Fragabond

We are over a month into our trip, and something special has swept me away. I certainly expected to see beautiful scenery, to feel the satisfaction of breathless hikes, to enjoy slow days full of reading, to try some new things. But, the one thing that has taken me by surprise is the friendships we found here in Ouray. I knew we would meet lots of different folks along the way, but this is far beyond what I imagined.

We have always been blessed by community, and I really do marvel at that. I think some people go through life rather alone, and as a person with an introverted streak, I totally get that. Heck, there have been times when I have been jealous of that! But we have never really been lonely, and I don’t think it is because of any particular life-strategy we employed. I think it is a blessing and a provision that is personal, and I don’t fully understand its purposes yet. God has injected people into our life over and over. It is one of His greatest gifts and lessons for me, and I am still a student trying to understand.

It started with accidentally booking an Airbnb with the nicest host on the planet. Lori and Bill own 2 rental units above the Ouray Mountain Sports shop on Main Street (they used to own and operate the shop too, but recently sold it and retired). Months ago, when we were still in Florida, planning and prepping for this adventure, Zack messaged Lori to ask if there were any Crossfit-like gyms in town. We are officially Fittown addicts I guess… Google turned up none so it was unlikely, but worth the ask. Turns out, Lori goes to a small gym in an old silver mining warehouse, and she gave us the contact information for the coach.

Tammy is the hard-core, silver-haired, Louisiana-tough coach that owns the gym. And when I say silver hair, you should know she is also a hair stylist, so it’s not some drab pigment-less sign of age. It is super cool and shiny, with undertones of lavender and a dark charcoal lowlight. Anyways, it turns out she is not only tough as nails, but also deeply kind. We have been welcomed as if we weren’t even temporary, been invited to more than one dinner out, introduced to other long-time friends of Tammy and Lori. Tammy is also constantly making fun of Zack’s mobility (or lack thereof) in the gym…his love language, I think? He feels right at home.

Now, we see Lori and Tammy multiple times throughout the week, which is familiar and nice. When we told Lori we were going to attempt Sneffels, she insisted that we needed gloves, which it turns out we definitely did. She went home that night to retrieve some and left them on our front doorstep.

Dan goes to the gym too. He is the pastor at the Ouray Baptist church. He is kind and goofy and unshaken by the multiple F-bombs flying around in the gym every day. We keep meaning to go to a service, but haven’t yet. Once because of camping….just saying…

There are other sweet folks at the gym too – Cathy, Karen, Carly, Stormy. Community. I need some photos with all these people! Stay tuned, but in the meantime, Tammy captured some proof that we are not completely slacking:

Last weekend was the local Half Marathon – “Mount Sneffels Marathon.” Don’t be fooled by the name. It is mostly downhill and runs from Ouray to Ridgeway. The sinister Mount Sneffels can be seen from a comfortable distance on the route, but that is, fortunately, the only role it plays. I found out about the race because Tammy’s friends, Andrew and Molly, were coming into town. Andrew is running a 100-mile ultramarathon next year (insane!), and he was participating in the Half as a training run. We met at the gym, of course. I signed up for the race, of course.

Saturday, Andrew and I both ran and finished. He, much faster than I. Zack, Molly, Tammy, and Lori were all at the finish line. Lori was organizing the event, so she was busy operating the t-shirt and refreshment table. No good pictures of the group, so this feels a little self-congratulatory, but Zack insisted…

That night, we went to dinner with Tammy, Andrew, and Molly. I talked to Andrew about race nutrition (something that is proving SO HARD for me to figure out on long distances that require constant fuel), we ate delicious tacos, we chatted about how Andrew and Molly met, how they became friends with Tammy, how Ouray has changed over the years, and a dozen other things. The next day, I ditched the gym, but Zack brought back a huge box of gels and race nutrition products for me to try. I think Andrew gave me everything he had on him – it was so generous and selfless and I am just SO grateful to have met them.

Also, if you feel compelled, he is raising money for mental health awareness as a part of his Ultra: http://www.runsignup.com/gillis

In other news, Mo and Blake took off in their camper last week, but it was fun to have them in Ouray for a while. Zack gave you the rundown of our Sneffels adventure, and I think he summed it up perfectly – it was difficult but magnificent. The 4 of us also took a workday-evening drive out to Clear Lake (something we couldn’t have done if it weren’t for the Lyle 4runner taking on some seriously rocky terrain). Zack and Blake obviously jumped in the freezing lake. It’s a thing, if you haven’t noticed from the photos to date.

Back at our Airbnb that night we kicked off our shoes and Zack made dinner. Then we laughed at the habits of 4 Floridians in the mountains…

We are still hiking and drinking beers for another week here in Ouray. Then on to the next chapter of this adventure and, if history is any tell, to new and important friendships.

-Katie