Wednesday, July 28, 2010

On Top of the World.......

Our good friends Gregg and Bonnie Gheyssen have been touring Alaska on their Harleys and have been giving me progress reports of the trip. It sounds like they are really having a ball and I sure wish we were with them. What a trip!! Here are a few pictures:
Here they are just entering the World Famous Alaska Highway at Dawson Creek, BC to Tok, AK. This was taken over a month ago.
Bonnie stops to photograph a Bear in the Yukon.......
Muskwa River Valley and the Rocky mountains.
Here they are recently all the way to Homer, the Halibut Capital of the World. This sure has been a trip they will remember forever. You guys travel safe on your way back home, we can't wait to hear all about it when we see you.

Meanwhile, we continue our building project and after a few long hard days, the plumbing, wiring and insulation are all done....just in the nick of time.  The Dry Wall installer came yesterday and got a good start. Today he should get it all hung.  Then hopefully, he'll get everything completed by the end of the week. Keep your fingers crossed.


Rollie and Gina install insulation non-stop.  Gina worked until 10:30pm with Rocky to get things ready for Dry Wall installation early the next morning.

A lot of Dry Wall to install...
Up goes the FIRST sheet.....
Soon there were several up and it was progressing nicely...lots more to do, but it's taking shape.

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!!!

Thanks for stopping by and stay tuned, there is more to come...Sunday.

Mike

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..

Sunday, July 25, 2010

WOW,,,It was truly a GREAT WEEK!!!

Rocky and Sheri have only been here a week today, but he and Rollie have accomplished a tremendous amount. We even took one full day off to go to Rapid City (50 mile) for supplies. They have spent some long, hard days and it shows. The plumbing and wiring is nearly done. Rollie has been pulling wire and last night completed the entire job including the heavy wire for the Counter Top Stove and the Dryer. While Rollie was working on the wiring, Rocky and I were putting in all the plumbing and sewer. Boy, there is a LOT that goes into building a  place like this. How soon I forget after building our Coach House in Mission Texas.  I hoped at that time that I would not be doing it again soon. But here we are.....:-)
Here is some of Rocky's handy work. What a job figuring this out!  It's like a jig saw puzzle. I don't know how he does it but I sure admire his ability. While we are cutting and gluing all these pipes together, Rollie doesn't miss a beat and continues threading the wire and placing all the electrical and coax boxes...
Rocky breaks his concentration just for a second while gluing the sewer line for the stool. I'm glad I had the foresight to leave this little cut out in the concrete floor when we had it poured. It sure saved us from having to break up the concrete...
This afternoon we will do the plumbing. We are using Pex and Rocky is planning it out and Teflon taping some of the joints....
Rollie finishes up the wiring just in time to do another one of his specialities and cook us all a steak. It was delicious and really hit the spot!

 We had some visitors Friday from Tallahassee Florida that go a long way back.....

Bob and Ely Park were touring the area on their way home from a long tour of the Western US. We have been expecting them and looking forward to spending some time talking "old times". Unfortunately, we are so heavily involved in our latest project (as usual) that we just didn't have as much time as we would have liked to have had. They were able to spend Happy Hour with us and enjoy another of our fine Chef Rollie's BBQ's.  Bob and Ely are both professional Legal Investigators that just recently retired.  We go back a long ways and share similar backgrounds in Police and Investigation work preparing and directing lawsuits for trial. I always have had the utmost respect for Bob's knowledge and expertise.  It was great seeing them and I'm glad they came to see us. I just hope they can get back again one day when we're not so pressed for time.

With the Dry Wall contractor coming next Tuesday to begin his task, we must continue pressing on. We still have to get the concrete floor patched, the plumbing ran and then the insulation done. It will take a joint effort and even some "after hours" work by everyone.  We will be pressing it but we'll "get er' done".

As it usually does, things just keep happening faster than we can think. But that is GREAT and what keeps life interesting. This morning we have just received word that someone is very interested in our RV and would like to see it TODAY.   So, since it has been neglected a little with everything that has been happening, we must stop and make it somewhat presentable.  Sometimes I think I would just like to say "WHOA", lets slow down a little here. But that just doesn't seem to happen in our life....things just keep on happening so fast it's hard to keep up.   But that's fine, we like it that way. Who needs time to think anyhow, I'd probably get into trouble for sure!

Thanks for stopping by and stay tuned.......

Bless you all as we continue to thank God for all the many blessings he has given us.

It was TRULY a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday..




Wednesday, July 21, 2010

God Sends More of His "ANGELS"!!


















Last Sunday, shortly after Church, our good friends Rocky and Sheri Rhoades arrived. They drove long and hard all the way from somewhere in Texas to give us a hand with our building project. They were headed for California, then coming here on the return trip, but they changed their plans and came here first.  Rocky is a great and experienced carpenter and is involved with HERO Makers Missionary Organization that helps build houses and school's for orphans and children at risk in Mexico.  They are a wonderful couple and are truly dedicated to their work for God. Last summer they visited us for a few days and we are glad they could come back.  We are really happy to have Rocky's help and expertise.
Here we are welcoming them just after they pulled in. You can tell by the smile on Rollie's face that he is HAPPY to have some HELP!  I'm hugging Sheri as she is one of my "special" gals......

If you're thinking that is my beautiful big maroon Volvo 770 truck, you're very observant. However, that's not mine but a true sister to mine out of the same fleet. It is equipped exactly as ours, same year, same engine, transmission, everything. In fact, my key will even open his doors and work in the ignition.. Nice truck Rocky.

They look alike don't they? It's hard to tell them apart but that's mine on the left.
Soon they were settled on one of our V.I.P. parking spots fully equipped with electricity, water and special macerator sewer dumping service!!  That's Rollie and Gina's Volvo770 parked behind their RV.  Hey, we have our own "fleet".....that's 3 Volvo 770's.
Rocky spent the first day looking over the good work Rollie had done and here he is checking with Ms pat on how she wants her kitchen.
It wasn't long until we were continuing to get prepped for the Dry Wall.  After getting all the proper bracing in, Rollie and Rocky were preparing to route all the wiring and plumbing. Then it will be time for the insulation.   It's moving right along.  I can't believe all the stuff that goes into this construction and the WORK involved. I continue to Thank God and all his Angels for what they are all doing for us.  Praise the Lord!!

This morning we are all getting prepared to leave at 7:00 AM for Rapid City (50 miles) to buy supplies. The days start early around here and believe me by 4pm, sometimes without even stopping for lunch, we are ready for the "social hour". More appropriately called our "Happy Hour".  Shortly after 5pm we are ready for some "grub" and then relax. Nobody stays up very late around here, with those hours we're ready for bed.

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!

I would like to welcome our latest Follower:

Debra K.

We were extremly happy to have Debra and her husband Niles stop by for a few minutes as they were out touring the Black Hills on their beautiful red Motorcycle.  It was great to meet these interesting folks. We are so happy to have you as readers of our Blog. Please feel free to comment at any time and we hope to see you again down the road......travel safe!

See ya'll later!!

Thanks for stopping by.......

Mike

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..

Sunday, July 18, 2010

WOW,,,,,I'm Surprised!!!

Yep, I'm pleasantly surprised at the progress we have made on our new apartment. Rollie and Gina, "The Kids",  have only been here two and a half weeks and in that time we have completed the following:

Framing.
Installing 2 Pocket Doors.
Sewer and Water lines in.
Windows framed and installed.

Its amazing how all this has taken place in just 2-1/2 weeks. Plus, we have gotten in a hike almost every morning and been to Rapid City (50 miles one way) three times for lumber and supplies. Rollie and Gina have really been working some long day's, even if we do usually stop around 4pm for a happy hour and a little fellowship time.  Both Pat and I are truly and pleasantly pleased with all their progress.

Next, we have the Electrical and Plumbing to do before we install the insulation. Then the Dry Wall. Rollie said we would be ready for dry wall by the 1ST of Aug. I didn't think we could possibly make it but it's looking more and more like it might happen.

Below are some pictures of our progress..
This is before the framing was started. Pat and Rollie had taped it off the way it was to be framed. Here Ms Pat is standing in her kitchen right where she wants the window.
                   (click on all pictures to enlarge)
Here she is looking in that window yesterday just after Rollie cut it out.  A big HOLE in the side of my Toy Barn!!!













The Framing is all completed and the kitchen window is installed..   Looking great, isn't it?
Next Rollie cut out the BIG front window.  WOW, now you can see the view from our living room!
This is our Living Room and Entrance door.  Ready for wiring, dry wall and paint.
This is now the front entrance to our new Living Quarters.   It is really shaping up now and we are EXCITED!!!  Praise the Lord.
Here is Rollie and Ms Pat as they were installing the kitchen window. It is really a lot of work installing these windows, a lot of the outside metal has to be removed to set them in properly.   Let me tell you.....2 windows was a very full, hard days work!! Rollie just puts his head down and moves on.....nice job Son!!

Since all the digging of the sewer and water lines had our yard all torn up and I had been wanting some more road gravel anyway,  I decided now was a good time and I could cover up all the fresh dirt. This would eliminate the mud when it rains.  I was originally only going to put one load but you know how that goes and I ended up putting 5 big loads on and around the place.  We rebuilt the existing road and some new parking areas.  It sure looks GREAT!!
Those blocks and rocks you see in the left center is the well. We are planning on building some kind of an ornamental cover for it in the future and make it a little more attractive. The well was there when we bought this raw piece of property.  Gee, they couldn't have put it in a more "in the way" spot.  Oh well, just part of the games we play.... nothing to do but make the best of it.

That's about where we are to date.  The next couple weeks will be quite interesting. Be sure to drop back Wednesday and check on our progress.  You can check Rollie and Gina's Blog for more details on what we are doing.

Rocky and Sheri Rhoades are just a couple hundred miles away from us after driving half the night all the way from Texas to help. They will be here TODAY.  We are so excited to see them.  Drive safely Rocky and Sheri. ****update,,,,,they are just over 100 miles away......*****:-)

It's been a GREAT WEEK!!!

Meanwhile, we're off to our little Cowboy Church that we enjoy so much.

Thanks for stopping by.  God Bless.

Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday..

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

We called in the BIG BOY'S...

We enjoy the great view from our little piece of Heaven up here in the Black Hills of South Dakota, but it is on top of a Mountain. Just a few inches under the dirt is ROCK. SOLID ROCK!!!  The little backhoes just can't do it. So we called in the BIG BOYS.
The ROCK CRUSHER was called......

We need a line from the septic tank to the Barn to run the sewer and another line for our water. The area was rather close for this big machine, but we knew we would run into rock. Up here, you have 2 choices....hire the Big Boys or hire an expert to Dynamite.  When we ran our water line a few years ago, we used Dynamite.  This time we decided to try this route.  The water line needs to be at least 5 ft deep, preferably 6 ft, to be below the frost line.
Soon, just as we suspected, we found solid rock!

You can see the rock we have to contend with. It makes it slow going as they chop their way through this shale and other boulders.

Finally, the lines were all in and it was time to fill up all the ditches.   All the time they were digging, Gina was digging through the dirt searching for rocks.....she was in ROCK HEAVEN. Gina even stopped Mark, the backhoe operator, a couple times so she could get a rock out.  Soon Mark was stopping and showing her rocks to get out...  LOL

Anyhow, we now have water and sewer into our Toy Barn.  While we were outside doing the digging, Rollie was inside busily continuing the framing. He has made super progress on getting everything framed in, including both the windows and the bath and bedroom. Here are a few pictures of his progress..

This is our living room and front door....  Some of you have ask about windows. Yes, we plan on having two good sized window's, this one and the one in the next picture which is over the kitchen sink.

The frame on the left is our window in the kitchen. You can see the bedroom and bathroom taking shape...

GOOD JOB ROLLIE!!!!

I just can't say enough good about this guy. I admire him so much. He and Gina are truly a blessing from above.   My son Scott always wanted to RV with us and help me build many of my projects. Scott and his wife Ann were also very good builders and he was going to help me build this place. Our Lord had other plans for Scott but I firmly believe Scott is now an Angel and had a hand in sending Rollie and Gina to us.....to finish his work.  Thank You Scott, Thank you Rollie and Gina and Thank You God!!!

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Thanks for stopping by............

God Bless, I'm sure you all have your "Angels".

Mike

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Our new Apartment is "Taking Shape"....

Rollie, Gina, Pat and I took off for town early Wednesday morning to order the lumber for the "Apartment" we are going to build in our metal Toy Barn.  Since delivery day was Thursday, we didn't have to wait long...
Here is our Lumber.  The truck arrived late in the day, even after "Happy Hour", however we were happy to see it. That entire truck load of lumber and insulation is ours. Everything except that bunch of shingles on the extreme back. We already have a roof, so we don't need them.  It was all soon unloaded in the designated spot and we were anxious to get started first thing Friday morning. (after our HIKE of course!)

We previously had the area all taped off the way we wanted it but we had a ton of stuff stored there that had to be moved. Here you are looking at our bedroom and bathroom area.
It wasn't long on Friday morning until the sawdust was FLYING. This was the "first cut".  Rollie was cutting and cutting away all day.  He brought these real neat tools all the way from his place in Louisiana just to do this for us.  Aren't we fortunate to have such wonderful "kids"?  Rollie is a skilled carpenter and seems to enjoy doing this kind of work.   At least, I hope he's enjoying it! :-)
After Rollie had done a little cutting, we were soon working on our first wall....

We had a 1.5 inch space behind the wall that we decided to fill with Styrofoam. This along with the regular insulation that we will have between the studs will make the outer wall's very well insulated.

It wasn't long until Rollie and I were very happy to celebrate.....Wall number 1 was up!!!!! 


One by one, wall by wall, they continued to go up all day Friday and Saturday. We were moving right along.  Our good, long time "Airstream" friends, Winston and Carol Montague and Jay and Elna Thompson from Tallahassee, Florida stopped by and parked in the front yard for a few days.   They joined in on the wall raising and we appreciated the extra help.  We were RV'ing with the Montagues way back in the 90's. Winston was the Governor's (and Bobby Bowden's) personal Pilot.   He flew them both all over the country. He outlasted 9 Governors! He says Bobby was his favorite passenger, though.

Soon it was time to build the BIG ONE. The division wall was all one section and was 39' long.  Almost everyone had a hand in getting it put together.  It will be fun to see this one go up!!!

Everything was done under the watchful eye of "THE BOSS"!!

Here it goes....up, up and up.  Wow, lots of weight here and everyone was helping on this one. Even our neighbors Leon and Sadonna Cordell and their son Quinton came and gave us a hand.  Thanks so much folks.
It's up!!!!   Now we will square it up and fasten it to the floor.

Happy Hour was well under way Saturday when it started raining real hard.  But...........

Rollie was on a ROLL!!!!  He just couldn't quit. He moved his saw inside and the rain didn't bother him at all.   Long after everyone else had gone home, he kept on working....cutting and shooting away with his nail gun.  He says all the framing, plumbing and wiring will be done by Aug 1st and it will be ready for drywall.   I do believe he means it.  I am truly astonished at his ambition and what hard workers both he and Gina are.   Praise the Lord!! They wear Ms Pat and I out just watching them..

We are all excited about our friends and fellow RV'ers Rocky and Sheri Rhoades getting here. Rocky is a professional builder and I know Rollie can hardly wait for his help.  Rocky and Sheri changed their plans from going to California and decided to come up here and help us.  They should be here next week!!  Again, Praise the Lord and I truly do believe in Miracles. How can you not?  We have so much to be thankful for.
,
It was a GREAT WEEK!!!!!!

Thanks for stopping by. Stay tuned for more progress next week.  You can check out Rollie and Gina's Blog for more pictures and updates. 

Mike

This Blog is Published evey Sunday and Wednesday..