MOVIN ROCKS & CACTUS

 Grandpa & Laila on the tractor.

One of the many improvement projects at the Chance Ranch, is to get rid of the front deck that was built on top of the dirt, and replace it with a patio, and eventually a shade cover.  The first step was to remove 5 large cactus, and a whole bunch of rocks.  The barrel cactus pictured below was the largest, and it took some doing to get it rolled into the bucket.  These things don't have much of a root system, and are easy to knock over, but they weigh a ton!

 

The next part of the project was to remove all of the rocks that had been scattered in the area.  Putting the loader bucket close, made it a little easier to load the rocks, but it still took 4 bucket loads before the area was cleared.

I was going to start removing the deck this morning, but have a bunch of errands to run, starting with taking paint samples to the garage contractor.  Fortunately, when the house was recently painted, there was a small amount of the exterior paint left over, and it will be used to match the new garage paint.

Lots of Rocks.

 No rocks, and 3 cactus left to remove.

When the concrete is poured for the garage, I hope to have the front of the house ready, so that I can accomplish a couple of things on the same day.  Once the patio and walkway are done, then the next step will be to figure out the best way to put up a cover.  

RESCUED FROM THE TOY ABYSS

With Laila's birthday coming up, and a scheduled family get a way trip, that will fall on her birthday, my plan was to find another gift that could be taken on their trip, and opened on her actual birthday.  When I got to Target, and started roaming through the toy aisles, the same old dilemma that I always face, was once again in front of me.  I can never decide what toy, game, or doll to get my Grand Daughter, and end up being frustrated with my inability to make a decision.  Normally, that's not one of my weak points, but when it comes to picking out something for Laila in the toy category, I always seem to run into the same brick wall.
 

After what seemed like hours in the store, trying to pick out something,  with the same result, I made a quick phone call to Marc......No answer..........swell!  A few more strolls through the toy aisles, dodging shopping carts, and lots of kids screaming that they wanted one of everything, I was about to give up.  Then, the phone rang, and Marc said "did you call"?  I answered with a question, "Do you know of something Laila needs or wants for her birthday"?   Marc was absolutely no help, and I heard him ask Chandra the same question.

Fortunately, Chandra saved the day, and my sanity, when she said that she was at Target not too long ago, and saw a kids carry on bag that would work perfectly for Laila.   While still on the phone with Chandra, I walked over to the luggage area, and there it was, a polka dot covered kids carry on starring me in the face.  Acting like it was the last one in the store, and there were mobs behind me waiting to snatch it away, I quickly secured this non toy, as if it was the most popular toy on earth!

When I stopped to drop off the gift, it was decided to give it to Laila right then, as she would be able to use it on their upcoming trip.  So, my plan to get something for her to open on her birthday kind of went out the window, however, Laila got something useful.  More importantly, I was out of the store, and not destined to roam the toy aisles forever!

THE BIRTHDAY GIRL

When you're turning 7 years old, you deserve a party, right?  Well, yesterday was the beginning of a birthday pool party/sleepover for Laila and 3 of her friends.   The soon to be 7 year old has become quite the little fish, and was showing Grandpa how she had learned to dive off the pool board.  While I was there for about an hour, Laila was all over the pool, spending much of the time under water.
 

When we took her to San Diego last spring, we spent time in the RV park pool, and she was swimming, but everything was just a little bit tentative.  Not anymore!  Having her own pool, and spending a lot of time in it this summer, she no longer is the least bit tentative.  It was fun watching the energy of these young girls, and I suspect that it carried over well into the night, with all of them in sleeping bags on the floor.
 

Before going over to Marc & Chandra's, I pulled the trigger, and contracted with a builder for the new garage.  The company is "The Original Shed & Garage Company", and the owner is the guy who started the Tuff Shed Company.  About 5 years ago, he and his partner went their separate ways, and it's kind of ironic that the last two bids that I considered were Tuff Shed, and this company.  Tuff Shed was about $6,000 higher, and the bids that I received were all over the place, from a low of $35,000, to well over $60,000.  With any luck, we'll have a building permit next week, and get started soon after.  
  

VIEWS FROM THE ROOF

While up on the roof yesterday, I took a few pics of the area around the house.  With small canyons (washes) on both sides of where the home sits, there is a lot of privacy, with the only neighbor being near where the garage is going to be built. 

Whoever put the deck cover on the back of the house, failed to seal the flashing where it attaches to the roof.  During the first rain, I noticed that water was dripping from the roof edge, down onto the deck.  With a couple tubes of roofing caulk used up, I think I took care of the problem.  The first good rain will tell the story.

Circular driveway at the front of the house.

 

This last shot shows where the garage will be built, and I think I've narrowed it down to where I'm about ready to write the first check.  The dimensions will be 32 feet wide, and 48 feet long, enough room for all of our stuff, with the exception of the motor home.  Due to a limitation of 1,500 square feet, I just wasn't able to incorporate enough space for the RV.  Not too far down the road, I'll build a shade cover where the motor home is now parked, similar to what I did at the house in Lake Havasu. 

THE KIDS MISS YOU

Well, maybe not, but that would be a good caption under this picture, particularly the sort of sad look being displayed by Sami.  10 more days before Patty returns from her Hawaii adventure, and back to the reality of continuing with all that goes along with our move from Lake Havasu City, to Tucson.

One last contractor visited the property yesterday afternoon, and I've narrowed down the builder of the new garage/shop to just a few.  With  a county mandated square footage limitation of approx. 1,500 square feet, the building will be traditional wood construction, and I hope to get something started real soon.

20 MORE TONS

The second 20 ton load of fill dirt arrived yesterday morning, and it took a couple of hours to move, and place the material next to the motor home.  The goal is to create more usable space, and perhaps with another load or two, create enough room for a couple of RV's to park.  As I work toward the steeper part of the mini canyon, the volume of dirt required, is becoming much larger, in order to build the level pad out into the drop off.  A retaining wall would probably be the best bet, but I don't feel like going that route. 

,

Before

 After

I think I'm finally getting close to moving forward with the garage/shop building.  Due to a county limitation that I discovered a couple of days ago, which only allows the square footage of a detached garage to be 70% of the square footage of the house, it looks like I'm limited to about 1400 square feet for the new building.  If that stays true, then the building will be about 30x45, still enough room for most everything that I need to do, except, there won't be room for the motor home.  Plan B is to put up a cover, similar to what we have in Lake Havasu, near where the motor home is now parked.  I'll know more in a few days, which way this is going to go.

BACK TO WORK

With nothing accomplished on Sunday, except the viewing of NASCAR, NHRA, and other assorted racing action on the tube, it was back to the long list of projects at the new place.  One of the first tasks yesterday was to remove some of the tiles near the front door, and see how much damage there was to the sub floor.  Surprisingly, there wasn't much evidence of water making its way under the tile, and possibly, I'll be able to get away with re-gluing, & grouting them back to the floor.  The root of the problem is water getting under the front door, and I'll  have to address that issue in the near future, in order to prevent the same thing from happening again.

I finished clearing the brush and small trees away from where the garage is going to be built, and now have a monster pile of debris to either be burned, or hauled away.  I suspect the later will be the course of action when I get my small trailer down here in a few weeks. 

I finished the day by dropping off a get well card, and a small teddy bear to Laila, who was on the upside of getting over a cold.  My timing was pretty good, as Chandra insisted that they had plenty of food, and that I stay for dinner.  Living close to Chandra, Marc, and Laila has its definite advantages.

I spoke to Patty, who called from Maui, and it sounded like she & Nancy are having a great time in Hawaii.  I also got a call from Ned at MainGate, the company we contracted with, when we did the NHRA drag races several years ago.  He wanted to know if we were available to work the Harley-Davidson pro stock bike merchandise trailer at the last 2 races in Las Vegas, and Pomona.  They had some people quit, and needed some temporary help.  I had to decline the offer, due to a number of reasons, but it was nice to asked.  We still do the one event each year for MainGate, working the Tucson Rodeo in February. 

DINNER FOR BREAKFAST

Without revealing too many of my eccentricities, lets just say that I'm a bit unconventional when it comes to eating habits.  It's a well known fact that I could easily live on hamburgers, and the time of day is immaterial when I chose to consume that form of fast food.  The only limitation is usually the time of day when the eating establishment decides to open their doors, or if their is a set time when the transition is made from egg mcmuffins to big macs, as is the case with McDonalds at 10:30am.


Yesterday morning, with 2 New York steaks thawed in the refrigerator, I didn't have to give a lot of thought to the idea of BBQ'ing those steaks for breakfast.  So, that's exactly what I did.  But instead of eggs to go with the steak, I fried some potatoes, and topped off the meal with some corn, the only real vegetable.  This isn't a breakfast meal for most folks, but as I've repeatedly stated, I'm not very traditional when it comes to specific foods at specific times of the day.  My breakfast was pretty darn yummy, and it provided the foundation for the rest of the day, in which I didn't do much of anything except watch a lot of racing action on the tube.   Today will start off about the same, with leftovers similar to the above photos, but the TV won't be a part of the scene until tonight.  Lots to do.

DOIN IT IN THE DIRT

No, not that kind of "doin it", but action nonetheless, on the dirt track last night.  Marc and I discovered that the Grand National Flat Track championship series was going to be in Tucson last night, so we just had to check it out.  We weren't disappointed as there were spills, thrills, and some good old fashioned racing action on the 3/8 mile dirt track at Tucson International Raceway.

I spent the first part of the day running some errands, and picking up some oil and a filter for the tractor.  With the oil & filter changed, I've got another 100 hours of work before it needs to be changed again.  On Tuesday, another 40,000 pounds of fill dirt will be delivered, and it will take a few hours to get it repositioned on the property.

When we had our Harley-Davidson Dealership in CA, the Grand National dirt track mile race in Sacramento was one of the highlights of the year.  I would take all of our employees to the race, getting the best seats at Cal Expo, with food & drinks as part of the package.  Back then, I knew most of the racers, like Chris Carr, and Scotty Parker, but last night, there was only one name that I recognized.  It's been about 12 years since I last attended a dirt flat track motorcycle race, but the action is still fast paced, and the competition is as fierce as ever.

The best race of the evening was in the single cylinder class, where a gal ended up being the winner.  She passed for the lead on the last corner, and won the race by just a few feet.  I don't remember her name, but I think I heard the announcer say that she was the only women to have ever won in the expert class. 

It was a fun evening watching these motorcycle daredevils in action, and reminded me of  many great races that I've seen in years past.

MOVING DIRT

Sunrises in the desert are often more spectacular than the evening sunset.  This is what greeted me yesterday morning.  As far as color goes, this sunrise was an awesome display of mother nature at work.

This is the "before" picture that I published previously, showing a big pile of dirt.

 

This is the "after" picture, when by yesterday afternoon, I had moved the dirt pile over next to the motor home, on the northwest side of the house.

 The picture below was taken after the project was half done. 

When I first started the tractor yesterday, I had a 20 ton pile of dirt sitting on the southeast side of the house, and when I finished, it had all been moved to an area that is adjacent to where the motor home is parked.  The wash next to the motor home drops off rather steeply, and I'm guessing that it's about 50 vertical feet to the bottom.  Operating the tractor next to the edge, and close to the motor home was a lesson in staying focused on the task at hand.  With more material, this area will become a little larger, and be more useful for parking, and access to the back of the house.

This morning, the girls are flying to Hawaii from Sacramento, for their two weeks on the island of Maui.  By the time Patty flies here to Tucson on the 21st, I hope to have something started regarding the garage that needs to be built.  That project has sort of been spinning it's wheels, and needs to get some traction!

A NEW REFRIGERATOR

The Lowe's delivery truck showed up yesterday morning with the new refrigerator, just a few minutes after a big pile of dirt was dumped next to the house.  My plan for the day was to get the new appliance cleaned, and hooked up to the water line, then move the dirt over near the motor home.

Well, the pile of dirt is still there this morning, and the tractor didn't move an inch all day.  The simple task of hooking up the water line behind the refrigerator turned into two trips to the hardware store for the right connectors.   The connection on the appliance is 1/4 inch, and the water line coming out of the floor is 3/8 inch.  Not a big deal if I had taken the time to make a mental note that they are both male connections.  The first trip to the hardware store got me the 3/8 to 1/4 inch reducer, but I ended up with a male to male connection.  No problem, as I returned to the hardware store for a small adapter hose that did the trick.  When everything was hooked up, it didn't even leak, which was probably a first for me. 

The closest hardware store is near where Marc & Chandra live, and it's a 30 minute round trip, so about an hour was added to the project.  By the time I was finished with the refrigerator, and had done a few other things, it was 3pm, and I didn't feel like getting all dusty on the tractor.  With an invite to dinner where Chandra BBQ'd some pork chops, and made a delicious pasta, my day was complete.

Tomorrow, Patty and Nancy are flying to Hawaii, and in two weeks, Patty will be flying into Tucson.  I think we'll both be here in Tucson for a week or so, before returning to Lake Havasu, where there's still lots of packing to do.

PLAYING IN THE DIRT

When I was a kid, like most young boys, I had a collection of tractors, dump trucks, bulldozers, and other assorted Tonka Toys.  In those simpler days, I can remember pushing around my fleet of miniature heavy equipment, building everything from dirt dams, to dirt bridges.

Flash forward a half dozen  decades, and I'm still digging in the dirt, albeit with a much larger toy.  Now in the real scheme of things, this Kubota tractor/backhoe is considered a "compact"  machine, about half the size of a Cat, Case, or John Deere full size backhoe.  Often, bigger is better, especially when it comes to the right size of equipment to adequately do the job.  So, yesterday, as I tackled the task of removing some small trees from the approach to the new garage, I wondered if I had the right machine.  It didn't take long to make that determination, as the backhoe quickly pulled up the largest of the Palo Verde trees, and several other smaller desert bushes.

Things that grow here in the desert don't have deep root systems.  In order to capture as much moisture as possible, the roots are shallow, and spread out to a wide area.  When I got the backhoe under the first tree, and started to lift it out of the ground, I was amazed at how far out the roots extended.

The next four pictures are more or less the before, and the last two are the after.  When I finished for the day, I had a pretty good pile of brush and tree trunks, that I'll have to deal with later.

Today, I have two things arriving here on the property.  The new black refrigerator that I purchased last week from Lowes, will be here this morning.  The second new arrival is approx. 20,000 pounds of fill dirt, that will be used mostly in the area adjacent to where the motor home is parked.  With the extra dirt, I should be able to create a much larger flat area next to the north side of the house.

 Before

After