June 3, 2002 marked the beginning of one of the greatest months of my life. It was on that day that I set out on my roadtrip to Philipsburg, Montana, where I would stay at my Photojournalism professor's summer house with 4 other classmates. The drive up was an experience unto itself, but things just kept getting better from there. Eventually, it became more than a vacation, since I had enough time in one spot to build up and understanding of and a relationship with it. I spent 3 weeks in a town of only 900 people (and it was the county seat) in the middle of some of the most beautiful country imaginable. And after only the first few days, I was saturated with a feeling of deep peace and calm, and an awe for the environment around me.

I can still feel the connection with Montana today, across 1800 miles of mountains and desert.