After a fun stay in the Badlands, Ryan and I made a long drive down through South Dakota and Nebraska to visit my dad’s younger brother, Greg, in Ft. Collins, Colorado. Despite giving him just a couple of day’s notice, he and my aunt Cindy and their two daughters, Madison and Olivia, and their puppy, Henry, couldn’t have been more welcoming hosts. Even though we only planned to stay one night before booking it down to New Mexico, after one dinner and lovely evening in Ft. Collins, and after promises of a fishing trip, what could we do but stay an extra night? Plus, here’s the dinner menu Greg and Cindy laid out for us in their badass home backing up to the foothills of the Rockies: homemade guacamole (Greg still uses my dad’s “famous” recipe), juicy steaks, seafood chowder, asparagus, mashed potatoes, corn-on-the-cob, fresh bread, fruit cobbler and ice cream, and rum drinks, too! Greg said he forgot the rice, we said “feed us anything else and we’ll positively explode”.

The next day Uncle Greg-a-roni helped us get an oil change, fed us unbeatable steak burritos, and then, boy, he really showed us the town! After a stop at Jax, the outdoor store to outdo them all, he drove us up about 1.5 hrs into the mountains, along the Poudre River. Mission: FISHING. Ryan: THRILLED. Me: A TOTAL BEGINNER BUT REALLY PUMPED. Greg: EXPERT LEVEL, KNOWS ALL THE SPOTS. We decided to keep it simple and go rod and reel and save the fly rods for when Ryan and I have gotten a little more casting practice in. Side note: A DEAR FRIEND FROM THE CHICAGO AREA GAVE US FLY RODS AND LESSONS 4 FREE, PEOPLE! YOU WILL HEAR MORE ABOUT THIS!!

After almost 25 days of rain out of 30, the Poudre River was practically bursting from its banks. Thrilling to see a mountain river running with such force. Don’t swim in these rapids, baby, they’re no joke! Great views all the way up the mountain, perfect sunny weather, and of course, Uncle Greg had great tunes blasting the whole way. After a pit stop at a pretty spot, we made our way up to a small lake where Greg’s fished many times before. It was slow fishing, despite Greg’s killer instincts, but, y’all I needed to just take it one step at a time. I’m still making peace with tearing up gooey little worms and stabbing their mucus-y, writhing little bodies onto a hook. I got lots of practice. But hey! We all caught a fish, so no complaints here! Greg and I each caught ~ 2 pound sucker fish and Ryan caught a great-looking trout. Had an absolute ball.

After our fun day, we made our way back to Ft. Collins. Reality Check: While we’d been out of cell range, my sweet lil cuz, Madison, had been suffering from terrible pains in her ankle all day, and Greg had to switch hats for serious dad duty as he and Cindy took poor Madison to the emergency room as her uninjured ankle swelled and tortured her with what seemed to be totally agony. Only several days later has it become clear that Madison actually has a staff infection in her joint which has penetrated the bone. We love you, Madison, and are keeping you in our thoughts. This brave 12 year old has had to go through two (maybe three?) surgeries in just five days! No thanks to the dumbass emergency room doctor who sent her home with pain meds and no diagnosis except “She’s probably just upset because she’s injured and won’t be able to play sports with her friends”. What an asshole. Even despite the traumatic events, Greg and Cindy sent us off with an early morning appetizer of fresh trout (Ryan’s catch), done perfectly, and steak and buffalo sausage breakfast burritos, loaded us up with supplies, and we all took a photo together, minus poor Madison 😦 We’ll get you in there next time, sweet girl. Feel better soon. Thanks so so much to our dear sweet fam-bam in Ft. Collins for being such great hosts.