The Pursuit of Happiness.

However you look at it, we are all in search of one thing. A thing that seems to always be just at our fingertips if we can just get one step higher. A word that rarely leaves our mouths. A need that everyone has and will work longer, push further, and pray harder - even if they don't believe in a God - to satisfy it. It is a dream everyone has, never realizing they've all achieved it time and again. We rarely succeed in our pursuit of happiness because we wait for others to tell us that we've found it.

Joel and I share a queen size mattress right now. Jackson has a therma-rest that he has moved into the living room where the shag-carpet adds a little more padding. We have a sweet house in Weaverville - just north of Asheville, and just south of the site. Our yard needs mowed, but we don't have a lawn mower yet. We have a patio that we've already taken full advantage of, lying in sun, in the fold up chairs our landlords left in the shed. We have a broken recliner sitting in front of the fireplace that we got for free because of Craigslist. I can honestly say there is not an ounce of complaint put into that description. It's hilarious. It's also good to know that we don't need much to survive.

We finished training with the first group of guides last week. The Navitat course is just plain amazing, and it's not even finished. It will be done by May 15, which is the official opening day. So much imagination and care has been put into this course that it's impossible to find anything wrong with it. It's also comforting to know that the best zip line company in the U.S. (based in Grand Junction, who knew?) is behind all of it. This week, we have alternated helping Evan out to train the second group of guides. Joel is at work now, while Jackson and I have been sitting at the coffee shop downtown since about 11:30. It's now 2:30. Yesterday reminded me exactly of working in Juneau last summer - opening carabiners in the freezing, pouring rain. This time, however, I was on the other side of things, flying into the platform at 40 miles per hour teaching the new guides how to stop an out of control guest and praying that they understood how to do it. They did. This season is going to be exciting, and Garrison will be here Saturday which makes things even more exciting.

I don't know how we got here, and often times I wake up and literally ask myself, "Where am I?" I will continue to chase happiness across the world if I have to, but for now, It's gonna be a great summer, fall, winter, and spring in Asheville, NC.

Y'all Aren't from Around Here, Are You?

"If you are arriving on Southwest flight (some number) from Portland, your baggage can be picked up at carousel seven."

The person speaking those words at the Denver airport couldn't possibly imagine the significance that sentence carried for me. Upon hearing it, thoughts rang through my mind, and as quickly as they entered, were pushed out by new ones. We were doing it again. None of us had ever been to that part of the country. Can Frankenstein, with 201,000 miles on it, survive a five day road trip across the United States of America? Why is that guy wearing Joel's sweatshirt? I hope Joel is also wearing that sweatshirt. Speaking of shirts, why is Jackson's shirt still on? We don't even know where we're going to live. Stuff like that.

I drove from Grand Junction to Denver that Wednesday afternoon to pick the guys up. That night, we stayed at Drew's house, and we hung out with Anthony and Jason as well - all old friends from Craig. The next morning, around 6:00 am, we were on I-70 out of Colorado and into Kansas. We all hate Kansas. Our 16 hour drive led us to the Buffalo River around Ponca, Arkansas, where we met up with Kyle and Ashley and their dog Millie. For Kyle and me it was a long overdue reunion, and hopefully it won't be another two years before I see him again. We camped for two nights surviving the irritating ticks, the irritable motor home "camping" neighbor, and bathing in the less-than-favorable temperature of the river. On Saturday we got back on the road, taking the scenic route out of Arkansas and into Tennessee, where we made it nearly to Knoxville, and camped in a nearby national park. None of us had seen a camping spot like this before. These southerners really love their motor homes. At the campsite next to ours, however, we had a chance to finally meet some new people - two college-aged girls who needed a hatchet to chop up some firewood. Enter Jackson. Bingo. This was our first chance to dissect the minds of southern women, and by-golly, we took it. Needless to say, we spent most of the evening talking to them. Sunday morning showed it's beautiful face, and with only four hours to go, we headed to Asheville. Arriving into the city was frantic. We didn't know where we were going, nor did we actually have an actual destination other than just Asheville. Eventually, we made our way downtown, doing the typical tourist thing until we met with Evan and Dylan, two of our bosses, and their wives who took us out to dinner. At the end of the night, we had no idea where we were, who we were surrounded by, when our job at the new zipline started, or what was for breakfast the next day; but one thing we did know: Frankenstein made it to Asheville.