Pancake gluttony and solitude in the desert...

Back at Pfizer, they had made to order pancakes in the cafeteria. Each one was the size of a plate, and I'd typically load up on 2 or 3 (and then be uncomfortably full until at least dinner, and one time until the next day!). Today I drove by an IHOP in Grand Junction and got the urge that just had to be satisfied. These pups (heaping hot heavy stack of 4 in the 100 degree heat!) laid me out for a bit. I had to lay low and go see a movie before taking a late day bike ride.

Ok, so the ride was much more technical than the road 18 trails, but I took it nice and slow due to the full stomach. Another scenic outing - no surprises there!

Last night I stayed at a formal campground/rv park. I really wanted to try something else, something a little more hard core. Yesterday while biking up in the Bookcliffs trails I noticed some camp sites out in the open desert. Seemed like a great idea, but I can't say I didn't second guess myself a couple of times that night. I showed up to the camp site right around 9 when it was pretty dark, and I hadn't even finished setting up the tent before I heard all kinds of animals and saw beady eyes peering at me from all directions (these were rabbits...I don't know what the huffing and puffing was). All in all, it was really cool - the full moon enabled me to see for miles in all directions, and I was out on this plateau where the warm breezes were blowing pretty consistently. I was the only person out there (a good 7-8 miles from town...massive solitude!).

Pics:

Par for the course...endless technical challenges and dangers biking around in Fruita! P.S. I felt shame, so I biked it.


That's the Colorado river down there.


Be careful!


Here's the camp site out in the desert...the full moon out there was incredible. Oh yeah, the tent became an absolute sauna in the early morning when the sun came up!