Making Our Way … Slowly

Well we haven’t strayed far from home yet.  We stopped about an hour south so we could pay a visit to my uncle without whom none of this would have been possible.  (And Tami’s 90+ year old grandma Joyce for whom this wouldn’t be possible for other reasons).  Almost 25 years ago my brother and I bought his little silver refinery and although I’m sure its the #1 reason for my gray head¹ and gave me an anxiety disorder, in the end it’s allowing an early semi-retirement.  Worth it?  We’ll see!

Given the name of our blog, I thought it would be a good start for Bourbon and Chocolate to actually review some local chocolate.  As I work for a chocolate business, reviewing other offerings may be taboo, but we don’t actually make our chocolate so I’m not really promoting any competitors in doing so.  I know there are those nay-sayers who despise the pumpkin spice season, but I’ll tell you that I am all in.  I love pumpkin spice everything! 

So Tami, knowing I was already a fan of Seattle Chocolate, bought me the pumpkin spice bar to try.  It is creamy milk chocolate combined with pumpkin goodness that melts in your mouth.  Of course there are the hints of nutmeg, cinnamon and allspice that one would expect.  I’m actually more of a dark chocolate fan, but this is exceptional milk chocolate deliciousness.  I also was able to pair my tasting with a local bourbon – Woodinville.  Readily available at most groceries around WA anyway, their ‘Straight Bourbon Whiskey’ is a 90 proof spirit that is sweet on the pallet with an interesting finish of vanilla and Campho-Phenic.  Not my favorite, but craft bourbons all have a uniqueness that make the experience fun. Love it or hate it, it’s worth a try!

As we were researching the RV life, one of the things that kept coming up was that we’re going to make mistakes and have problems, and we’ll get though them.  Later those problems will become the stories to tell around the campfire.  (Or in our blog).  And I have a few already!  I mean – I’m not above admitting to mistakes, but I also thought that after reading about others, I’m probably not dumb enough to do some of those things.  Well I guess RVing is something to do if you want to take your ego down a few notches.  I’m not going to give them all away at once, but let’s start with a good one.  As we began to drive out of the spot we’ve been staying the last couple months, I noticed one of the bedroom slides wasn’t closed all the way.  I got out and finished the job and thought nothing of it.  Later that night, relaxing in bed and wanting to do a little reading, I looked for my iPad (my book).  When I couldn’t find it anywhere I thought hard about where I had left it, and as it wasn’t there, I looked a little further into the corner next to the bed.  There it was! … folded and wedged into the slide that didn’t close all the way.  The lesson bestowed upon me is that the slide motor is powerful enough to render your $400 book unreadable.  Good to know – and I did not find that in the manual anywhere.  

Lastly for today, one of the questions we get asked often when we talk about our plans is:  How we can live in close quarters with our spouse without going nuts?  Easy – we’re nuts already! (Mainly speaking for myself there).   Beyond that though – I was fortunate enough to marry my best friend.  I have other BFFs, but Tami is truly the life partner that I was meant to be with.  I’m pretty sure she agrees in the other direction so sharing our time together is what we want to do – not something to be avoided or worried about.  Our adventures will always be together.  Now stop asking because I have to figure out where we’re going next!  (And finish watching that perfect strangers show).

1. #2 – raising 2 daughters.