In the summer of 2013, Andrew McGowan, a Utah native on a family trip to Yellowstone, locked eyes with Shallen Yu through a general store window and instantly felt something special. “I saw her and thought, ‘I’m going to marry that girl,’” he recalls.
Shallen, a student from Taiwan working in the park for the summer, was behind the counter. Andrew, smitten, bought a chocolate milk just to speak with her. In broken Mandarin, he asked if she had a boyfriend. She said no. When he asked her to dinner, she countered with a safer offer — ice cream, in front of the store.
They met two days later for that ice cream, bonding quickly over shared interests. Conversation flowed so easily that Andrew later invited Shallen to join his family at their campsite for peach cobbler — on their first date. She agreed, unknowingly meeting his entire extended family, who instantly adored her.
The evening ended with stargazing, and a first date that lasted until 2 a.m.
Though they assumed it might be a one-time experience, Andrew returned to Yellowstone in August to see Shallen again. This time, she introduced him to her friends. Their connection deepened. Soon after, Shallen visited Utah to meet Andrew’s friends, who were skeptical such a meet-cute could be real — until they met her.
Despite coming from different cultures and backgrounds, the two stayed in touch and kept seeing each other. That fateful moment in Yellowstone turned into a lasting love story — just like Andrew had hoped.
