Wednesday 1 September: Salt Lake City Visit, Arches & Zion recap

I'm EXHAUSTED!!! Went tripping all over mountains and rocks and miles & miles of rough country.
Warm, windy, amazingly out-of-this-world, the entire southern Utah.

Again, some pictures of Zion:



and some pictures of Arches National park:



Today I'm spending time in Salt Lake City - went on a death-march up a mountain in the morning with Weasel and Gina (oh yes it takes some time before I learn my lesson...).

The hill that killed my pants!

 The last steep part, I slithered down on my bum. It was fun :-)

Weasel and Gina then drove me around and showed me their favourite cycle routes (all I can say, is hello Iron Man competition!). Later we were in a restaurant, having lunch, when I felt unwell, as if I was going to be sick & faint at the same time. Altitude catching up with me, I had not given my body enough time to acclimatise to the altitude and level of activity. The rest of the day, physical activity was kept at a much lower key - the mind may have been willing, but the body not able. The last visit was to a very eccentric little garden where Gina spent a lot of her naughty youth.

I had planned to exchange the Kia for another car at the Airport National this afternoon but it was dark by the time Gina and I got there. They advised me to fill up the car at a nearby gas station, their own rates were prohibitive. That's what we did, drove off to find a nearby gas station to fill up the car. The attendant was very flirty with me, and once I got back to the car I understood why: Gina was cracking up, my right arse cheek was half hanging out of my pants!!! This morning's mountain descent had destroyed the seat of my pants!

Back at the airport, Gina shielded my bum from lecherous eyes while I filled out the paperwork and signed for the new car - a Chevrolet Hybrid.

This was a much bigger car than the Kia, but drove easy as pie. On the way back to the Weasel home I gave Gina a near heart attack: she had been chiding me that I would not turn right on red, and that I was not staying in my lane at right turns. At a stoplight near her home, I saw the light was red, I needed to go right so I smartly swung into the right-hand lane. I heard a small squeak from next to me and saw Gina with eyes as big as saucers... another car had also turned into the same street, on the left lane, together with me in the right lane. I had seen that car but assumed this would be okay. It was, but apparently, it's best to let such a car go ahead in such a situation - at least, if one wants Gina to keep breathing!! That's when I decided I really did not like the American "turn right on red" rule (and by the end of the trip, I still didn't).

That night, I tossed the poor abused black pants into the garbage.
(there's a picture of those pants floating around somewhere, once I find it I will post it here)

Gina has nerves of steel, tomorrow we drive to Cheyenne and then all the way to Omaha, she in the co-pilot seat!