We found our spot!

Oh my gosh! How long has it been since we've updated our blog!?! Tyler was actually asking the other day if our blog would ever be finished ... our poor trip followers will be left hanging and have no idea what our next trip will be or where we're even considering moving!

Well, we'll help you out .. we've had some extreme change of plans in the last few weeks and are getting ready to ... duh duh duh ... move permanently!

Let's back up a bit so you can get the whole story!

So, the last time we checked in, we were hanging out in Chicago with our great friend Emily. We had an amazing weekend of relaxing, running, partying, and just feeling loved and welcomed. From Chicago, we headed to Madison, Wisconsin. We stayed with Ty's cousin Spencer and took some biking tours of the capitol of Wisconsin. We even met another chiropractor and his personal trainer wife whose daughter's name is also Aspen Grace (NO JOKE!). That one was stranger than fiction.

From Wisconsin we went to Laurel, Nebraska where we spent a few days with Tyler's Danish side of the family that we'd never met. We stayed on the family farm and learned about family tradition, including making "lamby cake" for birthdays and having fish frys. The rural experience was amazing, especially nestled into so much family history! To give an idea, Ty's grandmother was one of twelve kids and his great grandmother made sure that her kids and all of her grandkids created a very tight knit family. Everyone has similar traditions and memories - it was absolutely amazing!

From Laurel, we drove straight through to Yellowstone National Park (Oh yeah, after checking out Mount Rushmore in Rapid City, SD) and had an absolutely amazing three days of camping. (That's saying a lot for a city girl who doesn't like being alone in the wilderness without any amenities). The first night of camping was beautifully set next to a babbling brook, shadowed by gorgeous hillsides and crisp air. Unfortunately, we spent a fair amount of time in our tent hiding from the mosquitos! Note to self: Natural bug spray DOESN'T WORK! So we drove through the rest of Yellowstone the next day, took a pit-stop at the general store and bought the bug spray with the most amount of DEET available, and hiked another 5 miles into our next campsite. This time, we were in heaven. We built a fire, pitched our tent, and slept under the stars, next to our own lagoon and freezing cold creek. Perfect for a morning refresher! For all of the wildlife they told us we'd see, though, we didn't think it would be a few birds, the elk that hang out by the lodge for safety, and the mosquitos. We didn't see Yogi or any of his buddies, no deer, no moose, no nothing! We're convinced there are special underground elevators underneath Yellowstone where the rangers beam up the cool wildlife. Apparently we didn't get the memo as to where the bears where coming up or when. Sheesh!

From Yellowstone, we drove to our next potential, Jackson, Wyoming, and actually kept driving straight through! We hated it, so stayed with more couchsurfers in Driggs, ID instead, our original "potential." Driggs has 1100 people, but is just outside of the Tetons and had some really great natural food stores and fun outdoor music events. Hills got some great altitude training in for her marathon.

At this point in our travels, we were essentially "wasting time" before we got to Bend, Oregon for Hillary's marathon in early August, so we mapped out a few more spots in Montana and Idaho that could have been potential spots. The morning we left Driggs, though, our plans changed completely and we missed all of those Northern spots. At 5:40am, we were driving North toward Helena, Montana and happened to be chatting about the family reunion that Hillary's family has every year at Lake Tahoe. The two week reunion had been going on for about five days and this would be one of the first years Hills would have missed it. We were both thinking out loud and both said "How great would it be to be sitting on the beach at Lake Tahoe right now!?" We took one look at each other, smiled like little kids, and pulled over to do some calculations. An hour later, we were headed in the completely opposite direction, toward Nevada, and on our way to five amazing days at Lake Tahoe!

So rather than spend 5 more days trying to find our perfect spot, we decided that we had already found our perfect spot and it turns out it wasn't even a place that was originally on our list! We couldn't have been more excited about Fort Collins, Colorado, Tyler's hometown! Funny - since he's always said he'd never go back there. The more we talked about it, though, the better we felt about it and the more we realized it was a win-win place for the marriage of the city mouse and the country mouse. So we spent five days on the beach of Lake Tahoe, dreaming about our perfect home, nestled on the Front Range and only a hop skip and a jump from everything we need!

The first week of August brought us to Bend, Oregon, where Hills was focusing on completing her first marathon. While there, we realized that Bend is awesome! There's nothing about Bend that we don't like. We stayed with Hillary's aunt Mardi, who is an absolutely fabulous tour guide for her hometown and over the three days we stayed there, we fell in love with the small town, the lazy Deschutes River that runs through the town, the beautiful homes, the adorable downtown, and the outdoor activity that is less than 30 minutes away for any activity (rafting, skiing, snowboarding, trail running, biking, world-class climbing). We were hooked.

Oh yeah, and the marathon went well. Hills finished in just under 5 hours and is resting from most activity right now, but excited to take on the next challenge. 2500 feet of elevation gain and then 2000 feet of elevation loss is quite a bit for the body to take on in 26.2 miles, so she's thinking something a bit flatter next time.

But now we had a dilemma: Bend or Fort Collins?? We really were stumped.

Well, turns out that the deciding factor came from a death in the family. Hillary's uncle passed suddenly and unfortunately after a bike accident in Denver. After four months of traveling, Ty decided to stay back in the Bay Area while Hillary and Aspen took the trip to Denver for the memorial service. While in Denver, the two Gatteau girls hooked up with family in Fort Collins, about an hour away, and Hills got to take her own tour of the place where Tyler grew up.

Our deciding factor: accessibility! In Fort Collins, we'd only be an hour from an airline hub so it's easy to visit us and easy to travel. We have family on both sides close by (all of whom know each other regardless of our connection - small world!) and we have some great friends in the area. Fort Collins again won over all the rest and we were set!

So we figured we'd found our perfect place, and setting up our home base is more important right now than traveling all over the world. We've put our Asia and New Zealand trips on hold and will probably do the same with our Europe trip. Traveling is really a wonderful opportunity, but after living out of a suitcase for four months, with a baby, we're ready to put down some roots. We've really learned a lot about each other and are so excited that we found a spot about which we're both ecstatic.

Back in the SF Bay Area, we've been getting ready for a move, trying to find a great house to rent, catching up with friends and family, and making some money. We've been doing a bit more housesitting and Ty has been spending 10-hour days installing solar for Jesse's company, REC Solar. Hills will be driving out to Fort Collins to set up house next week, and Ty will follow a week or so after to start getting settled into the world of chiropractic.

We are SOOO excited to be getting settled! Our 9 month trip turned into a 4 month trip and although we're slightly sad we won't be seeing the world, we're more than excited to be putting down our roots!