Cougar tracks: The Blind Date

[OklaRider]

[david7774]

Dang another Sat. morning vanishes , while reading these reports. Reckon I'll make the coffee now and get the day started. Great thread Cindy, can't wait for the rest of the STORY/ADV.

[yamalama]

Good stuff. Well done.

[nvdlboy]

Nice RR! Having ridden in similar conditions in those areas, I have to say I found those days to be particularly exhausting... gusting side winds are tough, thanks for taking us along on your adventure.

[rob1313]

Great start Cindy. Keep it coming. Work doesn't really need your attention.....

[sturmgewehr]

The third image down in your photos of Mojave, the one with the water tanks in the foreground, that hill is called Soledad Mountain and I grew up at the base of it, my parents still live there. I spent many a night camped on the peak of it when I was in high school.

I just got back from a bike trip home a couple of weeks ago and I can never seem to get used to the wind and I grew up there! Good job fighting your way through that, it gets pretty scary for sure and it happens almost every single day.

[Cowgirl]

Thanks everyone for your kind words, I really enjoy writing these stories.
The wind was exhausting. Now I realize that continuing to drive through it and deal with it was one of those experiences that I will count as defining me and will make me a stronger person. This entire trip was a life-changer and a few of the things I did, like the wind and Titus Canyon, will continue to affect me and how I deal with the challenges of life.

[Cowgirl]

Up until now the excitement and trials of the trip had kept my mind occupied but as I drove those final kilometres I began to feel some doubt. After all we'd only chatted by email and a few words on the telephone. I knew the Ratman was very intelligent and well-spoken as well as handsome but what would he be like face-to-face? Would we have enough in common to sustain a dialogue longer than 5 minutes? Would we be able to see issues eye-to-eye or would we disagree about everything? Would he see me as an equal or as an object? Would he look as good as his pictures? Would I even care? Would I end up in a freezer? Would he?
He was waiting in the driveway as I drove up and he welcomed me with open arms. As he escorted me into his lovely home we started to talk and the conversation continued long into the night

[Cowgirl]

You remember I took that picture at the base of Mt. Shasta because I thought that was the only snow I was going to see?
Friday morning I woke up to this.



Yep, Mother Naure's laughing with you. I'm not.

Guess we aren't going to Toroweap today



We spent the morning on the couch drinking coffee and talking. You'd think we'd have run out of conversation by now but it turned out we're both talkers and we had a lot of life story to cover.
In the afternoon we decided to head to town for groceries, snow or no snow. Actually we didn't have to go far to get below the snowline and into rain.



We made our way to town by way of Gunlock Canyon.





Back up the hill it was still snowing.





The snow finally stopped and the sky began to clear just in time for sunset.

[Cowgirl]

Today we talked............and talked................and talked



Rat made cookies, really good cookies

[Footprint]

[Game over]

Waiting on the finish of this Romance Report.

[rocketmanphil]

this is great .... ADV singles united

just when I was right into it ............... c'mon tell us some more

[Cowgirl]

The snow has melted, we've shared tales of good times, bad times and told most of our secrets, neither one of us has felt the need to run the other over with a motorcycle or whack them in their sleep now it's time to ride!

The first place we stopped was Snow Canyon.



Snow Canyon is infamous as the site for the shooting of the John Wayne film "The Conqueror". Of the 220 people who worked on the location over 90 developed cancer and 46 died from it including Wayne himself, Susan Hayward, Agnes Moorhead and the director, Dick Powell. The canyon is downwind from the nuclear test facility at Yucca Flats and the resulting radiation is believed to be the cause of the cancers.



From Snow Canyon we rode up Hurricane Mesa.



I invaded the test facility at the top but I managed to make my escape It helps to be inconspicuous.



From Hurricane we continued east to Zion National Park. Zion is absolutely overwhelming. Choosing a few pictures to share with you out of the many we took was a daunting task.













Checkerboard Mesa, where the blind date would have taken place. The surprise would have been glorious but I'm glad things worked out the way they did. I was especially happy I didn't have to be here at a specific time - remember, I'm punctuality challenged



Rat is well known around these parts for hi-jacking tour buses and involving the tourists in his tableaus. We tried to find a bus but we were just a little too late so we had to stage our own. Remember this trip was caused by Dreamer's Disease :)

[Jettn Jim]

Originally Posted by Cowgirl

Today we talked............and talked................and talked



Rat made cookies, really good cookies

Luv'n the spontanaity...aaand have I been away from my girl tooo long... Or don't those cookies look like the niiicest nipple cookies ya ever seen!
On a serious note, maaan that snow just added a whole nother beauty and dimension to the picks, Excellent!