How it all began
“To be honest, the first thing I noticed was her butt in those white yoga pants.”
— Isaak
“I caught a ride back in a pickup truck from Surprise Canyon in Panamint Valley. He was sitting in the back up of truck — surprise!”
— Julia
“We were together. I forgot the rest.”
— Walt Whitman
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Isaak and Julia met at Passover in the Desert, a gathering of Earth-worshipping Jews in Southern California.
They started talking and the conversation meandered through all of their favorite topics — nature, trees, literature, and adventure. Within six hours of getting to know each other, Isaak said, “What are we going to do? You live in San Francisco and I live in Portland.”
They took a big leap – Julia moved in with Isaak after just meeting him a few times. When you know, you know. Within a few months, they left Portland in search of their home. They put their stuff in Isaak’s parents’ garage and went wandering through the desert. Like all good journeys, theirs has had its share of trial and errors — tests of love, ya know?
After a few months living out of a Subaru, they yielded the call of the forest to settle in a woodsy cabin in the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, east of Ashland and halfway between San Francisco and Portland. The fact that they are equidistant from Isaak’s family in Portland and Julia’s in San Francisco makes all the Jewish parents happy.
Isaak proposed on the bank of the Illinois River during a weekend backpacking trip last summer with this great grandmother’s engagement ring and now they’re ready to tie the knot.
And now we invite you to join us on the sacred land we call home
A lot of our journey has been just the two of us — alone in the desert and the forest. It’s been deep and wild and now we’re so excited to welcome you into this fairytale.
We chose to get married at Willow Witt Ranch because they are dedicated to stewarding, conserving, and regenerating this unique ecosystem.
We acknowledge that we are living on the traditional land of the Shasta people and pay our respects.
