Denver, CO

Denver, for me, evoked a mixture of feelings and impressions. When I arrived, it was already late, so I found a place to camp at a Sam's Club. It was a cold evening and even taking my bike out to find some food was not pleasant. I was close to Quebec Street, which is a busy road that runs north to south through the entire city. It seemed  busy even at night, and I didn't have the best vibe from the area I was in.
The next day I found myself in a state of mind which dictated that I must find work right away, otherwise I would be stuck without money, so I imposed a good bit of pressure on myself and set about looking for jobs on Craigslist. This was the first time I had tried to find work in the US and I didn't know how difficult it would be. I responded to a bunch of ads, mostly by email, and eventually ended up taking a long bike ride to see about a commission-based job handing out flyers for hail damage on cars. I spent the rest of the evening walking around an office complex and a residential neighbourhood putting flyers on windshields of cars that had hail damage on them. I didn't feel very optimistic about the prospects I had for earning money this way, but I figured that I had nothing to lose and all it would take would be two or three claims for me to earn my target financial sum.
That night I was invited to a beer-tasting and raffle by Tenny, a lady I'd met on couchsurfing. Afterward as I was walking back to my van, I was accosted by a young man named Sean (or Shaun, Shawn, etc.), who recognized what I was up to just by looking at my van. We chatted for a few minutes, discussing my trip and his own life journey, after which he wished me well and went along his way. I felt encouraged, even revitalized, by this encounter.

The next day I did the same job as Thursday, but felt even worse about it, plus I was exhausted from all the walking. This was Friday and I decided I had had enough of walking around. I got a text from another poster I'd responded to about work at a horse stable, hauling hay bales on Saturday morning. I drove down to Parker, which is a suburb just south of Denver, and on Saturday I spent close to eight hours hauling hay bales. The work was hard and dirty, but the people I worked with were great, they bought everyone lunch, so overall I can't say it was a terrible experience. Afterward I relaxed for a bit, found a great bakery called La Panera, which is a chain across the US and where I intend to buy bread from whenever I can't find any in a dumpster.

I had arranged to meet a lady named Rae from couchsurfing, who invited me to her house in downtown Denver. I arrived quite late but she didn't mind, and I met a bunch of other fun people at her place. I took a hot shower and shaved, something I'd needed to do for a long time, and felt much better afterward.
Rae and her friends had finished supper by the time I was done with my ablutions, so we proceeded to sit in the living room and exchange stories over drinks. At one point we got into a heated discussion about GMOs, with me being on the supporting side and everyone else being opposed. From this I've learned to be more circumspect about some of my more controversial views. Having said that, however, despite the passion that this topic brought out in Rae, she told me the next day that she appreciated the opportunity to express herself about something she feels strongly about, and for the rest of the time that I spent with her it remained a conversation piece that came up between us on several occasions, and which we discussed in a very civil manner.

On Sunday I relaxed, and at night I joined the weekly couchsurfing social mixer at The Fainting Goat, a three-story bar with a patio on Broadway Avenue, which is one of the more popular entertainment districts in that city.

The next job I picked up was delivering cabinets, which reminded me of the work I used to do in Edmonton. I was hired by Victor, a self-employed Denverite who has been building his business of moving and deliveries, having started in a similar manner as I had a couple of years earlier, with just a pickup truck and his muscle. We spent the day on two deliveries of very expensive kitchen cabinets, and then I took a long bus ride back to my van.

On Tuesday I went to work at a metal shop, sanding steel rods. This was tedious work that left me feeling sore and slightly depressed by the time four o'clock rolled around. I didn't relish the idea of doing the same thing until the end of the week, but I told myself to persevere as that would be my ticket out of Denver and back on the road, where I seem to be happiest. Wednesday I did more or less the same thing, but I felt much better about it. After work I cycled to City Park and set up my slackline, for the first time since leaving Regina with a foot infection. It had been close to three weeks, but I finally managed to execute a double drop knee on the line, which I was very pleased with. On Thursday we changed things up and I went to help Matt, one of the other employees, who was putting the finishing touches on a steel staircase they had installed in a very ritzy new home. This work was much better, and over the course of the day I got to know Matt quite well and he invited me to stay at his house that evening and to meet his wife Cris. I went there after work, had some food and delicious pumpkin beer, and we chatted about life until the late evening. The next day I was treated to coffee and a wonderful smoothie, after which I said goodbye to Cris and went to work with Matt for one last time.
He and I spent the day applying a patina on the staircase, which left my hands slightly burning and stained, and then we parted with a warm hug.

What I forgot to mention earlier was that during my job search earlier in the week, I got a text from a young lady, Kate, who had just moved to Denver from New Jersey, and she needed someone to help her carry her mattress upstairs to her apartment. Her place was quite far from where I was, however, so I declined and suggested that she ask a neighbour for help. She ended up texting me later on and we chatted for a bit. Friday night we went for supper together at a local vegan restaurant, which was delectable!

I spent the weekend parked in front of Rae's house on Detroit street, which is in a lovely part of Denver. We did some gardening on Saturday together with Tim "Agave", one of Rae's housemates, then I attempted to make a vegetarian jambalaya in my van, and in the evening I spent a few hours reading at the nearby Tattered Cover bookstore.
Sunday was gloomy so I moped around for the most part, then Kate rescued me from my gloom by taking me for a walk around downtown Denver. We took a bunch of photos, rode the free mall bus on 16th street, and grabbed some hot chocolate and pastries at a corner bakery.

Monday morning rolled around, and I rolled out. I can't say I was in a hurry, though I wanted to get to Moab by night time. This didn't happen as by the time I went to the bank to pick up my new debit card, had some lunch, went to the sani dump, filled up on gas, and bought a coconut at an Asian supermarket, it was four o'clock. I left Denver during the worst of rush hour, and made my way west to Red Rocks Amphitheatre, which I'd wanted to check out since I found out it was so close. I spent an hour walking around the gorgeous site, taking photos, and as it cooled off from a warm day, I hit the road again, headed west.
On my way I picked up Lorraine, an older lady who was (and probably still is) hitchhiking from Ohio to California. We got to Grand Junction, just east of the Utah-Colorado border, around 11pm, and I dropped Lorraine off at a truck stop. I spent the night parked at a truck stop myself, a first on this journey, and in the morning I continued westward toward Utah and my upcoming meeting with Daniel Suelo, The Man Who Quit Money.