My last week at the hostel was a bit lax. Thursday was spent recovering from the 4th and cleaning.  Friday was spent in the garden.  Trying to soak up every ounce of dirt under my nails and sun hurt that I could manage in a day.  I successfully watered the entire garden by myself, which I feel like is a good omen and rite of passage as far my learning is concerned. It rained in the afternoon, so my day in the garden was cut short.  In the evening Teagan and I went to watch Easy Rider in the back yard of KTAO.  They projected the movie onto the side of bus outside.  Part of Easy Rider was filmed in the Taos area back in the 60s, so it was cool in that way but otherwise a fairly terrible movie.  

Saturday we had plans to go camping on Kenny’s land in Colorado.  In the morning I cleaned with Sara and even though we tried our best to clean as fast as we could we still didn’t leave until after 2.  Kenny’s directions were fabulous but we knew we did something wrong when it takes him an hour and half to get there and it was taking us over 4 hours.  The road got a little rough for my little Saturn and although I felt like I managed the road very well there came a point where we couldn’t go any further.  We pulled over and hiked the rest of the way.  Or at least we thought it was the rest of the way... we had actually passed the turn a couple miles back, but the hike was lovely anyway.  It was a great team effort to get us there.  The girls were great support and watchful eyes for road signs, etc. and Davis was great to have around because he could direct me around sharp curves or build me a road where there wasn’t one, or throw boulders out of the way if needed.  We ran into Kenny’s neighbors, who he had just met about 45 min before we spoke and they could direct us to his house.  I love the way the universe unfolds :)

Kenny’s land is beautiful.  It has just rained and I swear there is no other smell like the smell of the Rockies after a rain.  I instantly had a swell of pride and excitement to be HOME.  It felt like it all hit me at once - the realization that I am in fact Home and it all felt so right.  We unpacked the car, got a tour of his unsettled land and popped open some beer.  Kenny had just built a sweat lodge that day (because why not, right?) and the goal was to break it in tonight.  It was a very mild sweat, but it was a lovely beautiful experience none-the-less.  Dinner had been simmering in the fire all night and it was a delicious bean soup with the salad that we picked from the garden that day.  It got cold pretty quick, but I was thankful for my fancy sleeping back and Hannah’s willingness to cuddle. Kenny also has two dogs that melted my heart and they also cuddled with us all night long - filling in the nooks and crannies of our bodies.

Waking up under the trees was lovely.  I have missed camping like this.  The fire was already started by the time i rolled out of my nest and we cooked up a hearty breakfast of potatoes, eggs and left over bean soup.  We hung out for a few more hours feeding the horse and shooting the shit and then we took off.  Hannah and Lisa were starting their hitchhiking exposition so we dropped them off in San Luis and wished them well.  The rest of us rocked out to some good ol’ tunes all the way back to the Snow Mansion.  We wanted to get back at a reasonable time to help clean.  I’m glad we did - they were very appreciative. 

Sunday night there was a very intense sweat followed by a family dinner cooked by Mouna.  It was the perfect last night.