This is not a technical entry.  I want to show what the trip is like from a different perspective.  Yes, the guys work hard.  I wonder how many times the nose on the car is assembled and disassembled in a day.  Yes, it is hot.  Not “South Carolina” hot but “Utah” hot.  That means you don’t really sweat but at the end of the day you could still drink another gallon of water!  In spite of the amount of work we have now had a number of folks that have been willing to go back 3 times or more.

A day on the salt looks like this . . .

We start the day meeting in the parking lot at the Rainbow Hotel and Casino at about 6:15am.  Let’s just say it is a working vacation.  Some of us get coffee at the McDonalds across the street and others at the convenience store.  Miller’s convenience store is just a few blocks away. There we load up with enough water, soft drinks and snacks for the day.  We have basic sandwich makings from the local Smith’s grocery store with us because there is very little available on the salt and what is there is expensive.

And here is the attendant.

We generally have two rental cars (which cannot be driven on the salt), Mike’s truck and any other vehicle willingly subjected to the harsh effects of the salt.  We park the rental cars somewhere along the access road and everyone piles into the other vehicles.  This year we had Mike’s truck, Louis’ truck and Louie’s (wife’s) SUV.  Apparently Louie’s wife saw a photo of her SUV being used as a chase car for the streamliner somewhere along the line and she was not happy.  Sorry, Marie! However, I understand Louie promised to clean it up good as new.

The mornings on the salt are the best.  Everyone is fresh and it is cool.  We can wake up while we set up for the day.  First the nylon covers have to be put back up on our tents.  By 10am we will all be glad we have a place to hide from the sun.

Mike fills us in on his thoughts for the day.  That may be getting in line for a run immediately or it may be that we have maintenance or tuning work to be done. 

It seems like what we have to do would not take a whole day but it takes more time than you think.  Sometimes we get through by mid-afternoon but while we are there we are busy doing something.  The “boys” find a way to have fun . . . playing football, riding Dave’s 4-wheeler, joking around, eating ice cream.

Cary and Hudson did do a little work too.

In past years I have mentioned the ice cream truck.  This year there was actually a shaved ice truck and an ice cream truck.  They are a hit with everyone.

One thing that lived on this year was catching a photo of crew members napping.  John was a victim of this in the past so he set about catching someone else this time around and that someone was Lee.  Mike and Hudson also were caught napping.

Most days we finished up with an evening meal together.  The Rainbow has a restaurant called Primo that has booths.  The food is good and, although the menu had fewer options this year due to COVID-19, we were all able to find something that appealed to us.  Two regrets on that situation . . . one is that the booths are not big enough to fit everyone and the other is that Dave did not feel comfortable going with us due to the coronavirus situation.  The swapping of stories and joking around and camaraderie is my favorite part of the day.

A tradition that was established last year lived on this year too.  There is a local Mexican restaurant that all the teams frequent during Speed Week.  The only problem is that it is not a large restaurant and the door winds up being left open with people waiting to get in.  The result is that there are flies.  This year we ate outside where there were also flies but I heard more than one person mention that it is the best Mexican food they have ever had so I guess it was worth the sacrifice.

Joey always rents a car with a hand brake.  He took Cary and Hudson for a ride around the parking lot at the hotel and security came out after hearing the screeching of the tires several times.  Of course Joey played it cool when they came out so the security patrol couldn’t figure out who had caused the commotion.

By the way, the Salt Flats trip was hard on me this year.  I was taking care of the animals back home while Mike was travelling and stepped in a hole in the yard so I started out the trip with a swollen foot.  On the second morning on the salt I tripped over the tow bar while we were in line to make a run.  Always the klutz.  The result of that was a skinned and bruised knee and elbow and a big 6-inch diameter bruise on my hip on the same side as my swollen foot.  On the last day I broke my glasses.  Mike took me down to the local Family Dollar store to buy some cheaters.  I look like super fly in them.  On the way home a carpenter bee blew into the truck and stung me on my shoulder and back and I ate some ice cream that made me nauseated and caused us to stop early for the day so I could recover. I was a sight . . . glad to be home.

The group had the chance to see George Poteet run over 450 mph in his Speed Demon streamliner. What a thrill! On a heavier note we found out yesterday that a motorcycle entry lost control at 252 mph. It is serious business.

So we wrap it up for another year. Mike is disappointed to not have gotten to at least 250 mph (and his AA license) because he knows that the car was capable of it on that 220 mph run. He was trying to play by the rules so he didn’t push it any harder. However, the car did exactly what it was designed to do and did it well until the issue. He will now have the work of breaking down the car to find out exactly what is broken and determining a strategy on getting it fixed. We will post the results of the postmortem when they are available. There are always improvements to make as well.

A shout out to Mike’s friend Tommy Bell of Bell Automotive and Diesel of Camden, SC. He is definitely “the man” when it comes to Mike’s truck. We drove out and back with no issues. Since he began taking care of the truck we have a lot more confidence that the trip will go well. Thanks, Tommy!

Thanks to our Utah friends Mark Gallagher, Dave Holt and Louie Vanderherp! Thanks to our Colorado friend Louis McRae! Thanks to our South Carolina friends John Watkins, Joey Watkins, Sheldon Garrick, Lee Gardner, Trey Williamson! Thanks to our son-in-law Adam Privette and our grandsons Cary and Hudson!

‘Til next time . . .