Summer in Montana

The Slow Lane crew arrived in Bozeman, MT just as the rivers were coming down from a huge winter of snow and the trout were starting to rise.  When we first planned out our trip, we were shooting to arrive in Montana around the first of July, in order to enjoy the tremendous summer weather southeast Montana has to offer.  It hasn't disappointed.  Highs in the 70s to 80s and lows in the 40s and 50s.

Bozeman is one of the places that we have considered settling down, so our visit has not been all fun and games, although, there has been plenty of fun and games.  We have intermixed fishing, hiking, and hanging out with friends with exploring the real estate market and investigating potential careers.  The town is a great one, a place we have spent many days over the last few summers, and a place that does feel like it could be home.

We were also thrilled to have Nana and Bapa Hake come up to spend a weeks worth of vacation with us.  We went to art festivals, Yellowstone National Park, went swimming, and just toured around and enjoyed Montana.  It was great to see them, and Maggie was so thrilled to get spoiled for a week or so.

Yellowstone is always a highlight and this trip was especially fun because Nana had never been to the Park.  It was great to play tour guide and we had a wonderful time.  One of the things that was very striking about the trip was the lack of crowds, relatively speaking.  While the big areas, Mammoth Hot Springs and Old Faithful for example, were pretty busy, the roads through the Park were almost empty.  Also, several campgrounds were not full, which is unusual.  We wondered to what extent this was fueled by the price of fuel.  Whatever the cause, we were able to see a great deal of the park, without many crowds.

Once Nana and Bapa left, it was back to real estate and job research, until we all of the sudden realized, we weren't having much fun.  We had gotten so wrapped up in trying to decide if we were going to move to Bozeman, what we would do, and where we would live, that we forgot that a big part of this trip was to have fun.

Throughout this journey, we have ridden waves of emotion from the thrill of being on the road with no encumbrances, to loneliness, to fear, to contentment.  Whenever things get challenging, our first instinct is often that it is time to cut the trip short, look for a house, settle down, and rejoin our "regular scheduled lives," which are already in progress.

However, once we start focusing on those issues, we quickly realize that stability isn't the automatic cure all either.  No, the grass isn't greener on either side of the fence.  This is why I changed the quote at the top of the page today.  Because life isn't solely about where you are, or what you do, although those are pieces.  Life is much more about how you live it.  Finding the balance, beauty, and joy in each day and moment, regardless of how settled, predictable, or chaotic it is.

Learning to find this balance has been one of the central points of the trip and one we are still pursuing.  I only hope that once this trip winds down and we re-enter everyday life, that goal and these experiences stay with us.