A storm was approaching from the direction that we came. I was counting the time between the rumbles of thunder and the strikes of lightning. It was about 5-10 seconds, which was close enough for me to rush back into the car after getting a couple of nice pictures.
My girlfriend and I parked our car toward the storm and watched for about 10 minutes. About half a mile back the way we came, we saw lightning strike the middle of the flats. It must have vaporized some of the mud / salt on the ground because there was a clear line of smoke coming up from that part of the ground. I was surprised that it struck a completely flat part, rather than our metal SUV, since we were definitely the tallest things around.
I insisted that we drive back, because despite knowing that we'd be relatively safe in a car, I wasn't looking to experience an electrical fire or, at a minimum, the worst jump-scare of my life. As I drove back to the parking lot, what shocked me the most was seeing people still out taking pictures back near the parking lot from which we came. The lightning strike occurred between our car and the people out taking photos, which means they were easily in striking distance. I was honestly scared I would witness someone get struck - these are salt _flats_ - anyone out taking photos is the tallest thing in the area for several miles.