Move to Windbird and Daily Projects

Our lease in the St Paul apartment ended October 31st, so I spent time organizing our belongings again (boat, storage, and donation items) and had Sam help me clean as much as possible during his last five days in the apartment with Piper and me. I moved out Friday night prior to Halloween and spent the weekend with my family.

 

Here lies our belongings in a 5x10 storage unit in MN.  We have our bikes stashed in my brother's garage and some holiday decorations in his basement (all in ND). 

The morning of the 31st, Piper and I set out for Indianapolis where we needed to pick up Sam around 9 PM. It was a twelve hour drive that took us fourteen hours and then we lost an hour for the time zone. I arrived late so met Sam at the hotel. 

 

Our second day of travel. Piper did well in the car, not usually his favorite thing, but by the third day, he was relaxing in the back seat. 

During the next travel day, we planned to stop at a few Bourbon distilleries in Kentucky. We first stopped at Four Roses. We watched a film on their history and got a glance at their facility since they were under construction, which was doubling over the next year. Here we learned why the trees, barns, and fences were all painted black. During prohibition, people illegally made moonshine; however, the distilling process gives off a chemical that turns the trees black, so all people painted their trees, barns, and fences black so the authorities couldn't tell who was illegally making alcohol. 

We had lunch between the Four Roses and Wild Turkey distilleries. Once at Wild Turkey, we were too late for their tour but paid to have a tasting. The tour guide was young and was knowledgeable about the distillery but seemed more interested in talking about drinking the whiskey than anything else. We were glad we just did the tasting. Then we took back roads to Woodford. 

 

I loved the Kentucky countryside. We drove this road between the Wild Turkey distillery and Woodford Reserve distillery. 

At Woodford Reserve, we waited for their 3:30 tour so we took Piper out for a short walk around the property. We took him down to the river where he enjoyed running through the murky water. Then we got on a bus to drive down to the original, and still operating, buildings on the property. I believe the only reason for the bus was to make it accessible to all tourists; we could have easily walked up and down the hill. Our tour guide was amazing and sure did love her job!

 

Woodford is one of five companies in the entire world who still distill from copper pot stills!

Here at Woodford, the tasting was whiskey and truffles. Can I say 'amazing!' I have a new found appreciation for the "Woodford on the Rocks" that Sam enjoys on our Delta flights when we travel for fun. 

Continuing on with the drive. By day three we made it all the way to Charleston. We rented a one-bedroom vacation rental just a block from the ocean in Isle of Palms, about 12 miles from the boatyard. We plan to spend around 4-7 hours each day at the boatyard, depending upon our to do lists, and then spend the rest of sunlight walking the beach with Piper. 

 

This is Piper's first trip to the ocean. We didn't know how much he would enjoy it and looks forward to going each night. 

 

I took video of him during this first walk. He just went crazy. He has so much energy, we barely tire him out. 

Each morning we make breakfast and lunch to eat at the boat. Sam and I have worked on mounting our new RADAR dome on the mast along with running the new cables. We've unpacked our 'boat' belongings, or what we can because a few projects down below are being done by the professionals. Each night, Sam comes up with a list of topics we try to complete during the next day. 

 

Here's a glimpse of our list from today. Of course other items get added as the day progresses. 

We bring Piper to the boatyard daily. On the first day, while we moved our belongings on board, we left him tied up on the ground. He barked at everyone who passed. He had to either say 'hi' to everyone or let them know he was around. The next day, we carried him up the ladder because we were doing some things inside the boat. He loved standing up top and watching everyone below. He barely said a peep except when he had to go to the bathroom. So now we bring him every day. He is slowly warming up to the people who work in the yard, and they enjoy seeing him every day. 

 

For a good part of the day he'll take naps either in the sun or the shade. 

We have our, now two-bedroom, apartment through November 22nd and hope the boat will be done by then or at least the end of the month. We'll keep you updated in how things go.