----->>> In a Home Named Destiny: June 2014

Hebgen Lake- Finally

An overview of some of the amazing things we have seen,

our life is good.

HEBGEN- FINALLY!!!

It took us nearly five weeks to finally get two days off in a row together. I had to beg one of the other employees to switch shifts with me. We have a set schedule at my work so it took a little convincing but I am so thankful that it worked. Last summer Jordan and I spent everyday together at work and all of our days off together as well. It was a LOT of time together. The first five weeks this summer we didn't have one day off together. So I think we my new set schedule it will help us find that happy medium.

We rounded up all of the friends we possibly could and headed straight for Hebgen lake. Cody told us about this amazing free camping spot right on the lake last year. We went several times- but we have been dreaming about it all year long. It's a one of a kind place. It gave us the same feeling as our favorite beach in Kauai. A feeling you'll never forget. You're so lost in the tranquility of nature you actually kind of forget the rest of the world. It's a place where don't ever look at a clock or think about time. They are places you really never want to leave.

Anyway, we had been talking about it for weeks with our friends so after we got Jordan's fishing license we set out to disappear for a while! All of our friends brought tents and stuff so we had a whole little city set up out there. I think we barely had put Destiny into park before Jordan grabbed his fishing pole and was casting away. This past year his love for fishing has grown exponentially. It's kind of cute actually, he is obsessed! He's tapping into his roots really- his grandpa spent the majority of his later life fishing. I imagine just the way Jordan does now. A beer in his hand, a song in his head whistling away, gazing into nature's finest. I love watching him while I relax on the beach soaking in some much needed vitamin D. I listen to the lake crash on the shores and watch the birds and usually call out to Jordan where I saw the latest fish jump.

It's better with friends. To share all of this with them. Talking and sharing meals with each other. Everyone here with us is like minded enough to share great conversations, talk about dreams and beliefs. It's becoming a community I never really expected to find here. Oh, my heart is so grateful for it!

The evening are spent cleaning Jordan's catches and figuring out just how we should cook them this time. Everyone prepares just a little bit of something that we all cook over the fire and then share when it's done. After cleaning up we make smores, talk story and star gaze.

As I look around our little fire circle taking note of each person there. I realize that in my old life I probably wouldn't have met any of these people. And even if by chance I did, my insecurities and my shyness probably would have kept me away. But not now, not here, because around this campfire we are all letting go and there is freedom here, We talk openly, as if we have known each other our whole lives. It's the beauty you find in tourist towns, no body is really "home" with their families and closest friends nearby... so you have to make a new family. People to do life with..... and I am pretty sure we just found ours.

our version of paradise

pure joy!

dinner time!

campfires!

the road to the lake

I can't believe we have already been here for five weeks. It's absolutely insane.

I remember just like yesterday the very first day we got back to West Yellowstone. It had been cold and snowy coming over the passes in between Old Faithful and town. We were actually a little nervous at certain points. We made a video on our phones (mostly joking of course) with the blizzard scenes while saying in the the background, "if we go missing this is probably why." We had never really driven over mountains during this kind of weather before so we had no idea how it would turn out. We may be a little dramatic but it was funny at the time as we kept praying Destiny would get us "home." It actually cleared up completely by the time we pulled into our little RV spot for the summer. It is right next to the one we were in last year. Brenda, my boss and our landlord, decided to add a new rental cabin instead of an RV spot so we just moved over about 20 feet. We love the location, on the outskirts of town and off the main roads so we don't get a lot of traffic- but it's still close enough to ride bikes or walk everywhere. We are also right next to our favorite field (the old airport) which is lines with trees and has huge mountains towering around the horizon of our little valley.

We were anxious to get hooked up and settled in. It was chilly and we were really ready for a warm meal and a hot shower. So as usual we backed up Destiny to the hookups (which were extremely far apart!) and realized the ground was completely unlevel. I guess newer RVs don't even notice because they have automatic levelers, but Destiny, she always notices- and we don't have any of those fancy automatic things. We tried for about 15 minutes to get her level but we ran out of daylight and we didn't have a shovel. So a little defeated we parked her as best as we could for the night and decided that showers and dinner sounded really good after a long day on the road.

Jordan stayed outside to hook us all up and I was inside getting Destiny out of "drive mode" and into "house mode." The hot water had finally warmed up and just as I turned the shower on to rinse it out, water started to pour out from about above the handles. It still came out the shower head but it was definitely leaking so the water pressure was pretty low. I tried to fix it to no avail so I had to tell Jordan. He gave it his best shot too but he finally figured out that the piece inside the handles had split open and there was no way to fix it except to replace the whole thing. That meant we would have to cut a hole in the wall, order the right pieces, figure out how to patch the wall, etc).

We were super bummed and just upset after we had figured this out. We spent most of last year with broken pipes before we could figure out where the leak was coming from. The last thing we wanted to deal with this year was another water leak. It took us a while to shake it off and figure out what we were going to do with the whole situation. It just wasn't an ideal way to pull into town. Our house is parked at a slant and our shower is leaking. But hey we are here safe and sound. Destiny has done it again! So CHEERS to that!

Our little home for the summer!

As for the following weeks I have no idea where the time went, We started working just a day after we go here. I was over at Buffalo Trading Company and Brenda's new store Crazy Bear. Jordan started over at the Slippery Otter. It only took him like a day and a half of training until e was out there on his own. He was having so much fun serving again. He hasn't been in the scene since we were in Kauai the second time. This restaurant is much different than Oasis, or any of his other places. It is owned by a girl our age, all the servers get an Ipad to take orders and collect payments, and they only serve burgers, pizzas and salads at tourist prices. They also have 27 local brews on tap. It only too Jordan about a week to master it and after that he was basically KILLING it!

Jordan's first day at work

Basically he's in heaven!

my sweet sis gave us this sweet tea infuser before we left and he's getting a lot of use!

From there we rolled right into Memorial Weekend! Grandma Cathy and Fred came to visit us after their tours of the national parks in Utah. Fortunately I had a couple of the days off while they were there and was able to show them around town and take them into the park. It was fun having them and Barefoot (their motorhome) right up the street from us. We even found a night where Jordan and I were bot off and we all had dinner together. We always love company, especially family, in our life on the road. Familiar faces always are good for the soul.

welcome back to Yellowstone, the land where the buffalo roam

Grandma Cathy and Fred

So crazy that we were here that day last year to watch!

the last best place...

a slice of heaven

It took us the next couple of weeks to figure our our new life routine with these new schedules. Jordan works a lot of double shifts (bless his soul) so it changes our daily routines! But on the positive side of new crazy schedules and new jobs is we have already met some amazing people up here. It changes the whole dynamic up here. We have FRIENDS!!! And social lives.... it's been amazing and we are feeling super thankful for that.

Destiny was in the shop for our anniversary so we decided to go for a little hike and lay by the river all day

Best four years of life with this stud!

Gumby made Jordan a Father's Day breakfast!

Our field and our mountains

Some mornings it's so foggy you can't even see the field

ice...

Jordan's snap shots

Jordan spends his days off playing disc golf in the forest with the guys! He might be obsessed

A sweet customer drew this for Jordan as he was serving their table

After watching every Kings play off game on our way up to Yellowstone we convinced Jordan's whole crew to cheer them on in the Stanley Cup Playoff series. I guess it worked because WE WON!!!!!