Beyond Slackers

It’s pretty hard to top a Slackers burger accompanied by sweet potato fries followed by a drive through Capitol Reef National Park. So we don’t try. It’s getting late and we are expected to be at the Gateway Resort Tuesday afternoon. We head for the interstate 70 north of Moab and Arches National Park and drive for three more hours until we reach the resort in Colorado, near Grand Junction. Our gas mileage throughout the trip has averaged between 24.4 and 24.9. Total miles: 917. The XC60 prices range from $33,500 with destination to over $42,000.
Volvo’s three XC models are not brand new. But they represent 50% of Volvo sales in America, so the point of asking journalists to drive these vehicles for a week is to give them a lifestyle positioning. I wonder if consumers care if a car is a brand new design or a mid life-cycle update—or if the companies push the impulse to buy a brand new model because they throw millions of marketing dollars at it and don’t give the older model any marketing support.
At this resort, Gateway, we are invited to participate in any of the outdoor (or be outdoorsy, if you want to spin it as lifestyle) activities that are offered. Phil and I have both chosen to go for a little clip clop atop a horse, so Wednesday morning we set out, me on Melody, a spirited little quarter horse and he on Splash, a big comfortable Percheron cross. Amy, our trail boss, is full of information about the geology, history and local color of our location so we learn about the first rancher families of Gateway and the rock formations that surround us in the canyon. Well into the ride, it starts to thunder. We can add another 20 minutes onto our ride or head back. Although I feel like a sissy, I’m suffering from day two of a heavy cold, it is freezing on the trail (it’s not rain, it’s sleet) so we head back and give our horses back to their pasture. We drive XC70 T6 with all-wheel drive and the 3.0-liter inline 6-cylinder turbocharged engine with 300 horsepower and 325 lb.-ft. torque. It also comes with a 3.2-liter inline 6-cylinder engine with 240 horsepower and a ULEV emissions rating and a 230 horsepower with PZEV emissions rating. All-wheel drive with Instant TractionTM is optional on the 3.2.
The technology package on this car speaks to Volvo’s leadership in safety. It’s got Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), Collision Warning with Auto Brake (CWAB), Distance Alert (DA) and Lane Departure Warning (LDW). In other words if you drop the ball and lose focus, its got your back. The XC70 prices range from around $33,500 to $39,000 with destination. Pretty good stuff.

Bryce Canyon

The great lodge



After big rustler breakfast grub at Bryce Canyon Lodge, one of the great national park lodges built in the 1920s, we walk towards the ridge of the canyon. There it is, a hoodoo magical kingdom, part Disney, part geology. The mythical inhabitants, the warring factions, the lovely daughter of the king endangered by a scoundrel all yours to imagine. If you don’t see the magical kingdom angle, study the history of these rocks called Claron formations, which got going about 200 million years ago. Do both. At an altitude of 8,500 feet, a short hike from Sunrise Point down into the hoodoos takes one’s breath away physically and psychically. Frequent stops are required to get it back. A cold is taking hold too, making me woozy––as if the magnificent rock formation colors soft off-whites to deep brick aren’t enough to make one’s head spin.



Phil Reed. Possible head spin.




Mythical canyon.






After climbing around the hoodoos for a short while we drive toward our next destination, Gateway CO.

Who does this?

Yesterday morning, May 16, Volvo handed us keys to a new XC60 and said, “Be at the Gateway Resort near Grand Junction, CO in two days. Have a nice trip.”
Other than that, Phil Reed from Edmunds.com and I were on our own. Volvo management tried to entice us to spend tonight in Vegas, but but around 11:30 we blew past a city we both find—well, unnecessary. We were headed for the Lodge inside Bryce National Canyon National Park where we could sing Do, do, that hoodoo that you do to me. Hoodoo, for the uninitiated is a pinnacle of odd-shaped rock left standing by the forces of erosion. Second definition—to cast a spell and these rock formations have an upper hand there. In their sweep, their grandeur is imposing fascination.
I still get a kick out of signs written in giant letters that say EAT, especially when they are on top of buildings that are smaller than the sign, but we were happy to see the first leg of the trip disappear and melt into the natural beauty that is why we chose our route
Volvo has termed this the XC adventure—we’ll end up driving all three models—the XC60, XC70 and XC90--by the end of the trip. We get points for doing things they ask us to do so we headed first for the St. George Animal Shelter in St. George, Utah. We made it there around 5 just as they were closing. There was a rescued drama enacted on the spot when a young woman brought in a dog that had been hit by a car. I asked the shelter folks if I could see the dogs for rescue. The minute I walked in they all stopped barking and looked at me as if to say, Is today my lucky day? I photographed them but I did not rescue any of them. Each one posed and spoke not a woof. I have to say I wanted to pile them all in the XC60 and take them back to New York. We had some Chinese food and got back on the road.
Spending all day in a car—a good 11 hours straight—give you a very rounded picture of a vehicle. Volvo right-sized this vehicle. It’s perfect for four people who have a lot of stuff. Has the Swedish elegance and the safety. More later on Bryce Canyon and today’s drive.