Well I really still can’t believe how everything has worked out. Simply amazing. This is an update from Plan: A and Plan A: update #1
We left Tahoe right before their last storm, missing the snow but on to better things. We decided to take a little extra time and extended our road trip over to San Francisco then up the coastal highway all the way to Portland. We had friends in both cities that had room for us to stay for a few days, and we car camped on the beaches the rest of the time. However before we could make it out of California we had some issues, a blow out and resulting new set of 4 tires set us back big time. (They said they couldn’t replace just one cause its AWD, sounds like highway robbery to me but what choice did I have?). So by the time we were in Oregon we were hurting for money. Our plan was to go to Bend where we know we could get jobs and stay for a month or more to save up more money and get back on the road. Well we pulled into Bend and right away we were disappointed. Big construction cranes, anti walmart signs, lots of people and lots of growth, not what we wanted… in fact these were some of the reasons we left where we were. So we checked out the brewery and hung around town for the night but first thing in the morning we packed up and headed out for our original destination, Jackson Hole.
At this point we have very little money and we’ve been living out of the car for a little while. No worries though, I just have a feeling that if we can make it to JH everything will work out. And I really can’t imagine how things could have worked out better. We spent a night in Idaho Falls and get into Jackson the next morning. From the minute we pulled into town we were both just blown away by everything, this couldn’t be real. I’ve never been anywhere like this, the mountains, all the snow, the river through it, this was what we left to find and right then and there we decided we were doing what it takes to stay.
Someone up stairs must really like us because almost at the very moment of this realization opportunities started to present themselves. I wont bother with all the details but beers at the brewery lead to conversations with new friends and on to amazing things. Within 24 hours of getting to JH I had a job, my wife has a job, and we have a place to stay. But these weren’t just any shitty jobs we could find or a room for rent… I found a job at one of the premier local backcountry stores, a great opportunity to work along side and learn from some of the most knowledgeable people around, and learn exactly what I came here to learn. And the place we found to rent is just un-fucking-believable. We are basically 5 minutes from Teton Village, and there are mountains with fresh tracks all over them right out my front door.
I feel like I might wake up from this dream soon, or that its all just too good to be true. But I’m here and its real. Not 6 weeks ago I was working my dead end job hours away from any skiing and loosing my mind day by day… all the time reaching for some kind of goal to be able to do something like this. Then I simply had a realization, that it didn’t matter how much money I made or how long I worked, I wasn’t going to be doing what I wanted unless I just did it. So, I did, and here I am. And looking back all I can think is that it was actually pretty easy. My life is now completely changed, and who knows how it will change even more over the coming months. But all I can say is I’m happy to be here and I’m not looking back, and I kick myself for not doing this a long time ago.
