Road trip with Ranger Tommy

The trip to St. George was quite the fiasco. I was really taking a chance flying out the same day as the tour started, with only 1/2 hour between connecting flights in Salt Lake. So was Ranger Tommy. He was on the same flight as I was. I knew there would be a problem when I signed in at the Delta kiosk and it said, "your flight is overbooked. Would you like to rebook and recieve a travel voucher?" NONONO! I had to be in St. George by 12:30 to prepare for dinner. Tom had to be there to start the tour. Of course, we were delayed leaving Seattle. Of course, I got seated next to the screaming two year old. Of course, we sat on the tarmac in Salt Lake waiting for our gate to clear. 24 minutes to make the connection. Sorry, ladies and gentlemen, we will be moving to a different gate. 23 minutes and counting. Of course, the different gate is further away from our connection. When we did unload we had 15 minutes to make our flight. I sprinted the length of the airport to have them hold the door for Tom. Of course, the flight was closed. We could not board! But we had 8 minutes to spare. Sorry, you can rebook for later today! NO! The flight would not get in until 5:00. Well, you could rent a car and drive: it's only 298 miles. Much faster that waiting for a later flight. I smelled a conspiracy. I know why we sat on the tarmac, why we had to change gates. They oversold the flight and didn't want us on it. Humph. So, Tom rented a car and of we went. Road trip with Ranger Tommy.

4 1/1 hours of driving and we made it to St. George. It was 4 1/2 hours of reminiscing over the last 15 years of bike trips: people, places, situations; funny, sad, can you believe we did that? It was fun. And, Tom only told one joke. Can you believe it?

Jack had dinner under control when I got there. Daryl had Tom's back covered. So, let the trip begin. We enjoyed a great dinner of lasagnas and home made cookies, and set up for morning. The weather was rainy all day: during the drive from Salt Lake I don't remember ever seeing the hills so green or the Indian Paint Brush so brilliant. Hoping tomorrow would bring sunshine and great riding.

So: on to breakfast and then to Zion National Park.