Decisions

     With job applications and interviews so far spread it has been a little like casting blind. Changing life style, career, and moving across the country all at once requires a certain amount of flexibility in the beginning stage in my opinion. After the recent interviews and with winter creeping toward us, we had been starting to consider the possibility of living in our 26 foot travel trailer through the winter. We have been told that it is not unusual for there to be snow on the ground throughout the entire season after the first snow fall in our area and with Adventurer’s continuing distaste for shoes, the idea of stepping out into several feet of snow to run to a campground bathroom does pose some questions in our mind. We had finally figured out that we could move the laundry hamper from its' current home in our camper’s tub over to the master bedroom area thereby freeing the tub for any wet footwear and making it possible to hang wet jackets and scarves from the shower curtain rod to drip dry when the job offer came in. One of the major occupations while living in our trailer has been keeping moisture out so that was our primary concern as we considered winter habitation.

The next stop in this adventure feels like it has come all to quickly. As much as our family has enjoyed our time outside of Idaho Falls with all the outdoor spaces and lovely people, we have now been given the chance to move forward. With temperatures dipping down to 18 degrees on his most recent fishing trip with his brother, the Mountain Man has been all to aware that winter approaches. While out on that fishing trip, he received word that he has been offered the job in Cheyenne. Decision time has come.

Mountains seem a little far away from this view...

     Our quick flight into Cheyenne had not left us feeling convicted that it was the right place for us. My husband’s words as we got close to Cheyenne had been “where are the trees?” Now we had to decide whether we should wait for any further job offers near where we have been all summer

Isn't it beautiful?

or take this good job offer and head out for new adventures with optimism. The job offer came on a Friday. Monday we heard back from our first choice location saying they were sorry to inform us the job had gone to another… Tuesday, several e-mails came in saying a few jobs (Federal)  were actually not going to be filled at this time. Wednesday we drove back to Cheyenne to look at the housing situation. Considering our complete lack of familiarity with the Cheyenne area we knew we would prefer to rent at least initially as we learned what we could about the town.

How could you leave a place where your family
is this content or even happy??

Trying to do His will...

The week following our trip to Boise and Salmon, ID we were off in the opposite direction for another interview. This time we would have the opportunity to drive across the great state of Wyoming and Mountain Man would be interviewing for a job in Cheyenne. 

One of the family homesteads...

When we researched the different states Wyoming was actually in our top three choices. My family homesteaded in Wyoming several generations back and I still have cousins living in the Hulett area. I had grown up hearing stories about home in Wyoming and have always imagined the possibility that someday I would live on my own little piece of land there. I have never seen more wildlife anywhere than we saw two years ago on a trip to Hulett. When we picked Idaho it was in part due to the incredible homeschooling laws and in part due to the amount of land that is available for public access. Our family values the ability to head out in the woods and see land stretch for miles without any signs of modern times. The time we spend hiking or fishing a mountain stream is soothing to my soul and starting over at this point in our lives I do not know that we will ever have more than five acres of our own to explore.

Where some of my cousins grew up. It is so beautiful!

I had no idea that I would fall so much in love with Idaho when we moved here. After all, none of us had ever been here before and the decision was made based on internet searches, however, after three months we feel very strongly that we had made the right choice. Ultimately, however, we had committed to going wherever we felt called to go and beyond that we want our family in a solid home by winter. Off to Cheyenne we went with quite mixed feelings.

This is one of the views as we left Idaho for Cheyenne.

In route I received a message from a friend letting me know that my priest at the home parish we had left behind in Maryland had mentioned my family in the homily that morning. He was discussing how decisions are made and used the story of our faith in the Lord’s will as an example. This was such an uplifting message to receive as we headed into the unknown and such a spectacular reminder of my own intention not to live in fear of the future but to rest assured that God had plans for us that would be revealed in time. I truly wish to do His will.

It is a nine hour drive for my family to Cheyenne from our starting point near Idaho Falls so unlike our trip to Boise it was actually to late to do any real sight seeing when we arrived. We stopped at one store that had the most spectacular array of boots I have seen since moving East almost 13 years ago. With Mountain Man’s interview at 9:00 am the plan was for the children and I to see what we could see while he interviewed and then to head back out on the road so that we could make it back to our little home by nightfall. With the Bear in tow we did a little exploring and then picked the Mountain Man up. He felt his interview had gone well and liked the man he would work with if he should get the job.

Honestly, we are not big city folks. Aside from meeting a few friendly people and having the general idea that the town had a very Western feel there wasn’t much I could say about Cheyenne on such a short trip. Driving into the city the surrounding land scape was lacking in two of our favorite things, mountains and trees… On the plus side there were many pronghorn sightings alongside the highway and the landscape had a certain beauty of it’s own with the gently sloping fields.

Alpine lake above Laramie

  As soon as we were away from Cheyenne we found the closest mountains just outside of Laramie and pulled over when we reached an elevation of nearly 10,000 feet. It was time to stretch our legs, let the Bear run, and let mom check out the wild flowers while Mountain Man took the kids a little further up for a snow ball fight. 

Mountains outside Laramie

                                

     Adventurer was excited to report that she climbed the mountain all by herself in the snow and I found myself thankful that we had stopped in to a little thrift shop that morning in Cheyenne and picked up a pair of boots. She has been barefoot since our trip to Yellowstone nearly two months ago. The Sandman and Cat loved having the opportunity to have a good snowball fight in early September. We all started envisioning a spectacularly white winter and all the possibilities that would bring.

Cat at the bottom of the snow slide. :-)

Once we reached Rock Springs we detoured again and took a path through Hoback Junction. While on the road we found a church named Our Lady of Peace and we found the Mountain Man Museum… Getting closer to Idaho we felt like we were coming home.

Museum of the Mountain Man road sign

Still and Listening

        After two months of submitting applications and handing out resumes, Mountain Man suddenly became very busy this September. Suddenly he was in demand for interviews and with winter on the horizon we were happy to make ourselves available no matter how far we might have to go for a meeting. Of course, many potential employers were happy to start with phone or video interviews but two in particular required a bit of a drive.

First we traveled across the state of Idaho to Boise. There was a giant trout inflated in front of the office where he interviewed. With his love of fishing that seemed a good sign. The children and I took the Bear exploring the river walk in the downtown area while the interview took place. After our walk we were standing at the river’s edge when we got the rare opportunity to sight a mountain man in a suit next to a river. With the interview behind us the fun part of our trip could begin. 

We went to a local farmer’s market and discovered some wonderful Idaho made mustard. Bob Wagner and his wife Cari are the owners and they make several flavors of mustard. If you have the opportunity I recommend one of every flavor! You can find them at www.wagnerdahofoods.com. After two months camping we then enjoyed an early evening at our hotel room playing in the indoor pool! No one else had the same plans that evening so it was a private pool and hot tub for the family. It was fun splashing and giggling.

Idaho City, ID

The next morning we decided to take a long route home and drive north through the Sawtooth Mountains to reach Salmon, Idaho. If the interview went particularly well, this town would be our new home. The trip was absolutely worth the extra hours on the road. We stopped for a picnic lunch along the Salmon River and it is just a beautiful area! Along the way we drove through Idaho City, founded in 1862. The main road looks much the same now as it did in the beginning with eighteen of the original buildings still in use by today’s inhabitants. Shortly after that we passed through the town of Clayton. This is not the smallest town in Idaho but with a population of 7 people it is the smallest town we have driven through. I am very impressed, for all that the town was so small, it did boast of a library, a museum, and a dry goods store. The country towns we traveled through all had informational signs that were wonderful for any history buff on the road to see.

Historical Information

In Stanley, Idaho, we met the father of a soldier named Matthew. He showed us many pictures of the local hunters and fishermen with elk, moose, wolf, and mountain lion as well as salmon and steelhead. He explained that they were not trying to eradicate these beautiful creatures but merely working to keep the balance. With everything going on in Iraq, where his son is stationed, I would ask that you please join me in praying for those in the Middle East. It is a blessing, to me, that we live in a place where we can each freely live according to our beliefs, where I can ask that you pray and you can choose whether or not you will. Thank goodness there are men and women willing to protect our rights.

Sawtooth Mountains near Stanley, ID

We finally reached the town of Salmon late in the day. I wish I had taken pictures but ever the optimist I went with the hope that this would not be our only visit to town. As we drove through the main area of town it seemed close to perfect. It has since been mentioned to us that Salmon is one of the most remote towns in the lower 48. With quilt shops, fly shops, and antique stores it seemed quite lovely to me. If you ever get through you should stop in to the Cornerstone Gifts & Collections. Her store has a little of everything and she is quite friendly.

Salmon River

Having thoroughly enjoyed our day it was time to drive home. Next time I will tell you about our second long interview trip, across the state of Wyoming into the bustling Cheyenne. As a homeschooling family, Cheyenne interests me personally because I know there would be a lot of opportunity for my children in such a large homeschooling community. As Catholics, there would also be the contrast between having one or two priests serve many churches spaced far apart as we see in the country towns in Idaho, vs. being in the Diocesan Seat with three churches to choose between in one town. Between one of the most remote towns and one of the busiest we’ve been to since our journey began how would we ever choose if we were lucky enough to end up with two job offers? Our hearts may long for the peace and quiet of a remote mountain home but we have said from the beginning of our journey that our main goal is to go where God would have us go. Honestly, I am glad that I do not feel I have to make the final choices… We just need to be still and listen.

Hippie and the Mountain Man and the Clan

Whim...Doing something on a whim tends to imply a certain 'fly by the seat of your pants', devil may care, or cavalier attitude. Most great adventures may look that way from the outside or when the story is told after the fact. Successful adventures are usually planned out in advance and have some 'behind the scenes' work taking place of which the general public is unaware. I discovered, somewhat to my surprise tonight, that I am offended to hear our adventure described as taking place on a whim... Surprised because I have always been a somewhat spontaneous individual having once driven into a war torn area exactly on a whim, though that was many, many years ago. Perhaps I should not take it negatively, after all, if it appears to be no more then a whim, we must be making it look easy. I have been considering writing about our journey to share it's ups and downs and even it's squiggly lines, with you. Yes, we'll include the squiggly lines because if you went everywhere in a straight line, following 'the plan' perfectly, it would make for an awfully boring story.

 

All the plants I had to tend this year and our little home on the road...

I guess I will begin with where we are now. My family of five and our yellow Lab, affectionately referred to as 'the Bear', are all living in a 26' trailer on the side of a mountain in Idaho. We have spent the last two weeks preparing for a new school year to begin at our little campsite in between hikes, fishing trips, and my husband’s job interviews (we homeschool). Before June 24th of this year neither my husband (who I will call the Mountain Man), nor I, had ever set foot in Idaho. Over the course of the previous year we had systematically reduced our personal belongings to what would fit in a moving truck/storage room, used a spread sheet to help ourselves pick the state that seemed like the best fit for our family, paid off all of our short term debt and sold our home of the previous eight years. You see, we decided to change our lives. From the Eastern Shore of Maryland with blue crabs and beaches to wilderness areas scattered with mountain streams and huckleberries, the day after Father’s Day we drove west.

Isn't it beautiful? 

We had been talking about moving for years. As beautiful as Maryland is, it has not felt like a good fit for our family for a long time now. Two years ago we took a trip to a family reunion in Wyoming and were able to show our children the area where my father's people had homesteaded generations ago. Driving into Wyoming, Mountain Man said if we ever drove that far west again we would not turn the truck around. I think from that point on we were collecting information and the wheels were turning. In September we learned that the job that had supported us for nearly ten years would be over in the Summer. Our opportunity had arrived.

 What we left behind and the lovely people who traveled with us as we headed out.

As little as I like labels I will use a few to complete our introduction post. You can decide whether or not to stick around and get to really know us beyond what the labels may or may not tell you. I am Tia. I am a home schooling, healthy life style pursuing, crafty, child of God. Mountain man calls me a Conservative Catholic Hippie. He and I have been together eighteen years. We have done a lot of our growing up together, you might say. He is an outdoorsman, a hunter since he was young, an avid fly fisherman, and an Environmental Engineer by training. He recently told me that it is curiosity about what he will find around the next bend that keeps him going further and further, whether he is fishing or hiking. The oldest child in our family is thirteen year old, Cat. She is an artist and musician who would like to be further out in the wilderness. When she was younger I would go to round her back up for school only to find her learning something like the Greek Alphabet on her own. The middle child is eleven year old, Sandman. He is a mix between the ever joking class clown, the scientist with ruffled hair as he writes in his book of ideas, and the sweet, generous brother everyone should have. The youngest for now, is Adventurer.... Reminding me every day of the many different ways there are to see things and reminding us all just how much fun it is to learn new things, she makes it clear that she is not a baby just because she is young. Happy to help and insistent on having work of her own, she definitely pulls her weight. I am grateful every day to have the privilege of being the wife and mother here. I have had a variety of jobs in my life but the joy of helping to guide this clan is by far the best.

          The kids... With me...

And the Mountain Man...

    The wolves are howling in the distance reminding me of a recent hike cut short by a close encounter with a pack, but it is getting very cold so I will say good night for now and save that story for another time, perhaps. Be kind to each other.