Through Utah and 1/2 way across Colorado

Thurs. 6/9:  Ely to Border Inn wore me out, and the weather was very hot, so decided to take a day off rather than brave a 90 mile ride with nothing but desert and hills.  Caught a ride to Delta in a pickup truck and spent most of the day in the Delta public library (with A/C) writing the last blog post.

Fri: 6/10:  Delta to Nephi
Headed out early to avoid the worst heat.  Arrived in Nephi a little after noon.  Only a 50 mile, 1500 ft vertical ride.  Most of it desert.

Sat. 6/11:  Nephi - Provo - Heber City

Rode to Provo via Payson.  It's pretty flat... but stupid Google Maps says "Steep Hills" and shows a 5000+ foot cliff :

There doesn't seem to be any interest from Google to fix this and other bugs (like characterizing mountainous route as "Mostly Flat".    When a route is characterized as "Mostly Flat" the elevation profile doesn't show on the phone.  

From Provo, there's a lovely pedestrian/bike trail that runs along the Provo River for 16 miles, paralleling US 189.  That's about 1/2 of the ride to Heber City.  The trail is well-used, and since it was a weekend, there were a lot of families out.

Heber City has grown significantly since I last past through (2015).  They now have a Walmart and the Best Western I stayed at is also new.

Sun 6/12:  Heber City - Daniels Summit - Duchesne (pronounced "doo shane")

The first 16 miles to the summit is all uphill (2400 ft).  At the summit (el 8070 ft) is the Daniels Summit Lodge, where I stayed in 2015.  It's a good place to take a break after a long climb.  The rest of the ride to Duchesne was hot, but mostly downhill with tailwinds.  About midway there's a Sinclair (remember them?) station / convenience store / cafe.  Very welcome, since I was running low on water.

Mon 6/13:  Duchesne to Vernal

Vernal's a sizable town.  The main attraction is Dinosaur Land, a combination museum / amusement park.  

I arrived early and hung out in their library for a few hours b4 dinner.   The weather broke while I was inside.  When I got there it was 92°.  By 6:30, there were thunder storms and it was 58°.

For me, Vernal's main attraction is food.   Especially Antica Forma, a Pizza place with a killer dessert, 

Bacci:  Lightly fried pizza dough strips with Nutella and sugar.

Tues 6/14:  Vernal to Rangely, CO  
It was in the low 40's, so after the hotel breakfast, I went back to sleep for a couple of hours.  By the time I checked out, it was 11... so I had an early lunch at The Sloppy Pig.  

Pulled Pork sandwich and beans were both excellent. 

Green River, about 20 miles E of Vernal

Got to Rangely around 6:30.  Rangely and Meeker are on CO 164, which runs south of US 40.

Wed 6/15:  Rangely to Meeker

Meeker looks like it's a little larger than Rangely.  Both are primarily mining, and some ranching.  
Something's been biting my legs and arms on the road.  Life's getting itchy.

Thu 6/16:  Meeker to Craig

Another mining town.  Very Trumpian politically.

  

Eat Beef, Wear Wool, Dig Coal, & Go Fishing

The ride was uphill for the first 20 miles or so, and starting to warm up a bit.  I went to a "doc in the box" on arrival to get something for the bites.  Had a late lunch, so dinner was Microwaved Corn from the Walmart

Despite the Cortisone Cream, it was a pretty sleepless night due to the itching.

Also bought some insect repellent.   We generally buy the burglar alarm after we've been burglarized.