I don't know if any of you have been to Stanley Idaho but if not you should go there at least once to experience it. It's beautiful and I love it just as much as the Tetons. Just trade the Tetons for the Sawtooths and you're all set with new wonderful experiences and of course a population of 100 residents vs the hundreds that are in the Tetons. 

While I was in Stanley I discovered new experiences With Gimli. number 1 (and I mentioned this before), is that he does not start up after a full day out in temps where it drops below 8 degrees during the night. In Stanley, it got anywhere from -1 to -10 while I was staying with my friend and it seems that Gimli does not agree with that temp. Of course, I'm glad to know that now and in a controlled environment vs one where I am stranded on a mountain somewhere with no service or help. One of my friends, C, Helped me out and gave me a jump and after putting the cables on the battery and just doing a slight turn I realized that the battery was fully charged. It just needed a little extra spark. So with that, I was able to turn it on and go about whatever I needed to do. 

The second thing I learned was that my back driver's side door (in the "trunk area") collects water and when it does it freezes so when you try to open it, it scrapes the inside of the van due to the ice that collects in the back. And by back I mean there is a gap under my taillight where the door sits when it's closed and as it turns out it collects water and will make large icicles. The passenger side doesn't do this as much but the drivers...well... that's an issue. It makes opening the door quite the task and I'm afraid of Ruining the door over time. But I'm sure I can figure out a solution for that since I now know about that little problem. 

Third, Gimli likes to "Dance" on snow. By that term I mean he does the fishtail quite a lot if you try to go over ten miles per hour and that's with the van almost empty. honestly, it's surprising because I didn't know that it would do that and I discovered it while I was trying to go into town one day to get more supplies. Of course, I had an inkling that even was more susceptible to pulling a few moves due to its size and weight but every time it does it, it still surprises me and throws me off. Of course, growing up in the south I am still learning about driving in snow and it's been an experience. Not a bad one, thank goodness, but one that has definitely been taking some time to get used to. 

Of course, Everything on the journey is a learning experience and I'm glad to learn and grow with them. It's not easy sometimes to learn this way but Im glad that Im taking the chance to put myself out there and be on this journey. We have a little over a month and a half before I am back with the family and able to get started on those new art pieces. Im sad its coming to an end but excited to get things going and to work on the long awaited pieces that I love so much.