Hanksville, Utah

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody! I finally got my thanksgiving meal today at the 'Blondie's restaurant in Hanksville. When I got into town yesterday just after dark everything, including all three gas station/convenience stores were closed. It was raining and I was very cold, so I sought shelter in the 24-hour Post Office PO box Lobby. I ended up laying out my sleeping bag and spending the night there. It was heated, and didn't open until 8ish the next morning. I got up packed my sleeping bag long before they opened, so they were none the wiser. All in all I think of it as a great success; I now have one more place in my arsenal of options for where tospend the night besides my tent.

One story I've been meaning to put up for a while is my stay with the Wheelers just outside Moab. Barb Wheeler was a friend of my Mom back in highschool. i didn't know until just about a week before arriving that they are bike tourers. They arre currently planning what sounds like an amazing six-month bike tour in France. they have toured southeast asia, other parts of europe, and all over the place here in the U.S..
I was served a great stir fry and salad upon my arrrival, and I greatly appreciated the fresh greens(something I never get on the road). that was toped off with a dozen or so great fresh-made oatmeal cookies.
We stayed up for a while talking about my trip and their trips, and bicle touring in general. I slept great that night. I awoke to fresh coffee and a bounty of delicious waffles, topped with butter, apples, blueberries, and syrup. They were the sivze of dinnerplates, and I hade at least seven. During and after breakfast we talked about my upcoming route, and I got lots of great advice on places to go and how to get htere. Eventually i got my junk together and got back on the road, loaded with a bag of apples, cookies, a couple quick dinners, and other goodies.

My most recent new-peopl e-meeting experience was yeasterday. I was freezing; feet were at that blissful stage near complete numbness, and my hands were almost hter, resideing in the less comfortable constant burning stage. I pulled into a rest stop and took refuge in the outhous bathroom. that didn't work; it was unheated and unpleasant. I sat under a picnic shelter and ate peanut butter and jelly with a spoon because I was out of bread. I was still freezing, and it was still raining. There was aan RV parked at the stop, and I made up my mind to ask if I could come in for just a minute to warm up. Just as I started to approach the RV a women came out and asked if I wanted to come in warm up. "Don't laugh," she said,"but we're having pie."
Over two and a half hours I got back on the road, full (well, not full) of pie, oranges, cheese, carrots, tea, and a sandwich, and plenty warm. I am so bad with names, I have already forgotten the women's name. I gave them the blog address, so if they read this, she can remind me. The man's name was Cal. They were fantastically generous, and also really interesting. We talked solidly about all sorts of things for the near three hours I hung out in their RV, which cal was in the process of converting to ethanol compatable. They eventually invited me to stay and have thanksgiving dinner with them. I thought about it, but then decided to press on. I had that occasional reoccuring mileage fever; I felt like I was ready to devour some mileage, and I was ready to spend a coupl ehopurs biking in the rain. Beside that, I envisiond Alavish and large dinner at a restaurant in Hanksville. I would get a meal, then a malt, and a piece of pie, maybe two. Of course, I ended up spooning more peanut butter and jell and sleeping in a post office.
I feel I've made up for it though, as I had a great huge breakfast along with a whole carton of eggnog I bought at the grocery store. I think I'm goin gto go back to "Blondie's" and get a malt and some more food later. My appetite is currently larger than my stomach, so it's gonna take two meals to satisfy the build up to my thanksgiving feast(courtesy, by the way, of my Aunt Julie, who sent me money for a thanksgiving meal).

Goodness gracious this is a lot of typing! Look at me go! Whooo! Okay, I scrolled up and it actually isn't that much.

Two nights ago I stayed under an awning of a closed ranger station in the town of "Hite". I put Hite in quotations because it's really the new Hite. The original town of Hite is under water. When they built Glenn Canyon Damn, and created lake powell, they did so knowing that Hite would be flooded. Edward Abbey got to me as a kid, so I'm naturally inclined to hate Glenn Canyon Damn and mourne the loss of Glenn Canyon. Lake Powell, however, which is what has filled Glenn Canyone, is beautiful. I will not however, that if the bit of the canyon that is still above water is any indication of the beauty and grandeur of the old Glen Canyon, Lake Powell a sorry trade. I reccommed, by the way, 'The Monkey Wrench Gang', a hilarious and fun fiction novel by Edward Abbey. I have actually spent the last several days on a road he fough tagainst tooth and nail. Highway 95, or Utah's "Bicentennial Highway," was a gravel road until about 1973. To say abbey was strongly against paving this road does not do justice. This road is supposedly one of the places that inspired "The Monkey Wrench Gang."

Weeellllll, I think that's all for now. This chair is really uncomfortable, and it's making my neck sore. As always, thanks for reading.