We woke up to a welcome message from Brent and Shana, after what appeared to be a collectively restless night at the the Knights Inn Motel. It featured a collection of feral cats, cigarette burns on all available surfaces and even a sink that was cracked down the middle and caulked back together. Luckily, there was room in the trip budget to transfer motels to the Quality Inn so we only spent one night at the Knights Inn. The Quality Inn not only had clean rooms that didn't smell like cigarette smoke, but also a pool and a fantastic continental breakfast.
After dropping off our bags at the new hotel, we met Matt Coolidge from the Center for Land Use Interpretation. Also called CLUI, this is a group dedicated to the increase and diffusion of knowledge about how the nation's lands are apportioned, utilized and perceived. CLUI often works with artists to help them achieve their goals through a residency program in Wendover. At nine am, we went to an old military administration office turned into a museum which documented the history of land use in Utah.
After Matt Coolidge gave us a brief history of Utah we moved on to see a few other buildings on the base, such as the barracks and a nurses' center. A few of the other buildings on the property/base also belonged to CLUI, including the barracks buildings that had been turned into an exhibition hall and studio.
Lunch rolled around quickly after we finished our tour. Brent and Shana admitted that there wasn't much in the way of restaurants in Wendover other than the casinos. Luckily, Matt suggested that we visit the Taco Truck, a food truck that hangs out in the parking lot of a an adult lingerie and video shop. Their tacos might literally have been the best thing I have ever eaten and I believe that eating it on the curb might have actually made it better.
After lunch we drove to the Historic Wendover Air force Museum. Located inside this museum is the world's most accurate replica of the Little Boy bomb, which was carried by the plane, Enola Gay, whose original hanger is located in Wendover. My favorite part of the museum was probably the photographs of the fighter planes' illustrated nicknames and illustrations, which generally featured scantily clad women.
After the Air force museum we headed out to the Wendover Salt Flats. There is something incredible about the Salt Flats that I can't really do justice to in writing. One really has to visit them, to feel the salt encrusted lake bed give under the soles of your feet as you walk through the ankle deep water that is almost slimy from such high saline content. That description sounds absolutely disgusting, yet it was one of my favorite parts of the trip because they are just breath takingly beautiful, stretching on for miles. On top of that they are just so incredibly fun, really who doesn't want to bring photographs home in which they appear to be walking on water?
One of the students on the trip, Jenna Knapp, has been filming a series of choreographed dances based on illustrations from cards whose meanings are then interpreted by the dancers. The Salt Flats proved to be the perfect venue for one such dance. We began in a line, our arms out stretched so that they merged with the landscape from there we executed the dance moves that each member had imagined. While Jenna has yet to release the videos from the trip, in the photographs we made an impressive tableau. Too quickly we were called back to solid land to begin a search for food. We ended our day at the nearby Salt Flat Cafe for dinner, at which Matt Coolidge joined us. Shortly thereafter we parted ways and returned to our (nice, clean) hotel for a much needed night's sleep.
-Marika Wasscher
No comments:
Post a Comment