My campsite last night was on some grazing land. Just a hundred yards down a dirt road off the highway, there was a perfect spot, complete with a wooden post for me to lean my bike against.
So a bunch of cows woke me up this morning. They are curious creatures, and assembled around my tent to investigate such a strange object in the vast thousand acre pasture they call home.
The smaller cows were more inquisitive, and got pretty close to the tent before momma-cow steered them away. They took off once I started packing the bike, probably realizing I didn't have anything for them to eat.
Cycling was phenomenal. No cars on the road, just me and the pavement. Plus, it was all downhill.
I opted to take a bit of a detour into Richfield, Utah - mostly because the town had services other than a small market.
Upon riding into town, a woman riding a bicycle in the opposite direction hollered at me and asked where I was going. I replied with "Boston."
She replied, "Want to have a beer on my porch?"
Yes I do.
So I followed Megan back to her place, we sat on the porch and enjoyed a beer.
Megan's dog Tesla also joined us on the porch!
We talked about traveling and living in different places - Megan moved to Richfield with her husband who does forestry work. She is studying for the bar and plans to take it in a few months.
Richfield happens to be the county seat, which is part of the reason they chose that location. It is also rural enough that forest service jobs are available nearby.
Anyway, good luck Megan - I'm sure you'll pass with flying colors.
I said farewell and found a spot to eat lunch in town, have a coffee and update the blog. My usual midday routine.
So, you know that town with just a small market that I mentioned earlier - I stopped there anyways. I was ravenous, bought too much food and ate most of it. They had an abundance of produce so I stocked up on apples, pears, bananas, nectarines... the list goes on. I topped it all off with a doughnut. And some Greek yogurt.
Full, and pedaling much slower, I trudged on until nightfall.
I found this great hill to setup camp; I had a 360 degree view of the entire valley. Unfortunately, my panoramic photo wasn't saved. But I figured out the issue.
My phone is a bit anemic on ram, and if the maps app or Spotify is running while taking a photo, the apps crash. Now that I know what the root cause is, I can be more careful and make sure the memory hogs aren't running while taking pictures.
This will have to do
This was also my first real encounter with a lot of mosquitoes. I can confirm that my bug repellent works.
Joe