Wow, my vacation from my vacation is almost over. It’s been an awesome and sort of bizarre last few days. I made it back home in Seattle around 3 pm, after stopping at REI for a new pair of shoes.
My first task was to see my cat, Qwerty. When I first saw her after 4 months on the PCT, she was NOT happy with me. She ran away as soon as she saw me and hissed when I tried to pick her up. Luckily, this time wasn’t so bad.
I wouldn’t say she was happy to see me, but she didn’t run away and let me pick up her. She kinda kept her distance the for the rest of the night, but still came out to say hello a few times. A much better reaction than last time, probably because she didn’t have to move across the country to New York.
Taking a vacation in your own home is so strange. I was able to use my own shower, laundry, and toilet. I could go in the refrigerator and take whatever I wanted. It was such a normal experience that it felt bizarre. After getting that stuff done I met up with my friends for dinner. We talked about the trail and what’s been going on while I was gone. Meghan showed up after she got off work and then we went home where I almost immediately fell asleep.
The next day we would be heading out to her coworker’s wedding. I have only met him once, but it was a good excuse to see Meghan, even if it was a lot of work to do it. On the way, we stopped at Meghan’s parents’ house to say hello before getting to Chelan just in time for the welcome party. At first, we didn’t know anyone there, but eventually some of Meghan’s coworkers showed up and we had someone to talk to. After the party ended, we went to dinner in town.
The next day was the wedding. We slept in before heading out for breakfast. Not unexpectedly, most places were packed. We grabbed a cinnamon roll to tide us over until some of the lunch places started to open. This was my first time really spending any time in the town of Chelan.
We had some grand plans to swim in the lake, but unfortunately we didn’t really have time. We took some ice cream cones out on a walk and dipped our feet in, but that was about it before we had to go get ready and catch the shuttle busting the wedding.
The venue was beautiful and the wedding went really well. Even though I don’t know the bride or groom really at all, I still cried quite a bit during the vows and the speeches. It’s the thing I love and hate most about weddings.
After the wedding we went to Señor Frogs in Chelan for the after party. There’s no relation to the famous bar in Cancun, but I think it’s a pretty similar vibe. It was a fun night, but I wish I would have gotten a bit more sleep.
I’m the morning, we stayed in the room until checkout and then I drove Meghan to where her coworker was staying so she could get back to Seattle and I could start the drive back to Wyoming. It was a bittersweet end to the trip and saying goodbye to Meghan was just as hard as it was two months ago. All that time, money, and effort to see her was totally worth it. I’m so glad I did it.
The drive went relatively quickly and soon I was meeting up with Shotgun and Guru again in Boise. They said I could stay at their friends house so now I’m crashing on the floor in the basement. A hotel would have been nicer, but you can’t beat the price.
Tomorrow we’ll wake up early and get to Rock Springs around 3pm. From there we’ll hitchhike back to Rawlins and pick up the trail. After all this rest I’m ready to put in some big miles and catch up with my friends.