An Unexpected Vacation

Things change quickly sometimes when you least expect it. After more than seven years in Texas, an opportunity came up at work that's going to send us back north, and back to where we started. It wasn't something we were actively looking for, even if it often came up in the back of our minds. Several years ago we put in for a transfer back to Montana and it ultimately didn't work out. Management here wasn't in favor of it and budget restraints kept any transfers from happening for a couple of years, so we moved on and figured we'd be in Texas for the long haul. But there's something that's said about best laid plans. Montana came looking for us and made an offer we didn't refuse. While there's the difficulties of leaving behind friends and the "known" of Portland, there's the benefit of family and familiarity on the other end. The offer came almost exactly 14 years after we left... and that feels like a lifetime, a lot of which was detailed on this blog and written from many different rooms across multiple states. I'll forever be thankful for the journeys we've been able to take, the experiences we've been able to have, and the people who've been there for us in every place we've stopped along the way. We may be going back home, but we're still going on to the next adventure! Anyway, to get ready for the upcoming move, we took a trip to Missoula for a week to get an idea of where we were going to live. Here are some of the highlights... 

It's fun flying during a pandemic...

Grandpa Bill lost his shoe in the creek which led to Aunt Kelly getting attacked by murder hornets...

They all had a blast hiking to the M in the cold rain... if you can't tell.

Spent some time riding and running around the Miller Farm!

If nothing else, there will be an abundance of cousins to spend time with when we get back to Montana!

New School Year, New World

The boys started back to "school" in late August in this new world of the pandemic we're living in. Continuing on from the spring, they're still doing online or "distance learning" school from home. It's fairly low-key, but not without its challenges. Paul can mostly do everything on his own, Adam doesn't normally have a lot of work, and Nolan seems to be the busiest. Either way, they've adjusted well and are doing great, despite the strange circumstances. It's definitely been a year of togetherness... as the five of us have been here together, day in and day out for about six months now. Honestly, it's been easier than expected and will probably be something we're thankful for when we look back on this crazy year!

Gotta start the day off right with a berry smoothie!

Loving every minute of it!

Even started doing some driver's ed from home! Why not??

And of course... recess?

Been Here, Painted That

While in Amarillo, we stopped to see one of America's favorite roadside attractions (which we'd seen before, but it'd been a few years). Some eccentric millionaire rancher paid some artist a bunch of money to bury some Cadillacs nose deep in his field, and then someone decided to spray paint them... I guess? Either way it's a fun place to visit, and the kids enjoy wasting cans of spray paint!

I painted the smiley face! Excellent artwork...

It was a long drive back from Amarillo, but they didn't complain.

Palo Duro Canyon

Fun fact: The second largest canyon in the United States is in North Texas! Not quite as impressive as that other big canyon in Arizona, but still worth checking out, Palo Duro Canyon is just south of Amarillo, Texas. Yes, made it to Amarillo by the morning, so King George would be pleased with us. We got up early to get to the canyon to take the hike to the Lighthouse that seemed to be the park's trademark hike. Thankfully we got on the trail by around 8:30, because any later and we may have died under the Texas sun. It was hot, and there wasn't much shade, but the trail was pretty easy and not short on scenery. With the sun still barely up, the tarantulas hadn't all gone back to bed for the day, so we saw a few of them casually crossing the trail. Thankfully they weren't runners, and they didn't seem to notice or care about us, so they were entertaining to watch. Otherwise, the trail was 5.6 miles out and back, and took just long enough to run out of water but not die! Check it out:

There's a friendly tarantula hanging out by his hole in the ground... the pics don't do justice to how big they were.

Tarantula crossing.

Made it up the steep climb to the Lighthouse!

Just a bit hot on the trail back.

But at least they had a snow cone stand back at the trail head!

COVID Family Photo