Salt Lake City & Logan, Utah – Quick Weekend Flight
Odometer (Legend Coupe): 540,340
Odometer (Legend Sedan): 149,696
Yesterday, I had to explain to a TSA agent at Salt Lake City International Airport why I was carrying over $400 in coins from the U.S. Mint in my carry-on bag. It was selected (not surprisingly) for secondary screening while going through Security for my SLC-PHX flight. “It’s a Christmas gift from my grandpa,” I told him. Moments later he found another treasure in my luggage – a bag full of cheese curd. “And this?” he asked. “That’s from grandma,” I said. What an odd combo of things to take on a flight, I guess. As the agent finished his inspection and sent me on my way, he said, “Enjoy your very unconventional Christmas gifts.” And I will!
It was a quick “up & back” weekend to northern Utah for some family parties this past weekend, but I flew instead of driving. I’m giving a Gold Star to whoever can spot the blatant error on this advertisement in Southwest Airlines’ magazine. I did a double-take as I was flipping through the magazine from seat 15F last Thursday evening.
From Salt Lake airport, I picked up my rental car and met up with some friends for dinner. That rental was this underwhelming 2015 Volkswagen Passat.
My destination the next day was about 90 minutes to the north, in a valley near the Idaho state line.
I’d swapped cars by that time, and I borrowed a friend’s 2005 Acura TL. The cigarette lighter in the Passat wasn’t even working so I couldn’t charge my cell phone in the car. My friend Jeremy needed his TL picked up at Jody Wilkinson Acura so I paid some friends in the Service Department (hi Allen!) there a visit and picked up the car in Service. I felt much more at home behind the wheel of an Acura for the drive up I-15.
The world’s largest fly fishing fly is on display in front of an outdoor supply shop on South Main in Logan.
Utah State University, founded in 1888 as Utah’s agricultural college, today has almost 29,000 students. I graduated in 2005 with my degree in Business. Hard to believe a decade has passed! This building with a bell tower, one of the oldest on campus, is called Old Main and was constructed in 1890.
A blog reader stopped by to say hello while I was at my dad’s house preparing for the family party. Here’s Sunny and his Honda Civic.
Sunset in Cache Valley
Morning view of the Wellsville Mountains, as seen from my dad’s back porch. The highest peak here – Box Elder – is only about 9,300 feet in elevation, but the mountain range is one of the steepest in the region.
On Saturday morning, we took my dad’s 1990 Ford F-350 about 20 miles up Blacksmith Fork Canyon to Hardware Ranch, a wildlife preserve where about 400 elk come to feed every winter. Dad’s truck has a 460 V8 motor and automatic transmission. The red interior is eye catching. Only 126,000 miles on this 25-year-old ride!
My Volkswagen rolled 30,000 miles before (gladly) turning it back in at the airport.
That’s the quick update on weekend happenings. Hope everyone had a great one!
drivetofive 
December 7, 2015 at 9:10 pm
Top left suppose to be an Acura picture and instead is a Lexus. Lol
December 7, 2015 at 9:12 pm
BINGO! Haha. We have a winner, and it only took 9 minutes after submitting the post! Nice work Russell. Indeed someone used the picture of a Lexus IS instead of an Acura.
December 7, 2015 at 11:07 pm
It was awesome finally getting to meet you Tyson! I hope our paths cross again sometime in the near future!
December 8, 2015 at 6:11 am
Likewise, and thanks again for swinging by! Now I just need to figure out a way to introduce you to the rest of the Redline team!
December 8, 2015 at 3:17 am
I guess you won’t be buying a VW anytime soon!
December 8, 2015 at 6:13 am
It was fine, but lacked personality and felt cheap! For a 30,000 mile rental car I was surprised it was still in pretty decent shape. Just not the kind of car I’d spend money on.
December 8, 2015 at 8:09 am
The “CLICK HERE” is also a little misleading. How will the site launch from a printed ad? Haha.
December 8, 2015 at 8:38 am
Ha, I hadn’t even noticed the giant CLICK HERE. I should have ripped the page out of the magazine and thrown it away, to save that used car company any further embarrassment 🙂 Hope your weekend was a great one, Brad!
December 8, 2015 at 10:28 am
And the 11 year old TL still looks better than the almost one year old smog throwing VW.
December 8, 2015 at 10:33 am
Hey now, let’s be fair! The Passat wasn’t a diesel – just the 1.8 liter turbo 4-cyl. it was OK on pep but only developed power after a very sizeable time lag when asked to!
December 8, 2015 at 9:06 pm
Hi Tyson!
How are you doing so far? I noticed that you drive Volkswagen Passat, that was so awesome. I love driving my Volkswagen Jetta a lot and my Jetta is doing great so far. My Jetta got 38,500 miles, I wish I want to drive my Jetta more lol. Congrats that you got hit 30,000 miles on Volkswagen Passat! Your dad’s Ford truck looks so beautiful and brand new. 🙂
December 9, 2015 at 6:12 am
Hey, thank you Josh! Yeah dad’s truck is in pretty amazing shape for 25 years old. It sat in storage for an entire decade. That’s cool you’re enjoying your Jetta. They are fun cars to drive. My cousin has a GLI model which I think looks pretty sexy, especially the wheels. Hope you are doing well!
December 9, 2015 at 4:33 am
I’d say swapping the new Passat rental for the ’05 TL was a good choice! Still my favorite post-2000 Acuras. The newer VWs just fail to impress me. Going mainstream and cheapening out their cars to gain more sales was a mistake.
December 9, 2015 at 6:14 am
Well not to mention the fact that the brand overall just has a reputation now for what happened with the scandal. I kind of felt naughty driving it. Lol. How’s your TSX doing? We still need to find you a Vigor 😉
December 9, 2015 at 8:30 am
It’s doing pretty good. Just got a complete new brake job. After Christmas settles I’m planning on having my rims refinished after a few bad parallel parking jobs (not all my fault). I’m also planning on getting my roof vinyl wrapped in carbon fiber look.
December 9, 2015 at 7:57 am
Those views are pretty amazing!
December 9, 2015 at 7:58 am
Gotta love those Wasatch Mountains!!