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NEWS RELEASE May 22, 2003 Contact: Tracie Cayford, (801) 538-8777 Kent Hansen, (801) 538-1377
29 COUNTIES in 24 HOURS Utah driver begins the summer vacation season with a mad dash through Utah Utah tourism advocate Alan Rindlisbacher plans to take a whirlwind tour of Utah this Memorial Day weekend – visit all 29 Utah counties in 24 hours. Spurred by his memories of visiting all 29 Utah counties as part of the Utah Travel Council’s Statehood Centennial Passport program in 1996, Rindlisbacher now wants to do it in 24 hours. “I had such a great time visiting every county with my family in 1996,” Rindlisbacher said, “I decided it would be fun to see if I could do it in one day – 29 counties in 24 hours.” Rindlisbacher and four of his friends will start from the State Capitol Building at 7:10 a.m. Friday, May 23 in Salt Lake County. They’ll head north on I-15 through Davis, Weber, Box Elder and Cache counties, then east passing through Morgan, Summit, Rich and Daggett counties before turning south to Uintah, Duchesne, Carbon, Emery, Grand and San Juan counties. They’ll then head west picking up Wayne, Piute, Garfield, Kane and Washington counties before the final leg north through Iron, Beaver, Sevier, Millard, Juab, Sanpete, Utah, Wasatch and Tooele counties. They’ll finish at the Hertz Car Rental facility at the Salt Lake International Airport about 6:30 a.m. Saturday, May 24. “The mad dash through Utah is not the way the Utah Travel Council recommends seeing the beauties and wonders of Utah’s counties,” says Spence Kinard, Assistant Director of the Utah Travel Council. “But maybe it will help remind people that there is a lot to see and do at home this summer,” he added. Rindlisbacher said he and his family had such a great time traversing and seeing the state during the Statehood Centennial year he wanted to do it again but hasn’t had the time. “I have worked and traveled all over this state,” he says, “and I am constantly amazed at the many wonderful attractions Utah has, and I’d like to encourage more people to vacation in their own backyard. This trip is just for the fun of it,” he said. Rindlisbacher is the director of marketing for Layton Construction Company. Prior to that, he worked for the Utah Division of Business Development helping promote Utah’s economy. He’ll be accompanied on the trip by Ted Sandstrom, a retired teacher/administrator, Erik Sandstrom, a Firefighter/Paramedic for Salt Lake County, Chuck Schell, with the Division of Business Development and Gerry Pond with the Utah Travel Council. There will be a driver and co-driver at all times while the back up drivers sleep. Rindlisbacher says they also plan to drive the speed limit the whole way averaging about 62-miles per hour. For support of his endeavor, Rindlisbacher got Hertz auto rental to provide a black Ford Excursion, gasoline is contributed by Sinclair Oil, vehicle signage was made by Banner Mania, Layton Construction staff has offered technical support and the Utah Travel Council has played a key role in coordinating the event. People are encouraged to watch for the black Excursion with its obvious signage and wave encouragement as the team passes through each Utah county.
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