After “roughing it” for a few days, we treated ourselves to a stay in town at the newly rebuilt and now very retro hotel, The Lark. We can walk or bike to most of Bozeman from here. The vibe in town is hip yet genuine. Yesterday we enjoyed biking through neighborhoods and beautiful trails, dining at the funky trailer outside our room, and  chilling! The tattoo my new friend and artist, Lee, applied is still vibrant and I wanted to show it off! 

We worked part of the day at the “ranch” near Bridger Bowl and helped Steve cut down more huge trees and yelled at each other over the chainsaw noise. I’m getting more comfortable with this homesteading business. Wait till you see the video! 

June 17-19th were spent camping on a 26 acre property. Along with about 30-40 awesome folks, we are contributing what we can to homestead our friend Chris’ beautiful place. Duties include clearing forest for a road, felling trees, sledding  logs up to the mill, and assisting builders with a barn.  Kai learned how to pull 1000 lb. logs behind a truck, move slag and make an orderly wood pile, and the entire process of outhouse duty! He can fill you in later. I carried wood and piled brush, did a little kitchen clean up, and took photos for the host. Des was a champ at sledding logs, setting up the mill and about 50 other things. It’s humbling to spend your energy on basic needs like water, food,  and shelter. There is no plumbing or electricity so water is hauled up a hill from a container truck in 3 and 5 gallon jugs.  We set up tarps and made tables from felled trees and stumps to create dining areas and tool “sheds.” Our van is performing well as sleeping quarters.  Everyone needs to be self sufficient AND work! But a pro chef and a amazing guy cooked spectacular meals and even set out a Father’s Day brunch complete with French toast, elk sausage, and fresh berries with whipped cream. We met some incredible people and reconnected with a few old friends.  Kai is having the time of his life. The rest of the week will be spent working at the homestead, exploring the town of Bozeman and getting to know super cool people! 

After much anticipation and years of hype from Jennifer’s family, Sheridan Wyoming was not a letdown. Good old-fashioned downtown street festival, lots of great American patriots, some great food at Frackelton’s restaurant, and your typical evening big sky lightning show. We had an early breakfast with all of the runners from the Big Horn 100 mile race which was quite entertaining. We connected with Jennifer’s Uncle Jim and Aunt Elizabeth and exercised at the awesome ymca.