We left Provo, Utah today and headed south and east to Price, Utah. Today was to be a special day, however. Each day brings it's own surprise and today took us on a path through American history. As we left town and headed east we were greeted by one of the most picturesque natural scenes of the trip. We rode through the Uinta National Forest which you would think is mostly trees, but near the end of the canyon that we rode through we came upon some of the most stunning rock formations.
Sheer rock faced cliffs shot up from the ground, dotted with whatever green plants could find enough surface to grasp to while boulders sat on their precarious perches as if a breeze would knock them loose. In the heart of the canyon was a coal mine, providing a fitting juxtaposition of the beauty of nature and the ineveitablity of industries encroachment.
The highlight of the day for me was seeing Butch Cassidy. That's right, THE Butch Cassidy, of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Ok, well, not the real Butch, obviously, but we saw an actual photograph of him. We stopped at the Hilltop Country Service Station in Colton, Utah, which is on top of our climb out of the canyon. Colton used to be a town of about 250 people back at the turn of the 20th century. Back in those days there were service stations for the trains every seven miles of track so these towns would spring up at these service stations and Colton was one of them. Well the owner/operator/cashier/everything of the Hilltop Country Service Station is Dennis Finch. Dennis is 78 years old and just happens to have had relatives that were a part of nearly every piece of Utah history. Dennis' great grandfather was the sheriff of Colton and actually grew up next door to Butch Cassidy. Dennis showed us a picture of his great grandfather with Butch Cassidy. The picture was taken by his great, great uncle and has been an heirloom that has been passed down and is now Dennis'. Dennis also had an original wanted poster of Butch Cassidy.
Dennis' family lineage doesn't end there. Mr. Finch told us of how his great, great, aunt was a part of the Sager family that was travelling from Missouri to Oregon until the children's parents died in a indian attack, leaving the seven children to forge on alone. There was a movie made in the seventies titled "Seven Alone" that told their story.
Dennis is a living piece of history. We sat like school children, drinking a Cherry Coke, listening to Dennis in his scratchy, weathered voice telling us his second-hand account of interesting pieces of the past through his families lives. I was happy to have walked into his store and heard his tales.
From there we trudged on to Price. Price is a small coal mining town with a dinosaur museum that has an unbelievably impressive collection of dino bones. They have the most complete skeleton of a Colombian Mammoth in existence. The remains were found only miles from the museum.
To round out the day the few of us that rode together got lunch in Price at a place called Moe's. Apparently at Moe's there is a challenge where if you can eat their Moe's Big Burger, which is a full pound (after being cooked) of hamburger with a side of their Moe's big fries (which is two pounds of fries) and a 32 ounce soda in under six and a half minutes, you get your meal free as well as your name etched in the annals of Moe's wall of fame. We all dared each other but none of us committed, probably after realizing that the gastrointestinal damage that could occur with a meal of that proportion was not worth the $6.75 that you would save by getting the meal for free if you could best the herculean feat. Sean, a rider from the UK decided that he must eat the one pound burger, however. Upon ordering, the chef came out from the back and asked him if he would like to attempt Moe's challenge. Sean thought about it, but respectfully declined. I included a picture of the burger. The bun alone could feed an adult for weeks. For the record, Sean did eat the whole burger, but he still wimped out on the challenge...quiter.
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