Dranuary

 Also known as Dry January has been a thing for several years now. I have never been one to make New Years Resolutions, if there was a goal I wanted to accomplish the date does not matter I just set the goal. Sometimes I am successful and sometimes I am not. Did you know that 62% of the population feel pressure to make a resolution, probably by a nagging spouse, boyfriend or girlfriend. 30% of the population actually makes one. Only 1% make it a whole year still committed to their resolution. Talk about setting yourself up for failure!

But Dry January is not really a resolution, it is more like a short-term goal. 31 days. I thought about it, and thought about it some more. Certainly, I could do it. But what about all those people in the liquor industry? If everyone stopped drinking in January how could those in the liquor industry afford to live? How would they afford their house payments, feed their children? The more I thought about it, the more I felt it was my responsibility to help these families out, that is just the kind of person I am, always looking out for others. It is my responsibility to not only drink during the month of January, but to make up for those who are selfish enough to not drink alcohol and put these poor families in the local food lines.  I am committed to keeping those poor families who work in the liquor industry well fed and clothed.

Now, those of you who read our blog on a regular basis may think we are lushes who drink from sunrise to sunset. In fact, a friend called me after reading our last post saying he was worried about our livers as that is the main organ that processes alcohol through our bodies. I would argue that our livers are healthier than the average persons as they are getting a lot of exercise, and exercise if good for you right?

All kidding aside, when we have our tours and tastings, they limit the amount of alcohol they give you. I doubt an entire tasting 3-5 glasses is more than ounce. They certainly are not going to serve you enough to get you drunk and let you drive out of there. Think of that liability!

But alas, we are done with the major distillery tour portion of our trip, we will still hit one every week or two as we travel and visit friends of family. Besides, I think we have purchased enough bottles already to keep many in the industry fed and clothed well into February at the very least. There are several bottles that have been eluding us for several years now. Three that are top of mind are Stagg, Eagle Rare and Elmer T. Lee. We look for them everywhere we go and had yet to find them. Until recently, we finally crossed on off of our list. 

All three of those are offered by Buffalo Trace and every once in a while, they offer them for sale at the distillery. We have been to that distillery 7 times in the past couple of years and have missed them every time. We missed them again this year! Well, we were driving through Cumberland Gap Tennesse and randomly decided to stop by the Kroger's Liquor store and see if they had any rare bottles. We were looking at the display when the clerk asks if we were looking for anything in particular. I just said, "Anything rare, unusual or hard to get" She said "I have some Eagle Rare in the back". Now, the next question is the most important. I have seen each of these bottles in liquor stores, but they would be marked up 3, 4, 5 times their value. I have seen them as high as $250, I am not paying over $100 for a bottle. Trying not to act too excited, I asked her, "What are you getting for that?". "$44" she says. ""Yeah, I'll take one of those".

She goes in the back room and brings one out when I asked her "I don't suppose my wife could get one too". Finally! I have Eagle Rare crossed off my list! I'll open one up and keep the other for my collection. 

As you may have guessed, we were on the move again having dodged the snow and ice that covered much of Kentucky. Our move down to London was a smart one, although we got some snow and ice, it was minimal. After spending two nights at The Farm RV Resort (highly recommend that park by the way) in London we headed south, east and then started making our way north. 

We stopped by The Axe Handle distillery along the way, a very small yet cool place. They thought we were Harvest Hosts for the night, we did not even know they were members. We thought about staying there, but it was too early in the day, so we carried on. We landed in Wytheville, Viginia for the night before continuing north on I81. Trucks, so many semi-trucks, the is obviously the main north/south travel corridor. 

Question for those who live or have traveled in this area. Is the Skyline drive through the Shenandoah National Park worth driving? How long would it take? Can we do it in late January? We are thinking of driving it when we leave Pennsylvania on our way to Florida. I have read a few blogs where people have driven it, I just cannot remember who that was at the moment. 

Thursday afternoon we landed at our daughter's house outside of Greencastle Pennsylvania where we will be for the next couple of weeks. 

We have been here almost a week now and hit the ground running with a list of projects to work on while we are here. As you may recall, we remodeled their main living room last year. They kept the Christmas theme going until we could exchange gifts, the tree looked great next to their new fireplace. 

 This year we are going to remodel their other living room and the half bath on the lower level. You may also recall this this house was originally built in the 1860's bringing some remodeling challenges, there is absolutely nothing square in this house. But we are making progress. We have gutted the bathroom inside and out and have started some wall and ceiling work in the living room. 

The picture above is a "before" picture of the bathroom. The picture below is after we have all the paneling and trim removed from inside the bathroom.

Then there is the outside of the bathroom which again was covered by paneling painted several times over the years. 

     

Friday night they took us out to a German restaurant in Hagerstown. The Schmankerl Stube offers very authentic food, most of which I cannot pronounce, but it was very good! After supper walked to a bar next door where the girls played games while Shane and I sat at the bar. 

After that we were headed off for dessert at a donut shop called Krumpe's. I questioned whether they would even be open at 8:30 at night, Jessica informed me that they are only open at night!

And they were packed! We had to wait in line to park, then wait in line at the store. Crazy. 

Other than that one outing, we have just been working. In addition to the living room and bathroom, we are tacking two other projects. We gutted the pantry and replaced some rotting wood in the summer kitchen. What is a summer kitchen you ask? It is where the wives cooked for all the farm hands back in the day. It is now used for as a project and storage room but there was one piece of plywood that was so rotten your foot would go through it. 

After opening it up we discovered the problem. Not only was the plywood rotten but many of the 2x8 stringers below it were totally rotted through. 

I sistered (put a new board alongside the rotted ones) each of the boards, put a new piece of plywood on top and it is as good as new, well almost.

I don't think we have any before pictures of the pantry, but I do have one "in progress" picture. 

All this seems like a lot to have going on at once, but we only have two weeks here and have to make the most of it. It also gives each of us something to work on as only one person can work on an area at a time. 

Will we get it all done in the next 10 days? I think so barring any unforeseen issues, but in a house like this that could come at any time!