Subject: jane earns her name

when we last left our fearless heroine, she was sitting in the parowan,
utah city library e-mailing all of you while her subway sandwich grew
soggy in the car.  let us return to her saga.              

made it all the way to richfield, utah on monday night (i70).  i stayed at
the romanico inn.  the woman at the desk gave me the room all the way back
on the second floor at the very end.  i must have looked dubious (didn't
want to carry all my stuff upstairs).  she said: "don't worry, it's safe
around here, i leave my car unlocked with the keys in the ignition."

i said: "i come from a much higher crime area."

she said: "yes, i can tell from your face."

she was very nice so i assume she meant my look of big-city suspicion and
not my wee brown countenance. =)

started out the next morning for arches national park.  turned into a
major detour; i was off i70 for 6 hours.  i intended to bike all the paved
road in the park, but there was 30 miles of it, and i wasn't in the mood
for all that climbing and didn't have time to ride 60 miles.  so i drove
in part way and rode for 2 hours.  it was absolutely gorgeous but the
climbing was tough (my first day at "altitude") and the crosswind was a
real ass-kicker.

two national parks in two days.  clearly someday when i move out west i'll
just have to get an annual pass.

afterwards i went to moab for gas, then back to i70.  i was motoring
along, listening to some great music, speeding on toward colorado.  after
crossing the border i noticed i was having a problem with the engine
running hot.  put some water and coolant in the reservoir at parachute, co
but didn't seem to make a difference.  stopped again 30 miles later at new
castle and a bunch of stuff leaked out of the car.  needless to say i was
quite distressed.  i called AAA and got towed to glenwood springs, 14
miles down the road.  

i bailed from the garage with my clothes and betty and headed down to road
to find a motel.  i stopped at five or more before i finally found a woman
with a relatively cheap room.  next door was a cajun restaurant and i
decided to treat myself after two days of peanut butter sandwiches and
jelly sandwiches (never the twain shall meet) and beef jerky.  cool
atmosphere, but the margarita-style chicken didn't even come close to the
tequila-lime chicken i used to have in hawaii. =(

car was quickly fixed this morning.  i got on the road around noon, got
to denver around 3.  met my aunt and uncle's dog, been hanging out, got
some shoes to go with dress for the wedding reception (there's no way i'll
make it to cleveland in time for the wedding).  not doing anything too
exciting, i'll just get up early tomorrow to ride and then it'll be on to
lincoln where i'll see family and try not to feel sad that i've left
colorado behind.

note on co scenery: western colorado looks like tatooine.  the bi-level    
section of i70 near glenwood springs is amazing.  the goal was to build
the highway while chopping down as few trees as possible, so one side is
elevated, but not directly above the other.  pretty impressive.

note on jane:  my car has now earned the name "jane eyre" after
experiencing the hardship of the thermostat.  i compare it to the part of
the book where jane is wandering in the moors but is rescued by kind
strangers who later turn out to be her cousins.  is that 19th century or
what.

don't get me wrong, i'm having a blast, but it would so much fun if one of
you were here with me.  i often think of that as i riding into a headwind.

michele and betty and jane and jack the antenna ball