We had a two week layover at one of our favorite person’s house in central Denver. (We couldn’t see a lot of people due to social distancing, so we’ll catch ya next time if it’s safe to do so!)

Being back in the city we’d left six weeks earlier was strange, it was both like we hadn’t been gone at all, and that everything had changed for us. We know that leaving was the right call, but we are in this in-between space of waiting for what we really want (to live in Guatemala) to open up again. The good news on that front is that Guate is set to open it’s airport on September 18, but we won’t plan on booking flights until we see what happens in a longer term forecast in terms of Coronavirus.

We used our time in the city to make a few tweaks to Flossie. Namely, removing the broken furnace and building some more storage in its place. We also added a few more led lights to key interior areas, and invested in a Camp Chef outdoor cooking arrangement so we could retire Zach’s grandpa’s old cooking stove and our really cheap grill for an all-in-one unit. (I’m aiming to get the outdoor oven attachment for this baby in the not too distant future too!)

The best part of staying with our friend Sara was how easy it was to live together. We cooked almost all meals together, grocery shopped, walked our favorite dog Lexi countless times, and enjoyed the easy proximity to everywhere. When it comes to city living, her location can not be beat. Also, we like walkability whether it’s out in nature or in a downtown, give us either over any suburb any day.

Our time was also utilized trying to find a homeschooling model and curriculum for our kids. We knew when we left that we would start homeschooling in the fall, this seems like the best year to try all the new things what with whole school districts and states unsure of how to proceed with learning. We knew setting them up for virtual learning would be a challenge given our sometimes complete lack of cell signal. We are also keenly aware of the place of privilege getting to have this decision comes from. Not everyone can choose to homeschool, and even virtual is a challenge for many families. In my ideal pandemic world 🤣 I’d call this year a mulligan for all of us and start again next year wherever you left off. I’ve seen every array of choice being enacted out there and access and money will inevitably put some children at an unfair advantage over their peers, it’s a heartbreaking reality and I’m not sure how to react to that but thems the facts.

What we are going with is an “unschooling” model, much led by the kids themselves. We drew up a schedule and chose areas of interest in the core subjects, adding in art and Spanish as electives. PE is a given just in the nature of how we’re living. The rest is pretty open ended and a’ la carte. We have no idea what we’re doing! And neither does anyone else! Grateful that this will dovetail into our living arrangement though, and for their open minds and flexibility.

July 21

We arrived at our next reserved spot, an r.v. park on Flathead Lake just 3 miles south of the cute town of Big Fork. We’ve decided that if we are going to be traveling to some of the busier places like this, a reservation is key to avoid the same thing that happened at Yellowstone. We got set up then set out to see Big Fork, a charming downtown with all of the expected touristy shops but with a bent on art galleries. We walked over to the Swan River area too that feeds into Flathead Lake. My favorite part of this day was being mistaken for a local when we were getting supplies at the regular store when a lady approached me in the parking lot asked if I knew how to get downtown for the aforementioned shops.

22

We spent the whole day at one spot on Flathead Lake. We arrived at the beach area early, were the only ones there save for a local passing through on his morning workout. Always ask the locals what their favorite things to do are, they’ll most certainly indulge you with great tips. Montana folk are particularly friendly and conversational. The kids got out on the paddle board early and we all rotated turns several times. The water was chilly and crystal clear. The beach slowly started filling with other patrons but we were all able to stay socially distant. Boats would buzz by, sending out their fun wakes, and we enjoyed a beachside picnic lunch.

23 Have you ever heard of Flathead cherries? They are the most prominent fruit in this region with orchards all around the south and west sides of the lake. They are highly sought after and we were lucky to be there at peak season to go to a u-pick farm. And you’d be hard pressed to beat the price of $1/lb

These cherries have sustained our fruit fix for a solid week!, nobody is tired of them, and we’ll be sad when they’re gone. (After: In fact, they are done and we are sad). After picking 8+lbs of cherries we drove the long way home around the whole lake. We are loving the sights of small rural towns, farms and rolling hills. Taking in all the greenery and blue water is restoring to the city-dweller’s soul.

July 11

Catch up/ supply up/ repair day

What had intended to be a rest day and catch up day for the weekend has turned into a door project day for Flossie the Red Dale. One of the last projects we wrapped up in Denver was a complete door rebuild. Well we should have done a more thorough job of inspecting the back, what I’m calling “shed” door as well as the screen door. Both have taken a major beating these first two weeks. The aluminum hinge broke on the screen door one of the days in Dinosaur. And the fragile plastic slider that would be used to close or slightly open depending on how your using the door is completely coming apart.

The shed door, once taken apart and inspected has similar damage to the door we rebuilt. Water rot on the particle board that is sandwiched between two aluminum sheets.

So we will venture into Logan, Utah – only about a 15 minute drive from our camp spot to do laundry, get more ice for the coolers, and get supplies to fix these two doors. We originally joked that Zach would get bored too fast on this trip without ongoing projects to work on, we’ll we’ve all stayed busy enough just getting camp set up, enduring the long driving travel days, and now doing ongoing work on our old gal to keep her road worthy, safe, and useable