May | 2014 | drivetofive

Archive for May, 2014

Utah Roadtrip Weekend: 7 Highlights

Posted in ILX, Road Trip, Trains, Utah on May 6, 2014 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 529,301

Odometer (ILX): 78,563

Trip Distance: 1,603 Miles

My grandpa gave me a look of disgust on Monday morning when I pulled into his driveway in southern Utah. “You’ve got so many bugs on the front of that car, they’re causing wind drag!” he said. He had a valid point. I had slain a fair number of insects on my travels of Utah and Idaho over the course of a long weekend.

Last Thursday, I said sayonara to the desert and headed for northern Utah’s Rocky Mountains. I had a lot time in the driver seat and enjoyed every minute of it. In honor of hitting 77,777 miles on the ILX, in this post I’ll share seven of the memorable highlights from my nearly 2,000-mile, 4-day adventure.

1) Driving a 1931 Ford Model A. The award for the oldest vehicle I’ve ever driven can now go to this 1931 Ford which my uncle recently purchased.

I’m standing here with Russell, after taking my uncle Brett’s car for a drive. It’s a 3-speed on the floor but the transmission requires a great deal of finesse to operate. It’s the first time I’ve ever made an attempt at “double-clutching.” I learned (quickly) that this old Ford does not like to down-shift. I ground a few gears!

2) Getting up close & personal with a 1.2 million pound steam locomotive. Ten years after that Ford rolled off the production line, another piece of vintage metal was born. This Union Pacific steam locomotive was on display in Ogden, Utah when I was rolling through the area this weekend so I stopped at Union Station to take a look. A lot of other folks had the same idea, apparently. It was busy out there!

The reason for the excitement was that this locomotive had been parked in southern California since 1961. It’s now being moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming to be fully restored. UP 4014 is one of 25 “Big Boy” locomotives built for the Union Pacific Railroad. It was delivered in 1941 and weighs in at 1.2 million pounds. This locomotive is so long (132 feet) that its frame is articulated and thus able to better negotiate curves. And perhaps the most important statistic of all: From 1941 through 1961, UP 4014 traveled 1,031,205 miles. That’s my kind of high-miler!

The size of the wheels is more readily appreciated when a young child stands next to them.

Impressive engineering for being 73 years old!

3. Taking my Grandma and Russell to dinner. These two are great company. I provided the shuttle ride to Olive Garden; they covered the bill! That’s my kind of arrangement. Grandma made sure our waitress brought out fresh/soft breadsticks. Before we all headed to the restaurant, I pulled the ILX around to the backyard for a picture.

In we go!

And enough leftovers for at least another couple of meals.

Back to the house.

4) Trying out the world-famous (okay, maybe just state-famous) restaurant called Angie’s. Angie’s, in Logan, Utah, serves breakfast all day. I highly recommend the meat omelet. But the menu item Angie’s is best known for is the “Kitchen Sink.” It’s a gigantic banana split-type dessert, served up in a metal mini sink. Anyone who can finish the $13 item is awarded a bumper sticker that states “I cleaned the sink at Angie’s.” Someday I’ll attempt it.

Todd, Tia, me

Here’s what that bumper sticker looks like.

Not my picture, but here’s an example of a Kitchen Sink.

5. Hitting lucky 7’s on the ILX near Brigham City, Utah. If only the outside temperature had been 3 degrees higher, I would have really hit the jackpot.

6. Paying a visit to a friend who’s an Acura-holic like me. In St. George, Utah, I visited my friend Blair. Here, you can see his 2008 Acura TL Type-S in Kinetic Blue Pearl (my favorite color!) as well as his 1989 Acura Legend L coupe. What you don’t see are his other 1989 Legend coupe and his 1991 Legend coupe which are in the garage.

Fancy!

Blair recently turned 100,000 miles in the TL and he shared a picture with me. I’m catching up quickly.

7. Visiting Utah’s original statehouse. Here’s a little trivia: Utah’s original capital was actually located in the middle part of the state, in Fillmore, before it was moved to Salt Lake City. The 1852 statehouse still stands.

A few final photo randoms:

Mantua, Utah along Highway 89-91 in Sardine Canyon leading into Cache Valley.

My friend Ryan who was working on his Honda S2000 (which he later let me drive!).

Quick pic at the 1884 Logan, Utah Mormon temple.

A couple of scenes from Jacob Lake, Arizona (7,920 foot elevation).

What a blast this weekend was! There’s one more feature story on the way. Come back Thursday.

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Hike in Logan Canyon, Utah: Wind Caves

Posted in Hikes, ILX, Utah on May 4, 2014 by tysonhugie

Odometer (ILX): 78,139

Fill up your water bottles and grab your granola, because we’re heading for the hills. This morning, I ventured up the Logan Canyon Scenic Byway – also known as Highway 89 – in search of some of nature’s beauty. My companions for this trek were my mother, Tia, as well as two friends, Ryan and Tyler. Logan Canyon has always been one of my favorite places to drive. Its well-finished pavement, banked curves, and roadside scenery make it a popular highway for motorcyclists and sports car enthusiasts – that is, for the 7 or 8 months of the year when weather is prime.

For today’s taste of the outdoors, we drove several miles up the canyon and parked at the trailhead for the Wind Caves. This is a hike with moderate difficulty due to its steep grade, though it’s only about a mile and a half in one-way length. Right off the bat, I recognized that the elevation (5,100 feet at the base) played a role in my shortness of breath. I was grateful for the light breeze and the semi-overcast skies which shielded us from the sun. My mom was the clear front-runner of the group – she’d walked 10 miles just yesterday, so this was nothing for her.

It took us about an hour to make the 900-foot ascent to the limestone rock outcropping known as either Witch’s Castle or Wind Cave. There were a half dozen or so other people hanging out at the summit who we visited with. I was grateful for the chance to catch my breath and share a bite of Tyler’s energy bar (way to be prepared, Tyler!). Here I’m pictured with Tyler, Tia, and Ryan.

The descent seemed to go by in mere minutes. Before I knew it, we were back at the parking area. For our exit from the canyon on Highway 89, I took the wheel of Tyler’s 98,000-miles 1989 Honda Accord coupe. I’m always amazed at the condition of Tyler’s classic Hondas (he’s also proud owner of a 1990 Prelude Si 4WS). The Accord, for being 25 years old, drove as tightly as my ILX. The car was expertly engineered to provide optimal visibility. I loved driving with the pop-up headlights illuminated – it felt like a step back in time. Thanks, Tyler, for the honor!

Similarly, I owe Ryan a huge thanks for letting me drive his black Honda S2000 this morning. I wish I’d thought to get a picture. Its shifter was one of the most precise I’ve ever rowed.

I’ll be sharing more soon about the rest of this weekend’s fun, but hope you enjoy some pictures from Wind Caves.

Scoping out the map before starting up the mountain.

One-lane dirt trail – up & back. Easy peasy.

Mom takes the lead.

Tyler pointed across the canyon at the “Crimson Trail” that winds up the opposite side.

Taking a much-needed break.

View from atop the limestone wind caves.

And inside them.

Crawling around and exploring a little.

The view from inside the cave is spectacular.

Back at ground level, mom takes the wheel of the 6-speed ILX.

Probably rocking out to a good song, she gave us a thumbs up as we pulled alongside in Tyler’s Accord.

Driver switcheroo at “Ray Hugie Hydro Park.”

The park was named for a relative of mine who spent the better part of his lifetime working as City Engineer. For 44 years, Ray served the Logan community. The $15 million hydroelectric generation power plant near this park was one of the projects that he was instrumental in carrying out. Ray Hugie’s father and my great-great-grandfather were brothers.

Check you later!

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Logan, Utah: Re-Creation of a 60-Year-Old Picture

Posted in Throwback, Utah on May 3, 2014 by tysonhugie

Odometer (ILX): 77,336

Knock knock knock.

The front door of the home near 600 N 100 E, Logan Utah opened on a sunny Friday afternoon. “Hi there, I’m Tyson, I have a bit of a weird request. I was wondering if I could park my car in your driveway for a picture.” By the time the guy who opened the door had furrowed his eyebrow in question, I was already explaining: “My grandfather used to live in this house. I have these three old pictures that he took 60 years ago of his car parked in front if it, and I was wondering if I could try and duplicate them.”

Aaron, the home’s current occupant, has lived there for 4 years with his young family. He immediately engaged with me in conversation wondering about the home’s history. “This home used to be at the far north end of town,” he stated. Within 10 minutes, he’d pulled both of his vehicles out of the driveway and allowed me to position the ILX there at an angle, much like my grandpa had done with his 1950 Buick Special. Out of respect for Aaron’s lush green lawn, I decided not to ask him about driving over it as my grandpa had done to his family’s lawn in 1954.

I’ve often times gone to great lengths before to re-create photos – like that time in September 2011 when I stopped at the Nevada / Arizona border in the Legend and positioned the car so that it would be sitting just like my the Buick was. So here we are with a “then and now” look at the 1950 Buick and the 2013 Acura in about the same position.

My grandpa’s been gone for 25 years now, but thanks to my dad, I was able to find the home with just the below information:

I got on Google Maps / street view and easily identied its location.

Here’s the original picture. It’s only about 2″ by 3″ in size.

Another angle. I wonder what was so special about that bike?

And grandpa standing proudly with his “Jetback” Model 43D sedan. Chrome, anyone?

The power pole from the above pic can be seen in the below. Follow the passenger headlight up.

Huge thanks to Aaron and his family for giving me an insightful look (both inside and out) at the home where my grandpa lived in his 20’s.

Onward I go for some more northern Utah / southern Idaho adventures! Stay tuned.

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Throwback Thursday: May 1, 2004 Salt Lake City, Utah Legend Meet

Posted in Legend, NALM, Utah on May 1, 2014 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 529,296

Odometer (ILX): 76,481

A decade is a long time! Where were you ten years ago today? Things were a little different back then. Facebook (then “The” Facebook) launched in February 2004 at a select few universities.

The top TV show was American Idol, and “Friends” ended its last season. Shrek 2 and Spiderman 2 took top slots at the box office, and Green Day’s “American Idiot” was one of the biggest albums of the year. Feeling old yet?

It was on May 1, 2004 when I met up with a few Acura-owning friends in Salt Lake City, Utah for a drive up scenic Interstate 80 to Park City. Here is a video capturing some of the festivities. Pardon the obnoxious soundtrack.

Bits and pieces from my handwritten journal entry that day:

I was the first to Sugarhouse Park off I-80 East. I picked the same spot we were in last time. Nobody was there. It was a perfect, sunny day…. I served up donuts. We headed up Parley’s Canyon to Park City – fast! It was a sight to see; so many Legends cruising together. My rims have really got issues. Need to get some TL-S or something… We decided to eat at Quizno’s and had a picnic lunch by the cars. We then caravanned to the outlet stores. Dave locked his keys in his car and had to call a locksmith ($35). I drove Kevin’s 6-speed to the other side of the parking lot…

Makes it feel like yesterday! Pictured below: Ross’ 1989 Legend L coupe, Jason’s 1988 Legend L sedan, my 1994 Legend LS coupe, and Kevin’s 1993 LS coupe after our arrival in Park City.

We must’ve been pros at “mirror” photography. I was able to dig up the following three pics. Branson took this one of me in his sideview mirror.

Jason took this one. That old school digital camera really dates these pics, right?

As well as this one. Gotta love a Legend lineup.

I was proudly rolling on 18″ Mille Miglia wheels. (massive eye roll here)

Couldn’t help but throw in a few more pics of meets from the same era.

San Francisco, California

Torrance, California. Why’d we put that Integra in the middle?

Las Vegas, Nevada

Even back then, I was accustomed to taking my Acura off-road from time to time. This was a picture I took in “Old Iron Town,” an 1868 Mormon settlement in southern Utah. Oh yeah, check out that ‘fro.