The day started in Price, Utah so that’s where I’ll start.
It’s a nice little Utah town with a large home local home supply company called Sutherland’s, so the first question the hotel clerk asked was if I was related—he also wanted to buy the Plymouth.
Jerry Sutherland
I wasn’t related and the Plymouth wasn’t for sale, but Price was a great town to explain Utah so here’s my assessment of the state with the motto ‘Industry’.
Industry is a great way to describe Utah because Utah doesn’t seem to take a day off. They really take care of business, so their major roads are works of art. They act instead of react to traffic wear and tear—every place (especially Alberta) should take a Utah seminar on how to look after your responsibilities.
They also lay things out logically, so when you enter the Salt Lake area you have five lanes plus an exit lane. They give each other room so the Plymouth wasn’t tested in an emergency idiot brake test.
I mentioned this before, but Utah never gets boring. You get to Salt Lake via a spectacular mountain summit through more out-worldly beautiful scenery. There was a brief blizzard in this area but again—Utah thought it out and provided many passing lanes for guys who wanted to drive faster than a ’63 Plymouth.
I’ve always thought Salt Lake City’s mountain range was to the west like it is in Calgary but it’s in the east. File that under things you learn on the road.
The Plymouth wasn’t pushed on Day 8 because it’s earned a lighter workload, but the option of an 80 miles per hour (129kph) speed limit was a great option when you needed to pass.
Utah was an unexpected pleasure because it had so many dimensions. I’m a big fan now.
Idaho is another great state. I’ve been there before but it still has huge appeal. I’d give it a Utah rating on its roads except for a few spots on the freeway—one pothole almost popped a tie rod on the old Plymouth.
It’s another very friendly place because people say please and thank you and they open doors for each other. That’s a big thing for this Albertan because Alberta is really losing the fine art of basic manners. It takes a place like Idaho to point that out.
Montana was the last rung of the ladder on Day 8. I’ve been to Montana many times and it’s always struck me as a great neighbor for Alberta. They’re rough-and-tumble and they love cattle and oil, so we have a lot in common.
The Montana roads aren’t as good as Idaho and Utah, but they’re still a lot better than Alberta’s QEII. For foreign readers, that’s the new name for Highway 2—it runs north-south and connects Calgary and Edmonton—and beyond.
Day 8 was another memorable one—there were a few mini blizzards but if you’re from the West you’ve seen that kind of action many times.
Unfortunately, the day ended with a bad gas issue—stay tuned tomorrow.
Jerry Sutherland
By: Jerry Sutherland
Jerry Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer with a primary focus on the collector car hobby. His work has been published in many outlets and publications, including the National Post, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette, Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Regina Leader-Post, Vancouver Sun and The Truth About Cars. He is also a regular contributor to Auto Roundup Publications.
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