August 10th: Nephi, UT to Manti, UT or … animal day

Another sunny morning! Getting packed after breakfast and then on the road again. First confrontation of the day was a mad dog running loose and trying to bit my ankles. I kept yelling STAY, but that didn’t help too much. When the dog’s house was in my back, he finally gave up. The road today runs into a stony canyon – uphill. Next visit was another kind of dog – a prairie dog popped up from its hole and said hello to me (I think). A couple meter further a ground squirrel ran to a safe spot in the grass along the road. Meanwhile the terrain became more green again, but it still was uphill. 

As I was almost on top, I noticed an “animal” on a bicycle. A guy from New York had driven his car to Green River and was now cycling around. 

On the downhill it looked as if it was Grasshopper Alley 2 (the sequel). Here there were even more than yesterday and I didn’t like it that much on the downhill: the shoulder of the road was full of them and they hit my legs, my body, my bags. I tried to roll down with my feet out of my pedals, but then I noticed one little critter on my pedal. GO AWAY! Once in the town of Fountain Green they were gone and I could concentrate more on the traffic again since the shoulder was really narrow and had this rumble strip again. The small Mormon towns are close together and very soon I reached Moroni (the angel on top of the churches). Here a gas station stop was in order: Gatorade to refuel. Leaving town a lady on her bicycle waved goodbye to me! 

Now I was heading to Chester (Wales was to the far west) and I thought I was lucky not to be in London! More creatures along the road: turkey farms are big in this Sanpete Valley. 

And I just read an article in the Salt Lake Tribune about salmonella and turkeys! Then suddenly I had a feeling this had become the Planet of the Apes!  

Other creatures were lying dead along the road: a vulture, a deer and a skunk. Back on old US 89 South were traffic picked up again. First building from the next town was Walmart and that makes a good cooling place. Also a coke float (“We don’t make those anymore but I can get you ice cream and coke”) brings some relief to the heat. It said 97°F (37°C), but it doesn’t feel that hot to me anymore. Way in the distance the Temple of Manti (a landmark) stands tall over the road. You cannot miss the white building on the hill. 

Destination reached and some shopping done. This town stands out because of the bells one can hear each quarter of the hour: it’s almost as if being in Bruges!