Skip to main content

Flashback Friday 2004-2014

Repost of Day 2 of my solo trip to Utah back in 2004.  


 Up at 4:30 am with a good nights rest. Swam a bit at the nice expensive hotel and then to bed. Slept like a contented baby. Went down for breakfast at 6:00 and had cinnamon rolls, coffee and 2 glasses of skim milk. Off on Route 50 through the mountains.

Indescribable - fun twisting turns - no traffic, beautiful scenery. Fantastic riding through valleys and high atop mountains. All along I saw signs, "Falling Rock" that I thought quaint tourist warnings. Along one road I hit a softball size rock that could have thrown me and the bike, but we came out of it OK.



At one turn I saw a kid in a meadow by a stream playing his guitar.



Then on to Moab - by the way it is hotter that Hell here with the heating bouncing off the rock. Utah is a god-forsaken desolate area. There is no road kill because all the animals moved out. I mean there is nothing out here. The rock color and formations is awe-inspiring. I went to a couple of scenic rest areas. The rock formations all blend into one after a while, they are starting to look alike.

Decided to trek Northward around 3:00 pm. Made it to Price Utah. Checked in at a no-tent campground - all rock. People here have no water and German Nazi lady at front desk. I asked how much she would charge to sleep on rock and she said $10.00. Crap! OK how about use of the pool, well that will cost you another $4.00.
I'm at the pool now and the place is a pig sty. Water is fowl, buggy and dirty. Sleeping on rock tonight ought to be a challenge. Tomorrow I'll find a nice cheap motel.



After I tried to pitch the tent in gravel and tied to a pitiful tree, I went over and had supper at the El Rancho Bar and Grill.
Tidbits on the day:

 This supposedly two-man tent will barely house me. So much for 'truth in advertising'.

 There are ground squirrels all over the place in the mountain areas of Colorado. Bu they are far smaller than those in Illinois.

Ironic - I was in Colorado the Spring before I started Mary Davis Home, and now I return same year after having retired from MDH.

 Traveling should be a shared experience - Looking at the wonders of nature needs instant feedback from another traveller.

 These rocks are hard - I'm staying at a motel tomorrow and not camping until there is real live grass.

 I don't know if this is a life-altering experience. It more or less confirmed what I already felt:
1. I hate traffic
2. I hate speed (?)
3. Maybe at this age it simply means an appreciation of what is out there. I may not pass this way again.
4. Camping is for hobos and nature freaks. both of which I am not.









Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Flashback Friday

Class, Or Lack Thereof The Dwight Vice gravestone in Oquawka, Illinois. I bring this old chestnut out every so often just to remind me that class is classless.  Dwight Vice was killed in his home near Oquawka in 2001.  It was one of those things that can generate crime:  two guys thought Dwight had a lot of money stashed at home because of his pot-selling sideline to supplement his fishing job.   Not really one of those big drug deals gone-bad things.  Marijuana was, according to the trial, about the only stuff Dwight sold.   But these two guys barge into the house and killed Dwight and attempted to kill his 11 year old kid, Darryl, before they took off with what money they could find.   His son, now 23, was stabbed in the back and left for dead.  He survived and is wheelchair bound and has undergone several surgeries to repair his wounds.  He will be paralyzed for life.   None of this is pleasant.  Reading the f...
Post a Comment
Read more

Florida Air Museum - Part 3

Welcome back to a pretty neat tour of the Florida Air Museum in Lakeland Florida.  There's a lot to see and a couple of the old Geezer Gold Wing guys are already sitting down instead of walking around looking at the exhibits. That's John who is wore out and making a call to his wife.  In all honesty, John was pretty well bushed before the ride.  He told me his daughter's family was down from one of the Carolina's with the grand kids and he must have played with them too much.   He's about to take off on his own and head for home, but he's going to miss a couple of neat things out on Hangar A.   But, before we walk over there, we have lots yet to see here.  If you saw The Aviator with Leonardo DiCaprio playing Howard Hughes, you'll remember that he went up in a plane during the filming of one of his movies to prove a point about flying.  He crashed trying to execute a roll and this is a picture of the plane he crashed.  No...
1 comment
Read more

Summer Swim

It's Monday and the start of another work week.  Except for me.  I have the week off because the parents of my daycare charges are taking the week off, too. This is one of those wordless posts I love on Mondays so I can put my laziness in full view of loyal readers.  These pics need no words.  Why muddy the waters?   They were taken at the pool at Sinkhole Estates aka Death Valley.  The nice thing about this pool is it is heated in winter.  If one must find positives in one's situation, I suppose that is one.  But, please, no more.   
Post a Comment
Read more