photo by Chris1982 via Cinema Treasures

It’s Day 119 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. It only took about a half hour to drive back from the Motor Vu Drive In in Erda UT to the Redwood Drive-in Theatre in West Valley City, a suburb of Salt Lake City.

According to its web site, the Redwood opened in 1948 as a single-screen drive-in and “was an immediate success, drawing movie fans from all over the Salt Lake area.” (No wonder; the grand opening ad promised “Magic Moonglow Illumination.”) Later, the Redwood added screens here and there, totaling four by 1979 and eventually reaching six by 1990. Then it trimmed a couple over the years, dropping down to today’s four active screens. The satellite photos show all six screens still standing, so I’m not sure why the Redwood cut back.

According to a 1990 article in the Deseret News, the Redwood was being run by the DeAnza Land and Leisure Co. “The company formerly owned as many as four drive-ins throughout the valley. As they were forced to close those locations due to economic concerns, they recycled the equipment and expanded the Redwood location.” Maybe one of those transplanted screens is shown on the most famous drive-in photo ever? (See below.)

The good news was that I had a chance to see a movie at a drive-in for the first time in a little while. The bad news was that despite the Redwood’s four screens, there was only one early show that I hadn’t seen, and that was the latest Smurfs installment. Further, it was only about 50 degrees at movie time, so I was sure glad I brought a jacket.

Miles Today / Total:  28 / 13121 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: Smurfs: The Lost Village / 54

Nearby Restaurant: It’s just a hole in the wall of a strip mall, but Thai This delivered some tasty Thai cuisine. I started with a spring roll with peanut sauce and finished with some Gai Yang marinated chicken. I had to pass a lot of chain restaurants to get here, but it was worth the drive.

Where I Virtually Stayed: One of the benefits of being close to a big city is finding funky new hotels such as the Home2 Suites by Hilton just four miles from the Redwood. The lobby fireplace felt especially nice on a cool Saturday night, and my room was clean, had a kitchenette, and its blinds were automatic. The morning breakfast was included too. This place was even nicer than some of the Hampton Inns I’ve visited.

photo by J.R. Eyerman — Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

Only in West Valley City: West Valley City is just southwest of Salt Lake City, where the most famous drive-in photo was taken. In 1958, Charlton Heston parted the Red Sea while a full lot of cars watched in an iconic photo by J.R. Eyerman, published in Life magazine. As I figured out several years ago, that photo was sort of a fake – the Ten Commandments still was superimposed on Eyerman’s photo, which was of the Brigitte Bardot film And God Created Woman. But I never did figure out which now-closed drive-in hosted that photo.

Next stop: Motor Vu Drive-In Theatre, Riverdale UT.

photo by Chris1982 via Cinema Treasures

It’s Day 118 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. It took almost three hours to drive from Roosevelt UT through Salt Lake City and over to the Motor Vu Drive In in Erda, on the outskirts of Tooele UT.

According to its web site, the Motor Vu Theaterwas built in 1949 with a maximum capacity of 650 cars, “although we tend to try to keep things below 400 for safety.” The original screen was destroyed by a small tornado in 1993. The drive in has been upgraded to digital projection and uses FM radio sound.

According to a 2008 article in The Salt Lake Tribune, the Motor Vu has been owned by the Bradshaw family since 1962. They were the ones who replaced the screen after that tornado. At the time of the article, the drive-in had “an ancient snack bar with worn tile on the floor, a hot dog cooker on the back counter, a grill for burgers and a snow cone machine. … The women’s bathroom is still called a Powder Room.” Alan Bradshaw told the Tribune that he runs dusk-to-dawn quadruple features on the nights before Memorial Day and Labor Day.

But we’re still a solid month away from Memorial Day. Just like the Echo the night before, the Motor Vu is scheduled to open for the 2017 season on May 5. It was pretty rainy anyway.

Miles Today / Total:  169 / 13093 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: dark / 53

Nearby Restaurant: Over in Tooele is a place called American Burgers, and you’ll never guess what it serves: a chicken kabob plate! It seems that in addition to some fine burgers and fries, there’s a fair amount of Greek influence here. I also enjoyed my dinner salad and Mango Bash fruit smoothie.

Where I Virtually Stayed: There are several of my kind of places to stay in Tooele, adjacent to Erda. In the end, I chose the Comfort Inn just off the interstate. My room was big, my bed was comfortable, and breakfast included bacon, eggs, and hash browns. Glad to have something warm in my belly to start off a chilly morning.

Only in Erda: Between Salt Lake City and Erda lies Saltair, sometimes called the cursed resort. According to Wikipedia, Saltair was first built in 1893 on the southern shore of the Great Salt Lake. Meant as a counterpart to Coney Island, it was for a time “the most popular family destination west of New York.” The resort burned in 1925 and 1931, and the lake receded from it in 1933. It was destroyed again by fire in 1970, but in 2005 “several investors from the music industry pooled together to purchase the building and are now holding regular concerts there.”

Next stop: Redwood Drive-in Theatre, West Valley City UT.

Photo by Chris1982 via Cinema Treasures

It’s Day 117 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. I beat the afternoon, late-April snow, but it took a little a solid four and a half hours to drive from the Blue Starlite Mini Urban Drive In in Minturn CO to the Echo Drive-In in Roosevelt UT.

According to a 2010 article in The Salt Lake Tribune, the Echo was owned by Richard and Wilma Snow and started in 1958. That might be off by a year or two. A couple of months ago, the folks at the Basin in Mount Pleasant UT told me that the Echo already existed when they moved the Basin out of Roosevelt. Normally, I’d check my reference books, but the Echo is another of those stealth drive-ins; it never appeared in any drive-in list in any edition of the International Motion Picture Almanac.

Commenters on a 2013 article in the Tribune noted that the Echo has the largest screen in the state and Utah’s first digital projector.

It was a Thursday night, and I was off by eight days. The Echo will open for the 2017 season on May 5.

Miles Today / Total:  252 / 12924 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: dark / 53

Nearby Restaurant: I got to watch them fling the dough at Mama Lia’s Pizza. That got me ready for my “veggi” pizza stacked with freshly sliced vegetables. There were even a few games around to keep me distracted while I waited for my fresh pie.

Where I Virtually Stayed: Just outside of town, still on US 40, I found the Comfort Inn Ballard-Roosevelt. My bed was clean and comfortable, there was a fridge in the room, I had an indoor pool if I wanted to swim, and there was sausage and fruit with breakfast. It’s all good.

Only in Roosevelt: According to Roadside America, a giant statue of a Native American with a headdress sits on Main Street Roosevelt. He is seated in front of a nail salon, but the building previously housed the Moqui Indian Trading Post. The statue was built out of cement by Darrell Gardner in the early 1970s.

Next stop: Motor Vu Drive In, Erda UT.