No sooner than I had sent out positive vibes into the universe asking for good people, good hosts, was it that I stumbled through the front door at Candy and John's place in Laramie, WY. You might be asking yourself where Laramie is. It's just slightly West of Cheyenne, which just so happens to be the capital of Wyoming.
When I arrived, Candy gave me a quick tour of the place, some quick intros to the furbabies of the house - Suda, Baxter, Toby and Maggie (but she was hiding somewhere). We piled into Candy's SUV and headed to Walmart. Bought some groceries for dinner and then headed to the fire hall - that's right ladies, I said FIRE HALL, to meet John, Candy's husband, and make dinner since he was finishing up a twenty-four hour shift.
Everything we did within the first few hours of meeting may sound menial to some. Nothing special, right? A trip to get groceries, play with animals, dinner. Except here's the amazing part - I felt like I was hanging out with the personality doppelgangers of Brenda and Austin from Montana. I promise I am not making this up for entertainments sake. Candy and John, just like Brenda and Austin, are the definition of kindness and hospitality. I could not have been more grateful to be accepted into their home.
Faith in humanity: restored.
I only spent two nights in Laramie with Candy and John. So what have I been up to for the rest of the week. Let me start from the beginning so this story makes sense...
Back in July when I told all my friends about this crazy gypsy adventure I was planning, many of them got in contact with friends and family around the continent to see if any of them would be willing to put me up for a few nights if/when I made it to their area. Back in August, my friend Stacey got in touch with her friend Edith - whom lives in Golden, CO with her family and without hesitation Edith said, "no problem." Now, anyone who's anyone knows that plans, life, things can change from August to February so when I sent Edith a message on Facebook six months after we had originally spoken to see if she would still be up for letting this stranger crash at her place - her home, where her one and a half year old son, and four year old daughter live. Would her family still be okay with this stranger crashing in their spare room whom they can put their trust in on the word of someone else?
No problem.
If you know me, you know I love kids. I'm almost fairy certain that I get along better with children than I do with most adults. For those of you that don't know me, if you read any of my post inspired by my visit to Disney World, you can easily deduce that I am pretty much a five year old trapped in a twenty-five year olds' body. Being around a family and these little munchkins the last few days has been refreshing. Believe it or not, visiting places such as the aquarium or going on a candy factory tour are that much more exciting when you're allowed to act five because you're surrounded by children. I'd often catch myself letting out a few ohhhhh's and ahhhhh's at something interesting to get a reaction from the kids, but in reality it was completely for my benefit.
As this adventure continues I wanted to take a moment to pass on a lesson I learnt from a four and one-and-a-half year old: it is one hundred percent acceptable for a twenty-five year old (or thirty, or fourty, or fifty, etc) to act like a child.
And on that note, I'm off to Dinosaur Ridge tomorrow.
Because dinosaurs are cool at any age.
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