Fear Not; We are Alive! :-D

Odometer: 74656.7

Hello! We have been having a whirlwind adventure over the past few days, and service has been sparse, so I have much to convey. (Hurray!)

First, I was able to add an accumulator to our water system, and it has increased its usefulness, while decreasing the water pump’s on-off cycles, tremendously.

In addition, we have found a car charger for the laptop, which avoids the 12V to 120V to 20V process, which was required before. Now, we simply get to go 12V to 20V. It charges our laptop ridiculously quickly, and with sooo little power, it’s amazing!

On our way to Glacier, we passed a beautiful, little lake, which I cannot remember the name of:

We spent time in Kalispell and Whitefish, and learned that, since Glacier is a huge tourist destination, things that are free in most places (fresh water, dump stations, etc.) are, for the most part, not free in that region.

We have had some great camp sites:

Camped near a pretty little lake:

We took the Going to the Sun Road (the first half, at least). Sadly, the road was closed from Logan Pass down to the east side of the park for road work. Nevertheless, we were greeted with amazing vistas (Photos by Morgan):

Tons of mini-waterfalls:

And kind strangers who took our picture:

After Glacier, we headed down to Missoula, taking most of the day on a scenic route beside the Rocky Mountains. That night, we accidently parked next to a golf course, and were asked by a very kind officer to move several more miles down the road. Early the next day, we were able to run a bunch of micro errands and still visit the Ranger Station to inquire about good dispersed sites. They informed us that Rock Creek was riddled with dispersed camping sites, as well as many “closed” campgrounds. Apparently, in this neck of the woods, when a campground is closed, but not gated, it is free to use! :-D

So, thus informed, we headed off to Rock Creek:

After much investigation, we found a great, nearly private site at which we cooked dinner over a campfire!

And over coals. ;)

We have learned that Naga loves the feel of river currents. (At least, this is what we assume, as he jumped back in, several times, allowing the river to carry him a couple hundred yards before easily navigating back to the shore, running back towards us, and repeating the process.) And we have found ourselves more and more enchanted with Montana.

Both Morgan and I have realized that we greatly prefer what we have come to call “Not-pines.” In this, we generally include aspens, oaks, maples, etc. On the other side, we somewhat ignorantly lump all conifers into the “Its another pine” category. :P

Morgan really wants a tree identification book for Christmas. Perhaps something that has detailed pictures of leaves and bark, as well as maps of where they grow, and paragraphs about their life-cycles… Or something like that. ;)

The sunrises over the Rockies are spectacular. Sadly, where we have watched ours have been gorgeous, but not technically picturesque. i.e. it wouldn't have been a good picture.

All this to say: we are happy, healthy, and believe that we are narrowing in on where God wants us to be. :)

What does the future hold? Well, once we have found our new home town, I am seriously considering getting a teaching credential, hopefully to teach Physics as I have quite a fascination with the subject. I will continue writing, and working towards a career, whether full or part time, in that industry.

And Morgan? Well, she is considering working for a short time, but I think that we both want to start our family as soon as it makes geographic and financial sense and, more importantly, as soon as God wants us to. So, who knows?

God has been, and continues to be, good all the time, through that is amazing as well as stressful.

May God bless your adventures in the coming days, and may He stress you just enough to bring out your best.