All -
These are my notes from the road when I travel the great American southwest in the winter of 2008-09.
Hank
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Day 38 - Closing Time
All -And so it goes. By the time I reach San Francisco, I will have traveled about 3,800 miles. I left December 3rd and will roll back into town January 11th. A quick inventory...
I visited nine national parks, six ski resorts, six Best Westerns, three major cities, two Indian reservations, a college, a brewery, a casino, and a ghost town. I played eighteen holes of golf, skiied twelve days and thousands of vertical feet, and hiked up and down numerous miles. I started at sea level and went as high as 12,000 feet. I've seen beaches, mountains, (dormant) volcanos, rivers, lakes, valleys, canyons, mesas, bluffs, points, arches, and corners. I saw temperatures ranged from 70 degrees to -10. I've stood in the snow and the sun but, amazingly enough, not in the rain. I raced tumbleweeds on backroads; mingled with elk, buffalo, and deer in the fields; and dodged the trucks and trailers on the interstates. I sat with 91,000 people 120 rows up to watch a football game and I was by myself 20 miles out over a bend in the Colorado River.
A few sponsors of the trip were my mother, uncle, and cousin, all of whom I stayed with for certain stretches (thank you all very much). I got a bunch of advice along the way from a bunch of people, some of which I followed (thank you all very much). I don't know how I would have kept my sanity without Facebook or the internet to talk to (I did keep my sanity, didn't I?).
Anyway. And so it goes. Almost over. Almost back.
Hank
Day 37 - Reno, Baby
All -As I remembered, the drive from Salt Lake to Reno was arduous. I am planning to get up early and head up to Tahoe so this will be quick.
I peaked into Salt Lake City, walked Temple Square, and even went into the Visitor Center. The LDS Visitor Center is like the Knotts Berry farm version of Disneyworld's 'The Vatican'. Yep.
SLC is the 7-11 and Arby's capital of the world. They seem to have been on every other block. 7-11 is the home of the slurpee and Arby's is the home of the meat that tastes oddly familiar. Johnny Depp eats Arby's. I don't know who the 7-11 celebrity spokesperson is except that guy on the radio ads that would say 'True'.
I pulled out of Salt Lake around 11AM. It is a long and empty ride. Crossing from Utah to Nevada is culture shock. The first city over/on the line is Wendover. In SLC, everyone was very starched, very clean, and very white. In the Nevada side of Wendover, everyone looks brokedown, out of luck, out of money, and on their last stop. My first stop, Arby's, was a combination Love's Gas Station, Pete's Smokeshack, Super Schlock Store, dingy casino, and, of course, Arby's. As I am pulling up into the parking lot, an old man slouched over in a trenchcoat wearing yellow cowboy boots and a Jim Beam ball cap shuffles out of the casino with his oxygen tank in tow to get a smoke. Seriously.
I pulled into Reno about 7:30PM (and moved from Mountain to Pacific time somewhere before then). I was thinking about crashing at another Best Western but it was not easy to find so I just rolled right down the middle of downtown Reno, under the 'Biggest Little City in the World' sign, and into Harrah's Casino.
I wanted to check in quick but the lady at the desk insisted that I sign up for the Total Rewards card. By signing up for the card, I immediately saved $25. I am also sure that I just got added to every mailing list in the nation. The $25 I quickly gave back at the $1 slot machines. However, luck turned fast at the video poker machine so I am now staying for free, had dinner for free, and will ski for free tomorrow. I like 2009!
Tomorrow I head to the North Shore to do a little more skiing.
Hank
Day 36 - It's All Over But The Skiing
All -The last day of skiing Utah. Three days; three completely different skiing experiences. The first day was snow with a little powder. The second day was a dump. Both days the valley was wrapped in by clouds. Today it was clear skies with wisps of clouds whipping by. You could see the mountains on both sides.
The 12" inches of overnight snow turned out to be about 5" inches.
They were still dynamiting for avalanche control today and with the clouds moving by the mountain was a little surreal. It was a little like that moment in Boogie Nights where they go to rob the drug dealer and his assistant keeps setting of Snap Pops all through the scene.
Ok, I'm multi-tasking and watching TV right now. Has anyone seen those Snuggie commercials (the blanket you wear)? Is it me or does it look like cultwear? Anyway...
So I only skiied one place in Utah. But that is ok. I probably crammed five days of skiing into three because of the powder and the lack of any lift lines to speak of. I am totally spent.
I wandered into a Super Target to get air freshener (see previous note on hotel room smell). Wow. These places are HUGE.
Did you know Jeff Goldblum was in Death Wish?
I've tried to find a reason to spend any time in downtown Salt Lake and, after re-reviewing the Lonely Planet Southwest Guide, there is none. I'll drive through but don't think I'll stop. We'll see. I spent enough time there in 2002 during the Olympics, anyway. Quite frankly, it looks like there is nothing interesting between here and Reno/Tahoe. Could be a loooong ride.
Hank
Day 35 - Avalanche Control
All -I'll be a little more vociferous today. Although me writing about skiing is probably no so exciting.
Unbelievable, unbelievable, unbelievable! There's a bit of a snow storm in the Salt Lake area. Over two feet has come down in the last 24 hours. At least on the mountain. Where it counts.
Everybody keeps saying how people in Utah are so nice but they drive like a bunch of cranky meth addicts.
I had a bit of a slower start today and did not roll out of the hotel until 9:30AM. After yesterday, I knew I was going back to Alta. At a minimum, I could ski over from Alta into Snowbird so it did not make any difference where I started.
As I approached the Little Cottonwood merge I found myself in bumper-to-bumper traffic. I knew it was a big snow but I did not expect to find half of Utah headed up to the mountain. So I curse the whole of Utah and waited for it to clear. What I found out later was that they did not open the pass until 9AM because they were clearing the road and doing avalanche control. Once they were done with that, it was just a zip up the hill.
Although half of Utah was not up the hill, there were still more people than yesterday. Anticipating the snow, I went ahead and rented some fat skis. "Fat" as in wide, not as in "phat". It was a good call. Yesterday was "powder" with a little 'p'; today was "Powder" with a big 'P'. Monsterous. Because there was so much snow they actually shut down some of the mountain (again, avalanche control).
I don't think I've ever skiied in so much BIG powder. I was surfing the powder all day long. The problem with so much snow is that it is easy to get stuck. I only got stuck twice all day but the hill was dotted with people digging themselves out of areas that were just to flat to plow through. Bouncing around in the snow was like flopping in a feather bed all day long.
So I left the mountain at 3PM today. Again, tired. I was thinking about heading down, getting a quick dinner, and getting to sleep early. It is supposed to dump another foot tonight so I have no intention of leaving until all the snow has been skiied. I was almost snowed out of the mountain this morning so imagine my surprise when I was informed that we were temporarily snowed in. They had to dynamite the pass for avalanche control. So I would have to sit and have a beer or two until they finished blowing things up. Then to add insult to injury, the bar was tapped out of PBR so I was stuck drinking Coors Light. For $3.50 a can. It was free in Golden.
Anyway, the road cleared and they released the herd back down the mountain. Tomorrow is another day. If my legs work, I'll venture up to Alta again. Why waste time learning a new mountain in all this good snow?
The journey is soon coming to an end. After tomorrow, I'll be leaving the Salt Lake area and heading out 80 onto Reno, Tahoe, Sacramento, and SF. I may peek into downtown Salt Lake on Thursday; I may stop in Reno to recoupe my trip costs; I may stay over in Tahoe to ski Homewood one more time.
I left San Francisco on December 3rd. I'll probably be back January 11th. The Post Office has been holding my mail. I am sure there is a bill I may have missed. I know there is a speeding ticket waiting for me. I missed a bunch of hockey games. And a lot of holiday parties. I left a bunch of Christmas items sitting on the trunk in my room. The rug has not been vacuumed in over a month. My hotel room smells like Taco Bell and sweaty ski gear.
I'm not going back to Wells Fargo. Not sure where I'm going yet. But I sure know where I've been.
Hank
Day 34 - Keep on Skiing
All -Not much to write about when you ski all day.
I went to Alta today. It started snowing about 9AM and went on through the day. Alta is one of the last, if not the last, ski-only places. I had been here once 15 years ago (or more) and not much has changed.
Skied on fresh powder most of the day. Did so many runs before noon that I had to take a long break. When I came back out, there was so much new snow it was as if all the tracks from the morning had never happened. Slid off the hill exhausted about 3:30PM only to find my car under three inches of snow. More shoveling.
Will go back to Alta/Snowbird tomorrow (you can ski across from one place to the other at the top).
Hank
Day 33 - Utah
All -This will be shorter than yesterday's.
Today I did Arches National Park and then drove up here to Salt Lake. There is still plenty of snow on the ground and the high in the Park was 21 degrees - about ten degrees colder than yesterday.
I didn't realize how many arches and things I saw today until I went back through the photos. I covered most of the ground. I even did the Fiery Furnace because my uncle said I had to do it. I did a little off-roading but no where near the amount I did yesterday. Because it was so cold, most of the ground was pretty icy. Walking around was a bit of a challenge. A hat and gloves were a must.
The cruise control in my car appears to be working again so the drive was pretty easy up until Morak Junction. US-6 cuts up and over Soldier Summit. It is a pretty isolated route and I was crossing the summit around 5:30PM. With the sun going down and the occasional train passing one way or the other, it was a pretty scenic route. However, it was also a little alarming as the outside temperature gauge on the car hit -10. And this was while the sun was still up!
US-6 was closed at Morak Junction. It was an hour of sitting still and staring at miles of red taillights. Lovely.
I am now in Sandy, Utah, just south of Salt Lake. I stopped here because this is the most convenient spot for approaching Alta and Snowbird. Off to the slopes tomorrow (and it is supposed to snow).
Hank
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