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15-Year Class Reunion: Roadtrip to Utah

Posted in ILX, NSX, Road Trip, Utah on August 3, 2015 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 534,196

Odometer (ILX): 136,373

Trip Distance: 852 Miles

I flipped randomly through the pages of my hardbound high school senior yearbook from 2000 a few minutes ago. The book fell open to a page with a bright red 3.5″ IBM disk inside (and no label). What’s on that disk? The world may never know, because I have no way of reading it.

It was around that time when Sprint announced the first nationwide wireless data service. A web phone – can you imagine? And here probably 75% of you are now reading this blog post via your smart phones. Times have changed.

It’s hard to believe a decade and a half have passed since I departed the hallways of Pine View High School in St. George, Utah as a graduating senior. The year 2000 was a pivotal time in our history: the new millennium. Though Y2K turned out to be a lot smaller of a deal than we’d anticipated, it’s still fun to look back and reminisce. And that’s exactly what I did with some classmates this past weekend in my hometown. Who could forget Lou Bega’s “Mambo Number Five” or Sisqo’s “Thong Song“? They’ve been stuck in my head since the late 90’s.

I was a bit of a nerd back in those school days. I admit, I was a member of the “Magic Club,” except, we were too cool to even call it the Magic Club. It was the “Illusionists Society.” Seriously. Aside from that, I participated in my share of car club events, Honor Society get togethers, and that sort of thing. I think at the end of it all, I was only a B+ grade away from having a perfect 4.0 GPA and becoming one of our 7 or so valedictorians during commencement. I may never forgive my Chemistry teacher Mr. Page for giving me that B grade. Haha.

Can we talk about those frosted tips again? (see bottom right)

The one redeeming thing about me during that era was my cool car. I made #6 on the list of the coolest cars at Pine View. My brother made #5.

A lot of the messages inscribed by friends on the insides of the cover of my yearbook have “car” references, as it’s a well known fact that even in the late 1990’s I was very obsessed with anything automotive. My pride and the joy – as I’ve already well-documented here on the blog – was this 1989 Honda Prelude 2.0 Si. 15 years later, I still have the rear emblem from the trunk lid in a box somewhere.

My favorite message was this excerpt’s from Ben Braten’s long paragraph:

… What I’m trying to say is, I want your car. I mean, it’s not like I soil myself or anything when I hear it purr, or lose temporary bladder control when the chrome blinds me due to the combination of the contemptuously bright St. George sun & the precociously reflective properties of the chrome… I do go on! But anyway, I just want you to know that no matter how much nicer your car is than mine, I’ll still think you’re cataclysmically HIP and all that jazz…

The PVHS Class of 2000’s 15-year reunion festivities were broken into two separate events: A family-friendly BBQ on Friday evening at a park, and an adults-only roller-skating activity on Saturday afternoon. I attended both. I think my ILX was one of only a few sedans in the parking lot at Pine View Park in Washington, Utah. For as far as the eye could see, minivans and SUVs dominated by a long shot. That’s because most of my classmates are on their 3rd or 4th child by now.

“I see you’ve been traveling a lot.” “I can’t keep track of you!” Those kinds of comments were recurring themes brought up by classmates in the inevitable Q&A with me that ensued when we started catching up on the 15 years that have passed since I’d last seen some of them. It was great to reconnect, and my hat goes off to Sr. Class President Brad for his diligence in setting up our reunions every 5 years.

It wouldn’t be a Tyson Trip if there wasn’t a little bit of ‘car stuff’ sprinkled in to the weekend. As I’d shared recently on the blog, my younger brother Payton recently picked up a daily-driver 1993 Legend L coupe 6-speed. I swapped him cars for a day just so I could get a feel for it. First stop on Saturday morning was to say hello to Blair who was working in his yard. Blair’s a long-time friend of mine who drives a Kinetic Blue Pearl Acura TL Type-S.

I also spent a couple of hours hanging out with my friend Cody who’s a fellow member of the Legend family. He and I got a few photos together of the “twin” Cashmere Silver Metallic Legends. Both cars in the below photos are 1993 “L” models and stick shifts. The chances of getting these two identically-configured cars together for a photoshoot were just too slim to calculate!

The interesting thing about driving these cars back-to-back is just how strikingly different their personalities are despite being nearly identical from the outside. For starters, the powertrains are different. Here are some quick perspectives on each Legend after a quick drive in each.

Sedan: 200-horsepower, Type I motor, 5-speed manual transmission. Low-end torque with this setup is plentiful and ready. Cody’s clutch felt light and smooth. The car revs freely and and cabin exudes a comfortable feel. This cream puff is a step back into 1993, right down to the fresh smelling interior.
Coupe: 230-horsepower, Type II motor, 6-speed manual transmission. This is the high-speed highway cruiser. My brother confirmed that it’s capable of hitting 60 mph in 2nd gear. The clutch is aftermarket and a little on the notchy side. The Type II takes awhile to get to optimal rev range. The ride is a little more abrupt and the seat bolsters are designed with more lateral support.

Selfie with the cars

Cody’s sedan has only 77,000 miles on it.

Cody’s interior

Payton’s coupe has 136,000 on it.

Payt’s interior

The last bit of automotive fun that I had on Saturday was a first-ever drive in an automatic transmission Acura NSX.

Cody’s neighbor, Nate, owns a Midnight Purple Pearl NSX-T with the 3.0 liter V6 and 4-speed automatic. Per the NSX Production Numbers reference sheet on the forums, this car is only 1 of 6 ever produced! For reference, my 1992 Formula Red with black interior 5-speed is 1 of 421 — a lot more common! See the arrows here in my diagram.

Overall impressions of Nate’s NSX were very positive — while I’d heard nightmare stories about how Acura had “de-tuned” the powertrain and sacrificed performance in the automatic-equipped models, I still thought it accelerated nicely and I still loved that characteristic growl of the motor from behind the cabin. The shifts were smoother than I’d expected (perhaps because I’m used to the “whiplash” Legend 4-speed automatic of the same era).

I didn’t play around with the shift paddle “manual” mode at all – I was too busy enjoying the open-air cruising. This was also my first time driving an NSX Targa with the top off. It takes just the quick release of a latch on either side of the top to remove it for easy stowage in a compartment above the engine. Thanks to Nate for the quick test-drive!

Here are the rest of my photos from this quick trip to southern Utah.

Approaching Las Vegas at dusk on Thursday evening, about 4.5 hours into my drive

Rolling past the Las Vegas Strip and resisting the urge to throw $20 on red

Morning view from mom’s back deck, Friday

Heading out to get some pics with Cody in the twin Legends

I’m impressed: Cody owns a cassette tape! I don’t think I even have one anymore!

Legends

Another pic from the NSX test-drive.

Veyo, Utah for part of the class reunion festivities

View overlooking the city of St. George, Utah

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200-Mile Run in Utah: “Wasatch Back” Ragnar Relay Race

Posted in ILX, Road Trip, Running, Utah on June 22, 2015 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 533,769

Odometer (ILX): 132,222

Trip Distance (Drive): 1,434 Miles

Trip Distance (Run): 194 Miles

You’ve got to be kidding me – 200 miles? Who would be crazy enough to run that? Not me. Well, unless I had the help of 11 other people to slice up the distance into smaller pieces.

That’s the concept behind the Ragnar Relay Series. First launched in 2003, the Ragnar races have expanded to include 15 different events in various locations across the country. This past weekend, I joined forces with some friends and family members to compete at the 13th annual “Wasatch Back” Ragnar Relay which started on Friday morning in Logan, Utah, and ended Saturday afternoon in Midway, Utah near Park City. The race’s name comes from the fact that the course runs along the back (east) side of the Wasatch Mountain Range, a section of the Rockies that borders the Salt Lake City area.

I took yet another jaunt to the Beehive State aboard the ILX for this occasion. In the 10 years I’ve lived in Arizona, I’d guess I’ve taken the drive to Utah at least 7 times per year. So, this is a well-known route for me. I left the car at my friend Jeremy’s place in Sandy, Utah and carpooled with my mom & stepdad the rest of the way to the race’s starting location in Logan, a couple of hours north.

My mom and aunt Jodi acted as team captains for us. Our team was code-named “Athens 2 Sparta” in a tribute to the first marathon – undertaken by a guy named Phidippides in 490 B.C. during the Persian/Greek War. He was sent as a messenger due to his running speed and endurance, often completing distances of 140 miles or more. He eventually died from exhaustion after one particularly taxing route! We hoped for a dissimilar fate.

There were 946 teams registered. At 12 people each, that’s 11,352 people. Plus two drivers per group, so that’s another 1,892 people. We are talking about over 12,000 people engaged in this craziness. Although, I guess I should mention – not all teams chose to go out with 12 participants. Any team considered “ultra” had 6 or fewer people on it. In other words, the people in those groups were running twice as frequently (and therefore, twice as far) as “normal” participants. I can’t imagine what would compel anyone to do such a thing!

Race Time

Due to the volume of people involved in this event, start times were staggered in waves. We reported at 9:30 a.m. as instructed on Friday, June 19th, checked in, showed the race administrators that we had appropriate safety gear, and watched a short instructional video. My mom was our first runner for our 10:30 a.m. start. We had to send our all-star out first to get us off on the right foot! It was perfect weather for a run and she took off in a flash.

My three assigned legs were as follows:

Leg #4: 4.3 Miles, Net Elevation Gain 127 Feet, est 2:00 p.m. Friday
Leg #16: 5.9 Miles, Net Elevation Loss 922 Feet, est 3:00 a.m. Saturday
Leg #28: 2.7 Miles, Net Elevation Gain 320 Feet, est 1:00 p.m. Saturday

When the rest of us we weren’t running, six of us (5 runners + our driver, Mark) rode along in a rented black 2015 Chevy Suburban (“Van 1”) and provided “support” to our team member who was on deck. I spent most of my time in the back seat trying to avoid motion sickness as we frequently did U-turns and re-routed to find our way around. A second Suburban (“Van 2”) carried the other six members of our team and started after Van 1 members had each completed their first leg. Logistics confusing enough yet? As a first-timer to this event, I was amazed at how seamlessly it worked.

Despite only being 4 miles long, the fact that Leg #4 was a slight uphill and took place in the hottest point of the day made it a doozy for me. I was relieved when I finally saw my team members at the next exchange and I happily chugged a chocolate milk after passing the baton (which was in fact just a 1980’s-esque bright orange slap bracelet) to Damon who picked up the next segment after mine. Poor Damon ended up running 8.8 miles on an uphill, dirt road, while eating the dust of vans passing by! Torture.

We got up over Avon Pass and back to pavement in the tiny town of Liberty, and then we made our first “big” exchange when Van 2 took over. Meanwhile, Van 1 had about 6 hours to spare. We traveled to our next starting point in Morgan, Utah and sprawled out on a grassy field near the high school while having our lunches. I rolled out my sleeping bag and did my best to rest my eyes but it didn’t do much good. Mom tried the same.

It was a little after midnight when mom took Leg #13 and started our van off again. I was already exhausted when Jeffrey passed me the torch a little before 3:00 in the morning. I had been standing at the summit of State Highway 65 near East Canyon Reservoir and trying to jog in place to keep the blood flowing and to keep from getting cold. Once I finally got rolling, I’d forgotten all about the temperature. I had a momentary emergency when my “taillight” clipped to my reflective vest fell off and lost its battery, but my van quickly came to my rescue when they drove past. This was my attempt at a picture.

The next 6 miles were bliss: Steady downhill grade, perfectly clear night with the brightest stars I’ve ever seen, good music, and refreshing temperatures. A remix of the Cranberries’ hit “Zombie” was just what I needed for motivation at 3:05 in the morning when I took this screen shot. Good song!

That was a refreshing way to spend the morning and it definitely helped wake me up. Once again we filed through our segments and tried in vain to catch shuteye when we weren’t the ones pounding the pavement. Soon, the sun started peeking over the horizon and Day 2 had begun. We arrived in Coalville, Utah at North Summit High School for our next group break. They were selling hot showers for $2 and pancake breakfasts for $4. I gladly paid up! After that, we rolled our sleeping bags out onto the floor of the gymnasium and shut our eyes for a little while.

My last leg was along Highway 248 where I awaited my turn to take the bracelet and run with it. I was standing in parking lot at beautiful Jordanelle Reservoir and should have been enjoying the view, but instead my eyes were transfixed on a massive hill ahead of me — one that very soon I’d be attempting to run up. It seemed like an eternity before Jeffrey came down to pass me the reins, but he finally did and I took off as briskly as my legs allowed me to.

Water bottle sloshing in hand, I did my best to keep a consistent pace up the grade, but I had to slow it down to a power-walk a couple of times to keep from overheating. My van waited for me at the top of the hill and my mom threw a water-soaked cloth around my neck. That gave me enough motivation to press onward. It was an amazing feeling to finally crest the summit and be able to see the next exchange location within view. I gladly passed Damon the bracelet and felt a huge sense of relief, having completed my last part of the relay race.

It was several more hours before our “Van 2” team members finished their parts, and I wasn’t able to stick around to see them at the finish line at dusk, but they shared the good news that our team, Athens 2 Sparta, had completed the 194 miles in 34 hours, 10 minutes. That put us in 278th place out of 719 co-ed teams. Top third placement – not too shabby!

This was one of the most challenging physical things I’ve ever done, probably second only to the 26-mile Grand Canyon hike I did a few weeks ago. But the neat thing about the Ragnar concept is that you’re a member of a team, and each person contributes something to the overall outcome. It’s a lesson in working together to achieve a common goal, and feeling great about it when you’re done. Huge thanks to Mark, Nicki, Jodi, Tia, Ben, Jarrett, Isabelle, Roxie, LaReen, Damon, Jeffrey, Muriel, and Jandi from my team for playing a part in this!

I enjoyed my 10 hours of reflection on that topic while driving home to Phoenix. Now, if only I could’ve taken a team approach to the 256 unread email messages that were waiting for me at the office on Monday morning. Sigh.

Here’s a short video with just a few scenes from the race. Thanks for coming along for the run!

Rolling northbound with mom on I-15 in central Utah on Thursday morning

Drive-by at the Utah State Capitol while in the truck with mom & Todd

Decorating our rental Suburban with writing on the windows and our “Athens 2 Sparta” team name

Checking in on Friday morning at the Utah State University stadium in Logan

Watching a safety briefing video

Saddled up in the Suburban while one of our runners takes a turn

A friend sent me this screen shot shortly after we got underway. This race is serious business.

My first leg, a 4-miler on pavement from Paradise to Avon, Utah

The exchange where I handed off the reins to Damon who was runner #5

Waiting for Damon to finish his leg on Avon Pass

LaReen taking her turn on the dirt road now

Back on solid ground, arriving Liberty, Utah

Photo-op with mom

Passing Pineview Reservoir while driving to our next exchange point

“Mormon Muffins”? What would that be?

Here they are. With honey butter!

My view upward while lying on the grass in Morgan, Utah and resting

“M” on the hill stands for Morgan

Daybreak the next morning in Coalville, Utah at North Summit High School

Pancakes never tasted so good

Next exchange, sitting next to Aunt Jodi

Isabelle, Jandi, Jodi, Jarrett – from our “Van 2”

Dying!

I loved the clever names that some people came up with for their vans.

“Ready, Set, Sweat, Regret.” “Kiss our swass.”

“Shitter’s Full.” (name that movie)

“Run? I thought you said rum!” (and notice the tally marks below where they were marking their “kills” – all the people their runners passed along the way)

“Cropdusters.”

Near Park City, Utah, at the final exchange to Van 2

Finish line pics courtesy of my cousin Nicki

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Weekend Roady: Wedding in Salt Lake City, Utah

Posted in Ghost Town, ILX, Road Trip, Utah on April 20, 2015 by tysonhugie

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

32 Comments »

Utah Weekend Trip & NALM 2015 Announcement

Posted in ILX, NALM, Road Trip, Utah on March 9, 2015 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 532,664

Odometer (ILX): 115,833

Trip Distance: 847 Miles

Most people wouldn’t consider it worthwhile to drive nearly 900 miles for a < 24-hour stay at a destination. But, I guess I’m not “most people.” I took off on Saturday morning and headed for my hometown in southwest Utah to spend a little bit of quality time with my family there. I’ll spare a lengthy road trip recap because I’ve blogged about the route dozens of times in the past, but I did manage to get a few pictures that might be worth sharing.

Here’s the Virgin River Gorge section of Interstate 15. For about 10 miles, it winds along the base of a canyon next to the Virgin River. Here’s what makes this very short stretch of road unique, though. It’s located in Arizona, yet it connects a town in Nevada (Mesquite) with a town in Utah (St. George).

St. George is home to about 77,000 people – at least as of a recent 2013 census.

My brother Bentley and his wife Kyann were very welcoming at their home.

One of the highlights of the trip for me was driving my brother’s fully restored 1968 Chevy II Nova SS. It’s powered by an LS3 V8 motor and it has a T56 6-speed manual transmission. The car was dyno-tested a couple of months ago at 416 horsepower at the wheels (so, a little more than double what I’m used to driving daily). I fell in love with this car by the time I had driven it to the end of his street. The burbling sound of a V8 and the endless torque made me want to get a little naughty and light up the tires. I managed to behave myself.

With my nephew Beckam

Interior of the Nova. The gauges, steering wheel, and radio you see here are all aftermarket. There’s not much on this car – aside from the body itself – that’s original to the car’s 1968 model year specifications.

Made a couple special visits, including a shopping trip with my 3-year-old niece.

Also did a little route planning with grandpa. He gave me some tips for a drive to Idaho that I’ll be taking with my dad later this year. Stay tuned for more on that in the coming months!

Sunday morning’s return drive to Arizona via Highway 89A through Fredonia, Arizona. The Ship Rock Motel looks to have been abandoned many years ago. At one point I believe some of the rooms had been converted into apartments but as of today it appears the entire facility is pretty much condemned.

As the road crested to 7,900 feet in elevation at Jacob Lake, there was snow on the sides of the highway.

It was a perfect chance to crack open that moonroof and watch the pine trees fly by.

Arriving Jacob Lake. This is the junction with Highway 67 which serves as the gateway to the north rim of the Grand Canyon. I’ll be visiting that area again in late May for a rim-to-rim Grand Canyon hike.

Don’t even think about using a phone on some of the roads in that area. “No Service” is the only way to roll.

And that reminds me why that piece of road made me so happy.

No outside worries
Light traffic
Nice road conditions
Great curves
Perfect weather
Drink in the cupholder
Driving barefoot and rowing a manual gearbox
“Designer Skyline” by Owl City playing on the iPod

Just the open road, some good music, and a chance to clear the head. My next stop was in Marble Canyon along the Vermillion Cliffs. I happened to spy a 1991-92 Legend L sedan there.

A few pictures along the road in that area.

Endless hiking opportunities.

Waiting for a gust of wind to topple this fist-shaped rock onto my car.

Hope you enjoyed the pics. One more announcement while I’m posting this today: For its 11th Annual Event, NALM is going back to where it all started way back in 2005: The Lone Star State.

The Houston-based ground team has won the bid and has been selected to host this year’s National Acura Legend Meet.

So, it looks like I’ll be going to Houston from September 24th through 27th to attend this special event. The planners have a great itinerary planned including a track day at MSR Houston, a dealership open house at John Eagle Acura, and a car show at Mayday Garage. Here’s a look at where the event has been held in prior years.

2005: Dallas, TX
2006: Tulsa, OK
2007: Las Vegas, NV
2008: Chattanooga, TN
2009: Branson, MO
2010: Salt Lake City, UT
2011: Morristown, NJ
2012: Milwaukee, WI
2013: Asheville, NC
2014: Southern California
2015: Houston, TX

Over and out!

10 Comments »

Throwback Thursday: 10 Years Ago in Utah

Posted in Legend, Throwback, Utah on February 19, 2015 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 532,592

Odometer (ILX): 113,347

Odometer (TLX): 2,736

Ten years ago, I was 23 and the Legend was 11. It had traveled a mere 159,000 miles. Those were the days! Today, we’re taking a drive back in time to the year 2005. George W. Bush had recently been sworn in on his second term as president. Hurricane Katrina pounded the Gulf Coast. Will Smith starred in the movie Hitch. And Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl” was the most-downloaded song of the year. Can you believe it’s been a decade?

In February of that year, I was a plowing through my undergraduate degree at Utah State University in a town called Logan. The highlight of my college career was meeting Bill Nye the Science Guy at an assembly.

I’d only owned my 1994 Acura Legend for a couple of years, but I was already documenting my travels with plenty of pictures. Here are a few shots I dug up from the “Feb 05” archives in a box and scanned. Indeed, back in that day I used to have nearly all of my digital camera’s photos printed up as 3×5’s at Walmart. I’m glad THAT tradition fell by the wayside. I’d have filled a library by now with all the volumes of photo albums.

In the below photo, I was hanging out my sunroof whilst paying a visit to my friend Nate. As you can tell, Nate was quite the Honda-fan, too. Notice the Accord, the Odyssey, and three Legends (besides mine) at his family’s home in Sandy, just south of Salt Lake City. There’s a black 1995 LS coupe peeking out behind the white sedan.

I decided to send the picture to Nate and see if it looked at all familiar to him.

Sounds like Nate’s family has upgraded to newer cars. He said his dad’s now in a TL Type-S and his mom is in a newer Odyssey. At least they’re still as Honda-loyal as ever. Here are a few other pictures I dug up.

Snow Canyon State Park, St. George Utah

Winter evening in Cache Valley, northern Utah

From that same photoshoot: Train tracks. Don’t try this at home, kids!

Highway 89 through Logan Canyon. This scene brings back memories. I’ll never forget the day I was off galavanting after a fresh snowstorm and decided to pull a U-turn in some snow on the side of the road. The snow ended up being a lot deeper than it looked, and I got my car hopelessly stuck. Cell service sucked but my little Samsung flip-phone eked out a call for help to a tow company operated by my dad’s friend, and a guy came to shovel/push me out.

Frosty morning before hiking to class (yes, uphill both ways, in the snow)

Speaking of snow: We did get our fair share that winter.

The aftermath was pretty entertaining. I don’t even know if I owned an ice scraper. I know that I don’t have one today.

Camouflage. It fits right in with the background.

I bet it was a good ski season that year.

Mostly cleaned off.

Antelope Island, an island in the Great Salt Lake. The entire island is a state park.

So that was February 2005 in a dozen memorable pictures. Before we know it, we’ll be in the year 2025 and I’ll be reminiscing about 2015 just like this. Meanwhile, over at my house, there’s new kid on the block this week.

More to come!

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Weekend in Northern Utah: New Lexus for Jeremy

Posted in Utah on December 15, 2014 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 532,041

Odometer (ILX): 107,696

Trip Distance: 1,018 Flight Miles

No matter how hard the folks at the Car-Freshner corporation try, the aroma from a New Car Scent tree can never quite compare to the real thing. I got a good strong whiff of the real deal on Saturday morning in Salt Lake City, Utah, where I accompanied my friend Jeremy on his trip to Larry H. Miller Lexus for delivery of his newly-arrived 2015 Lexus GS350 F-Sport. It’s not every day someone gets to drive off the new car lot in a car with just 14 miles on the odometer, so I felt it appropriate to document the special occasion with plenty of pictures and a video for him.

Boasting a 3.5-liter V6 that packs 306 horsepower and 277 pound-feet of torque, the GS350 is a luxurious sports sedan that can probably embarrass a few sports cars in get-up-and-go. The F-Sport package adds special suspension, brake, and wheel upgrades. When Jeremy and I showed up at the dealership on State Street, his Ultra White Lexus was already parked on an immaculately polished floor in the Vehicle Delivery Area. The roof was adorned with a giant red bow, which Lexus offered to sell along with the car for a bargain $500 additional.

The Lexus’ all-wheel-drive will certainly come in handy for Jeremy’s imminent trips up Little Cottonwood Canyon to ski at Snowbird Resort. Odd for this time of year, the snowstorms haven’t yet dumped on the Salt Lake Valley but we did get plenty of rain during Jeremy’s drive-off after he had taken care of all his paperwork and signed his life away. Later that day, I thumbed through a brochure at Jeremy’s house outlining some of the features & specs on his GS. One page – and its headline in particular – caught my eye.

Here’s that headline:

The fine print stated that during its development, Lexus had road-tested the GS by driving it the equivalent of 26 times around the Earth.

But here’s the kicker: The circumference of Earth is 24,901 miles. If the Lexus GS traveled that distance 26 times, that only comes out to 647,426 miles. So, I’m sorry Lexus; you were 352,574 miles short in your journey.

The rest of my weekend was filled with family and food, as my dad hosted about 45 people at his home in Providence, Utah for the annual Christmas party festivities. Providence is about 80 miles north of Salt Lake, and Jeremy and I drove a “loaner” Lexus ES350 up there (long story). While the ride was comfortable and the amenities nice, the car was a bit too sedated for my taste and I craved something with a little more personality.

Here are a few of my other photos from the weekend.

All aboard Southwest flight #1649 for the short 90-minute trip from Phoenix to Salt Lake

Arrival at the Lexus dealership in Murray, Utah

The GS350 ready to roll out.

There’s a mean looking front end.

The big moment as the glass doors parted and the car made its exit.

After picking up Jeremy’s roommate, we headed out on the town. Of all the exciting places we could have taken the GS350, guess where we went? Costco.

Later that day, I met up my friend Branson for lunch. He drives this 1995 Acura Legend LS coupe 6-speed in Cayman White Pearl. It has 162,000 miles on the odometer but sure looks brand new.

Who can identify which (newer) Acura those 17″ wheels originated on?

With Branson out for a cruise in the loaner ES350 I was using.

Dinner in downtown Salt Lake at Trio Cafe with my friends Shane & Fred.

With Jeremy headed to Logan for the family party.

Quick photo-op in my grandma’s backyard for some “senior portrait”-esque pictures.

No Hugie family function is complete without a viewing of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. Each of us can pretty much quote the entire film from front to back. My dad even put together a trivia game with questions about the movie.

Gotta love this grandma. She’s not a fan of cameras, but I got her to crack a grin here.

I have the best sisters-in-law. These lovely ladies are Kali and Kyann.

Out in front of my dad’s place, the extended family’s cars started arriving. Included in the mix was this 2000 Acura 3.5 RL that my mom used to drive, which is now owned by my 21-year-old cousin Chad. I picked that car up in 2005 when it had just 22,000 miles on the odometer. Today, it has around 145,000.

Monday morning trip to Salt Lake International Airport in Jeremy’s Lexus. The Wasatch Mountains were stunning with a recent dusting of snow against the vivid blue sky. Temps in the low 30’s, making it reason enough to use the heated seats as we made the 20-mile drive for my drop-off.

Hope everyone else had a nice weekend as well!

22 Comments »

Quick Drive: Warner Valley, Southern Utah

Posted in ILX, Road Trip, Utah on December 1, 2014 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 531,910

Odometer (ILX): 106,356

Trip Distance: 12 Miles

As sunset drew near one evening during our visit to St. George, Utah for the Thanksgiving holiday, my friend Ryan asked me if I knew of “any good drives” in the area. “Pssssh” I thought. “Of course!” It wouldn’t be a Tyson-Ryan road trip if there wasn’t at least a little bit of off-roading, like that one time we drove Hell’s Backbone. That’s why, at first thought, the remote area of Warner Valley came to mind.

It had been a long time since I visited Warner Valley. Maybe 18 years? I know for a fact that we went camping there when I was in Boy Scouts, and I was probably 14 at the time. The landscape I’m sure hasn’t changed much, but the steadily sprawling urban development has encroached on what was once barren wilderness back then. This road trip didn’t just rewind the clock 18 years, though. It rewound the clock to 190 million years ago, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth. That’s because Warner Valley is home to some of the best-preserved dinosaur tracks in the southwest. There are, in fact, about 400 examples of dinosaur tracks that have been found in the area since it was originally mapped in 1989.

Ryan and I took to the dirt road with enthusiasm and started kicking up some dust. The red one-laner snaked its way through the sagebrush and led us past some areas where people were set up with firearms and doing target practice. We gladly continued onward from there. I did get a little nervous because the road conditions got a little sketchy – the gravel gave way to sand which was quite deep in places. Remembering that one time when I got the ILX hopelessly stuck in the sand, I knew that I needed to keep my momentum to avoid that. My car’s traction-control assistance did kick in a number of times as the front tires lost grip in the sand.

Luckily, Ryan kept a pretty good pace from ahead of me and I stayed on his tail despite being enveloped by a cloud of dust. The desert’s colors really took on vivid hues as the sun dipped down in the western sky. Soon, it became pretty clear we’d run out of daylight before getting down the road much further, so we opted to loop back once we arrived at the site of the Fort Pearce Historic Site. It’s a small stone structure that was built in 1866 during Utah’s “Black Hawk War.” Native Americans from the Ute tribe were trying to drive out the Mormon settlers. In a series of battles, 100 Indian lives were lost and 70 Mormons. The 42 x 22 foot structure was one of several guard posts that were built during that time. The war ended by about 1873 and the remains of Fort Pearce stand as a reminder.

(photo credit Washington County Historical Society)

I’ve heard of “instant karma” but never seen it in action until Ryan and I started heading back to toward civilization. Despite the fact that we were clipping along at 30 miles per hour, a Ford pickup came up in my rearview and got uncomfortably close. It was clear he wanted to blast past me, but the road was far too narrow at that time to allow it. At the next possible area, I did scoot to the right and he flew by, spraying a cloud of dust in my direction. It was just seconds later, as the driver took his truck halfway up the berm on the left side of the road in an attempt to pass Ryan, that he lost control of his truck and ended up spinning it sideways in the deep sand and having to stop. I passed him with a chuckle and Ryan and I continued on our merry way.

Thanks for joining on the trip!

Dinosaur track photos:

(photo credit stillexploring.com)

Heading out on the dirt road, following Ryan’s dust cloud

Quick photo op in the middle of nowhere

Another angle

Love the red sandstone scenery

ILX + S2000

Great sunset skies out in the desert

And headed back to civilization

Return drive to Phoenix on Saturday morning

The Virgin River Gorge section of Interstate 15

The Legend getting out for its weekly “walk” around the block.

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Thanksgiving Group Drive: Snow Canyon State Park, Utah

Posted in ILX, Road Trip, Utah on November 28, 2014 by tysonhugie

Odometer (ILX): 105,770

Trip Distance: 426 Miles

Back in the 1850’s, southern Utah’s Mormon settlers discovered a beautiful canyon while searching for lost cattle. That place later became known as Snow Canyon State Park after prominent Utah pioneers Lorenzo and Erastus Snow. Since that designation in 1958, it has since become a favorite recreation destination for hiking and other outdoor activities.

The canyon’s views of the red and white sandstone rock formations are beautiful at any time of day, but I enjoy them especially in the early morning light. For many years while living in the nearby city of St. George, I visited the canyon for car photoshoots and videos. Here’s an example of one such video I filmed there (7 years ago! The Legend had “only” around 260,000 miles on it at the time).

It seemed only fitting that I kick off the Thanksgiving holiday with a car meet-up and road trip, so I rallied a few people including my younger brother Payton and a few Honda/Acura-owning buddies so we could get out and enjoy the gorgeous morning and the open road.

Payton’s car was by far the quickest of the group. It’s a highly modified Lexus IS300 and it’s known to peel out in just about any of its 6 gears. At over 600 horsepower, it’s more power than I’d ever know what to do with. The last touch on his build will be to reattach the front bumper but mechanically the car is “done.”

Nice color-matched custom interior dash trim. Notice the stereo has been removed, a custom aluminum plate added, and ready for additional gauges.

Driver’s side interior.

The beast of an engine. I should have taken a better picture of this, but the attention to detail is unmatched. It’s spotlessly clean and all of the finishes have been either custom painted or powder coated.

Heading up State Route 18 toward the entrance to Snow Canyon.

Getting passed by Cody’s Cashmere Silver Metallic 1993 L 5-speed sedan.

Nearing the north entrance to Snow Canyon State Park.

Park Entry

It’s amazing how close in hue the Intensa Blue Pearl (Lexus) and Kinetic Blue Pearl (Acura) are.

ILX and Blair’s 2007 Acura TL Type-S with 106,000 miles

Solo shot

In my element!

Standing with the 3 Acuras

Checking out Cody’s Legend engine

Cody’s interior smells like new, and the driver’s seat is near perfect

That car turned over 74,000 miles on the way up the canyon: It’s just a baby considering it’s nearly 22 years old.

Legend trunk.

Ryan’s 2001 Honda S2000 rounded out the mix of cars. It’s Berlina Black with 148,000 miles.

Thanks to Cody for these next 3 awesome pics.

Standing with Payton in Snow Canyon

Obligatory family family photo before turkey dinner at mom’s

Hope everyone had a great holiday! I’m making the return trip to AZ tomorrow morning and will have more to share about this weekend’s adventures in coming days. Safe travels to all.

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Utah’s Zion National Park: “The Subway” Hike

Posted in Hikes, ILX, Road Trip, Utah on November 12, 2014 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 531,804

Odometer (ILX): 103,488

Trip Distance: 80 Miles

Grab a $5 footlong before getting started with this post. The Subway I’ll be introducing you to today, however, isn’t any kind of sandwich. It’s something far better: It’s one of the most remote and scenic canyons in the country. Growing up in southern Utah, I was lucky to have several national parks right in my own backyard. Utah, in fact, is often considered the country’s national park capital because there are five parks in close proximity.

Zion National Park covers 229 square miles but it’s most known for 15-mile-long Zion Canyon. Its designation as a national park happened almost exactly 95 years ago, in November 1919 under U.S. President Woodrow Wilson. The canyon itself is up to 1/2 mile deep and cuts through the sandstone rocks in dramatic red and orange colors. Back in May 2013, I shared a throwback post about a few of my visits to Zion including my favorite hike of all time, Angel’s Landing, which ascends a narrow pathway through terror-inducing heights with 1,500-foot cliff drop-offs on both sides. Yeah, don’t lose your footing.

For years I’ve known of a hike called The Subway but it wasn’t until this weekend that I actually got the chance to experience it. Due to its treacherous nature and in the interest of preservation, access to The Subway is heavily restricted by the National Park Service and a backcountry permit is required. My mom reserved a permit for our group several months in advance, so we set aside the date and planned our visit around a fixed date.

Bright and early on Saturday morning (do people ever say they got up “dark and late”?), five of us piled into my ILX and headed toward the entrance to Zion in Springdale. It was a cozy squeeze but only about a 40-mile trek. We ran into a traffic delay just before entering park limits, thanks to a 10K run that caused a road closure. By the time we’d retrieved our permit from the Visitor Center, driven 8 miles up Kolob Terrace Road, and unloaded our gear, it was around 10:45 in the morning when we started the hike.

For the next 6 hours, we’d be traversing some of southern Utah’s most rugged and scenic landscapes – with many of the fall colors at their peak, too. Motivated and full of energy, we practically skipped down the singletrack dirt trail for the first 1/2 mile or so. Terrain was level for the time being. Soon, though, we started dipping down rocky, steep (and sometimes slippery) red dirt as we made our way to the base of the canyon. A few of us had walking sticks, but Justin and I did the best we could to find our footing without the assistance. The lower in elevation that we got, the more clearly we could hear the babbling of the Virgin River as it carved its way through the canyon. Aside from a couple of cairns here and there, we had very few points of reference to go on. Sometimes, the trail was wherever we wanted it to be.

We frequently had to climb up, over, or around boulders that were bigger than SUVs. They came in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. Some had edges that looked so precision-cut, they almost seemed man-made. About an hour into the hike, it became apparent that getting our feet wet was going to be inevitable, so we swapped our footwear for water-friendly Teva sandles and continued onward. Multiple times we did end up having to cross the Virgin River as we headed up the canyon. One of my favorite things about The Subway hike was its solitude: In our entire day of hiking, we encountered probably fewer than two dozen people.

It seemed like it took forever, but we finally started noticing that the canyon narrowed and we crossed over some eye-catching tiered waterfalls. Just around the corner, The Subway was there in all its glory, and we spent some time in that area admiring the surroundings. The actual section of the hike that has rounded subway-like walls is only about 1/4 miles in length. It lies between two peaks called the North and South Guardian Angels.

Glancing at her watch, my mom alerted us to fact that it would start getting dark in just 3 hours. The last place any of us wanted to be at dusk was stuck inside the canyon, so we somewhat hurriedly started back-tracking toward the trailhead. I found it interesting that the reverse hike often times offered completely different looking views than what we had seen on the first leg. It was a bit unnerving when Justin and I came across a group of 3 people who were terrified: “We’ve think we’ve missed the exit.” (referring to the area where we needed to climb up out of the river bed and ascend to the trailhead). Justin and I were quite certain we hadn’t yet gotten to to that point in the trail. Still, it made my heart skip a beat to think that we might end up hopelessly lost and need to spend the night in a dark canyon.

Sure enough, we did find our way out and we spent the last ounce of our energy (and our last few drops of bottled water) on climbing the 1,000 or more feet in elevation to the parking lot, just as the sun started dipping beneath the horizon. I passed by a man who was clearly struggling to carry a bunch of camera gear and offered to lighten his load. He graciously accepted the offer and had me unlatch his heavy tripod so that I could carry it to the top for him. It was such a relief to get to the summit and know that we had finished our mission safely.

The Subway offered up an experience that I won’t soon forget! More pictures follow below – hope you enjoy them.

First, a very short (15-second!) video.

Stuck in Saturday morning traffic in Rockville, Utah – headed to get our backcountry hiking permit.

Arrival at the Left Fork Trailhead.

Todd and Tia getting ready for the descent into the canyon.

Making our way down the steep slope toward the Virgin River.

Fall colors as mom makes her way through the canyon.

Justin shows off his strength with this huge boulder.

Obligatory hiking selfie.

Pit stop along the river as we headed toward The Subway section.

More fall colors.

Small waterfalls were found throughout the canyon.

Scenery unmatched.

One of several terraced waterfalls.

Arrival at The Subway.

The Subway.

This was as far as we went into the depths of The Subway. We would have needed to rappel to go any further.

Taking a breather before starting the return trip.

The Virgin River cascades down this smooth rock face.

Back at the trailhead, victorious! Aunt Jodi, Justin, Tyson.

Despite not having any service, my iPhone somehow calculated my daily steps at 22,872 – equaling 11.03 miles and 59 flights of stairs.

It’s no wonder my legs were still sore even a couple days later. Hope you enjoyed the hike!

14 Comments »

Southern Utah Trip: 2014 St. George Marathon

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

Odometer (Legend): 531,574

Odometer (ILX): 99,001

Trip Distance: 878.2 miles

I traveled around 878 miles this weekend, but 26.2 of those were more painful than all the rest. For those miles, I traveled by foot. Well, by New Balance running shoe anyway. It’s tradition each October to spend a weekend in my hometown and participate in the St. George Marathon which travels along State Route 18 and beautiful Snow Canyon State Park. Here are write-ups on the previous trips to the St. George Marathons I’ve blogged about.

2011 in the Legend
2012 in the ILX
2013 in the ILX

It seems that with each passing year, my training gets less and less involved, and that definitely held true for the 2014 event. Having run only a maximum of 6 miles at a time since January, I was poorly prepared for what was to come.

On Saturday morning, a delayed race start (7:00 a.m. instead of 6:45) meant it would be a little warmer on the course for all of us. The heat, as it turned out, was what really drained my energy. I had a strong start, but by mile 7 I’d crossed into new distance territory and my body didn’t like it one bit. My mom blew past me at mile 8, just before we had to tackle this huge hill (she’s pictured in blue shorts here). I was amazed that we’d even seen each other, considering the fact that we hadn’t started together and there were 7,998 other registered participants!

At mile 10, I could tell I was overheating and dehydrated. I took advantage of a downhill at mile 14 to let gravity do some work for me, but the road quickly again leveled out and I told myself I’d never do this again. A fitting song came on my playlist just then: “Run, Run, Run” by Vicci Martinez.

It was around mile 16 when I slowed to a walk because I could tell there was a blister on my left foot. I needed to get my mind off the race for a minute, so I turned my phone off “airplane mode” and checked text messages and emails while I walked. I’m pretty sure I was the only person on the course reading his monthly HOA newsletter at that moment in time. An aid station up ahead called to me like an oasis in the desert, and I downed 3 cups of Gatorade and half an orange when I got there. That gave me enough fuel to pick up the pace again just a bit.

My grandma was sitting alongside the road at mile 24 in the same place she’s been every year. She’s definitely my most dedicated fan, and she’d gone to the effort of writing up a poem on posterboard to provide me (and my mom) some motivation. The last couple miles of the race took us winding through central St. George, with lots of crowd support and fanfare as we neared the finish. I saved a little energy for one last dash during the last couple of blocks, then came to a stop and felt the extreme sense of relief in knowing that I’d finished. My cousin Nicki, who’d long-since finished the race, caught my finish on video. My bright orange shirt was pretty easy to spot.

It wasn’t the ice cream sandwich, the Texas Roadhouse rolls, or the yogurt that I most enjoyed in the fenced-off runner recovery area after the race. It was the chocolate milk, and I chugged a few cups of it in delight. I ended up with a 4 hour, 43 minute finish time. This was over 20 minutes slower than my time last year. Look at how much my pace slowed toward the finish! Slow poke.

We spent the afternoon relaxing with family. Here are the rest of the pics from this weekend of fun.

I had the privilege of shuttling my cousin Nicki between Las Vegas, Nevada and St. George, Utah for the race.

Unfortunately, the ILX was victim to a hit-and-run in Las Vegas early Friday morning. I’m still trying to get ahold of my motel’s parking lot surveillance camera tape, but sometime between 1:00 and 7:00 a.m., the back bumper got hit & creased. Bummer!

Carbo-loading at Pasta Factory in St. George, the day before the race.

Ready to rock and roll!

Bonfires at the start line helped keep the chilly wind from making us too uncomfortable.

I thought it very fitting when this song came on.

Onward!

Passing a mile marker somewhere.

Grandma on the roadside.

And her sign:

My friend Kerri was in her front yard cheering on the participants, too.

Best reward ever? Chocolate milk at the finish line.

And an ice cream sandwich.

Mom showing off her muscles. She pulled off a 4-hour finish time.

Much-needed relaxation.

Hanging with cousins.

Oh yeah, and those “sport” pedals in the ILX? I made the mistake of trying to drive barefoot after the race. Those little rubber nubs lit my blisters on fire every time I pushed in the clutch pedal or brake. Ouch. I had to pull over and find my flip flops before continuing on.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

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