It appeared that this year’s BMCU Memorial Day Tour might have to be cancelled. Just a couple weeks before the date for the event, it was decided that COVID19 was somewhat under control and we should continue on. After all, we were heading into parts of Utah and Nevada where there were very few people and that ought to make the Tour that much safer. Neither snow, nor rain, nor dark of battery, will stop the BMCU Memorial Day Tour, so off we went.
If you have never been on one of the Club’s Memorial Day Tours, it may be difficult to understand the following: There was one member who traveled 538+ miles from the San Francisco area to join in and there were two members who came from the Dallas, TX area, 1278+ miles, to go on the tour. All of these folks DROVE from their homes to go on a drive with the Club! That is an indication of the fun that we have on the Memorial Day Tours. The Memorial Day Tour is addictive!
This season, the Tour left the SLC area on Saturday, May 23 and took a circuitous route to Delta. In Delta, we had a guided tour of the Topaz Museum and the infamous mirrored Billy Van’s dance hall. Then it was into our vehicles for the second half of the drive, to Ely, NV. The hotel was close to a Mexican restaurant and I believe just about everyone ate there.
Sunday morning, about half the group went to the Nevada Northern Railway yard and explored old rail cars and buildings. With everyone checked out of the hotel, I discovered that the door to my room was locked and would not open. The bottom line was that the maintenance man, after being unsuccessful at reprogramming the lock and drilling the lock, finally took a hammer and pry bar and broke the door frame to get into the room. With my luggage now safely stowed, we headed south for the mining town of Pioche. The road there was very straight with no turn outs, towns, gas stations etc for 118 miles. Pioche was our stop for lunch and of course the one restaurant, serving take out only, was overwhelmed by our group and that took longer, also. That was the theme of the day, it seemed.
Arriving in Cedar City, everyone was ready for some real food. I knew of one of the best steak houses in Utah and I think most of the Touring group took my suggestion and went to Milt’s Stage Coach Inn, a short ways up Cedar Canyon. The dinners were all fantastic!
Monday morning, those who had to be home on Tuesday, headed north. The Extra Day group headed north also, but only went as far as the Parawon Gap and an incredible display of petroglyphs. From there we headed up the steep grade to the Brian Head Resort and on to Cedar Breaks for some beautiful views. We also confirmed that our LBCs did not like the thin air at 10,450′ ASL. We were happy to descend to 7000′ and a wonderful drive on a Forest Road through the pine forest and lava fields.
Panguitch was the destination for the evening and everyone was ready to do some walking. Cowboy’s Smokehouse Cafe’ opened up their banquet room for us and we enjoyed a good meal there.
Tuesday morning we were breakfasted, gassed and on the road by 8:45am. Again, what awesome scenery was in store for us as we powered by Bryce Canyon NP and into Escalante. We gathered outside of town for a group photo and awe inspiring view, before heading along the Devil’s Backbone. This road runs across the crest of a ridge with the sides dropping off approximately 1,000′ on both sides. The views and road inspired us to continue to Boulder for a quick stop and a piece of pie. Then back in our cars, heading for Salina for lunch. Leaving Salina, we took the back roads to Nephi, back through Goshen Canyon, the west side of Utah Lake and to our starting point at the Maverik station in Saratoga Springs.
It was about this time that we began to figure out how far we had traveled. Here are some of the statistics from the Extra Day Tourers:
- 1030+ miles traveled46 mph average
- 28.3 mpg
- 22+ hrs driving
- 4 days3 hotel rooms
- 2 broken hotel doors1 EPIC Tour
Do not let these numbers scare you. This year’s Tour was different than what we usually do. Normally, we drive to a location and have a “base camp” hotel from which Tour folks take shorter drives. This time, however, we were in a different location each evening. This allowed us to drive the eastern side of Nevada and still be able to get home on Monday. It was the Extra Day Group who compiled the above figures. Your mileage and miles traveled may have varied from these.
Start preparing for next season’s Memorial Day Tour. I started last night! Check with any of the Touring members and they will be more than happy to answer any questions you may have regarding the Tour event. In fact, if you want, you can email your questions to me and I’ll be happy to answer.
After our scrumptious dinner, Sunday night, we had our annual Touring meeting to find our who won the Poker Run, congrats, Paul, and more importantly, to decide where we are going next season. The answer to this last issue is: Kanab and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. We have not been to Kanab since 2015, so it will be nice to return.