Utah!

Wednesday

  • Said adieu to Hugo and goodbye to Ben. Had a long conversation with the owner of the small store about the various habits of bike tourists
  • Headed back out into the lonely desert – 83 miles to the next town!
  • Crossed into Utah! 2 states down, 3 to go
  • The landscape changed to become more deserty – saw our first cactus!
  • Found a great little place to camp at the top of a pass. Andrew cooked up some gourmet tortellini

Thursday

  • Bombed down the hill, and back up over the next pass to reach the next town, Milford. Grubbed down at a diner – excellent milkshake.
  • Continued on into a headwind through farm country to Minersville. Stocked up at the little grocery store
  • Camped at the county park on a lake. Too windy and chilly to swim though. The skies cleared up just at dusk for a gorgeous sunset. Went to sleep to the sounds of a girls youth group singing Mormon campfire songs

Friday

  • Headed back into Minersville for fresh donuts at the store, then climbed another long pass heading out of town
  • Even longer descent on the other side.. The miles flew by
  • As we approached Cedar city (in the rain) we were suddenly thrust back into land of race car ya-yas. The route into town was a stroad packed to the gills with diesel trucks hitting us with every puddle.
  • Had Indian food for lunch – a nice change from the burgers and pizza we’ve been having – and then checked into a hotel for a nice long rest day while we waited for Alice and Anton to arrive
  • Went to a fancy woodfired pizza place with good draft beers for dinner, then got gourmet brownies and ice cream for dessert. Back to the hotel where we slept in until checkout – glorious!

Saturday

  • Ate the motel breakfast, then spent the morning on a wild goose chase visiting every sporting goods store to find a new sleeping pad (my many attempts to patch mine have been unsuccessful). Unfortunately, none of the shops had good options
  • Checked out the Cedar City farmers market – had prickly pear lemonade
  • Met Alice and Anton at the car rental shop – now we are four bums!
  • While shopping for provisions, got a call back from a gear shop and was able to get a new sleeping pad! Gear Fool in Cedar City is a great little shop – they opened up just for me to swing by… Even offered to ship my old pad to my house!
  • We then headed out on the long, 20 mile, 4000+ foot climb up to Cedar Breaks National Monument. Found a great little campground 12 miles up the road, and ended the day with curry and beers

More to come….!