Many thanks

7 June, 2008, Mercer Island, Washington
Gratitude. That's what we've felt for most of this trip of ours. For the two congregations--St. Paul's and Emmanuel--whose generosity with vacation time and some cash, made it possible for us to take a month to make our way. A month to pack, and say goodbye, and journey cross country and to begin to say hello. For the family and friends we visited along the way who wished us well and told us how much they loved us and who said they'd come to visit. For the beauty of God's creation that we saw every step of the way. For the generosity of spirit we encountered in the little towns and cities and wide open places when we asked a question or ordered food or a stopped for a cup of coffee. Generally speaking, people are nice. For the people of Emmanuel Church who got our house and yard ready and left lots of food and flowers and other necessities like coffee and sponges and paper plates. For the new friends who came to the house on Friday to help unload the truck (which they really had to do as the helpers were very late), and put new shelf paper down, and locate and move a working washing machine and set up our beds and break bread with food they brought! We find ourselves in a very good place, to be sure.

And finally (and this is Hunt speaking), I'm constantly in awe of Lisa and Will. Of their wit and wisdom, of their kindness and their support of me. And for their willingness to step out on a limb in faith and thanksgiving.

Now, I hear Lisa (for the second time), speaking in slightly elevated tone of voice, that the boxes are not going to unpack themselves.

If you're reading this, you're one of the people who made this adventure possible. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Limp in, Leap out

That's the slogan for the town of Hot Springs, Montana. We were driving between Bigfork and Coeur d'Alene, Idaho (our last stop before getting to Mercer Island) and we were just too curious not to see what was happening in Hot Springs. As if following a yonder star, we landed in the parking lot of the Symes Hotel. We paid our fee and soon enough we were all 3 soaking in the hot mineral water, getting used to smelling like rotten eggs and taking the cure as it were.
The whole town was like the set of a David Lynch film and I was a little worried that the Symes was a stand-in for the Hotel California "You can check-out anytime you like, But you can never leave!" First it was the ethereal and weather-wearied man riding a horse through the middle of town, pulling a mule, another horse and two dogs tied to ropes/leashes. No one else was in sight. Then we encountered

• an emotionless woman who took our money for our day pass to the hot springs pool,
• an ex-pat New Yorker woman hanging out by the pool, who told us she kept moving from places where other people ended up,
• two locals (a middle-aged woman and a 20-something guy talking about getting to Alaska to work the deadliest catch) soaking in the pool with us,
• the 30-something rock-climber looking guy in the lobby writing in his journal,
• the future soccer moms with their toddler children in tow,
  
• and the hipster with dreadlocks walking across the parking lot as we were leaving.

I found the above photo on someone else's blog. Sounds like he had a really bad time there. Look at photos 11, 12 and 13. We actually felt really good when we got out of the water, but kinda glad we left before the sun went down.

We'll spend the morning checking out Coeur d'Alene and then off to our new island home.

Will's 9th Birthday

June 2, 1999, Crawford Long Hospital, Atlanta, Ga. "It's a Will." That's what I said to family and friends waiting outside the labor and delivery area at about 5:50pm. Tonight, nine years later, the three of us sat down for pizza about that same time, but in Whitefish, Montana, a long way from Peachtree Street, that's for sure.

We spent today in Glacier National Park. Our picnic plans didn't work out exactly as we'd planned as it started raining as soon as we arrived. The three of us huddled up in the very back of the Honda and made the best of it. After the rain stopped, we went for a long afternoon hike up to Avalanche Lake. (Will says that was the best part of the day, except for the pizza.) Amazing views of the creek and snow-covered mountains, just beginning to melt. We saw some mountain goats across the way and a deer walked right behind Will (see photo above.) Because they were still clearing snow and repairing roads, we couldn't drive the length of Going to the Sun Highway. One day we'll make it back, maybe even going to the that connects to it. On Tuesday we leave for Idaho and then Mercer Island.

Big Sky Country

We spent Thursday night in West Yellowstone (a little like the Rocky Mountain version of Gatlinburg, Tenn. without the wax museum and proximity to Dollywood) and headed out Friday morning toward Flathead Lake and Bigfork, Montana. Another amazing drive through several mountain ranges and river valleys. The Madison River Valley area around Ennis was particularly beautiful. Stopped in Butte for lunch, then stopped at a great gourmet grocery and health food store in Missoula. We stocked up and headed toward the place we'd rented above the lake. Spent Saturday exploring the town and roads and trails in the area. We spent most of the afternoon with a picnic lunch on Swan Lake, not too far from town. We bought some lake trout for supper and brought it back to the house and enjoyed it on the deck, watching the sun go down over the Flathead Lake (see photo above.)

We got up this morning to attend St. Patrick's Church. Met lots of kind, hospitable Episcopalians. It turns out that lots of people from the Atlanta area end up in this valley. The joke is that there's a 4-lane road between Atlanta and Flathead Lake. Not sure the folks realized Atlanta has over 5 million people because I was asked a couple of times if I knew so-and-so.