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132: It Takes a Village
Building cabinets with friends amongst a hurricane in Florida...
Jen and Elliot
October 20, 2024
Sunday Summary #132
It Takes a Village
Hi there,
Welcome to Scho & Jo’s 132nd Sunday Summary. This edition of the Sunday Summary was written in northeast Florida.
Last Week.
It feels like the van build has said “hold my beer” a few times in the past few weeks. Each task we expect to take a certain amount of time always blows us away and takes double the amount of time. Our saving grace with our van build has been the support we’ve received from our friends!
When Elliot received a text from his good friend, Chris, offering to take PTO and help us build cabinets in his woodworking workshop, we were shocked and amazed. Of course, we were left speechless after saying yes!
To give you a little back story, we’ve both known Chris since high school (2006) as we all completed IB together and then went on to college where Elliot and Chris were roommates. We’ve shared countless memories and are grateful to call Chris and his wife, Aly, friends. We were overjoyed with their invitation.
 Elliot and Chris used the table saw. |  Chris and Elliot measuring the Passenger Upper Cabinets |
We spent ten days in Lakeland, working with Chris in his workshop, building cabinets, and learning a ton from Chris’ experience. It was such a gift and something that we will be grateful. It was a memorable experience, including being at the center point of Hurricane Milton - thankful that we (or Chris and Aly) didn’t have any major damage.
Fortunately, we only lost power to the storm, but that couldn’t stop Catan!
The van is starting to come together!
Upon returning home, we officially started our sticky note wall. Back in 2021, when we drove back to Florida after Elliot broke his wrist on Smith Island, we started a sticky note wall to track our ongoing projects. Starting our sticky note wall really cemented that we’re in the final push of our van build and it feels so, so sweet!
As we continued working on our ceiling and wall installation that coincided with wiring for lights and electrical outlets, I (Jen) quickly became overwhelmed by decision fatigue from choosing finishes. I reached out to my college best friend and roommate, Jeff (who co-founded TreeHause furniture ), to toss ideas with. I was able to see the interior finishes come together after making some pivots from my original idea.
The past few weeks have been tough as it feels like our van build is draining us, but thanks to the help of our friends, we’ve made some great progress forward. So much of life takes a village and this van build is no exception. We’re grateful to everyone who encourages us and pushes us.
This Week.
Today we’re finishing our ceilings and walls before we start painting our cabinets that we made with Chris to put them into the van next week. We can’t wait for the van to transform after installing the cabinets! Once the cabinets are in, we’ll begin plumbing 🛠️🚰
“There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship.”
Videos.
Since our last newsletter, we published three videos on YouTube. We hope you enjoy watching the van come together. 😊
Blogs.
We’ve been writing many new articles on our website that are great FREE resources for anyone traveling by water or land. In each of our travel guides, we include a Boater’s Guide that compiles pertinent resources for people traveling on the water from marinas, anchorages, provisioning, and more!
Currently on the Great Loop?
We wrote a few articles on our website that are great resources for anyone traveling down the Midwest rivers this time of year on the Great Loop. Most boaters (all that we know) stop in Paducah, Kentucky, after the 200+ mile stent on the Mississippi River. We have a detailed guide that’s perfect to read on your cruise so you can best utilize your time in the charming little town. We also wrote two articles on each of the side trips going down the Cumberland River to Nashville, with a wonderful stop in Clarksville, Tennessee, and the Tennessee River to Chattanooga. Lastly, we have our Great Loop Locks Spreadsheet that lists all of the locks listed with their contact information, mile marker, notes, and more for sale in our store.
From the Eyes of Ollie.
I had a great time at my friend Blue’s house (Chris and Aly’s Beagle) even though there were three cats, and I’ve never lived with cats before. One of the cats became my friend, while I became an acquaintance with another cat, and the last cat, well… we co-existed. Blue and I supervised our humans. We had to make sure they were making my home comfy-cozy.
 Ollie and Blue supervising the van build |  Ollie, Blue, and Winston - Co-Existing |
Ollie fit right into the workshop! But she couldn’t stay in because she wouldn’t wear her PPE.
Gratitudes
We are beyond grateful to call Chris and Aly friends and to have had the opportunity to spend ten days with them catching up, building cabinets for our van build, and learning more new skills from Chris. They welcomed us into their home with love and hospitality. Grateful doesn’t seem like a robust enough word to describe how thankful we feel for our friendship and time spent with Chris and Aly.
See you next Sunday!
Peace and love,
Jen + Elliot