Day 9: Salt and Speed
Bonneville UT is best known for the remnants that an ancient lake left behind; more specifically, the flat crust of brilliantly white salt that stretches for miles in every direction. Since the 1930’s daredevils made pilgrimages to the salt flats so they could try their hand and breaking land speed records. The terrain is perfect for the sport. The ground is usually completely dry during the summer and is so flat that you can see the curvature of the Earth. The quick research I did while passing through informed me the record speed for the flying mile was 630 mph, in a rocket powered “car.”
We made no attempt at setting records in our Suburban, however, the sign posts along I-80 gave us a taste of time trials. At a certain point close to the end of the flats, a large green sign reads: “AT 80MPH 1 MILE = 45 SECONDS / BEGIN TIMING.” Then, every mile for the next five miles is a smaller sign, marking the completed mile, and the time a stopwatch would read for a car traveling at 80mph. But this didn’t feel that impressive, that is, until we hit a work zone and slowed down to 65 mph. Then we felt like we were crawling, and I itched for the construction zone to end so I could get back up to pace. But the slowness gave me time to contemplate the 630 mph record. At that speed, traveling 1 mile would only take 3.5 seconds. The 3000 mile journey out to California, which we did in 5 days, would take only 4 hours. Sure, this is just a bit quicker than a plane, but the record setting car, “Blue Flame” never even had to leave the ground. It truly was a mind boggling record.
I know that “Blue Flame” is not remotely close to being a practical, utilitarian vehicle. But we do have quicker ways of traveling to and from wherever we need to go than driving. So I return back to my original question from the beginning of this road trip. Why spend 8 to 10 hours in the car every day? I believe it helps provide a perspective. A map or a globe can only give you a comparison of distances. When you go out and drive every day for hours, and see just how much is out there, it gives you real scope. The world is a massive place. Go and see.
