He was like nah but said something about wanting to just come see if we needed help. Adam and I were adamant about having it under control. The guy decided to bash my car instead. He asked where we were headed and said “I bet you guys were cramped in there.” Silly boy. Adam could stretch his legs all the way out. Then he asked about our gas mileage. The Mini guide had also warned about unwanted attention. So to make matters worse, we drove past the other Chevron on the other side of the exit and gas was 13 cents cheaper and it appeared to be newer and have no nasty outdoor bathroom. I was 2 for 2 on bad Chevron experiences, so I boycotted them for what was left of the trip.

A few hours later we found our way in to Sparks. The area near Steve’s house really seemed to be developing quickly with lots of new shopping and dining. It was a nice area. We found Steve’s place and were greeted by him and his friends, Matt & Trent, out on the porch. His friends were super nice. After a little small talk and unloading the G5 Steve was buying from me, we left for dinner at a local microbrewery. It was a nice place and had tasty fish & chips. We stopped by Wal-mart on the way home for some drinks and mixers. Steve bartends on the side and Trent used to, so they whipped us up some drinks. We watched old episodes of The Office and just hung out. It was a nice time. I’ll be seeing the same group in SF in June, as they have a trip planned for Pride. It was nice seeing Steve after nearly 4.5 years, even if he was still just as mean to me. Exciting thing to note was his sink light that changed from blue to red depending on the temp of the water. Adam took pics of all his geek gadgets about the house. I wouldn’t be surprised if Adam has some of them soon. It was a new experience for me in a way, though, as it was the first time I was the straight minority in a social setting. I’ve had gay friends and never really felt like they were different, but I definitely had a new outlook on how they sometimes feel out of place. There’s just a different set of shared experiences.