Weekend Roady: Wedding in Salt Lake City, Utah
Odometer (ILX): 123,150
Odometer (Legend): 533,182
Trip Distance: 1,454 Miles
11:10 p.m., Saturday night. Intersection of 600 West and 100 South. Dark alleyway near the train tracks. It felt like a horror movie in the making already.
I took the driver’s seat of the ILX, pushed in the clutch, and punched the “START” button. Something seemed off. The exhaust sound – it was louder than I’d anticipated. My ears were drawn to the back of the car. Slowly I turned around to look over my right shoulder. Glistening in the moonlight were hundreds of pieces of broken glass, and wide open to the outside air was my right rear window – or what used to be my window. I’d just been a victim of vandalism.
Back outside the car (with it still running and headlights now turned on), I walked around to assess any potential body damage, but didn’t find any. My next thought – was anything missing? I reached for the trunk release button and opened it up. My laptop computer and suitcase were still in there. At this point, a microscopic feeling of relief crept in. I debated about calling the police right then and there – but, what good was a police report going to do in a city 700 miles from home? I already knew I’d be out of pocket a few hundred bucks for a new window regardless.
It wasn’t until I got a few blocks away, sitting at a stop light on West Temple, that the thought dawned on me: MY WORK LAPTOP. I had two computers in the car. The second one had been sitting on the floor in its black bag behind the passenger seat of the car. Gone. At that point, mind racing, I did dial 9-1-1. The operator calmly told me I’d need to submit the police report online. So, instead of continuing on to have a good time with my friends, I went back to where I was staying and got on the SLC PD website to fulfill that action immediately. What a night.
The rest of the weekend more than made up for that horrible incident, but I will forever remember the night of April 18th and the 10-hour return drive from Salt Lake City to Phoenix with no right rear window the following day. Thankfully for most of that stretch, I was on Interstate 15 southbound with its 80 mph posted speed limits so it went by quickly.
My 1,400-mile weekend trip’s purpose was to attend the wedding reception of my cousin Kelsee who got hitched at the Salt Lake City Mormon temple. Along the way, I made a bunch of special visits that broke up the trip and made it memorable. The first place I had to check out was the teeny town of Holden, Utah off Interstate 15. I knew Holden wasn’t going to be of any great size when I saw the “NO SERVICES” sign attached to the exit sign on the offramp.
Sure enough, it’s a quaint farm town with a couple of boarded up stores and probably a higher population of livestock than human beings. The town was established in 1855 as a Mormon pioneer settlement. A sign at the entrance to town states the following about the people of this community:
Residents of Holden still radiate the enduring qualities bequeathed them by their hardy pioneering ancestors: thrift, perseverance, and a strong, abiding love of God.
My friend Chandler grew up in this community and just happened to be there, so I paid a visit to him and his family. They certainly do radiate those qualities!
At Chandler’s recommendation, I again pulled off the interstate in Scipio, Utah about 15 miles further north on the interstate. Originally settled in 1859, Scipio has never really ‘boomed’ but rather lingered in the population range from 300 to 500 people in the last 150 years. Today, the main street – “State” – has an antique store that still looks to be in business. A couple of other buildings are most decidedly NOT in business. I positioned the ILX in front of a couple abandoned gas stations for pictures. Those old pumps are my favorite.
After lunch with my dad & stepmom in Salt Lake, I visited my friend Branson and rode around his neighborhood at a whopping 10 miles per hour on a Yamaha golf cart. I also took a peek at Branson’s 164,000-mile 1995 Acura Legend LS coupe 6-speed. He takes great care of it. Branson and I originally met through a Legend enthusiast forum in 2003.
Branson and I decided to take his nieces and nephew for a mini road trip in the ILX to Herriman, about 7 miles away. There, we checked out a 2,800-square-foot home that was built in 2011 and modeled after the feature home in the 2009 Pixar movie “UP.” However, unlike the home in UP, this one didn’t levitate with balloons! It sure did stand out, though, amidst all the monochromatic, cookie cutter homes surrounding it.
Here’s what the Pixar movie house looks like:
And the real deal:
My cousin’s wedding reception was a top-notch affair at the Ivy House on 600 East in downtown Salt Lake. It was great to reconnect with friends and family members there.
The randomest thing of all was when I ran into my grandparents at a gas station in Beaver, Utah on the way home. I ended up following grandpa’s white 2000 Toyota Avalon the rest of the way to their home in St. George, about 100 miles away.
As for a conclusion to the dramatic opening story: My employer issued me a new laptop computer within 2 hours of my workday today, and my ILX goes in tomorrow morning for a $349 rear window replacement at Safelite so all will be well soon.
Thanks for coming along for the trip! A few more pictures are below.
Chandler’s family’s backyard with garden in Holden, Utah
Entrance sign to Holden at the north end of town on Main Street
Antique store on State Street in Scipio, Utah
Sign back to Interstate 15 from State Street
Another abandoned service station in Scipio
Location of that service station – intersection of State & Center
Loved this old pump
Lunch with dad & stepmom (and friend Jeremy) in Salt Lake at Cheesecake Factory
Shot of the “UP” house in Herriman
Love the Wasatch Mountains! It was a perfect weather day.
Springtime is in full swing in downtown Salt Lake. Here I was parked just outside the Ivy House reception center.
Fueling up next to mom & Todd in their 2010 Volkswagen EOS in Nephi, Utah
drivetofive 
April 20, 2015 at 6:01 pm
What a scary violation, and a real inconvenience, Tyson- glad to see you made the best of a bad situation!
(And I agree, that gas pump would look incredible in your front yard!)
April 20, 2015 at 6:22 pm
I guess I’ll hop on Ebay and see what those old gas pumps are going for these days. My first guess: They might be worth more than a couple of my cars. Ha. Hope you had a great weekend, Mark. I want to see some Volvo road trip pics. Get on it.
April 20, 2015 at 6:06 pm
In spite of having your ILX violated and laptop stolen, your smile never left your face! A great read as always.
April 20, 2015 at 6:23 pm
Thanks Kevin! I know you have some exciting stuff going on with the Polar Bear these days. It’s only a matter of time until I get to do a Reader’s Ride feature on you.
April 20, 2015 at 6:17 pm
DOCE!!!!
April 20, 2015 at 6:23 pm
In the flesh! She is THE BEST.
April 20, 2015 at 7:18 pm
I concur!
April 20, 2015 at 6:49 pm
That’s way too bad about the broken window. I can totally imagine the panic of getting back to your car and seeing the window smashed. Other than that though, looks like a fun time in SLC and now I definitely need to see the “UP” house in Herriman! I also hope that you make the trip back up to SLC or Logan sometime in the near future!
April 20, 2015 at 6:52 pm
Oh it’s only a matter of time until I get back up that way. So far the next planned trip is in June and I’ll definitely be in Logan. My dad and I are leaving from there and heading on up to Salmon, Idaho. As for the ILX window, I was pretty bummed out, but it could have been worse I suppose. Hope you had a good weekend!
April 20, 2015 at 8:15 pm
I hope the battery in that laptop shorts out and zaps the culprit. So aggravating. Glad you had fun otherwise!
April 20, 2015 at 9:47 pm
That laptop was ancient. If they even have the patience to wait for it to boot up, they probably need it worse than I do. My replacement is 10x faster. It all worked out in the end.
April 20, 2015 at 8:38 pm
Doce in her fine form indeed! Never a dull moment you writer rider. Memories made and miles measured. These are the days of our lives.
April 20, 2015 at 9:47 pm
So profound! 🙂
April 21, 2015 at 7:25 am
Crappy about the break-in. Funny thing about the “Up” house. My best friend’s uncle built that. He had quite a time getting the rights to do so from Disney. Also the inside is decorated with scenes from the Up movie. Many of the photos in frames on the wall are the same from the movie and the furniture when it was built for the home show was modeled the same. Very cool house. It was supposed to be painted after the show but the home owner who bought it fought that it was left as is.
April 21, 2015 at 7:28 am
Haha, small world! That’s pretty awesome your friend’s uncle built that! It definitely stands out. I’m glad they left the colors as-is, and that’s interesting about the interior. I read somewhere that one of the bedrooms is decorated in “Toy Story” theme. I would have loved to walk through there when it was in the Parade of Homes.
April 21, 2015 at 7:33 am
Thieves suck! … but your road trips never do!
April 21, 2015 at 7:50 am
Oddly enough, right after it happened, I thought “Well, at least it makes something interesting for the blog.” Haha. Thanks for reading, Dave.
April 21, 2015 at 6:14 pm
Ugh, sorry about the ILX window – what a pain in the arse! LOVE LOVE LOVE the “UP” house!
April 21, 2015 at 6:19 pm
I know! I’m all about visiting movie houses. Still on my list: Home Alone house in IL, Breaking Bad house in NM, and many many more…
April 21, 2015 at 6:59 pm
Wow! I’m so sorry to hear about the mishap with your ILX! But then again, it seems as if Karma is certainly on your side, considering you got a new laptop in the end. This is why, whenver I park in an unfamiliar or questionable area, I try to leave nothing in sight, or cram stuff into the glovebox and lock the glovebox.
April 21, 2015 at 7:03 pm
Definitely – had I thought that far ahead, I would have remembered that only 1 of my laptops was in the trunk and the other was sitting on the back floor. Anyway, what’s done is done and I’m back up and running. I have an appointment tomorrow to get my new rear glass tinted and then I’ll be good to go.
April 21, 2015 at 9:07 pm
Dang! Too bad Scipio and Holden are too far for press cars – those are some wicked cool destinations. Gotta find something like that here in AZ.
April 21, 2015 at 9:14 pm
I know, love old abandoned service stations. I have a few ideas on places in AZ where we can find similar things. And you definitely need to get out to Desert Center, CA sometime for a photoshoot at the awesome retro gas station there.
April 21, 2015 at 9:17 pm
Totes! Love me anything rustic and abandoned. I know, I need to make it out there – maybe I’ll finally break down with the VW Golf and head out there.
April 22, 2015 at 12:56 pm
Poor ILX! Looks like a fun trip though!
April 22, 2015 at 1:00 pm
Thanks Nate. All in all, it was still a very good trip. Window is all taken care of and I gave the car a detail last night. Good as new… sort of!
April 22, 2015 at 12:56 pm
sorry to hear about your window and laptop. Glad you had a good weekend anyways!
April 22, 2015 at 1:01 pm
Thank you Dave! Even with the setbacks it was a really good trip, and it won’t stop me from taking more. Thanks for reading as always. Hope you have a great week.
April 25, 2015 at 7:37 pm
Tyson, hope your window incident didn’t leave you with a bad impression of the journey. Glad you were able to get it all fixed up! (spoiler alert!) I MUST see that “UP” house. I didn’t know something like that existed. Hope you have a great weekend!
April 26, 2015 at 9:33 am
Thanks Jason! Been a great weekend over here. Nice to stick in town for a change. Though (surprise!) I’m going to Prescott today with friends for lunch. haha.
April 27, 2015 at 3:47 pm
Hello Tyson.
It has been a bad week at my two favorite automobile blogs. First I find out that Josh at the TSXTravels Blog had damage to front of his car and now I find out that your window was broken.
What happened to you happened to me several years ago. I learned a lesson. Never leave anything of valuable in plain sight. Put stuff in trunk always. If it is out of sight, you probably don’t get damage to car. Take care.
April 27, 2015 at 3:59 pm
I know! I’m crossing my fingers for good news on Josh’s TSX. It has many miles left to go. We should find out in the next couple of days. You are absolutely right about preventing break-ins and thefts! I have learned my lesson, too.