The first time Andrew McGowan locked eyes with Shallen Yu, it was through a storefront window in Yellowstone National Park. Something electric passed between them.
“I saw her through the window and said to myself, ‘I’m going to marry that girl,’” Andrew recalls.
At the time, they were total strangers — from different countries, cultures, and upbringings. But Andrew was right.
A Fishing Trip Meets Fate
It was the summer of 2013. Andrew, a twentysomething college student from Utah, had joined his extended family on a reunion-style camping trip in Yellowstone. The plan was simple: avoid drama, fish with his brother, and soak in the park’s rugged beauty.
What made this trip different was the location — the family was camping near Canyon Village, an area they’d never stayed in before. Coincidentally, that’s where Shallen, a student from Taiwan, was working a summer job as part of an international work program.
Andrew had recently returned from a two-year Mormon mission in the Philippines. While his time abroad had strengthened his language skills and broadened his worldview, he’d returned to find that his family had left the Mormon Church — a transition that left him emotionally adrift.
But all of that faded the moment he saw Shallen.
A Chocolate Milk and Mandarin Icebreaker
Inside the general store where Shallen worked, Andrew spotted her — and was instantly smitten. Even though she wasn’t working the fishing license counter, Andrew intentionally bought a chocolate milk at her register just for the chance to talk to her.
“She was smiling really big, and he looked like he froze,” Shallen remembers, laughing.
Andrew noticed her nametag said “Taiwan,” so he nervously attempted to introduce himself in Mandarin — with mixed results. “Really poor Mandarin,” Shallen chuckles. “Then he just walked out.”
But Andrew couldn’t let it go. Sitting in his brother’s car moments later, he made a split-second decision: he jumped out and ran back inside.
He approached her and, again in broken Mandarin, asked if she had a boyfriend. She didn’t. He then asked her to dinner.
“I said no,” Shallen remembers. “We were in the middle of nowhere — dinner sounded way too formal.”
But she offered an alternative: “If you want to practice Mandarin, we can grab ice cream.”
First Date: Ice Cream, Stars, and Peach Cobbler
Two days later, they met outside the store. Andrew had sunburned himself badly on a long hike and was wearing borrowed clothes, but he didn’t care.
They grabbed cones from a rustic ice cream shop, and Andrew’s sister happened to spot them — snapping what would become the first candid photos of the couple. “It looked like paparazzi,” Shallen laughs.
The conversation flowed easily. They switched from Mandarin to English and shared stories about home, school, and travel.
“It felt like I’d known him for a long time,” Shallen says. “Usually I’m slow to open up, but with him, I wasn’t uncomfortable.”
They drove to Artist Point, a scenic lookout in the park. A family visiting from the Philippines asked them to take a photo — then offered to take one of the couple. It became their first official photo together.
Back at Andrew’s family campsite, peach cobbler was cooking. On a whim, he invited Shallen to join — not realizing she’d be meeting his entire family on their first date. But she said yes.
By the end of the night, she’d held his baby niece, met his mom (who was immediately smitten), and felt right at home. The two finished the evening stargazing, talking until 2 a.m.
A Summer Turns Into Something More
When Andrew left Yellowstone the next day, they exchanged numbers. While Shallen assumed that would be the end of their brief summer spark, Andrew had other ideas. He returned to Yellowstone in August, just to see her.
That second visit deepened their bond — and introduced Andrew to Shallen’s group of international coworkers. They spent the evening swimming in Firehole River, talking late into the night again.
Later, Shallen visited Utah to meet Andrew’s friends — who were shocked that he had actually met someone “in the wild” of Yellowstone. “They thought I was making her up,” Andrew laughs.
But summer had to end. Shallen returned to Taiwan. They stayed in touch, launching into a long-distance relationship.
A Leap Across the World
Andrew began saving every penny from two jobs — carpentry by day, youth mentoring by night — to visit her. Nine months later, he flew to Taiwan.
They explored Taipei, hiked, and visited the Philippines together. But winning over Shallen’s traditional family was not so easy.
“My family wanted someone who’d already graduated, owned a home,” says Shallen. “They just didn’t get it.”
Andrew tried to impress — including a hilariously ill-fated golf outing with Shallen’s high-powered mother — but the cultural gap was wide.
Despite the obstacles, their connection deepened. Andrew applied to study Mandarin in Taipei and moved in with Shallen in early 2015.
That’s when marriage entered the picture.
Elopement and a New Beginning
Faced with strong family resistance, the couple made a difficult decision: they eloped in the Utah hills in summer 2015, two years after they met.
“We had maybe 20 people — friends helping carry tables and blankets,” says Andrew. “It was small but special.”
Shallen was heartbroken that her family couldn’t support the wedding, but she knew she had to follow her heart.
“I wanted to choose my own path,” she says. “And I was so happy with him.”
A year later, they held a larger celebration in Utah — and this time, Shallen’s mother and close friends came. Her mom even consulted a Chinese fortune teller, who said the match would work out.
A Life Together
Today, Andrew and Shallen live in California with their two young children, born in 2017 and 2019. The move gave them a multicultural community where they feel at home.
Andrew has since left the Mormon Church, and the couple has carved out a life rooted in shared values, open communication, and teamwork.
“We’ve built a family that puts us and our kids first,” says Andrew. “It’s us against the world — in the best way.”
They’ve returned to Yellowstone as a family, showing their kids the exact spot where it all began. Standing again at Artist Point, looking out over the same view that framed their first date, they felt a full-circle moment.
“Even with all the hard stuff — I’d do it 100 times over,” says Andrew. “It was worth it.”
