Fruita and a Bit of Bad Luck.

We left Donnie and Amber's on Thursday morning in search of more trail.  We decided to head west and eventually hit Moab, so Everett could replace his Poison Spider pint glass.

Amber and Donnie's house at CB South.  What a view!

First we stopped at Hartmans Rock outside of Gunnison.  Fun trail and goofy guys make for a really great morning!

Ooooh, double oreo!

We stopped at a visitor center in Fruita and they had a lot of great info on the local trails, so we drove out to 18 Road first.  It doesn't look like there could possibly be decent trails out here, but man was it super fun!

Rock like TX.

I told the guys that I used to carry around horny toads when I was a kid.  Everett said, "So they don't bite?"   "Nope" I say.  Everett leans over to touch one on the back and it puffs up and hisses at him.  Scared the crap out of all three of us.  Hmm, they must have mutated.........

Lot's of short steep climbs.

Great views

Then we were done and the sun was setting, so we found a place to camp.

But, first we set out some bait for the critter who was possibly hitching a ride with us.  We woke up one morning to find a bite taken out a bagel...through the bag, and the peanut butter jar gnawed on.  So, the plan was to set out a snack, then I would wake up in the middle of the night and shine my headlamp on the critter, then catch it with my bare hands.  Awesome plan!

Slept great.  Didn't catch the critter.  Packed up camp.  Took a picture.  Went to start the car and...............the battery was dead.  Great.  In the middle of nowhere. 

Kari Lindner

Shey had just signed us up for AAA this summer and I had my card.  The battery had a slight charge, so I disconnected the cables to save that. 

The boys were calm and I was not, so I sent them to a hill with some cardboard we had picked up in a dumpster for just this occasion.

I found a high spot where I had phone signal and I called AAA.  Then I visited the natives while we waited to see if they could find us.

One hour later a guy pulled up in a green truck.  I couldn't believe he made it!  He was super nice and we were on our way quickly.  On to Grand Junction to get a new battery and eat some lunch.  We skipped the other Fruita ride we had planned and headed straight on to Moab.

**