Durango, CO

Randomness, (is that really a word?). I kinda like randomnosity, but I know that that's truly not really a word

Well, it’s three o’clock at night here in Durango, CO and I can’t fall asleep. My usual sleeping pill, an episode and a half of the wire on some random persons couch isn’t enough to get me to sleep tonight. I wonder whether it’s the ache I still have in my bones from the Grand Canyon (such a wuss) or if it’s the adventure that I only now feel completely part of. While conversing with the people who have been hosting me here in Durango, I go through the usual Quizrael, as I’ve been told it should be called, and I start to notice a pattern in my conversation. Where I’m coming from, where I’m going too, leading my hosts to ask me more questions about me. Drop a hint about Israel, and the question about mandatory service comes up “did you… serve too?” they ask, they always ask. Throw in the word kibbutz, and they jump “oh I’ve heard about that, can you explain that to me please”. I’m not even sure if it’s really me leading the conversation and if it should be about me so much, but what can I say, I kinda like talking about me, and the truth is that I am the random guest so it makes sense to ask so many questions. The more people I meet, the more places I see, the more stories I have to tell. The Cycle goes on, and I’m loving it.

I woke up this morning and I thought I was going to Bryce Canyon, in southern Utah. I got up, after some nice, exhausted, 12 hour sleep (benefits of a broken watch). Sat down at the closest internet café, had my usual cheapster breakfast of double espresso on ice, and a bagel with cream cheese, and looked at my google maps trail I have on my screen. I put in a couple of couch surfing requests for Durango back in the day when I was still in Albuquerque (a tale which apparently will never be told, due to obsolescence), and when I see my email for the first time in a couple of days I see that Mallory – “20 years old, loves the outdoors”, would love to host me. Well, there goes the plan for Bryce Canyon. Actually, it was more the ache in my bones, than Mallory, but for whatever reason, I change my mind. So I send her an e-mail saying “I’m on my way to Durango, see ya in a couple of hours”. The thing is, and here’s the catch, I recently changed my mobile carrier to virgin mobile. Apparently, just like any corporation the size of Virgin, they love big cities and piss all over the rural areas, and I guess they treat cell phone reception the same way. So driving from the Grand Canyon aka bumfuck-nowhere, Arizona, to Durango, CO aka fuckville-nowhere, I had no cellphone reception and no way to know if young Mallory will indeed pick up on my late couch request sent over a week ago, without reply. Well, to tell myself the truth at first I worried, then I stopped caring. Why bother caring, if she answers, she does, if she doesn’t, I have my tent and my sleeping bag. And the drive, was totally worth it. I drove from Grand Canyon which has the Colorado river as a life vein in the middle of that semi desert, then through the four corners, which could also be called deadman’s calling, ‘cause if you get caught in the middle o’ that desert, u done for (I think The Wire is starting to have some real affect on me). Of course, I’m exaggerating cause there were a bunch of, literally, gated communities in the middle of that desert, surrounded by Navajo Indians trying to sell me their jewelry as authentic to the land stuff. And then, out of the blue, it changed on me, I grew to around 7000 ft and everything was green. Like, ski resorts. Ski resorts? WTF? I was just in the desert. So when I finally arrived to Durango, I truly didn’t care, and hadn’t had cellphone service for quite a whiles now. And then sweet Mallory texted saying “hey, when r u getting into town, we have a couch if you want it”. I hesitated for a second, maybe I should go for another night in the tent. But, as you already know, I went for the Quizrael.

Well, at least free wi-fi. Don’t need a double espresso on ice, and a bagel with cream cheese to be writing this one, but I’m sure there’ll be plenty of those along the way.

Two days later I’m ready to leave Durango. Great town, has an Asheville vibe to it – mountain town, outdoorsy people, waterfalls and creeks everywhere and great open minded people. Yesterday I went to some hot springs by the river with some of my newly acquainted friends. Exactly what my feet needed, some soakin’ in hot water and a lot of R&R. Cooked some food for my hosts, which is always fun and makes me feel more at home and like I said, now it’s time to leave. Another couple of days of as little human contact as possible before I hit Moab, UT. Canyonlands National Park – here I come!