Mel & Trinity

I absolutely love Park City! I wanted to see the city again before I started my journey south towards Fillmore, so I popped into the city (this time parking legally I promise) for an hour.

My first stop was a bookstore in the Main Street where I met Gene. What a lovely guy! We spoke for a while about my trip and he gave me some advise about places to see.

Gene told me a couple of things that I wasn’t aware of. Firstly, that Park City and Moab are the only non Morman cities in Utah, and secondly, that there was a small window when he was able to get married to his husband before that window was closed. I didn’t know it was ever possible for same sex marriages in the U.S. There was a deep sense of joy welling up in me when I heard Gene speaking about his partner and I was so proud to have been at the Seattle Pride, albeit completely unplanned, to celebrate the legalisation of gay marriage by the Supreme Court two days prior to it. Its wonderful to have been part of such a special celebration.

Following a fabulous coffee (thanks for the tip Gene), I started my ride towards Fillmore where I was staying the night.

My AirBnB host, Kirsten had advised that I take a ride up Highway 224 and what a great suggestion that was. The road goes from Park City over the mountain to the valley south of it. The road itself isn’t great but the view is worth the bumpy ride. I really can’t complain given the bike I’m riding! This is the view at the top of the mountain.

I was still commenting about the road condition in my head when I arrived at the bottom of the mountain and there were roadworks. They were resurfacing the road. Woohoo! For the 5 minutes that I was held at the roadworks I spoke to one of the construction workers. He was so sweet and so chuffed to have been put on this job, which was a Federal job and paid $30 an hour versus his normal State jobs which pay minimum wage of $10 an hour. I found the stark contrast in salary very interesting but quite alarming at the same time.

After this the roads were great, as everywhere I’ve been so far. My route took me past Deer Creek State Park which is around a huge reservoir. There were half a dozen boats out on the water and all I could think of was the boat we had when I was growing up. I only tried to waterski once and I fell flat on my face in the water. I never tried it again after that and I’ve always regretting it. One day I’ll rectify that.

After lunch I decided to get onto I-15 and get to Fillmore as quickly as possible. I knew I had a big day the next day so I wanted to be rested out. Boy was that a mistake. The wind cutting across I-15 on the plains is something else. I was playing ‘little boy racer’ for half the ride just to lessen the wind. It was a bit of a strain I must admit. Maybe I should have hit the gym before I came on this trip.

I took this photo of an American flag blowing in the wind at one of the service stations. Of course, I should mention that these flags are enormous! When they’re clearly visible it’s only for one reason – the wind is howling. I think the South African’s will appreciate my comment in the photo. I was giggling while writing it (and eating some ice cream).

Needless to say I was very happy once I arrived at the campsite in Fillmore where I was staying. At first it took me a little by surprise as it was in the middle of nowhere and I had cows grazing in the field right next to where I was camping. To be fair, there was a fence between us. Check this out.

What was truly wonderful was walking out of the camp building after having a shower and finding a view of the sun setting. I love night time. It’s so peaceful. I stood watching the stars for a while hoping I’d see my shooting star but it wasn’t to be. I’ll keep looking!

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