Blast from the Past: Bob Dobbs Day in Review - 8/16/10

I know I'm behind schedule but I wanted to get this post in before we depart for the final destination on our trek, Eugene, Oregon. As you already know, we spent most our time Monday driving from Salt Lake City to San Francisco. Since we got in so late Sunday night, we drove around the Mormon Temple/Campus in the center of Salt Lake City.


Just to give you a sense of how important the Mormon religion is to culture out there, the city streets are labeled as the distance from the temple (300 W = 3 blocks west).


Once we got on the highway, it was only a short ride until we saw a glimpse of the Great Salt Lake.


And of course, with the Great Salt Lake comes the Great Salt Lake Desert.


I would describe the desert as a floor of driveway salt you use to melt ice on your driveway when you leave it in the garage too long.


Entering Nevada, the desert scenery changed a bit, with a little more green.



Along the way, we saw what must've been a 2-mile long train. Most people don't realize how much our country relies on freight trains to deliver goods and resources in bulk quantities across the country. You can get a better sense of understanding when you see trains like these in the middle of nowhere.


As a lover of trains and trucks, I also had to catch this sign.


Once we entered California, the scenery immediately changed to the great Sierra Nevadas.


We drove a few miles off the highway to stop by Lake Tahoe. What a beautiful, peaceful, relaxing place - and it was almost exactly how I pictured it.



About three hours later, we passed through Sacramento on our way to Fremont. Just before we arrived, we passed a GIANT wind farm that contained thousands of turbines. This was one of several we've seen on our trip, a good sign that America is making an investment in clean, renewable energy. But based on the empty lands we travelled through, there is definitely the opportunity to build millions of acres of wind and solar power farms.


That was all for Monday - more from the bay area later tonight.