Settling in/Memorial Day Weekend...

Opening day this year came the Thursday before Memorial Day and a major cold front came right along in time to blanket everyone with 2 inches of snow!

Luckily it only stuck around for 2 days and now we're back to sunny skies and temps in the 70's.

Sadie was sad to see the snow go as her favorite activity is playing fetch!

Our internet connection at the lodge is sketchy, at best, so here is our newest hang-out in the village.  We'll be visiting once a week to update the blog and check our e-mail.   It's really nice since we have the entire place to ourselves!  Ski season is over, but camping/fishing/biking/hiking season hasn't quite started yet.  I'm not sure we'll have the same choice of seating as the season wears on.

and finally, here we are in our neighborhood, just up from Lake Mary, overlooking Twin Lakes!

Until next week!  Happy Hiking!

Wildlife...

OK, so after a few days of letting it all soak in -- this is truly heaven on earth!  We drive home from work each day, after working our fingers to the bone, with a big smile on our faces.  It's a lot of work, but it's also a beautiful place!  The day we arrived, a coyote was roaming through the RV park in town.  Since then, we have seen lots of wildlife -- (you'll have to excuse us, but these pics were taken on the spur of the moment on our cell phone cameras)

Here's one of our favorites -- the thousands of chipmunks!  This one eats right out of our hands each day at lunch.  I have a feeling this guy is going to be FAT by the end of summer.

Believe it, or not, here is our first bear sighting of the season, all ready.  This bear, we're naming Cinnabear due to his cinnamon color has been causing all kinds of early season havoc around the lakes.  Luckily, he was just passing by our cabins looking for food handouts!  

Here's how close he actually was to us:

We're at the lodge and the bear was on the deck of the very next cabin! I know it's hard to see,but he's there, on the steps!

 And finally, the coyote on the hill.  I was standing at one of our water supply valves up the hill waitng to see if we have yet another leak in the main supply line and I look up to find a local coyote, looking for dinner

Hope you can see him just to the right of center.  He was initially about 20-30 feet away from me, but by the tine I found my cell phone and snapped the pic, he was trotting away.

Well, that's it for now. Isabel had one on the line today, but it snapped her line and she lost it!  I'm sure that wont be the norm this summer once she learns how to "play" the trout.  Trout are different from bass and she's still learning the difference!  I don't expect it will be long before she has trout in the creel!

Mammoth Lakes, First Week

Arrived May 10th in Mammoth Lakes, California to begin our 2012 summer season at Crystal Crag Lodge on Lake Mary.  First impression -- One of the most beautiful and wonderful places on earth!  Love the town, love the lodge, love the lakes, love it all!

Here's the lodge.  Plenty of snow still on the ground, even in mid May, but this is actually one of the mildest years they've had in a while.  There are 23 cabins of varying sizes and shapes, a main lodge and three RV spots right next to a stream for the crew.

Here's a view from about a mile up the road.  We're standing atop a series of waterfalls that drop into these two lakes... beautiful view from here!

Here's a view of Lake Mary from our dock, right across the road from the lodge.  The water is still and clear.

Another view of the main lodge with a few cabins in the distance.

Back in town at "The Village" here's Isabel, dreaming of the trout she plans to catch this summer!

So much for staying home this summer...

Well,

Somehow we knew deep down that we couldn't sit still for long! And our call to wander abroad came in from California again this year, so we're off on another work camping adventure and we're very excited!

We'll be traveling to Lake Mary at Mammoth Lakes, California this month to begin work at the Crystal Crag Lodge (http://www.crystalcrag.com/) to work with two other couples.  As the web site says:


Crystal Crag Lodge was originally built in 1927 by Barney Johnson who was captivated with the beauty and serenity of Lake Mary, and it has remained one of the jewels of the Eastern Sierra ever since, growing and improving over these many years with the five families that have owned it.Crystal Crag Lodge was originally built in 1927 by Barney Johnson who was captivated with the beauty and serenity of Lake Mary, and it has remained one of the jewels of the Eastern Sierra ever since, growing and improving over these many years with the five families that have owned it.  Nestled among the trees right alongside beautiful Lake Mary at an elevation of 9000 feet are the 23 cabins of Crystal Crag Lodge, a most exceptional place. But be careful. This can can be habit-forming. Since the 1920’s our guests have been coming back year after year to enjoy our breathtaking beauty, crystal clear air and water, amazing wilderness scenery, countless hiking and biking trails, some of the best trout fishing in the Eastern Sierra, and the relaxing and friendly atmosphere of Crystal Crag Lodge. Our rustic cabins are fully-equipped, including fireplaces with firewood, decks with barbecues, kitchens with utensils and dishes, and bedrooms and bathrooms stocked with towels and linens. Many cabins have incredible views of the lake and the mountains, and of course our staff of friendly hosts will meet all your needs.


So, rather than working at a compground, we'll be working at a resort with cabins, though we will be staying on site in our fifth-wheel.

Here's a picture of Lake Mary:



and here's one from the dock of the lodge:

Looks and sounds like we will have a great time!  We'll post updates along the way!

Can you Tell it's raining today? Catching up on Projects... (and the blog)

While it rains outside, let's review the project list we'll be making a dent in while we're off the road:


1. Have a garden, grow vegetables and can them to replenish our stock of pickled beans, beets, and asparagus!
1 1/2.  Finish building the greenhouse so we can start seeds on time.
2. Build the quilt studio and actually finish a few quilting projects!
3. Build a hot/cold smoker - Mostly done!  Just waiting for a trip to the DIY store...
4. Add a sizable overhang to the existing garage to enable dry storage for firewood and various other items
5. Build an outdoor pizza oven
6. Landscape the back and side yard
7. I know I'm forgetting something else...

Now for and update of Project #2:

The Quilt Studio:

So here's what we have to start with.  This is the original garage that came with the house, circa 1906.  It was built with rough cut, true dimension 1x12 panels  they stood up one layer of 1 x 12's on the inside, then sealed the cracks with 1x3's, then sealed the outside with tar paper (long since rotted mostly away), and finally sided with another layer of 1x12's running horizontally.  Over the hundred or so years it has been standing the elements and gravity has taken their toll.  Some of the exterior siding boards have warped, checked, rotted and the entire building has gently leaned to the South!  About a year ago the roof finally gave up so we removed it...

Here's a side view from the East.  One of the first steps was to attach a few big eye bolts trough the South side wall and attach them via rope and chain and a winch to a large tree 30' to the North.  This was done not in an attempt to stabilize the building as it was still on pretty steady footing, rather in an attempt to winch the entire structure back to a relatively plumb position.  Taking a lesson from our daughter's orthodontist, we tighened the winch to start with, then re-tightened it every few days, until over a few weeks time, it slowly came back into proper alignment with the earth.

Many people have asked, why bother?  Wouldn't it be easier to just raze the building and start from scratch?  Well, yes and no.  Yes, it would be easier to just burn it down or bulldoze it and build a nice new studio, but to do so would have been a real injustice.  We choose not to take the easy way on this one -- we choose to preserve the history and  personality of this building, and celebrate the effort it took to build this structure in the first place.  Can you imagine the cost of trying to replicate the original building method today?  A majority of the 1x12 boards used to build this original garage have fewer than 3-4 knots and are still as true as the day they were cut.  In the boards that do have knot holes,someone has taken the time to seal each one with a small tin patch, secured in in place with several hand-made nails.  It may take a bit more time, but we'll be saving this building and forever celebrating its character! 

Here is a photo of one of the original nails I had to pull from one of the siding boards.  I take the time to straighten and re-nail each of these that I pull.

Here's a shot of the rigging that is helping slowly return the building to its former straight posture.

Another support is needed to support the gable end

And the framing begins!  Our strategy is to build a new internal skeleton frame that will support the original structure and provide a (somewhat square) framework to retain the posture of the building once the winch is removed.  This view allows you to see the original internal 1x12 vertical walls.

At times a little more persuasion was required to square things up.  The new walls ended up interlocking with the original supports really well as you can see at the corner.

Once all the walls were framed in, we started with cross-member supports which we notched at the ends so they would "drop" onto the top of the walls and hold them in place (the walls had bowed out somewhat over the years).  Each joint got its own set of hangars and hurricane straps to lock everything in place!  Here I am wondering what we got ourselves into!

Jumping forward somewhat, this photo shows the rafters and trusses in place with sheathing on and ready for roofing!  Once the sheathing was all on and nailed in place the winch was removed.  Not even a creak was heard and all dour walls are within a 1/4 bubble of true!!!   Funny thing about this roof.  15 years ago, I had no problems jumping up on the roof to repair tiles and such.  This time I was much more hesitant and cautious for some reason... so it took me much longer!  The old window hole on the left will eventually be sealed and sided over.  The hole on the right now houses a new window.

Here's a view from the inside showing the attic crawl space and cross member framing supports being installed.  Our roll of quilt batting will eventually hang from the ceiling and recess into this space up above so we can simply lower it on a pulley system when someone needs batting!

Back outside now and the roofing has begun!   I like to lay roofing -- for about the first 1/2 hour...  The next 72 hours of roofing, however, were murder!  I think I scraped most of the skin off all my knuckles in the process! Please Lord, let this be the last roof I have to lay! (but then, I've said that before).

Will the roofing never end?!  Don't be fooled by the smile... I'm actually gritting my teeth!  I will spare you the many photos where I was layed out face first trying to keep from sliding off the pitch of the roof by making contact with as much body surface as possible, thus increasing friction, all-the-while trying to hold shingles and drive nails!



Which finally brings us to the here and now!  The roof is on, the nice victorian era door which has been sitting in the back of the garage waiting all these years for a purpose is finally installed, and the windows are in.  It's all sealed up and ready for siding patches and paint!  Isabel came up with the design for the door overhang.  It's suspended by chain from above as not to require 2 big support posts right in front of the door.  Nice work Isabel!  Notice our "night dropped" Mexican Fighting Rooster in the foreground along with one of our Buff Orpington Ladies inspecting the work and wondering when we will finally start cleaning up their foraging area.



Now that it's weatherproof, sealed up and secure, we're starting to move some furniture items in to create more space in the house.  Next on the list is wiring, insulation and drywall!  For now it's off to the hardware store -- again!

Back Home -- Time to Catch Up on Projects!

We're back home now and so far the plan is to stay home this summer so we can satisfy several goals:

1. Have a garden, grow vegetables and can them to replenish our stock of pickled beans, beets, and asparagus!
1 1/2.  Finish building the greenhouse so we can start seeds on time.
2. Build the quilt studio and actually finish a few quilting projects!
3. Build a hot/cold smoker
4. Add a sizable overhang to the existing garage to enable dry storage for firewood and various other items
5. Build an outdoor pizza oven
6. Landscape the back and side yard
7. I know I'm forgetting something else...

Someone once said you can't die until you finish all the tasks you have to do.  If that's the case, we're going to live to be 300!

I say the plan is to stay home, but we get work camping job listings every day... and some of them are just to tempting to pass up.  It's the gypsy in us...

Now on to the latest photos:

As you will remember, we finished the last blog entry in Glendale Arizona with three metal barrels in the back of our fifth wheel.  Item 3 on our to do list is to build a smoker.  This is it!  We have been planning for several months after experiencing the heavenly smoked ribs, brisket and turkey that  my brother makes in his.  We finally found the kit to make it while we were at Amazon.com in Coffeyville KS, but when we returned home we were unable to find the food grade barrels we needed to finish the project!  Luckily, we have very good friends and our close friend Barb sent us a link to a website that had just what we needed.  Problem is, the business was in Glendale AZ and they didn't deliver!

Luckily, we just happened to be in the Glendale area soon after looking up the web site.  It's  like good Karma has come our way and this smoker is just meant to be!

Here are the barrels, unloaded from the trailer now and ready for their new life!

Here's the inspiration for our project.  This is my brother's first smoker that turns out some awesome smoked goods!  It's a double barrel model -- fire box below, smoke box above.  His mantra is "Low and Slow"

His first model came out so well that when he had to set up a second home he built another model.  It is from these models and the memories of the sweet smoke that drifted from their chimneys, that my inspiration will come.

After several days of  discussion, e-mail advice and head scratching I finally ended up with this version.

Here it is with the smoker door open.

I'm hoping to eventually attach a 20' piece of aluminum conduit to the top smoker chamber which will run to a separate "cold smoke chamber".  This will allow us the ability to smoke cheeses, spices, and other foods that can't take the heat.  For now, it just needs a coat of stove black, the cooking grate and fire bricks, which I will pick up during our next trip to the big city!

Mark one project off the list!

NASCAR Weekend, phase III -- Completing the Circle

On to the next stops, San Diego and Yuma, Arizona to visit Dad and Mom!

Here's the new view out the living room window looking out from Coronado toward the bay and San Diego in the background.

We stayed the night at the Naval Base RV park on Coronado and what a deal, Just $12!  Dry camping only, but we were set up for it since we were coming from NASCAR.  There were probably only 10-15 other campers in a 75-100 space park.  Plenty of room to spread out!

Here's Isabel, Enjoying the view of the bay.

Finding oysters on the beach.  I still can't believe she refused to eat it.  I was even going to shuck it for her!

Pickle Plant!  I remember playing with this strange plant in my Grandma's backyard when I was growing up.

On to Yuma.  Here we are celebrating Isabel's 14th birthday with a surprise cake!  Thanks Grandma!

 

Good looking group!

And here's my mom, giving me gift that she found at a garage sale.  This little Jimmie Johnson car actually switches on and runs around a table top in circles.  It's awesome!  Who would ever sell this in a garage sale?

Here we are taking some down time to check out a flea market in Yuma.  You can buy almost anything here. Case in point: I bought two 3' coax cables for our RV, Isabel bought guitar picks, mom bought carpet cleaner, shirts, garden decorations, and we all looked at hats and strollers made just for dogs, weight loss miracle formulas, etc, etc...

Here I am trying on a nice flowery garden hat.  Too bad it was the wrong size.

And here's Dad with his new hat.  He's being very patient here as a favor to his granddaughter as I know he would have rather stuck with the baseball cap!

All in all, it was a great trip!  We had just one more stop to make on the way home in Glendale Arizona.  Here is what we bought...

You'll just have to tune in next time to get the whole story...