Saying Goodbye to the Salt

Of course, all good things must come to an end, and eventually we had to leave Wendover and the Bonneville Salt Flats. Before we did however, we paid a visit to the Wendover Airport and their small museum devoted to the World War II history of the town, including the training of the B29 crews involved in delivering the first nuclear weapons used over the towns of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.



When we left Wendover, we headed west towards our next overnight stop in Winnemucca, Nevada, but along the way we had to stop off in the town of Elko, where one of our friends has been living for several years. Lee and Sherry are now back home in Perth, but it was good to see the town they've called home for the last five or so years.



Our overnight stop was a small motel in Winnemucca called the Town House Motel, and it was a very refreshing surprise after the accommodation in Wendover. Of all the things Wendover has to offer, it appears great accommodation deals during SpeedWeek aren't one of them, so clean, fresh smelling rooms with wifi provided were a great surprise in Winnemucca.

Time To Head For The Salt

After our overnight stop in Beaver, Utah, we headed on north towards the cities of Wendover (Utah) and West Wendover (Nevada) and the Bonneville salt flats. The state border is in the middle of the town, resulting in a very small town with 2 post offices, a handful of casino's on the Nevada side, and not much more to offer to the casual tourist. There are actually more things to do in Wendover than just gamble and race on the salt, but I suspect 99% of visitors to the town would never discover that.



The flight crews that flew the Enola Gay and Bockscar B29 Bombers to Hiroshima and Nagasaki trained at Wendover, and there's a small museum at the former air force base explaining some of the history of the area. There's also a local drag strip, but neither of these were the primary reason for our visit to the Wendover area.



Racers have been chasing land speed records at Bonneville since 1914, and the Southern California Timing Association have been running 2 events a year for many years now, one of those being August's SpeedWeek event. This year, over 500 teams entered for SpeedWeek, including 200 rookie teams. This was also the first time for me at SpeedWeek, and I had been looking forward to it since making the decision to come here almost a year ago.

Yet Another Update

Well, it's been almost two weeks since the last post, and we haven't too many more plans for "The Bonneville Run" yet, but we're also almost at the point where we could sort the rest out once we land. At the moment, there are three of us going on "The Bonneville Run", and at least 8 other West Australian's that are heading to the United States at the same time. We'll be catching up with some of these guys and girls in Los Angeles, and all of them at Bonneville.



Kate and I have decided that we would like to spend at least one night in a "Wigwam Motel", and the one major thing we've done since the last update on "The Bonneville Run" is to book a room at one of these historic motels. The Wigwam Motels are part of a chain of motels that used to be spread out along the length of the historic Route 66. These days, only 3 Wigwam Motels remain, and only one of these is anywhere near where we'll be on this trip. Wigwam Motel number 7 is located in San Bernardino, on the eastern outskirts of Los Angeles, and it will be our accommodation on our last night in LA, as it will also allow us to travel outside of peak traffic times. If you're interested in staying a night at Wigwam Motel number 7, in San Bernardino, then check out their website and don't forget the discount code on their rates and reservations page.

Tickets Are Booked!

Just a quick update, as k8 and I have now booked our flights to California. We have not yet booked any accommodation, but the major part of the trip is now confirmed. If anyone is planning on joining us, or doing their own thing around the same time, you could do a lot worse than the specials Air New Zealand have on at the moment. We paid au$1519 each, including all taxes and charges, even the credit card surcharge. For reference, the price before taxes and charges, as thats what everyone quotes, was au$1378. The best price available on qantas.com.au for the same trip, same days, is currently au$2400 return.



We are leaving Perth (Australia) in the evening of the 31st of July, we spend 12 hours in Auckland the next day, and after crossing the international date line, we land in San Francisco around 1pm on the 1st of August. We fly out of SF about 9pm on the 4th of September, and spend about 9 hours in Auckland this time, before landing at home in the evening of the 6th of September (which also happens to be my birthday)

Where We're Going and How We're Getting There.

It's looking a lot like we're flying out of Perth on the 31st of July, spending approximately 13 hours in Auckland before flying out again and landing in San Francisco on the 1st of August, spending a couple of days in and around San Jose recovering, then heading out on the road trip...



First stop is Yosemite, where we'll be spending a night, then heading down to Bakersfield, probably spending the night there.

After Bakersfield it's a relatively short drive to LA for a few nights, then off to try to follow some of the old Route 66 out to Barstow 'on the edge of the desert' and up to Death Valley, where we plan to stay for the night before heading for Vegas for a few days, including a day trip out to Hoover Dam.



After Vegas, it's up to Wendover, on the Nevada-Utah border, for SpeedWeek at Bonneville. We'll probably be at Bonneville for about 4 or 4 days before heading west, heading through Sacramento and back to San Francisco and San Jose.

We're planning on getting to Bonneville on either the 13th or the 14th of August (the 14th is the first day of racing on the salt). We're also planning on getting to the GoodGuys show at Pleastanton on the 27th to 29th of August.

Aside from that, we intend to fit in a couple of day trips up to San Francisco and down to places like Monterey and Santa Cruz.



We should be flying back into Perth on the 6th of September (my birthday - at least this one will be longer than 4 hours, last time we crossed the international date line on my birthday and skipped forwards a day at about 4am)

Welcome to "The Bonneville Run"

The Bonneville Run is a trip being planned for August 2010. The basic aim of this trip is to fly in to San Jose and embark upon a road trip that travels a number of US states and places us at the Bonneville Salt Flats for SpeedWeek 2010.



Along the way, we intend visiting San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Death Valley and the Hoover Dam, as well as stopping in to a number of speed shops along the way.

Also, we had a good time at John's Char Burger in Livermore last year, so will head out there again on a Friday night, probably coinciding with the GoodGuys Pleasanton show.



Further details will be added shortly, so please keep checking back for more info, and if you want to be involved, more information on that will be coming soon too...