Stuck in a Truck

  Sorry we’re late! We were having too much fun in Idaho :) What a beautiful state! Our drive from Montana was maybe the prettiest travel day yet. Once we entered Idaho, the road followed the winding Clearwater River and was framed by picturesque Ponderosa pines and rolling hills. We enjoyed a life of luxury this week in two different Airbnb’s, both quite a step up from life in the big blue truck. We spent a few very fun, but sweltering (temperatures got up over 100!) days in Boise and gathered up our crew of friends to celebrate Matthew’s birthday. We enjoyed a lovely dinner with an AmeriCorps friend I haven’t seen in years (thank you Jenna!), jammed out to Caamp at the Idaho Botanical Gardens, and visited maybe one too many Boise brew pubs before heading to the mountains.   We spent Matthew’s actual birthday driving out to our cabin in the Sawtooth Mountain range. It was a beautiful day for a swim, so we pulled over to hop into the river and picnic for a few hours in the aft...

This morning I am writing to you from a cozy coffee shop in Missoula, Montana! Such a cool little college town. Artsy vibes, tons of breweries, and a walking path along the river -- all of our favorite things. We are making our way towards Boise, ID today, and then the Sawtooth Range to meet up with friends next week to celebrate Matthew's 30th birthday! But first, we had the most fantastic week in Glacier National Park and I can't wait to tell you all about it!  Day 1 Glacier- There is still so much snow here!! I guess it kind of makes sense that a park named after glaciers would have snow in July, but holy moly! The hike we did today was just a giant snowy hill with a bunch of tourists slipping and sliding all the way up. Like hundreds of baby deer all taking their first steps, but they’re on an ice rink and they’re all trying to go to the same place. Needless to say, it was funny to watch. We did our fair share of slipping, but it was such a warm day that falling onto snow f...

  I am writing to you from inside the first official time we have popped the top of the big blue truck! And after the most incredible week in Banff National Park. We were very prepared for some summertime camping--complete with a fan, very light bedding, and of course the ability to pop up the truck cap for airflow. Turns out it gets pretty chilly at night in Banff. So we kept the truck cap closed for warmth, bought two more blankets (we couldn't agree on the color we wanted so we each got our own) and I wore the winter hat I packed for summiting snowy mountains to sleep each night. We were a little cold, but boy was it worth it. On our first full day, we decided to hike to one of the many famous lakes Banff has to offer. It was super nice to be able to make a nice breakfast and have coffee at our campsite before heading out on our short drive to the Bourgeau Lake trailhead. You actually had to enter this trail through a giant metal gate (not intimidating at all) so that bears stay...