Salt Lake City

Salt Lake City urban area is huge, I can say half of Switzerland, from north to south, it should be almost 200km with all the small towns around like Provo... Four in the afternoon I'm in Salt Lake City. From now on, I will call this city SLC, easier.
On the bus, I had the chance to meet Nick or Nik? He explain me how the huge valley where SLC lies formed millions and millions of years ago. Actually America was divided in two by a huge sea, called ... (what ever)
I forgot the history part, but! A huge sea divided this even huge valley, and is possible to see it from lines formed on the mountains.




So Nik told me all this interesting stuff, and than suggested me a nice place to stay! Called Avenues in a nice neighborhood, he took me there and we walked through the steep hills in SLC, we shared stories all the way up, and I told my, and he told me hes... Another man that was dumped by ex wife, or ex-girlfriend for a more profitable situation in life... Similar stories, they always repeat, as we form one only creature that can live everything imaginable.  Anyway that was not far from the bus stop so we did not go that deep. Thank you Nik, the stay at Avenues hostel was basic but nice. I stopped smoking the day after. I saw some people, and I did smoke allot and I decided to quit!
The following day, I took of early in the morning around 7:30 am, decided to reach Payson, or Spanish Fork. The cycling experience in SLC is so so, it is ok, but not expect much, down town is nice, going south, going out south, is terrible... I was really lucky that I was cycling during the Memorial day, most people were sleeping, late morning preparing barbecues, after lunch visiting the fallen loved ones at the cemetery. It is a sad day for me... I stop here my thinking on politics and war...

I reached Spanish Fork around 3pm, full of energy. Not smoking gives allot of surplus energy, I've got turbo guys!!!! So from SLC to Spanish Fork 110km, and I decided to go on! Climb the mountain! Go Pippo, go!
At the end of the day I went from Salt Lake City to Helper... 200km on my legs,  loaded like donkey, and tired like ... Like a zombie? At 9pm I still was going down the mountain to reach a reasonable place were to sleep, I saw it on the GPS navigator, I did not want to put my tent in a place with taking a shower, or having a small river to wash out the fatigue of the day.

 I reached Helper in Utah at 9pm... The most scary place I've ever been. First Motel Balance Rock, was abandoned and really scary, dogs barked, I saw trash left on the front doors of few abandoned rooms, strangely lights were on, some windows broken, spider webs in the yellowish lights from the old bulbs, everything was dirty, the dust from old abandoned places... I got scared, turned my bicycle and rode away as fast as I could. (I wish I had taken some pictures, but I was really scared)

In the same small town of Helper, I found a Motel... The one you see in the picture. 39.99$, I got the key from a 50y.o woman with sharp eyes and white grey hairs, dust on the old carpet, the WiFi worked, a cut on the bed cover, 90's television with satellite programs, smell smoking cigarettes, corners in the bathroom filled with old dust insects body parts, broken pieces of furniture, I took my sleeping bag, not to touch the bed with my primadonna ass... I saw shadows, I had strange dreams, strange visions, each time I woke up, and turned on the light, I saw shadows moving.
I thought ghost towns were only fictional things for horror movies fans... Finally my mind calmed down, and fell in deep sleep.

After Helper, I cycled to Price, just 20 miles away, decided to have the journey and the night, before going to Moab. Wise decision.
Price to Moab, there is nothing, except for a small gasoline station on a cross road, exactly 135km of desert, without any sign of civilization except for the trucks and the cars, and paved road before the gas station... And road kills, and the long train!
After 185km I was in Moab... Tired, I took the camping choice, bad choice, 29us$ for one tent, toilets like in India, noisy, could not sleep, uneven ground that makes sleeping even more difficult because of body position....Compressor went on around 1am or so, some teenagers coming back from big time big party