Welcome to episode 6 of A Summer Adrift!

Before we get into this episode, I wanted to let you all know that we lost our dear Luna, the luckiest cat that ever lived, on the evening of January Ninth. After a scary week of being in and out of the vet we found her to have large cell lymphoma and complications with gallstones. It all happened so fast. Someday in the future we will be able to recount what all happened that week, how hard she fought, and what all transpired. For now we just wanted you all to know that she is no longer with us. She was loved deeply and we still think we hear her around the truck.

We hope her legacy will make people consider having a cat in their lives who previously wouldn’t have. We hope she has inspired others to include their cats in more aspects of their lives by showing them what’s possible. 

Onto a more positive note, this episode features a lot of Luna, being herself. I’m pretty sure Owen and I will revisit this one for years to come to enjoy her and her antics.

The episode starts out with us arriving in the Jackson, WY area for a few days of camping before heading closer to town and Teton National Park. This is one of our favorite camp spots for the wonderful views and easy access to fishing.

Our time here is always enjoyable and a great way to reset due to the lack of service in the area. These views are among the best the American West has to offer.

After a couple of days we decided to relocate closer to Jackson so we had better access to the Tetons and the town so we could work. It was a breath of fresh air to return to this view for the first time in two years.

The last time we were in Jackson we didn’t have the chance to spend very much time and looked forward to the opportunity to dig a little deeper and see much more of the area.

To celebrate our arrival and Owen getting paid for a job that he did over a year ago we had a fancy little pizza party with the moody looking Tetons in the background. Peter and Shruthi always know how to make a moment special, because this was their idea! Also if you’ve never taken pizza back to camp and reheated in a cast iron, we HIGHLY recommend it!

Being back in service meant we had to prioritize work to be sure that we were staying on top of all of our current projects. Working resulted in us staying at camp for days on end but thankfully we had this incredible view to enjoy anytime we took a break.

It was during this time that Chase and Aimee returned to our company after a week or two apart due to a work obligation that kept them in Utah.

We like to take our “weekends” during the week when we’re in places that tend to get really busy on the weekend. Especially with COVID, we find it to be a good way to keep our distance and get a little more enjoyment out of the places we visit when we are not having to fight through a crowd. After a few days of being in the area we loaded up and went into Teton National Park for the first time since arriving.

We met someone who follows us at Jackson Whole Grocer and he told us that he drove the boats across the lake in the park and offered us a ride. Even though we’re usually the type to turn down a shortcut we decided to take him up on the offer to see the Tetons and the lake from a new perspective. We’re really thankful we did because it was such a treat!

Though the trail was still crowded it took just a mile or so to break past the crowds so we could shed our masks and enjoy the mountain air. The hike was fun and packed with Moose that were graving along the trail. In total we saw 7 moose, one of which was a baby bull who crossed the trail right in front of us. He gave us a good scare but was preoccupied with his snacking.

The following day we decided to take everyone out to climb a local craig for a day of climbing. Owen and I used to climb most days of the week but sadly since we hit the road its fallen to the wayside to make room for the many other recreational activities that we love.

It was fun to get everyone on some routes and to the top of these picturesque rocks. It was a treat to share something that we love so much with people who are new(ish) to climbing. Speaking of which more climbing is on both Owen’s and my list of goals for the year so don’t be surprised if you see more of this in the future.

When we sit still in one area for a while it always seems our focus goes back to being more on elaborate food. We all love to eat and traveling as a group it’s fun to try each other’s cooking. While we were in this area we made many-a meals collaboratively which always made for a fun evening. Even if it was something as simple as sausages cooked over a fire. It’s moments like this that we will remember most about this time we all had together.

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

Our work life is powered by Battle Born! They make the best lithium batteries on the market and are a crucial part of our power and solar system that makes working from the road possible! It took an incredible amount of power to create Summer Adrift, and we have Battle Born to thank for making it possible.

We’ve now been living our of our flat-bed Four Wheel Camper for 2 years now. FWC builds comfortable and durable campers that can fit on any truck. We can confidently say that a FWC is the most comfortable and livable rig we’ve had in all of our years on the road!

Maps are your best friend when you’re on the road. On X makes it easy to find open routes and trails near you no matter where we are or the time of year. On X allows us to access saved maps to locate ourselves in the wild. The GPS works perfectly offline, even when service is nonexistent.

MAK’s favorite underwear (or shall I say innerwear) company anywhere! After a long search to find, comfortable, technical and sustainable underwear the search is finally over! Made of ethically sourced Marino Wool, Branwyn underwear are ready for anything you could through at them. Use code BFN15 for 15% off your next order!

Main Line Overland is the shop that built our incredible rig, Roxanne. They are incredibly knowledgable of everything overlanding. We chose to work with them because they build thoughtful, reliable and durable vehicles that can get you to anywhere you ant to be!

Tires can be some of the best insurance when you are out in remote places. We love and trust our Toyo ATIII’s to get us in and get us out safely no matter the terrain. They’re amazing in mud, moon dust, loose rocks, slick rock, you name it!