Packing up camp once again, we rode to the Market Plaza for breakfast before getting back on the road. Pretty good food for a cafeteria style breakfast, I had the tastiest chorizo breakfast burrito (although soggy, Bill spilled his coffee on it) and Bill had his hillbilly staple, biscuits and gravy.
We stopped for more pictures along the south rim of the Canyon, finding parking within the construction that was going on. There was a bit different lighting now with the sun coming up. I climbed down a rocky path for a different angle with my DSLR, and Bill went back to the bike to get my tripod for me. The moment he returned, we both noticed the strong smell of ammonia. Having three cats, and having seen the signs on the road warning of mountain lion, we knew that there was a good chance Fluffy hadn’t escaped a family RV and was out marking his territory. Bill and I packed it up quickly and headed for the bikes. It made sense that during the day this area was heavy with visitors, and at night, the felines came out to hunt and cover the scent of humans.
From Arizona we crossed back over into Utah, and made it as far as Monticello, as the skies grew darker and darker. It was another hot day, though nothing like in Nevada. What’s nice about being out west is that you can see the storms coming for miles, just a huge dark mass in the distance. We took cover at the MD Ranch Cookhouse on 191 to wait out the storm just before it hit, and had dinner before trying for our next stop, Meeker, Colorado.
Nightfall came, along with colder temps. We didn’t make our campground in Meeker, and turned into a Super 8 motel in Fruita, Colorado. The pool and hot tub felt awesome, the bubbling warmth taking the chill out of my bones, though my face burned from the wind and sun. I dried off, applied aloe to my raccoon face, and drifted off to sleep in the AC of our room.