OK, this was yesterday on my way home, but it still made me chuckle.
For those of you that have been through the Bonneville Salt Flats a few times along I-80, you may have noticed people getting stuck in the old lakebed (salt flats) along the Interstate. I'm sure a few of these are people falling asleep at the wheel, but some people just see the flat expanse and want to go driving on it... and then they get stuck! Even 4 wheelers!
It's kinda suprising to see this in the August heat, but yes people do still get stuck in the flats along the freeway during the hot dry season...
The section of the flats where they do the racing has deeper layers of salt, which helps prevent this, but a lot of the surface salt along I-80 has been 'washed away' towards the potash plant near Wendover, leaving the 'mushy salty dirt' exposed.
BTW, the World Of Speed event this year is on Sept 7-10th, for those interested in such things.
http://saltflats.com/Anyways, now that I've painted the picture for you, as I was driving home (east) early yesterday evening with the sun getting close to setting, I saw a John Deere tractor with mower attachment buried to it's axles in the flats immediately next to the shoulder incline for the westbound lanes, in the area between the EB and WB lanes. The tractor was a 4 wheel drive, with I'd guess 26-30" front tires, and the usual 'larger' rear tires. Anyways, imagining the conversation in my head that the operator might have had with his supervisor after he did that made me chuckle!
