I Made It

After driving for 2160.0 miles, I'm here in Visalia, CA. I arrived Monday about 2:00 PM. It's a long drive, but a beautiful drive. We (Matt and I) started out Thursday evening from Rochester after having the truck loaded Thursday morning. Biggest moving truck, or just biggest truck, I've ever seen.

 

Thank you to Don, Robert and Rocky for loading my stuff. No, it's not just my stuff on that truck. (Tom Woo made a comment on Facebook that I do have a lot of shoes ... ha! Not THAT many!) There was a lot on the truck when it got to Rochester (after a 24 hour delay due to being broken down in Cedar Rapids, IA). After leaving Rochester they were headed to Davenport, IA to pick up a pick-up truck to put in the back. Robert said they needed 17' of floor space to load it. There wasn't that much. But he said they could "deck it" (built a deck over the truck) in order to fit everything on it. I can't imagine how much gas this fully-loaded vehicle is going to guzzle going over the Rocky Mountains.

Our first stop was Grimes, IA near Des Moines where we stayed with my stepbrother and family. Then we were headed west on I-80.

Our next overnight stop was in Superior, CO with Hal and Julie Frye. I'd known Julie from IBM many years ago and hadn't seen them since they left Rochester 16 years ago. They hadn't changed a bit!! Anyway, Matt and I both fell in love with the Boulder, CO area and we understood the appeal for both the Fryes and Brad Berger who recently relocated there. (Excuse the spots on my camera lens. I really should replace the camera.)

Matt and I wanted to stretch our legs, so Hal took us for a little walk. There was a bike race taking place that weekend and Friday was the time trial and we got to see a few of the participants. Saturday would bring a criterium and Sunday a road race. It would have been fun to be able to watch.

Hal and Julie took us to a nice restaurant for supper. I don't remember the name of it and didn't take a photo of the sign. Unthinkable!!

We had a very nice visit with the Fryes. Saturday morning brought a visit with Brad Berger, recently moved to the area from St. Cloud. He's looking and doing well!!

After breakfast with Brad, we took off for the Rockies in rain and very heavy fog once we started climbing into the mountains. I was so disappointed that Matt might not see the beautiful scenery as we could hardly see 20 feet in front of the car. But after several miles, the fog cleared and we were able to enjoy the vistas.

The scenery on this route is magnificent. Farmland ... mountains ... desert. It's all beautiful.

Soon we were in Utah. The first 110 miles into Utah there are "No Services" and signs warning you of that situation. No gas. No food. Nothing. Kind of played with my brain a little bit. What if ... ? But them I remembered that I had two bikes on the back.

Worst case scenario with my non-smart phone ... I'd have to ride 55 miles to somewhere if no one stopped to help. But the drive was without incident thankfully.

I took so many photos of the scenery. I'd love to post them all, but can't. Here are a few more though.

Night three ... Cedar City, UT. We were tired and happy to get out of the car. We had a salad for supper and called it a night on the early side, ready for a good night's sleep. Well, my body clock was still on Central time so I was awake at 3:00 or 3:30 AGAIN. So I went out for a 5-mile run through town.

Cedar City is at about 5600 feet so I noticed the thinner air and walked a bit. And, I was just plain tired from all the packing and the long days in the car. Funny how sitting all day can wear you out, but it does. We had breakfast from the food I had along and then drove down I-15 a few miles to the Zolob Canyon section of Zion National Park. It was spectacular. The rocks are vivid red, but due to the position of the sun in the sky, the pictures don't do it justice.

There are places in UT where the speed limit is ...

... yes, 80!! We got a VERY nice room at South Point in Las Vegas for $54.88 including all taxes, fees, etc. No resort fees as it was south of the Strip.

After dinner, we walked the Strip and did a little shopping. Matt got some new aviator shades. :-)

We turned in early and got up early Monday to get Matt to the airport. After that, I had about a 6 hour drive from Vegas to Visalia. Lots of nothingness in the Mohave Desert. But it's beautiful in its own stark way.

Monday evening, the Visalia Runners welcomed me to town with a nice dinner and wine (thank you Baumanns), cherries (thank you Richard!), cake (thank you Tavarez family!). It was so nice of them ... greatly appreciated. This morning I ran with them on the track. We're in training for the Santa Rosa marathon in August. Yvonne had us doing 6 x 400m on the track. I feel like I'm starting from scratch in the running fitness arena. Found out from Al Morales about some group rides on Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings. I hope to partake!! Saturday morning there's a local 5K. Might run it and embarass myself. :-) We'll see.

Toodles!! Life is good.