Nancy: Okay, so here's the closing question. How do you think your involvement with this place, and you can define what this place means for you, has shaped your identity in the ways that you've moved to the world?

Geoffrey: Context. I grew up in LA and uh, came to the University of Wyoming. Stepped off the plane in Breeze Field, as it was called at the time, in Laramie, and realized I want to live here the rest of my life. The Rockies, they're different than California mountains, and I mean, I did a lot in the Sierra, but I loved it – I loved Wyoming.

Rebecca: I'm not sure you liked Wyoming girls, but you loved Wyoming.

Geoffrey: Yeah. I liked one Wyoming girl. I told our grandson, he said, "How come you married, Nana?"  And I said, "Well, I had a lot of girlfriends. But she was the prettiest one." The first time I ever came down this road, she was with me in our ‘70 bug. And, uh, she was going to introduce me to her family.

Rebecca: We didn't know at that point in 1970 that we were going to get married.

Geoffrey: Came down the road. It was a Saturday. Metropolitan opera was blaring over the top of the mountain from big speakers that Warren would set up on the roof. He was working on the roof. The Christmas lights were on all the way around the cabin, including in the trees. 

Rebecca: He'd have it all lit up. 

Geoffrey: And that was my introduction to the mountain and to her family.  And didn't scare me off.

Rebecca: And the fact that they loved you so much better than my old boyfriend.

Geoffrey: That was a low bar.

Rebecca: Oh, come on, he's a nice person.

Geoffrey: And then went to Crimson Dawn for Midsummer’s Eve and realized, oh, there is a magic here. As I say, back then we could see the big horns from the front porch. Aspens and pine trees and deer, and we saw foxes. It was just... I knew it was a magic place. And it's a place I want to come to. For a recharge every summer. Not just because it's pretty, but for a recharge.

Note: The transcript above has been condensed from its original audio recording to improve the flow and readability of the story.