Hello from Mathews County, Virginia! We’ve been here 13 days and already experienced temps ranging from 35-78, sunny days, snow showers, wind gusts near 30 mph, and a big boomy thunderstorm. Dynamic! This is where Matthew’s parents live (from April through November), and we’re settling in here for a few months, to spend some good time with them and also to build our teardrop camper.
Mathews County is about 8,500 people living on 86 square miles of land surrounded by the rivers and inlets of the Chesapeake Bay. We’re on Cobbs Creek, which empties into the Piankatank River, which then dumps into the Chesapeake Bay. I realize this map (and the ones that follow) aren’t necessarily the easiest to see here, but maybe it’ll give you some idea of where we are. Richmond is directly west of us, Norfolk is straight south.
Catching Up
It’s been a while since we’ve given a good update, hasn’t it? Believe it or not, our intention here is to frequently post short updates … but since it’s been a couple of months, this one is a bigger read. With photos, of course! However, if you don’t have time for the full stories, here are the headlines:
Jan-Feb: finishing (mostly) projects we started at Iris’ lake house, watching deer roam about, adventures in winter grilling, and building plenty of cozy fires during Michigan winter nights.
Also: Planning the teardrop camper we’ve decided to build from scratch, and applying for jobs — the remote/flexible kind that can keep this dream on the road. (Spoiler: no luck so far. Got any ideas for me?)
Feb 16-18: road trip (on all secondary roads!) across the state to see our dear friend, Ed, while he was visiting his home town of Wyandotte. Stories include a completely delightful lunch in an authentic Polish restaurant, and driving past a house with an unbelievable number of Santa and snowmen lawn ornaments.
Feb 27-March 2: cramming all our stuff into a trailer, tearful goodbyes after such a nice long stint with my sister, and a fun 3-day road trip to Virginia, with two sweet stopovers.
March 3-12: Groundskeeping, area explorations, starting to requisition camper materials, and Kayla’s new job as a bartender!
Read on to find out more —
January & February on Lake Michigan
The slideshow below tells most of the story: these months were mostly spent working on some home-improvement projects for Iris and preparing for the next chapter in our adventure. One big missing link in the whole “live our dream” scenario is income to keep us rolling, and the plan has been that I could get a part-time, flexible, do-it-from-anywhere kind of job, plus maybe Matthew (and I?) could pick up short-term gigs here and there as needed. Well, for the last 6 months, I’ve spent quite a bit of time searching for jobs, tweaking my resume, and writing cover letters, primarily for jobs for which I really felt well-suited (e.g., managing all the logistics for a summer music festival!!! or maintaining a non-profit’s donor database), but still no luck. Disappointing, frustrating, and a bit demoralizing. My current plan is to take a few online classes to build on what I already know about bookkeeping and see if I can get some work that way.
This big garage had no workspace or flat surfaces, so Matthew fixed that. 
Ta-da! (It was a little chilly out there – notice the Alaska seal/beaver fur hat on his head…) 
Work bench + shop light = perfect storage for our stuff. Ha! 
So many deer wandering around the neighborhood! Seems like they travel in packs of 8+. 
Romantic fireside seating, complete with candlelight and decanted wine (hot tip: pour your wine into a mason jar to aerate it. I think that’s what “glampers” do.) 
Next project: help Iris clear out her attic and garage! These are piles of stuff that came from the attic and went on to final destinations at recycling, shredding, and thrift stores. 
Truckload of metal to be recycled. 
Clear space in the attic! 
We spent a few nights with Iris at her main house in Jenison (Grand Rapids suburbs) – she can make some pretty nice fires there, too. 
It’s hard to keep plants and bushes alive with these beasts around. 
Oh yeah, we also helped to rectify some misguided decor choices made by the previous cottage owners. Unfortunately, I didn’t take any photos of the awesome new lamps Iris bought to replace these … but it’s a major improvement! 
Winter grilling! Note the big hat is back in use. 
Sometimes the cold outdoor temps make grilling slow/difficult, so you have to do the final sear in the fireplace. 
It was a beautiful and delicious Valentine’s Day dinner! (That mushroom risotto was SO GOOD.) 
Back to construction – this time for a kitchen island. 
Iris had an old piece of corion countertop lying around. Matthew ordered some professionally made table legs and then attached the corion to the top. Everything is upside down and inside out here, for the gluing process. 
Secret messages left under the countertop. 
Gluing the legs into place. Sadly, this is another time I failed to get a picture of the “final” project (although, in all honesty, we couldn’t completely finish the project, because the wheels hadn’t arrived yet.) But it is functioning as a new work surface in the kitchen, and looks pretty handsome to boot! 
Teardrop camper sketches. Matthew is working with a designer to make official plans. Stay tuned for more info on our trailer-building process! 
That fire knocked my socks off!
The other big piece of making this semi-nomadic life dream come true is, of course, the camper. After LOTS of research and conversation, we’ve decided that a teardrop camper with an additional sturdy 10×10 canvas tent would suit us well. Furthermore, after looking at lots and lots of used teardrops for sale (at crazy-high prices!), we’ve decided to build our own. I’m sure Matthew will share more details about our design with you soon, and we’ll definitely blog about the building process once that begins!
Road Trip Across Michigan
Ed Ronco has been one of our very dearest friends since 2009 when he moved to Sitka. Ed grew up in Wyandotte, MI, downriver from Detroit. Ed unexpectedly spent 2 weeks in Wyandotte this February, and although it was a terrible circumstance that brought him there (the sudden death of his wonderful father), it gave us the opportunity to drive across the state to see him and his lovely mother, Anne.
The route we took to Wyandotte was really fun. Only slightly slower than the freeway, but a lot more interesting. Plus, $10 TOTAL for both of us to have breakfast in Delton! 
Chandelier at Grove St Cafe in Delton. 
Eddie! And a fantastic Polish lunch at Polonus, served by one of the spunkiest women I’ve ever met. She says her dreams are set to polka music. 
Close-up of the wall art. 
When you’re in your friend’s childhood home, you get to see relics that are otherwise still hidden. Like Ed’s Michigan State marching band jacket! 
Ed’s dad was a huge golfer and avid restorer of hickory clubs. Their basement is LOADED with clubs, hickory and otherwise. 
Shopping together – just like old times. 
We had such a nice visit with Ed’s mom, also. 
We took a different route home. Adventurous! 
This yard was so incredible, we turned around and drove past it again for a closer look. 
I mean, seriously! 
Poor Twyla VonWienerschnitzel. Beautiful snow the day before, but it made for a pretty sloppy drive home.
Onward to Virginia
On Feb 28, we shoved the last of our stuff into the trailer my dad loaned to us, exchanged big tearful hugs with Iris, and headed off for our next chapter. We made the trip from Glenn, MI to Cobbs Creek, VA in 3 days, with a few perfect stopovers en route: 1) North Manchester, IN – home of the lovely Tina Rieman, who I met in North Manchester on New Year’s Eve 1996 when I was at the home of my college boyfriend who happened to be the brother of Tina’s then-boyfriend. The boyfriends didn’t last, but our friendship sure has! 2) Sweetwater Music in Fort Wayne IN – complete with a mind-blowing tour of their facility and lunch with Matthew’s long-time sales consultant, Chris Ishak. 3) Columbus OH – to visit my awesome niece Emma.
First leg: Glenn MI to North Manchester IN. 
We had a LOVELY evening with my friend Tina – nice walk about town (including a stop at this covered bridge), delicious dinner, and lots of chatting. 
Tina and her house – which she bought from her grandmother. (As soon as we drove away I realized I didn’t take any pictures, so Tina indulged me with a selfie.) 
Next stop: Sweetwater Music headquarters. Yes, that’s a slide from the second floor. Seriously, this place blew our minds. 
It was so fun to meet our long-time sales rep in person! Just like we’re old friends. 
Matthew wanted to buy all the guitar pedals … 
…while I got swept away in the keyboard section. 
This place has created a space for their 2,000 employees that includes a medical clinic, workout facility, and full cafeteria and coffee shop. 
Onward to Columbus! 
Emma lives in the German Village, which is so charming!! But those cobblestone streets are no joke. 
We went to a bar that offers charcuterie trays through a vending machine. 
If you’re ever in Columbus, put Harvest Pizza on your restaurant list. SO GOOD. 
Sleep-over at Emma’s! 
So much love! (PS: The art behind us was created by Emma’s sister, Hannah.) 
Final leg, and a very long day: Columbus to Cobbs Creek, VA. 
Almost heaven – West Virginia! 
Traffic was occasionally heavy. This is way we usually take secondary roads – so many trucks!
Settling in to Virginia life
Matthew’s parents are still in Florida until the end of March, so we have the place to ourselves. PAR-TAY!! Jim & Tammy, we promise to clean up and move all the furniture back before you get home. ☺️ Just kidding. Mostly. We’ve been doing some good yard work – raking/mulching all the fall leaves – and otherwise just trying to find our way around the winding roads of this area, including a fun day trip around colonial Yorktown-Williamsburg-Jamestown.
Oh, yeah – and I got a job as a bartender! I’ll be working at the Deltaville Tap and Raw Bar, just 14 miles away, across the Piankatank River. I had 4 hours of training last Saturday and then they let me work an 8-hour shift by myself on Sunday. It was a nice steady pace, I met several regulars, and made some pretty good tips! We’re still working out the scheduling, but I think it’ll be a pretty regular weekend gig for me starting in April.
Daffodils were already blooming when we arrived on March 2! 
There were a few leaves here and there … 
… so we decided to clean ’em up a bit. 
Much better! 
March 5 – birthday adventure to “America’s Historic Triangle”, i.e. Yorktown, Williamsburg, and Jamestown. 
We drove the Colonial Parkway, a 23-mile scenic parkway linking Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktown. It is part of the National Park Service’s Colonial National Historical Park. 
It was a really lovely drive! No commercial vehicles or trucks allowed, and all greenway even though you’re passing through some really developed areas. 
We didn’t really take any pictures in Williamsburg, except for this one (the cupcakes really are extraordinary). 
We stopped at Capstan Brewery in the afternoon. The beer was so-so, and the atmosphere kind of strange … 
…. plus it’s located in a really weird industrial building, just on the edge of Langley AFB. 
Birthday dinner at this place in Poquoson! So fun and delicious, I didn’t have time to take pictures. 🙂 
Site of Kayla’s new bartending gig. (sadly, the bar is not actually shaped like an oyster) 
…on a very quiet afternoon. They tell me to expect this entire space to be mobbed – with a long line to the bar! – during the summer.
WOW!! I loved the pictures that accompanied the story. All of it just made me miss you more. Loved the Santas in the yard and that you drove by twice. So sorry to hear about Ed’s dad
You lucky dog gone good dogs, you got to spend time with Mr. Ronco, darn, I hope you gave him a pinch for or from me. Shit-o-dear, wow. I read the report cover to cover, it is good reading, with admiral photos, and exciting to see you are doing it. My sense is it will work out and you will get your tear drop and funds will be forthcoming etc. somehow.
News from here: ole Jeff is looking at another meniscus procedure, this time for his left knee, it is slowing me down – but hauled a bunch of Grind equipment around t day with Charlie, Jeanne, and John. The show ought to be on Grind You Tube at some point. I go to bring Hazel back for a week this Sat, she will help me take tickets at the door and is my spelling bee partner. That is the local news. Aloha, Jeff B