the great american road trip - day 11

The Great Salt Lake is a wasteland. I suppose there is some value in being able to say you tried it - but not enough value to outweigh the absolute disgustingness of the place.

Of course that means ONE of us loved it.

Punk thought floating in the lake was "amazing," which I guess is true, if your idea of amazing is swimming in lukewarm brine with billions of gnats and trillions of sea monkeys. The rest of us thought it was like taking a dip in a hot outhouse hole.

The black clouds moving over the lake were visible from 600 yards out.

They were swarms of gnats - and they were everywhere.

Kooka reluctantly followed me in, high footing the entire time. I didn't have the heart to tell her that her Russian goose-stepping wasn't going to protect her from the infinite number of brine shrimp carousing in the water. The lake was actually orange from all of the shrimp, and the whole place smelled like semi-decayed cat food. I did manage to get her in deep enough for both of us to float, but that was about it. Punk and our friend hung around a bit longer, but not much. When we returned to pick up our bag and shoes on the shore, it was a scene of Amityville proportions. We couldn't see our shoes, or the bag - they were black, absolutely covered in gnats. I had to grab each item and do the Olympic hammer throw just to get the bugs off - and then we had to pick them up quickly, before they settled down again. I have not seen anything so vile in a long time.

On the flip side, our little cabin in Yellowstone is absolutely perfect - Laura Ingalls locks on the doors, a porch swing, the smell of dying campfires wafting through the window. As I snuggled a very sleepy Kooka on the swing tonight she whispered, "Mommy, this is one of my happiest moments of this whole trip." It was for me too. The only downside is that Punk seems to be catching my most terrible cold/sore-throat/malaria, and the one thing he has been looking forward to most ended with him cuddled up in bed early. Hopefully he (and the rest of us) will bounce back soon.