Pick Up A Copy Here!

Contributor's Info

Subscribe

Contact Us

Previous Issues

Home

Road Trip

This section describes the Road Trip articles from previous issues. If you would like to order the magazine in which an article appeared, please fill out the subscription form by checking the "Back Issue" box and indicating the appropriate month.

---

April 2009 Park City, Utah

In 1850, an enterprising fellow with the spectacular name of Parley Parker Pratt opened a toll road in what was then known as the Utah Territory. This frontier highway began in Parley's Park, a small town that Pratt had established on the eastern side of the Wasatch Mountains, and emerged from the mountains just east of Salt Lake City and at the western end of Big Canyon. In honor of the miners and settlers who traveled the road as they rushed to California's gold fields as well as to the new Mormon settlements of the Territory, Pratt, who was also a Mormon Elder, named his new thoroughfare 'Golden Pass Road.' That name turned out to be more appropriate than he could have imagined, as in its first year of operation this frontier highway generated a then-whopping $1,500 in tolls. After that first year, having made back the cost of construction (and then some), Pratt sold the road to someone else for another $1,500 and left Parley's Park in order to do missionary work for his church. For some reason, the Golden Pass Road fell largely into disuse quickly thereafter, but today its path sees a lot of traffic as Interstate 80. As for Parley's Park, well, those settlers who remained behind after Pratt's departure quickly renamed their village Parley's Park City, and then a few years later, removed all reference to that pioneer and re-christened it simply as Park City… Download the Tankbag Tearsheet!

December 2008 Cody, Wyoming

It is hard to believe that an American cowboy show in England would help improve relations between the Americans and the British, but allegedly that is what happened when 'Buffalo Bill's Wild West' was invited to be part of Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee celebration in 1887. Apparently, Buffalo Bill Cody, who had a larger-than-life existence as an army scout, fur trapper, buffalo hunter, Pony Express rider, and actor, represented the true American spirit to the Europeans—he was adventurous and aggressively individual. Through his cowboy show, which included trick riding, lassoing, sharpshooting, and re-enactments of current events, Cody forever altered the Europeans' perception of the American West. By the dawn of the 20th century, and mostly due to his traveling show, Cody was arguably the most popular American in the world… Download the Tankbag Tearsheet!

September 2008 Lake Arrowhead, California

High up on the side of the San Bernardino Mountains there lies a large and distinctive rock formation in the shape of an arrowhead. It points down the mountainside, and below it there is a series of springs whose waters were long considered to have restorative powers. According to Native American legend, this rock formation exists because the gods themselves threw down a burning arrow so that the tribes would know that the healing waters were there… Download the Tankbag Tearsheet!

July 2008 Dayton, Washington

In the classic 1963 film It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, the inimitable Jimmy Durante sets the mayhem in motion by disclosing the location of a great treasure: "…under the big dubble-yah!" Wwwwell, there are a lot of 'double-yews' in this ride—including the shape of the route itself as it wanders this-a-way and that-a-way across the diverse beauty of Washington's Walla Walla County. As for hidden treasure, great riding and intriguing sights hint at such things, but we will not find them just sitting around here. We had better get this 'madness' going, and the best place to lay in provisions for the big hunt would have to be the historic—if not classic—town of Dayton… Download the Tankbag Tearsheet!

June 2008 Kanab, Utah

At one time, Kanab, Utah was one of the more inaccessible towns in the United States. Cut off from the east and south by the then-unchecked turmoil of the Colorado River, this small farming and ranching community could only be reached via arduous and multi-day travel over rudimentary dirt roads from the north and west. However, that situation did not last, and as soon as decent roads were laid into the area, Hollywood 'discovered' Kanab. From the mid-1920s up to the present, the town and its surroundings have served as the backdrop for dozens of films and television shows, and thereby earned Kanab the nickname of 'Utah's Little Hollywood.' Everything from The Lone Ranger to The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again to The Six Million Dollar Man and 2001's Planet of the Apes has been filmed around these parts, and some of the sets used over the years are still standing in various places around the area… Download the Tankbag Tearsheet!

April 2008 Joshua Tree, California

For a town that serves as a major gateway to a national park, Joshua Tree, California is remarkably rustic and relaxed. Unlike some towns of this description which spring immediately to mind (the Grand Canyon's Williams or Yosemite's Oakhurst), this little high-desert burg lacks that certain atmosphere of a tourism-driven economy. For example, its main street, SR62 (29 Palms Highway), is not lined with the familiar symbols of America's fast food outlets or with gift shops selling Joshua tree-shaped shot glasses and salt and pepper shaker sets. There are no golf courses, casinos, upscale resorts, or family eateries advertising "Kids Eat Free!" If it were not for the road signs pointing the way to the park, the oblivious traveler could sail right through town without realizing that there was an 800,000-acre national treasure just over those southern hills… Download the Tankbag Tearsheet!

---

Copyright © 2010 - Friction Zone