Bienvenidos a Colombia

It snowed. So we left.  

But our flight was from New York so we had an opportunity to visit some of our friends. 

The first night we met up with my friend Chris and caught up over a few drinks.

For the 2 nights we were in NYC we rented a room in a bnb. This is what you get for $35 per night. Can't compain.

The next day we did some touristy things. We walked over the Brooklyn Bridge and explored Chinatown and Little Italy. 

Then we met up with some of Camille's friends. Some that live in NY and some that were visiting from France. It was great timing that they we all there at the same time. 

Seeing Times Square at sunset was kinda cool.

Then more drinking.

Between the excessive drinking and walking around NY in the winter, Camille and I conveniently picked up some nasty flus which made our travel to Colombia quite painful.

Despite the struggle we made it to Medellin!

Day 1 was a wash. We stayed in bed for most of the day and extended our stay in the hostel another night for continued rest .

Day 2 we were at about 50% and explored as much as we could. Medellin, like Bogota, is known for it's vast display of street art. You can find it all over the city.

In the afternoon we visited one of Camille's friends who had just opened a cafe a week prior. There was much catching up to do .

She also recommended to us that we visit a barrio in the hills that is popular due to it's large collection of street art. 

It was an interesting experience as it's very popular with tourists but at the same time it's a very poor neighborhood. And there's also 7 sets of escalators that take you up and through the barrio. Seemed strangely out of place .

Either way it was a nice visit and the view of the city was pretty cool.

The following day we were ready to get out of the loud cramped city and get some fresh air.

A 2 hour bus ride got us to Guatapé. A popular town to visit as it's near a lake with many watersport opportunities and the home of a massive granite monolith that sits conspicuously by itself with no other bare rock to be found nearby. 

I don't actually have any photos of this monolith quite yet. We'll be visiting there tomorrow. But we've been exploring the town a bit. 

The town is known for it's colorful buildings where the residents will paint and decorate their front exterior wall with things that represent their family.

It feels really good to be out of the city and surrounded by animals and forest. The vibe at the hostel is much better too. More relaxed and fewer college kids travelling just to get wasted in foreign countries. 

Today we went on a little excursion to find some waterfalls nearby. The weather was perfect and we had the entire trail to ourselves.

Check out those elephant ears!

The trail had some fun scrambling. I'm happy to be back in a jungle again. The biodiversity is always mesmerizing and calming.

And then there were a couple waterfalls. Not too shabby.

And one more piece of art. Mona Lisa.

My favorite so far.

The hostel has a platform up the hill. It's great for watching sunsets. So here's a selfie with flowers. Maybe if we take enough selfies we'll figure out how to do it without feeling so awkward.

So tomorrow we'll go check out the big rock and then who knows! 

The Siding Never Ends, But It's Time For a Break

Not too much for updates here. Just trying to finish as much siding as possible before winter really arrives.

And winter has arrived...

But we carry on in the cold and snow. Camille and I made some great progress on the back of the house.

All the easy pieces are in. Maybe I'll leave the rest for Spring??

But as the snow comes we are packing up for warmer weather. Today we take a bus to NYC for a couple days to visit some friends. Then on Saturday we fly to Colombia for three weeks. Our very loose plans are to visit some of Camille's friends in Medellin, hike and climb in Chicamocha Canyon, then maybe head north to the beach or continue inland to see more mountains. Decisions will depend on weather. Then we'll finish the trip by visiting more of Camille's friends in Salento.

And we have an entire season of Narcos to watch on the way! Great way to practice our Spanish and learn new slang.

Will update when we have some wifi and downtime.

Siding Roofing Insulation Yadda Yadda

Still building the tiny house!

Lots of siding... especially little pieces everywhere.

Quick sidenote: the sourdough bread recipe is improving slowly but surely.

With the weather getting colder and colder, I was in dire need of firewood for the stove in the tiny house. Christian asked his neighbor if we could purchase a cord of wood. He countered with an offer to split 3 cords and I get to take one home with me. As a cheap unemployed bum, I gladly took him up on that offer. 6 hours of splitting later (thankfully he had a hydraulic log splitter) I had a nice stack of firewood to keep the house warm for a couple months.

Speaking of weather, we've had a few rough days working on the siding...

Then Christian hosted a Christmas party. Of course there were many tiny house tours throughout the night. Wood stove kept it at a cozy 65.

Camille and I attempted to take a nice photo together. We'll figure it out someday!

With about 3/4 of the electrical done, we were able to start insulating some of the walls. Roxul is a great product and Camille picked it up super quickly.

And after every batt of insulation was installed, the house seemed to get a little bit warmer. Can't wait for the entire house to be insulated.

Christian thankfully took the task of finishing the siding on the right half of the flying gable of Tiny McBoatFace. His current name is now Tiny McTwoFace.

And here's a photo to commemorate our 100th trip to the home improvement store. We've got the aisles memorized by now.

We've also finished all of the roofing (thank God). And the subfloor is almost completely insulated.

Those tasks were too frustrating for me to even think about taking photos.

And Camille and I fly to Columbia in 11 days for some sun and relaxation!

Small Break From Building For The Holidays

So Christmas happened. Hope everyone had wonderful holidays! 

We spent the day at Patrick and Kate's. Of course Jude and Chloe stole the show. Jude now has enough matchbox cars to play with a different car each day for all of 2019.

And then for my Dad's birthday we stuck with tradition and went to Goten Hibachi for dinner, which is always a good time. This year it was much warmer!

And here's the progress that Camille, my Dad and I made on the siding. Looking pretty good! Can't wait to have all of the siding finished.

Christian has been putting a lot of effort into the roofing. With the shed dormers there are a lot of corners which make the flashing more difficult. But he's been doing a great job!

We've finished about 80% of the roof. Unfortunately we ran out of some materials so I've ordered more and should get them by Monday. 

And then we hit another big checkpoint. We spent our first night in the tiny house! It was New Years Eve. It seemed fitting. 

We were planning on going camping for New Years but some evening freezing rain deterred us. So we had a party at Christian's instead, just like last year. This gave me an opportunity to give many tiny house tours. At one point we had 14 people in the house, which is probably the most people that will ever be in it at one time.

And of course a party at Christian's wouldn't be complete without shenanigans. This year's surprise was a unicorn pinata filled with tiny unicorns.

And there was lots of twister bouldering.

And then back to work. My focus lately has been cutting foam for the subfloor insulation. I feel like we're overdue for another snow storm so I'd like to take advantage of the clear ground and get the foam installed under the trailer. It's a slow and tedious task but I'm over halfway done so the end feels near. I've made a custom hot knife to cut the foam into clean and square blocks. It doesn't cut quickly but it also doesn't make a mess like the saw or knives did.

For Christmas, my Dad bought Camille and I tickets to a Cirque du Soleil show. Neither of us had been. It was incredible! Would definitely see another show.

And today I put some time into the plumbing as I'd like to have all of the pipes installed before finishing the subfloor insulation. I've spent too many hours researching plumbing and buying all of the necessary tools and materials so it feels good to finally start assembling the pieces. It's also a fun challenge fitting all of the plumbing in as small of an area as possible.

Next goals are to finish the plumbing, subfloor insulation and electrical. Then we can insulate the house and theoretically move in! 

Theoretically...