And It’s Not Running On Empty
Finally! After waay too much delay, drama, and dementia, we were back on track. The crazy road trip was settling into a predictable, manageable, memorable journey. Well, I guess it was already pretty memorable…
When last we left you, our intrepid group of explorers were settled in for a good night’s rest in Yakima, Washington. Day 1 was officially behind us. No more border delays, and my passport was safely stored where someone else could find it.
This day was all about making miles. We had no plans to stop and sightsee today. I wanted to get down to Utah for our next overnight. Somewhere south of Salt Lake City would put us in good range of reaching the South Rim and Grand Canyon Village by mid-day the next day. Yes, today the crazy road trip should be a lot less crazy!
The Playlist
An important component of any decent road trip is music. No self-respecting road trip is complete without a great playlist.
I think for some people, listening to music helps them focus. Not me. I don’t need music to stay focused when I’m driving. My brain seems to have an “extreme focus” mode when I road trip. I mentioned this in previous post about driving across Canada in 1999.
For me, listening to music while driving is a comforting bonus. I don’t need it, but it sure does add to the atmosphere. So I had made myself a playlist specifically for this road trip. Eleven and a half hours of classic rock from the 70s, 80s and more. It was perfect for the long miles to come.
But I wasn’t the only one of us to have an epic road trip playlist. Beth-Rose and Jana had also been working on their own epic playlist. For months. Like, since last October! Each of them would add songs as they found them, slowly building them into a shared Spotify playlist. By the time they were done, that playlist totaled 387 songs, almost 25 hours of music. Made me look like an amateur!
But here’s the thing; everyone knows that the driver is in charge of the music. Or, as Dean Winchester from the tv show Supernatural puts it, “driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cakehole”.
So, even though the girls had created a monster-epic-mega-bodacious playlist, I got first dibs as the driver. Oh sure, we would probably be sharing some of the driving, but I was going to be doing the lions share. So my music came first. Enough said!
My Daughter, My Boss
Isn’t it cute how I pretend I have some kind of control over my life? Like I don’t have a 16 year old daughter who’s a consummate pro at manipulating me? Add to that her bestie Jana, and I really don’t stand a chance.
We had barely gotten onto the highway after leaving the Customs offices back at the border before their playlist was blasting from the speakers. Fine. I’ll get to listen to my music sometime before we reach Arizona. Won’t I…!?
And so on we drove, south of Yakima and across the Columbia Plateau, while the girls sang along to Coldplay, and Shawn Mendez, and a bunch of stuff I’d never heard of. That’s okay. Their playlist had thrown me a few bones. The odd Billy Joel and Journey helped keep my spirits up.
The miles raced by. We crossed the Columbia River into Oregon and headed east. We were making good time.
Somewhere southeast of Baker City, Oregon, something weird happened. It had to. We were overdue. When you’re on a crazy road trip through ‘murica, weird things are expected.
Welcome to Durkee
We had just passed through the tiny hamlet of Durkee. Never heard of it? It just happens to be the home of the only cement plant in all of Oregon. See how educational this blog is? You’re welcome. Luckily Heather got a shot of this iconic locale.
Anyway, that’s not the weird part. No, we were driving along, singing along to whatever was playing on the girl’s ginormous-humungous playlist. And the next song came on and we all stopped and looked at each other. What the Hell was playing!?
Some hillbilly fiddle hoedown was jarring our ears, singing about a one-eyed dog and sittin’ on a log! Beth-Rose and Jana looked at each other and asked, “did you add this song? No! Did you? No, I sure didn’t!”
It was the funniest thing we had heard all day. So completely different from their playlist, but it was kind of catchy. So rather than skipping to the next song, we let it play on.
Now with a playlist of some 387 songs, you’d figure that would be the end of it. Chances were pretty good we wouldn’t be hearing that song again. At least not until well after I had a go at my own playlist…
Louisiana Saturday Night
Wrong! A couple of hours along, and the song pops up again. But this time, we’re singing along. And then we played it again. Somehow it seemed to capture the mood of the drive. We were feeling free, happy, and probably a bit silly. So the more we played the song, the more we got into it.
Pretty soon we were all singing at the top of our lungs to “Louisiana Saturday Night” like we’d been listening to it for years. It became the theme song for our crazy road trip.
All the stress and angst from our first day were forgotten (other than the endless jokes about losing something and finding it on the scanner!), as we drove further south. We were having fun, excited to be on the road after so many months of planning and anticipation.
And so the miles raced past, and the landscape changed. From forests to dry, barren hills, we made our way south. Oregon was behind us, and Idaho was soon a memory.
In lovely sunshine, we crossed the border from Idaho to Utah. From the border we had about 130 miles to Salt Lake City, where we decided to stop for dinner.
This stretch of road was pretty, with lovely, craggy, snow-capped mountains to the east, but it kind of felt like it was going on forever. Luckily the speed limit was 130 here, so the scenery whipped by. (130 kilometers, not miles. Just like the German Autobahn!)
As the sun dropped to the west, we hit the outskirts of Salt Lake City. Which is really just a succession of towns, suburbs and small cities.
The Bucket List
Just south of the downtown Salt Lake area, we pulled off the interstate. The gas light was on, and we were hungry. A quick fill up, and time to decide where to eat.
It turns out, as part of the planning for this road trip, Beth-Rose and Jana had a number of places and things they decided were “must-dos”. A bucket list of food, shopping, hikes and places of interest that, apparently, weren’t options. One of these places was In-N-Out. Please don’t ask me why…
Have you ever been to an In-N-Out? They have the most minimalist, boring menu. Hamburger with Fries. Cheeseburger with Fries. Double Cheeseburger with Fries. Pretty boring, right?
But it turns out there’s a “secret menu”! Although I’m apparently the only one who doesn’t know this… In fact, there are whole articles all over the interweb dedicated to this weird phenomenon. I mean, who knew!? Well, I guess everyone but me…
So that’s how we ordered. Approaching the counter when it was our turn, and glancing about to make sure we weren’t being watched. We lean over the counter, gesturing for the friendly staffer to also lean in. We whisper, “Can we get a cheeseburger, Animal Style, and a side of Animal Fries?” Knowingly the counter person nods and winks conspiratorially back.
Okay, so that’s not really what happened. Because everyone orders from this so-called “secret menu”! It’s no secret at all! So why don’t they just put it up on the damn menu board so dummies like me can see all the choices!!?? Jeez!
Anyway…it was nothing to write home about. Or in a blog post.
But hey! Bucket list item complete!
Finding Beaver
Back on the road, and my intention is to get to the town of Nephi, some 80 miles south of Salt Lake City. That was my intended target for Night #2 of our crazy road trip to Grand Canyon. And we’re making good time, so we shouldn’t have any issues with hitting that target.
There’s lots of traffic this night, and the interstate is 5 lanes wide. I just focus on the road and the traffic and drive. Eventually we get clear of all the towns and little cities, and the traffic finally starts to thin out. And soon we have the road pretty much to ourselves. In no time we arrive in Nephi.
But I don’t want to stop. I’m in the zone, and my burger is still at the “In” stage of In-N-Out, so I want to keep going. A quick poll determines that we’re good to carry on, so we leave Nephi in our wake.
The only problem is, I didn’t really look at the map to see what was ahead. What towns there were that would have accommodation later in the evening. And as it turned out, there wasn’t much.
An hour later, I’m feeling tired, and it’s getting late. I see there’s a promising spot another 30 minutes or so down the road. Beaver, Utah. It looks like it has motels.
Anyone Home?
It’s after 11 when we pull off the highway and into the entrance to the Best Western Paradise Inn. Looks nice enough. I go into the lobby, but there’s no one about. I ring the bell on the desk, but no one appears. There’s an open door off to the side of the check in counter and I walk over to it. Peering in, I see a comfy living room with the sound of a tv coming from somewhere. Shyly I murmur, “Hello?” and then retreat back into the lobby.
I decide there’s no one to give us a room and start heading to the door. But then an elderly fellow appears and apologizes for not hearing me. Yes, they have rooms available. Hurray! I didn’t want to spend the next hour or so hunting for a room.
After a very pleasant conversation with the very friendly innkeeper, we’re lugging our stuff to our room for the night. Welcome to Beaver! And in the morning, we’ll get a free breakfast in the restaurant across the parking lot. The Crazy Cow Café. A perfect stop along our crazy road trip!
And tomorrow, we reach the Grand Canyon. And maybe, I’ll get to play my playlist…
For now, let me leave you with a little video I put together with our crazy road trip tune, Louisiana Saturday Night. Enjoy!
