How I became a Pig Farmers Wife: Part 2

So...Before I jump into the marriage part of my life, let me go back a little to the dating part. Hunting, fishing, camping...outdoor life in general, has always been a part of our relationship. I mean, we met on a camping trip..that seemed to have set a tone for everything else. Even on some of our "dates" (if you can even call it that) consisted of me, sitting in between Pete and Eric in the front seat of a red pick-up scouting for deer. Or me, sitting on the side of the river watching Pete fish. One time, I even whitnessed an actual hunt. Pete is primarily an archery hunter. Which means he uses a bow and arrow...which, I think, is much harder than using a gun. Anyway, as I was saying, I actually whitnessed Pete taking down a deer. At the time, I had never really been exposed to any sort of hunting so everything was new to me. Pete, Eric and I had been driving around scouting for deer one summer evening. We were on private land that they had permission to hunt on. Anyways, lo and behold..there is a little buck about 50 yards away. I watch Pete draw back his bow as the little buck stood there. Everything was silent except for the cicadas humming in the oak trees. My heart was pumping! It was pretty exilerating. And then "thunk!" he releases the arrow. I will not go into great detail, but I will tell you, that at that moment...I realized what this sport was to him. I understood why he did it. It's not something that I can really explain, but I gained a lot of respect for the sport and especially for Pete that day.
Hunting continuted to be a part of our relationship well into fall with turkey season, winter with duck season, and spring with another turkey season and fishing. Many weekends were spent with me waiting for him to come back from a day trip and we would spend the evenings together. Little did I know I'd be doing this for the rest of my life! But I was in love...
Even our honeymoon was "outdoors-y". No, not on exotic beach in Tahiti. But on a trip to Yellowstone in Wyoming. Again, little did I know how much this would forshadow the rest of my life! We drove to Wyoming from California staying in nice hotels the whole way. But once we got to Jackson Hole, we actually camped at a very nice KOA campground. Yes, camping on our honeymoon! Pete would get up each morning and walk down to the Snake River and fish and we spent the rest of the day looking for wildlife and taking in the glorious scenery of Yellowstone. If you've never been there...it's absolutly amazing.
It's funny to think back on this stuff now...As we get ready to enter the next chapter in our lives...when I'm often finding myself asking "how in the world did we end up here?". When really, it's been a part of us all along.
To be continuted...