The Adventures Continue...

The most fun part of this adventure is the people we are getting to spend time with. 

Last week’s blog ended with our time in Nashville which was waaay back 4 weeks ago. Seems like a lifetime ago.

After that, our next stop was Kentucky where we donned our imaginary “smoking jackets”, bought a couple good bubble gum cigars, and hit the bourbon trail!!

We have to say Kentucky is one of the most beautiful states we have driven through so far. The wifi was hor-ri-ble but maybe that was a gift to us so we could stop and take in all its beauty... well, and its BOURBON! 

We need to stop here and give a big shout to our new friend Summer. She was our HERO for a day for opening up her home so we could take a video call and work all day in her home. Facebook can sometimes be a beautiful platform. We reached out to our FB family ISO a place to work for a day and within 10 minutes our friend Ellen connected us to Summer…GOLD MINE!! 

Another day we were able to connect to wifi by working in a castle all day…a REAL CASTLE! Not sure if they appreciated us role-playing Rapunzel, or trying to joust with each other on our imaginary horses all day but, when in Rome…right? 

Back to the bourbon trail - with COVID there are a lot of new rules and changes but we managed to get in to a few good tastings/tours by just showing up…Angel’s Envy (thanks to Megan Deschaine), Rabbit Hole, Woodford, Buffalo Trace, and our fav…BULLEIT (big thanks, Kait Whitenack)!! We also met some awesome gals at Bulleit so if you ever get by there tell Melissa and Annie we said “Hello”!! 💚

 

Our next stop was a one night stop over at a Harvest Host. A magical place way on the top of a mountain. Olive did a great job winding up a skinny one and a half lane gravel road. Not gonna lie - we found ourselves sucking in many times when cars would pass. Then Olive championed her way up the last leg on a rocky path to arrive at the most beautiful lookout we have seen to date. This place, called Caring Acres Farm, was truly an oasis in the skies. We were greeted by hosts, April and Carl, and their two precious pups, Bentley and Daisy. They were the most gracious hosts who quick became friends. They invited us to a cookout with their family, we got to feed the baby calves, we went on a chicken egg hunt, we road an ATV with Bentley and Daisy on board, watched an amazing sunset, and ended the night under a star filled sky by a roaring fire that was like a warm blanket protecting us from the chill of the night…perfection!! 

You know when people say “it’s a small world”…well our world just keeps getting smaller. When we arrived on the mountain we had no idea there were going to be other Harvest Host guests there, but there was one other couple. Out of nowhere, this lady walked up to us and asked, “Were you just in Nashville?” She continued by explaining she and her husband were at the same KOA when we were there…crazy small world!! Cheers to Tina and Jost from the Netherlands, now living in Houston! 

Next stop…Floyd, Virginia! Floyd, VA isn’t home to many (<1000) but it’s a place where people gather once a year for a week long music festival, called FloydFest. Thirteen thousand people from all walks of life come from all over to camp together and listen to a host of different bands. When we walked into the festival on the 2nd day, Jules said, “this is what I imagine Heaven being like.” This was a zero-judgement-zone place filled with great music and LOVE!! Lots of good old fashioned love. We literally felt rejuvenated by the energy of all those around us. 

And, this was the place where The Wanderr was one of the hits of the show!! We sold out of our on hand inventory within 2 days!! CRAZY!! But beyond selling our product, we met some of the most salt of the earth people who quickly became friends. (Big shout out to our new BFF’s - Carol and Dave - and new friends, Troy, Joey, Shannon, Audra, and PahBob!) 🤗. 

But, the highlight of FloydFest was getting to hang out with Jules' bro (Clay) and his beautiful girlfriend, Cristy. There's just nothing like family to fill your soul!

After a long, but great, week at FloydFest, we found ourselves in need of some respite so we made a quick stop at our dear friend’s (Rod & Judy Huckaby) beautiful home on the Tennessee River. This place was just what the doctor ordered - drinks on the river and good conversation…just doesn't get much better than that!! 

 

This stop was less than 12 hours (waay too short) and then POOF we were off to Mobile, Alabama by way of Birmingham where we squeezed in a little family dinner time with Stace’s family, including Santa and Mrs. Claus. 🎅🏻 🤶🏻  

Did you know in 1704 Mobile, Alabama was the first place in America to celebrate Mardi Gras? 

This stop was not a “planned” stop, but we had to be there on business. We were fortunate enough to get to spend two days with some incredible, like-minded people who want to change the world one positive relationship at a time through their businesses. Lots of motivation and good conversation! But, we also celebrated our 8 year anniversary of meeting each other and 3 year anniversary of being married. 🥂 Overall, a great few days in Mobile.

Once we packed up Olive, we hightailed out of Mobile and headed to Baton Rouge, LA. So our route was from Alabama, through “Capital M-i-crooked letter-crooked letter-i-crooked letter-crooked letter-i-hump back, hump back-i”, into Louisiana to catch a flight with a layover in Texas eventually landing in Newark, NJ at 1 a.m. FIVE states in 1 day. 😲

You may be asking why NJ. Well, we can’t tell you why we were there because it is TOP SECRET... for now! 🤫 But we can't wait to share when we're given permission to do so!

Not to give too much of the secret away, but we would like to share that our experience was much like the relatively new T-Mobile commercial. What we heard: "We will fly you First Class to NJ and will reserve you a room at the Best Hotel." What they really said was... "We will fly you first on economy class to NJ and will reserve you a room at the Best Western Hotel."

LOL!

Maybe T-Mobile will use this and feature us in their next commercial! 😂

Within 24 hours we were back in Baton Rouge, packed up, and on the road again - to the great country of TEXAS!! 

We are now in Hearne, TX staying at our dear friend, Carly's, farm for the next week or so. We are 25 miles from town so there are no lights from any nearby cities polluting the night sky. Stars “shine bright like diamonds” and can be seen falling from the sky like a 4th of July fireworks celebration. Sounds of crickets, locusts, and howling coyotes are like God’s symphony. Family meals around the campfire and children’s laughter abound - God is really showing off this week. Soul healing stuff!!

Oh, and Olive is getting a big interior makeover so we can put our touch on her and make her comfy. Big thanks to Carly's hubs, Brandon, and her Dad, Poppy, for helping us with all the projects.

We’re here til Tuesday morning, then off to the “Live Music Capital of the World” - Austin, TX. Since neither of us have gotten to visit here before, we can’t wait what adventures and people await us there!

Then, we’ll head to the San Diego area (with a few stops along the way) for the bulk of the winter months. Lots to look forward to!

As we said in the beginning of this (long - sorry!) post, one of the best parts of this adventure is all the people we’re getting to spend time with. If you are in any of the places we’ll be (this is our itinerary), or know of people who we should connect with, please reach out!

We love hearing from friends - makes us feel closer to home!

Xoxo, 

J+S 💚

P.s. As a reminder... if you comment on this post, we read (and smile) at every one, but this platform (for some strange reason) doesn’t allow us to respond. Just know we feel the love!  🤗