After 2 months or so, I finished up with night shift at the Navajo plant. I took a day to get back on a day sleeping schedule. It was cold and windy, putting an end to my plans of taking a kayak out into Antelope Canyon. Instead, I took the car out near the Thousand Pockets area and did some exploring, looking for dinosaur tracks. I didn’t find anything, but managed to rally the Equinox on a quad ATV trail all the way to the end without getting it stuck in the sand. Amazing what one can do as soon as that Stabilitrak is disabled. I stopped by for dinner at the Dam Bar, and met with Kat before packing my things at the hotel.
In the morning I said goodbye to the friendly hotel staff, and headed on up north. It was cloudy and dull for most of the trip, but eventually made it to Fruita, CO in the afternoon. I met up with Kurtis and Mike at the LaQuinta Inn, and quickly hit the road out to do the Kessel Run, and Zipity DooDah. We played around on our bikes for a bit, and it started to get pretty chilly. With dark clouds moving in, we decided to call it a day and started to head back. On the way we encountered some cows, which Kurtis and Mike attempted to chase down. Gotta follow the mancation tradition! After cleaning up at the hotel we shortly thereafter went to Grand Junction for some Spicy Thai, and then watched The Adjustment Bureau. When we got out it had rained a lot, and still had plenty coming down. We were slightly concerned about trail riding the next day.
In the morning, I woke up at 5am sharp. Still not adjusted for the whole day schedule, or a full 8 hours for that matter. I tried to go back to sleep, but I was wide awake. There was a layer of fog outside, and I could see the sun barely cresting over the horizon. I messed around online for a bit, then went to eat some breakfast. I was incredibly clumsy for some reason. I tried to remove the lid for the cereal, and dropped the metal scoop on the floor making a huge racket, and attracting everyone’s attention beyond the lobby. After pouring my cereal, I tried to pour some milk on it, but nothing came out of the pitcher. Suddenly the lid seal broke, and dumped nearly half the contents into my bowl, thus removing what dry cereal it contained and scattered the colorful mixture all over the floor. I got a towel from the lobby and tried my best to clean it up. I then burnt some toast, and dropped some other breakfast items. Not off to a good start. I went back upstairs after managing to feed myself without killing anyone, and did some trail research. About an hour later I met up with Kurtis and Mike when they were eating, and we discussed trails we wanted to hit up. We went to the Tabeguache trail system and rode a massive network of trails. Some were better than others, and some were simply insane, even for someone with overkill full suspension. One thing I found baffling and confusing were the density of hikers with DOGS on this singletrack network. For every bicyclist we spotted, there were at least 5 hikers with at least one dog. This resulted in having to dodge more than just cactus thorns on the trails. I made one lady shout a dirty phrase in shock when she made the assumption that our trio consisted in only 2 members. She blindly walked into me, and I managed to miss her by a few millimeters. We finished our little loop and got some good riding in, then got some sandwiches for lunch.
After refueling, we made our way out to the Kokipelli trailhead network to do a couple more runs along Rustler’s Loop, and Horsethief Loop. They were both pretty excellent. I was getting pretty shook up without any suspension, but I managed alright. When we arrived back at the car, we all felt the need to do Rustler’s Loop again. I was extremely low on energy, but Mike donated his Snickers bar which did marvels. We all were sufficiently thrashed by the time we arrived at the car again. Then Kurtis went to fish out his keys in his camelback, but came up empty. He feared that he locked them in the trunk. Several attempts in breaking in were fruitless, and it was windy and the air was cooling down. He made a few calls to local locksmiths, and only one was within a reasonable travel distance, and from the sounds of the conversation was being a total prick. $75 quickly turned into $80, and then $85. After going back to trying to break in again, Mike checked his bag, and found the keys. To this day, nobody knows (or will fess up to) whoever managed to put them in that specific bag.
We craved protein and carbs, so we hit up Rib City there in Fruita. There was a huge wait, but it was worth it. Before slipping into a post feast food coma, we got some stuff and went out to see the movie Limitless. Afterward, we made our way back to the hotel for much needed rest. We packed up in the morning hit up the local Fruita ward, and departed. I made a stop at Damion’s place to meet up with him and the family. I was able to use some of this time to organize a list of potential rental properties to investigate. I also had to juggle a few emails and company mojo since my departure from Page. Damion and I were able to catch up some, and were entertained briefly with a neat little lightning storm that came rolling through.
The next morning, I gathered my list, made a few phone calls, and checked some places in and around Spanish Fork. I then drove Damion over to work due to his post operation arm in sling. From there I made my way over to several properties. In the afternoon I made my way over to Pleasant Grove where I impulsively purchased a single speed, belt drive mountain bike. The Releigh XXIX. I took a break from the real estate chase and met up with Melissa in Provo for lunch. We were able to catch up and I’m fairly confident we disrupted other guests at the restaurant with laughter and conversation. Since it was Provo, I didn’t care the least. Checking more properties north led me to Sugarhouse. I stopped in my favorite bicycle shop just before close and purchased some pedal flats for my new bike, and chatted with the jealous attendant behind the counter. I stopped by Trevor and Brandy’s place for a brief visit and then met up with Debbie who was in town for some job training. We continued our traditional Thai Food addiction for dinner. From there I made my way down south to Bryan’s place where we were able to catch up some and watch a few episodes of Archer. I crashed there for the night, and left in the morning northbound for Kent. 12.5 hours later, I arrived fatigue and was able to catch up with the folks at 21446.
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