slc bicycler

I was so drained by saturday's drive that I was still groggy on Sunday even after 9 hours of sleep. carrie woke me around 10a because she had made breakfast! I love breakfast.

I spent the first couple hours of our day trying to find a bike shop that was open - I really wanted to get a bike map of slc. I think it'll be cool to have a collection of bike maps by the time I'm done with trip. but after calling a dozen or so shops that were ALL CLOSED because it was Sunday, I finally got to speak to someone who told me that slc doesn't have a bike map! whether it's true or not (I suspect he didn't really know what I was talking about, or something, it just can't be true) it was still quite irritating for hardly anyone to be open just because it was Sunday. oy vey.

I got to meet mercy the birdie, carrie's new pet. my heart went aflutter everytime we said her name because I miss my Mercy kitty so much. (apparently my kitty has begun to sleep with my sister once she couldn't find me anymore... I want her to be happy but knowing that information still breaks my heart. am I taking our relationship too seriously? maybe.)

our first stop was to the salt lake. all you hear about this place is the cool history and the ecological reasons for it
being as dense as it is, blah blah etc etc. yeah it was beautiful and the mountains are lovely, yeah yeah but I'm going let the secret out. the salt lake is disgusting! there are more bugs there than on the rest of the planet combined. there are some that are carnivores and seek you out as soon as yr foot hits the sand. I still have a bite mark from one of those jerks. the majority, however, act as a blanket of disgusting. they coat the sand as a pretend layer of filth. why? I don't know. it could be cooler down there than elsewhere, but I don't care about their comfort. as we walked they would take flight - it was like a billowy wave of insects around and underneath us the entire time. and that was just the walk TO the edge of the lake. I will admit that waterlife kind of grosses me out. I can't explain it really, I think it's just that there's so much slime. the feel of slime against my skin is not exactly reassuring. but carrie had already discussed with me that nothing can live in the lake except krill and plants. I was determined to overcome the ickiness and feel myself floating in the lake. dear god nothing is more disgusting than trying to wade into a body of water and trying to aim for the path of least buggyness! they were dead, just laying there on the surface of the water, competing in the universal competition of most disgusting experience. I couldn't force myself to go deeper so that most of my body was submerged. I just couldn't. I was aware that there was a grimace
on my face the whole time. at least I wasn't squealing and crying, but that's not to say I didn't want to.

after an incredibly thorough shower in their public facilities I finally crawled back into carrie's car and we attempted
to witness some wildlife. the antelope weren't in the mood to frolic and the sign regarding buffalo seems to have been a trap. or a joke.

from there she drove us to Big Cottonwood Canyon. there had, apparently, been a bike race up the mountain the day before. from the summit we we could see everything, as you'd expect at 10,000 feet elevation. we drove down the backside and we both wished carrie's vehicle was a jeep instead of a mazda. this road took us to park city which is wealthy, beautiful, and a sort of gatekeeper to the 2002 summer olympic grounds. we got there a smidge too late to be able to go inside and pretend we were olympians which is probably for the best because I wouldn't have been able to afford it.

then i got to see the state capitol building - so majestic! I read to kalman from a plaque out front about how the mormons had clearly been really cool, always did everything right, were the chosen people or something, etc... and he eventually hung up on me. it was a pretty great plaque.

back to carrie's place for her famous hawaiian barbeque pork chops and screening of slc punk. boy did seeing that movie again take me back.

Monday morning, after sleeping a couple of extra hours after carrie went to bed, I finally felt somewhat rested. made my way from her place to an al anon meeting a small distance away. I wasn't able to make it to a meeting in Portland due to timing and whatnot. it felt really great to be in that room again. and the only thing inconsistent with that meeting from all the others I've been to is that slc residents are incredibly nice. granted, the people who can attend a meeting at 11am on a Monday are not going to be average working folk - but still!

the 11 miles to the train station was a pretty solid tour of slc proper in and of itself. that ride was more exhausting than it needed to be though because it was so windy! blech, I hate wind. and in my exhaustion I clumsily tried to walk my bike up onto the curb so I could read a small posted sign and in the process I caught my ankle in teeth of the outer chainring. first blood of the trip!

i enjoyed some aimless sightseeing and I was so much ready for a break by the time I had spent another few miles circling through downtown. unfortunately, I was afraid to stop to get more water because I had already experienced the dreadful tap water from carrie's place. I guess it makes sense, if the lake is that intense why filter the experience from the tap water? my fears were founded though, the tap water at the frozen yogurt place was nose-pinch worthy, but the matcha froyo was great!

i met up with carrie at slc brewing after
she was off work. yummy steak cesar salad and a double ipa!
we played with mercy some more and then watched waiting - definitely a good movie to round off my stay in slc full of disgusting experiences.

I sent carrie to bed, stayed up for a little while to get my things in order. the alarm went off at 2.30am and, after a quiet drive across town, we said our goodbyes so that I could send her back to bed.

an incredibly nice man came from across the station to help me with my big bike box. thank god for the upgrade from the nice people in Portland because the big bike box is so much easier to handle! we quickly
wrapped it in some tape and handed
it off to the same sweet guy who had stored the box for me Saturday night.

the trained arrived to the station early and so I've been sitting in this seat since 3.30am - wow! I just noticed that it's 4pm. maybe it's time for a walk through the train.

through the window i saw an eagle! (I think that's probably cooler than being mooned by rafters, which the other side of the train did.) just a few more hours until Denver and suji, yay!