June 4 - United States: Glenwood Springs, Colorado

Another day on the road.  Before we left Cedar City, we stopped by the Pastry Pub for bagels.  We asked for one of the wheat bagels because that's what we saw in the window.  The nice owner said, "Wheat?  We don't have any wheat."  We said oh we thought saw some and he said, "Nope.  Those are shellacked.  But you can have them if you want them!"  Very funny.

They were also serving a "mocha yogurt shake" which I had and which was even better than a milkshake.  Sooo good!

Oh Wise Grasshopper...

So for most of the day, we drove across Utah and into Colorado.  At one point in a green part of Utah, Jon saw a bunch of little things on the road - and they were moving!  So we pulled over to investigate and found that it was a whole swarm of large red grasshoppers!

Ew.

The Mormons have a story about the early Mormon settlers in Utah and the "glory of God".  One of their first crops was attacked by a plague of grasshoppers.  So they prayed and prayed for help, but the grasshoppers never seemed to leave.  Then one day, a flock of seagulls flew out of the sky and ate all the grasshoppers and saved the crop.  The interesting part about this, of course, is that there is no sea near Utah and so no reason for the seagulls to be there.  But there they were, an obvious gift from God.  So the Mormons have erected a huge seagull memorial in the middle of the Temple in Salt Lake City.

But no seagulls today.  Just grasshoppers!

We've been on this stretch of Utah I-70 before.  In fact, this is the same road we took to Moab with my sister.  The last time we drove west and passed a sign that read "No Services for the Next 100 Miles".  This sign was about a mile after a major gas station.  Not before - AFTER.  We found that endlessly amusing and wished we'd taken a picture of it.  So this time we did get a picture, only the highway services department obviously cares about people heading East on I-70, because they warned us before a gas station.

Kids, You'd Better Go Potty Right Now!

Glenwood Springs

We decided to stop and stay in a budget motel in beautiful Glenwood Springs, Colorado.  There's a pool here that's filled by natural hot springs and I was really excited to go.  But that was before we found that it was $9 per person.  That's a bit pricey for a quick evening dip.  Instead, we went for runs.

As I went along the main road, I found an old road that went up a hill and decided to follow it up.  The hill itself was killer, but it landed me in a neighborhood of stunning homes with spectacular views of the green and red mountain across the valley.  Absolutely lovely!  I can see why people choose to live here, although I've no idea how they make a living to afford these massive homes.

Dinner was soup and bread (that's like prison food, isn't it?) because we had a microwave in the room and decided to take advantage of it.  Woopee!