Episode 865: Material Delivery, Loss, and a Long Road Trip Home
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It’s been a long two weeks. In this episode of The LOTS Project Morning Show, I catch you up on everything that happened while the show was off: the long-awaited cabin material delivery, the passing of my father, a 15-hour road trip to New York with two St. Bernards and a cat, and the mindset shift that came out of all of it.
Two Weeks of Silence: Why There Was No Show
If you tuned in last week and wondered where the show went—this post is your answer.
It’s been two weeks since the last Morning Show episode. Between a surprise material delivery window, weather moving in, and an unexpected family emergency, the calendar filled up fast:
- The road to the cabin finally dried out enough to handle a delivery truck.
- The lumber yard called with news that windows, doors, and framing lumber were ready.
- That same night, I got the call that my father had passed away.
This post walks through that sequence: the scramble to handle the delivery, the immediate shift into funeral mode, and the reflections that came from the road.
Bitcoin Price Guess Game & Market Snapshot
No LOTS Project Monday is complete without a look at Bitcoin and the ongoing price guess game over in the Telegram group.
On December 1, 2025, Bitcoin was sitting at:
$86,270 per BTC
Over the two weeks, price bounced around—up, down, and then down again. As usual, the guesses were all over the place:
- I guessed $109,123 (swinging for a big pop and missing badly).
- John Palmer threw in 123,456 for maximum optimism.
- Other guesses ranged from the high $80Ks to $100K+.
- If we played “closest without going over”, Carson’s $60K guess might have taken it.
But the actual winner, for two games in a row, was Scramblin with a guess of $89,800. Once again, he was just a few thousand off.
If you want to get in on the next round, jump into the Telegram chat and reply to the pinned Bitcoin price post with your guess for next Monday’s price around show time.
Cabin Material Delivery: Windows, Doors, and Framing Lumber
Before the family emergency fully kicked in, there was some long-awaited good news on the cabin build.
For nearly five weeks, I’d been waiting on our order of:
- Windows
- Doors
- Framing lumber for the walls (roughly 300 pieces of 2×6×12 and 30 pieces of 2×4×12)
The access road back to the cabin was finally dry. I’d driven it and knew a delivery truck could make it in and out—at least before the next big rain blew through.
So I called the lumber yard on Monday after the show:
- Found out the windows and doors had finally arrived.
- Checked the weather and saw a heavy rain system moving in Tuesday night into Wednesday.
- Asked if they could squeeze in a Tuesday delivery before the clay turned back into soup.
I honestly didn’t think they’d pull it off on 24 hours’ notice, but they did.
Unloading and Stashing the Load
On Tuesday, the truck showed up with:
- Windows
- Doors
- Framing lumber for the walls
They brought an open dock truck with a piggyback forklift, were able to get the load up to the top of the hill, and dropped it close to where it needed to end up.
From there, Kori and I spent a good chunk of the day:
- Breaking down the skids
- Moving 330+ pieces of lumber into the soft-sided garage
- Moving all the windows and doors inside the roof structure to keep them safe and dry
With heavy rain on the way and no rock down on the road yet, it was a huge relief to have everything delivered and under cover just in time.
The Call About My Father
That same Monday night, after the cabin logistics were sorted, the phone rang.
My mom called to let me know that my father had passed away.
His health had been declining for years. We had all sort of lived with the understanding that every visit might be the last, but that didn’t make the moment any less real or any easier to process.
Some context:
- My dad had been in and out of the VA hospital, rehab, and nursing home.
- He served as an Army field medic in Vietnam, spending around 16 months in-country.
- He was proud of his service, proud to be a veteran, and had made his wishes clear about how he wanted things handled when he died.
Even with that mental preparation, the call still sent everything into a spin—emotionally and logistically.
Funeral Plans: Elks, Military Honors, and the Bath National Cemetery
One blessing in the middle of the chaos: my parents had actually discussed what he wanted.
My father’s wishes were simple but specific:
- A small military service with burial in the National Cemetery in Bath, NY
- An Elks Lodge funeral ceremony, honoring his 50+ years as an Elk (he was even New York State Vice President at one point)
The plan came together as:
- Calling hours on Monday night
- Interment and burial on Tuesday at the Bath National Cemetery
The services were powerful and well-attended:
- The Patriot Guard Riders stood watch at the funeral home and presented my mom with a plaque outlining his service record.
- The Elks performed their traditional funeral ritual, adjusting it so more of his Elk brothers could participate.
- At the cemetery, he received full military honors—including taps and the rifle volley.
Later in the week, Kori and I returned to the cemetery to:
- Get our bearings before the headstone is installed.
- Note landmarks and section details so we can find his plot easily in the sea of white stones next summer.
- Take photos and video to remember the layout of the Bath National Veteran Cemetery, a place that’s been there since the 1800s.
Traveling 15 Hours With Two St. Bernards (and a Cat)
Traveling from Tennessee to upstate New York is one thing. Doing it with:
- Two Saint Bernards, and
- A relatively new kitten
…is another.
We knew we couldn’t leave the cat behind in the RV and hope for the best, especially for a week-long trip with unknown stress and weather. So the plan became:
- Rent a vehicle with low clearance and plenty of space (we loved the Chrysler Pacifica on the last trip).
- Find an Airbnb that allowed dogs, and hopefully a cat if we were careful.
The Airbnb host:
- Normally didn’t list “cats allowed,”
- But was empathetic about the situation and said yes—as long as the cat was crated when we weren’t there or sleeping, and we were respectful of the space.
That part worked out great. The vehicle rental? Not so much.
Rental Car Reality Check: The Enterprise Saga & Jeep Wagoneer
We reserved a Chrysler Pacifica with Enterprise: a 7-passenger minivan, “or similar.” The plan was:
- Pick up the van Friday
- Pack and prep Friday
- Drive out Saturday, arriving after a long one-day push
When we showed up at Enterprise, the waiting room was full of unhappy customers and we quickly found out why:
- Our reserved Pacifica was not there.
- The person who had it was two-plus hours late returning it (and you could tell this wasn’t a one-off situation).
- Other people also weren’t getting the vehicles they had reserved, including folks needing 15-passenger vans.
Their “solution” for us was a Jeep Wagoneer—a much taller, more expensive, far less practical option for giant dogs and lots of gear.
Issues with the Wagoneer:
- Sits high enough that the dogs had trouble getting in, even with help.
- The running boards were more of a shin-banging hazard than a useful step.
- The third row was hard to access; you basically had to crawl over seats.
- It drank more gas than we wanted for a 30-hour round trip.
What really set me off was being told—after all that—that they were “doing me a favor” by only charging the minivan rate instead of the $180/day Wagoneer rate.
We took the vehicle because we didn’t have a real choice. It got us to New York and back, but it cemented one thing in my mind: I am over renting vehicles, especially when the reservation system feels like a suggestion instead of a commitment.
The Airbnb Cabin and a New Push to Finish Our Own
If the rental car was a zero, the Airbnb cabin was a solid win.
We ended up in a 650 sq ft cabin in the woods, down a winding driveway on about five acres. It had:
- Mostly hard flooring (huge plus with big dogs)
- Just enough space to stretch out without becoming a cleaning nightmare
- A footprint that’s surprisingly close to what our own cabin will be (our enclosed space will be around 730–750 sq ft)
Staying there:
- Made it painfully obvious how cramped and limiting the RV is long-term.
- Lit a fire under me to get our cabin framed, dried in, and livable as soon as possible.
- Helped us visualize layout, storage, and the kind of life we want inside our own four walls.
It was a reminder of why we’re building, not just what we’re building.
The Dressing Room Mirror: Health, Weight, and Regret
One of the most unexpected gut-punches from the trip didn’t happen at the funeral. It happened at Kohl’s, in a dressing room.
I had to buy dress clothes for the calling hours and funeral:
- I no longer owned anything formal.
- Even if I did, it wouldn’t fit.
Dress clothes have gotten insanely expensive, by the way. But the bigger shock was this:
Standing in front of a full-length mirror with decent lighting, I finally got a real look at myself.
In the RV:
- Mirrors are small and poorly lit.
- I never see a full-body view.
- Out of sight really can become out of mind.
In that dressing room, I realized how far things had slipped. I knew I was heavier than I wanted to be, but I didn’t really see it until that moment.
Combine that with:
- Hearing my mom talk about my dad’s regrets and worries near the end, and
- Spending 15 hours in the car thinking about what matters and what doesn’t…
…and it became clear that I need to change some things:
- My health
- My habits
- How I spend my time
- How I want to feel when it’s my turn in the box
This two-week stretch became a sort of forced reset—a chance to evaluate if I’m living in a way that I’ll be proud of later.
What’s Next: Cabin, Bitcoin, and The LOTS Project
Now that we’re back:
- The windows, doors, and framing lumber are waiting safely under cover at the cabin site.
- The road is still a mess after the rains, but worst case, I can walk in and start framing a little at a time.
- I’ve got fresh motivation to push the cabin build forward and get us out of the RV and into something solid.
- I’m rethinking routines, health, and what I want the next decade to look like.
From a show perspective:
- The Monday Morning Show is rolling again.
- The Bitcoin price guess game continues over in Telegram.
- New projects and updates are coming as we close out the year and move into the next.
If you want to be part of the ongoing conversation, jump into the LOTS Project Telegram chat and hang out with the crew there. It’s where a lot of the behind-the-scenes discussion happens.
Partners, Sponsors, and Tools Mentioned
If you heard something in the episode and want to check it out, here are the partner and sponsor links mentioned:
- Signature Solar – Solar equipment and off-grid gear
https://signaturesolar.com/?ref=LOTS - Blockstream Jade & Jade Plus – Bitcoin hardware wallets
https://store.blockstream.com/?code=TheLOTSProject - Fold Debit Card – Earn sats back on everyday spending
https://use.foldapp.com/r/FANEWETX - ComfreyRoots.com – Bocking #4 comfrey cuttings and root crowns
https://comfreyroots.com - Food Forest Farms – Coffee I actually travel with
https://foodforestfarms.com
Affiliate Disclosure
Some of the links on this page are affiliate links. If you use them, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. Your support helps keep The LOTS Project moving forward—on the road, at the cabin, and behind the microphone. Thank you.
