(photos: Our desert campsite in West Wendover; The great Salt Lake)

DAY FOURTEEN - Pocatello, ID, to West Wendover, NV
We started driving before breakfast today. We have 300 miles to do today, which is a long driving day for us. At least it is easy interstate miles today. We are passing through Salt Lake City, but since neither of us cares to see the Mormon Temple, we probably won’t stop there. We stopped at a rest area and toasted some bagels for breakfast. We could have done it on the road, but the dogs needed to be fed and walked.
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We did end up stopping in Salt Lake City, but we just pulled off at a scenic overlook to have lunch. It is hard to see the lake or take photos of it because of the haze on the surface. It makes it look like the mountains in the background are floating. We are planning to spend the night at a KOA in West Wendover, just across the border in Nevada. We are definitely in the desert. You can see those watery mirages on the road, and although it is in the 60s and 70s today, both sides of the road are white. It’s not snow; it’s salt. In the absolute middle of nowhere, in the middle of the salt flat, was a modern sculpture. A big post with colored balls on it. Very weird.
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The West Wendover KOA is OK. We aren’t used to being in the desert yet, so it looks dusty and crummy, but actually there is a little concrete barrier with grass and rose bushes on it. But the campsites are gravel and dust. We do have a picnic table and a fire pit and a level parking area, but it’s too dusty to eat outside. David took Nora to the playground and she got so dusty that when she got back, she put her hand on the screen door and a huge puff of dust went up from her hand. This town looks pretty dumpy by day, with the main road lined with casino motels. Even the gas station has a casino. It is literally a few yards over the border into Nevada. But after dark, the place looked positively lively. Flashing bulbs lit up all the casinos and it almost looked like Reno from our campsite. The lady at the front desk gave me a one-time-use 10-percent off card for the next time we use a KOA. It worked out great because we made a reservation for Thursday night at the KOA on the Las Vegas strip, which is probably the most expensive KOA in the country. It’s going to be $42 for one night, and they said it would cost more than that if we didn’t make a reservation. It’s warm here, but it’s getting cooler as night falls.