SA: AK>AZ - Day 3, A Tale of 2 Hyws
10-20-17, 11:49 PM
#1
SA: AK>AZ - Day 3, A Tale of 2 Hyws
Greetings 'Heads and SA clansmen:
It was the battle of Wills on 2 hwys today. I am not sure who won?
The morning began sunny and cool at some 5000 ft elevation in Thayne, WY (pic). I was on the "mother road" to Sedona: HWY 89. So follow the road, right? well...
A pleasant early morning (yes! finally, up and out the door early!) run thru the foothills clipped the corner of Idaho and to the border of Utah at Bear Lake (pic).
This time, midmorning, found the drive a windy one again, with dark skies to the WEst threatening a rain shower or 2. Completely ignoring my planned route (by mistake),
I head west off the Lake on 89 up the summit. The Good news is the pass, and its winding canyon descent were sports car HEAVEN!! (pic) -no traffic (what is WITH that?) again, meant a good hard run with nary a truck, car or John Law to slow my path. I know I have said this in the past, but this is yet another incredible road IF the traffic - or lack of it-cooperates. A few Semi's paraded up the route the opposite way, so woe be the Driver who gets stuck behind them with virtually NO passing options.
What really came as a shock was how quickly the canyon carving switched into a full-on city traffic crawl. The 89 canyon literally pops out into the mountain city of Logan, UT, with all the traffic and lights a city brings to bare. It was THEN that it occurred to me I am going a different route than planned. The intent was to continue SOUTH from Bear Lake (not west) (see map), thereby avoiding, well, humanity! Instead of double-checking the Map, I blithely stuck to 89. A pattern I would repeat through out the day, to my regret...
So. Logan. No problem, just follow 89. Well, 89 merges to I-15. And not the Previous-I-15-Have-Raved-About. No! This was the Ugly I-15. With way-too-many-cars, all Hell Bent on getting Where ever. This is no place for a wee red sports car. So a few miles of this then - yes! - an exit saying "89" via Ogden. Saved! Well. No. Yes, 89 was "there" if you watched the street signs and did not miss a turn while driving in an actual City. Yes Ogden is a City., and 89 runs right thru the heart of it. Ogden also has lots and lots of traffic lights. Something I-15 did not. Then, as the Road Gods laughed, 89 exits Ogden BACK ON TO I-15! Gah! Really?
It gets better. Determined not to get fed into the Maw of Salt Lake City via I-15, I again see an "89" exit! Ta-DAH!
Fun Fact: turns out, 89 also runs right thru Salt Lake City.
So, miles and miles of street level traffic, with one slight glimmer of luck: I pop into a mazda dealer and buy an oil filter and ogle the new Miata (pics). We don't have either in Sedona (filter, dealer. The place is alive with Miatas...). Then - I am hopelessly crammed in traffic. An accident scene ahead all but guarantees I will be sleeping overnight in the SA. Right there probably. Where to go? Well, there is, as they say, "an App for that". Long-story(!)-short, the phone App talked me out, ironically -you guessed it - via I-15. Crikey.
...and right to the re-start of the 89 I know and love! Its hunting season and I guess some early-birders are anxious to hit the road with trailers loaded to the 9's with 4-wheelers and gear. So there a few of these to dodge initially. But soon the ol' 12A was humming along at something comfortably above the suggested speed limits as I passed thru a variety of picturesque Mormon towns. One last curvey canyon provided some joy, but the sun had set and it was a bit risky to go Hell-Bore thru with visions of deer dancing in my headlamps, or my lap. Which brought me to my stay in the tiny burg of Marysvale, where the nice motel folks informed me the only open diner was 20 miles back...
Good night from Utah. tomorrow: Home Stretch to Sedona
Stu Aull
80GS
Utah
It was the battle of Wills on 2 hwys today. I am not sure who won?
The morning began sunny and cool at some 5000 ft elevation in Thayne, WY (pic). I was on the "mother road" to Sedona: HWY 89. So follow the road, right? well...
A pleasant early morning (yes! finally, up and out the door early!) run thru the foothills clipped the corner of Idaho and to the border of Utah at Bear Lake (pic).
This time, midmorning, found the drive a windy one again, with dark skies to the WEst threatening a rain shower or 2. Completely ignoring my planned route (by mistake),
I head west off the Lake on 89 up the summit. The Good news is the pass, and its winding canyon descent were sports car HEAVEN!! (pic) -no traffic (what is WITH that?) again, meant a good hard run with nary a truck, car or John Law to slow my path. I know I have said this in the past, but this is yet another incredible road IF the traffic - or lack of it-cooperates. A few Semi's paraded up the route the opposite way, so woe be the Driver who gets stuck behind them with virtually NO passing options.
What really came as a shock was how quickly the canyon carving switched into a full-on city traffic crawl. The 89 canyon literally pops out into the mountain city of Logan, UT, with all the traffic and lights a city brings to bare. It was THEN that it occurred to me I am going a different route than planned. The intent was to continue SOUTH from Bear Lake (not west) (see map), thereby avoiding, well, humanity! Instead of double-checking the Map, I blithely stuck to 89. A pattern I would repeat through out the day, to my regret...
So. Logan. No problem, just follow 89. Well, 89 merges to I-15. And not the Previous-I-15-Have-Raved-About. No! This was the Ugly I-15. With way-too-many-cars, all Hell Bent on getting Where ever. This is no place for a wee red sports car. So a few miles of this then - yes! - an exit saying "89" via Ogden. Saved! Well. No. Yes, 89 was "there" if you watched the street signs and did not miss a turn while driving in an actual City. Yes Ogden is a City., and 89 runs right thru the heart of it. Ogden also has lots and lots of traffic lights. Something I-15 did not. Then, as the Road Gods laughed, 89 exits Ogden BACK ON TO I-15! Gah! Really?
It gets better. Determined not to get fed into the Maw of Salt Lake City via I-15, I again see an "89" exit! Ta-DAH!
Fun Fact: turns out, 89 also runs right thru Salt Lake City.
So, miles and miles of street level traffic, with one slight glimmer of luck: I pop into a mazda dealer and buy an oil filter and ogle the new Miata (pics). We don't have either in Sedona (filter, dealer. The place is alive with Miatas...). Then - I am hopelessly crammed in traffic. An accident scene ahead all but guarantees I will be sleeping overnight in the SA. Right there probably. Where to go? Well, there is, as they say, "an App for that". Long-story(!)-short, the phone App talked me out, ironically -you guessed it - via I-15. Crikey.
...and right to the re-start of the 89 I know and love! Its hunting season and I guess some early-birders are anxious to hit the road with trailers loaded to the 9's with 4-wheelers and gear. So there a few of these to dodge initially. But soon the ol' 12A was humming along at something comfortably above the suggested speed limits as I passed thru a variety of picturesque Mormon towns. One last curvey canyon provided some joy, but the sun had set and it was a bit risky to go Hell-Bore thru with visions of deer dancing in my headlamps, or my lap. Which brought me to my stay in the tiny burg of Marysvale, where the nice motel folks informed me the only open diner was 20 miles back...
Good night from Utah. tomorrow: Home Stretch to Sedona
Stu Aull
80GS
Utah
Last edited by 7aull; 10-21-17 at 09:54 PM.
