Day Four

His Name is Tyler Tonkin

Today we said, "goodbye" to Tyler. After two full days of hanging and vibing with Tyler, it was time to pass him off and let him go on to the rest of his adventure. What's weird, was Tyler fit into the mix fairly well. We kind of worried that at one point or another he would wear on us, but the truth was that it was a "harder than not" goodbye. What connected the three of us was a sense of humor and avoiding small talk and going deeper in discussion for an answer to "why?" on all topics.

We drove for hours and we finally reached Cheyenne, Wyoming. At first it seemed like the state capitol was nothing at all, but after further investigation it was an interesting place, small but dense with flavor. There seemed to have a generous mix of people. We saw cowboys in the same coffee lounge as artsy youth, and street punks. Age and lifestyle didn't seem to matter to anyone.
It appears that every Friday on the square there was a town party. We rolled into Cheyenne at 8pm and everyone in town seemed to be a few hours into letting loose. People were driving particularly crooked and wreckless. By far the worst driving I've ever seen was compiled into the one hour I spent there. People were pulling out of parking lots without looking at all and I watched a van park on a sidewalk for no reason at all. The street was clear, but I guess the sidewalk just felt right to that guy. We almost got ran over by a guy on a bike. That's how "I don't give a ----" they feel about the rules of the road over there.

The three of us walked into the Drunken Skunk for a goodbye beer. A pile of middle aged women were booty dancing to "Back that thang up" on the dance floor. There was pool playing, darts, fooseball, the works. Everyone was pretty drunk. Us three sore thumbs definitely stuck out as sober travelers. We order a pitcher of beer and a deafeningly loud band hit the stage for some live sound making. We hit the patio and talked with Tyler about his next move as he plans to work at the traveling carnival for the next few weeks and then hit the west coast and eventually work with his girlfriend and travel with her. Tyler is young, 22, but he seems wise enough to know what's truly valuable in this world, at least to himself, which are the connections you make with those around you and how you spend your time. Time is a currency. And perhaps it comes with maturity, but how you spend your time, is precious. It's hard to learn this for myself just a few years ago, but being there gives me a better perspective of my own future.

A great adventure is next.