July 20 (Day 201) - Up shit's creek.....

I am going to be brief as Sonia and I are in scramble mode at the moment. We made a reservation at a motel in Fruitland only to discover the motel is another 50 f'ing miles west of Fruitland. The clowns that run the motel use a Fruitland mailing address, and this is the address that Google recognized when I planned out the route last night. So, Sonia and I are going to have to ditch into an unofficial campground with no facilities. We have enough food so we're going to be fine. We are actually at the one restaurant in Fruitland, "The Big G". Everyone here has been really helpful. Sonia actually arrived here well ahead of me so most of the headaches of finding another place to stay fell on her. She handled it very well, as per usual!

Today's ride was crappy. There were several bouts of lightning that forced me to take shelter at various roadside stops. The road was very busy as well and the shoulder was less than outstanding. There was also TONS of road kill: raccoons, prairie dogs, rabbits, and dozens of deer. It is amazing that there is anything left alive along the Route 40 corridor. By far the most painful thing I saw on the road today was a dead Long-eared owl. This is a bird I have only seen alive 4-5 times in my life. A dead Great-horned owl a few hours later was also a bit disturbing. Ugh......

88 miles today

There was one good piece of bird news today. I heard and subsequently observed a Least flycatcher along the road. This is a bird that I heard but did not see in Texas. It is also a bird that I did not at all expect to find in Utah! It was the lone bright spot in an otherwise depressing and frustrating day. 

I now need to spend some time sorting out what the heck is going to happen tomorrow. Gotta run!

Oh yeah, Sonia and I will be doing a fair bit of camping in the next few days as we head up high to look for Black-rosy finch. This means were might not have internet access, but I will be sure to update everyone when we do!