By Barbara & Bill Schaffer

Two words that spur our wanderlust are ?road? and ?trip?.? Combined with two of our favorite vehicle designations ?X? and ?C? and we have one of our favorite activities ? a road trip in a Volvo XC.? In this case, it was two of the Volvo Cross Countries, the XC60 and the XC70.

We each hooked up with our favorite driving partner, other than each other, and made plans to take on the Volvo XC Challenge, which took us about 900 miles from Los Angeles to Gateway, Colorado.? Along the way, we had to accomplish certain tasks, not unlike a sophisticated scavenger hunt.? It included, but certainly was not limited to, getting good fuel economy, taking photos of sharks (in the desert no less) and delivering dog food to the animal shelter in St. George, Utah.? There were also visits to a ghost town and cutting through the amazing Zion National Park before arriving at a high desert oasis near the Utah-Colorado border called Gateway Canyons Resort.

Along the way, part of the challenge was to communicate about our activities, through social media.? We are not too experienced in being ?social? on the Internet, so neither of our teams scored well in this task, but we had a wonderful road trip and saw some amazing country.? And that?s what a road trip is all about in our mind.

Barbara and her partner Mary were assigned to the Volvo XC60 became Team Hord, while Bill and his partner, Arv, drove the XC70 as Team Gunnar.

A 900 mile road trip, through some of the west?s most scenic country in a Volvo Cross Country is a great way to spend a few days, and the Gateway Canyon?s Resort is a magnificent reward at the end.? We highly recommend both.

Read Barbara’s experiences in the Volvo XC60 in the Volvo Adventure, Part 2?

If you would like more information about the Gateway Canyons Resort, the Gateway Auto Museum or the Volvo Cross Countries, here are their Internet addresses:

Auto Museum – http://www.gatewayautomuseum.com/

Resort — http://www.gatewaycanyons.com/

Volvo — http://www.volvocars.com/us/all-cars/volvo-xc70/Pages/default.aspx

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