Day 26. S tuck in Denver

Day 26 30th
We rose at 5am, cooked breakfast on the side of the road under a watchful eye & attempted to catch a ride out of Denver with the morning commuters. Destined for failure, fail we did.
So we went back to ‘bed’ for a while, behind a fence in the shade of some trees. There was a bit of a funk, but we could find no other squatters in this spot. So I went in search of the source & discovered a dead fox. Smell accounted for, we slept like babies for another hour & a half.
When we woke, Nate had found a dead squirrel whilst on a bathroom break. I only tell you this because in the event of our sudden, inexplicable demise, a search in the Aurora off ramps grass areas may turn up the cause & this information could help keep other vagrants befalling a similar fate.
We tried hitching in the same breakfast spot, then disheartened moved ourselves over the off ramp to another spot for better prospects. And the gamble paid off. While it may not have been a regular ‘pull over, hop in, where you going’ hitch, it was a hitch of sorts. There was already a car pulled over on the side of the freeway, not too far from us. So we walked up to see what we could do.
Wendy had blown her tire out. Most blown out tire I’ve ever seen in fact. Just tread & a bit of a side wall. So rather than have her wait on a tow truck we utilized our minimonk & changed it for her. In return, she took us a bunch more exits in the direction we were trying to head.

We tried hitching from here for hours. No love. We changed our spot again. No love. So we played in the sprinkers. (We have the best pic of this, but sadly I've misplaced it. Perhaps it's incriminating & it's fortunate I have.)
When they got turned off we were really feeling the lack of love for monks in Aurora.
So we decided to fuel up before attempting again. But the restaurant was too expensive. I went for water & when I asked permission, the gas station attendant asked me, ‘Because it’s free right.’ I was feeling so loved I could almost cry.
But just on sobbing point, we found an oasis. The Waffle House, with free internet. The waitresses were lovely, the food edible & the staff entertaining. I could’ve been on the set of a sitcom. Each nearby ethnic group was accounted for, with each strong personality type to match it. I watch & smiled to myself for ages & all the cares of getting out of Denver seemed to melt away.
We went back out after an hours reprieve from hitching in 94 degree heat & this time I went to sleep while Paul did the work for the team.


Thank God, because for some reason the love was still not forthcoming.
When I woke, we made the choice to get out of this ride bludger resenting town & got a couple of busses…to the airport. Maybe we’ve been good enough boys to hitch a plane?
The busses took us close, then a hotel shuttle took us the last 10 miles for free.
Food & free internet! You beauty! We're just the quality candidates for such things.

Taco bell ripped us off & blamed the guy who puts up the sign. Mmm mmmm. We’re feeling good about today.
So, close to midnight, we slept for a few hours, waiting for red eye crew to come on, because apparently they don’t care & will let us on a flight without drama.
Only time will tell.