Way too much to blog about.......Part I
Well I've done it again. I've procrastinated writing my blog and now I have so many fun things to write about I can't fit it all into one blog without making you all go blind. So here it goes: Part I!
In August, Bart took off for a trip to Europe to compete in the Czech Republic, and also to teach a canopy course in Poland. I was very sad to not get to join him on this trip as Prague has become my most favoritest place EVER in the world! But alas, I stayed behind. It was a bit of a challenge for him because he'd never taught a canopy course in Polish before. But he must've done well because they want him to come back! And while he was off teaching, I was down in Zephyrhills learning! I participated in a SIS event (sisters in skydiving) where girls get together to jump, learn, and the more experienced girls can help less experienced girls grow and get excited about the sport. It was a really fun weekend and I even took a canopy course (for the second time) that once again, taught me SO much about flying my parachute. It was so great to get to meet some new girlfriends and have an entire weekend dedicated to jumping - something we rarely have time for anymore!
In September we decided to take an impromptu visit to Canada to visit Bart's Dad and Aunts. He'd been wanting to get up there for a while and we found one weekend we could squeeze it in - so we did! It was quite a trip, to say the least. We flew into Vermont, rented a car, and headed to Plattsburgh, New York, where we stayed for the night. We chose to stay there mainly because it was cheaper than Vermont, and just a ferry ride away. I had never been on a ferry that carries cars! So that was a fun adventure.
The next morning we headed to a TINY little drop zone in Vermont where Bart actually started skydiving! It was so fun to meet the guys who taught him how to fly. The entire operation is literally a little hut with a few people hanging out. They have a Cessna taking loads of 4 people at a time. Very different than what I'm used to! We only made one jump but it was so fun. I had never done a 4 way exit out of a Cessna so it was a new adventure for me!
After leaving Vermont we made the 2 hour drive to Montreal. It was my first time meeting his Aunts; two wonderful women who played a large role in raising him. They are just as sweet as can be and welcomed us into their home with open arms. They do speak English (and French), but Polish is obviously where their ease in communication lies - so I was challenged with using my Rosetta Stone skills. I always enjoy being around Bart's Polish family and friends as I learn a lot about the language, and I just enjoy hearing Bart speak in his native tongue! They were very eager to show us around Montreal and ended up taking us to an incredible botanical garden exhibit. It was a little difficult in that there were THOUSANDS of people being corralled into this maze surrounded by these gigantic sculptures made of bushes, flowers, and other plant life. Neither of us do well with crowds but we did our best to soak in the beauty. I think my favorite part of the trip was the day we decided to take for ourselves. Montreal isn't exactly a place I would ever live - but the downtown area reminded me so much of Europe! It's very different than the rest of the city. We spent most of the day sitting at a table on a cobblestone street, drinking beer and sangria, eating, and talking. It was a much needed vacation from our vacation. :) We decided to cut Canada a day short and drive to Connecticut to meet with a small exhaust company that we do business with. It was a 5 hour drive that we definitely under estimated! Not to mention after that 5 hour drive and business meeting, it was 8pm and we still had a 3 hour drive back to our hotel in Vermont. It was quite the day with a lot of miles covered, but I think we made a wise choice in going to meet the exhaust guys as we made some positive steps forward in our business relationship with them. Overall it was a good trip - but exhausting. I don't even know how many miles we drove (and flew), but we traveled through 6 states and two countries in 5 days. So we were ready to get home!
It seemed like we didn't get a chance to take a breath after our return from Canada because it was time to start moving our business! We had hoped by now to find a place to buy where we could really get settled. But the opportunity just didn't come along and we absolutely needed to get out of the spot we were in. We outgrew it about a month after we moved in! Luckily, it's just a mile down the road from the old shop so in that respect, it made the move easy. But everything else was NOT. We rented a UHaul for 1 day and decided to get it all done in one shot. We had one of our employees help us which was a God send. But still, it was eerily reminiscent of the move we had done just last year. Several hundred tons of steel grates (we all remember the impaled leg incident right?), boxes and boxes of steel, lights, carbon fiber.......just endless amounts of stuff, to put it lightly. It was a rough move - BUT, we got it done! It took us a couple more weeks after that to settle in. We had to do quite a bit of work to the new place. The "business" that was in there before was basically a garage sale open for business daily. It was MESS. Crap EVERYWHERE - including stray cats wandering around and even caged squirrels. The decor hadn't been updated since the 70s/80s (or so it appeared), and it was just filthy and run down. But we cleaned it up pretty well and are mostly settled at this point. We're only looking to stay here for another year or so until hopefully (fingers crossed), we find that GEM to purchase that can become our permanent headquarters! But we had been operating out of an un-airconditioned warehouse with one TINY office. Now we have 3 offices, a media room, a "lobby" and fulfillment center all air conditioned! On top of that, we have a separate warehouse in the back. It's a definite step up but we can already see that this space won't last us much more than a year. So the hunt continues! I included some before and after pictures but we've done a lot more work lately, so I'll include some more pictures of the whole place in part 2!
Well - that wraps up Part I of Kimgowski Adventures! Stay tuned as Part II will be another doozie. But I'll give you time to digest first. Enjoy the plethora of pictures! :)
In August, Bart took off for a trip to Europe to compete in the Czech Republic, and also to teach a canopy course in Poland. I was very sad to not get to join him on this trip as Prague has become my most favoritest place EVER in the world! But alas, I stayed behind. It was a bit of a challenge for him because he'd never taught a canopy course in Polish before. But he must've done well because they want him to come back! And while he was off teaching, I was down in Zephyrhills learning! I participated in a SIS event (sisters in skydiving) where girls get together to jump, learn, and the more experienced girls can help less experienced girls grow and get excited about the sport. It was a really fun weekend and I even took a canopy course (for the second time) that once again, taught me SO much about flying my parachute. It was so great to get to meet some new girlfriends and have an entire weekend dedicated to jumping - something we rarely have time for anymore!
In September we decided to take an impromptu visit to Canada to visit Bart's Dad and Aunts. He'd been wanting to get up there for a while and we found one weekend we could squeeze it in - so we did! It was quite a trip, to say the least. We flew into Vermont, rented a car, and headed to Plattsburgh, New York, where we stayed for the night. We chose to stay there mainly because it was cheaper than Vermont, and just a ferry ride away. I had never been on a ferry that carries cars! So that was a fun adventure.
The next morning we headed to a TINY little drop zone in Vermont where Bart actually started skydiving! It was so fun to meet the guys who taught him how to fly. The entire operation is literally a little hut with a few people hanging out. They have a Cessna taking loads of 4 people at a time. Very different than what I'm used to! We only made one jump but it was so fun. I had never done a 4 way exit out of a Cessna so it was a new adventure for me!
After leaving Vermont we made the 2 hour drive to Montreal. It was my first time meeting his Aunts; two wonderful women who played a large role in raising him. They are just as sweet as can be and welcomed us into their home with open arms. They do speak English (and French), but Polish is obviously where their ease in communication lies - so I was challenged with using my Rosetta Stone skills. I always enjoy being around Bart's Polish family and friends as I learn a lot about the language, and I just enjoy hearing Bart speak in his native tongue! They were very eager to show us around Montreal and ended up taking us to an incredible botanical garden exhibit. It was a little difficult in that there were THOUSANDS of people being corralled into this maze surrounded by these gigantic sculptures made of bushes, flowers, and other plant life. Neither of us do well with crowds but we did our best to soak in the beauty. I think my favorite part of the trip was the day we decided to take for ourselves. Montreal isn't exactly a place I would ever live - but the downtown area reminded me so much of Europe! It's very different than the rest of the city. We spent most of the day sitting at a table on a cobblestone street, drinking beer and sangria, eating, and talking. It was a much needed vacation from our vacation. :) We decided to cut Canada a day short and drive to Connecticut to meet with a small exhaust company that we do business with. It was a 5 hour drive that we definitely under estimated! Not to mention after that 5 hour drive and business meeting, it was 8pm and we still had a 3 hour drive back to our hotel in Vermont. It was quite the day with a lot of miles covered, but I think we made a wise choice in going to meet the exhaust guys as we made some positive steps forward in our business relationship with them. Overall it was a good trip - but exhausting. I don't even know how many miles we drove (and flew), but we traveled through 6 states and two countries in 5 days. So we were ready to get home!
It seemed like we didn't get a chance to take a breath after our return from Canada because it was time to start moving our business! We had hoped by now to find a place to buy where we could really get settled. But the opportunity just didn't come along and we absolutely needed to get out of the spot we were in. We outgrew it about a month after we moved in! Luckily, it's just a mile down the road from the old shop so in that respect, it made the move easy. But everything else was NOT. We rented a UHaul for 1 day and decided to get it all done in one shot. We had one of our employees help us which was a God send. But still, it was eerily reminiscent of the move we had done just last year. Several hundred tons of steel grates (we all remember the impaled leg incident right?), boxes and boxes of steel, lights, carbon fiber.......just endless amounts of stuff, to put it lightly. It was a rough move - BUT, we got it done! It took us a couple more weeks after that to settle in. We had to do quite a bit of work to the new place. The "business" that was in there before was basically a garage sale open for business daily. It was MESS. Crap EVERYWHERE - including stray cats wandering around and even caged squirrels. The decor hadn't been updated since the 70s/80s (or so it appeared), and it was just filthy and run down. But we cleaned it up pretty well and are mostly settled at this point. We're only looking to stay here for another year or so until hopefully (fingers crossed), we find that GEM to purchase that can become our permanent headquarters! But we had been operating out of an un-airconditioned warehouse with one TINY office. Now we have 3 offices, a media room, a "lobby" and fulfillment center all air conditioned! On top of that, we have a separate warehouse in the back. It's a definite step up but we can already see that this space won't last us much more than a year. So the hunt continues! I included some before and after pictures but we've done a lot more work lately, so I'll include some more pictures of the whole place in part 2!
Well - that wraps up Part I of Kimgowski Adventures! Stay tuned as Part II will be another doozie. But I'll give you time to digest first. Enjoy the plethora of pictures! :)
Bart enjoying a little dinner in Poland.
Coach Bart
Competing in Czech
Bart and his class. :)
These are Bart's friends we stayed with in Poland last year. He brought them out for a tandem!
The girls of the canopy piloting class!
Sisters in Skydiving
Maxine and me - a friend, swoop competitor, and my canopy coach!
A beautiful rainbow in Zephyrhills as I was leaving the event.
Causing a raucous in the Delta Sky Lounge
Ridin' first class!
Dinner in Plattsburgh, New York
A few of the guys who taught Bart to Skydive at Malone Parachute Club.
Flashback! Bart's first skydive! You know you're old when you learned on static line. ;)
Ridin' on the ferry.
When we arrived in Montreal, Bart's Aunt's had prepared a delicious meal, complete with blood soup and pierogies!
Needless to say, we didn't go hungry.
Bart's aunts and father.
I love a good Polish breakfast!
Olympic stadium in Montreal.
The botanical garden exhibit...
Hops!
Sunnies!
There were GIANT sunflowers that unfortunately had died, but we ate the seeds right out of them! Delicious!
What I would've given to see these things in bloom!
What botanical garden is complete without marijuana?
We ate corn kernels too!
Our "personal day" in downtown Montreal.
This sums up that day...
They were very excited to surprise me with Bart in this apron.
On our drive to Connecticut we stopped in the Adirondacks for some lunch!
Our new office......before........
It took a LOT of work....
GKA Industries Headquarters before...
...and after!
One of 3 truck loads of crap.
Ahhhhh the racks.
The shipping station before...
And after!
Bart's new prototyping machine - aka "3D Printer"
After a LONG day of moving.
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