Our van with all of our ‘stuff’ on this trip… It all fit like a puzzle and if one was out of place, it would not all fit in there. LOL We drove 7,040 miles on this entire road trip and our 2012 Honda Odyssey did not disappoint.
Utah… the state that we’ve all only heard of, but dreamed of going especially in the past year. Craig has been watching a lot of Youtube videos of all the hiking trails in Zion National Park, so that was a must do for him. For me, getting a family shot at the Salt Flats was a must ever since he showed me online, so even though these two locations were pretty far from one another and the flats were out of our route, we made it a point to make the extra drive to make this happen.
Ok, so let’s begin with the Salt Flats. Like I’ve been saying with all of our recent travel blog posts, seeing these places in real life just doesn’t compare to seeing it in photos or videos. No matter how amazing the photo or video may be, it just doesn’t do it justice. When we got very near, we stopped by a gas station that seemed to be the last of civilization before entering the salt flats to ask exactly where it was just in case. Every hour counted on this trip, and we just didn’t have the time or energy to get lost in these barren lands. We were so glad we stopped by because the sweet lady there actually saved us an hour of driving! Instead of going around it like the way our GPS told us to, there was a road that she told us to take. As soon as Craig went in and said, “Ma’am… quick question for ya.” She goes, “You wanna know where the salt flats are, right?” LOL! She obviously gets that question numerous times a day, but even still, she nicely led us to the right direction. She said, “Just go down this road, keep going straight and you won’t miss it.” And, we sure didn’t…. There’s just no way you could even if you tried. We went straight down that road and viola, there is was! The most grand, white flat land of salt I have ever seen in my life! Miles of just flat salt. Wow! The phenomenon fascinated me!
There were some guys there with their fancy motorcycles, cars, race cars, etc… they were just riding on the salt flats for fun. You can go as fast as you want to go! And then there was us with our mini van trying to look cool too. LOL! This is actually not a national park; it’s just “public land”. It was beyond beautiful especially with the mountain skyline as the backdrop and of course the bluest clear skies. There’s always pros and cons to everything, right? So, those were the pros. The con and the only con was the heat. Ya’ll… the sun was out and wanted to get noticed. It was literally beating down at us. We didn’t even have to walk anywhere. You literally just drive onto the salt flats and you’re there, so we got out of the car and started taking pictures after being in awe for a few minutes. But, after just a few minutes, we felt totally dehydrated. I had to keep passing around the water for the fam to keep them safe and not too irritable. Wow, the heat was seriously torturous! But, we all knew that it was worth it to get Craig’s epic shots that has become one of our faves from this trip. Went in June, so it’s obviously going to be hot in the middle of summer. It can be really cold in the winter months, so just be sure to look up the weather for the season you’re visiting and prepare accordingly. I can’t wait to print these out HUGE! Gosh, I’m running out of walls in our home for sure!
Few facts about the Bonneville Salt Flats:
1. It’s the largest salt flat in the US.
2.Size - 40 square miles!
3.It’s named Bonneville because it’s said that these salt flats formed when ancient Bonneville Lake dried up.
TIPS: (Please keep in mind that we went in the summer, so some of these tips won’t make sense for cooler months.)
1. Take PLENTY of water with you.
2. Sunscreen yourself up!
3. According to google… do NOT drive on the salt flats if it’s wet! There’s a chance of getting stuck if the rain causes mud. Please be careful.
4. Have a plan for your photos so you know what shots to get as quickly as possible because it’s so hot.
5. For your photos, wear outfits with colors that ‘POP’ from all the white salt flats. We originally wanted to do a dressy shoot, but felt that our causal, “vacation clothes” outfits fit better.
6. It’s super windy, so don’t put too much effort and time in fixing your hair for your shoot.
7. After rain, the salt flats creates a reflection which looks incredible. We really wanted this to happen for some unique photos, but oh well… maybe next time!
8. Have fun and embrace the beauty!
With much love,
Craig + Unchong
Dear Salt Flats… wow… you were truly epic. Thanks for existing. Until next time….