Journal June 8-June 24--Utah
June 8 Moab, UT to Provo, UT June 9 Layover, Provo, UT June 10 Provo, UT to Deer Creek Reservoir, UT By 1:30 we were on a paved rail-trail going up the canyon toward Deer Creek State Park with a slight tailwind. Although it was uphill, it was easier than fighting the headwind that had been dogging us lately. It was made all the nicer by the company of Pat Christian, a bicyclist and a reporter from the Provo Daily Herald. He was our guide to the history and natural beauty of the area. He took plenty of pictures, which you will see as soon as he scans them and e-mails them to Web master Christine Romp. At the end of the rail trail we took a highway up over a dam and camped on a beautiful high-altitude reservoir. A bit of rain and wind forced us into an early bedtime, and we slept like babies after today's climbing. June 11 Deer Creek Reservoir, UT to Park City, UT Still 26 miles from Denise's house, we let her take our luggage (and Timmy!) and enjoyed the six-mile climb to Park City in the company of Jill on her vintage Viner racing bike. Ellen and her sons Peter (on a BMX bike) and Ian (in a trailer) rode with us a while, too, which we enjoyed immensely. A huge pasta dinner in Denise's rustic/elegant mountain home with son Sam and daughter Noell was just the ticket. Husband Sam is out of town flying for Delta Airlines, and will return tomorrow. June 12 Layover Park City, UT On the way home, still way up in the mountains, we saw herds of sheep tended by men who stayed in shepherd's camps, which looked like tiny cabins on wheels. Presumably it was on public lands. There was not a fence in sight. June 13 Layover in Park City, UT Today Sam and I took a three-hour mountain bike ride on the Crest Trail, which, as its name implies, keeps to the high ground between East Canyon and Parley's Summit. I really enjoyed riding with Sam; we are well matched in ability and temperament. It was a great ride, and I was pleased to find enough oxygen at 7500 feet. Being up there on the trail was so different from our "road" experience that I began to plan off-road camping adventures with the family. This trail, for instance, goes on for miles and would provide weeks of prime riding and camping. June 14 Mount Timpanogos, UT June 15 Park City, UT Rest, writing, and phone calls were the activities today. I made a lot of arrangements for next week in Salt Lake City and beyond. I find that the phone calls and contacts with the media are fun (journalists and TV folks are a great lot, usually in the business because they like people). It is also time consuming, and time is our most precious commodity on this trip. It is worth the effort, though, because we are reaching more and more people with our simple message, "Anything is Possible!" It also gives us a chance to repay our sponsors with some publicity. And if you know us, you know that we are hams anyway and we love the attention! While I rested, the family toured the Park City Silver Mine (www.netpp.com/pcsilvermine) and had a great time. Thanks to Randy there for the complimentary passes. Denise and Sam have surprised Patti with airline tickets to the East Coast on Thursday, June 17, so that she can attend her parents'' 50th wedding anniversary party. It's a surprise for Patti's mother and father, too, so we have been pretending that this long layover is for rest and relaxation, when we really had another motive. Denise is going, and they will fly back on Saturday night. Hey, MUMS THE WORD! June 16 Park City, UT June 17 Park City, UT June 18 Park City, UT June 19 Park City, UT June 20 Father's Day Park City, Utah to Salt Lake City, Utah By then it was 9:30 and time to descend Immigration Canyon into Salt Lake City. This historic road marks the place where Brigham Young, traveling with the first Mormon settlers in 1846, stood up in his wagon and said, "This is the place." Salt Lake City has been the center of Mormon culture ever since. We liked Salt Lake City a lot. Wide flat streets, lots of trees, and almost no traffic on this hot sunny Sunday. We spent the afternoon at a large park with a pool and an aviary, where I gave a dozen Hispanic children rides on the quad. In the evening we made our way to the home of Dr. Galen Birdsley, a third generation chiropractor and an inspiring man. After making instant friends with his wife Nancy, we met the rest of their large family (four generations!) at a back yard barbecue. The history of the Mormon faith and Salt Lake City are intertwined, and the Birdsleys taught us much about both before we finally succumbed to fatigue around midnight. A long day! June 21 Salt Lake City Our time with her in the shady park by a duck pond turned into a party. Patti's cousin, Denise, and her two kids met us there, as did Galen and Nancy Birdsley. We were joined by the Reiser family: Rob and Susan, and Harrison, 10, and Amanda, 8. They had contacted us through the web site and this was our first, but not last, meeting. In a wonderful gesture that I will never forget, Galen Birdsley went to a nearby health food store and brought back a perfect picnic for fifteen. Way to go!! During our interview Patti remembered that it was our anniversary. I blushed. Everyone cheered. Great party. After a round of good-byes, we rode to downtown Salt Lake City, with Rob towing Henry on a trailer-bike, and Amanda Reiser taking Henry's perch on the quad. We visited a pub where there was a quad on display, an older Co-Motion that was nicely outfitted. Then we visited the Mormon Temple and Tabernacle, where we picked up some more Mormon and Utah history. Then a few miles more brought us to a campground where the Reiser family had a site with their "LV" (Learning Vehicle) parked there. This amazing family from Provo, Utah, has traded the ultimate corporate lifestyle (Rob was president of the Japanese division of Intuit, the company responsible for Quicken, among other things) for the ultimate home-schooling lifestyle, traveling the globe with their kids on learning odysseys on a par with the Romp Family's "Wind in the Face" tour. In North America, they use their "LV, a tricked-out 36-foot RV that would take an hour to describe, and you wouldn't believe me anyway. They drove it to Salt Lake City just to host us there. We ate a Dutch Oven meal, played with the technology (I e-mailed pictures to Chrissy so you could see them on the web site), and talked until after midnight. You absolutely must check out their web site at www.learningfamily.com. We have joined them as a Learning Family, and you can, too. June 22 Salt Lake City to Antelope Island, Utah Saying goodbye to the Learning Family was hard, but the route north along the lake was a pleasure: flat and wide, with no wind. We cruised up to Syracuse, UT, where a 7-mile causeway led to Antelope Island. We have never seen a more beautiful natural area. Although we didn't see the antelope or buffalo which inhabit the island, we were moved by the most beautiful sunset, and we found beauty in every direction, from the Wasach mountain range, to the mountainous island itself, to the huge lake and it's surrounding hills. June 23 Antelope Island to Willard, UT We have been taking lots of nutritional supplements on our trip, most provided by Prime Factors, Inc. They have made a huge contribution to our well being. We have had plenty of energy, very little muscle soreness, and good health despite a sketchy diet. We find that in this hot desert area, our favorite way to use the supplements is to find a place with a good blender; a fruit smoothie vendor, an ice cream parlor, or even a bar. With ice, a banana or other fruit, some water and our supplements, a good blender makes a fine drink for us. Today we found a great fruit smoothie place after about 13 miles, and there Mike Bucher found us. He had e-mailed us a few months ago, inviting us to ride with his tandem club in this town, Syracuse, but we were never able to make arrangements. Today he was free from his studies (he's an Air Force guy working on his masters degree in math) and he instantly offered to carry our gear up to Willard Bay State Park, our destination for the day. Timmy begged to go with him, so we were just four on a bike, no luggage or trailer, for 35 flat miles. We averaged 15 mph into a slight headwind, ignoring the 91-degree heat. When we arrived, Mike had our campsite all ready under a huge shade tree, with fresh spring water waiting, complements of the Tandem Club. What a guy!! Mike had a recumbent tandem on his truck, and we all enjoyed riding around the shady campground. Even Timmy got a ride. Mike tried out the quad, then went on his way. Thanks Mike! We sent Henry out with microwave popcorn packets in search of a microwave. He came back minutes later with dinner. All the big campers have microwaves, and Henry had made some new friends. We swam in this fresh water bay of the Salt Lake (dikes, I guess) and settled in to a good night's sleep. June 24 Willard, UT to Tremonton, UT In Tremonton at nearly 3:00PM, we had to make a decision. The next town was more than forty miles, mostly by interstate (where bikes are allowed because there is no other route). No water or food was available between. While Amy from the local newspaper interviewed us, Kim Wilson stepped up and invited us to her house for the night. We shopped for food and rode to her house, where we barbecued and ate a feast, helped out by some neighbors. Ellie went riding on a neighbor's horse, and now the family is watching a video about Mormon history while I type this update on her computer. Kim is an angel, a tandem owner, and the mother of two nice kids. Her hospitality is the comfortable kind; no time spent beating around the bush. We face two mountain passes, and forty miles of desert tomorrow, so we plan an early start. Next Journal Entry... |