Paul,
First thing ... don't tell the rental car agency you are taking the car off
paved roads, and especially not onto the salt flats or you won't get it.
Your assessment of Wendover is much the same as the dilemma that faced the
Generals during WW II namely what to do with 15,000 young men in that desert
town.
Wendover is not a town for kids. Mobility is the answer. Your six-year-old
will have a ball on the salt for a day. After that it will depend on his
take on the first day. Blue Lake is fifteen minutes south of Wendover. It
would require careful supervision but it is where people from Salt Lake City
go to certify for open water scuba diving. No life guards there ...
actually very few facilities. Some of the Wendover Hotels have pools so
plan where you stay accordingly. Perhaps you could say in Wendover for a
couple of days and then move your family to Salt Lake and you commute to the
salt.
Salt Lake City is two hours away. The bus system isn't bad for access to
local things and the Utah Travel Council has brochures on what to do and
where to go.
On the less pricey kid type things to do there is an excellent Children's
Museum there, Hogle Zoo is a good, mid sized zoo, Wheeler Historic Farm has
lots of interesting activities for kids to get in on, feeding the animals,
milking the cows, rides on the horse drawn wagon, helping to make biscuits,
lots of things little kids have fun with. You can go swimming in the Great
Salt Lake at Saltair. Fifteen minutes south of Salt Lake City at
Thanksgiving Point there is a new Dinosaur Museum (I think it is called the
Museum of Ancient Life) that is getting rave reviews, lots of interactive
things for kids.
The admission prices approach the level of Disneyland at Lagoon, twenty
minutes north of Salt Lake. An empty Coke can with the right printing on
it, got you $6 off the admission price last summer if you entered the park
before a certain time. Lagoon is an an amusement park with a good roller
coaster and many other new, big, somewhat unique rides that kids love. They
have a Wild West village, small zoo and even an evening theater with college
age actors doing shorter, skit type plays. There's also several pools for
swimming in natural hot spring water. That is worth a full day of diversion.
If you (or your wife) are up for it. There is the Alpine Slide at Park
City, thirty minutes from SLC, that kids really enjoy ... requires you to
ride with them to handle the braking and speed so you can enjoy it without
critics saying it's just for you. The Olympic bobsled and ski jumping
facilities are there too at Bear Hollow, just off I-15 on the way to Park
City.
Personally, with little kids, I'd get a rental car with free miles and do
the driving myself. Wendover hotels are pricey during Speed Week. Be a bit
(or a lot) unpopular with your wife and leave her in Salt Lake City with the
kids after the first couple of days. We usually drive out for the day and
return to Salt Lake after the racing is over. Just requires that you get up
early to be on the salt to watch record runs in the morning. Check our
USFRA web site at www.saltflats.com for suggestions on what to take to the
salt for your personal needs and wants.
Wes
on 2/27/01 2:59 AM, paulblandavon at paul.blandavon@btinternet.com wrote:
> I'm hopeing this year (work permitting) to finally make it out to Bonneville,
> as this will be my first time, I need some advise, I have a small problem,
> well two actually, one small and one a bit bigger namely my two kids, now they
> enjoy going to the drag strip, which is good as they don't have a choice in
> the matter, but I' m wondering how they'll take to a week in Wendover, my plan
> was to fly to salt lake city, hire a car, and drive to wendover(as simple as
> that!) I don't know anything at all about Wendover, what else do you do if you
> don't like gambling? is there anything for kids to do there? my six year old
> is what his teachers politely call "a little lively" so obviously I don't want
> to fly them to America and them not enjoy it, anyone got any ideas? I'm sure
> lots of you have gone through the "what to do with the kids" bit, any other
> advice on where to stay with kids etc... would be great,
> Paul.
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