back to UT

... been off the grid for a while, literally. Backpacking in SW Utah, where just finding water is something to spend time thinking about, and cell phone coverage and internet access are nowhere close. That, and I've been using cash, so if the FBI was looking for me, they probably would've had a harder time than usual. Not that I'm hiding from anything. In a Freudian sense we probably all are, but let's not go there quite yet.

Anyway, I've found plenty of reasons to delay and delay my return, hang around in Utah (who'd've thunk it?) for a while longer. Damn but if it ain't pretty out here.

argh.

I was so in the groove, and now I'm not. Traveling along, making my way to pick up fellow backpacker Richard in Denver on Friday morning, then overnight at somewhere with fascinating and/or stunning terrain/views, to arrive in Escalante with plenty of time to spare. But stupid-assed me totally forgot the text message exchange where he's not coming in until Saturday morning. So I was camping in the Denver area at Golden Gate Canyon State Park (their website doesn't do it justice - camped overnight at 9000 ft, had to drive up 19% grade roads to get there, etc. etc.) and got up at 6:30 am to be in Denver for the 7:30 am train arrival. Running late, I called Richard at 8:30 - left a message, and when he called me back, reminded me that we changed the pickup to Saturday. Shitfuck.

So now I have a day to waste in Denver. It's hazy and dreary (associated with smoke from wildfires in Montana, I hear), I'm tired because I didn't sleep well (stupid herd of Elk started bugling at 3am), not showered, and generally without purpose or plan for the day. I feel like a homeless person, not trying to attract attention and hoping I don't smell too badly as I sit in a Panera hogging the free wireless.

Fuck it. I'm going to go see a movie, then I'll find a new campsite this afternoon. Drove all the way to Denver to see a movie - go figure.
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And in the intervening 30+ minutes, struck up a conversation with a fellow Panera customer who was just fun to talk to - though the various topics included: overinflated real estate prices in Boulder/Ann Arbor, the Cold War, Israel/Palestine, etc.

A little animated conversation did me right to snap me out of the "it's a depressing grey day" funk. I'm still going to see The Illusionist though.

dude... I am, like... SO high right now

I'm sitting in my hotel room in Boulder (Colorado) with a stupid-assed grin on my face. Just got into town, it was getting late, so the first thing I do is find a bike shop to ask where to go riding. The guy draws me a little map, and on the way to the start point, I find a hotel, drop my shit, put the bike together, and off I go. It's about 7:00pm, so I'm hurrying to beat the sunset. Turns out it gets cold in the mountains, but it was a short ride.

I'm so enthralled with my little GPS thingy that I immediately got back, plugged it in, and here's the track...


Let's not focus on the fact that on the climb there are spots where I was sucking wind at 5 mph, and two clip-out-and-stop-for-a-second-before-my-heart-pops-out-of-my-chest spots. Let's focus on the ass-puckering 47mph downhill. We ain't got none o' dat in Michigan.

I kid you not, the thought "OhHolyShitDidILockDownMyStemAndSkewersTightEnough" went through my head more than once. And brother, I am not ashamed to say that I was on the brakes more than my manly ego would like me to admit to. I had no idea where this road went or if it suddenly became potholed, oh yeah, and I have approximately ZERO descending skills. So yeah, it took a while to un-pucker from those spots.

So yeah, I'm riding high on some endorphins right now, for sure.

And get this - on the hairy-assed descent back to the hotel, this motorist in a burgundy Ford Expedition passes me really closely right before a tight turn (yes, I was out in the middle of the lane, but I'm sure I was going at or above the speed limit). So I'm thinking "what an asshole" and then I see him stopped 300 feet ahead, blocking the lane. Asshole, right? Turns out there were 3 deer crossing the road. Around a couple more hairy curves and he's stopped again - but he's even with (splitting the group) of three more - the two on the left shoulder and one on the right. And as I come up on him, it seems like he was totally stopped and started going when I caught up. He could have driven on, but it seemed like he waited for me to make sure that I saw the deer.

How cool is that? I felt like he was escorting me a little bit. It might have just been coincidence that he was trying to not hit the deer, but the optimist in me would like to think it's people looking out for other people. Thanks, Mr./Mrs. Burgundy Expedition Driver.

So yeah, am I going riding tomorrow morning? You bet your ass. And am I coming back here after the Utah backpacking? Looking that way - I just might make a side trip out to here on the way home.

On the road again...

I just can't help but chuckle - the rest stops in Iowa have free WiFi internet access. I don't have any particularly pressing e-business to take care of, but I just gotta try it out. Seems to work, but why at a rest stop? To entertain the kids in the car? An oppurtunity for advertising? Or is it just the modern-day equivalent of having a pay phone?

In other news - I'm stoked about the fact that there's a Strategic Air Command Museum in Omaha, and I'm about to be there in a few hours. Gonna go see me some missiles, fer shure.