I actually used a very similar title back in August in a post where I described the storm that took out our power, TV, and our well pump.  That was pretty destructive and disheartening, while this post is a little more literal.  It’s about the actual steps up to the bedroom.

As everyone should know by now, I feel like I’m getting pretty good at the remodel work, itself.  What I sort of suck at is estimating how long that work will take.  We had been spending a great deal of time sanding drywall seams when Sandi landed a job at one of the local casinos.  A little extra income will be nice, and I think she’ll enjoy meeting some local people.  The down-side, obviously, is that my workforce has been cut in half. In anticipation of her first day at work on the 17th, we came up with a to-do list that we hoped to have completed by last Sunday.  We wanted to put up the last few sheets of drywall in the living room, get everything taped and mudded, and get the resulting mess cleaned up.

Somewhere in that process, we decided the stairs leading up to the bedroom really needed some work.  Our first move was to take down some of the shiplap that was on the wall going up the stairs.  That led to a few patches and a little more taping and mud.  We next turned our attention to the condition and construction of the staircase, itself.

All of the treads had old, very hard, adhesive residue.  I suspect they had hardwood covering them at some point, but when the flooring was torn up, the ridges of glue remained.  I tried sanding it down, chipping it away with a chisel, and basically just gave up.  Unfortunately, they would need to be smooth in order to put new flooring or carpeting down.  To make matters worse, several of the treads, made of 2″x12″ boards, were cracked and all 13 of them felt loose and creaky.

We had already removed the old balusters and handrail, so I set to the job of removing the old treads and risers and replacing them with new lumber and OSB.  Instead of just securing them with a couple of nails (which caused the loose and creaky situation), I used plenty of adhesive, wood screws and shims to get them straight, level, and very solid.

 

We’ve decided we’ll carpet the stairs, so I made the treads about 3/4 inch wider to allow for the carpet to be rolled over the edge.  Finally, I built a knee wall along the right side and a sturdy ‘post’ at the bottom.

It’s all been covered with sheetrock and the seams have their initial coat of plaster.  Sandi didn’t have to work yesterday, so she spent her one day off this week helping me scratch one of the last items off my list….  we cleaned up the sawdust. drywall scraps, and other assorted construction debris.

Aside from moving the table saw, we managed to get everything finished.  As you might have noticed, yesterday was the 21st and the goals was to have everything done by the 15th.  Hey, it was only a week behind.  That’s definite improvement!

Now we need a nice day or two to cut another big hole in one of the outside walls.  There is a small room on the main level that we’re calling the ‘sewing room’, though it may double as a small guest room, too.  At some point, it may have been a bathroom and / or laundry room, but it’s been opened up and a small closet was added.   It still has an odd, little window where the bathroom used to be, and we think it’s going to look strange if we just leave it.  So, the last thing we need to do is open that wall up, remove the two existing windows, and replace them with a single, larger window.

Obviously, that entails some new framing, some exterior siding patches, and a couple more sheets of drywall.  We thought Spring was coming, but yesterday, we woke up to nearly 8 inches of new snow, so this project will have to wait a few days.

Fortunately, I hadn’t taken the blade off of the quad yet, so I was able to plow a path down to the gate so Sandi could make it to work this morning.  Speaking of work, I should probably get down there and get started.

An alternate title for this post could be ‘We Both Really Hate Sheetrock Dust’.  Either way, we’re moving right along.   I’ve been busy hanging drywall, while Sandi has literally worked her fingers bloody with sanding pads, trying to get the corners smooth enough for texture.  We’ve still got a few more days before that happens, so there will likely be another couple of inches of plaster dust on the floor before we’re finished, but I wanted to share an update with a few photos.

The closet in the master bedroom (on the left in the photo) was pretty small, even though there is a 12′ x 20′ attic that has plenty of storage space.  The problem (aside from the funky paint job) is access.  The only way up there was a flimsy, fold down ladder.

My son-in-law came up last week and helped me pull out the old ladder and install a new, stronger, aluminum ladder.  It’s still a little too awkward to use for everyday clothes storage, which is why we added the big, new, walk-in closet, but it should work just fine for Christmas decorations, little-used clothing, and those miscellaneous boxes that I’ve been hauling around for years.  Someday, I swear I’m going to open them and find out what kind of treasures are inside.

You can see the new bathroom through the door at the right.  After a three week delay, I got a call the other day letting us know that the vanity, mirror, wall cabinet, and linen cabinet we ordered are waiting to be picked up at Lowe’s.  If we don’t go down this weekend, we’ll pick everything up early next week.

In our last post, I shared a photo showing the shower walls going in.  The shower pan is installed now, the plumbing is all connected, and the walls are sealed, ready for tiles.  It looks a little strange, but the red is a waterproof sealant that comes out of the bucket as a thick, bubblegum pink, paste.  It dries red and fills in any gaps in the seams, so water can’t get through.  We picked out the tiles for the walls, the seat, and the shelves and hope to begin installing them in the next few days.

 

I started this post bemoaning the extensive sheet rock dust we’re having to contend with.  Here are a few views showing how the upstairs has changed.  Remember, there will be some short railings to finish up the low walls that have replaced the old railings.

Things are looking a lot different from down below in the living room, too.  You can see how we’ve opened up the access from the mudroom, and removed a good deal of the ship-lap.  Obviously, all that plaster still needs to be sanded, but I can almost see the finish line.

   

 

 

 

According to the calendar, Spring has officially arrived!  It’s this time of year that I used to find myself wandering around the yard at our old house; looking at the new growth beginning to bud on the fir and hemlock trees and the blossoms just starting to form on the plants, shrubs, and flowers.  Somehow, I found the process to be really peaceful and reassuring….  sort of signalling an end to the cold, wet, and gray, and welcoming a newer, brighter period.  Of course, it was that oppressive and heavy grayness that prompted our move in the first place.  Here in Colorado, we’ve enjoyed seeing blue skies and sunshine nearly every day, but we’ve had to endure some awfully chilly temperatures.

This year is a little different since the flora and fauna have changed a bit.  The pine trees are starting to develop new growth, and it wont be long before the aspens down in the valley begin to leaf out.  We’re hopeful that the purple wildflowers we saw covering the hillsides last year will return soon, and the deer have already begun hanging around again.

We woke up yesterday morning to brilliant sunshine and 40 degrees with a promise of another t-shirt kind of day.  By noon, we were in the middle of a near-blizzard, with the snow blowing sideways and even straight up, if you can imagine that.  The wind comes in quite strong from down in the valley and hits the rock bluff behind the house, causing the snow to do all sorts of strange things.  By about 3:00, the wind had stopped, the sky had cleared, and all the new snow had melted.  Sandi had gone down to Colorado Springs, where it was in the low 70’s.  Remember, that’s just 15 miles away as the crow flies.  We’re not letting our guard down just yet, though….  the forecast is calling for possible heavy snow overnight on Monday with the potential for 6-10 inches.

This week is sort of significant for a couple of other reasons, too.  I was here for the start of Summer last year, we saw the arrival of Fall a few months later, and we bundled up for the coming Winter in December.  We’ve covered them all, now.

March 18 also marked the one year anniversary of our first visit to the property.  We loved the view, but we went back down to Colorado Springs that evening shaking our heads at how overwhelming it all seemed.  We wrote if off as just ‘too much’ and decided to keep looking for something else.  We woke up the next morning and started talking about how it might be do-able after all, changed our flight, came back up on Monday the 20th to get a second look, and the journey began!

Small spaces don’t typically photograph well, but we’re definitely making progress in the upstairs bathroom.  The new ceiling fan / light / heater is installed and wired, we moved the gfi outlet, the vanity light, and the switches, so the electrical ‘stuff’ is done.  We moved the water supply from the old tub to the new shower, moved the supply lines for the sink, and we extended the drain line for the new shower.  So…  the plumbing ‘stuff’ is done, too.    All of the sheet rock is up, the shower space, the bench, and the shelves in the shower are framed in, and the cement board is starting to go up.  We’re putting in the shower pan today, and we’ve picked out the tile we want to use for the bathroom floor and shower walls.  Plus, we’ve ordered the linen cabinet, shelf, vanity, and mirror, so we’re getting ever-closer.

 

At almost five weeks, I think this is probably the longest we’ve gone without an update.  When I last checked in, we had moved our efforts upstairs and had begun remodeling the bedroom, adding a usable closet, replacing the extensive railings, and completely redoing the master bath.

Before I get to that, I mentioned that we were going to pick up the replacement pantry cabinet for the kitchen.  Of the two we originally brought home, one was damaged so badly that we simply couldn’t use it.  Good news….  the new pantry was in perfect condition and now we’ve got all the cabinets installed.

The railing project has come out really nice.  In place of the old oak hand rails and balusters, we’ve built low walls that will be topped with a hand rail and short, wrought iron balusters.

The closet situation was incredibly inadequate.    Judging from the hardware over the small closet, it appeared that the single, short  rod was hidden by some sort of curtain.  That just isn’t the aesthetic we’re looking for and it seemed rather small.  I don’t have a lot of clothes, and I can count the number of shoes I own on one hand, but this wouldn’t even be large enough for my stuff.  To make matters worse, I live with a woman.  At the risk of sounding sexist (which it probably is), I think we all know that having a larger closet space is critical.

Fortunately, the bedroom was plenty large, so we were able to take about 4 feet from the back of the room and build a walk-in closet along the entire back wall.  Though they aren’t my favorite option, we decided to go with pocket doors on either side of the bed.  That will give us plenty of room for a king sized bed and night stands.  I think this will give us ample space for hanging clothes and plenty of shelves for additional storage.  Plus, it’s going to have new ceiling lights and I got to try my hand at wiring a three-way switch from scratch.  My fingers are crossed that it all works!

 At the same time, we needed to find a little extra space to expand the bathroom a bit.  We decided to remove the old, narrow tub and replace it with a good-sized shower.  The maroon tile was heavy, dark, and imposing, so we just took everything out…  right down to the studs (again!)  At the same time, we wanted to add a little floor space so it didn’t feel so cramped.    The old closet space will basically be the alcove for the shower, we’ll move the toilet over into the corner, and put in a wider vanity.  While we’re at it, we hope to be able to add a linen cabinet, as well.  It won’t be huge, but it should be better than what we started with.

We’ve made a lot of progress even managed to fit in another short road trip.  This time, we drove down to Vegas by way of Santa-Fe, NM, and Flagstaff, AZ.  We were thinking that taking the southern route would keep us away from any nasty, winter road conditions.    Unfortunately, I-40 was just a single, snowy lane all the way from Flagstaff to Kingman, AZ.   We spent a couple of relaxing days hanging out in our room, we won about $150 at the blackjack tables, and got to spend some time with some of our kids and grandkids.  We got to meet our newest granddaughter, too….  she’s awfully cute.   On the way back through Utah, we stopped to see a fellow retiree and his wife in their beautiful new home.  They have some incredible views and it was fun to catch up a little.

I even got to scratch two more items off my bucket list.  Okay, so I’m basically too lazy to sit down and write out an actual list, but if I had, these two things would have been on it.  We finally took the tour of the Hoover Dam.  I’ve been there several times over the years, beginning when I was just a little kid, but I never got the chance to go down into the dam itself.  The tour was incredibly interesting and I still can’t get over what an engineering marvel it is.  And to think, it was designed and built without the aid of any computers.  Amazing!

This photo shows the hydroelectric plant on the Nevada side.  We were told there is a similar plant, with the same number of generators on the Arizona side.

My favorite part of the tour was the ventilation tunnel that supplies fresh air to the inside work spaces of the dam.  The first photo shows several of our fellow tourists at the grate set into the face of the dam.  The second shows the view from that grate once I got to the front of the line.  By the way, that building at the lower right corner of the photo is that power genration plant.

For some reason, I’m fascinated by old prisons.  I’ve toured Alcatraz twice, been to the Montana Territorial prison several times, and visited the old prisons in Wyoming and here in Colorado, but for some reason, I’ve always wanted to see the Arizona Territorial prison in Yuma.  There isn’t much of the original prison left, but it was well worth the trip, and I can put a check mark next to that one if I ever get around to making that list.

I thought it might sound catchy, but it turns out that just typing the title made me cringe a little.  “Thinking outside the box”, “taking things to the next level”, “let’s circle back to that, “let’s put a pin in that and move on”…….  I spent a lot of time in meetings in the years leading up to my retirement, and while I understand the need for cliche phrases like these, hearing some of them just feels like nails on a chalkboard.

Enough of that….  In this case, I’m being very literal; we’ve begun working on the upper, bedroom level.  When we first saw the house, we really liked the openness of the floor plan, including the way the bedroom (which is directly above the kitchen / dining room) looked down over the living room.  But, we sort of felt like the railings were a bit overwhelming and maybe it was a little ‘too’ open to the downstairs.

We began by removing the railings and 156 turned oak balusters to open the space, and then tore down the built-in seat and the ship lap siding on the wall surrounding the window alcove.

We wanted to replace those long, shaky lengths of railing with something that would be a little more solid, since I really worry about one of the grand-kids pushing against it and falling over the side.  At the same time, we wanted something that would provide a bit more privacy, while still capitalizing on the open layout and fantastic view.

First, I had to make another repair (which should come as no surprise to anyone).  The plywood flooring on the ‘bridge’ had a strange, square shaped hole, so I pulled up the entire piece and replaced it with a new sheet of decking.  I’d ask how someone punches a hole through a 3/4 inch thick, wood floor, but after everything else we’ve come across, I don’t even care anymore.  It’s easier to simply fix it than trying to sort trough yet another mystery that just leaves me shaking my head.

It looks a little confusing.  The second level is a series of wide, heavy, engineered beams and joists that don’t require a lot of load-bearing walls on the main level to support the weight above.

We decided to just completely wall off the side that looks down into the stairwell, so we’ll have a little more wall space for dressers.  The narrow, floor-to-ceiling columns on the side that looks down onto the living room will have book shelves once we’re done.

After puzzling over the railing question for a couple of weeks, I think we’ve come up with a pretty unique solution.  We’ve built some low (about 26 1/2″) walls between taller ‘pillars’ for added strength and support.  They’re glued down to the flooring with construction adhesive and then finished off with lag bolts into the joists below.  We’ll install drywall over all the framing, and once it’s taped, textured and painted, we’ll finish it off with short wrought iron balusters and a hand rail on top.  We’re hoping that once it’s finished, it will look as good as it does in my head.  Fingers crossed.

We’ve decided to do something a little different with the odd extension above the main entry so it isn’t just wasted space.  It’s about 44″ wide, which is just exactly right for a mini-fridge that’s 21 1/2 inches wide, an extra, left-over 15″ base cabinet that we didn’t end up using in the kitchen, and the 6″ stub wall.  A short countertop and a couple of new outlets, and it should make a really nice place for a coffee bar.  The idea is that we can pour a cup of coffee, walk out onto the upper deck, and enjoy the morning view without having to walk all the way downstairs to the kitchen.

The replacement pantry cabinet is apparently ready for pick-up, so we’ll take a day or two and finish installing the kitchen cabinets next week.  Let’s hope this one isn’t damaged like the first one.

 

 

When we last posted almost three weeks ago, we had just finished the pump and laundry rooms and were waiting for the well guys to come out and get our water diverted to the house.  While we waited for the appointed day, we made those last couple of connections to the pressure tank and then focused on getting a couple of sinks operational.

Unfortunately, what followed led to a fair amount of aggravation and turned a couple of fairly minor tasks into much bigger jobs.  So, what’s new, right?  Way back in June, my first project was dismantling the kitchen; I tore out the cabinets, I took down the massive island, removed the disgusting range, and was left baffled by the plumbing mess I found under the sink.

I decided to disconnect the rubber coupler at the top (for the vent stack) and simply cut away the rest.  It was when we replaced and moved the water supply lines out from the baseboard that we discovered all of the freeze-split, copper pipes, but that problem was fixed already.  Our new focus was getting our new sink properly connected to the drain and vent in a way that made better sense, was more efficient, and maybe took up just a little less space in the cabinet.  For the sake of brevity, I’ll just say that I spent over an hour down at the Ace picking out all of the pieces and parts I thought I might need to get the job done.  It was a partial success.  A couple more trips down for extension tubes, joints, etc., and we had almost everything we needed.  I got the pvc parts all glued up, but when it came time to put the puzzle together, we were missing one critical piece.  And no, the Ace here in Cripple Creek doesn’t stock them.  Sandi made a quick run down to the hardware store in Woodland Park and bought several so we’d be able to get all of the sinks in the house working.

The well guy showed up as promised and took care of his end of things outside while I made the final electrical connections in the pump room.  I wasn’t confident that I had wired the relay properly, but I hoped that together, we’d be able to sort it all out.  Turns out that the plumbing connections that I was confident about all leaked, while the electrical connections that I doubted were all just fine.  He was able to get everything fixed and adjusted without too much trouble and at a pretty reasonable rate.  We charged the system and were very excited to hear water rushing through our new pipes and even more excited to find that there were no leaks anywhere.

The next day, the plumber came out to turn on the hot water heater, and Sandi jumped at the chance to use her own washer and dryer that had been sitting idle in the barn for the past several months.  The first load went great, but when the second load drained, water began backing up through the floor drains in both rooms.  We tried snaking it from both directions, called and talked with Digger Guy, and finally determined that there was a partial blockage somewhere under the house.  A couple of real nice guys from a local plumbing outfit came out on Saturday and did their magic with the right equipment and we’re good to go (no pun intended).

We endured a few days of frozen hoses, so water to the trailer was at a premium.  My quad decided it didn’t like the gas I put in it, so it went on strike until I drained out the fuel and put in some clean, non-ethanol gas.  Walking up and down the hill in the cold and snow got pretty old, pretty quick.

In the meantime, I got a call from an old friend that I hadn’t seen in nearly 30 years.  We’ve kept in touch off and on since we left Germany back in 1986, but I only saw him twice a couple of years later.  Turns out he was working on some oil rigs in the Texas panhandle for a couple of weeks, which put us as close together as we’d been since the late 80’s.  We got out the atlas and discovered Amarillo was a pretty straight shot, about 400 miles south.  Since it was time for a break, we drove down on Sunday and met up with him for lunch on Monday.  We only had a couple of hours to catch up, but it was well worth the trip.  I don’t share a lot of personal reflections, but I’ll put this out there for what it’s worth:

When I got to Germany, I was 19 years old and was just beginning to figure out that something had changed.  I was in a strange, in-between sort of place.  I wasn’t a kid anymore; living at home with mom and dad, going to school, hanging out with friends, or camping out in the woods.  I was technically an adult, a soldier, and I was entering a whole new phase of my life about which I knew absolutely nothing.  Joel and I quickly became fast friends, almost like brothers, and we spent hours at the base NCO club drinking far more Jack Daniels than I care to think about and pondering our futures.  In fact, we had our very own table back in the corner.  There were others that were part of our group, too, (a couple might even be reading this) but mostly, I remember the times that we were there together.  We would wonder about where life might take us; Would we have families?  Where would we settle?  What would we do for a living?  I often look back and realize that we were both essentially clean slates at that time.  We had no real responsibilities yet, we had no real obligations, no bills, no debts, no kids, no mortgages…..  nothing solid aside from a short time left on our enlistments.

In the past 30+ years, I’ve often reflected back to our nights at that table every time something significant has happened in my life.  We figured we’d both get married.  Turns out that between us, we’ve had a half a dozen wives.  It took us both a couple of tries before we actually figured out what we were doing and got it right.  Kids?  Yep.  Between us, more than a dozen kids and step-kids.  Heck, there’s even a few grand-kids now.  Financial challenges? Sure.  Career challenges?  Of course.  We’ve moved around.  We’ve changed our directions.  We’ve made new friends, and we’ve lost people we cared about.

I don’t really have an ending thought for this, just that life can take some very interesting and surprising turns along the way that neither of us could have ever imagined.  I wonder if others have such a clearly defined ‘starting point’ like our table in the corner that they reflect back upon.

So, anybody that knows me understands that if I’m going to travel, I want to stop and see “stuff”.  I get a huge thrill every time I see someplace on TV that we’ve visited.  The Alamo is featured on the Travel Channel….  we’ve been there.  The Golden Gate Bridge, Yellowstone, Vegas, the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam….  been there, too.  So, since we were in Amarillo, we decided to visit a couple of old Route 66 icons.

First, we found the Cadillac Ranch, which is just some old Cadillacs buried nose-down in a cow pasture.

We braved the bone-chilling cold and wind to get a closer view and a couple of photos.  Graffiti is encouraged and the amount of spray paint is absolutely amazing!  Here’s a close-up of some of the many layers:

For years, I’ve seen the Big Texan Steak Ranch featured on various food and travel channel shows.  They’re famous for their eating challenge where you eat for free if you can devour a 72 ounce steak dinner with all of the sides in under an hour.

We opted to simply pay for a more reasonably sized meal, figuring such a renowned restaurant would surely know how to turn out a decent steak.  We were underwhelmed and a little disappointed, to say the least, but we can now say we’ve been there.  Besides, I got a chuckle out of the garnish on our plates.  I know Texans love their flag.  They wear it as clothing, upholster the seats at Dairy Queen with it’s likeness, and it’s often displayed more prominently than the American flag, which irritates me A LOT, but I digress…

Only in Texas!

I feel like we’re finally seeing some very real, very positive results to all the time and effort we’ve been putting in to our project.  We have some photos to share, but before I get to that, I want to try to answer a question we get fairly frequently.

Naturally, people are curious when we’ll be finished and when we’ll be ready to move in.  They are both fair, reasonable questions and believe me when I tell you that we’d like very much to get there sooner, rather than later.  In reality, these are actually two separate questions and neither is easy to answer.  To the first; ‘When will we be finished?”, I look around and realize that there are so many things we can do here.  The house, obviously, is where our attentions are focused right now, but eventually, we want to replace the deck and put new siding on the outside.  We’d like to work on the barn, both inside and out, we want to develop the lower garage into a workshop, and there is absolutely no landscaping anywhere.  I think it’s safe to say this place could keep us busy for many years to come.

The second question is a little easier to work through, though we still don’t have a specific date.  When I first arrived, I had my sights set on October, hoping to be in before the weather turned colder.  It quickly became clear that we wouldn’t make that goal, but December sort of felt like a possibility.  I think I was just overly hopeful, since both of these targets were totally arbitrary.  Instead of continuing to set meaningless dates as goals that we can’t attain, we sort of have a checklist that will let us know when it’s time.  Some of the things on that list are pretty obvious; we have to have power, we have to have a working septic system, and we have to have running water.  Some of those are already complete, and I’m pleased to report that the last one will be ticked off later this week.  The well guys will be here on Thursday morning to drop the pump and connect the house to the well.  Beyond that, we need a working kitchen, we need a working bathroom, we need someplace to sleep, and we don’t want to suffer through the ever-present dust that comes with the sheetrock work we’re still doing.  For now, the RV is still relatively comfortable, so we’d rather take our time, do the job right, and not rush through our project.

With that said, this past week has felt incredibly productive.  For months, we’ve been stockpiling things like bathroom towel bars, overhead light fixtures, sinks, faucets, toilet paper holders, vent covers, and a ton of other assorted items that have just been taking up space.  Now, we have a pretty substantial stack of cardboard and empty boxes since we’ve been busy assembling and installing all of this ‘stuff’.  I shared a couple of ‘Before’ pictures yesterday, so now I’d like to show you where we’re at now.

The main level bathroom.  You may recall that it began as a small, odd, ‘L’-shaped room with a toilet and pedestal sink.  Those old fixtures came out, we moved two walls, we patched some holes, and moved the toilet.  We replaced the shoddy, self-stick vinyl tiles with ceramic tiles, we installed a new fan/light combo, and put in a vanity with drawers for storage.  Here’s how it progressed:

And this is what it looks like now:

The pump room.  The pressure tank was simply in a small, dark, closet-like room in the basement.  The floor was bare concrete and the walls were just studs.

We insulated the walls and put up drywall, which we textured and painted, updated the electrical by adding an outlet, overhead light fixture, and wall switch, and put an epoxy coating down on the floor.  I still need to make the connections and add the wiring control panel to the wall, but it’s about an hour away from being finished; the last step before the water can be turned on.

The ‘crawl space’.  You might remember this space from our plumbing replacement adventure.  Since I needed a new electrical line to power the pump room light and outlet, I decided to install three lights and a dedicated outlet in the crawl space.  I think (I hope!) my time in this space is done for awhile, but it will make working under there a lot more convenient in the future.

 

And finally, the answer to being forced to spending time in laundromats.

The laundry room.  This began as a poorly lit room with a large, homemade wooden ‘pedestal’ for the washer and dryer.  The sheetrock that had been put up was barely fastened with just enough screws to keep it from falling down.  There was no insulation in the exterior walls, and the door was awkward and very short, leading down from the basement stairs.

We started by removing the massive pedestal and then moved the door to a different wall.  This meant new framing and the light switch and wiring had to be moved.  We added a second, overhead light and put in a few extra outlets.  The plumbing was updated, the fixtures were replaced, and, like the other rooms, the sheetrock was fixed, taped, textured, and painted.  We applied the same epoxy to the floor that we used in the pump room, and today, I installed the deep-sink and moved the washer and dryer into place.

We may add cabinets, a counter top, and clothes rod later, but as soon as we have water, this room will be fully functional.  It’s clean, bright, big, and well lit.

We’re now officially a week into the new year and it’s our sincere hope that 2018 is off to a good start for all of our friends and family.  Granted, we need to exclude football from the equation, since most people reading this are fans of either the Seattle Seahawks or the Denver Broncos, and we all know that both teams are officially done for the season.  Sandi has family in Minnesota rooting for the Vikings and I have a friend who adores the Patriots, so they haven’t experienced the heartache that comes with losing (yet!).  Any team but New England!!!  Oh, and I suppose we should exclude the weather, too.  For those living in the areas hit by sub-zero temperatures and snow this past week; try to stay warm and safe!

For the record, we’re absolutely stumped, weather-wise.  Aside from a very slight dusting this morning, we haven’t had any snow since just before Christmas.  It’s been cold, but nothing like much of the country is experiencing.  The mountains off to the north and west continue to get whiter, and the ski reports on the news seem pretty favorable, but we seem to be in some sort of ‘mild zone’.  It’s okay, we’ll take the reprieve this year, since living in an RV is challenging enough without adding severe weather to the mix.

Speaking of New Year’s and the mountains….  The local news channels ran daily stories about a local, annual tradition that sort of caught our interest.  Like most beyond a certain age, we’re generally in bed and asleep well before midnight on New Year’s Eve, but this year, we made an exception.  There is a local hiking / mountaineering club called AdAmAn (add a man) that hikes to the top of Pikes Peak, every year to set off fireworks at the stroke of midnight.  The tradition began with five friends in 1922 and has continued every year since, adding just one member for each climb.  Part of the extra media attention was due to the milestone addition of their 100th member.  Pikes Peak is a 14,115 foot high mountain that lies directly between our place and Colorado Springs.  It’s a local landmark from the east, and according to one website, more than half a million people travel to the top every year to enjoy the spectacular views.  When we started this adventure, we didn’t realize that we have a clear, unobstructed view of the ‘backside’ of the peak from the top of our property, just about ten miles away.

For us, this was a fantastic, unexpected bonus since we’ve actually been to the top and it’s so iconic.  So, just before midnight, we drove (yes, drove….  it was COLD!) the hundred yards or so to the top of our hill and sure enough, we were treated to a really wonderful fireworks show.  None of my pictures turned out since it was just too dark, but here’s a photo I found:

We had company for part of New Year’s Day.  Casey got to fire the new revolver she got for Christmas, and I imposed on Robert to help me hang the rest of the upper, kitchen cabinets.  We always do a prime rib for dinner, but this time, we tried something a little different.  Our roasting pan is in a box; somewhere in the barn, so instead of digging through that mountain of boxes, we put it on the smoker.  I’d do it just a little differently next time, but it turned out really good.  We’ll definitely do it again!

We have been making some pretty significant progress this week, and my aim is to share a few Before and After (finished) photos in my next post.  We have three rooms nearly done and another is getting pretty close, so I believe I can feature them in my next post, which I hope to have out tomorrow or Tuesday (two posts in two days).  Until then, let me remind you what we started with:

The main level half-bath:

The pump room in the basement:

And finally, the laundry room in the basement, both as we found it, and after we removed the “pedestal” and the sheetrock from the long, back wall:

 

I’m excited to share our progress, but if I’m going to have those ‘finished’ photos, I need to get to work.  We took yesterday off to make a Lowe’s run, so today, it’s back to our to-do list.

First things first.  We hope everyone had a Very Merry Christmas and we wish you all a happy and healthy 2018!  We took a few days off and spent them down in Colorado Springs.  My daughter and her husband flew in from Houston for a quick visit and I had my first appointment at the VA Clinic there.  As a quick aside, it’s a very nice, modern facility with a caring, helpful staff.  I know the VA has had issues and other vets have some legitimate complaints, but I’m happy to say that all of my experiences have been quite positive.

We had been expecting several inches of snow and single digit temperatures, but the weather was actually pretty mild, which allowed us all to come back up to Cripple Creek so the kids could see our project.  Despite the cold, they also enjoyed shooting up a couple of boxes of ammunition, and my son-in-law wanted to try his hand at splitting firewood.  Who am I to say no?

Their visit ended too soon, as they flew home on Christmas morning, while the other kids headed north to Denver to spend the day with his family, so Sandi and I went back to the hotel to hang out.  I found a John Wayne marathon on TV, while she took a very long nap.  Our plan had been to walk across the parking lot for dinner at the diner next door, but we discovered they closed at 4:00.  Off we went, in search of an open restaurant with not a lot of luck.  We finally found an IHOP, though with the slow service, cold food, sketchy patrons, and food shortages, it was far from our best dining experience.  Oh well, we managed to avoid starvation for one more day.

Almost daily, I find myself sort of drafting a new blog post in my head while we’re working, but it seems that by the time we call it quits for the day and return ‘home’ to the trailer, I’ve talked myself out of actually sitting down and typing it up.   As with most everything else, I can generally come up with a whole list of reasons:

• The day wasn’t really very interesting and chances are, nobody is really going to care that I spent a really boring day hanging drywall.
• I’m tired and would rather sit and watch the news and Jeopardy than type. (Though, to tell the truth, I’m about fed up with the news these days.  Add to that list daytime talk shows, late-night talk show monologues, and any comedian / sports figure / musician / or actor who somehow thinks their celebrity makes them an expert on current events)
• We’ve made progress, but we aren’t done….  I’d rather wait and show completed Before & After photos.

But, we’re still a ways off from actually being done, so progress updates are about the best I can do for now.

The Kitchen:  We cancelled our original counter-top order.  The price was changed on us midway through and we really weren’t happy with the customer service, so we found somebody else.  We made a trip up to Denver where we found the stone we wanted.  We reserved two slabs of a very pretty granite and made arrangements to have it installed.  To make a long story just a little shorter….  The stone got cut, delivered, and installed and we’re very pleased with the results!

Despite having been up here just a few days before, the owner decided that his 2-wheel drive pickup would work just fine to haul a couple thousand pounds of granite up here in the snow and fairly loose gravel.  He didn’t make it much closer to the house than this and they ended up carrying the pieces a lot farther than they wanted to.  I’m glad it wasn’t me.

We still need to install the upper cabinets and put down the flooring, but it’s actually starting to look like something!

Bathroom:  The walls of the half bath on the main level have been textured, primed, and painted.  I’ll start putting down the tile floor in the next couple of days, and then we can install the vanity (shown at left in the photo above), sink, toilet, mirror, and towel rods.

Pump Room / Laundry Room:  It took a little extra time to move the door, outlets, switches, lights and water fixtures in the laundry room, but, like the bathroom, the walls have all been textured and the pump room has even been primed.  The texture in the laundry room should be dry enough to prime today and both will soon get paint, finish work, and epoxy on the floors.  This is what it looked like a couple of days ago:

Becoming Colorado Residents:  I don’t remember if I wrote about our first attempt at getting Colorado driver’s licenses.  It was a wasted day going all the way down to Colorado Springs, only to find out that the social security card that I laminated over 35 years ago is no longer valid.  But, our second effort, with a crisp, new, SS card in hand, and we are now official!  My truck has brand new, Colorado license plates, as well.  What a shock that was!  Unlike Washington, the fees here are figured based on the current MSRP and age of the vehicle.  Annual renewals should get cheaper, but this year, it cost us nearly $1,200.  Almost makes me wish I had held on to that 2003 3/4 ton!

Happy New Year!!!

I’m not sure why, but from the feedback we’ve received, it seems that this blog has been fairly well received.  I’m grateful that our readers are interested enough to follow our exploits here at 10,000 feet, but I also have to admit to a bit of surprise that so many have chosen to join us in our little ‘adventure’.  And by ‘adventure’, of course, I mean our mid life crisis decision to sell our house, move halfway across the country, store everything we own in a barn and live out of a 34 foot trailer parked at nearly 2 miles above sea level so we can enjoy our own personal, seemingly never-ending season of Fixer-Upper.  (Except that in my episodes, there would be a lot more bleeps for what some might consider inappropriate language.)  Don’t get me wrong, we have all of the comforts of home (sort of), though the porta-potty that seemed like such a luxury just a few months ago really could use a seat warmer on those 2 degree mornings.

I sometimes wonder why people are following us.  This blog began simply as a way to keep our widely scattered friends and family updated on our progress, but I can’t help but think there must be something else.  We started by sharing the link with those closest to us, and then posted our updates to Facebook so others could see what we’re up to, but lately, I’ve been noticing complete strangers have begun to follow us.  I welcome you all, but it still doesn’t answer the question of why you’re all here.

At times, I like to imagine that some people are, perhaps, a bit envious; wishing that they, too, could simply leave it all to go follow a dream.  Sometimes, I let my ego actually think that you’re showing up to enjoy my wit, charm, and writing ability.  But, I know that probably isn’t the majority.  The truth, I realize, is that most of us humans have a pretty major flaw.  When we drive past a car wreck, we just can’t stop ourselves; we automatically slow down and stare, secretly hoping to catch even the slightest glimpse of the carnage we just know must be hiding behind those yellow sheets.  When we see someone trip on the sidewalk, we show concern because society says we’re supposed to, but deep down, we’re all sort of giggling just a little.

I think that on some level, that’s what’s happening here.  I’ve told the story about how the lightning took out everything this summer; the electricity, the Internet, our satellite tv, and even the well pump.  I told you about how we drove over 1500 miles in a rented, 26 foot moving truck without a single incident (well, except for losing our cat at the very first rest stop we parked at), only to get stuck at the base of our driveway which had been washed out by monsoonal rains.  I’ve kept you all posted on the difficulties and challenges we’ve faced getting our electrical system working, and I shared photos of all of our freeze-split, copper pipes.  You all know Digger Guy, and followed along as we tried to get a simple septic tank installed.  I have a feeling we would have lost most of you back around August if I had simply logged on each week and told you that everything was going according to plan and life was great.  Yeah, yeah, I know…..  if we’re going to slow down long enough to read this thing, we’re going to need to see some carnage.

So, while much of the country,especially down south, enjoyed some rare and unexpected snow this week, we were getting a light dusting as well.  This isn’t so unusual, I’ll grant you.  It’s December.  We live in the mountains.  It’s bound to happen, right?  In the past week or so, it’s snowed twice, we’ve had wind gusts of up to 60 miles per hour, and gone several days without seeing temperatures rise above freezing.  Since we were going through two tanks of fuel every week and a half or so, we decided to try to save a bit of money and augment our propane heat with an electric heater my mom sent along with us.  Here’s the problem……  Our trailer has what’s called the ‘polar package’.  Among other features, this means that it has a sealed undercarriage with a duct from the furnace to keep the water tank warm(ish).

The electric heater had things nice and toasty inside the coach all night long… to the point that the furnace never kicked on all night.  I’m sure I saved some propane, but since it got down to a rather cool, 5 degrees that night,  and I didn’t have any of that warm air blowing on the water tank for several hours, I ended up with a very large ice cube in my water tank.  Imagine my surprise the next morning when I opened the faucets and nothing happened.  In fact, nothing happened for three days, despite the fact that I cranked up the furnace (so much for saving that propane!) and even pointed a small space heater directly at the pump.  Not having running water definitely threw a wrench in my otherwise comfortable existence up here.  I say “my” because Sandi has been in Minnesota for most of the last week.  I made coffee with bottled water (it takes 3 1/2 bottles to fill the coffee maker, by the way), and bathing was nothing, if not a challenge.  I’d call it a “whore bath”, but that’s probably politically incorrect, and I certainly don’t want the blog police shutting me down, so I won’t use that term.  I heated water from a jug in the microwave and took care of personal hygiene business that way for a few days.  It didn’t come come close to my record of 56 days without a proper shower (no, it wasn’t by choice), but I was sure glad to find the system working properly the other day when I came up from working on the house.  I’m pleased to report that everything seems to be fine now.  We don’t have any ruptured hoses or other noticeable damage, and everything seems to be working as it should, thanks to slightly warmer weather. Sorry, but that’s the extent of my carnage for the week.

Oh, wait!  I cut myself.  I was cutting a piece of sheetrock and the razor knife jumped right off the gypsum, ran down the T-square, and opened up my left index finger.  On a side note, I was thrilled to discover the local grocery store sells butterfly bandages.  Given my history of injuries, I think this might be a handy piece of information for the future.

On a side note:  When we first looked at this property, there was quite a bit of garbage and debris strewn about.  In our one and only conversation, Kevin, the Marine Corps sniper-hero-dude that used to live here, told me he had taken most of the vinyl siding off the barn because he was planning to “do something different”.  Sadly, most of that material was simply dumped over the bank and it spoils this otherwise beautiful piece of property.  Hopefully, in the Spring we’ll get a 10 yard roll-back up here and get things cleaned up.  But, while we can clean up the various pieces of siding, the assorted lengths of pvc pipe, and boat seats (don’t ask me), the one thing I haven’t figured out how to get rid of is the camper.  Digger Guy sounded like he might want to take it, but we haven’t heard from him since he bounced that check to the County.

Kevin told me how he was living in it while he worked on the house, but complained about how vandals (the same ones that stole the hot water tank and hardwood flooring to trade for drugs?) had come up here and flipped it over.  Either the vandals have come back, or those 60 mile per hour winds pack a bit of a punch, because this is what we found the other day:

On the upside, just a few more wind gusts (I mean, visits from those pesky vandals) like that and the damned thing will be over in the cemetery, and then the city will have to deal with it.

I need to get to bed.  That boss of mine probably expects me to actually work in the morning.  The good news is, Sandi will be back tomorrow.