drivetofive

Odometer (ILX):  66,553

Trip Distance:  421 Miles

It had been too long since I stretched my highway legs for a good 5+ hour drive so I decided to hop in the ILX after work and head north to my hometown in St. George, Utah.  This time I decided to take the “back” way – instead of opting for a route that consisted of mostly split highways, I drove through the mountain passes and canyons of Highway 89, northeast of the Grand Canyon.  It was a relaxing 6.5 hours on the road.

Driving, for me, is an incredibly therapeutic activity.  It’s an opportunity to clear the head and forget about the stresses of life.  Friday was an insane workday at CVS Caremark.  I got into the office at 7:00 a.m. and didn’t even step up from the chair at my workstation to stretch until almost 11:30.  By the time I got into the ILX around 4 p.m., my nerves were on end.  I set my cell phone on the passenger seat, face down so I wouldn’t see any alerts.  I plugged in my iPod 80 gig, took off my shoes, and picked up a grande caramel frappaccino from Starbucks at the drive-through.  Things were looking better already.  For the rest of the evening, it was just me, the ILX, and the open road.

Interstate 17 climbed aggressively toward about 7,000 feet in elevation and the temperature sank to the high 30s as I gained altitude.  By the time I got to Flagstaff, I’d witnessed a spectacular sunset in 15 shades of red, purple, and dark blue.  There was snow on the sides of the road but the lanes of travels were clear and dry.  North of Flag is when I got off the beaten interstate path and headed north toward Page, Arizona on Highway 89.  With each passing mile, I saw fewer cars on the road.  Soon I was able to drive for many miles at a time with my high beams on.  I rolled open the moonroof to see the stars overhead – more clearly than I’d ever seen them in the city.

I drove through the Navajo Nation and pondered what a hardy people they are, having endured a way of life in small towns with few of life’s luxuries.  Nearing the junction of highways 89 and 89A, a blinding light shone ahead of me.  “Bright oncoming HID headlights,” I thought.  Soon it became apparent that the light was not a car.  “Wow, someone has really bright yard lighting.”  And finally, I approached the light and realized I had come up on a massive road closure with a generator driving three high-power lights.  This was where Highway 89 was detoured due to this massive buckle in the pavement.  Heading left on 89A, the road got more narrow and curvy.  Nevertheless, I set my cruise control at 65 miles per hour and firmly planted both hands on the wheel.

At one point after climbing in elevation to 7,921 feet at Jacob Lake, Arizona, I pulled over on a scenic overlook and shut off the car and its headlights.  I rolled down my windows.  The moonlight illuminated everything around me in a glow, and the only sound I could hear was the wind rustling the trees.  I loved the momentary feeling of solitude and peace.  This was a good night to be on the road.  I arrived at my brother’s place in St. George at 11:03 p.m. – right on target from what I’d told him earlier in the day.

Today, I had the privilege of shuttling my grandpa, grandma, and aunt to lunch at the home of the best tater tots in town – Larsen’s Frostop.  This drive-in has been a key landmark on St. George Boulevard since 1965.  We had some burgers, tots, and desserts in the company of some other family members in honor of my grandpa’s 83rd birthday, coming up on Monday.

Here is a 30-second video slideshow from our lunch.  Thanks Aunt Jodi for putting it together!

Northbound Interstate 17

Pit stop along the roadside near Camp Verde

“This Surface is Never Regularly Maintained” – spotted on a sign near one of the interstate’s offramps

A year ago, Highway 89 near Page, Arizona collapsed and looked like this

Today, it’s still not yet repaired.  Traffic is detoured a long way around.  Here’s a photo at the road closure.

Niece Vivienne will be 3 in April.  She’s full of energy.

Lunch bunch en route to one of my favorite burger places

Grandpa was riding shotgun

My brother Bentley and his family met up with us.  His black Audi Q7 S-Line 3.0 liter supercharged was looking pretty clean.

Let’s eat!

Grandpa peeking in the window.

A grilled cheese here is only $1!  We opted for a couple of Prince Burgers.

Chow time.

And back to Gpa’s Avalon Abode.  He’s got a white 2000 and a silver 2006 in the stable.

It was a great day with family!  Thanks for joining!

Did anybody catch this 1996 Lexus LS400 on Ebay with a mind-boggling 897,000 miles on it?  As of right now, bids are at $1,150 with a couple days left in the auction.

Description as follows:

This vehicle has a CarFax and Odometer both stating 896,977 miles.  The vehicle, when I got it, needed the driver’s seat recovered and the paint was sunburned.  The seat has been recovered and the car has been painted.  This is an original Rust-Free Florida car.  The rest of the car is original and in good condition as the pictures show.  The only option on the car which doesn’t work is the factory radio.  It has a factory sunroof.  The car drives like a good 100,000 mile car would.  The car had no rust on it before it was painted.  This car has no motor noise, and it doesn’t smoke. The transmission shifts properly.  The CarFax, again, shows no accidents and actual miles.

Pretty sweet!  That car has averaged nearly 50,000 miles per year over its 18 years.

Catch the rest of my Utah trip sometime this coming week!

Odometer (Legend):  527,669

Odometer (ILX):  58,270

Trip Distance:  860 Miles

The route between Phoenix, Arizona and southern Utah is all-too familiar for my Acura ILX.  It knows the way instinctively between these two points after having traveled it so many times in the past.

As daylight dawned on cool Arizona Saturday morning, I had already been on the road for a couple of hours, sipping a Shamrock Farms chocolate milk and listening to some new music in my collection:  namely, “Driving My Life Away,” by Eddie Rabbit.  Could any song be more fitting for me?  Here’s my favorite line:

Those windshield wipers, slappin’ out a tempo

Keeping perfect rhythm with the song on the radio

It took about 6.5 hours, with a stop in Kingman for gas, bu finally I exited Southern Parkway at Desert Canyons Drive.

Ahead, I was in store for an afternoon full of motocross and diesel truck events, sponsored in part by my brother’s business, H&S Performance.  The event was called Fall Fuel Fest.

This little guy just turned 2 years old.  He’s my nephew Beckam, and he knows enough about trucks to be dangerous.  Case in point:  my step-mom put him in the driver’s seat of an F-250 and watched his actions.  Beckam got the keys from the center console and found the ignition to insert them.  This kid!

Vendor booths lined the main alleyway of the Fall Fuel Fest on a perfect November afternoon in southern Utah, with the high temp around 70 with sunny skies.

My brother Bentley was interviewed by a radio announcer.

I last hung out with the H&S crew when they took a Ford Lightning and raced it in Ennis, Texas at the National Hot Rod Diesel Association World Finals.

Just down the way, trucks were lining up to compete in a dyno competition.

Pictured here are my brother Bentley and my mom.

And here I am with my dad and my stepmom — all proudly sporting our H&S apparel, head to toe.

The gray 2011 Ford Powerstroke pickup here has been souped up with some performance enhancements.  It’s powered by a 6.7 liter V8 and has a 12″ lift and 40″ tires.

Later that night, it pulled about 550 horsepower on the dyno!

I was tasked with driving this big rig back to the office after the event closed. The instrument panel is information overload!  I must say I enjoyed being the king of the road for a few miles.

One highlight of the evening was watching a world-record jump in a four-wheeled ATV.  Ryan Piplic drove this ATV at over 80 mph to hit a ramp and fly over a distance of 155 feet.  Here’s the occasion on video.

During a break in the afternoon, I visited my other brother Payton who has been playing a lot lately with his 2002 Lexus IS300.  I featured the car on Drive to Five back in February when he was just getting started with modifications.

Payton’s car is now an absolute monster when he gets on the throttle, thanks to a turbo upgrade.  It was recently dyno tested and achieved 360 horsepower and 390 pound-feet of torque.

We took this baby for a spin.  He picked up so much speed that when he slowed back down abruptly, the brakes were smoking.

A fine sunset awaited us that night.

While I was in my hometown, I took a few minutes to step back in time nearly 14 years by taking a picture of my ILX in the same place on the road as the pictures with my original Honda — the 1989 Prelude Si.

The home color and the landscaping are now different, and I was a little off on the placement, but you get the idea.

Today, I made the drive back to Phoenix, with my step-mom Tanya relieving me from driving duties for about 1.5 hours, between Kingman and Wickenburg, Arizona.  She commented on how easy it was to get used to the controls.  It had been at least a couple of years since she last drove a stick shift!  Her current ride at home is a 2013 Acura MDX.

It was nice to have someone else take the reins for awhile while I kicked back in the passenger seat.

Have a great week!

Odometer (Legend):  522,703

Odometer (ILX):  48,732

Leg Distance:  519 Miles

Welcome to the third and final chapter of last weekend’s wild ride in Utah with 2013 Acura ILX.  Fueled up by my tasty Trout Quesadilla after lunch in Boulder Utah on Saturday, I had a renewed vigor for travel.  My friend Ryan and I were determined to conquer one last road before we called it a day:  Hell’s Backbone.

Seen along the ridge in the above picture, Hell’s Backbone (Forest Road 153) was built in the mid-1930s as an alternate route between the towns of Escalante and Boulder, Utah.   It was constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps and created a means for the first automobiles to reach Boulder.

Highway 12 is notoriously one of the most beautiful in Utah.  Someday I plan on driving it in its entirety.

Just a few miles south of Boulder on Highway 12, we veered right and entered Hell’s Backbone Road.  Again, Ryan led the way in his 230,000 mile Audi A6 while I followed in the 48,000 mile Acura ILX.

We were lucky to not encounter adverse weather conditions during our drive, as muddy roads would have made this route impassible for passenger cars.  Notice I had my GoPro video camera mounted on the car’s rear quarter panel for part of the drive.

The dirt road reaches an elevation of 9,000 feet and skirts the edge of Box-Death Hollow Wilderness.  Midway through the 38-mile stretch of gravel road lies the the one-lane Hell’s Backbone Bridge (originally constructed in 1933).

From an informative sign on-site:

The original bridge was in use until the early 1960’s, when its decaying timbers started to groan and squeak ominously as vehicles crossed over it.  The faithful old wooden bridge was replaced by a steel and concrete reinforced structure.  That bridge was replaced in 2005 by the present bridge which is wider and stronger than the two previous bridges.

This thing still looks pretty skinny to me!  I wonder what it would’ve looked like in 1933.

Ryan and I took a breather from driving and spent awhile hiking around the area.  It was perfect weather.

Here, Ryan (carefully!) climbed on top of one of the sandstone spires.  A fall would have been fatal at that height.

Pictures do not do justice to the depth of the canyon and the many layers of it.

All aboard!  Here is the ILX crossing the bridge.

I was met by a truck coming the opposite direction and had to back up to let it pass.

Hell’s Backbone Road went on to join with Pine Creek Road, which is what we followed to the town of Escalante, Utah.  In all, we traveled around 38 miles on the dirt backroads.

Here, I took the chance to go ahead and top off my fuel tank with some $4.09 premium fuel at the only gas station in town.

And from there, since Ryan and I had completed our mission, I started contemplating the drive home.  Unfortunately, as the GPS screen capture illustrates below, there was no direct way to get where I was going.

Through the towns of Henrieville, Cannonville, and Tropic, we headed westward on Highway 12.  I love old homes like this one, and I’d especially like to take a peek inside if the opportunity presented itself.  Looks like this one’s even for sale!

Bryce Canyon, just up the road, is one of 5 national parks in Utah.  I started seeing some impressive rock formations and knew that we were getting close.

Sure enough, we rolled up to the entrance. Given the long day that Ryan and I had already experienced, we opted out of entering the park.

However, we still enjoyed plenty of the surrounding area’s scenery, including this tunnel on the highway.

And these scenic pull-outs where I couldn’t resist stopping for a picture.

This place specifically is called “Red Canyon.”

Finally, we’d reached our separation point.  From the junction at Highway 89, Ryan would be heading north and I’d be heading south.

That Phoenix destination marker must’ve been identified with me in mind.  I can’t imagine many travelers in that part of Utah are driving to Phoenix.

It felt really good to finally be honing in on my target destinations as I got close to Flagstaff, which is only 2 hours from Phoenix.

My ILX performed like a hybrid from an MPG perspective!  From the time I reset my trip meter when entering Hell’s Backbone until the time I arrived at home, 515 miles later, I averaged 38 miles per gallon.

That concluded Saturday’s travels!  Here’s a video wrap-up of the entire weekend:

Anybody notice a new feature here?

Thanks for coming along for the ride, as always!

Odometer (Legend):  522,698

Odometer (ILX):  48,688

Leg Distance:  73 Miles

Fresh off the Hall’s Crossing ferry boat on the north side of Lake Powell at Bullfrog Marina last Saturday, Ryan and I already had a pretty good idea where we’d be heading next in our vehicles.  We wanted to scope out a route called the Burr Trail, one of the most remote yet scenic roads in Utah.  This route is primitive in sections as it winds through the backcountry.  Here is a little info on Burr Trail, courtesy of the National Park Service:

John Atlantic Burr was born in 1846 aboard the SS Brooklyn somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean.  He and his family lived in Salt Lake City, then later moved south and established the town of Burrville, Utah, in 1876.  John Burr soon developed a trail to move cattle back and forth between winter and summer ranges and to market.  This cattle trail through the rough, nearly impassible country around the Waterpocket Fold, Burr Canyon, and Muley Twist Canyon came to be known as the Burr Trail.

I lived in Utah for over 20 years and had never even heard of Burrville, but I looked it up on Google Maps and realized why:  It’s teeny.  Here’s the whole town today.

After heading north from the marina on State Route 276 for about 4-5 miles, we turned west on Burr Trail.  There were no signs or markings aside from this lonely one.

The National Park Service has posted written instructions online on what to expect for each mile of the drive.  These were most helpful as Ryan and I made our way through what was new, unfamiliar territory for both of us.

Our eyes were wide open to appreciate the chiseled mountains that surrounded us in various shades of red.

Just a little ways into the drive, our plans were nearly foiled.  There’s a part of the Burr trail that floods when the lake level exceeds a certain measurement (3,695 feet, to be exact).  See the note here in red on a map:

The lake’s level appears to currently be at or near that level, because Ryan and I saw a wash ahead of us with muddy ruts that I was almost positive my car wouldn’t be able to get through.  I had Ryan go first in his Audi, and then I had him video record me crossing – just in case anything funny happened, of course.

Thank goodness for those 6 inches of ground clearance!  I used them all.

With that out of the way, we continued onward on Burr Trail.  For a time, the road straddled a ridge with canyons on both sides.  Then we left the pavement for what ended up being 15 miles of off-roading.

The printouts that I’d taken with me had a lot of warnings regarding the dangers of driving this road in inclement weather.

A bit further up the road, Ryan and I entered the park boundary for Capitol Reef National Park.  Unlike most other national park entrances, though, this one has no entry fee.  It’s so remote that it isn’t even staffed.  There’s a small signpost which reads “PARK INFORMATION” and holds a wooden box containing brochures.

Even though summer travels are in full swing, Ryan and I only saw a couple of vehicles in the 2 hours that we were on the Burr Trail.  This road is truly under-appreciated, and I’m okay with that.  It’s something amazing to be able to stop your vehicle, shut off the motor, and hear absolute silence.  That’s what we experienced.

A sign at the fork in the road ahead ensured us that we were on the right track, but still 42 miles from our next destination in Boulder, Utah.

I had Ryan take the lead in his Audi and gave him plenty of space so that I didn’t have to eat his dust the whole time.  Not long after he got out of my line of sight, he came on our 2-way radio and said, “Dude, this just got real.”  I knew the sights ahead were going to be awesome.  And they were.

Massive stone canyon walls loomed above us on 3 sides as we started up a series of very tight switchbacks.  Road conditions were poor in some spots.  There were washboard ruts that gave my car’s Traction Control System a workout as my Michelin tires tried to get a grip in the loose gravel.

We made it up the steep grades and pulled over to take a look at what we’d just driven up.

The winding dirt road in this picture was the road behind us.  To truly appreciate the picture, click it to enlarge, and follow the line all the way from the background to the twisty foreground.  This is my kind of road!

It’s worth noting here that for a long chunk of our day, including this stretch, Ryan and I had zero cell phone service.  If we’d had any issues we would have been a long hike away from any civilization.

At the top of the switchbacks, we saw Peek-A-Boo arch to the right.  This is said to resemble an unblinking eye in the horned head of a giant lizard.

Finally we were back on pavement as we entered the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.  It was established in 1996 and protects over 1.8 million acres of land.

Still the road was narrow in many places and had no markings whatsoever.

Ryan and I commented to one another via our walkie-talkies how surprised we were at how quickly the landscape can change in just a matter of miles.  We went from red rocks to white rocks as we got closer to Boulder, Utah.

Parched and ready for a break, the Hell’s Backbone Grill beckoned us.

The restaurant, which had a rustic lodge feel to it, was hidden in these trees.

Ryan and I were the only ones there for lunch!  Well, except for a cat named Jezabel who sat on a chair in the patio.  I tried something new to me:  Smoked Trout Quesadilla.

“Where the food is heavenly” is a fitting slogan; this really did hit the spot.

The ILX took a few deep breaths outside after climbing Burr Trail.

Ryan and I topped off our stomachs with dessert.  My hot fudge sundae even had an orange flower stuck in it.

The “Country Corner” service station pictured below is long-since closed, but we grabbed some beverages and headed out for the next chapter of our trip:  Hell’s Backbone Scenic Byway.  Would the road live up to its ominous sounding name?  Find out next time.

Odometer (ILX):  48,648

Leg Distance:  491 Miles

Coming to a blog near you:  A 3-part series about this weekend’s trip to Southern Utah’s red rock backcountry.  The Acura ILX 6-speed hit the highway again for a 1,083-mile on- and off-road adventure that I’m looking forward to sharing with you.

The intent of this trip was to meet up with my friend Ryan who had joined me on the Arches National Park trip back in February.  We were determined to check out some of the most scenic roads that Utah has to offer.

Friday afternoon’s departure from the Phoenix, Arizona area left me soggy as I hit monsoon rainstorms about two hours into my trip, in Flagstaff.

About 50 miles north of Flagstaff on the Navajo Indian Reservation, there’s a bridge crossing the Little Colorado River near the town of Cameron.  An old suspension bridge seen in the background here was built in 1911 and spans 680 feet.  It was damaged by an overload of sheep in 1937!  However, it was repaired and continued to carry automobile traffic until 1959 when it was replaced by a newer bridge just to the east.

Because of the weight restrictions imposed on the bridge, there was a secondary route that truckers were required to follow, called the Overweight Truck Route.  Signs for that bridge are still in place but the route is now closed.

I still took the ILX to explore a little about what’s left of that old alternate route.

There’s a lot of neat road history in this area.  An old stretch of Highway 89 parallels the current highway.  I saw this section where it had buckled in various places over a wash crossing, forming a zig-zag of concrete.

I branched off to the northeast on Highway 160 and headed in the direction of Four Corners, stopping along the way to get a picture at the remains of a service station.  Standard Oil, dating back to 1870, was once the largest oil refiner in the world.

This particular station looked like it hadn’t seen any customers for at least half a century, though.

As dusk fell, I was rolling northward on Highway 163 through Monument Valley.  Traffic was light and this was a great chance to enjoy the open road and the amazing scenery that surrounded me.

The employee at the front desk of the Super 8 Motel in Blanding, Utah, told me after I’d checked in for the night, “You’ve got a really nice car.”  I glanced outside to where it was parked.  It did look rather photogenic in that light.

Ryan arrived at about this same time in his black 1996 Audi A6 Quattro.  We called it a night fairly early, because we wanted to be rested up for the next day, when we’d be seeing this. (Photo Credit for this pic)

Lake Powell is a body of water on the Colorado River that covers over 250 square miles.  That makes it the second largest man-made reservoir in the United States.  Creation of this lake was made possible by construction of the Glen Canyon Dam which was completed in 1963.

It took 11 years for the water to fill up to the high water mark!

The above picture of me with my dad was taken in July 1987.  Lake Powell was a favorite boating destination for my family when I was growing up.  Here’s another classic from a few years later (I’m on the right).

The arch seen in the background there has a story of its own.  Lake Powell is home to Rainbow Bridge National Monument, a 290-foot-tall sandstone natural bridge that had been seen only by the Native Americans until 1909.

Ryan and I decided to transport our vehicles across Lake Powell via a ferry that’s been in operation since 1985 called Hall’s Crossing.  The drive from Blanding to Hall’s Crossing was 88 miles via scenic byways 95 and 276 .  As seen here, the rate for vehicles is $25 so we were prepared with cash to pay our fares.

This curvy two-laner was prime environment for the 6-speed ILX.  I found I rarely needed to downshift to get up the grades.  Interestingly enough, we only saw one other vehicle on this road, and it ended up being a ferry employee who blew past us. She must’ve been late for work!

Soon we could see a sliver of blue water in the distance.  We’d arrived at Hall’s Crossing.  The road to this crossing was completed in 1969.

The park ranger let us in the marina without paying the $15 per vehicle fee, since we were just going to catch the ferry rather than spend time boating.  Her instructions were, “Don’t recreate.”  As in, recreation, not re-creation.  Still sounded funny to use that word in such a context.

As we got closer to the ferry dock, it became apparent that the water level looked pretty low.

I’ve since learned that Lake Powell’s water level fluctuates greatly depending on rainfall and other factors; it is now at its lowest point in 5 years.

After a 30-minute wait for our 9:00 a.m. departure, the ferry attendant waved us onward and the ILX climbed the ramp to get on the boat.

The ferry is 3 lanes wide.  I would estimate it could accommodate 15 or so vehicles.  Ryan and I were in our element!  A ferry operator came on an intercom and instructed everyone that we could exit our cars and wander around.

Here was the ILX’s parking space for the 30-minute ride from Hall’s Crossing to Bullfrog Marina.

And we’re off!

Notice the water line evident behind us as we made our way across the lake.

Because of the way Lake Powell is laid out and how it extends into so many different canyons, there are nearly 2,000 miles of shoreline – more than the west coast of the United States!

I was able to stand at the back of the ferry and watch the waves which we were creating.

Views surrounded us on all sides as we motored past houseboats, ski boats, and jet skis.  When people see the ferry coming, they get out of the way!

Captain Tyson at your service.

The ferry itself was only built about 13 years ago but to me it looked much older.

All too soon, our joyride was over but another one was yet to begin.  After we exited the lake, Ryan and I plotted out our game plan for where we’d take our cars next.  I think you’ll enjoy the next piece of the story.  Stay tuned.