Panguitch and I go way back. When I was a kid, my mom, grandma, and great-grandmother would throw my brothers and me in the car and we'd drive from Idaho Falls to Panguitch to visit my great-great aunt who lived in a restored house across from an abandoned LDS church house. On our first night in town, a truck with what seemed like every kid in town piled in the bed, … [Read more...]
For a Good Road Trip, Build a Bike and Ride It
One of the most efficient ways to travel is by bike. And one of the best ways to amplify a bike journey is to build your own bicycle. Designing and fabricating a bike is a creative journey sure to extend and enhance any road trip. It’s a way to whet the wanderlust. And if you can’t build a bike yourself, collaborate with someone who can. In Salt Lake City, that someone is Mat … [Read more...]
Bikepacking: Two “Mature” Cyclists Bikepack Bears Ears
The body wilts before the spirit does, so it didn’t occur to two 41-year-old men that they might not be able to pedal 155 miles in three days through southeastern Utah on bikes loaded with the essentials: water, food, bedroll … tobacco, coffee, beer. The plan was simple. Pedal from Nizhoni Campground to Elk Ridge, down between Bears Ears, across Cedar Mesa, through Val … [Read more...]
Road Trip Adventure: Diary of a Wanderer
I’ve driven the highways of 43 states, sang in endless dive bars, and slept in more WalMart parking lots than I care to remember. I left Utah in 2013, in a van with a bunch of blues musicians, and we worked our way, playing shows all the way to the Georgia coast and back. I haven’t left the road since. I was singing at the Urban Lounge in Salt Lake City, when Richard Markosian, … [Read more...]
Road Tripping Wyoming: Part One–Evanston
Evanston Wyoming: For as long as I can remember this has been the place to buy liquor, kegs, and fireworks. Evanston, similar to her sister city on the border of Utah and Nevada, Wendover--is where Utahns go to sin. Or so was the reputation I heard when I was growing up. I've never bothered spending time here; I've only filled my gas tank at truck stops a few times. And … [Read more...]
Volkswagon Bus Camping and the Journey to Burning Man
For Coulson Rich, camping is indeed a lifestyle. “When I bought my bus, I was no longer comfortable paying rent. I wanted to live in my bus and have the freedom to move around and see the country.” Rich says he spent six years in his early twenties living out of his 1972 VW bus. He customized it with cabinetry, wood floors and upholstery. His first jaunt was a three-week trek f … [Read more...]