I Confess, I Confess

So I confess that a great part of our trip still remains to be told. In the fog of getting married and moving away from the US I had trouble remembering important things like writing. Well now I'm finally finding my head.

Before moving forward though Idaho must have its time in the spotlight one more time.

Idaho.

There. The spotlight has been shown.
Our time there felt like a freeze-frame after frenzied montages . Good rest and conversation after racing past the coastline and the far edge of our trip. Now we were heading back. Heading back towards the end. Once we left Idaho the sad feeling started sinking in that we were no longer heading west. We tried to brush the feelings off by living even more rugged and harshly then before. Planning to spend more time camping and breathing in the big country of Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Colorado on our return path.

I guess I'll tell you the part about our time in Montana and then leave the rest for another time (which will come, I promise). As I said, leaving Idaho was tough. I started to feel a little tired of being on the road and I was starting to worry more about the wedding coming up, but we were determined to live this last part the best we could. The legends are true about the sky feeling bigger and bluer in Montana. I remember looking out the window to see green plains and mountains run on forever past the finite lines of the interstate.

Our goal was to race towards Yellowstone, before night I guess, but we started looking for somewhere to camp a couple hours outside the park. Wide open roads and beautiful views all around us. We drove about 15 minutes from the main highway off on a dirt road to a really simple but great remote campground (Jake will have to include the name if we still have it). Setup camp, gather fire wood and then of course climb the nearby hill (mountain by Alabama standards) for sunset. I decided I needed to carry my video camera all the way up. Sadly this was one of those inclines that never ends - we climbed for a long time, I kept setting tops of the crests as my goal thinking I couldn't climb any farther only to find out there was another crest beyond that. It must of happened 4 or 5 times, thinking the top was just right there only to find out there was still another 25 yards up and then the more. Jake finally parked at a nice place and we paused to admire the stars and fading light. Trying to catch my breathe, knowing this time will end soon. Climb to the top, enjoy the beauty just long enough to rest my burning legs and then stumble and falter all the way back down the mountain. Rest was meaningful after that.

We talked around the fire and enjoyed the natural isolation. The setting of plans, goals and hopes. Less than two weeks left. I hadn't really been counting time too much before now.

One of the most refreshing things spiritually happened the next morning as we packed up and drove back to an Episcopal church we'd pasted on our way to our campground. Just a small building in a little town along the highway, but people gladly welcomed us. I had that feeling of sameness, like singing along to an old song in a new place, once the worship service started. The liturgy was a wonderful bridge for the two of us with a congregation of people we'd never known, but we shared the connection of Christ's Church. That was beautiful.

After the service ended we were offered tasty homemade snacks and all sorts of great advice on how to spend our time in Yellowstone. Everyone said we needed more time to see everything properly, but we just smiled and tried to explain our rush was an attempt to see more and inspire a return visit. Yellowstone National Park was of course one of the many places I'd never been to before our trip but now that spark has been set in me to return. But I guess I'm getting ahead of myself because that would put our story past the Montana border and that's as far as I said I'd take you.


Thanks to everyone who's kept up with us on this trip. We're still sifting through all our adventures trying to remember and understand what took place. We'll finish out our story before too long. I have more pictures and videos to share, so come back around sometime and check for them.

"I'm a sucker for a kind word. I just run until I find one."