Continuation of Stuff, Good Stuff

It's Christmas Eve. Jax is curled up on his bed on my desk next to me. He is my constant shadow. Feels weird to go anywhere without him. There are still a few stores in town that haven't accepted him yet but everybody expects him to come in if I come in. I wish I could get him to quit peeing on fake potted plants. Rained most of the day today and we didn't get a little bit of sun until very late afternoon so we hiked over with guests to check the water level in the pond and water in the tanks that support the houses and hogans. We're in pretty good shape this year. 

I have a mistake to account for. I said I thought Dec 20th was the shortest day of the year but I looked it up today and its December 21st. Shortest day of sunrise that is. Still all these years I've been counting December 20th and the sun was off by a couple minutes this year. Going by my Mac Book time all these years.

Don't think the mountain lion showed up this fall either. It should have been here around Thanksgiving but I haven't run across a track so far. Cowboys said they saw a track out in Jackson Hole little north of here but I've got nothing I'm happy to report. In reality it just means she's killing a big horn or deer every week somewhere but here.

I think part of the reason I'm highlighting conversation about Base Camp and how deep it penetrates people's hearts is that I'm torn myself. I'm looking at two other properties. If I can't buy Doug's property on the hill I'll probably use my VA guarantee which means when I buy them, more like whichever one I buy, I have to live in which takes me away from here and I don't want to be away from here. Ideally I want to live on the hill above the lodge where I can come down and help whenever they need it but spend the bulk of my days like I did in the early times out exploring. It makes it even harder when I read the emails and letters because they're so good.

I don't do weddings anymore. I make the same amount of money with three times the work and it throws the property off sync. By that I mean there are eight rentals and usually two to four of them go vacant each day and re-rent. We can keep up. We have a wedding and or other type of event they all go vacant and re-rent the same day and it's a tough day trying to clean four rooms, two houses, and two hogans, have them ready, and pick up after the previous event by 3pm check in time.

Then I got this. 

"Hi there Tom!

I hope you are well, Kobae is finding convenient places to sleep, and you are enjoying the fresh driveway (I love your blog). My name is Leah, you may not remember me, but I stayed in one of your hogans with two other young women (we had 2 black dogs with us) around New Years a couple years ago. I drive a green Toyota Tacoma and you patiently guided me back down the road on the way out after a snowstorm, and memorably helped me tie my Thule box down when one of the clips broke going around an icy turn!

Anyway, whether you remember me or not, my couple nights in your slice of heaven truly grounded me in the years since as I’ve worked to establish my career, just knowing if I work hard and intentionally I may be able to set up my only (albeit much littler!) slice of heaven in the desert. The Colorado plateau is so important to me and you were the first one I saw who had embedded your life in the wilderness— not just settling for weekend trips to get your fill of the desert’s calm and beauty.

So fast forward to now, and as my partner and I plan a (still far off) wedding celebration, the only place I have pictured gathering our family and friends has been...on your property!  I have spent hours and hours telling my partner about your land in the context of day dreaming about our own land and future, and a good chunk of time showing her every nook and cranny of your website, so she perfectly understands the allure.

So that leads me to...

Do you think you may be open to renting out the whole property (both houses, hogans, the whole shabang) for a weekend in September 2023 for us to host (~40-50 people) for our wedding?

If so, would you be open to my partner and I coming down one day maybe this fall or next spring so my partner could see the property, meet you, and we could deliver you a cash or check deposit of whatever you are comfortable with?

Let me know what you think, or if you would prefer to chat on the phone. It would truly be a tremendous honor to get to share the desert with our loved ones through your home!

Thanks for your time,
Leah"

I'll do it. Sometimes you find yourself in the middle of nowhere, and sometimes in the middle of nowhere, you find yourself.