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I just posted my last chunk a few minutes ago so we’re still in Buffalo, I had some pistachio ice cream to recharge & am ready for more blogging!

Day 49: Motel breakfast: cereal, pancakes, toast & coffee…perfect 🙂 We talked to the owner for a while as we ate. She was so sweet. I really liked her. She was a good person; very grounded. We talked about people & technology, family, things to do & see in the area, & her desire to hike the Camino De Santiago trail in Spain. We’d never heard of it before so she told us all about it & I really hope she gets to do it someday – it sounds pretty spectacular.

Back to the room, took care of some logistics, packed food, & biked a few miles to a whitewater rafting place…called Whitewater Rafting LLC. We got fitted with our life jackets, went over the rules, loaded the buses & off we went to Shoshone Rapids, where we were dropped off. It was such a beautiful day. The river was also top-notch from rain a few days ago, which made for big rapids & great rafting.

Ben & I volunteered to be in the front of our boat, where all the action is! Our guide’s name was Bucky; he was really nice. There were also 4 other guys in our raft with us: 2 dads & their sons. They were only with us the first half, until they fell out & we lost them…no, I’m kidding. They switched halfway down to riding in “duckies” (2-person rafts), so the second half was just the 2 of us & Bucky. We got to know him a bit. He’s from Indiana, a young kid (only 20!), moved here to lead hunting groups on back-country camping trips, & in the off-season works as a rafting guide. Fun! In another life I would’ve loved to do that. His real name is Eric but was nicknamed Bucky at the hunting ranch since he was such a young buck 🙂

Our ride was about 2.5 hours & a great time that I could easily do again. Once off the river we biked downtown to Slope & Hatch, a taco place recommended by Bucky. Holy shnikies, the food was so good! I got veggie Thai stir fry tacos that were amazing. My mouth is watering just writing about it months later! Next we rolled over to a brewery for a couple tasting flights & played cards. Our waiter was awesome. He was hilarious & fun to talk to. Back to our motel, leftovers for dinner, charged all electronics, did laundry, showered, watched a little TV, read, & crashed for the night.

Day 50: Motel breakfast, packed & on the road by 9:30, then swung by the grocery store for a few goodies before heading out of town. We biked about 10-ish miles to Hanging Lake & hiked the 4 mile trail to the top. Wow, it was absolutely gorgeous, which is funny because while talking to a ranger at the park entrance about our trip/favorite places (Yosemite & Zion), he told us “prepare to be underwhelmed by Hanging Lake”. Well, it didn’t disappoint; it was breathtaking. The hike was a bit steep but worth it.

Back on the road for a lovely, quiet, beautiful ride along the river, on a designated paved bike path, which was awesome. It was such a nice day, mid 80s, hot-ish. After the first 20 miles the path was off & on with a frontage road that paralleled I-70 but we never had to ride on the interstate, thankfully.

We stopped for lunch at a rest stop along the trail, in the shade, & on grass. It felt so good to walk barefoot on grass again! It feels like it’s been so long! Back on the trail, we made it another 20 miles to a gas station in Gypsum for some cheese, a banana, & an ice cream sandwich. After that we only made it another 4 miles down the road before another pit-stop: Costco! We were really hungry apparently. Here we got pizza, a caesar salad, hot dog (for Ben), pop (which I rarely ever get!), & more ice cream (technically frozen yogurt: vanilla & acai berry…!!!). I also couldn’t help myself & did a little shopping, which is difficult when travelling by bike but I didn’t care. I bought a case of Aussie bites (granola pucks), a huge bag of kettle corn (I’d been craving it for weeks!), & a bag of those energy balls (usually fig or mango but this time they had a new one – banana nut!). I didn’t care what it took, I was going to make it fit on our bikes. No shame or regrets, just little-kid glee 🙂

Back on the road for a while before another break along the river. A driver passing by stopped to chat. His name was Todd; he was really nice. He wants to do his own trip someday so he had questions for us. If you’re reading this, Todd, you can do it!

Another stop in Edwards,CO at a gas station for ice & water. At this point Ben was a little cranky since we didn’t have any solid lodging plans for our final destination (Vail) so we made a sign out of a pillow case & red magic marker that we fastened to his back with safety pins. It said “We need a place to stay tonight. PLEASE :)”. We figured it couldn’t hurt. Heading out of town, now approaching sunset, we passed a bike shop with a few people standing outside when we rolled by. We stopped to talk (they happened to be the owners), & they gave us recommendations for places to camp in the area. That was nice. The places they told us about were about 6 miles shy of where we wanted to end up & I thought we could still make it.

We kept biking until just after sundown & did make it all the way to Vail. I scouted out sneaky places for camping & found a great spot behind a grocery store, just off a walking path, tucked behind trees & hidden by a fence, all in the back of strip mall land. Sweet!

We cleaned up in the Safeway grocery store bathroom, had dinner at the Vail Ale House, then back to our spot to set up stealth camping for the night. Despite a somewhat flat ride today, 65 miles in the heat zapped our energy & we were ready for bed. We were all tucked in, ready to snooze until we had a repeat of sprinkler shennanigans from Baker,CA. Sitting in our tent we heard one pop up 10 feet to our left, but just out of reach. Phew. Then another one 10 feet to our right, again, just out of reach. Phew again. But then…one popped up inches from our heads! We were up in a hurry, scrambling to move everything out of reach but it was too late – everything was soaked, worst of all our down sleeping bags 🙁 We set up again in the same vicinity just less hidden & put the rain fly on. It wasn’t exactly fun trying to sleep with everything damp but shit happens. You learn from it & move on. I couldn’t help but laugh…Ben, not so much.

Reflections

1. There were tons of pretty little yellow butterflies fluttering along the path heading out of Glenwood Springs. They made me so happy 🙂

2. I find not having solid lodging plans fun; it’s like a scavenger hunt. Ben finds it stressful.

3. It took a few days but my ring turned back to silver again. Hooray!

Wow, so much for finishing a 2nd entry in Buffalo…that was almost 3 weeks ago! Now we’re in New Hampshire, about to cross into Maine in a few hours…our last state! Let the water works begin. It’s still over a week til we dip our bikes in the ocean but I can’t believe this journey is almost over! Sniffle 🙁 Despite current time coming to an end soon I still have so much to catch up on: making it through the Rockies; time with family & friends in Denver, Illinois, Kansas City & Ohio; moped rides; winery tours; steep northeast hills; so many new friends we’ve made along the way & so much more! Stay tuned until next time!

Whitney

Currently living in Pittsburgh,PA…or at least that’s what it feels like when we stay somewhere for several days 🙂 Taking a day off to catch up – no sightseeing whatsoever – so here goes…

Day 45: Eggs for breakfast, packed up, dropped off the car by 9am, & picked up our bikes. Oh, how I’ve missed them! Seriously! It feels like my kid 🙂 I feel like I have purpose again; I was feeling soft & lazy with a vehicle. Destination for today: somewhere between Moab,UT & Fruita,CO when we get tired & find a nice place to pitch a tent.

We biked along Hwy 128 all day. There was a nice bike path for the beginning, gorgeous views, quiet, peaceful, & pretty flat. It was overcast too, so that helped. We stopped at a winery on the way for a tasting, shared a bottle, & had our lunch there as well. We took a long break there to charge things, blog, play cards & Yahtzee, & read. It was a great resting place, right on the river – beautiful setting. We even met a family from MN (Shoreview area, which is really close to us in St.Paul) & chatted a bit. Very nice people.

Back on the road, we biked until 7pm. We had to pull over at one point in the afternoon to take a quick cat-nap on a bridge crossing the Colorado River. We were SO tired (the wine probably didn’t help 😉 & couldn’t keep going without a little shut-eye.

All day we’d been biking near the river but the last hour & a half the road veered further away until we couldn’t see it anymore. Towards the end of our ride we biked through the small ghost town of Cisco,UT. It was a few blocks of abandoned buildings, falling apart, in the middle of nowhere, empty fields all around, with a teeny, tiny post office (it was so cute!). A little further up the road we found a good place, tucked behind some little hills, to camp for the night. It was very dry, desert landscape but good enough to be out of the way. We used wet wipes to clean up a little, changed out of our sweaty, smelly clothes, made curry for dinner, set up the tent, watched the sunset, & caught a vibrant, gorgeous chunk of rainbow to the east. It was so bright! Inside the tent for a little reading, then asleep by 9:30pm. It was SO windy for a while, the tent was getting whipped around, so ear plugs were helpful for sleeping.

Day 46: Up by 6:30am, packed up, attempted to make blueberry pancakes with a packet of “just add water” muffin mix……epic fail. Way too sticky, flipping was impossible so it was more like stirring scrambled eggs, just purple. It was pretty much a pan of goopy clumps. We couldn’t stop laughing. It was such a pathetic but hilarious breakfast. When you’re expecting beautiful, fluffy, warm & tasty pancakes but instead get lukewarm purple play-dough, it’s hard not to bust a gut laughing. We definitely still ate it & the flavor was good, but the presentation was horrendous. Gordon Ramsay would’ve been proud 😉

On the road by 8am. We biked a few miles to I-70 & before we got there, a nice guy stopped & asked if we needed any water. We were fine but that was so sweet of him. Thanks, stranger! We were on I-70 for a while & encountered our first bout of rain while biking on this whole trip! It felt good. When it started raining pretty hard we took shelter under an overpass. It was nice to finally have cooler temperatures – high 60s.

Once it let up a little, we got back on the road. It was only 5 more miles to the Utah/Colorado border – state number 5! Despite our luxurious, gourmet breakfast we were SO HUNGRY & had to pull over at the Colorado welcome sign on the interstate to have a snack. 3 other people stopped at the sign for pictures too, each one we talked to for a while. Another 11 miles on I-70, then 8 miles to Fruita,CO. Once we left the interstate, the road we were on didn’t have a great shoulder & there was a lot of traffic from a country music fest that was ending. Unsurprisingly, we got honked at…by a guy in a truck. Gotta love it! We weren’t even in the road at that point! We were on our side of the shoulder, what else do you want?

We rolled into Fruita with some time to kill (& the pizza place our friends back home told us to check out was closed for the day – sorry, Dave, Amanda & Beth) so we stopped at a multifunctional business (convenience store, restaurant, camping gear, & hardware) to chill for a bit. Ben got some fries & a free sundae. The ice cream was free for telling a bad dad joke on Fathers Day – a deal they had for anyone. He used my favorite one: How much does it cost a pirate to pierce their ears?…………………….A buccanear! Haha, what a good one 🙂

We hung out there a while, refilled our water, elevated our legs, Ben napped, I blogged, then off to our Warm Showers hosts – Gretchen & Larry – by 3pm. They were amazing! They have a hops farm (Fruita Hops Works), chickens, & a great piece of land & home with stunning views of Monument Valley. No matter where you looked, the view was gorgeous. I immediately felt welcomed & at home. Larry was tending to the hops when we got there so Gretchen greeted us, offered us snacks & drinks, we chatted a while, then she showed us our room & bathroom. They have this awesome, funny book in the bathroom & you can’t help but laugh when you see it. It’s basically a guest book specifically for the bathroom, to fill out while you take care of business…whatever that may be 🙂 I think it’s a hilarious idea & now I want one! There’s a place to draw a picture (“business” related or not – your choice), a list of songs to choose from that best summarizes your visit in the bathroom, a bar graph to fill out of how your time was spent, & other amusing shennanigans. It was pretty awesome. After cleaning up, Larry joined us, we talked for a while, then got a tour of their land. I’m so jealous. I want a small farm like that & really miss our chickens so it was nice to see all their girls 🙂 They showed us the hops, some of their sweet equipment, the irrigation ditches (which I was curious about because I’d never seen them before- we don’t have those back home), & we asked lots of questions about anything & everything. Next, we went into town to the Copper Club Brewery, for some tasty beer where they also happen to sell some of their hops for one (or some?) of the brews. Cool! We brought snacks & just hung out talking about their touring days & our trip for a while. It was so nice.

Back to their place for dinner. Gretchen let me help! I chopped the veggies & she made the stir fry with ramen noodles (good ones, not the college dorm life variety). Wow, it was so good. Aaahhh, I was so happy – good food, great people, lovely home. We had cookies for dessert & just sat around the table talking for a long time. I can’t say it enough – they were such nice people. Fun, easy going, generous, funny, down-to-earth. We joked about swapping lives when we’re done with our trip: we can do the farm life & they can bike tour some more 🙂 I really liked them & hope our paths cross again someday. Before calling it a night, they asked if we needed to restock any of our supplies so we filled up our salt & cooking oil. Sweet, thanks! Off to bed, but a little route planning first. What a great day 🙂

Day 47: Gretchen made us coffee & veggies with eggs – so good. We packed up, took some extra cookies & granola bites for the road, exchanged hugs & off we went.

It was a nice day, not too hot, & started out with a great bike path to Grand Junction,CO for the first 10-ish miles. We had to swing through town to pick up a package at the post office: Ben’s new water bottles! Wahoo, now he doesn’t have to mooch off my awesome insulated 32oz Klean Kanteen bottles – he has his own!

We filled up water at a gas station on the edge of town, grabbed some snacks, & hit the road for Delta,CO. Holy shit, we had a healthy headwind…the…whole…30…miles…there, plus a few pretty big hills. Finally, we made it to Delta & got a tasty lunch at a great Mexican place (Fiesta Vallarta). Such good food. We still had time to kill after lunch, to avoid riding during the hottest part of the day, so we rolled down the street to Needle Rock Brewery for a beer & coffee 🙂

Back on the road for our final destination: Paonia,CO. It was a beautiful ride. Absolutely stunning. We had some pretty decent hills but still made it into town by sundown. We picked up a muffin & smoothie at a cute little cafe, groceries down the road, & finally off to our next Warm Showers hosts: IO & Tracy. They were a lovely couple, very sweet & welcoming. They also had a cute gray cat named Mouse 🙂 After showing us around & chatting shortly they went into town for pizza. They invited us to join them & offered to bring a pizza back for us but we’d already picked up food for dinner so we declined. That was really thoughtful though & we appreciated it. We showered, got things charging, did laundry, made dinner, & went to bed early. We were pooped & had a big day ahead of us.

Day 48: We slept in a little, then IO made us coffee & Ben made a veggie scrambler with facon (fake bacon). Ooohhh, it was so good! Packed & on the road by 9:45am. Today was a big biking day, lots of climbing, 71 miles, & entirely gorgeous. We’re finally heading into The Rockies! Everything was so green! Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to fully enjoy it because my allergies went into full blown attack mode & the right side of my face was gettin’ rocked! My eye & nose were a constant dripping faucet & stung all day from wiping them so much. I couldn’t even keep my eye open. I took all my allergy meds (pill, eye drops, nasal spray), but nothing helped 🙁 I basically biked all day with one eye & a raw face from all the wiping. It was quite uncomfortable & I was disappointed that such a beautiful ride was deflated by my stupid sinuses. Plus, it’s not easy to have to constantly take a hand off the bike while slowly climbing up a mountain to wipe my face – things get wobbly.

We finally reached the summit of McClure Pass (hallelujah!) & bombed it to the bottom. The road had just been repaved so it was awesome! So smooth, no pot holes to look out for, lots of space for us to ride safely, very little traffic – aaahhh, perfect conditions. We stopped at the bottom in the town of Redstone for water & ice cream, then a little further up the road we pulled off to dip in some natural hot springs called Penny Hot Springs. It’s not an established facility, just a local place where hot springs are coming out of the mountain & into the river. You’d never know where it was if someone didn’t tell you, but lucky for us our Warm Showers host, Tracy, had told us what to look for on the side of the road. It was a pretty neat place. People move big rocks around however they like to form pools to catch the hot water. They don’t get too deep but it’s enough to sit in & enjoy. The springs are seriously hot so you have to make sure a little of the cold river water is also mixing into the pool or you will burn. The sulphur smell is strong but that’s to be expected. Halfway through our soak I noticed my cheap $20 silver wedding ring off Etsy had turned bronze! Whoops! Oh well, I guess it’s pretty that way too.

Back on the road for our final push to Glenwood Springs,CO. We had a nice bike trail into Carbondale & thought about stopping there since my eye couldn’t take it anymore, & now both of them were only half open! I felt like I was in a haze but decided to push through & finish the 10 miles to Glenwood Springs. Luckily, the bike trail went all the way there so I didn’t have vehicle traffic to worry about. Awesome! We checked into a motel (Frontier Lodge), showered, Ben picked up Chinese take-out, which we ate in bed while watching TV. What a bunch of bums! My eye felt much better after the shower – finally! After dinner, we both passed out – we were SO TIRED!!!

Reflections

1. The car we rented in Moab was nice to see Arches & Canyonlands but I really do enjoy exploring the country by bike, at a much slower pace that allows you to notice & appreciate things you miss in a car as you zoom by so fast.

2. Interactions or experiences I never would’ve pictured before this trip: playing Yahtzee on the side of an interstate or striking up conversations with strangers on the shoulder of a freeway. Fun but unexpected 🙂

3. Despite Penny Hot Springs not being an established place, just a local spot on a river, there are Google reviews for it & I find them quite hilarious & ridiculous. The things people complain about, when it’s just a place in nature, not a business run by anyone, boggle my mind.

Well, I started this post in Pittsburgh but didn’t get around to finishing it until now…& we’re already in Buffalo,NY! I definitely won’t be caught up by the time we reach Maine but I do my best 🙂 Time to chainge things up & blog about our ride to Denver! Until next time…

Whitney

Currently melting away here in Clay Center,KS (8pm, 95 degrees, humid for sure) as we wait for night to fall & the park to close so we can set up our tent…but I’ll save that for later.

Day 40: Breakfast with Bob at the restaurant again, this time his treat. Thanks, Bob! Packed up, said our goodbyes & parted ways. Quick pit stop at a gas station before leaving town. This building was built into the side of a rocky hill. You would’ve missed it if it weren’t for signs. It was kind of cool. We grabbed a few snacks & extra water since we had 55 miles ahead of us with zero services or even houses to fill up at. Total combined, we had 2.5 gallons of water, which turned out to be plenty. We try to (well I always do, but Ben tries to) sip something every 5 minutes & we only drank half of what we were carrying by the time we made it to our destination: Green River,UT.

The ride was hot but not too bad. No places for shade, unfortunately. We had the pretty San Rafael Reef to look at along the way. The route was slightly uphill but nothing too steep. The last stretch included 10 miles on I-70. Quiet, new pavement, nice & smooth, no debris to flatten our tires. Hooray! As we came over the last hill it looked like town was only 2 miles away again, but really it was 10. So weird!

Once in town, we picked up groceries, then grabbed fries & a beer before biking the last 2 miles to our motel. We dumped our gear & went swimming immediately. Aaahhh 🙂 After relaxing by the pool for a bit we went next door for dinner, at a place called Tamarisk. It was right on the river & they had pretty good food. I’d definitely recommend them if you’re passing through. Back to the motel for TV & planning. Contrary to previous plans, we decided to take the next day off to catch up on some things. Wahoo!

Day 41: I holed up in the motel most of the day, blogging. Ben found ways to stay busy: reading, TV, bike maintenance. It felt good to do nothing & catch up. We had leftovers for lunch, went swimming, more blogging, dinner at Tamarksk again, laundry, more blogging, & watched TV. We saw on the local news that Moab had a fire – where we were heading tomorrow. I hope everything’s OK. After a productive day, it was time for bed. Aaahhh 🙂

Day 42: Today is our 3rd wedding anniversary! We’ve been together almost 7 years, but married only 3. Ben made a scrambler for breakfast, then on the road by 8:30am. We took a frontage road for the first 10 miles…and the road sucked. It was an old highway that wasn’t maintained anymore. There were so many potholes & the surface was rough (almost like gravel but not quite). We were glad to make it through & get back on I-70 for the next 10 miles. The rest of the ride to Moab, on 191, was very busy & super hot- 105! On the way we stopped at a cafe for fries, ice cream, ice & water. The last 10 miles were great: downhill, on a nice bike path with a new sureface – so smooth, quiet, safe, & beautiful.

Once we rolled into town we checked into a campground & immediately went for a swim. The office had a sweet, sleepy, orange cat named Hammy that I fell in love with 🙂 A quick change of clothes, then off to zip-lining for 3 hours – so much fun! There were 6 different lines, all with great views. Two were 1/4 mile long each! The ride up the mountain, in an off-road jeep, was scarier than the zip-lining! It was still fun but I definitely felt more nervous on the ride up than on the zip-line. There were 10 in our group, plus 2 staff (one of which was from Stillwater,MN!). Our group was fun; lots of cool people. There were 2 older gents in the mix (early 80s if I had to guess an age). Get some! There were squirt guns at the end to shoot each other with to cool off so we had a little battle, which was fun. It was a great afternoon. Back down the mountain, at their office, they gave everyone ice pops & cold washcloths with a hint of peppermint on them for a nice cooling effect – so refreshing!

Back to the campground for another quick swim & shower, then back into town for dinner at Singha Thai – very tasty food. Afterwards, we biked down the road to Moab Brewery for a drink. We had to stop at a mulberry tree first, of course! Nature’s candy 🙂 To end our night we had a dumb fight about Facebook that put a sour note on our day (see reflection below). We biked back to camp (fairly far apart), read a little, & straight to bed.

Day 43: Up early & off to rent a car! We really wanted to see Arches & Canyonlands National Parks & doing it by bike seemed a little hairy: very large parks, no shuttle, very few opportunities for filling up water, & very hot. We dropped our bikes off at a shop down the street for a tune up, got breakfast at Love Muffin, picked up lots of groceries, then off to explore Arches all day.

We spent 5 hours hiking Devil’s Garden, which had many arches & just beautiful landscape in general. The parking lot was very busy but the trails weren’t…where were all the people? We did see some people but not very many. One group I actually remember seeing at Bryce since we had talked to them so I said hi & they remembered us too! It was pretty hot today, but windy, which helped. We drove around for a while stopping to take tons of pictures until sunset.

Back into town to the campground, we went for a dip. Aaahhh, it never gets old; it always feels so good. At our site, we made pasta for dinner. We cleaned up & headed downtown for a drink at the brewery (pit stop for mulberries…of course!), then down the street to the movie theater. Wahoo! Back home, Ben & I see lots of movies at the local cheap seats & we’ve missed it so it was exiting to see there was a theater in town. We saw Ocean’s 8. Go women! It was entertaining enough; not bad. Back to camp for a little reading in the tent, then off to sleep.

Day 44: Eggs & veggies for breakfast (mmm), then off to Canyonlands all day. There are 3 districts within the park (all very large), so we spent all day exploring Island in the Sky. The other 2 districts are Needles & The Maze. We’ll have to come back on another trip to see the others. That park is so big!

We went for several hikes today (pretty empty again), but saw a lot of the same people on each one 🙂 One couple we ran into yesterday at Arches & had chatted with them about our trip but also their Camelback. We don’t have one & I’m not sure I’d like one for the bike trip (too sweaty on my back) but it would be nice for hiking. Despite which trail we were on there were plenty of nice views. It’s like a mini Grand Canyon. On the short hike to Mesa Arch (at Canyonlands) we met a really nice couple from New Hampshire, Peg & Steve. We swapped taking pictures for each other & chatted about each of our trips. They were really sweet. We’ll be biking through New Hampshire eventually…maybe we’ll see them again!

We left Canyonlands slightly before sunset & swung by Arches again to see Delicate Arch, which we’d missed yesterday. We went into town for dinner at Zax: salad & pizza bar. Pretty tasty. Back to camp for swimming, laundry, charging, organizing, & getting ready for biking again. A little reading, then bedtime.

Reflections:

1. Cats, well any (friendly) animal really, make me so happy…if you couldn’t tell from all the descriptions of pets we meet along the way 😉 With animals, there’s no judgement, pressure or expectations; just a simple creature that’s easy to please & happy to see you. Humans tend to have a lot more conditions for happiness that are mentally exhausting to deal with sometimes…in my opinion.

2. I’m not a fan of writing messages (either private or through your status) to your significant other (or anyone you live with & spend all your time with) on Facebook if you haven’t said those things face-to-face yet. In my opinion, it’s more heartfelt in person or in a hand-written note. Facebook status messages seem more for other people than the person it’s intended for.

Well, it’s been over two weeks since I started this post…yowza! We’ve been so busy (which is fun) but then I get a little overwhelmed with how far behind on the blog I am. I always update the map so you know where we are but Ben is better at more frequent Facebook updates…it’s nice for some things (like most technology), we just need to work out some etiquette kinks 🙂 Well, I just clogged a toilet in Monrovia,IN so we gotta roll! Until next time.

Whitney

Day 39: Oatmeal, packed & ready early, said our goodbyes to Remco & Astrid, stopped by a mulberry tree to snack, met another biker, Bob, who was heading in our direction & would be ending in the same place as us tonight (Hanksville). Cool! We chatted a bit, convinced him to try a berry, then said “see ya later”, knowing we would! We checked out the old schoolhouse & petroglyphs, then found another mulberry tree to snack on! Bob biked past us as we were munchin’ on more berries & joked we were never going to make it to Hanksville if we keep stopping for all the mulberries 🙂 Before leaving Capital Reef, we went for a hike to Hickman Bridge. Nice hike, pretty views.

Finally, we hit the road for Hanksville. Wowza, once we left the park it became the most desolate area we’d biked through yet. Everything was so gray! Mounds & mounds of gray. It felt like biking through a cement quarry. There was nothing for miles, however, there was a surprise motel in the middle of nowhere that we weren’t expecting but were relieved to find. We stopped here for water & lunch. After seeing so much nothing it was nice to see a tree at the motel, plus it provided some sweet shade – a nice break from the hot sun. We met the owners of the motel, who had previously been living in Oregon. They were super awesome, fun to talk to & helpful. They have plans to build a brewery across the road. That’d be a nice oasis in the middle of the desert. One of the owners, Kris, showed us this awesome cross-stitch coin purse a male customer made for her recently. He was thankful for her hospitality so he stitched her name on the purse during his short stay there. Isn’t that so sweet?

Back on the road a bit, then we stopped at a little roadside farm cafe (per Kris’s recommendation). The owner was a cool dude. We chatted a bit, then enjoyed a salad, homemade bread & goat cheese. Mmm, so good. Everything is made & harvested there – awesome 🙂 It was so hot, it was nice to have little breaking spots.

We finished our ride into Hanksville & checked in at an RV park for camping. Sure enough, Bob was there too! We all went into the restaurant on site & had lots of cold water while catching up & talking for a while about his trips & experiences as well as ours. We picked his brain & asked lots of questions.

While we were sitting there, a couple walked in the restaurant & I thought to myself “wow, he looks just like my Uncle Rick” (who lives back in MN), then I realized IT WAS MY UNCLE RICK & AUNT MARTHA!!! I literally squealed, ran up to give them giant hugs & started crying. What a sweet surprise!!! I couldn’t believe it. I was so excited!!! They were on their own trip exploring Utah’s parks & knew we were in the area so they came to find us & say hi.We all got a bigger table & enjoyed dinner & pie while talking about everyone’s trips. What a wonderful, unexpected evening 🙂 They bought dinner for all 3 of us bikers – that was so generous – & pie was their treat for our upcoming wedding anniversary in 2 days – so thoughtful. With dinner over, we exchanged more hugs, took a few group photos, & they were on their way. Before leaving they gifted us some cash to splurge on a hotel/motel some night. Seriously, I have such an awesome family. Thank you so much for everything, Aunt Martha & Uncle Rick! The surprise visit alone & seeing them was treat enough for me. It made my day! Definitely a highlight of our trip. I couldn’t stop smiling the rest of the night; I was so happy 🙂

Back to camp, we set up our tent, did laundry, read a little, then off to sleep…for Ben, at least. Ugh, I had a horrible night of sleep. My irrational imagination struck again. As we were about to fall asleep, this car pulled up next to us (even though the entire parking lot was open) & stayed all night. I didn’t know what they were doing or what they were there for so I couldn’t sleep. Were they going to steal our stuff? Probably not, but it didn’t stop me from worrying. They just slept in their car all night & were harmless; just needed a place to sleep. If they’d parked a little further away I wouldn’t have thought anything of it. Parking next to us when there was so much room elsewhere is what made me nervous.

Reflections

1. Stopping for all the mulberry trees is what this trip (& life) are all about: enjoy things while you can, you never know if or when it’ll come back around. We’re just making the most of them while they’re ripe, otherwise they go to waste!

2. Kris & I both loved the fact that it was a guy who made the cross-stitch coin purse for her. Go role revsrsals!

Currently taking a day off in Beloit,KS…a lot of ground to cover & blogging to crank out since Hanksville! Until next time.

Whitney

Day 38: Oatmeal & on the road by 8ish to finish the Boulder Mountain climb. Made it to the top (9,600ft-our highest so far) by 10:30am. Wahoo! We got to enjoy some great downhills & great views. There were so many pretty, white Aspen trees near the top. The ride down was really pretty too – so red! We could start to see Capital Reef National Park way off in the distance – our destination for the day.

On the way into Torrey, this jerk of a driver laid on his horn as he passed us (a blue minivan, orange Utah plates, guy wearing a wide-brim hiking hat, long pony tail). I don’t know why he honked. We weren’t in the middle of the road or even on the left side of the white line; we were on the shoulder – “where we belong”. It was so loud, it hurt. Plus, it startled us, which can be dangerous & make us swerve unnecessarily. 15 minutes later, we pulled into town & I spotted his van at the gas station…so I went hunting 🙂 We didn’t need to stop for anything but I wanted to find the guy & have a conversation. Unfortunately, I didn’t spot him so I left a note on his windshield instead (see note below). I really wanted to do it in person, but oh well, maybe next time!

We kept biking a few miles & stopped at a Mexican restaurant for lunch. We had to wait a while for them to open due to a very late night. They were open 3 hours past close for a bike race that went through so they were busy, busy, busy. The food was great & so was the owner. He was so chill & such a nice dude.

We also ran into 2 other cross-country bikers at the restaurant. Their journey is the opposite direction as ours: they started on the east coast & are ending on the west coast. The trip started out with 2 women who were already friends. Along the way they met a solo traveler who joined them & they’ve been traveling across the country together ever since! They were really nice people. It was fun to hear their stories & get tips of what lies ahead for us (Kansas: not as flat as you think & very windy).

After lunch, we made our way to Capital Reef National Park. It’s so beautiful. We would’ve been there sooner but I stopped to take so many pictures! We swung by the visitor center for maps & to watch the park video, then up the road a short way to Fruita (the historical town where a few Morman families settled & planted fruit orchards). We checked out the old blacksmith shed, barn, & house. The latter serves as part museum, part gift shop that sells a few food items so we picked up some ice cream!

The campground was full (surprise surprise), so we found a nice couple from the Netherlands, Remco & Astrid, who had an RV & extra lawn space. They were so sweet. We chatted a bit & they offered us drinks. That was generous. We set up our tent & went for a dip in the river. Aaahhh, much better.

Ben hung out at camp while I went for an early evening hike to Rim Overlook, a 4.6 mile round trip. It was a nice hike, good weather, plenty of shade, beautiful scenery, & a great view of the valley below. In hindsight, I shouldn’t have gone alone (at least not in the evening, when no one else was hiking-I didn’t see anyone until the last 1/4 mile of the hike). What if I’d gotten hurt & I couldn’t walk? There was no cell service, so I couldn’t have called for help. I would’ve been stranded out there in the dark. Luckily, nothing did happen but I probably wouldn’t do it again. Probably… Also, before the hike I’d seen a sign at the bathroom about mountain lions & how their active times are dawn & dusk…exactly when I was hiking…alone. Of course I freaked myself out since that’s all I kept thinking about, so when I turned around to come back, I ran the whole way (even though the sign said NOT to run, they like a chase!). I just wanted to get back as quick as possible. Plus, the sun was about to set. I have a wild & irrational imagination. I calmed down once I saw other people at the beginning of the trail.

On the way back to camp I saw MARMOTS! We had seen several marmot-crossing signs on the way in but I didn’t think I’d actually see any! It’s like a beaver & prairie dog had a baby – so frickin cute! I also saw lots of deer on the way back. There were 2 with big, furry antlers chilling under a mulberry tree. I was going to stop & pick some until I noticed the deer & didn’t want to disturb them. When I was almost back to camp there was a hillside full of mule deer & as I rode past they ran for the hills…literally! So many creatures, I loved it 🙂

Back to camp, sweaty from running, I went for another dip. Aaahhh, I never get sick of it. Ben had dinner ready so we ate & did laundry. The rest of the night we sat at the picnic table with Remco & Astrid talking about their trip & ours, differences between American & Dutch life, & phone etiquette. They’re such a lovely couple; very down to earth.They share our thoughts & feelings on poor use (etiquette) of technology these days. That was refreshing. A little reading in the tent, then off to sleep.

Reflections:

1. It’s amazing how quickly the scenery & temperature change on the way down a mountain. It went from dense, lush, green & cool to desert, rocks & dry in no time at all.

2. Note to minivan guy: “Please don’t honk at bikers. It startles us. The shoulders on the roads are often small, full of pot holes or debris, or non-existent at times. We have to ride in the road a little sometimes, for our own safety. If that’s the case, please share the road & give us 3ft. If it was a “way to go” type of honk, it’s still too loud & scares us. A wave is nice 🙂 Have a great day!” When he honked I wanted to say other things & use not very nice language but I know that’s not productive, just a release with momentary satisfaction. I know I’ve mentioned this in other posts but I’ll reiterate: don’t…honk…at…bikers (or at least don’t lay on the horn when you’re directly next to them). Maybe a couple short beeps once you’ve passed them or just a wave out the window with words of encouragement. We love that!

3. Technology etiquette: I feel like most people my age don’t feel the same way I do & are addicted to their phones. It makes me sad to see a family of 4 out to eat & no one is talking to each other; everyone is on a phone or some sort of technology (texting, watching videos, playing games). The same goes for waiting rooms & lobbies. People don’t talk to each other anymore or notice their surroundings. You miss out on life in front of you when your mind & attention are constantly somewhere else.

Well, it’s currently the 4th of July & very hot so I better pump the brakes & go for a swim! Until next time!

Whitney

Day 36: Oatmeal, packed up, left our gear at the campsite & took our bikes on the shuttle up to Bryce Point to ride down. Nice, quiet, cool ride. I love doing that on the morning we leave. It’s a perfect way to wrap up our time & see it all one last time. Back to camp to get our bags & off we went. Destination for today: Escalante, UT.

We had about 8-ish miles of what should’ve been free miles but we had a horrible headwind & had to pedal downhill.  It just ain’t right 🙂 That wind was powerful! We stopped in Cannonville at a gas station for water & ran into a guy from Wisconsin (where I grew up)! We chatted with him for a while, it was nice.

Back on the road for a bit then a pit stop in Henrieville for lunch under a tree on the sidewalk & water refill from a nice lady’s garden hose. A generous couple driving by stopped & gave us cold bottled water too. That was so thoughtful! Another biker coming down the hill, heading the opposite way as us, stopped to chat for a bit. Her name was Penelope, she was from Canada, was really cool & had an interesting life story. We shared our trip experiences with each other & she gave us tips on the road ahead of us.

We had a pretty big climb heading to Escalante from Henrieville. It was a doozy but we made it. The views were great & there were some nice free downhill miles once we reached the summit. We also had a good tailwind now that we were heading north instead of south, like this morning.

In the early afternoon, we rolled into the Petrified Forest State Park, on the outskirts of Escalante. It was a hot day so what a relief that they had a nice, big reservoir to cool off in. Wahoo! Oh, it felt soooo good. After the swim, we went for an hour & a half hike through the park. Petrified wood is so cool! It looks like a rock but also like a dead tree. It’s wild! So colorful 🙂 We got so hot on the hike we went for another swim afterwards 🙂 Aaahhh, I just love water.

Finally, we biked into town, checked in at the RV/tent campground, walked down the street to a pub for dinner & drinks, & ran into ANOTHER couple from Wisconsin! They were even from the same city as the guy earlier today (Beaver Dam)! What? That’s rare. We chatted a while with them. Lovely couple. They’re currently doing a motorcycle tour of Utah’s parks. Cool 🙂

We planned our next several days to Moab, then stopped at the place next door for a slice of key lime pie. Mmm, tasty & refreshing. We showered, did laundry, charged our gear, read, then off to bed.

Day 37: Woke up early-ish, packed up & rolled down the street to Escalante Outfitters for Cliff Bars & a propane tank. We were feeling lazy so we also grabbed breakfast (coffee & quiche) at the adjoining cafe: Esca-latte… 🙂 Eeekkk, I love a good pun. We stopped at the grocery store down the street before leaving town. While there, we chatted with a nice family about our trip.

Biking for the day involved a 4,200ft climb, but only 35 miles. There were several stretches of climbing, followed by nice downhill bombs & sweet free miles. On the way down a particularly bombtastic hill we screeched to a halt to stop in at Kiva Coffee – a place Penelope told us about. It was a cute, quirky place in the hillside with a nice view. We enjoyed a tasty raspberry scone & lavender lemonade while I caught up on some blogging.

We passed a lot of runners on our route today doing a race called Top of Zion: a relay from Capital Reef National Park to Zion National Park. It was fun cheering them on as they ran by & they would enthusiastically return the favor, watching us granny-gear our way up the hills 🙂 Biking by them gave me a mental boost. I love cheering on racers & I’ve really missed running on this trip, so it was a fun energy to pass through. It was a hot one today. I think the biking was easier! We stopped to talk with lots of people along the way, which is always nice.

Boulder, UT was our loose destination for the day so when we reached town in the early afternoon we stopped to rest for a while at the only gas station. We had lunch, charged our phones, napped, played Yahtzee, blogged, & took a break. This nice guy, Mike, was passing through with a group of kids & chaperones, so he sat & talked with us for a bit. We were talking about our trip, he asked us lots of questions, we explained our fundraiser & he just whipped out $40 for us! Wow, that was really nice! Thanks, Mike!

The next stretch of road was a long, steady climb (one we’d never reach the summit of until tomorrow) and fairly isolated, so there weren’t many options for lodging, other than a few campgrounds far up ahead we’d never reach until very late. Since we’d already done 4,200 feet of climbing earlier, we planned to take it slow until 7pm, then find a nice place to pull over & wild camp for the night, so off we went. There were lovely views the whole way. Despite being a little exhausted, it was quite beautiful & enjoyable. When 7pm rolled around, we rolled to a stop. We found a great spot in the woods, along a creek. Sweet…WATER! As of Denver, it’s still my favorite place we stealth camped 🙂

After pitching our gear across the creek & stashing our bikes in the ditch, we threw a log down to cross the water, set up camp, cleaned up, did laundry, Ben made dinner, I did dishes, we read a little in the tent, then went to bed early under the rainflyless starry sky. Eeeekkk, I loved that place so much! Aaahhh, so good 🙂

Reflections

1. I find it so interesting when we’re far from home & meet someone from our home states that I immediately bond with them. I weirdly feel comforted talking about places & things we can both relate to. I would never geek out like that back home (“you know where Ellsworth is too?!?” or “you live near the Flambeau River? That’s where I go canoeing!!!”) but when I’m out of my bubble, I like meeting people who know what my bubble is like. Maybe this doesn’t happen to everyone, but it definitely happens to me.

2. It’s always nice talking to fellow bikers. Everyone either waves to each other on the road, gives a head-nod hello, or stops to talk, if possible. Even most motorcycles wave at us. It’s a community of people you can easily talk to, knowing you have similar shared experiences. Everyone is so friendly & helpful. It’s like an automatic friend before you’ve even met 🙂

3. At the bar in Escalante, the waitress couldn’t understand me when I was trying to order an apricot beer. I said it the same way you’d pronounce the A in apple, ask or action. I repeated myself 3 times before trying it a different way. This time I said the A like you would with ace, ate or age. Now she knew exactly what I was talking about! I didn’t know there was more than one way to say apricot. Have I been saying it wrong?

4. Having grown up in Wisconsin, I’m used to the yellow deer crossing signs but Utah was full of cattle crossing signs. That’s a first for me 🙂

Well, a little ‘Redbox & chill’ is calling me so I wheel have to press pause for now. Until next time!

Whitney

Day 33: We slept in while Mom & Don drove to Bryce to get a campsite for the two of us (they’d be getting a motel close to the park).The campground is 1st-come-1st-served & can fill up quickly so we didn’t want to chance it & wait until we arrived by bike. Ben & I enjoyed the complimentary breakfast at Riverside Ranch & chatted with Barbara & Bill some more. They’re so sweet, kind & generous. I blogged a little until Mom & Don returned, then we packed up & headed to the park: us by bike, parents by car. They offered to take some of our gear to which I said “never!” 🙂

The ride was mostly uphill, but nothing too steep. We passed through Red Canyon on the way in, which was so vibrant & beautiful. Here is where the bike path begins that takes you all the way into Bryce (about 15 miles). It was wonderful. We met Mom & Don at Pines Restaurant for lunch on the way. After lunch, back on the trail, there was sort of a roller coaster section that was fun: up, down, up, down – rolling hills, like a game again 🙂 We made it to our campsite (way in the back, up a steep hill) & ended up switching sites for something closer. We were feeling lazy & knew we didn’t want to have to make that trek every time.

We quick set up camp, met Mom & Don at the Visitor Center, watched the park history film, & took the shuttle for a full loop to get the lay of the land. We dropped Don off at the motel, grabbed a quick bite in town, then headed to the rim of the canyon (halfway between Sunset & Sunrise Points) for a ranger-led stargazing program. The sky was clear, stars were plentiful; it was a beautiful night. The ranger brought a telescope so we got to see Jupiter, a red star, a blue star, & Saturn. You cold see the rings!!! It was awesome! We were like little kids (my mom most of all), giddy when you saw them. We were out on the rim until about 11:30pm – late night, but worth it. Mom dropped us off at our campsite, we gave our food bags to her just in case, & she headed back to the motel. It was a nice, chilly night so we slept great 🙂

Day 34: Mom & Don came by around 8am. I had a quick breakfast, did some laundry, then I gave my mom a haircut with Kindergarten-quality scissors. Yes, you read that correctly. She’s been wanting her hair cut so bad but for some reason keeps putting it off & was finally at her breaking point so she whipped out a pair of scissors & told me to chop it off! I was very hesitant; I’m not a barber! It’s going to look really uneven but she didn’t care so chop I did. Ummm, it could’ve looked worse? She didn’t care, she was just happy to have it off her neck. Oh, Mom 🙂

The guys dropped us off at Sunrise Point for a 3 mile hike (The Queen’s/Navajo Combo Loop) while they went out for breakfast. The weather was nice, trail not too busy, & full of great views. The hike took us about an hour & a half. It was nice, just Mom & me 🙂 Once we made it back to the top, we quick refueled our water, had a snack, & caught the shuttle back to the Visitor Center.

Don picked Mom up to go back to the motel & clean up. Ben & I went back to the campsite to research & argue about the next stretch of our trip. I want to go to Canyonlands, Ben doesn’t. He thinks it’s too far out of the way, too steep, no water…the usual. I tried to show him there are enough opportunities for water. We’re only young once. What’s the rush to get home? Why should a 3 day detour really matter? For the time being we settled on going, but maybe hitchhiking to the furthest point of the park once we get inside the gate.

The 4 of us met back at the Visitor Center for the Rainbow Point Shuttle Tour, from 1:30-4:30pm. The driver was full of epic bad-dad jokes. Real groaners. Ben’s dad, Ralph, would’ve loved them. We stopped at lots of places with beautiful views. It was a nice relaxing afternoon & a great way to see a lot of the park. Afterwards, we grabbed dinner at a place in town. We all got some version of the salad bar. Oh, salad, how I’ve missed you. Back to Mom & Don’s motel for a shower, blogging, TV, & lots of laughs. We ended up sleeping there as we were up late & planned to be up early for a sunrise in the park. Ah, nice comfy bed.

Day 35: All, but Don, woke up early, jumped in the car & drove to Sunrise Point to…well…you know…watch the sun rise 🙂 There were a fair number of others doing the same but it was quiet, just how it should be. The sky was full of clouds but they made for beautiful colors where the sun bounced off them.  It was chilly – still a welcome change. It was a great way to start the day. Back to the motel for a little extra shut-eye, then breakfast at Pines Restaurant again. We sat & chatted for quite some time before they dropped us off back at our campsite & said our goodbyes 🙁 It was so nice to see them. We enjoyed our short visit & will miss them.  Thank you for everything, Mom & Don! We appreciated your visit so much.

Once they left, we did a little trip planning, packed a lunch, caught a shuttle to Bryce Point, Inspiration Point, & finally, Sunrise Point to hike the 3 mile Tower Bridge Trail. It was about a two hour round trip: cooler weather but still plenty warm in the sun, nice views, quiet trail. After the hike, we stopped at the General Store for a few snacks & to catch up on things. Back to camp for curry dinner, laundry, & a hike up the hill behind our campsite to the top of the rim for a sunset. Beautiful. Back to the tent to slumber under the stars. No need for a rainfly when there is no rain! Cooler sleeping weather again…aaahhh, so happy 🙂

Reflections

1. When we first rolled through Red Canyon I thought it was Bryce & based on how vibrant the colors were I said “it should be called Red Canyon instead!”…little did I know 🙂

2. In case you never learned this at camp or school, let me shed some light on something. At night, when it’s pitch-black, especially when you’re trying to build up your night vision (aka Rhodopsin) & gaze at the stars, either turn down the intensity of your phone light to as low as it will go or, if using a headlamp, use the red, green or blue lights (or again, the lowest intensity setting regular light, shielded by your hand if necessary). There were so many people at the stargazing program that were clueless about this & would blind everyone with their phone’s flashlight blazing, depleting everyone’s night vision & we’d have to start all over again…let it build up, start appreciating the dark & the stars again…until someone else blinded us with their phone. Don’t be those people, please 🙂

3. Hiking was MUCH less crowded at Bryce than Zion & Yosemite. Not sure why…

Til next time.

Whitney

Day 26: Veggie scrambler, yogurt & fruit for breakfast. Mmmm 🙂 Packed up, took our pictures, said our goodbyes & on the road by 7:30am. Thanks, Doug & Shelley, for the nice resting place. Stopped at a gas station for coffee, then headed north to Bunkerville, NV. Not a fun beginning to the ride: strong headwind that didn’t let us get very far. We stopped under an overpass for a break & started noticing several huge dump trucks that must’ve  been hauling roadkill & good Lord it smelled so bad I almost puked! Yuck!!! There were also several ATV courses on our route this morning. Those looked fun!

We took I-70 most of the way…which also lead to me getting 3 flats 🙁 The first one was to be expected, from semi tire shrapnel, but the second two were my fault for not inspecting the inside of the tire thoroughly enough 🙁 One flat I fixed on the freeway, another under an overpass where we also had lunch, and the last at a gas station in Glendale,NV where we took a break for a while to beat the heat. The last 20 miles of our ride I was pooped & needed several breaks in order to keep going, but the last 5 miles were awesome. I went from being deflated & defeated to delighted 🙂 We finally made it off the freeway & had a nice side road for the last stretch. There was an abandoned town of Riverside that we stopped to explore. It was pretty cool. One of Ben’s passions is exploring abandoned or old buildings: it’s his version of porn. Yeah, I went there, but it’s buildings we’re talking about 🙂 We also ran into free range cattle crossing the road in front of us, which was kind of fun. I don’t see that everyday! There was one bull with giant horns so I was a little nervous trying to pass him & kept looking behind me to make sure he didn’t try anything, which he didn’t. He was more interested in the greener grass on the other side of the road.

Beyond Riverside, we had rolling hills, which I find fun! It’s a constant game of keeping the momentum going enough to get you over the next hill without much effort. The sun was setting as we rolled through, creating spectacular views of the river valley below to our left, golden mountains & faded moon to our right. We finally made it to Bunkerville, just after sunset. It wasn’t a big town, very few amenities or services, but enough. The plan was to wild camp, which can sometimes mean no shower, but we spotted a football field at a school…getting watered by sprinklers…FREE SHOWER! We had to hop the chain link fence (which I don’t recommend doing barefoot!) to get to them but it was worth it to wash off all the sweat, salt & sunscreen.  Oh, it felt so good & we felt like kids again running through sprinklers, squealing when you got blasted 🙂 It also served as our laundry for the day. Perfect! After the lawn shower, we rode over to a church on the edge of town & set up camp behind the parking lot fence, in a field. I quick made a curry dinner on the church sidewalk & while I did, noticed giant spiders everywhere. Eeek! Needles to say, we ate quickly, washed dishes with as little water as possible (we needed to conserve what little we had since we weren’t able to fill up anywhere) & went straight to bed.

Day 27: Scrambled eggs & breakfast bars, packed & on the road by 7am. We stopped at a gas station several miles down the road, in Mesquite, for coffee, water & to clean up a little. Destination today: St.George, UT. Our plan was to take I-15 through Virgin River Gorge. We met a nice guy at the gas station who did some bike touring back in the day, knew the area & he recommended a quieter road (91), but of course Ben didn’t want the hillier, more remote road, so we took I-15. In a matter of a few hours we passed through 3 states: Nevada, Arizona & Utah! That was pretty cool, but about the only cool thing about our route today…

We should’ve listened to that guy’s recommendation. We survived but I wouldn’t do it again or recommend it to anyone. The views were pretty but the shoulder sucked big time. There was enough space (other than across the bridges, no shoulder at all) but the space wasn’t usable due to horrible material. It was tiny pebbles that make things “slippery” & to make matters worse, it was banked sometimes, so we had to fight sliding down into traffic. Riding downhill was the worst. That’s supposed to be the best part but it was scary; constant fish-tailing, while lots of traffic zooms past. We experienced our hottest temperatures in the gorge (still true, as of Denver), coming in at 110! Once we were out of the gorge it was only 95, which felt much better.

We made it to St.George & chilled in the shade a while. Some nice construction workers saw us & offered us cold water as well as recommendations for routes & places to camp. They were so thoughtful & helpful. We quick rinsed in a river to cool down (aaahhh, much better), then headed to a bike shop for a look-over. The ride to the bike shop put Ben in a bad mood: he doesn’t handle the heat very well & we were heading uphill. The bike shop had misters outside which helped cool him down. We both needed new chains & they took care of it very quickly (thanks, Red Rock Bicycle Co!). Wow, it felt much nicer with the new chain 🙂 Such smooth shifting! We went to George’s Corner for a late lunch/early dinner. They have great food & drinks! Very welcoming after a hot, hard day. We rolled down the hill to cool off in the community pool – only $3! It was really fun. We jumped off the diving boards, enjoyed a game of basketball HORSE (in the pool), and played tetherball; a nice relaxing time. Ben found a last-minute Warm Showers host: Lucas & Kathleen. Awesome! It was really close to where we already were, which was a plus. They were a very nice, generous, down-to-earth couple with 3 sweet pooches: Moco, Choco & Jacks. We showered, did laundry, planned a little, read & went to bed. We started the morning in Nevada, passed through Arizona briefly, & ended in Utah. What a day.

Day 28: Quick eggs & gone by 7:45am. Got coffee & pastries at a place down the road, swung by the bike shop again for better bike shorts, chamois butter (Ben’s butt is hurtin’), more shot blocks & Nuun. We saw our Warm Showers host, Lucas – he works there! Sweet. We biked across town to a post office my mom sent a care package to. It…was…AWESOME! I loved all of it 🙂 She sent us Life Savers, sunscreen, protein bars, lip balm, gum, relaxing bath salts & what we asked her to make for us: business cards for the trip! They’re perfect! Thanks, Mom! Aaahhh, so much easier to spread the word to people we meet about our blog & fundraiser. Wahoo! Off to Zion by 10:30am!!!

We climbed for a bit, stopped at a gas station for water & met a biker we ran into yesterday on the way to St.George. His wife is his support vehicle. He takes two weeks every summer & does a chunk across the states. He’s also heading to Denver, like us, but he’ll get there way before we do 🙂 After that, it was downhill to Hurricane,UT. On the way we tried asking a motel if we could jump in the pool, we’d even pay for it, it was SO HOT, but they said no. “Guests only”. Dumb 🙁 We stopped at a Chinese place for lunch (great food!), then finally the push to Zion.

Our ride to Zion was hot, but we took lots of breaks to stay cool, drink plenty of water & not overwork ourselves in the heat. There was really only one major climb outside of La Verkin & it wasn’t as bad as I was expecting. We stopped in Virgin at Fort Zion for more water… & ice cream, of course! It was such a beautiful ride all day, especially once we made it up that last final climb. The closer we got to the park the more majestic & breathtaking it became. We would’ve gotten to the park sooner but I wanted to stop & take so many pictures! Finally, we made it to Springdale (the town outside the park gate) & stopped to pick mulberries on the way through:)

At last, we made it to the park. Hooray! I got a little emotional as this was my second major destination & we made it. I was proud & felt a sense of accomplishment. There were several people as we biked past that fist pumped, hooted & hollered “way to go; you’re awesome” & other things like that, which reminded me we did something a lot of people consider very challenging, so I had a moment of “holy shit, we actually did it!”, which made me tear up a bit. Once we made it to the gate we talked with a family & another couple. Both so nice, fun & easy to talk to. The family gave us tips on hiking The Narrows. Thanks! Again, we got to hand out our cards, which was so helpful. We could actually talk to them like normal instead of spitting out all the websites & logistical stuff. Thanks again, Mom, they’re so awesome!

We rode inside around 6ish, stopped at the Watchman Campground (which was full, as per usual) but the ranger was kind enough to squeeze us into a group site. With just two bikes & a tent, we don’t take up much space. Sweet! Thank you, ranger 🙂 She also let us borrow a cooler to store our food in. The squirrels & deer here are very bold & have taken food snatching to a whole new level. On the ride to the campsite, we crossed in front of a big, fat snake. You could tell it had just eaten something with it’s swollen mid-section so it wouldn’t move; it needed time to digest. I’m not sure what type of snake it was. I’ll include a picture; maybe someone can tell me. We set up camp, wiped off, took the shuttle around the entire park to get the lay of the land & joined a group of strangers on the shuttle in a game of Movies By Letter (go around in a circle, naming movies that start with a certain letter – we did M – and keep going until you can’t think of any more; last one to think of one wins). It was fun; I’m a sucker for games. The ride was beautiful, I can’t say it enough. So colorful! Back to the visitor center we grabbed dinner & drinks at Zion Brewing, picked up food at the market next door & off to bed. Great day!

Day 29: Ben’s 31st & golden birthday!!! I let him sleep in a little, then we had eggs, breakfast bars & a banana to start our day. The group site was only for one night so I went & found a couple willing to let us share with them. They were very hesitant but still OK with it. We split the cost with them too, so that helped. While I was gone, some of our food from breakfast got left out & when I came back a deer was eating the tomatoes. Whoops! Ben was busy with birthday phone calls & forgot to watch the table. Once we moved our stuff to the new site, we packed a lunch, jumped on the shuttle & rode it to the end of the line (Temple of Sinawava) so we could hike The Narrows. It was so much fun! We hiked up 3 hours, then turned back. You’re in the river the whole time, climbing over rocks, wading in the water over your knees (some places deep enough to swim in if you wanted to, which I did, but most people stuck to the shallow areas). It was a nice day, not too hot & it felt so good. We ran into 3 guys from Minneapolis!!! We chatted & hiked The Narrows for a while together & kept running into them on the way up & back. It was fun. It’s so nice running into fellow Minnesotans 🙂

Back to camp, we cleaned up, tried finding another host to share a campsite with for tomorrow since our current one would be leaving tomorrow, but no luck. People here are not open to it like at Yosemite 🙁 Big rule followers…lame. We decided to leave it for tomorrow & headed over to Zion Brewing again for Ben’s birthday dinner but they had to close early for some unknown reason so we walked up the road to Thai Sapa instead. Very tasty food. The yellow curry was SO GOOD! On the way back to our site we stopped at the market for more food for tomorrow, played cards in the tent & finally hit the hay.

Day 30: Up early, quick breakfast (bars, banana, pb&j bagel), packed up, asked another few couples about sharing a site with them. Again, no luck. Ugh, lame rule followers. We locked up our loaded bikes & gear (along with the cooler) by the bathrooms, checked in with the ranger of the campground to see about last minute cancellations or open sites, were told to check in later in the afternoon, then caught the shuttle to Angel’s Landing & hiked that.

It was a 5.4 mile round trip hike with a steep-ish climb, involving lots of switchbacks, heading up to the ridge, which wasn’t bad. Once we reached the chain area (poles drilled into the side of the cliff, connected by chains that you need to hold on to so you don’t fall to your death), I got cold feet. I took a few steps, had a little meltdown, got scared & started crying. I really didn’t think I could do it. I took a few minutes to collect myself, knew I’d regret it if I didn’t do it, reminded myself of my trip motto (one day at a time, or in this case, one step at a time) & told myself to just look in front of me, not down. I kept asking myself “can I take one more step?” & that was easy, but if I looked way up ahead of other people on a seemingly sheer cliff ready to slip & die at any moment I would freak myself out, so I only thought about my next few steps & it really helped. I eventually made it all the way to the end! It took me a while to get the hang of it but I definitely got more comfortable & confident, realizing in the end it wasn’t that bad. I’m so glad I pushed through my initial fears because the view was spectacular.

Hiking down was hard on the knees. Ouch! We stopped at the bottom for a dip in the river. Aaahhh, so nice 🙂 There’s our shower for the day! Back to Watchman Campground, there was still one space left at the group site & it was all ours! Yay! We dropped our stuff off, grabbed lunch at Zion Brewery, set up camp, took a nap, & caught up on some things. We took it easy for the afternoon, playing cards & Yahtzee, tying up loose ends, & just relaxing. Another young couple from Germany were also staying in the group site so we chatted with them for a while. They were really nice & fun to talk to.

After sundown, we walked over to the store for snacks, then caught the 9pm ranger program about the Southern Paiute tribe who lived here before Europeans forced them out.  It was interesting to learn about their culture but also sad to think I’m enjoying their beautiful home that was stolen from them. It was an educational program that made you think about things. Once that finished, it was straight to bed.

Day 31: Slept in, had eggs, banana & breakfast bars, did laundry, & checked with the ranger about staying one more night in the same spot. She said sure. Yay! Two nights in the same spot? What a luxury! It almost felt like we were living there 🙂 We packed a lunch & checked out the park all day: Weeping Rock, Emerald Pools, & the museum. It was a beautiful day & we got to see lots of great places in the park on some shorter hikes.

We had a pretty epic & hilarious fail on our shuttle ride to Weeping Rock. When we got on, there was a hat in the back seat where we sat down. It looked like someone had forgotten it from the last group that had just gotten off. I was about to get off & give it to a ranger in case they came back but the doors closed. At the same time, a guy came rushing back to the loading area & looked on the shuttle behind us. He was frantically searching for something – he must be looking for his hat! The whole back of our shuttle was in on this now & we were trying to get his attention by yelling out the windows, but he couldn’t hear us. I suggested throwing it out the window & everyone said it was a great idea, so that’s what we did. We told the people directly outside of the shuttle to let the guy know the hat we dropped was his. As the shuttle pulled away, the message was finally relayed to the guy. Hooray! He looked at it, we all watched him say (I swear in slow motion) “that’s…not…mine”, & at the exact same moment, the guy in front of me chimes in “has anyone seen my hat? I must’ve dropped it”. Facepalm. Oh-my-lanta, we just threw it out the window! We thought he was just being funny at first, but it really was his. I felt awful but he was actually pretty chill about it & didn’t seem to care. Epic fail. We all misread that whole situation. Ben & I couldn’t stop laughing about it all day. Question though: how did he miss all the commotion? The entire back of the shuttle was involved. We all discussed the lost hat, what to do about it, made lots of noise trying to get the attention of people outside, yet he didn’t notice any of it. It was like a movie. This poor guy, in explaining to his friends or family later, how he lost his hat will probably sum it up as “these people threw my hat out the window”. Whoops!

In the early evening, we took the shuttle into town for groceries, then back to camp for curry dinner, this time with fake chicken! Very tasty. After dinner, we chatted for a while with the family camping next to us. They were on an organized, several-day hike with an outfitter that sounded pretty sweet. They were a really nice family. The daughter is currently pursuing dance as a career & I am SO JEALOUS!!! Good luck! Later, we made our way into town for a shower (it’d been 4 days, it was time). $4 for 5 minutes. Not everything I’d hoped for; sufficient, but not satisfying. Back to camp & straight to bed. 

Reflections:

1. After climbing our last major ascent on our way to Bunkerville, the scenery changed drastically. It was much greener with trees & shrubs, more mountainous, & the rocks started turning red 🙂 It was beautiful.

2. Three states in one day – that’s a first for me! Fun, especially since it was by bike. Makes me feel a little bad-ass to say that 😉

3. Getting turned down by the motel for swimming: I know I sound like a spoiled, entitled, privileged brat, but in the moment I wanted to say “really, you can’t make an exception for bikers on a 105 degree day? Lame. Where’s your humanity?”. Maybe it’s policy & he can’t afford to get fired but I don’t like when people can’t use their own judgement & are too rigid with rules. Read the situation, not the rule book.

4. Apparently, Ben & I (& I believe a lot of folks from up north) have been pronouncing Zion wrong. Everyone in the south, especially the closer you get to the park, say it different than I’m used to. I’ve always said it ending like Zion, the opposite of off, but NOBODY else says it like that down here & were confused every time we said it. So it seems, the correct way to pronounce it is like lion. Try it with me: zion, like lion. Who knew?

5. Being on this bike trip has weirdly made us feel like mini-celebrities. Everyone wants to talk to you & several people want pictures with you. Our loaded bikes are an easy invite/talking piece that make it easy to meet lots of cool people.

6. I was getting pretty annoyed with people not being willing to share a site with us & let it bother me too much. It was all internal, of course; I didn’t say anything to them. People who do traditional camping with cars & RVs don’t understand how hard it is to travel by bike, when all the campgrounds are full, & you’re not able to make a reservation because you can’t guarantee when you’ll get there. I feel like if they did, they would’ve been willing to help us. I don’t think I would’ve had a problem with it before but especially now, after being on this trip, I wouldn’t hesitate to help someone one. It’s not like we were just trying to mooch & not pay for a site or take advantage of anyone. We just wanted a place to sleep, everything was full & it’s not that easy on bike to just keep riding until you find a place (in a very popular area, mind you) with vacancy.

7. Some people thought the cooler we were borrowing was part of our usual gear & that we’d been biking the whole trip with it! Haha, that’s funny to picture. We’re not that foolish 🙂

8. We were told by several people & employees that the Observation Point hike, albeit longer, is higher & better than Angel’s Landing, with a greater view (& I imagine that’s true), but since it was our first time here we felt we had to do the iconic Angel’s Landing; we can do Observation Point on another trip. I’ve already started a list of things to see & do on the next trip that I wanted to do this time: Sequoia National Park, Death Valley, more hikes in Yosemite, Canyonlands (I’m still trying to convince Ben on this one for the current trip – it’s only an 80 mile round trip detour!).  I’m glad we did Angel’s Landing, with its challenging climb, because it gave me a sense of accomplishment at the end: “wow, I can’t believe I did that!”

9. Ben is hesitant about taking too many detours or stopping to see everything because he’s worried this trip will take until December to finish if we keep adding on, which seems a bit dramatic to me. Bah, we have plenty of time!

10. The ranger talked about how the Southern Paiute viewed water as sacred. I’ve always felt this way about water too, but especially now, more than ever, after being on this bike trip. Once I find water, I feel safe & relieved. You need it for drinking, cooking, bathing, laundry, dishes, & to cool off when it’s so hot outside. It’s essential for everything! Water = survival & comfort. They knew what they were talking about: it is sacred!

11. I always turn the water off when I’m showering, no matter where I am. If I’m not using it to rinse, it’s just getting wasted. I wish pay showers rewarded you for turning the water off. I wish the money bought a measured amount of water, not time. 5 minutes of constant water is more than enough (too much, in my opinion). I could’ve gotten by with half, but after 5 minutes, time’s up. Despite turning it off when I wasn’t using it, I was out of time, even though I’d only used a portion of the water that’s allotted.

12. There are SO MANY deer & squirrels in Zion, they’re like dogs, just roaming around like pets. One of them even ate our toilet paper that got left out in a zip-lock bag. I guess our cat, Lola, isn’t the only animal that finds it a tasty snack! They’re so tame & come up to you without hesitation or fear. There are signs everywhere telling people not to feed or pet them & to shoo them away to keep them wild & not get used to human food. While we were hiking Emerald Pools, a woman & her 4-year-old daughter saw a squirrel by me & came up to pet it. I told them not to & why, but they didn’t care; it was cute & she needed a picture of her daughter petting it…ugh, she really annoyed me 🙁

I loved our time in Zion. It was so beautiful, relaxing, at times exhilarating, & I would definitely go back, but for now it’s time to shift gears and move on to Bryce Canyon National Park. Til next time!

Whitney

Day 22: Up early, oatmeal, packed & ready, swung by the McDonald’s inside the hotel casino for coffee & a breakfast sandwich. I honestly can’t remember the last time I ate there. It’s been years. While I can’t say I would go there often it was a guilty pleasure this morning & hit the spot. Ben had another flat tire (darn semi tire shrapnel) so we fixed that before hitting the road for Las Vegas. It was mostly flat-ish today; a little 1-2% grade but not too bad. Stopped at a gas station along the way for an apple & yogurt, then off to 7 Magic Mountains (stacks of giant rocks in the middle of nowhere, each one painted a bright color: pink, orange, yellow, green, blue, white & black). Our rainbow bikes & attire fit right in 🙂

We finally finished with I-15, which was nice in some ways but I also missed the wide shoulder. The new shoulder on the frontage road was smaller & had a rumble strip in the middle of it so only half of it was actually usable; not much wiggle room. We saw dust tornadoes every once in a while out in the open desert that were fun to watch. We made it to the outskirts of Vegas & stopped in the shade for a quick rest before biking a few more miles to Roberto’s Taco Shop for lunch. Pretty tasty. Hung out there a bit. Chatted with a local about things to do & see in the area that aren’t the typical Vegas strip things. After lunch we stopped at PT’s Gold for a drink & to blog, then finally off to Aunt Sue & Rich’s by 4:30pm.

We got pretty cranky with each other on the bike over & it always has to do with the Garmin. I’m constantly fighting with what Garmin tells us to do & what Ben thinks we should do; he always thinks he knows better. I feel like a couples counselor, caught in the middle; a constant back & forth of he said, it said. Ugh! It took us on a short gravel road for 2 minutes to a busy intersection that was hard to cross but we figured it out. Ben gets frustrated very quickly when facing a challenge but I love them; it’s like a puzzle that needs to be solved & I find that fun. Needless to say, we made it to Rich & Sue’s just in time before we ripped each other’s heads off!

Ben’s aunt & uncle live in Washington but are trying out this place in Vegas to fight the long, dark, cold, rainy winters. They just happened to be in the area for a few days while we were passing through so it worked out perfectly! This house is in a pleasant community; beautiful place. All the houses are very nice with pretty landscaping. Rich & Sue were so warm & welcoming! We showered, did laundry, & caught up. Sue made an amazing dinner: salmon, carrots & asparagus, gnocchi, & watermelon. SO GOOD! After dinner, the 2 of us & Rich went swimming in the community pool, then sat in the hot tub chatting for a while. Aaahhhh, nice & relaxing. Back to their house for ice cream, TV, & bed.

Day 23: Frittata, toast, & fruit for breakfast. So good. Sue is a great cook. She also packed us a super tasty lunch for our upcoming hike (egg salad sandwiches, berries, cucumbers, carrots, pickles, watermelon. YUM! Produce again, so wonderful & refreshing). They let us borrow their van so we drove up to Red Rock Canyon. Beautiful place. We went for a couple hikes. Such a pretty area. We had our picnic lunch at one of the trailheads. It was a nice morning of non-bike activity.

We were back by 1pm, changed into our swimsuits, grabbed a few things & headed to the pool again. Beautiful day, great weather, nice & relaxing. Ben napped while I worked out. Only my legs have been getting worked over from biking so I decided to work out my other muscle groups. Aaahhh, felt so good. Once we were nice & toasty we finally went for a dip.

Back to the house, I blogged, Ben patched tubes. Sue made another great dinner: tuna casserole, asparagus, & salad. We all had wine & talked for a long time. It was really nice. We talked a bit about Rich & Sue’s many foreign exchange students that have stayed with them over the years & the lasting relationships that came from them. It sounds awesome; now I want to do it! We watched a little American Ninja Warrior, then off to bed.

Day 24 : Waffles, fruit & coffee for breakfast 🙂 Packed up, group photo, exchanged hugs & said our goodbyes. We can’t thank Rich & Sue enough for our stay with them. They were so generous & welcoming. It was the perfect rest & relaxation we needed.

We hit the road by 9am & biked downtown for one more day in Vegas. On the way, we passed by Mandalay Bay hotel & couldn’t help but be filled with sadness in remembering the October shooting last fall. So senseless. We checked into our motel & walked the strip all day, just checking out all the different hotels & casinos. It’s interesting to see but also exhausting: so many people, so many places, too much stimulation for me.

Back to the motel for a nap, swim & shower. We grabbed a quick dinner at a little pizza joint inside MGM, then did some serious speed-walking to Treasure Island for a Cirque du Soleil show: Mystere. I definitely could’ve won an award for my speed-walking & puzzle-solving skills! It was like Tetris trying to figure out where I could squeeze in to pass people (the sidewalks were crazy-packed!). The show was amazing; so entertaining & talented! There were funny parts too. I didn’t want it to be over. It was a great time. I would definitely recommend it.

I was so pooped after the show. The 2 mile walk back seemed so daunting 🙁 When I get tired it happens quickly & with a vengeance! I can go from chatty & excited to passed out on the floor in minutes. I get so tired, so hard & need to sleep immediately . It’s like sleep possesses me & I’m no longer in control. Needless to say, the walk back was slow & Ben had to practically drag me most of the way. I would’ve been happy sleeping on the crowded sidewalk but apparently that wasn’t an option. Back to the motel, I passed out as soon as the door opened & I saw the bed. Aaahhh, sweet relief!

Day 25: Breakfast next door at CoCo’s. Pretty good. Stopped by a Remembrance Wall for the 58 killed in the Vegas Shooting at Mandalay Bay last October (see reflection below for more). Biked to Fremont Street (the original & old Vegas Strip), which is pretty cool. I’d been there before but thought Ben should experience it; funky, eclectic place. We finally left the city & headed to our next Warm Showers in North Las Vegas. We chilled at a Starbucks a bit to catch up & kill time, swung by Lowe’s for Ben to pick up pipe insulation to give his handlebars extra squish, & made a pit stop at Smith’s Grocery to get food for the next few days. Off to Doug & Shelley’s by 3:30pm. Doug was out of town, so it was just Shelley & the pets: dog (Flora), cat (Harriet), & itty bitty tortoise (Torty!). I really loved Harriet. She was so chatty & squeaky 🙂 We talked with Shelley a while. She’s so nice. We plotted our next few days & general route to Denver (more on that in reflections below…). Dinner was veggie pesto pasta & salad. Aahhh, salad, so good. After dishes we sat outside a while & talked about our differences & frustrations with this trip. It was a productive & healing conversation. We cleaned up, played cards & got some shut-eye.

Reflections:

1. This isn’t a reflection but we get asked a lot of questions about our trip that maybe some of you have too. A lot of people ask, what do you eat? I love to eat & think about it all the time so I usually include that in my posts but here’s a more detailed description. More often than not, breakfast is usually oatmeal with dried berries, nuts, hemp seeds, cinnamon & honey. It gets old but does the trick & has what we need to start the day. If we’re in the same place more than 1 night & don’t have to travel with food we’ll make eggs & veggies for breakfast. Snacks are usually apples, bananas, carrots, crackers, avocados, beef jerky (for Ben), dehydrated fruit, or cliff bars. Lunch is almost always a bagel with peanut butter & jelly with said snacks. Dinner is usually a rice dish, typically curry (the Tasty Bite pouches of curry sauce are great for camping). Rarely we do pasta. Sauces for pasta don’t come in small enough sizes. I’ve also been obsessed with chips, fries & ice cream. I’m always craving something salty & sweet. It’s my body telling me what I need! And I listen…very well 😉

2. Mandalay Bay Remembrance Wall: I couldn’t help but cry at the loss of so many innocent people. For what? Those moms, dads, sisters, brothers, friends all left for the night to just have a good time & those they left behind probably said “have a good time, see you later”, not knowing that’d be the last time they’d see them. Preparing for someone’s death is hard enough but something so unexpected & so unfair is absolutely heartbreaking. Ugh 🙁

3. It’s always exciting to go grocery shopping when we know we’ll have a fridge that night. We can actually get cold stuff & make nice meals. Yay! This is definitely something I’ve never felt at home since I take it for granted.

4. Routing to Denver: we disagreed on where to go, got frustrated, compromised by saying no motels til Denver & even then, since we’ll be staying with family, no motels til AFTER Denver! I feel like I’m compromising my route again. I want to go further south after Bryce, into Grand Staircase Escalante & Glen Canyon, but Ben thinks it’s too remote  & desolate & is worried about the usual: water, food, safety & dirt roads.

5. I’m worried this trip is driving us further apart when I thought it would bring us closer together. We just need to take it one day at a time. It’s hard to do a trip you’ve been dreaming about half your life & get everything you want when there’s more than just you on the trip. We’re both afraid we’ll resent each other at the end: me, for compromising my trip; Ben, for being put in sticky situations by taking a harder path at my choosing.

As I sit in Denver typing this, it’s now been a little over 3 weeks since our time in Vegas & there’s so much to catch up on! Despite my darker reflections lately & all the disagreements (which are OK to have!), there are brighter times on the horizon as well. It just goes to show that life is hard work & takes some struggle sometimes to make it out on the other side, able to appreciate what it took to get there. If everything was easy, would we do it? I find some challenges rewarding & necessary. Well, time for lunch so I have to pump the brakes for now. Til next time!

Whitney