About 10 miles or so after leaving I began to see this dark figure in my helmet mirror approaching gradually. I started imagining what it could be, but soon realized it was another rider!!! He got closer and closer and I started feeling competitive. I tried to push harder up the never ending climb, but I was still very sore from the ride to Duchesne and was unable to keep up the pace. Soon enough, the rider caught up with me and as he pulled alongside me we struck up a conversation. He was a Dutch business man who was just out for a quick ride before heading off to a meeting. Quick...if only that were my case! He asked me what I was doing, where I was from and where I was going. After our brief exchange he said, "Well, I think I better push on!" About 30 minutes later I saw him again, but this time it was on his way down the climb... He waved in the customary biker wave (low and off to the side) which I had learned from passing several motorcyclists and other bikers. It's kind of a big deal just so you know. I finished the climb and continued on to Price. It was an 8% climb for most of it, but there was a long downhill at 8% as well. I got to Price and I rode to the tourist information center, but I got a flat tire (#2) on my way there. I prayed that God would help me find a place to stay. So I went inside and asked the lady at the information desk if there were any campgrounds nearby. She told me of two campgrounds, one that didn't allow for tents and the other one was 7 miles in the wrong direction. I didn't want to tack on an extra 14 miles to my ride if I didn't need to. Because camping seemed to be out of the question, I started to call hotels. While I was on the phone, I heard this guy say, "If all else fails, we have an extra room." I didn't realize he was talking to me and I hardly heard him say it so I didn't respond. He came over and said it again and I said "Yeah?! Well I will just see what happens with this last hotel and then I'll let you know." There was only one hotel that had a room available, but they were very expensive. So I went and talked with him, found out where he lived and that his name was Hobie, and I decided to stay there. I had like 5 hours or so to kill, so I went around the corner of the tourist information center and right there was the library! It was Wednesday, so I needed to send a video and some pictures back home for the second "Where in the world is Dustin Sandiego?" I sent the email and off to Subway I went. I ate Subway at every opportunity. I soon was eating a double-stack, footlong, steak and cheese, with so many veggies that half of them would fall out when they folded the sandwich. After lunch I searched for a coffee shop because I wanted to sit down and journal. I found this one that was very, very laid back. Everyone knew each other there so I felt a little out of place.
It was also very small, but I found a place to sit and away I wrote. I came across some verses that God used to speak very clearly to my heart:
"See, I will make you into a threshing sledge, new and sharp, with many teeth. You will thresh the mountains and crush them, and reduce the hills to chaff."
The coffee shop closed really early so I had to go find something else to do while I waited to meet up with Hobie. I rode to their downtown area and as I was riding, I came across the "other" coffee shop I had heard about. I rode past the front door to see how late they were open and luckily I had one and a half hours before they closed. I went in, had decaf coffee and continued to journal. I met a couple of cool people there and chatted with them so I wasn't able to get much journaling done. I stayed there until it closed and away on my bike I went to find another place to wait. I found a park named "Pioneer Park" so I thought that would be a cool place to stop as I remembered our Pioneer Park back at home. It had these very interesting steps right in the middle of the park!
It started to get dark so I decided to go find Hobie's house and wait there until he came. When he got there he showed me his house (which was amazing... super nice!) and where I would be staying. I was so blessed! I had a room to myself and a shower all to my own as well! He was going to have some friends over and invited me to hang out with them, but I had to go to bed early because I was leaving very early the next morning.
Coming tomorrow...
A mondo, gutbuster sandwich, despair unearthed and hope restored. A clear demonstration of the faithfulness of God in the midst of need and despair. Significant moment number 2.
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