Red Betty / Red Beauty

There were no grand coincidences, no evidence of the hand of fate at work in forgetting my license on my recent work trip. However, it did lead to some fun moments and my acquaintance with Betty, or Red Betty, as I like to call her.

Betty was rented by a group of Australians attending the same work event as me. The three strapping men were expecting to rent a comfortable four-door car in Salt Lake City when the driver was seduced by the offer of a red Mustang, a classic American muscle car. Over the objections of the guy who would have to cram into the back, they upgraded to the car that was quickly christened Betty.

At the beginning of the week, I learned that they were returning to the airport Thursday night, which was perfect timing for me. I didn't realize when I asked for a ride how much stuff these guys would buy! Thanks to the weak American dollar, they acquired motorcycle boots, new clothes, a PS3, and some kind of large guitar-based PS3 accessory. The car's trunk was full, and the guitar and a suitcase were spilling over into the interior of the car.

We spent a hysterical five minutes trying to cram everyone and everything in. First I was in the backseat with an Aussie and a suitcase, with the guy in the front holding the guitar. However, he once he got the guitar in his lap, he couldn't reach the door handle to pull it shut. The eventual solution was to put me in the front, seat fully forward, and jimmy the two guys into the back with a suitcase and the guitar. They each had an inch of forehead barely peeping over the top of the packages.

By the time I'd spent the hour's ride to the airport getting intimately acquainted with Betty's dashboard, I'd gotten fond of her myself. We arranged for me to take over the rental and "keep her in the family." The guys hopped their plane after a few fond farewells, and Betty and I headed south.

I took many pictures of Betty in Canyonlands and Arches National Parks, and we logged nearly 800 miles together on the road. It turned out to be Betty's last hurrah as a rental car; she was sent off to auction when I returned her to Hertz. I like to think the story has a Black Beauty sort of ending: she's now retired from her hard life of servitude to an easy life of washes and waxes and drives on curvy roads.