UT to DC: Heading South in Utah
Posted in Obsession » The Road on March 9, 2009 at 3:09 PM
I'm a bit obsessed with traveling, the world, and design lately, so I'm going to write up some posts about the roadtrip I just took from Utah to DC with my girlfriend. She was in Park City, UT working at the Sundance Film Festival and I had more vacation hours saved up then I knew what to do with.
This is pretty much 100% from memory and asking Diana "Where were we when...?". Lots of the thoughts come from driving really long roads and being out of music to listen too.
Plus, you know, I don't really write. Ever. So we'll see how it goes.
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I landed in Utah Wednesday night. Thursday morning, after an oil change and some cleaning, Diana and I hit the road. We had about 4000 miles to go and around two weeks to do it. Not a lot of cash, not a lot of time, but we had to get back one way or the other.
Driving in Utah is like trying to riding along a roller coaster on roller skates. First off, and I'm painting the state with a big brush here, people cannot drive in snow. Ironic, right? Snow everywhere, big huge trucks and SUVs hauling along at 80 miles per hour, you'd think it'd be a case of "Oh they do this all the time, they can drive better then I can in this situation."
My dad, Vernon C. Jones, forced in to every ounce of my brain what to do in skids, how soon to slow down before red lights so I don't run through them on slick roads, and what black ice is. Dad could stand to teach 80% of the people on Utah highways the same thing. Sliding through reds, flying down icy roads with on mountains wondering why they have slid on to the embankments.
Thing I learned about myself number one on this trip: I can drive pretty well in the mountains. And I never want to do it in Utah ever again.
I have to say this though, just to balance out my utter dislike for the traveling portion of Utah. And the weak beer.
The land is beautiful. I mean really stunning. I can see why Joseph Smith took a bunch of people over the plains, over the mountains, ended up in Utah and said "You know? We can stop here."
Within the first five hours, we had come in and out of snow (which eventually we end up back in), seen deserts right next to mountains, and lush forests over those same deserts. Being that once we were in Texas we saw miles of nothing, the terrain is even more striking when I think back on it.
Next time: Virgin UT, Mt. Zion, and a really big hole.
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