CAR SPOTTING with TRACI
A cross-country road trip is a great way to see the beauty of America, visit National Parks and also spot some very unusual vehicles on the road!
At the end of June, a friend and I took a ten-day road trip across America from Kansas City, Kansas, to Long Beach, California! We explored Boulder, Colorado, and we visited most of the national parks in Utah including Arches National Park, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon, and Zion. Also in Utah, we paid a visit to Escalante National Monument and Dead Horse Point State Park. Utah has always been one of my favorite places to visit; it looks as if you are on a different planet with the strange rock formations and the bright red color of the rocks and sand.
Another thing that makes Utah an interesting place to drive through are the odd things you see on the road: including but not limited to funny signs and billboards, goofy gas stations that are painted and decorated as though they really are on a different planet, and of course some of the strangest vehicles known to man. You definitely see plenty of off-road worthy vehicles such as Jeeps, four-wheelers, dune buggies, and dirt bikes.
However, sometimes you spot something really out of the ordinary, such as these funny cars parked outside of one of the extra-terrestrial gas stations just outside of Moab, Utah, near the famous Arches and Canyonlands National Parks.
These Cars Are Out of This World
This funny rest stop was painted in a neon green color and advertised “UFO Jerky” (and not just limited to beef jerky…my friend and I couldn’t resist a quick peek inside and we discovered they had everything from elk to turkey jerky, too). It also sported two brightly painted cars out front.
The first was painted to resemble the Mystery Machine from “Scooby Doo” and the second was painted to look like Lightning McQueen from the movie “Cars.” There was a third van, which was simply painted bright blue with neon green letters that advertised “free jerky samples.”
My friend and I had a good laugh, took our photos, and continued on our way (without sampling any mystery jerky). If you need to refill your gas tank on your way to Moab, Utah, and you want to see something from another world, stop by “UFO Joe’s” gas station and have yourself a good laugh (plus take some hilarious photos which will be sure to get many “likes” on your Facebook page).
A Classic Oil Tanker
At another gas station (we’re backtracking a little here – this was right near the border of Utah, in Grand Junction, Colorado, before we discovered “UFO Joe’s”) a different vehicle caught my attention. This one was a classic Ford Model T oil tanker just outside a Shell station and it was painted in Shell’s colors, of course, with lettering for “L And M Oil Co.”
I thought that this was such a neat display – just at a little gas station in a small Colorado town. What a great way to preserve a little bit of history and give those road-weary travelers (like myself) something exciting to see.
Keep your eyes peeled the next time you’re driving through a little mountain town – you might just discover something special.
Street Rods at a Greek Café?
Fast-forwarding through Colorado and Utah, we made our way through Nevada and then finally into California! We were just (hopefully, with no major traffic) a few hours away from our destination. We made one final stop to fuel up for gas in the little desert town of Baker, California. There, low and behold, was another classic car find right out in front of a restaurant called the Mad Greek Café.
This “street rod” was in a little bit of disrepair but advertised in letters painted on its side “Classic Cars Tours Daily” with Nostalgia Street Rods. Upon further investigation we learned that Nostalgia Street Rods is a museum in Las Vegas. If only time had allowed, we could have driven back and paid a visit or gone on a tour. Perhaps another time on a different road trip I’ll have a chance to visit this museum and see what cars I can spot there.
Keep Your Camera Charged!
This was really a fantastic trip; road trips always are bound to have exciting and unexpected things turn up and I was really pleased with the amount of classic (and at times, strange) cars that I spotted on this journey.
If you have a road trip in your future travel plans, make sure your camera is fully charged and share your photos with us – we’d love to see any wild, weird, or rare car spotting finds you discover!
