A Mid-Winter Vacation: The Send-Off Moments

As Friday rolled around, the Harringtons knew they would soon be saying farewell to Hakcheol who was in route to Seattle before heading back to the home-land. The Harringtons were grateful to be able to 'sneak' Hyunhee out of her classes for the morning and after everyone had managed breakfast, the crew slowly made their way to Big Sky Brewing Company after stopping into a Casino so that Hyunhee could try her luck at the slots.

After sampling some brews, the crew took Hakcheol to the International Airport and sent him on his way before returning to the tasting room to finish off their sampling tour. Being a class day, Hyunhee had some responsibilities to address in terms of a volunteer activity for which Mike and Melissa dropped her off before heading over to Biga Pizza for some pizza that was truly out of this-world. The Harrington duo continued their afternoon with a combination of napping and reading (Mike) and thrifting and shopping (Melissa).

With the coming of evening, the Harringtons and Hyunhee had plans to meet up with Ethan and his girlfriend to enjoy a Vietnamese dinner followed by meandering downtown Missoula for first Friday's. After entering a number of shops and checking out some art displays, the Harrington and crew made their way to a yogurt shop where they were surprised (and thrilled) to run into another HSI student, Laice. A bit of catching up, downing some fine yogurt and capturing a few photos everyone was off on their separate ways for a good nights sleep.

Saturday came and saw the Harringtons and Hyunhee making their way out of town to visit the dear family of good friends Garrett and Alla (still living the life in South Korea).

As should be expected, arrival was welcomed with glasses of wine and bottle of beer and an incriminating photo of Garrett (but not actually incriminating because of who he is...). Soon after, we were exploring the home, the outbuildings and the acreage by foot, snowmobile and 4-wheeler. The sky was perfectly blue, the snow deep and untouched making for an absolutely pleasant day for exploring Big Sky country.

Unfortunately, all good (and great) things must come to an end, and with a desire to be on the road and arriving in Worland that evening, the Harrington duo had to call it a day and make their way back into to town, say their farewell to Hyunhee and start on the long trek to Worland.

As per "Mid-Winter Vacation" tradition, the couple stopped over in Bozeman to hit up the second brewery in town, Bozeman Brewing. They also had the great pleasure of meeting up with the infamous and wildly talented Becca Skinner while enjoying some finely brewed beers before continuing forth to a restful night of sleep in Worland.

Come Sunday morning, the Harringtons were finally en route to Laramie, dog in lap. Staring into the great wide open and once again feeling immense gratitude for the time they were able to live life in South Korea, creating friendships that bring pure, unadulterated joy into the everyday.