Well - this feels like an adventure already!  I arrived here at 10:30 last night on a Metroliner - a small plane, seating only 19 - you have to bend over to advance down the aisle to the seat.  The first leg, to Salt Lake City on a 737, was uneventful except that the weather was beautiful all the way - great visibility, great views of rugged looking country in Idaho and the Wallowas.  Salt Lake appears immense from the air.

The Salt Lake to Cedar City flight was rather more exciting - bumpy, rough - it felt wierd, having the plane fishtail though the turbulent sections.  And it was loud!  The more seasoned travellers all had earplugs in place.  Outside it was lovely though - the full moon reflected off the wing of the plane and illuminated the intermittent lakes below.  As we progressed south into the mountins, intermittent flashes of lightning could be seen.

I was relieved upon arrival to see the bike box in the cargo bay of the plane, but chagrined to note that it was crushed on the bottom of a heap of luggage - and further distressed when the pilot closed up the bay again without removing it and prepared to depart for Saint George!  In response to my urgent gestures he cheerfully asked me if my bike was on board.  It was removed and tossed onto the roof of a Cushman cart, and the baggage handler drove it off to the terminal, precariously grasping it from the window as he drove so that it wouldn't topple off.

The box was crushed, but happily the bike itself was fine.  Everything seemed to be in order - and after reassembly, packing, and calling up my friend Pat to confirm my safe arrival here, I pedaled off into the dark to find lodging for the night.  It didn't take long - after about 50 yards I reached the FAA office, and camped out in the shadows of the building on its lovely green lawn.

CRASH - BOOM - RUMBLE -FLASH!  Along about 2 AM I suppose, the first of two spells of lightning, thunder and rain moseyed through my campsite.  For about an hour and a half I huddled under my rainfly with all of my gear and occasionally peeked out at the fireworks.  It made for an impressive show but also for an unrestful sleep environment.

Along about 4 AM, I realized how fortunate I had been to have had the storm - because when the sprinkler system came on I already had the rainfly out, ready for me to cower under it in a panic.  Again, luck was with me - it was an oscillating system, so I had brief windows in the foul weather to dash with my equipment into the nearby sagebrush.  And I was further fortunate, as I discovered a few hours later, that I had stopped fleeing as soon as I had - because 5 feet below me was a lake holding the ronoff from the sprinklers.  Oh well - who needs sleep anyway?

Heart

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