Montrose :-(

We wanted to love Montrose. We really did! It's in Colorado ... and EVERYBODY loves Colorado. It's the gateway community to a cool National Park. What could go wrong, right? Sadly, Montrose ended up being the saddest stop on the trip so far. Don't get me wrong; it wasn't terrible. It wasn't full of tumble-down buildings or anything. It was just a place that didn't really have a lot of soul. Instead, there was just a deep sense of apathy. The place wasn't ramshackle, but it didn't feel loved; the people seemed unexpectedly unfriendly; most of the folks we saw around town were walking around without masks and gave us funny looks because we were. This did not come across as a welcoming place, and it made us feel really ... well, unwelcome. 

All of that said, we did have some fun. Nate and I went out most days to play Frisbee at the local park.

Nate had a fun birthday, baking a cake with his mom and getting a snowball maker and a Minecraft stuffy for presents.

We also stayed in a very nice house on a quiet residential street. 

Maybe this is also a good time to come back to the question of how this lifestyle suits Rachel, Nathan, and I. Oddly, it doesn't even feel strange anymore. I will admit that the dreamlike sheen of the first couple of stops has worn off. I don't feel deliriously happy each day to be on the grand adventure. But I do feel like, with the honeymoon phase over, we've settled into our new (temporary) lifestyle with a deeper and more realistic love. We don't fall for every place we see. Heck, I was even talking smack in my last post about a National Park unit! Imagine that! But, I also have a hard time imagining not picking up every couple of weeks and heading off to some new, interesting place. We're already wondering how differently we'll be looking at the world when we finally arrive in Portland. If nothing else, I think we're going to have a much better idea of what we want in a home ... and in a community. And that feels pretty good.