Bud speaking;

I slept pretty well last night, only got up a couple of times. Funny what a little exercise will do for one’s sleeping. But now that it was morning, I was concerned for Sis and Doc. After Salvation Knoll there is a great 10-mile downhill run, but it is followed by about 15 miles of brutal grades and then about 5 miles of flat ground into Blanding. Immediately after the Salvation Knoll downhill one encounters a very steep climb. After that you know there are other climbs coming, and you hope they aren’t as steep; but they are. So you finish the first steep climb, then relax as you enjoy a brief downhill run; then you climb another very steep climb, then you do it again, and then 1 more time. It’s a real mental zapper; when you think that surely you must be done with the crazy-steep climbing, you hit another steep climb. I stopped part-way up the second climb and was immediately swarmed by mosquitoes. Ok, I thought, you just have to keep moving else you will get eaten alive; but it’s hard to outrun a mosquito herd at 3-4 mph, and Sis would not even be able to climb this fast. The grades were so steep that she would be walking at 2 mph and swatting mosquitoes and crying. It would take her all day to make it to Blanding, and after that experience I’m certain that she would abandon the tour. Oh, and there was road construction ongoing on portions of the steep climbs, so that added yet another complicating factor for Sis and Doc; I didn't have to deal with the construction because when I reached those sections it was night and construction had stopped for the day.

Really I was just concerned for Sis; Doc is tough as nails and he could handle the steep grades on those last climbs after Salvation Knoll prior to Blanding. But after what I am sure was a late night for them, and camping not being as comfortable as a real bed, I thought that Doc might also appreciate being able to miss those crazy climbs. So about 5:30 am I commenced trying to figure out how to go and get the 2 of them. A quick check of the net revealed no rental car businesses in Blanding; it looked like Moab might be the closest place, and that was more than an hour away. So things weren’t looking good from that angle.

I walked over to the hotel office at 6 am when the continental breakfast was served. Checking the hotel parking lot, I was surprised that not one pickup truck was in the lot; I was hoping that maybe I could pay somebody to go and get my companions. The lot was filled with SUVs bearing California plates; probably most of them were rentals, and many of those were to foreign tourist. I asked the hotel clerk if there were any car dealers in town; surely a car dealer would rent me a pickup or van or SUV that I could use to go get Sis and Doc. But no such luck, as the clerk said there were no dealers in town. I told her my predicament and that I would pay for anyone with a pickup to either go get my companions or else rent me the truck, but she knew of no one that might be interested. And today was a Thursday, so most folks would be using their vehicles to get to work. So, no luck there; things weren’t looking good. I loaded up some food on a tray and took it back to my room. I mean hey, come on now; Sis and Doc might be in trouble but I was ravenous from yesterday’s exertion and I needed to eat.

There had to be some way for me to get a vehicle that could haul them and their bikes. Heck, I was thinking I’d just walk around the downtown area (not too big, a few blocks long, everything more or less there) and start soliciting pickup drivers. Then it hit me; what had I done previously when I needed to move or haul large items? A quick Google query yielded the answer I was hoping for; indeed there was a U-Haul dealer in town, and they were located in the hardware store only a few blocks away. The internet said they opened in 30 minutes, but I walked on over anyway so I could catch them as soon as possible. The net was wrong (what a shock), the hardware store was already open and the U-Haul window was already manned. After signing my life away, I drove off in a small U-Haul box van truck.

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My wife knew I had been racking my brain to find a way to recue my companions from having to deal with the steep hills; when I finally succeeded in doing so she said I was “a knight in U-Haul armor.” I like that, I always wanted to be a knight and it doesn’t seem likely that the Queen will knight me anytime soon.

I met Sis and Doc on the road prior to Salvation Knob. Cell service was non-existent in the Natural Bridges area, except that the park had a booster that would work only with Verizon, and only if you were close to it. So Doc was able to text me this morning, and reinforced that Sis needed the rescue. I was concerned that they may find a willing pickup driver and leave and I would spend hours looking for them, but fortunately we had established text communication right before I left with the U-Haul. They wanted to keep cycling on to Salvation Knoll, as that sounded like an appropriate place for a rescue, so I drove to the knoll and they arrived shortly afterwards.

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Everyone was happy now, and we enjoyed the remainder of the day off.

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Dinner that night was at the Homestead restaurant, and it was quite satisfying. We then walked to the A&W market and bowling alley (no kidding) and got some things for breakfast in the morning. Life is good, later…

Doc speaking;

The park custodian was the only other soul stirring when we made it back from our campsite to the Natural Bridges visitor center this morning. Jamin was so kind to return to his quarters and bring us a warm pizza for breakfast. I recalled eating cold pizza with a bit of a hangover during my college days, and we both felt a considerable, though sober, hangover from the previous day's effort. We'd been blessed with clouds and cooler temperatures that day, but this day was going to be bright and hot as we prepared for a late departure a little before 9:00 AM. Sis was "not happy" with the prospect of pedaling 38 miles to Blanding under such circumstances. Her unhappiness turned to terror when Jamin showed us the magic spot at which I could receive texts and downloaded a note from Bud that warned of several long ascents with grades of up to 14% along the last third of the route. We had climbed almost 6,000 ft while covering 100 miles the previous day, but the grades were gentle to moderate. If these were tough for Bud, then we were going to be in trouble for sure.

We were about to ride away as the phone "dinged" again. It was Bud letting us know that he was coming to our rescue. We had ridden ten uphill miles when an approaching U-Haul truck slowed and a grinning Bud waved as he passed. He came back to meet us at Salvation Summit (honestly, you can find it on the map.) We were saved indeed!