Grumpy Bulldog Does America Day 31: Budget Gourmet

Referencing yesterday's entry, can you believe Discover card again flagged my card for "suspicious activity" that was perfectly innocent? Yeesh.  I think they have their headquarters in Salt Lake, so I should stop by to yell, "Hey, knock it off!  I'll tell you when there's something suspicious!"

Today I went from Elko, Nevada to Salt Lake City.  The Nevada part was pretty much like yesterday.  I stopped on some town right on the border with Utah and got lunch at McDonald's mostly so I could use the Wifi. 

Right outside there, in Utah is the Bonneville Salt Flats, which the speedway there is what my two Pontiac Bonnevilles were named for.  For a while there it was a lot of white sand, though there was also a lot of water built up on the sands.  It was kind of the inverse of California/Nevada where my GPS was showing water where there was none; here there was water where the GPS said there was none, though the roads were dry.

Eventually the landscape became more like Nevada.  I didn't stop anywhere along the way to Salt Lake City.  I did see the Great Salt Lake out of my window. 

I checked into my hotel by the airport, which is apparently pretty far away from where Michael Offutt lives.  But he has a friend who works in the area so I got a ride with him to visit Casa de Offutt.  Then I joined a couple more of his friends for about the fanciest dinner I've ever had.  I mean for me, fancy is like going to Applebees or Red Lobster.

It was a Spanish restaurant called Cafe Madrid, which I would recommend, though bring your money because it's not cheap.  Maybe Michael Offutt can tell you all the stuff we ate.  I know what paella is and there was some sausage thing and some fish thing for appetizers.  I took his recommendation for the beef tenderloin with bleu cheese sauce.  It was really good.  Kind of like a steak that you could cut with a fork, slathered in bleu cheese sauce, which is richer and better than the bleu cheese dressing you might get at the supermarket.  By then I was pretty full, though I did eat a bite of chocolate mousse with orange topping.

It was the best meal I've had along the way, not that there's a lot of competition since usually I just go to a fast food joint.  I think the beer battered salmon I had in Kent, WA would come in second and the seafood pasta in Yreka, CA would be third.

Tomorrow is more from Salt Lake City.  Here are pictures from along the way there--provided they load, consarnit.