Destination Moab, Part Un

<So you like how I threw in that second major in French that I haven't used in like, fifteen years plus?  Right.  #moneywellspent #lifedecisions.>  Anyways.  Sunday started way too early with a 6:30 a.m. flight from CLE to Denver. 

Right now the suggested arrival time to Cleveland Hopkins is at least two hours prior to your departure time due to airport construction.  I would recommend every minute of that.  We made it through the Southwest line to check our bags fairly quickly.  And then came to a sudden stop in the security line...which I think is the only line at the moment.  It took us forever to get through there.  And the line was way longer behind us.  The people after us had to be in line for two hours.  After that our travel was rather uneventful.  Once in Denver, JMac surprisingly upgraded our rental ride to make sure we had room for the bikes we would be renting.  Or maybe it was so I didn't lose my sh*t when the rental car stalled out going up the first mountain out of town.  (Yes, that happened).  We then headed for downtown Denver.  Our first destination was the REI store where we could pick up a few things such as fuel and a new water bag for the backpacking leg of our trip.  But since it was now freakishly early in Denver time, we had some time to kill before the REI opened.  We stopped at a grocery store and stocked up on some food goods for the next week.  Food in hand, REI was open and we proceeded there.  Thankfully for my wallet, REI didn't have any major sales going on so we were able to stick with our shopping list and keep the frivolous purchases to a minimum. 

Go west, young man.  And so we did.  Almost immediately after navigating our way out of downtown Denver, I fell asleep.  No, Silly, JMac was driving.  I awoke to the crazy loud sound of sleet, ice and rain crashing down on our SUV and hitting the side walls as cars drove past.  Apparently we were going over Loveland Pass (almost 12k' elevation) just in time for a storm.  I closed my eyes and fell back asleep.  When I next awoke we were a good ways past there in central CO.  Gone were the green Rockies.  Instead, we were in much more arid country with mesas and scrub vegetation.  Still, very pretty.  We made it to Fruita is just about exactly four hours and checked in to our AirBnB rental.  It's a small cottage on the property of a main house just a half block from "downtown" Fruita.  We'll call it "charming."  Our two night stay cost about half of what our two day MTB bike rental cost.  #priorities #score  We dropped our shizzle off and walked into town.

I didn't think downtown Fruita would be big but I do think I thought it would have a wee bit more.  After all, Fruita is a world class mountain biking destination.  But I guess it does have everything you would need in that department--at least two bike shops that I saw, two breweries and the local pizza joint.  Mountain bikers' desires fulfilled?  Check.  We stopped in at Copper Club Brewing Company first and enjoyed a fine beverage on the patio...it was now a perfect 70 degrees out...and the company of a couple of Grand Junction guys who were out on the local trails that day.  We all got a good laugh out of our non-elevation ready lungs that would be stretched in the next week.  We then made our way to Suds Bros Brewery on the other side of the block for dinner.  Dinner and beers out of the way, JMac reviewed our trail destination for Monday and I...wait for it...fell back asleep.  I don't cross time zones well.  But with a game plan in hand we were ready for ride #1 come Monday.