A Hypnotizing Road Tour in a two thousand seventeen Volvo V90 Cross Country
B rian Horn may have the best job in the world. Horn is a guide with Grand Teton Fly Fishing in Wyoming. He spends all of his days, or at least the ones when the sun stays in the sky way past dinner time, guiding fly fishermen down the Snake Sea, and along no less beautiful rivers and rivulets, in Jackson Slot, Wyoming.
When fishing season finishes there, he is off to Belize, the Florida Keys, or Fresh Zealand, casting, catching, and releasing rainbowed, speckled, water-colored, aqua-breathing, dry-fly gobbling trout, or a related finned cousin. And when the days become truly brief and temperatures drop and water freezes, he is up in the Montana backcountry hunting 800-pound elk. Kind of hammers the hell out that 9-to-5 gig, wearing a cover and tie, staring at the blank spot in your cubicle, and all of a sudden realizing you are only in your mid-30s and there is another twenty four years before you get that company going away party, doesn`t it?
I met Horn a week ago, when I realized I had spent too many weeks in a row looking through the back end of camera, at too many noisy and quick moving objects racing past the opposite end. So I made the relatively last minute decision to take a mid-racing season, mini vacation as far away from civilization as I could drive to.
But very first, I had another sports car race to photograph. Not a bad thing, especially this one, the Pirelli World Challenge event in Utah. I truly like the PWC series, as it features superb cars, excellent drivers, and usually excellent circuits. This round was at Utah Motorsports Campus (UMC), formerly Miller Motorsports Park. The facility sits on five hundred eleven acres in Tooele, Utah, which is thirty minutes west of Salt Lake City.
UMC is the 2nd longest road course in North America. Originally the fantasy project of businessman, car enthusiast, and Utah Jazz possessor Larry H. Miller, the facility has fallen on a bit of hard times after Miller died in two thousand nine and his family did not renew the lease with Tooele County. Recently, Mitime, a subsidiary of the Chinese conglomerate Geely, suggested to purchase UMC for $20 million. Other bids followed and it seems a public auction will ultimately determine this track`s fate. If the Mitime bid prevails, its plans include adding a haul unclothe, an oval track, and a hotel to the site. If Mitime is outbid, the likelihood of sports-car racing continuing at this superb facility is rather puny.
A decent road tour, even a brief one, requires a fresh and interesting destination, a hassle-free co-pilot, and the suitable car. Grand Teton National Park was the destination, and I secured a cabin at the Jackson Lake Lodge. The co-pilot was an effortless and natural choice: «the Gator», the econ professor, marathon runner, Skip Barber racing school grad, University of Florida football fanatic–also known as my better half. We`ve made several memorable road trips together over the last several months–driving across Norway, hiking in Iceland, exploring the national parks in southern Utah, and a Met and Nobu blitz in Fresh York City. Having her along makes traveling all the better.
The car needed to be elegant enough for semi-formal evenings on the town, large enough to treat a good bit of luggage, comfy enough for hours of interstate driving, and capable enough for treating stuff on or off the hammered path. One car came to mind, a car I`ve desired to drive since it was introduced several months ago, the all-new two thousand seventeen Volvo V90 Cross Country. Volvo was game, so the car was ready for me as I walked out of my hotel room on Friday morning in Salt Lake City. Reposed in Volvo`s magic blue metallic exterior, with amber leather seats with charcoal interior, and tooled with slew of useful technologies and features (if a car has «bells and whistles» I don`t want to drive it) I would come to know and appreciate over the coming days.
With the exception of some of the music (ABBA and Bjork? Truly?), I`ve always appreciated the Scandinavian way of doing things. Understated, modest, unusually well-thought-out social institutions, an inspired culinary scene, plus novels and television shows with substance.
I can now add car design to my list.
Thomas Ingenlath, Volvo`s senior vice president of design, and his team, created a fresh generation of cars that reflect the Swedish aesthetic. Outer lines are understated, graceful, elegant, and beautiful. Their interiors boast quality and convenience, and seem instantly familiar. Inwards and outside, this generation of Volvos is balanced and distinctive, athletic and supple. Perhaps not the words you expect to be associated with Sweden. But don`t leave behind this is the country which produced Ingrid Bergman, Alicia Vikander, Ingemar Stenmark, Bjorn Borg, and Ronnie Peterson.
My very first two days with the car were limited to the brief drive to the racetrack or quick drives to downtown Salt Lake for dinner. Salt Lake City is a superb place for foodies. The highlight of this tour was HSL (www.hslrestaurant.com), the latest venture by executive chef Briar Handly. The restaurant opened in 2016, has a relaxed vibe and a mostly organic menu. My starter was a snap pea salad with rhubarb. The entrée was halibut with farro porridge and wild arugula pesto and mustard seed. Food so good, eating anything of lesser quality should be a crime. Several of my fellow veteran motorsports photographers and I have adapted this unwritten rule: Tourists eat at chains, travelers eat everywhere else. HSL was utter of locals and travelers.
After the final checkered flag fell at UMC, and a brief detour to Park City, we headed north to Wyoming. The rear of the Volvo was packed with two of the largest Patagonia rolling duffel bags, a ThinkTank International roller camera bag, a petite Vera Bradley duffel bag, my puny laptop carry-on and a puny daypack. Photographers infrequently travel light. My wifey`s laptop bag was placed on the floor behind her seat. Still room for three more passengers, albeit a roof rack would be needed for their luggage.
The route to Jackson Fuckhole was a combination of interstate, divided highways, and two-lane roads through petite towns. The Volvo`s 115.8 wheelbase, railing on Pirelli Scorpion Verde All Season (235/50R-19) tires, and the rear-end premium air suspension (a $1,200.00 option and worth every penny) made this car an absolute pleasure to drive. Whether cruising at eighty mph or opening it up to triple digits, the V90 Cross Country always felt securely planted, stable, convenient, and predictable.
We arrived in Jackson at 8:45 on Sunday evening, and either by accident or divine intervention, parked directly across the street from the Snake Sea Grill. Just reminisce to choose elk or trout and you can`t go wrong. And be sure to order the Eskimo Pie for desert.
I quickly came to the conclusion the only good reasons to come to downtown Jackson were one good restaurant and a duo of topnotch fishing/escapade/outfitter offices. The rest of the town is block after block of souvenir stores, their windows total of wedged moose and bear, and shelves overflowing with t-shirts. The was not the destination I had in mind. And gratefully, the one I was destined for was just another thirty minutes down the road.
Grand Teton Nation Park is like a cathedral God built for himself. Granite walls touching the clouds. The wind whistling through aspens, and crystal clear rocky rivulets and waterfalls comprising nature`s choir. An ark`s worth of wildlife, uncaged, free, and effortless to see. And blessed people welcoming each other, their accents from around the globe, and only agendas to practice this slice of heaven and everything in it.
Our entire very first day was spent hiking the Cascade Canyon trail, then back down to Observation Point, and completing with a Two.5-mile route along the Jenny Lake Trail back to our car. Slew of people on the trail to meet, or with whom to share a story about spotting a bear and her cubs and to taste the seemingly endless supply of huckleberries.
Most of the 2nd day was spent fly fishing on the Snake Sea. Without a doubt, this was the highlight of the tour for me. Finding our guide, Brian Horn, was ordinary enough, just a Google search and a few minutes of research made us realize this was the garment to go with. Its website is www.grandtetonflyfishing.com. Horn is outgoing, enthusiastic, and total of skill and patience. A fantastic guide and steward of this land and these waters. He has guided everyone from Curt Gowdy, the former host of «American Sportsman,» to newcomers like us, and every level of fishermen in inbetween. After a brief lesson in fly casting we were on our way. The day was sunny and crisp, a ideal six hours of drifting down the sea, observing ospreys and bald eagles in their natural habitat, and shooting lines. We caught several cutthroat trout; the sheer thrill of landing the very first one, shortly holding this beautiful creature in your mitts before releasing back to the sea, is something I will never leave behind. I cannot imagine a better way to make a living or connecting with nature. The only word that comes close to describing this day is «spiritual.»
Moose was on the agenda for the balance of the day. The V90 Cross Country was set to Off Road mode as we drove over mud, liberate gravel, and pot-hole splashed roads in the back country searching for these marvelous animals. By no means did these conditions begin to test the Volvo`s off-road capabilities, but did provide a sample of the limited throttle response when driving in this mode. However, with 8.Trio inches of ground clearance, this car is not designed for boulder climbing but is very likely best suited for maneuvering through the sand to your beach picnic, or picking up the kids at school during a snow storm and getting everyone home securely. Or on this day, taking you to where the moose feed.
For the majority of this excursion I used the Eco and Convenience driving modes, resulting in 32.Three mpg on the highway and 26.1 mpg in mixed conditions. The temperature was cool everywhere outside of Salt Lake City, so we drove most of the time without A/C activated.
In addition to the excellent fuel mileage and astounding rail quality, the Volvo semi-autonomous technology was outstanding. Specifically, the adaptive cruise control was fantastic even in powerful interstate traffic. The auto high slats and active arching headlights were made for driving the dark roads in the national park. The center display, the largest I`ve seen this side of a Tesla, whether using the GPS, adjusting the head-up display, or simply finding a radio station, is a breeze to learn and intuitive.
There is not much not to love about the Volvo V90 Cross Country. Well styled wagons are a welcome switch to the ubiquitous, cookie cutter SUV market. The Swedes have created a beautifully crafted option to the seemingly endless supply of alphabet-soup and abacus-themed, especially German, SUV and crossover models.
We woke up early on the third day, packed the car and made the brief drive north to Yellowstone National Park. I thought we had hammer the crowd, but lightly more than 1,000 people were standing in the semi-circle around Old Faithful when we arrived. Twenty minutes later the geyser erupted for a grand total of seventy five seconds. Interesting? Yes. But not as outstanding as anything I witnessed the previous days in the Tetons. Old Faithful is the «petite palms» of attractions. A lot of huffing and puffing, followed by a very anti-climactic spectacle. The better part of the Yellowstone practice was hiking through this unique and massive volcano.
Soon it was time to head back to Utah. We exited the West Yellowstone gate, sliced through Montana along U.S. Twenty W, then picked up I-15 S to Salt Lake City. And as quickly as it began, the journey was over. But what a wonderful brief excursion it was.
This country`s national-park system is the ultimate in re-gifting. Everyone should go and take someone with them. And encourage others to do the same. You leave a national park as a better person. Perhaps it is simply glimpsing the divine and having some understanding of your place in it. That`s how I felt after a few days in Grand Teton National Park. Humbled. Appreciative. Lessons for a lifetime, memories forever. And of course there was the added bonus of driving a wonderful car there and back, a Swedish gem that delivered the goods to an American treasure.
A Hypnotizing Road Excursion in a two thousand seventeen Volvo V90 Cross Country, Automobile Magazine
A Hypnotizing Road Excursion in a two thousand seventeen Volvo V90 Cross Country
B rian Horn may have the best job in the world. Horn is a guide with Grand Teton Fly Fishing in Wyoming. He spends all of his days, or at least the ones when the sun stays in the sky way past dinner time, guiding fly fishermen down the Snake Sea, and along no less beautiful rivers and flows, in Jackson Slot, Wyoming.
When fishing season finishes there, he is off to Belize, the Florida Keys, or Fresh Zealand, casting, catching, and releasing rainbowed, speckled, water-colored, aqua-breathing, dry-fly gobbling trout, or a related finned cousin. And when the days become truly brief and temperatures drop and water freezes, he is up in the Montana backcountry hunting 800-pound elk. Kind of hammers the hell out that 9-to-5 gig, wearing a glaze and tie, staring at the blank spot in your cubicle, and all of a sudden realizing you are only in your mid-30s and there is another twenty four years before you get that company going away party, doesn`t it?
I met Horn a week ago, when I realized I had spent too many weeks in a row looking through the back end of camera, at too many noisy and rapid moving objects racing past the opposite end. So I made the relatively last minute decision to take a mid-racing season, mini vacation as far away from civilization as I could drive to.
But very first, I had another sports car race to photograph. Not a bad thing, especially this one, the Pirelli World Challenge event in Utah. I truly like the PWC series, as it features fine cars, fine drivers, and usually good circuits. This round was at Utah Motorsports Campus (UMC), formerly Miller Motorsports Park. The facility sits on five hundred eleven acres in Tooele, Utah, which is thirty minutes west of Salt Lake City.
UMC is the 2nd longest road course in North America. Originally the fantasy project of businessman, car enthusiast, and Utah Jazz possessor Larry H. Miller, the facility has fallen on a bit of hard times after Miller died in two thousand nine and his family did not renew the lease with Tooele County. Recently, Mitime, a subsidiary of the Chinese conglomerate Geely, suggested to purchase UMC for $20 million. Other bids followed and it seems a public auction will ultimately determine this track`s fate. If the Mitime bid prevails, its plans include adding a haul unwrap, an oval track, and a hotel to the site. If Mitime is outbid, the likelihood of sports-car racing continuing at this superb facility is rather puny.
A decent road journey, even a brief one, requires a fresh and interesting destination, a hassle-free co-pilot, and the adequate car. Grand Teton National Park was the destination, and I secured a cabin at the Jackson Lake Lodge. The co-pilot was an effortless and natural choice: «the Gator», the econ professor, marathon runner, Skip Barber racing school grad, University of Florida football fanatic–also known as my better half. We`ve made several memorable road trips together over the last several months–driving across Norway, hiking in Iceland, exploring the national parks in southern Utah, and a Met and Nobu blitz in Fresh York City. Having her along makes traveling all the better.
The car needed to be elegant enough for semi-formal evenings on the town, large enough to treat a good bit of luggage, comfy enough for hours of interstate driving, and capable enough for treating stuff on or off the hammered path. One car came to mind, a car I`ve desired to drive since it was introduced several months ago, the all-new two thousand seventeen Volvo V90 Cross Country. Volvo was game, so the car was ready for me as I walked out of my hotel room on Friday morning in Salt Lake City. Reposed in Volvo`s magic blue metallic exterior, with amber leather seats with charcoal interior, and tooled with slew of useful technologies and features (if a car has «bells and whistles» I don`t want to drive it) I would come to know and appreciate over the coming days.
With the exception of some of the music (ABBA and Bjork? Indeed?), I`ve always appreciated the Scandinavian way of doing things. Understated, modest, unusually well-thought-out social institutions, an inspired culinary scene, plus novels and television shows with substance.
I can now add car design to my list.
Thomas Ingenlath, Volvo`s senior vice president of design, and his team, created a fresh generation of cars that reflect the Swedish aesthetic. Outer lines are understated, graceful, elegant, and beautiful. Their interiors boast quality and convenience, and seem instantly familiar. Inwards and outside, this generation of Volvos is balanced and distinctive, athletic and supple. Perhaps not the words you expect to be associated with Sweden. But don`t leave behind this is the country which produced Ingrid Bergman, Alicia Vikander, Ingemar Stenmark, Bjorn Borg, and Ronnie Peterson.
My very first two days with the car were limited to the brief drive to the racetrack or quick drives to downtown Salt Lake for dinner. Salt Lake City is a fine place for foodies. The highlight of this journey was HSL (www.hslrestaurant.com), the latest venture by executive chef Briar Handly. The restaurant opened in 2016, has a relaxed vibe and a mostly organic menu. My starter was a snap pea salad with rhubarb. The entrée was halibut with farro porridge and wild arugula pesto and mustard seed. Food so good, eating anything of lesser quality should be a crime. Several of my fellow veteran motorsports photographers and I have adapted this unwritten rule: Tourists eat at chains, travelers eat everywhere else. HSL was total of locals and travelers.
After the final checkered flag fell at UMC, and a brief detour to Park City, we headed north to Wyoming. The rear of the Volvo was packed with two of the largest Patagonia rolling duffel bags, a ThinkTank International roller camera bag, a petite Vera Bradley duffel bag, my petite laptop carry-on and a puny daypack. Photographers infrequently travel light. My wifey`s laptop bag was placed on the floor behind her seat. Still room for three more passengers, albeit a roof rack would be needed for their luggage.
The route to Jackson Slot was a combination of interstate, divided highways, and two-lane roads through puny towns. The Volvo`s 115.8 wheelbase, railing on Pirelli Scorpion Verde All Season (235/50R-19) tires, and the rear-end premium air suspension (a $1,200.00 option and worth every penny) made this car an absolute pleasure to drive. Whether cruising at eighty mph or opening it up to triple digits, the V90 Cross Country always felt securely planted, stable, comfy, and predictable.
We arrived in Jackson at 8:45 on Sunday evening, and either by accident or divine intervention, parked directly across the street from the Snake Sea Grill. Just reminisce to choose elk or trout and you can`t go wrong. And be sure to order the Eskimo Pie for desert.
I quickly came to the conclusion the only good reasons to come to downtown Jackson were one excellent restaurant and a duo of topnotch fishing/venture/outfitter offices. The rest of the town is block after block of souvenir stores, their windows utter of rammed moose and bear, and shelves overflowing with t-shirts. The was not the destination I had in mind. And gratefully, the one I was destined for was just another thirty minutes down the road.
Grand Teton Nation Park is like a cathedral God built for himself. Granite walls touching the clouds. The wind whistling through aspens, and crystal clear rocky flows and waterfalls comprising nature`s choir. An ark`s worth of wildlife, uncaged, free, and effortless to see. And blessed people saluting each other, their accents from around the globe, and only agendas to practice this slice of heaven and everything in it.
Our entire very first day was spent hiking the Cascade Canyon trail, then back down to Observation Point, and ending with a Two.5-mile route along the Jenny Lake Trail back to our car. Slew of people on the trail to meet, or with whom to share a story about spotting a bear and her cubs and to taste the seemingly endless supply of huckleberries.
Most of the 2nd day was spent fly fishing on the Snake Sea. Without a doubt, this was the highlight of the excursion for me. Finding our guide, Brian Horn, was plain enough, just a Google search and a few minutes of research made us realize this was the garment to go with. Its website is www.grandtetonflyfishing.com. Horn is outgoing, enthusiastic, and utter of skill and patience. A fantastic guide and steward of this land and these waters. He has guided everyone from Curt Gowdy, the former host of «American Sportsman,» to beginners like us, and every level of fishermen in inbetween. After a brief lesson in fly casting we were on our way. The day was sunny and crisp, a ideal six hours of drifting down the sea, observing ospreys and bald eagles in their natural habitat, and shooting lines. We caught several cutthroat trout; the sheer thrill of landing the very first one, shortly holding this beautiful creature in your forearms before releasing back to the sea, is something I will never leave behind. I cannot imagine a better way to make a living or connecting with nature. The only word that comes close to describing this day is «spiritual.»
Moose was on the agenda for the balance of the day. The V90 Cross Country was set to Off Road mode as we drove over filth, liberate gravel, and pot-hole sprayed roads in the back country searching for these marvelous animals. By no means did these conditions begin to test the Volvo`s off-road capabilities, but did provide a sample of the limited throttle response when driving in this mode. However, with 8.Three inches of ground clearance, this car is not designed for boulder climbing but is most likely best suited for maneuvering through the sand to your beach picnic, or picking up the kids at school during a snow storm and getting everyone home securely. Or on this day, taking you to where the moose feed.
For the majority of this tour I used the Eco and Convenience driving modes, resulting in 32.Trio mpg on the highway and 26.1 mpg in mixed conditions. The temperature was cool everywhere outside of Salt Lake City, so we drove most of the time without A/C activated.
In addition to the excellent fuel mileage and exceptional rail quality, the Volvo semi-autonomous technology was outstanding. Specifically, the adaptive cruise control was fantastic even in mighty interstate traffic. The auto high bars and active arching headlights were made for driving the dark roads in the national park. The center display, the largest I`ve seen this side of a Tesla, whether using the GPS, adjusting the head-up display, or simply finding a radio station, is a breeze to learn and intuitive.
There is not much not to love about the Volvo V90 Cross Country. Well styled wagons are a welcome switch to the ubiquitous, cookie cutter SUV market. The Swedes have created a beautifully crafted option to the seemingly endless supply of alphabet-soup and abacus-themed, especially German, SUV and crossover models.
We woke up early on the third day, packed the car and made the brief drive north to Yellowstone National Park. I thought we had hit the crowd, but lightly more than 1,000 people were standing in the semi-circle around Old Faithful when we arrived. Twenty minutes later the geyser erupted for a grand total of seventy five seconds. Interesting? Yes. But not as exceptional as anything I witnessed the previous days in the Tetons. Old Faithful is the «puny arms» of attractions. A lot of huffing and puffing, followed by a very anti-climactic spectacle. The better part of the Yellowstone practice was hiking through this unique and massive volcano.
Soon it was time to head back to Utah. We exited the West Yellowstone gate, sliced through Montana along U.S. Twenty W, then picked up I-15 S to Salt Lake City. And as quickly as it began, the journey was over. But what a wonderful brief journey it was.
This country`s national-park system is the ultimate in re-gifting. Everyone should go and take someone with them. And encourage others to do the same. You leave a national park as a better person. Perhaps it is simply glimpsing the divine and having some understanding of your place in it. That`s how I felt after a few days in Grand Teton National Park. Humbled. Appreciative. Lessons for a lifetime, memories forever. And of course there was the added bonus of driving a wonderful car there and back, a Swedish gem that delivered the goods to an American treasure.