and we thought the Sierra's were pretty!

Sitting here now in Boulder, Utah. We've had a great couple of days! Sorry, no ability to upload pictures this time, but Tony will be sure to email some of his best from the past few days from his blackberry.

We left Cedar City around 7AM and after making a quick left onto rt. 14, we were greeted by a sign that said something to the likes of "8% grades next 15 miles. No semi's allowed". That sign wasn't kidding. Over about 20 miles, we climbed over 4,500 feet up to Cedar Brinks national monument. The hill was long and steep, and we made it to the top around 2:30. The climb was worth it, though. We were greeted with some pretty incredible views of Cedar Brinks, which is sort of a mini version of Bryce Canyon. We were able to see forever in the distance!

That afternoon, we had a 30 mile downhill to Panguich, Utah where we grabbed some quick dinner before heading another 23 miles to Bryce Canyon for our day off. We were all exhausted and although Ruby's campground was hopping, we all slept soundly for over 10 hours. It felt great considering we have been getting up at 5 most mornings in an attempt to beat the heat of the afternoon.

Our day off in Bryce was wonderful. The boys decided that it would be a good idea to get some exercise on our day off, and took off on a short (but steep) hike...but they were greeted with some incredible views of the canyon. Katherine took advantage of the day off and decided that a guided tour of all the vista points was the way to go. Ross has visited Zion National Park before, which is just south of Bryce. Tony, Katherine and Ross have never seen anything like the canyon before. The different shades of reds and browns were just incredible. The hoodoos, or stone statues that are formed by erosion tower out of the base of the canyon and often take the liking of famous things in history. Katherine's favorite was the hoodoo shaped like Queen Elizabeth (she swears it really looks like her!) After our day of tourism, we came back to do some bike maintenance. Ross's rear tire had begun to wear through, so we had to do some tire swapping between bikes. We also repaired some tubes, as we've still been getting quite a few flat tires!

This morning, we left Bryce around 8 for a 77 mile ride to Boulder. The first part of the ride was relatively uneventful, but by 1pm, it was really hot (about 100 degrees). The air was dry, but it was still pretty hot! As the afternoon wore on, some clouds developed, which helped quite a bit with the heat. We had one pretty incredible climb today. We dipped way down into a twisty canyon, and were amazed to be surrounded by red cliffs on all sides and to have an actual river (complete with lush trees) flowing next to the road. The ascent out of the canyon, though, was pretty intense. When we reached the top, we looked back to see a sign that said "14% grade next 4 miles"....it really was as steep as it sounds. Once out of the canyon, we again had an incredible view. It is amazing for kids who grew up on the east coast to be able to see for hundreds of miles in all directions.

We rolled into Boulder around 6:30 PM (quite a long day). Boulder is a great little farming community that primarily exists during the summer (with a whopping population of about 200). We walked into the mini-mart in town, and Darren and Catherine recommended that we stop by Josh and Jill's house down the street because they might be willing to put us up for the night. When we stopped by their little farm house, Jill was outside gardening. She was more than happy to have us stay for the night. Next, we headed to the Burr Trail Grill for very yummy cheeseburgers. We we're pretty sure that we were eating a cow that earlier that day had roamed the fields across the street from the restaurant. We've all showered and are now sitting around a campfire with Josh and Jill. It turns out that Josh actually rode from Palm Springs on a bike to Boulder, and once he arrived, decided that he didn't want to leave. It's great to talk to someone who has done a long cycling trip in the past and knows what we're going through. We're so grateful to have a place to stay and to have made some friends!