Cycling Hiatus (Break) – 4 months in the USA

Posted on by Patricia & Dustin

June 11th to October 13th, 2025 – 4 month cycling hiatus in the USA

Day 388 – travel to Quito, Ecuador
Day 389 – layover day in Quito
Day 390 to 401 – side trip to the Galapagos Islands (next blog!)

This blog entry summarizes 4 months off the bicycles while we worked on another dream – building our own home. If you are just here for the bicycle adventure we recommend skipping this blog entry because it is primarily about construction and a summer in the mountains. If you want to hear about buying and restoring a 40 year old unfinished log cabin nestled in the mountains of Western North Carolina in the United States read on!

Western North Carolina Appalachian Mountains as seen from the Wesser Bald Fire Tower (along the Appalachian trail) just 10 minutes from our cabin – historically fire towers would be used to identify wildfires.
The same Wesser Fire Tower completely surrounded by clouds – there’s a reason they call these the “Smokey Mountains”. On this particular morning we had the brilliant idea to set an alarm, hike by headlamp in the dark, and see the sunrise from the fire tower – oh well, we tried!

Quick Recap: After stepping off the bicycles in Quito, Ecuador in June 2025, we pressed “pause” on the bicycle trip adventure on Day 387 and flew back to the USA for a 4 month break from cycling to work on our newly acquired 40-year old unfinished log cabin in the mountains of Western North Carolina (WNC). In all honesty, we were ready for a break from the cycling adventure – it had been almost 13 months since we left Fairbanks, Alaska on our two-wheeled steel steeds. Daily planning of accommodations, water, food, route, climbing, etc is a lot of work!

Constant logistics – just one example of the daily logistics we must sort while bicycle touring…wifi. This hotel in Ecuador gave us all these little papers to try which wifi worked best in our room. Pro-tip: immediately take a picture of any wifi codes because inevitably you will lose the paper!

When we initially envisioned bicycling the Americas from Alaska to Argentina we were planning to ride the 18-22 months straight through – well maybe “straight through” is not so accurate. We’d already taken a few breaks – each in Seattle, Phoenix & Mexico City 🙂 We always said the entire trip was subject to modifications and well it changed! An opportunity for land in the North Carolina mountains, right next to Dustin’s brother’s family came up – after discussing it and concluding another opportunity for this size/condition property was unlikely to happen again we JUMPed and made plans to view the real estate.

In May 2025 we had flown back to the USA from Colombia to preview the WNC mountain property which had recently been offered for sale – this parcel was not formally listed but rather word of mouth from neighbors alerted us to its availability. We’d investigated several properties in the vicinity before but none had seemed “right” – this piece, at just over 5 acres, with an already started cabin checked many of the requirements we were looking for so, working directly with the owners, we moved forward with the purchase of the property.

Previewing the cabin, with his long hair in a pony tail, wearing his brother’s clothes…
When we flew back from Colombia to look at the mountain property Dustin’s mom & dad shuttled us to & from the airport a mere 5 hours each way…did we mention this property is in a very remote area of North Carolina?!

The previous owners of the property had started a cabin and then life happened and it was never completed – they were great to work with and even provided us with much of the history of the cabin, including previous permitting, pictures, and blue prints. So with newly acquired cabin (that was slowly being destroyed by insects) we talked through finishing the bicycle trip and then beginning cabin work or taking a break from the trip to work on the cabin. After weighing all the pros/cons, we decided to pause the bicycle trip and return to the USA to work on the cabin for a few months. We’d been on the road for 13 months by that point and were ready for a break anyway.

During our 4 month break it was soul refreshing to spend time with family, eat many of the foods we’d missed (maybe a little too much food – our bike touring appetites helped us put on a few pounds!), and return to the comforts of American culture. On the day we arrived, with a mere 2 hours sleep, we purchased a vehicle. Once we made the decision to return to the USA we’d been researching cars and home improvements from Ecuador but our progress was stunted by certain websites not working from Ecuador – Kelly Blue Book and Home Depot come to mind. 

Traversing the Quito Airport with our luggage load before flying to the USA.

Dustin’s dad picked us up from the airport and drove us to the car dealership, on the test drive we stopped by our bank and withdrew the appropriate funds, and within a couple hours we were on our merry way toward the mountains to see the property we had purchased, hoping buyer’s remorse would not kick in. 

Dustin’s Dad came to the airport to pick us up at the airport
On a mere 2 hours sleep we purchased a vehicle – a minivan! The location of our property is so remote it requires a vehicle to get most places including the grocery store & possibly more importantly the home improvement store.
Day 1 – our new-to-us cabin in the remote mountains of Western North Carolina. It was started in 1985 and never finished. For many years it was abandoned.

Step 1 – Tree clearing, brush removal & dirt work

The very next day after we flew in from Ecuador Dustin, his Dad, brother, and nephew started clearing hundreds of trees that had grown up around the cabin over the past 40 years. There had been a driveway but it was way overgrown as were the trees surrounding the cabin. In recent years carpenter ants and powder post beetles had gotten into the logs but otherwise the cabin was pretty solid albeit without water, electric, or septic. 

Dustin & his dad with Katy the super-helper at the cabin working on the initial clearing of trees
Dustin’s brother uses the excavator to help clear years of tree growth
We dug back into the slope (after obtaining the required “Land Disturbance Permit”) and made the parking area larger. Amazing how fast work progresses with heavy equipment – thanks Brett!

The site/dirt work lasted for about one month – clearing trees, excavating the back slope to make the parking area larger, cutting more trees, and removing brush, a lot of brush. Patricia even learned to drive the tractor to pick up large brush piles and relocate them down the driveway. We also learned how to fix a busted hydraulic line on the tractor – only took us 5 hours…learning & growth.

During the dirt work time Dustin went to a log restoration workshop in Tennessee to learn what needed to be done to seal up and preserve the wood – during the first week we arrived we had immediately treated for insects but we knew the log restoration process would be much more involved. 

Dustin doing the initial insect treatment – over the years carpenter ants and powder post beetles had begun infiltrating the logs. If you look closely you can see on the lower logs the sawdust trails of insects that had gotten into the logs.
Patricia learned to run the chainsaw to clear trees & brush – we think this was day 1 of cabin work for her as you can still see the tags on her boots
Although the vast majority of the cabin work was done by Dustin, Patricia even learned how to drive the tractor to help move brush to the burn pile
Dustin & brother, Brett, installed drainage piping.
As with all projects, not everything goes as planned…this image shows how we dropped a tree right onto the cabin. Whoopsy daisy!
While Dustin worked on the cabin, Patricia took a part-time job working at one of the local rafting companies driving a van for international employees. Some of the international employees were from Colombia so she could keep working on her Spanish.

After the dirt work, the next two months were spent working on the logs – cleaning, refreshing, treating for bugs, chinking (the cabin had never been chinked), staining, and sealing. Each of these steps was mostly hand-done manual labor and took more time than we were expecting. Dustin worked tirelessly to complete the outside and inside woodwork. Some parts of the process went faster than others and the chinking (insulation and caulk between the logs inside & outside) was extremely tedious and time consuming. 

Step 2 – Log/wood washing

Dustin hand scrubbed the cabin with a peroxide based log renewal solution specifically designed for logs that had been sitting for many years
After hand scrubbing the log renewal solution had to be “gently” washed off with a pressure washer – this was no small feat when we didn’t have water at the cabin yet. Dustin devised a system to haul water up to the cabin in a 250 gallon tote.
This corner of the porch shows the before and after of the log renewal peroxide treatment. Unwashed (left side) versus washed (right side). Since our cabin had been sitting so long Dustin hand washed the entire exterior *twice* with the renewing log wash

Step 3 – Driveway & parking area

Relaying the parking area and driveway with gravel – sooo much nicer than the red mud/clay
Hand raking gravel into place…then his brother showed up with heavy equipment – so thankful!
Trees cleared, cabin washed, gravel laid…progress! This image shows the cabin pre-staining after having been cleaned with a peroxide based wood wash

Step 4 – Chinking (sealing between the logs)

Dustin installs “backer-rod”, essentially small foam piping in between all of the logs prior to caulking – this will seal up any cracks and crevices as well as insulate the cabin.
Little bit closer up of the backer-rod…very tedious work.
Special caulk is placed in between the logs by a bulk loading gun – this required going up and down the ladder several times & moving the ladder frequently.
Patricia shows her chinking skills – notice the caulk is applied in an up and down fashion (similar to cake decorating) and then it must be smoothed out in left & right directions. Right below where she is working you can see finished (smoothed) chinking.

Step 5 – Staining

After caulking, staining seemed to go much faster – although it required hand brushing the entire cabin three times – two coats of stain and then a top coat.

Dustin stains the T-111 top boards. In this image you can see on the leftside where he had to build scaffolding because the shale rock behind the cabin would not allow for safe ladder placement. Also you can see where we tried samples of different stain colors.
Smiley Dustin – staining is SO much easier than chinking. Staining goes much faster and therefore feels like progress is being made more quickly.
Left side is unstained, right side is stained with one coat – a second coat of stain and then a top coat would be applied before it is finished
Two layers of stain and a top-coat – looking good Dustin!

Meanwhile…all the background work

There was also a fair amount of background work while the log restoration was occurring – we wanted to get temporary power restored to the property (it had been there previously but was knocked out by a tree in 1995). In order to get temporary power we had to have an active septic permit – so we obtained the appropriate paperwork to apply for a septic and private well permits – these are done through the county Environmental Health Services. Once we had our septic permit we could then request our building permits (a different county department: Planning, Permitting & Development) and put up a temporary power pole to get electricity – this entire process took about 6 weeks from start to finish but finally we had temporary power and just in time for the inside log work which required electricity. Thankfully, during this time one of the neighbors let us borrow a generator (thanks Tommy & Shirley!) so we could have some electricity.

All-in-all we had to get 7 different permits (building, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, septic, private well & land disturbance) totaling $1,200. To top it all off our our cabin is located in a remote part of the county so it was a 2 hour round trip on *very* twisty mountain roads to get to the permitting offices. As the bird flies the county inspection office is a mere 15 miles…google maps estimates the drive at 56 minutes.

Excited to finally have our building permit – this means we could work on getting “temporary building & construction” power to the cabin.
Our temporary power pole in progress…
Only thing we failed upon inspection for temporary power was the type of nut on our grounding wire. This image shows the correct “acorn” nut – the inspector allowed us to replace the nut and send a picture for approval. Big thank you to Dustin’s dad for finding the correct nut to get our power approval!
Our power pole hooked up to the grid – we are so thankful for electricity…and amazed at how we’ve taken this utility for granted for many years

The good thing about all this permitting is the septic and well permits are good for 5 years and then the rest of the permitting keeps renewing, as long as we have one inspection/consultation every 12-months. We have learned so much in an expertise area we had never explored before. We’d done some minor home remodeling but never to this extent. We’re sure there is much more to learn as this project continues…

Step 7 – Cleaning & sanding the interior logs

Now that the outside was finished it was time to turn inside and complete almost the same process albeit easier because everything could be reached with a 6 ft ladder and not having to move the heavy and cumbersome 28 ft ladder. We had established temporary power just in time for the inside work – yay for lights and electric sanders (oh and Starlink for internet since we don’t have cell phone reception!).

Dustin sanding the interior logs after having gone through and cleaned them and then treated the logs for insects.

Step 8 – Chinking interior logs

Same process on the inside: foam backer rod & then caulking between the logs

Step 9 – Sealing interior logs

The interior sealing process was somewhat simpler than the exterior – insect treatment and then three coats of sealant without having to move a 28′ ladder and built scaffolding

Step 10 – Spring development for water

As purchased, our cabin did not have any plumbing or water source so we had two options – hire a company to drill a well or develop a natural spring present on the property. We obtained a quote for a 300′ deep well (they’re fairly pricey – let’s just say this quote was more than we spent on our van) – the deeper you have to go, the more it costs. We also learned it would be 6+ months before they could come out to drill the well AND we were *not* guaranteed to hit water. In speaking with several of the neighbors we learned well depth can vary quite significantly – one neighbor’s well is at 150′ and one neighbor went to 900′ to get decent flow.

Apparently we’re “on the list” for the well company to drill us a well but in the meantime (or maybe forever) we decided to use the spring water on the property. Many neighbors use natural springs to get water for their homes and we decided to try this route – it’s a good challenge for the DIY and significantly less expensive. We have a good flowing spring so we gave the spring box a go.

Dustin organizes and drills PVC for our “spring box”
Nephew, Vance, helped with the muddy job of digging out the spring. Added bonus they worked in the rain so they were muddy & soaked!
It looks like a disgusting mud pit initially but it’s “all part of the process”. Initially we dammed the spring where we saw the best flow but later decided to make it larger when we discovered other spring flows.
Dustin went to the quarry and purchased 1.25 tons of clean gravel (twice) for a total of 2.5 tons. This “clean gravel” was then washed again, and then loaded into the tractor before being placed on top of the spring.
Dustin shoveling our “clean gravel” over the spring box infrastructure. Notice the inspector in the lower left of this image.
After the spring box was covered up – right now this is a temporary covering…we need to work on this more next time. Dustin repurposed solidified concrete bags to create a rainwater diversion around the spring.
Dustin is showing the outflow from our spring box – we’re getting about 0.75 gallons per minute. This gives us about 700 gallons per day – considering we lived in Alaska on 1,000 gallons per month…this should be plenty.
Close-up of our spring flow – next steps will be to route the water into a holding tank and then pump up to our cabin.

Step 11 – Removal of a load bearing wall

This picture was taken when we came to view the cabin pre-purchase. When you walked into the house you went into a small kitchen and then there was a wall (load-bearing) behind for the downstairs bedroom.
Side view of this load-bearing wall.

We decided to expand the downstairs living area and make a larger kitchen by removing a load-bearing wall that initially was a bedroom. In order to remove this wall we had to work with an engineer to ensure we replaced the wall with an appropriate beam to hold the weight of our second floor. It was determined we could use a 2-ply beam but it would hang down 16 inches whereas if we used a 4-ply beam it would only hand down 12 inches. For us headroom is a priority so we went with the 4-ply LVL (laminated veneer lumber) – essentially 4 beams that would be screwed together.

The LVL beams were so long (20 feet) that we brought them into the cabin through the window and then had to cut them down to size – this was a wee bit tricky since the cabin is only 22 feet wide.
Dustin and brother, Brett, lift each of the 4 plys into place – prior to this beam installation Dustin built temporary walls to hold up each side of the second floor before removing the load bearing wall.
Dustin screws together the 4 plys of of the beam
With the load-bearing wall removed we’ve opened up the main living area of the cabin.

Step 12 – Lumber cutting

In true DIY fashion we are attempting to use timber from our land to make the flooring for the cabin. The trees on our property are mainly Tulip Poplar (Yellow Poplar) which is not typically used for flooring when other harder species are available but it is the wood that we have. After a bit of research we learned that historically barn floors (and many home floors) in Appalachia had been made of poplar and as long as we are ok with a more rustic look from potential denting and scratching it would work fine. So we decided to give it a shot – even if it is a total bust as flooring we’re sure to find a use for it somewhere…we do need a shed eventually 🙂

The idea of cutting this lumber now is that it can “season” or dry out while we are traveling and then will (hopefully) be ready for use when we return.

Brett helps Dustin cut down one of the Tulip Poplar trees on our property
Dustin next to the logs from our property
Dustin runs the skid steer to place a log onto the sawmill
With one of the sides cut Dustin adjusts the log supports before cutting the next side.
Dustin saws off a slab of bark from a log.
Three sides cut of one of the logs – this tulip poplar wood is sometimes referred to as “Rainbow Poplar” because of the various colors from mineral deposits.
Patricia runs the sawmill to create boards out of the “cant” (a rough-sawn 4-sided timber with the bark and slabs removed).
Fruits of our labor – all the boards produced by the trees from our property
Rough-sawn lumber is “stickered” with small boards placed in between layers to allow for drying
Dustin showing off one of his “Rainbow Poplar” boards as we moved them all into the cabin to dry out
We moved all of the fresh cut boards into the cabin to dry for the winter
We set up a dehumidifier on “continuous drain” with the hose coming out the window – fingers crossed this set up works while we are away

Before & (almost) after

As recommended by a fellow dog-loving, mini-van owning friend – thanks Deanne! here is a side by side comparison of the cabin from our first day. This layout currently looks great on a laptop computer but not sure how this will transfer to mobile devices haha. Next time we’ll take a picture from the same spot – always room for improvement 🙂

Meanwhile enjoying our time

After spending 13 months on our bicycles and constantly having to figure out (in Spanish no less) accommodation, food, water, wifi, and routing each day’s journey, it was so relaxing to stay (almost) in one place for 4 months and have a pantry stocked with food where we could prepare meals with more than three ingredients.

While there was cabin work we also enjoyed a wonderful summer & early fall in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina. We were able to see all of our parents on multiple occasions, participate in family events, watch/learn/volunteer at whitewater kayaking events, and recreate in nature. Our batteries have been recharged and our souls are full. This is not to say we lacked blood, sweat, and tears during the cabin remodeling process but in general, it was a fantastic summer!

Katy LOVES her life on the farm with freedom to roam, hunt, and be adored by her many humans
Dustin got a whitewater kayak and was coached by the family to improve his skills – he still has a long way to go to catch up to the skill of the niblings (he likely never will) but has enjoyed the learning process.
Sister-in-law Allison takes great care of Katy (while wrangling two active kiddos, managing hundreds of chickens & growing an amazing garden). After biking with us to Seattle, Katy has lived in WNC and it sure was nice see her living her best life this summer.
We were able to reap the rewards of a phenomenal vegetable garden all summer
We volunteered at the Slalom Age-Group Nationals and learned so much about the sport while getting to see our niblings compete.
We often hiked on the nearby Appalachian trail – Dustin added a “thru-hike” to the list of dreams…Patricia responded “we have a bicycle trip to finish first!”
We were able to celebrate a family wedding with Patricia’s brother’s family
We *tried* to stay in biking shape. In this picture from a gravel ride with nephew Vance we found a bees nest.
We farm-sat and learned how to take care of chickens (and sheep!)
Patty the farmer is excited to find a nest of eggs from the new layers – we were able to watch these layers grow from tiny chicks and help care of them sometimes.
Dustin helps mother-in-law, Monica, fix her pumpkin decoration
Aunt Patty got an RC crawler – super fun!
We watched the niblings while their parents went away
Friends visited from Arkansas and we went rafting
We lived for the summer in “the farmers” camper (nicer than many of our accommodations during bicycling Latin America)…you know roughing it with an island kitchen, side-by-side refrigerator and a giant RV garage for our bicycles/gear.
Katy, exhausted from all of her mice/mole patrolling, enjoys some belly scratches
“Shitter’s full”…camper living 🙂
We were able to get to the North Carolina coast a few times to visit & celebrate with family
One last ride on the day we packed up the bicycles – gorgeous fall foliage in Western North Carolina

Our hearts are filled with gratitude

We are so thankful for this past summer and all of the people who made the transition to our new home smooth. From airport pick-up/drop-off, to help with settling in, to equipment usage, housing, to time for advice, and hours of help with our property – we can’t thank our family and new neighbors enough for their time, talent and resources. We are especially grateful to “the farmers” Brett, Allison, Ivy & Vance for allowing us to “squat” on their property and sharing their lives (and all their tools & equipment) with us.

We are immensely grateful to “the farmers” for welcoming us to their property (and allowing us to borrow/break equipment).

Departing Estados Unidos (the United States)

We said goodbye to the farmers, Katy & our cabin after spending 4 months in ONE place. We repacked all the bicycles and gear – this was made much easier with the pictures we took when our equipment was packed leaving Quito in June.

Taking apart & packing up bicycles for our trip back to Quito, Ecuador
Bye-bye cabin home – thank you for what you’ve taught us so far…we’re sure there is MUCH more to learn
Saying goodbye to Katy this time was much less tear filled – we know she has an amazing life filled on the farm with mice, moles, bunnies, and a family who adores her (even when she is showing her true Jack Russell Terrorizer colors)

A huge thank you to sister-in-law Allison who spent over 10 hours in the car (round trip) to get us to the airport – we’ll book a closer one next time! Our travel day was rather painless albeit long – only issue we had was checking in the bicycles…the airline agent attempted to charge us WAY more for the bicycles than was stated in the American Airlines company policy. Pro-tip: know the company policy and have a screen-shot for their reference. In his defense, he doesn’t check-in too many (crazy) long distance international bicycle travelers.

Day 388 – we arrived back in Quito, Ecuador

So we have arrived in Quito, Ecuador (where we departed in June) and pressed “play” again on our adventure to bicycle from Alaska to Argentina. Arriving in Quito was easy and we were quickly through immigration with approval to stay in Ecuador for 90 days.

Very happy all of our baggage arrived in Quito relatively unscathed.

We ended up having to take two Ubers to get to our AirBnB – with the bicycles we call an “Uber XL” and well the extra-large vehicles here are not quite as big as they are in the United States. Sometimes with Uber XL we get a van that fits all of the gear and both of us. This time the Uber XL was a mid-sized SUV which easily fit all of the gear and one person but would not fit two people. So Patricia took off with all the gear (after quickly making sure Dustin’s Uber app had the correct address of the AirBnB and was updated for credit cards & billing ZIP codes). Our sub-par Spanish was quickly revived as we spoke with our respective Uber drivers.

Before we get back on the bicycles we are taking some time to visit the Galapagos Islands – this has been on our (ever growing) “must do” list and we decided to go for it while we are so close. Visiting these iconic islands was made easier by our awesome AirBnB host, Gustavo, who we stayed with back in June. He offered for us to keep the majority of our gear and bikes while we traveled to the Galapagos. While in the USA we watched several documentaries about Charles Darwin & the unique species in the Galapagos and now we are stoked to visit.

After coming back to Quito from the Galapagos side-trip we will take some time to rebuild bicycles, sort gear, and get ready to bike tour again while walking/biking in Quito (elevation 9,350 feet) and acclimatizing. We should be back on the road touring by bicycle approximately the first week in November. This trip we plan to cycle through Ecuador & Peru and then return once again to the USA to work on our cabin some more. Here is a recap of our North/South America Adventure by segments:

Segment 1: Fairbanks, Alaska to Quito, Ecuador (May 2024 – June 2025) – 10,096 miles cycled
[4 month hiatus to USA]
Segment 2: Quito, Ecuador to Peru/Bolivia border? (October 2025 – March 2026)
[6 month hiatus to USA]
Segment 3: Peru/Bolivia border? to Ushuaia, Argentina (Sept/October 2026 – March/April 2027)

As always these plans are subject to change…and change they most likely will. Below is our original vision map for “Ride the Americas” bicycle journey…plans have changed slightly (we rode across Nevada and down Arizona as well as ended up taking a sailboat across the Darien Gap) but the general idea has remained the same.

So far this has been an audacious journey of freedom, learning & growth (with a few marital discussions, meltdowns & tears thrown in for good measure). Thank you dear readers for following along on our expedition & encouraging us along the way!

34 thoughts on “Cycling Hiatus (Break) – 4 months in the USA”

  2. Oh my goodness, you two never cease to amaze us! So much hard work and talent creating a beautiful space in the mountains. We are excited to hear about your time in Quito and the Galapagos. We will be heading there in November. May God continue to bless you with strength, endurance and a sense of humor. Rita Aksamit

    1. Yay – so glad to hear you’ll be visiting Ecuador…we’ve found the culture & people to be truly wonderful! We’ll still be in Quito through November 4th (departing on the 5th) – let us know if your dates will overlap 🙂

  3. Wow, you all are my heros!!! I can’t imagine doing all of this!!!! So proud of you and wish you the best on the rest of your trip. I love you and continue to pray for your safety and for all of God’s precious gifts! Peace, Grance and Love!!!!
    Can’t wait to see you new home when it is finished!!! Sandy

  4. Awesome trip! And a lot of work and love, for your new house!
    I pray you have a great and safe next leg of your trip! God bless you!

  5. Thanks so much for sharing your experiences. I love reading about all of it. You are both Amazing! I continue to uphold you in my prayers. Especially for health and safety. ❤️

  6. You two are just amazing! You are both such do-it-yourselfers! I know it must have been wonderful to be with Katy and see both family’s. Prayers of safety and protection for you both as you continue your journey.

  10. I love, love, love reading about your marvelous adventures!!! You two are amazing!!! I so admire your frugalness ! Your “Before and (almost) After” pics were very clear on my iPhone! There’s certainly quite a difference between those pics!!! I can only imagine all of the blood, sweat, and hard work that went into the “(almost) After” pic!!! Glad to know you are now recharged in body and soul and ready to continue on the next leg of your journey! Enjoy! Stay safe! Keep us posted! And sending you lots of love ❤️ and prayers 🙏🏻!

    1. Hi Nancy – good to hear the before and after worked well on mobile too 🙂 There is a point with the blog where we just want to say “done” and just want to publish it.
      Thank you for your kind words – hope you are doing well!

  12. I was so excited to get an update from you two! I have been thinking about you. I’m relieved to hear that all went well, but became exhausted reading about and seeing ALL THE WORK! I admire your adventurous spirit – I mean, just the chinking of the logs alone would have done me in.

    So it’s fun to read about you, knowing its something I would not do.

    Safe travels!!

  13. Cycling South America sounds like a breeze after your DIY summer. Wow! And i love the colors of the poplar flooring, so beautiful and unusual. Best to you as you travel again. You are a great blogger.

  15. It’s like you know I need those reassurances about Katy. <3 Thank you for that and safe travels! Love your cabin and can't wait to see the finished product! Hugs, Sherri

    1. You would love to see Katy bossing around a couple gigantic Anatolian shepherds 🙂 She is doing fantastic and we’re not sure she’ll ever come back to us entirely…she is living her best life on the farm!

  16. Happy to read your blog again! Even though you weren’t riding your bikes, the adventure still continued. The cabin looks and sounds beautiful. Nice work!
    Enjoy more of your trip!

  17. Dustin and Patricia, you are living life to the fullest and we are all so blessed to be able to have a peek at what that looks like. I enjoyed your build experience every bit as much as the bike experience. Thank you for being so generous with your pictures and words. I am eager for your next installment.
    A couple of. Questions: Will your cabin be warm in the winter without insulation? Do you have to have a filtration/sanitation system for the spring water? How long is that driveway to the nearest road? Living the dream!!! Best wishes for the next leg! Lisa

    1. Hi Lisa – thanks for the encouragement. Great questions!
      1) We will insulate the cabin eventually. Actually we learned this summer (for current building standards) we must over insulate floor, ceiling & upstairs walls to compensate for the limited insulation from the logs.
      2) We do not currently have a sanitation/filtration system for the spring – most people we’ve talked with do not. It is AMAZING water…having said that we will have it tested and there might be an occasional bleach shock required for the system.
      3) Our drive is maybe 600 – 800 feet to the nearest road

  18. What a beautiful mountain retreat you are creating. We’re so impressed with all your accomplishments in such a short time. Can’t wait to see what comes next for you.
    Prayers for safe and amazing adventures.

  19. I can smell your pictures! The caulk, the sanding, staining, sealing, the sawing – how cool to saw your own floor boards! – the cabin looks amazing.
    Thank you for inviting us to be part of your dreams; it is such a privilege to read your thoughts and experiences.
    I’ll be praying for strength as you get back into cycling – the mental work of planning and determination as you ride, and physical work of using those muscle groups again!

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