My time couch surfing between August 17 and September 27 was weird to say the least.
But instead of dwelling on the discomfort, I decided to celebrate the opportunity for growth by sharing the photos I took throughout that time.
The first night, Jess, Stevie, and all their fur babies welcomed me–a puffy, crying mess. They built a floor fort out of pregnancy pillows and blankets, they force-fed me brisket nachos and macaroni and cheese, while we watched South Park and Jersey Shore.
That night, Jess slept beside me, Stevie on the couch behind me, and the fur babies on or all around me.
In that moment–one of the most painful of my life so far–it was exactly what I needed. Literally surrounded by love.
After that, I bounced back and forth between Denver and Salida, never staying in one place for more than 5 days at a time, but also soaking up all that lifestyle had to offer.
I saw friends, hugged dogs, spent time with family, met babies, had adventures, and tried to envision what my life would be like on the other side.
I spent some time living in Santa and Shelley’s basement, which was a blessing for both me and for Chonk, who enjoyed endless hours of tug-of-war and fetch.
Santa and I replaced my car battery so I’d have a reliable vehicle for my vagrant lifestyle.
My favorite part of riding around in Santa’s truck is this guy. He gets me every time.
And we did what we do best: TV, reclining, and dog cuddles.
I got to meet Mur and Alan’s 5-day-old son, Harris. He slept on me for 2 hours and it was heaven…
…until I found out, with still him sleeping on my chest, that I’d been exposed to Covid. For 5 days in a row.
Fuck.
So instead of decompressing that evening, as planned, I went for a Covid test.
Negative.
Thank God.
I derived a new appreciation for my vaccine that day. Especially since another person in our group wasn’t so lucky (despite also being vaccinated) and had to sacrifice huge end-of-summer plans to recover from being very, very, very sick.
On the way back from getting my nose violated with a q-tip, I enjoyed a rainbow. I used to ride my bike to work on this road in a past life.
As I headed out to go back to Salida a day or two later, I charmed Santa and Shelley with a selfie of one of their zucchinis.
And so I will charm you too.
You’re welcome.
I experienced an epic Salida day full of shenanigans and improvisation. Beer, river, bikes, tubes, swing sets, and breakfast food. Just all the things. So. Much. Fun.
I wish I could bottle that day and save it forever.
Back in Lakewood to pack up my crap, I managed to lose my car key and had to have my dad come pick me up to take me to breakfast, then take me to the store for a battery to put in my spare key.
I felt like my 16-year-old immature self all over again.
Later, I found the missing key.
Under my bed snacks. Of course.
Bed snacks are what I affectionately call snacks I eat in bed.
Trust me, it’s a thing.
The next day, I got to reunite with my soul people: Jess and Stevie. There are no two truer humans than these.
Everyone needs a Jess and Stevie.
Everyone also needs an Anka.
Anka and I became friends because of Bailey and we will always be friends even without Bailey.
(A frog creeped into my throat just now. That damn cat. How I miss him constantly. I think he would’ve become my right arm, if we could’ve figured out how.)
Anka and her hubs talked me into going downtown where I reunited with the random-ass artichoke heads at this swanky restaurant I’ve only ever gone to on work’s dime.
A tip: if you have to spend time downtown, do it with Anka. She’ll suck the overwhelming crowdedness right out of the experience and replace it with nothing but happy…and food…and drinks.
That night, Anka and her hubs talked me into going paddle boarding the next day. There are no pictures of this, but they did, in fact, pop my paddle boarding cherry.
I also wore a tutu to the reservoir. There is a slightly unflattering picture of that.
Why did I wear a tutu to the reservoir? Because I could. Don’t ask questions.
Anyway, that weekend Anka was taking care of Kona, my old man, 130-pound, black lab boyfriend.
So I was able to document his favorite new thing: ear rubs.
He turns into a puddle. See?
Also, he’s in the bathroom because he prefers his water from the bathtub. He has his humans well trained. He’s a good boy.
Next, I took a picture of a fun whiskey truck for Santa.
Get it? It’s a dick joke. Dick jokes and whiskey comprise 95% of my friendship with Santa.
While staying with Scott and Shelley, I tried to soak up as much nearby friend time as I could. The result of that was a lot of love and receiving a 2-year-old birthday gift. I love, love, love this mug and the fact that unicorn stuff reminds Adriana of me.
Back in Salida…
Me: Ugh…stupid fall allergies. My face is melting.
Toby: I have allergy pills at my house, go take some.
Me: Okay.
Wasabi: If you’re going to wake me up from my day nap, don’t stop petting me even if it is to take my picture…I already know I’m a very handsome boy.
My Leadville family came down to Salida for a golf tournament and we played and played and played.
Well, I worked a bunch, but they played and played and played and I got to join in when I wasn’t working.
And because I worked and it was a holiday weekend, I snuck off for impromptu camping on Labor Day night.
This is where I learned that Fritz’s version of fetch with a stick is running after it, picking it up, and then dropping it again.
Apparently he prefers tennis balls.
Here he is using his Jedi mind tricks to hunt for marmots.
Back in Salida, Brent turned a year older. We decided to dress in warm river gear and float a short section of river back down to Brent and Kelly’s house.
We quickly learned that a low river after the sun has gone down means lots and lots of butt bruises, an elbow bruise just for Kelly, and a sprained finger for me (to go with my already sprained toe).
Absolutely worth it.
Next up, Santa and Shelley came down for some camping. These guys know how to camp. Obviously.
Fritz got to wrestle with Chonk.
Here they are pretending not to like each other.
And here we are…being the way we are.
Meet Santa’s duck face. Nailed it.
The next morning, despite the several drinks the day before, Santa and I decided it would be a good idea to climb a mountain.
The road to the trailhead was a little dicey.
Santa: Hm. I’m not sure I want to take my truck on this.
2 minutes later, he’s grinning like a little kid going over all the bumps.
During the hike, Fritz was in heaven. Santa and I were…well, making the most of it.
At times, it was a lot like stepping in dog poop.
Just kidding.
Not really. Santa really did step in dog poop.
And then we spent 10 minutes trying to “clean it” by mixing it with dirt because there was no way smeary, smashed poop was going into a bag.
Afterward, I discovered that a sprained toe and balancing on wobbly rocks don’t mix well and that I’d pissed it off so bad, it re-bruised and wouldn’t bend.
Luckily, there’s a river nearby, in which soaking a pissy toe is way more fun than just putting ice on it.
The next morning, Fritz left me a present in Liz’s kitchen.
I know what you’re thinking, “Of course Rachel would find an excuse to put a picture of actual poop in her blog.”
Yep, can’t leave out the important stuff, am I right?
But now, an absolutely adorable picture of Gunner being awesome at his job as bike shop mascot!
Gunner and I sat behind the counter, confusing customers because they all thought I worked there.
Gunner smiled and accepted scratches, while I sipped on some whiskey, and Brent actually worked. (Brent actually does work at the bike shop.)
A couple days later, I got to take Kelly adventuring in a part of the state she’d never been to.
We revisited a favorite camping spot I found in July, with epic views (if you can ignore the RVs), a creek, and a surprising amount of space and privacy despite it being free to camp.
We took my car on 4-wheeling adventures and proudly managed to build a fire without much kindling, paper, or jet fuel–I mean, lighter fluid.
We stayed up till 1:00a, till long after we ran out of firewood, so we could watch the clouds dance across the sky and the almost-full-moon rise from behind the trees.
I experienced whiskey and strawberry bubble water and was surprised at how awesome the two go together.
Definitely try it sometime.
Despite the late night the night before, we embarked on more 4-wheeling so we could go on an epic hike to a beautiful lake.
It was. So. Hard.
Straight up and then straight down, with maybe a little flat spot near the top.
But we did it.
And since neither of us managed to bring a phone, there are no pictures of it.
And my toe got pissy again. I might just have to live with a sprained toe for the rest of my life. It’s too hard to stay off it when there are adventures to be had.
After 5 hours on the trail, we were exhausted and giddy for beer and pizza.
Beer drinkers, insert head joke here.
Let it be known, this trip was the first time I used a jet boil. And boy oh boy are those things awesome.
Especially when you use them to make peppermint schnapps hot chocolate.
Peppermint schnapps hot chocolate + marshmallows + mint Milano cookies = happy hiker girls.
We camp in style, that’s for sure.
On the way back, we stopped for scenery. And to pee. And for beer.
I proudly photo documented the dirt on my car. Cars are for getting dirty.
Back in Denver, I had to get my tint fixed because the original install had a shitload of dirt underneath it.
Ugh.
Adulting sucks sometimes.
The tint folks took one look at the filthy zoom-zoom and told me I had to go drive it through a carwash.
After all, we didn’t want any dirt underneath the tint this time and the chances of that happening with my epically dirty car was pretty much guaranteed.
So yes, of course I decided to take a picture from inside the carwash. Why wouldn’t I?
While I expected this re-tinting to take a couple of hours, it wound up taking all day because my back window needed to be replaced. The folks at Quality One were awesome, treated me like family, and parked me in their conference room so I could work more easily.
They got my car finished just in time for me to make it to one of the best work meetings I’ve ever had. At a brewery. With nachos and fried cheese curds.
The trick with work meetings at breweries is to take lots of notes so you don’t forget WTF your team talks about. I did my best.
Next I got to go house sit for Andrew and Cheri.
They have a cat named Marvin.
And I love him.
He could have his own blog post just from the pictures I took of him over the course of a few days.
This cat loves love and direct eye contact. I found that if I tried to play on my phone, he would interject for pets and eye contact. I learned not to argue.
What a snuggly muffin.
So.
It was during this house-sitting adventure that I experienced my greatest challenge in life so far:
Thanks a lot, Andrew. Thanks. A. Lot.
The next challenge was less intense:
Four hours on a spin bike for Santa’s birthday, followed almost immediately by his birthday party.
Holy shit.
It’s amazing the number of pictures we can take while taking 4 spin classes in a row.
At Santa’s party, we failed to be as lively as we usually are, but it was worth it.
Here’s Santa taking a shot of tequila in his whiskey shirt. Absolute sacrilege.
And here’s proof that Santa’s friends and family know how much he loves whiskey.
Next, here’s Chonk sitting in her not-so-lady-like way during the Broncos game.
And now we’ve reached the end. Thanks to my dad and Andy, I was able to get all of my belongings into a U-haul and two cars.
It’s weird to see all your stuff in a truck, so I decided to take a picture of it.
Thanks to my dad’s expert packing brain, we got everything in and situated so nothing broke on the drive.
Despite a gust of wind pulling me a little too close to the edge of the road and a drop off at one point.
With a mess of complicated feelings, I said goodbye to the home I’ve known for the past 5 years. I’m not sure how, but I managed not to cry.
It’s been a weird summer. But it’s taught me a lot about pain and patience and letting go.
I don’t have words to thank the many people who helped and supported me throughout this time. I just know I’m truly humbled by the incredible people in my life.
I’m not really sure what will happen from here. And that’s okay.
I know eventually I’ll start running again and I’ll write more blogs and I’ll read some books.
I know eventually there will be a blog post with nothing but poop jokes for Cherie.
I know eventually I’ll finish unpacking.
I know I’ll continue to be surrounded by love and animals and good food, just like I did when this journey began.
Most of all, I know I’m going to be okay.
The Pickle Writer 