Monday, July 22nd: Ogden, UT or … what just happened?

Sun is out – wake up! A nice breakfast is waiting for my woman in the breakfast room, but since there is no one there, she just takes the good food and brings some for me along to the room. While she packs the Sweet Machine, I remind her to drink water before leaving. Yup, there is another hill to climb before we’ll reach the Valley. But before the climb, we can go to Dr. Pierce. I suppose he must have been some kind of Dr. Phil years ago! 

Again, my woman used not to like this climb (too hot and too hard!) but since we’ve done it a couple of times now, we know how it “works”. “Just relax while climbing and have no negative thoughts”, I tell her! “That’s not the problem,” she answers, “those flies just do like my sweat but I hate those flies – they sting! I’ve had enough of it!” I wonder – is she going to stop? Now I see – she’s taken out the insect repellent again! And yes… they stay away now! It’s even nicer for me now! Another yell… was she stung? No, we’ve reached the top again! Now comes the screaming downhill into Brigham City. In this town we have a short break to chill a bit. Back on US 89 we meet a lot of cyclists going the other way – what a lot of greeting! Here in the valley I notice the temperature is higher than in the mountains – don’t overdo woman, don’t get overheated! I think she didn’t hear me, because we ignore the gas station where cool temperatures are awaiting us. No, we keep cycling and I must confess, my woman does well in this heat. Something must be motivating to keep her going. Ahhhhhhh, now I know! It’s the I-Hop: a pancake, Belgian waffle breakfast place. Sweet Machine gets a place in the shade and we get to sit in the air-conditioned place. My woman chooses to get a salad. While we were waiting for the order to come, we suddenly heard this big bang against the window. Wet marks show us that a bird flew against it! What is it with those birds this year: one at home, one at school and now one here in the USA -  they all just fly against the window. This one is lucky and got away with a headache or maybe a concussion. And the salad… that was a big mistake! My woman gets a salad which hardly looks like what was proposed on the menu. Friendly she returns it, only to get a version which was a little bit better. “Next time, woman, just get some French toast with berries!”, I tell her. It’s only a few miles further to the center of Ogden, where we booked a hotel (no campgrounds). 

Around 4 p.m. my woman heads out again (boy, she must love the heat). She’s going to take a walk in the historic part of town. Well, it did look historic… almost a ghost town! You must know that Ogden is a big city! It feels so strange to see almost no one on the streets. True, it’s hot out, but even the shops look historic. She walks into an antique shop and browses around. A few houses further the bakery invites her to come in. A cookie for desert, she thinks! Well, that was it – historic Ogden. Definitely not the right timing to visit!