Our “big adventure” has been in the planning for some time and it is hard to believe that we are really on our way across the US.
After leaving the traffic in the Bay Area, crossing Donner Pass and the Tahoe forests, I-80 drops into Reno and the flat land of Nevada is desolate and barren. I have always found this landscape to be beautiful in its own way, the purple and red mountains a contrast with the golden colored grass and olive green sagebrush.
This time, I look up the history of the small towns along the way that we have passed and ignored so many times. Some interesting pieces of information emerge regarding their roles as railroad towns.
Winnemucca – In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Winnemucca had a vibrant Chinatown. The Chinese originally came to the area as workers on the transcontinental Central Pacific Railroad which reached Winnemucca in 1868. Some remained or returned to settle. During the 1890s, around 400 Chinese formed a community in the town. Among their prominent buildings was the Joss House on Baud Street, a place of worship and celebration. In 1911 the community was visited by Sun Yat Sen later to become Chinese president. He was on a fund-raising tour of the United States to help the Xinhai Revolution
Elko has been the home of the annual National Cowboy Poetry Competition for the last 33 years. This festival is held each January and is a week-long celebration of life in the rural West, featuring poetry, music, stories, gear, film, photography, and food.Every July, since 1963, Elko is host to the National Basque Festival.
Wells began as a place called Humboldt Wells along the trail to California. It was subsequently founded as a railroad town along the origin of the Transcontinental Railroad and was once a stopover for passenger trains. The Humboldt River as its source in springs and a swampy area just west of the city that today is called Humboldt Wells.
West Wendover is the last town in Nevada and straddles the border with its many casinos. Wendover sits on the other side of the border in Utah and consists of motels with no gambling. The 2 towns run the length of the same street. I am standing in the middle of the road taking these pictures.
Nevada 
Utah
The Great Salt Lake is the largest remnant of Lake Bonneville, a prehistoric pluvial lake that once covered much of western Utah. The majority of the Great Salt Lake is dry salt flats. Further east is a small section of the Great Salt Lake that is still water. Last night a large group of movie film caterers were talking about setting up to film early in the morning. The chunks of salt on the floor of the Quality Inn that they tracked in, and the clumps stuck to the wheels of some cars, looked like snow!
The Bonneville Salt Flats today is 30,000 acres. Here is an interesting site about the speedway https://www.bonnevilleracing.com
Bonneville Speedway 
Telephone poles run along the railroad track. An amazing feat to run a telephone line this far across the country!