Welcome to Our Home!

Can I just say, I love being a homeowner.

Oh my goodness, I love it.

When we were looking for our new home, Chad and I had a very short list of musts:

1) 3 Bedrooms (guest room and craft room a must)
2) 2 Full bathrooms
3) At least a half an acre
4) Garage
5) Move in ready, but without all the remodels and granite counter tops.

It was number 5 that made our realtor question our sanity, but she helped us find it anyways.

We got exactly what we wanted. And it certainly has no remodels or granite.

In fact... now we want to redo EVERYTHING! In a good way though, not in a "there is something wrong with the house" but in a "WEEEE!!! This whole painting and changing this is AWESOME" kinda way!

So, we started easy: painting the living room. The blue paint was horrible, It was so dark and it made the room look so small (and it already is so small!). It was also terribly applied. We peeled every inch of it off, with only little effort. Then we patched the million holes, sanded, primed then finally painted.

 Before (the white area is peeled)

 After!

Done! The hallway in the back is still in stage: peel

Yup! Chad let me paint one of the walls purple!

A New Adventure Begins

End Point: June 30, Jacksonville, NC

WE MADE IT! We made it to our final destination! After 6 weeks in the car (and my friend's and family's guestbeds), Chad and I have made it to Jacksonville, North Carolina. Our new home.

What's best, is that we woke up at 3:30 this morning to make it to our 9am appointment at the lawyer's office - to sign the papers and close escrow on our new house and property!!!

Yes.. the appointment was pushed to noon... and yes... we only signed most of the papers... and yes... we TECHNICALLY squatted in the home that night using the realitor key on the door - but who cares: WE HAVE A NEW HOME!!!!!! And its allllllll ours.We can poke as many holes in and paint as many walls AS WE WANT!

Welcome to Sweetwater.

This roadtrip of mine was a profound experience for me. I realized a few things about myself and a few things about society. Me: mostly, I realized I enjoy my space. I enjoy making decisions and experiencing life without much  of a plan. However, I realized, I love Chad. I missed not having him around, experiencing things with me. Though we bicker a lot while driving together - my life is just better with him around.

Society: People are good. In the entirety of my roadtrip, I felt unsafe ONE time and that time truly had no legitimized reason for it. Basically, I was alone at a dirty campground. That's it. So, I just walked away from the situation. I felt uncomfortable for a whopping 10 minutes and changed my situation and everything was great. No person ever made me feel unsafe or threatened. Most people were nicer than necessary! I had some wonderful conversations with fellow travelers and (my favorite people) visitor center desk volunteers.

I was lucky and didn't run into any mechanical or healthy issues while alone.

I wouldn't trade this experience for anything. It was seriously some of the best weeks I've ever spent.

On the Road Again!

Starting Point: June 24, Sedalia, CO
Ending Point: June 29, Charlotte, NC

Wow, the last 5 days have FLOWN by! I honestly feel like I just started this adventure... I can't believe its about to be over. Six weeks sounds like an awful lot, but when you're living it, time can't go slow enough...

This has been a busy week for us - mostly amazing, with a few hick-ups, but all good. This will be my last road trip post... unfortunately I'm not gonna be getting into quite as much detail as I had hoped... but I hope the pictures speak for themselves.

Wednesday, June 24, Clinton State Park: We finally had to leave the comfort and happiness of my sisters butte. This day was spent bonsai-ing through Kansas, with one stop at a brewery where we had the most amazing cheese covered lunch! We had to make it to the East side of the state by sundown so we could pitch our tent and camp for the night... another doozy... goodness there are a lot of bugs here!

Thursday, June 25, still in the car.... This day got all turned up on its head! Oh goodness! It started out as a normal day - a wonderful day even, full of side trips and exploration - but then BOOM! No LITERALLY - BOOM! All the sudden the thunder starts! Then we see the lighting, Then the rain... ooooohhhh so much rain we couldn't see out the front window! 3 hours we were in the worst storm Chad and I had ever been in... it was insane. By midnight this day Chad was putsing along the highway at a crazy fast 32 mphs...

 Fort Scott

 World's largest rocking chair!!!

This was taken at 11:34pm... soo much lightning!

Friday, June 26, Shepherdsville, KY: Finally we made it to our hotel just south of Louisville. The goal was to hit up the Kentucky Bourbon Trail - which we spent all day Friday doing! It was fun! We went on a couple tours and a of course tastings! It stormed again that night so we just hung out at the hotel - some needed downtime after all the crazy.

 This was my favorite of the day: Knob Creek Smoked Maple

 I don't recommend the bourbon here...

The aging house at Heaven Hill Distillers

Saturday, June 27, Powell, TN: Mammoth Cave National Park!!! Wine tasting!! Woot!!

Sunday, June 28-29, Charlotte, NC: Our last stop before our big arrival in Jacksonville! Staying once again with our awesome friends in Charlotte! But... we had one last wine stop before we got there. We spent these two days eating, laughing, drinking and hangout out on the porch. The perfect end to the *almost* perfect roadtrip!

Next stop: reality!

The Butte

Stay: June 21-23, Sedalia, CO

The few days we spent in Colorado where some of the most inspiring days I've experienced. My sister and her partner are amazing people, accomplishing amazing things.

We spent our days on their amazing property, in their beautiful home - that they have been remodeling  and adding to for the last 2 years. Our evenings were spent on the upper deck with a cold beer. Our mornings on the lower patio with coffee and a book. The days spent hiking and drinking. I mean really, is paradise defined in any other way?

Sunday:

From their house we could see a far off mountain - Devil's Head - so we hiked up it! Went up to the fire watch tower, 9,748 feet above sea level. Later, we celebrated our accomplishment with gin and tonics and some stargazing! Their telescopes are so wonderful that we saw Saturn's rings!

Monday:

We started today off with a mellow hike around the property and up into some state open space. Upon our return we headed to an awesome watering hole - oh my goodness - cheese jalapeno brats, cheese dip AND beer? Yes please!

Tuesday:

We took it a little easy today - I was in full-blown head-stuffed-allergy-mode and my sister had gotten stung by a wasp and it was attacking with arm swelling force! So mostly we spent the day reading, eating and visiting another amazing place - a coffee shop/tap room! Later it was dinner with some additional family and packing... I took no pictures today.. but luckily Chad took the one below during a quick stop at my sister's mother in laws house.

We had the most wonderful time on the Butte. Hopefully we'll get to come back sooner, rather than later!

Colorado Hates Me

Starting Point: June 20, Park and Ride, Fruita, CO
End Point: Sedalia, CO
Miles: 274

Ok, maybe the whole state of Colorado doesn't hate me... but the pollen part.... ooooohhh Colorado pollen hates me!

In any case - we had gone so far and slept so little last night that we had a whole day to just putz around and lo and behold! Colorado National Monument was just 3 minutes from our Park and Ride!

The problem with National Monuments (and Parks for that matter) is that Milli isn't allowed on any of the trails... so Chad and I have to be very careful when choosing our hikes. Luckily for us, this morning was beautiful and just cool enough for us to take a 2 mile round trip hike out to Window Rock.

What's the best way to spend a day after a hike? Lunch and a beer. Thank goodness we found Glenwood Canyon Brewing! Everything was delicious - everything.

Next stop: Sedalia to hang out with my sister for a few days!! Woot!