Rapid descent to the south ... or when winter run us after

Saturday, 09 April 2011 23:05

Back to the months spent in the United States, limited time available to update the site, the days are very short and we must close the day when someone turns off the light from the sun ... more soon ... these days it's more around 16:30!
It was expected to pass through the beautiful roads from Yellowstone Park, and perched rather difficult. But time is pressing, we decide, once again, to change our itinerary. We turn to that is easier to have less high and less cold to go faster. I remind you that winter is chasing for some time. We decide to plot right across the plain to Salt Lake city, too bad for Grand Teton National Park which we sensed the distant mountains and too bad for passing nod to Montpelier and Paris, then right into St George Finally, because the freeway 15, is avoided.
The road is nothing exciting, right in the middle of a wide valley, flat or almost verges sometimes nonexistent or very bad and dangerous. Roads of the Idaho and Utah, the same struggle. Fortunately we meet nice people, like in Rexburg, where a lady stopped us in the street to ask if we knew where to sleep; not yet, neither one nor two, we are in line behind her car to her house . Judy and Burdette leave us pitching the tents on their land and then offer great garden vegetables that improve our mess of pottage.
Further, in Pocatello it is Syndee and Dough, son of J. Guthrie candidate for the House of representative elections, which open their garden, their house and moved the trailer for children.
The mornings are icy, the tents are frozen and it takes time to pack everything up in a slow numb. Fortunately these days, the sun is back and with us.
With the approach of Salt Lake City, cities are becoming denser. We crossed the huge trade areas with from time to time, a farm in the middle, cows or horses from another time.
Stop in Logan, Loren and Harold contacted in advance on the website Warmshowers. We set the tents in the garden near the river and we go inside for the rest of the evening went to cook and chat Bicycle and straw bale house. Harold crossed the U.S. with a fixed-gear, has a bike with tires especially wide for driving on snow. They are cool. In addition, it starts with a Contact for Salt Lake City, Lisa ahead without flinching.
We still have a good pass to climb before reaching the big city. The road is wide but traffic does not stop. Thomas is a champion, especially in the climbs, but difficult to finish before dark. We ask our way to the next campsite and Norman offers us his garden. Norman and Kris are retired and live in a beautiful house made of logs. We spend a pleasant evening in their company.
The next day, looking for a campsite that was not there, we set up our tents at Jo and Karen's garden. We discuss until later and Jo offers us a ride for us to avoid the last long stage because rain is expected. It's pouring rain and protectd in the truck, we do in an hour, what we would have had to travel a long day. Which gives us time to wander through the center of Salt Lake and get wet! Évidememt and is dripping as we land at Lisa. The weather the next few days is really no better and she proposes to move as we can in his small apartment. We finally stayed four days at Lisa. The squat was well advised, because we have avoided a good storm with hail and snow! Really cool, between her work as a photographer and equestrian activities, she has left us the keys to her house. We shared some good times with her, and birthday for 11 years Mallorie.
During these four days, we braved the cold and bad weather to travel around this great city into cafes, library, visit Temple Squarre whith the tabernacle and its giant organ, the famous Mormon temple in which we can not enter and genealogical library . Salt Lake City is the reference to the Mormons as the state of Utah. Apart from the religious aspect which we do not agree necessarily, we will retain they are very hospitable and very worn on the family.
After SLC is decided. Enough 's enough for this wide road and right valley, we deviate slightly to the east, in a landscape a bit more rural, with the hope to reach St George quickly enough to the border of Arizona where Dace and his family and where we expect the weather forecast 20 ° C.
But it was nice to hurry, winter is catching up and just left the Metro SLC, we are in the early morning, with 10cm of fresh snow on the tents and bikes, the first blanket of snow of the season. We can say that we had a phenomenal opportunity that night, discovering at sunrise, a huge branch was responsible for heavy snow, fallen stack between the two tents in a dull crunch. Nothing broken, nobody knocked out, although in fact avoided. Afterwards, I remembered the last sentence of the lady who opened her garden, a little skeptical and not very talkative, wishing us good luck.
Once packed up, frozen hands, we head to a cafe in the commercial area to reflect on the situation. The sun returns and rapidly melts the snow, the forecast was for fine weather days. We dither for a moment on the best option to take up St George and we continue on our original idea. We may have a little cold, but the road is worth it because we think descend on St George by Zion National Park (I'm gonna be Iron like a Lion in Zion (repeat) Iron Lion Zion ... )
And it's nothing to say, as we will be at these altitudes, average 1500m, we will increasingly cold, especially at night, because during the day pedaling warms. Even Maëlle is well protected in her trailer, she gets during the day layers of clothing that we fall one by one in the effort. Down jackets, polar form a cozy cocoon well for the princess that she undresses so hot! She moves naps, fills her sketchbook and writes patiently and prefers playing with pebbles and paperboard recovered rather than with her little toys.
Memorable day for us in this October 30. It begins at the city of Provo, Utah, where a German couple in a motorhome gives us a real treasure: a box filled with food that are battery-haired. The breakfast promised to be frugal, it will be gargantuan! So much the better, the day may be long.
Barely 15 km away, operating reserves to hyper passing by ... no, it's us who were passing by there. Julie Thomas and Mallorie remain near the bikes. This is where director Serge and his son Enzo probably attracted by the French flag.
Dialogue confused and reported in chorus by children all excited after coming back:
Serge: "where do you come from?"
J + M + T "from France"
S in an apartment in his son: "Which city do you know in France?"
S: "And you, where you are in France?". notice the shift to French
J + M + T: "From St. Egrève near Grenoble"
S: "Ah, my wife is from Brie and Angonnes. Immediately it created links
"And your parents, where are they?"
J + M + T: "They are shopping, they will not delay"
S: "Well, come and eat at home, it's not very far"
S: "I take the children at home and come back to pick you up right away," we do not know why, but this sentence there will always be remembered. Periodically, the children re-enact the scene, "what he said Serge?"
The time to pack our groceries and we find Serge and Enzo who wanted to take his bike to the road with us.
We met Elodie, the mother and her two daughters Chloe and Margot. Immediately we hang well, small play sets. A big hailstorm helping, Elodie offers us to stay to sleep at night. Especially tonight, the majority of children in the neighborhood Halloween party early, because it is Saturday. What a deal! It's been a lot of days that children can't stop dreaming of a family for 31 in the land of the pumpkin should not miss it. For several weeks, we feel the excitement in the country to prepare for this party, there is research in the design of most houses.
A Springville, disguise operations are going well, and despite the rain, Trick or Treating delighted the little ones, and the spoils of the tour is so important that it will supply small cravings coming weeks.
Serge gave a mission to children, the wearing of bracelets that should be given to their cousins in Brié. The bracelets will have seen the landscape and will be the witness of our time in Springville. Challenge accepted by small Aubertein ... to follow.
We leave the next day, after a quick visit at the invitation to their church for Sunday celebrations. At least we have an idea of ​​what Mormon's celebrations are.
The days are not alike, very fortunately. But today, the place for our lunch break is misguided. Upon leaving, a puncture then two, then three, it will be a total of five punctures in the space of 100m which immobilizes us over an hour! The inhabitants in this small street of Salem emerge gradually, to offer us help, by a compressor, then a piece of chalk (very useful to locate the hole), drinking, eating, a contact for further or just to chat while the men were busy round the dismantled bike. Some keep in touch with us by email.
Harold (from Logan) had warned us to watch out aisles, where dried plants full of thorns sneaky. Should try to understand, but even paying attention, then we will reserve some good punctures!
And we advance, we advance. The mornings are cold, around 0 ° C, the sun is with us today, we have solved the climbs (and descents) of Route 89, the stops are annoying punctures, always face the wind, stops working for libraries a little anyway. We celebrate the birthday of Thomas with a real American cake, a cheesecake with apples, at Kirby and Tawnie who invited us. Gradually the landscape are colored yellow for the leaves, red rocks, green, we follow with interest local weather forecasts, more than a few days' respite before the snow ... must pass the final pass at 7454 feet before returning to Zion and St. George, there was no choice.
There are days when hope is reborn! From Marysvale, it is 74.5 miles and a good elevation gain, a minimum of 2 days even pushing Thomas. Fluke we meet the owner of the only campsite in the village that is closed. This one allows us to set up the tents. A little worried about the cold and a bit intrigued by our convoy, it returns to us and offers one of the sheds. Throughout the discussion, Malo (his first name, a Breton weird here) tells us that the snow arrives tomorrow evening and offers us a ride in a truck to St George. YES! That is not to refuse, and here we were well and truly stuck!
That's how we arrived at St George, thank you Malo! 17 ° C at night, it starts raining ... hehe, it must snow on top!
We recontact Dace, a Warmshowers earlier than expected. Never mind, we are welcome. On arrival, he presents his family, his wife, Laury, Alexa, Cecilia and Kyre their three children. All are very athletic and very busy. We are greeted like royalty, the guest room and the meal ahead. Dace is a fan of cycling, rather day trips. He plans touring on Route 1 along the Pacific, one of these days. He is also professor of geography at the college and would like to introduce ourselves to the class to tell them about the trip and France, a country so small and distant to them.
Next morning, we join the college at the appointed time with bikes. It was in a lecture hall that we are greeted by two classes ahead of us stand firm with a lot of questions. Julie and Jean-Roch make the show, in English of course with a few apartments in French, which amuses many students. Meanwhile, Dace diffuse large screen refocuses our website and occasionally questions about geography. Everybody is satisfied with the response and we start to bike to visit the city. We would also like to book a rental car because we leave the day after visiting the national parks of Utah and Arizona.
Return in the evening, we spend the evening with our hosts. Dace helps us to establish the program of visits for the week ahead. By the way, he tells us it has fallen two feet of snow (something like 60cm) at Marysvale and that is one of the coldest places in the country. Ouch! We met Malo at the right time.

MC