Just a few miles up FS Road 376, in the Jemez Mountains sits two tunnels, carved out of rocks. The original purpose of these tunnels was to assist the former Santa Fe Northwestern Railroad safe passage through the canyon hauling lumber out of the heart of the Jemez.
This also happened to be the scene of Yago’s first off-leash adventure since he was adopted into the Bennett family. I do believe he enjoyed his first day of freedom.
I was somewhere over the state line in New Mexico driving the 26 ft U-haul from Kalispell to Albuquerque when I got an interesting message from my friend Mallory: Not sure when you’re going to be down this way but I have this wedding thing coming up and was wondering if you would be interested in taking some photos for us?
Taking photos? Of course, I was interested. What I later learned was that ‘this wedding thing’ was an entire weekend in the Rocky Mountains with the most amazing festivities centered around the love of two unique and truly amazing people.
I just wanted to share a few highlights from the weekend. The entire album is theirs to share (or not).
May you always remember the love that brought you to share your name. Xoxo.
My plane landed back in Ohio three days early so I took the extra time to spend with family before we all packed up and headed to Washington, DC for a little family trip built around Brian’s graduation. It was a blitz trip in DC with my entire family before Brian & I packed up one last time and hit the road one final time.
My mother-in-law has been telling me about the annual family camping trip since before Brian & I got married. Finding myself not working and back in the lower 48, I planned a trip out to Montana to spend the 4th of July with my husbands family. It was a blitz trip in the woods before packing up the u-Haul and relocating our household goods to our future home in New Mexico; that’s for another post…
My momma had some days off she’d been planning to use on another trip that had been cancelled. Since I was available she asked if I would like to take a trip with her instead. Not a fan of long drives, but wanting to visit her cousins, she asked me to escort her a few hours east to some towns near Gettysburg, PA for the long weekend. We both got to spend time hanging out with family on Thursday.
Brian also had the weekend free so on FridayI dropped down to DC and picked him up after work. I had brought Kratos with me for the weekend so that he and Brian could see each other for the first time since he left for school. It was after midnight when we got back to my cousin’s house for the big reunion, so there isn’t a video to share (it’s hard to capture an all black dog after midnight. Especially one who’s practically vibrating from the excitement of seeing his papa)
Saturday morning, after brunch with my mom at one of my favorite local shops, the three of us headed to Gettysburg for a self guided tour of the battlefield.
Saturday night Brian & I took off for a little date night @ Hershey Stadium to see Imagine Dragons. It was an epic show. Grace VanderWaal was their opening act too!
Before mom & I dropped Brian off on Sunday he had a little surprise in store for me too. Looks like it won’t take me [what feels like] 12 years to edit photos anymore!
Our little family loaded up into two seperate cars we set our sights on the east coast. We took our time traveling across the country and did the trip in three days, taking time so show Brian some sights like Crazy Horse, Mount Rushmore, the Arch, & the Corn Palace. 
Only a week after arriving here it was time for Brian & I to say goodbye to each other while we each complete this next leg of our journey apart from one another. See you soon babe.
Load the car & write the note.
Grab your bag & grab your coat.
Tell the ones that need to know.
We are headed East.
The time has come to once again say my goodbyes to Montana. It’s always such a bittersweet moment when we part, but it’s time to step forward into the next adventure. We’ve yet again had some good times my old friend. I’m already looking forward to my next visit. Xoxo.
Becky is one of those friends who never seems to turn me down for an adventure, or in some cases a grand misadventure; which is precisely why I like her. She has many, many other charming qualities but the fact that she loves a good adventure as much as I do easily tops the list.
Not seeing her while I was in Montana was simply not an option so the first free weekend that we both had, I packed up the Jeep & headed south to her ranch just south of Missoula for some quality time between our two families. We’d both added some new members to our pack since last time we’d hung out and were excited for everyone – new and old – to enjoy each other’s company. As expected, the weekend didn’t disappoint.
Thanks for the great weekend Becky & Nate! We’re already looking forward to our next adventure with ya’ll. 
Knowing we were heading out of Alaska and into Montana for at least a month or so in the New Year my in-laws postponed Christmas until we got to their house. We arrived in Montana precisely three days after leaving our home in Anchorage & unable to wait any longer, my father-in-law declared that night to be Christmas. Although we were exhausted, we happily exchanged Christmas gifts with the family. My father-in-law surprised my mother-in-law and myself with a 12-mile loop through the Stillwater State Forest in the basket of a dog sled. Due to circumstances beyond our control it was nearly a month later that we cashed in our unique gift certificates, but the time spent with my mother-in-law and the dogs was completely worth the wait.
I knew this day would come eventually. It’s been pretty much written into our story since before we even got to Alaska. Eve as the years ticked by here the inevitable goodbyes always seemed so far away.
The day after New Years the movers came and packed up our host. The took most of our belongings to port and shipped them back to the lower 48. Three days ago we packed up the Jeep, hugged our friends goodbye, and set our sights on a place far, far away.
We managed to knock out the trip in less than 72 hours – a feat I would not again recommend – but I also wouldn’t recommend driving in -35 degree temps either.
A few snaps from our last few days in the house and our travels through Canada.
I’m going to miss you Alaska… but damn it feels good to be home.
