Welp, Gunner mentioned it was going to be around a 20 mile road walk before I would head up the canyon, but ceased to tell me it was all thick sand. Naturally, it slowed my mileage down in half. I realized there was no way I would make it in time to meet up with Vegas so I turned around and decided to come back to the section after I hung out with him. It would be doable to hike 25+ but I took the long route which looked to be around 90 miles. I knew I wouldn’t enjoy myself if I had to run through it. All of the junctions I had to turn off of were closed as well, looking to be washed out from a monsoon.
I walked back towards the Outpost where Gunner picked me up just before his road. He planned on going to Monticello and I figured I could ride along then hitch to Moab and spend a couple of nights where I would wait for Vegas.
“My wife knows you from your work,” Gunner said. “She’s going to be so excited to meet you.”
As we were pulling up I said, “I’m excited to meet her, too.”
I stepped out of the car and saw her by the gas pumps, beaming with a full smile. Her energy was bright and she had the feel of a hip, country girl sporting worn out jeans and blue crystals hanging loosely around her neck. Her name was Jazzy and I loved everything about her.
She seemed absolutely starstruck by me which I found adorable. We both blushed and I gave her a big hug.
“I can’t believe you met Tip Tap!” I said. “She’s famous!”
“You are way more famous than Tip Tap,” she said.
At the time I had lunch with the kiwi girl on the PCT I didn’t recognize who she was. I feel blessed to have even crossed paths with her. Her life story has often brought me to tears.
Jazzy asked about my designs, curious about learning some things from me. I loved sharing my ideas so I told her anytime she wanted to learn, I could teach her.
“You are so humble,” she said, “I didn’t expect that.”
“As are you,” I said.
It was so rare I would click with women but I wanted to be immersed in Jazzy’s presence. She said I was more than welcome to hang out with her and her friend Emi who was visiting from California.
“We could have a girls’ art day by making pottery and macramé!” Jazzy said.
I looked over at her husband. He had his keys in his hands, waiting for me to decide.
“I wanna stay!” I said.
He was cool with it then drove off while us girls spent the entire day together. It got extremely busy so we didn’t get started on our art day until near closing time. She was running around making milkshakes for guests and helping guests get settled into their campsites. She had a natural way of wanting to help. One could tell she genuinely enjoyed seeing people smile.
Jazzy was so beautiful to me. Truly, magnetic. She had a light and was extremely artistic in a nerdy kine way. The more time I spent with her, the more similarities I found between us. We found humor in the same things and joy in the same, such as collecting feathers and bones. She had a tui ringtone for her husband and was extremely surprised when I could identify it. She had macramé plant holders all over the place along with pinecones and dragonfly symbolism.
She taught me how to make pottery which was a lot harder than I thought it would be. She placed her hands atop of mine and guided my fingers. I was so proud of my creation, even though I accidentally ripped the clay trying to stretch it into the formation of a bowl.
“It’s a right of passage,” Emi said as she snapped a photo.
Then Jazzy commented on my pinecone necklace and said how she always wanted one. Later on I asked her what her favorite stone was and she gave me a list of her favorites so I bought her one with a citrine stone while she was in the middle of making more milkshakes.
Emi handed me a spoon with vanilla ice cream slathered on it.
“What is this for?” I asked.
“You lick it.”
“I’m allowed to do that?”
She laughed. “Yeah, didn’t you ever do that growing up?”
“It was unheard of in my household.”
I didn’t argue. I licked the spoon, closing my eyes and taking in the cold dripping texture.
“It tastes so much better this way doesn’t it?” she asked.
“So much.”
I decided to make her a macramé pinecone pod for her collection. She offered me a free place to stay in one of the fancy tents on a tempurpedic bed as a trade. I didn’t even expect it, but I was deeply appreciative of the generosity. To top it off, she even offered the idea of letting me sell some of my macramé items in her store!
When they closed up for the night, I joined them all for ribs on the porch under the cozy fairy bulb lights. We made jokes about how one of the customers had asked Gunner if he was Mormon. He couldn’t figure out why and then it hit him that Emi and I were hanging out with him a lot so it must’ve looked like we were all banging.
I loved the connection they all had with one another and how simple yet deep their love was for one another. I felt so grateful I got to join in on a small moment of what their life was like on these quiet desert nights filled with echoes of their laughter.
Gunner looked at Jazzy lovingly while she reflected the same dreamy gaze.
“You are just so handsome,” she said. Then they kissed.
“Okay we talked about this,” Emi said, “can you not do this when I am sitting right in between you two.”
Jazzy would then look into my eyes and I could feel she had such deep love, joy and amazement for me. I felt the same for her.
