Go West To Montana

Many of you followed along the journey we had on our way from outside Atlanta, Georgia to the other side of the country to Bonner, MT. The good news is we made it.

But what about the journey?

You may not care. You may have only wanted to know if I made it. And that may cause you to stop reading right now. Regardless, read on to hear some of the tales along the way.

I’m thankful we were able to hire some folks to load the truck itself. The guy that set everything within the paneled walls had to be a Tetris Master. It was P.A.C.K.E.D.

The worst part about loading the truck was, although I got the largest one I could, we had to leave some things behind. We THOUGHT we had downsized but five bookshelves, a lawnmower, and a wheelbarrow proved us wrong.

I was able to give the lawnmower and wheelbarrow to someone that needed one, so it did work out.

We had four breakdowns, including the brake check before we even loaded the truck. One was engine needing oil. One was a computer part that I had no clue about. And the last was a blow-out on the trailer towing the Jeep.

Going over the foothills made me VERY nervous with the u-haul and towing the Jeep on a car carrier. The speed would drop from 65 down to about 40 and we crept up the steep mountainside. While beautiful scenery, my blood pressure stayed high just wondering if the truck was going to breakdown again before we reached the peak.

Nevertheless, we made it into Missoula and stayed at an extended stay hotel. I hired some folks to unload the truck and then left for DC for four days.

While in DC, I got a call from Kelli all excited about a possible rental house. I told her I trusted her and later I got a text saying she secured the house and we were approved to move in. I was scheduled to see the house for final approval the day I landed back in Missoula.

Upon seeing the house, I knew it was meant to be. The timing of everything and how everything fell into place was just something that was out of our control but perfect at every step.

The photo at the top is actually off my back deck and that is the Blackfoot River (yes, the one from A River Runs Through It.) Someone saw the photo and said, “Oh. What a nice little creek in the backyard”. It’s about 75 yards out from the house and about 50 yards wide…it’s NO CREEK.

Regardless. The daylight breaks at about 0515 every morning and it gets dark around 1015 at night which is still not completely dark until around 1030-1045. My brain processes this information and thinks it should be awake during the daylight hours. So I get somewhere in the neighborhood of seven hours a night which is not too bad.

It also means since I am on Mountain Time, I start work a little earlier but get off earlier as well. And then the fun starts.

Chopping or sawing wood, driving the neighbor’s tractor, running into town, exploring, etc all take place during this time between work and dinner/shut down time.

We are excited about the rest of our lives. We are excited about this home for a couple of years while we find our own land and build a house (unless we find the perfect plot with a house on it).

I was able to take this past weekend and go exploring. WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW to see how that went. 6 minutes of BEAUTIFUL scenery.

Plenty more to come.

Until then,

Use your instincts to survive