A NEW GATE CIRCUIT BOARD

Call it coincidence, or luck, or perhaps just good timing.  After a few days short of a month, the new circuit board arrived from GTO (Gates that Open) yesterday, after I made a morning phone call to their business in Florida.   I mailed the old circuit board to GTO on Sep 27th, and hadn't heard a word, not even an email saying that they received the faulty part.  While speaking to their customer service person, she said it looks like the new board should be arriving via UPS today.  Indeed it did, and then the fun began......

Replacing the electronic gizmo wasn't a big deal, but making all of the adjustments that I made with the original circuit board had to be done again with this new one.  Well, the old memory isn't quite what it used to be, so I dug out the installation manual, and started dialing everything in.  Things like how long does the gate stay open, 10 seconds - 2 minutes.  How much resistance before it reverses direction.  Setting where the gate stops while opening & closing.  Setting the memory for the adjustable remote devices, plus a couple of other tweaks, before the gate was once again operational.

Before the new gate part arrived, I started another digging project between the gate and the garage. Along the property line, I dug down 12-18 inches, and began to level the area out to the driveway.  When finished, this will all be part of the driveway, giving me more room to maneuver the motor home, when either parking in front of the house, or while turning around in the circular driveway. I guess I don't need much of an excuse to play with the tractor.

Marc brought Laila out to the house yesterday evening, and she'll be staying with us for the rest of the week.  Yea!  We'll be taking her to and from school, and enjoying every second that's she's with us.  This is the primary reason that we decided last year to make the move from Lake Havasu to Tucson.  Being close to part of our family is a big plus at this point in our lives.  While here, Marc switched all of our I Tunes music from the old laptop to the new one.  What he did in an hour, would have probably taken me an eternity.  Thanks, I owe you one!

THE LAST RODEO

Working the Tucson Rodeo in February of each year, was something that we've done for about the last 8-9 years.  MainGate, the company that we contracted with, to sell the official merchandise (hats, t-shirts, sweatshirts, etc.), has decided not to partner with the Tucson Rodeo Committee for 2014. 

For the last few years, we've known that it was a year to year thing, so it wasn't a big surprise when I got the phone call a couple of days ago.  As far as events go for MainGate, the Tucson Rodeo was a small one, and with all of their other business growth, particularly with NFL team merchandise, the rodeo was expendable.  One of the reasons that they kept the Tucson Rodeo on their event calendar, was the fact that it might have provided a window for them to return to the huge National Finals Rodeo (NFR) in Vegas.  MainGate lost the contract to the NFR a few years ago to a company (A3 Entertainment) that we contracted with for their first year in Vegas.  That's another story altogether, but suffice it to say, A3 was so poorly organized, that we said adios after completing the event, and a terrible experience.

The manager of the Tucson Rodeo (Gary) has been on the NFR committee for years, and he provided a positive voice for MainGate.  The thinking was that if A3 wasn't providing satisfactory results to the NFR, Gary was the guy who might advocate for MainGates return to what was a multi million dollar event.  I guess at some point, it became clear that reacquiring the NFR contract wasn't going to happen, and MainGate made a business decision to step away from Tucson.

Patty and I both enjoyed working the Tucson Rodeo, becoming a part of the family of workers, and volunteers that make this event one of the top rodeos in the country.  It was 10 straight days of work, but the pace wasn't hectic like some of MainGate's other events.  We'll miss our relationships with all of those folks, but as they say, "all good things must come to an end".   

A FREE HOT DOG

The Tucson Camping World store just relocated from their previous location at Lazy Days RV (the old Beaudry RV), to about a half mile away on Palo Verde Ave.  I needed a couple of things, so we decided to take advantage of their grand opening, and a free lunch.  Hot dogs, chips, and a soda aren't exactly on the upper end as far as food goes, but hey, free is free. 

This new store has all of the bells & whistles, including an expanded RV sales area.  Over the last few years, I've noticed that Camping World has increased their focus on selling RV's, in addition to their already established parts and accessories business.  Perhaps that's one of the primary reasons for the move away from Lazy Days.  Being right next door to one of your primary competitors is kind of like a two edged sword.  The car industry embraces the concept, building auto dealership malls, where all of the manufacturers are in one central location.  It makes it easier for the customer to shop different brands & prices.  The other side of that coin is that it also makes it easier for that dollar that everyone is competing for,  to walk next door to your competitor.  Not sure which is the prevailing business philosophy, but for what ever reason, Camping World is no longer on the Lazy Days campus.

A few weeks ago, I decided that a portable waste tank was a more practical solution to emptying the motor homes holding tanks when we return home.  The location of our house septic system makes it impractical to tie into from the garage area, and it's uphill from where the proposed RV shade cover will be located.  I once had the idea of building a small septic system near where the motor home will be parked, but after dealing with the county on this other issue, I knew that would be an absolute nightmare, not to mention the expense.  Using this 35 gallon portable waste tank will still allow me to dump the holding tanks, even though there's a few extra steps involved. 

Marc, Chandra, & Laila returned from two weeks in Hawaii yesterday, and we'll probably drop by later today to check out their beach tans.  Thanks Nancy for letting the kids use your condo, I'm sure they had a great time.  Speaking of beaches, Patty & Nancy are only a couple of weeks away from their trip to Costa Rica on November 1st.  I think I'll be content just staying home for the next few months.

96 TONS OF DIRT

The first of four, twenty four ton truckloads of dirt arrived at 8am yesterday.  That's 192,000 pounds of material that eventually found itself against the "Great Wall".   The first picture shows a 24 ton pile before I started moving it into the fill area.

I used some of the material along the driveway, but most of it was needed to fill in the area in front of the wall.  By mid afternoon, the last two truckloads had been dumped, and it was all moved and leveled by about 4pm.  The tractor got a workout yesterday!

 

With the dirt fill in place, there's not much else I can do in this area until I get the county's blessing with a building permit.   I'm still waiting for the last two absentee property owners to hopefully sign the declarations that I sent them, but nothing came in the mail yesterday.  One lives in Oklahoma, and the other is local.  If I get those last two signatures, I'll go back to the county, pay them $263,  and they'll send a notice to the Union Pacific RR.  If, after the notice(s) go out, the adjacent property owners will have 15 days to object in writing.  If there are no objections, I'll be able to pay the county more money for a building permit, but it'll probably be into December, before the structure goes up.  Don't you just love red tape and bureaucracy! 

THE RIDE HOME

On the third morning of my ride, I awakened in Lordsburg, N.M. to a chilly, cool 37 degree temperature.  Even with a great jacket, and other cool riding gear, I wasn't in a big hurry to hit the road.  By the time I had breakfast, & read the morning El Paso newspaper, the sun was out, and it had warmed up enough to where I didn't need to put on the long johns. 

Instead of about a 2 1/2 hour ride home on Interstate 10, I took Hwy 70 out of Lordsburg, detouring through Duncan and Safford.  I added about 40 miles to the ride home, but these were new roads, and new scenery, so the extra miles were worth getting off the Interstate.  By the time I pulled into the homestead, it was mid day, and the end of a great ride.  There's something about being on the Harley that rejuvenates my spirit, and gives me the purest sense of freedom.  There's an old phrase that's been around forever, but it describes being a motorcycle enthusiast perfectly......"If I have to explain, you won't understand".  With my batteries recharged, I'm ready to get back to some of my home projects.

The process of getting all 11 adjoining property owners to sign off on our proposed RV shade cover is still moving along, albeit slowly.  Before leaving on the ride, I got the last signature of an owner who occupies their property.  That total is 7, with 3 packages being mailed out to absentee owners.  We got one of those signatures back yesterday, so we have 2 to go, plus the Union Pacific RR.  With a little luck, I'm hoping to go back to the county next week, and turn in 10 of  the 11 signatures.  The county will have to send a letter to the RR, which according to them, will just be a formality.  I'm still not counting my chickens before..........well, you know.  This morning, the first of several 24 ton truckloads of dirt will be arriving to fill in behind the "Great Wall".   The transition from the Harley to the Kubota begins today!

NEW ROADS IN N.M.

After spending the night in Las Cruces, NM, my plan yesterday, was to make a counter clockwise circle around the White Sands Missile Range, with a stop in Ruidoso.   When I got to where I needed to turn east on Hwy 70, a little north of Alamogordo, the weather didn't look very good in that direction.  In fact, the dark clouds ahead on Hwy 54 gave me a hint that I might be needing some clothing that repelled water, instead of soaking it up.  Instead of heading into the mountains toward Ruidoso & Roswell, I continued north on Hwy 54.

 The weather went from not looking so good in the above picture, to an almost cloudless sky in the bottom picture.

By the time I got to Carrizozo, at the junction of Hwy 380, the weather picture was starting to look a little better.  About half way across the 65 mile W/B stretch of 380, the blue sky was starting to dominate the clouds, and the temperature was getting warmer.  Speaking of warm, I passed not too far from where the world's first nuclear detonation occurred in 1945.  It was only about a month later, when the two atomic bombs were dropped on Japan, ending WWII in the Pacific.

I headed south on Interstate 25 for about 75 miles before turning off on Hwy 152 toward Silver City.  This road was made for motorcycles, with lots of twists, turns, elevation changes, and hardly any traffic.  I only had to pass one vehicle in over 50 miles of pure two wheel bliss.  With the stereo blasting the Eagles greatest hits, I got lost from reality, never once thinking about how dysfunctional our government is, or who we're at war with today.  Those kinds of roads make riding a Harley worth every penny, and you can bet I'll be on Hwy 152 once again, somewhere in the future.

Not too far from Silver City, I ran across another huge hole in the ground, that is still actively being mined for copper.  The Santa Rita Copper Mine is every bit as big as the one in Bisbee, with the open pit almost a mile across at it's widest point.
  

From Silver City, it was a short run south to Lordsburg, where it was getting late, and I stopped for the night.  I covered 397 miles on this second day of riding new roads in New Mexico, and will be back home today.  My 12 year old Harley is still purring like a kitten, nearing the 40,000 mile mark.  Every time I think about getting a new one, the thought only lasts for a brief few seconds.  I'm pretty sure this bike and I, will continue to grow old together. 

TIME FOR A RIDE

With the RV shade cover project on hold until I can get a building permit, dusting the cobwebs off the Harley became a priority.  Since moving to the Tucson area a year ago, the trusty old steed has been just sitting in the garage gathering dust.  Time for that to change, as I planned a few days on the road in Eastern Arizona, and Western New Mexico.  The weather is starting to change, so time for a ride.

I left the house around 9am, and headed southeast toward Tombstone & Bisbee.  Staying off the freeway is always a priority, and as you can see, it was cool enough to wear a jacket.  That came off later in the day, as the temps topped out around 80.

 I stopped in Tombstone for a few pictures, like the ones in front of  the old city hall, and next to the famous OK Corral.

Bisbee was famous for it's huge open pit copper mine, but the town itself sits in a picturesque, narrow canyon, and has transitioned from a mining town, to a touristy, artsy kind of place.  Digging first started in the Lavender Pit around 1917, with mining continuing until 1974.  That's a long time to dig a big hole in the ground, and it is indeed very large.  The highway passes around one side of the pit, so if you're driving through Bisbee, you won't miss it.

A fuel stop in Douglas, right across from the Mexican town of Agua Prieta, and a shedding of the coat before continuing northeast toward New Mexico.  About half way between Douglas and Lordsburg, near the Arizona/New Mexico border, this monument sits out in the middle of nowhere.  It's located not far from where Geronimo surrendered, effectively ending the last Indian war.  

When I got to I10, it was E/B to Lordsburg for another fuel stop, then it was the dreaded super slab all the way to Las Cruces where I stopped for the night.  A Cracker Barrel was conveniently located next door to the motel, so that was the spot for dinner.
   

I covered about 340 miles, on a picture perfect day for a motorcycle ride.  Except for the section of Interstate 10, the back roads of S/E Arizona & S/W New Mexico were just what the doctor ordered.  With little, or no traffic, my mind was free to wander as far as the wide open spaces of the southern desert.  Today, I think I might make a circle around the White Sands Missile Range, before heading back west toward home.  Or, I might head into Texas, or I might go north toward Albuquerque, or......................

WHAT'S A JAVELINA?

Since moving to the small community of Vail about a year ago, we've been hearing about the wild pigs called Javelinas, that roam the area, often passing through neighborhood yards.  A few evenings ago, Patty and I heard some noise in the front yard.  When we went out to investigate, we caught glimpses of several Javelinas, as they passed through our property.  They eat mostly vegetation, with the prickly pear cactus being one of their favorites.  An adult can weigh up to about 80-90 pounds, and they usually stay together in small packs.

Last night, while watching the tube with the rear screen door open, I heard some noise in the backyard.  Armed with a bright spot light, I saw a couple of these wild porkers out near an area where I have several pack rat traps.  I often find the traps sprung, with the peanut butter completely gone.  It's been a mystery until last night, when I watched one of the javelinas lick the peanut butter off one of the traps, and spring it at the same time.  It jumped back, but then went on about it's business as if nothing had happened.  Mystery solved!

It was dark when I took these pictures, and they aren't very good, but at least you get an idea of what these critters look like.  They're not particularly afraid of humans, as I got within about 15 feet before they started moving away.  There have been isolated incidents where humans have been attacked by groups of Javelinas, but it's extremely rare.  I guess if you're yard is full of flowers, these guys could be a problem, but for us, they're just another example of living in the rural desert.

Another beautiful Arizona Sunset.

AMTRAK

Three days a week, the AMTRAK Sunset Limited passes by our house on it's E/B trip to New Orleans.  It used to go all the way to Florida, but Hurricane Katrina shortened it's route from L.A. to stopping instead at the Big Easy.  Every once in awhile, I catch a glimpse of the silver passenger train as it passes by, and wish that I were on it.

Several years ago, I rode AMTRAK on a circuitous route that took me from Needles, CA to L.A., then up to Sacramento, east to Denver, and back to Needles.  Thinking it was about time to take another train trip, I started some preliminary planning a few days ago.  I almost had a trip to New Orleans booked, until I discovered a huge price difference between a downstairs roomette and an upstairs roomette.  Riding trains is my thing, but 4 days (2 each way) in a regular passenger seat would get old after about the first day.  The small rooms are extra cost, but for train travel, it's considered first class with a lot more room, and all meals are included in the price. 

Just before I clicked on the computer purchase button, I thought perhaps it would be a good idea to confirm everything with an agent, and ask a couple of questions.  Good thing I did, because the round trip price of $882 shown on the computer was for a downstairs room.  One of the reasons for riding the train is to see as much as possible, and the difference in visibility from downstairs to upstairs is like night and day.   When I asked the AMTRAK agent what the cost difference was for an upstairs room, she said $382.  So, by moving up a few feet, the cost went from $882 to $1,264.  When I heard that, the issue wasn't that I could afford the lower price, and not the higher price, it was more an issue of fairness and principle.  I told the gal that almost $400 extra for the exact same accommodations a few feet higher, didn't seem very reasonable.   She was nice enough, but in the end, it was like - that's the way it is buddy!

OK, back to the drawing board.  There aren't a lot of options for riding AMTRAK, it more or less depends on where you live.  The fact that one of AMTRAK's long distance trains stops in Tucson, does give me the opportunity to make connections to other trains.  I just have to figure out which route I want to take, and how much I'm willing to pay for an upstairs room.

BUILDING PERMIT UPDATE

As previously mentioned, when I tried to obtain a Pima County building permit for the new RV shade cover, I was told that I needed to go through a process whereby all of the adjoining property owners have to be notified, and there CAN NOT be any objections.  The reason given was zoning only allowed 1,500 square feet for outbuildings, and the new garage/shop took up that space, leaving no allowance for the shade cover.  See blog post "More Red Tape" on Oct 9 for more details.

Our 4 acre parcel is adjoined by 11 other properties, and so the county will send those property owners a letter explaining our intent to build an RV shade cover.  The neighbors have 15 days to object in writing, and if there is no opposition, then we will be able to obtain a building permit.  We have been a little more proactive, and have been trying to personally contact all of our neighbors, in hopes that a personal explanation will go a lot farther than a county originated form letter.   So far, six of our neighbors have signed a declaration that they have no objection to our project, and I still have two neighbors who I haven't as yet caught at home.  Two other property owners are absentee owners with renters on their property, and they have been sent a package with pictures, & other documentation as to what we want to do.  Hopefully, they will also sign the declaration.  That leaves the Union Pacific RR that I'll just have to let the county do the notification by way of letter.

I guess I should be thankful that the door wasn't completely shut regarding the procurement of a building permit.  However, the idea that I have to get my neighbors permission to improve MY property, just doesn't set real well with my philosophy of live, and let live.  Over the last 100 years or so, the erosion of private property rights is best demonstrated by the governments power of eminent domain.  To seize private property for highway construction, and pay the owner fair market value is one thing, but to seize property for the "public good", such as  the building of a shopping center is an entirely different proposition.   Both examples have occurred, fortunately, the later only on a few occasions.

Our experience with this one small issue of property rights, is illustrative of the bigger picture that is happening across the country.  Plain and simple - much of our government, (especially the feds), has gotten too big, too intrusive, and too controlling over our every day lives.  There's a lot of talk about throwing the bums out of Washington, and taking back the country, but unfortunately, the preponderance of apathy always seems to prevail.  What happened to the founders vision of a small central government, and President Lincoln's immortal words  "Government of the people, by the people, and for the people"?  The fundamental principle upon which our country was created, is that government should work FOR us, not against us. On the New York Times bestseller list is a book that I just finished reading, entitled "The Liberty Amendments" by Mark Levin.  I'll get off my soapbox now, but if anyone's interested in learning how far the pendulum has swung toward governmental soft tyranny, this book is a great read.  OK, now I feel better!

CLEANING UP

After about a day of the new concrete setting on the ground, and in the "Great Wall", it was time to remove the forms, and get everything cleaned up.  That didn't take very long, so I tackled another small project that had worked it's way to the top of my list. 

While we were gone this summer, we missed the annual "Monsoon" season, where lots of tropical moisture works its way into Arizona, usually during August & September.  Marc noticed that there was an area near the corner of the house, where water was coming off the roof, and accumulating in a small dirt area where our utilities are connected.  No problem, I installed a short section of rain gutter, and one down spout, which will divert the water away from the house.

Earlier in the day, we drove over to the kids house, picked up their mail, and made sure everything was OK.  A stop at Safeway filled up a grand total of two bags, and we left the store a  C note poorer.  Somebody needs to come up with a cheap pill that'll  substitute for food, and in an instant, everyone would have money in their pockets!  OK, maybe that wouldn't be a very good replacement for an IN N OUT burger, or a big juicy T-Bone.  Scratch that plan.

PLAYING WITH MUD

At 10am sharp, the concrete truck pulled into the driveway, starting a 4+ hour scramble to get the mixture of cement, sand, & rocks into the wall, and on the ground.   Coordinating with the driver by way of hand signals, he slowly inched the truck forward, while I tried to keep the chute over the wall.  Even with a hand trowel to redirect the flow of concrete, a lot of the mud found its way outside, instead of going inside the concrete blocks.

The only real way to keep the spillage to a minimum, would have been to hire a concrete pump truck, but that would have cost more than what went on the ground.  It took about 45 minutes to slowly fill each hole in the wall, and the driver thought that there was still enough left in the truck for my sidewalk project.

With the wall filled full of fresh concrete and rebar, it's strength went from almost nothing, to a true retaining structure, capable of holding back all of the fill dirt that will soon be in front of it.

I wanted to sink a series of bolts into the wet concrete, as a means for anchoring a metal fence that will eventually set on top of the wall.  However, by the time I got the sidewalk to a point where I could leave it, the concrete in the wall had already hardened way too much.  Plan B (there's always a plan B or C or.....) will be to anchor the fence by drilling into the wall at a later time.

The truck couldn't quite back up far enough to get the chute to the back of the walkway, so about 5 wheelbarrow loads were necessary.

 

By mid afternoon, I was done, and glad that it all went pretty much according to plan.  Today, I'll take the forms off the sidewalk, and start checking to see where I can find some fill dirt at a fairly reasonable price.  Once the area in front of the wall is filled in, then I can start thinking about framing up for the two 1'x48' foundations for the RV shade cover.  Oops, I'm getting a little ahead of myself.  There's this little issue with Pima County that has to be resolved first!

CONCRETE DAY

Everything is ready, I think, for the 10am delivery of 8 1/2 yards of concrete. At $87 a yard, the cost of concrete has stayed pretty stable over the years, unlike a lot of other things where the cost has skyrocketed.   Most of that mud will go into the "Great Wall", and about a yard will be used for a walkway next to the garage.  Except for the concrete truck driver, who doesn't have any responsibility other than to dump the load where I tell him, this is a true do it yourself project.  Putting the mix in the wall should be pretty straightforward, and the 18 feet of walkway is something that I've done by myself on other occasions.  I'll have pictures tomorrow.

MORE RED TAPE

 Preparing an area near the garage for a new walkway, to be poured when I have the concrete for the wall delivered.

Before we made the decision to say goodbye to our little kitty, I made a trip to the Pima County development (building) department.  The purpose was to see what hoops I would have to jump through, before getting a building permit to put up the RV shade cover.  As I mentioned in the blog a few days ago, I knew there would be one, or more obstacles, but I wasn't prepared for what hit me like a ton of bricks, when I started asking what I needed to do in order to get a building permit.

The first guy I talked to said our zoning (rural residential), only allowed outbuildings to a maximum size of 1,500 square feet.  I told him I knew that, because when I built the garage, I had to downsize it from my original larger plans to  a smaller 1,500 square feet.   He said "No, you don't understand.  You can only have a maximum square footage of 1,500, which includes ALL detached structures."

In other words, you can have a 2,000 square foot house, and if the garage is attached, it can be 5,000 square feet, or as big as you want.  But, if you detach it like we did, the square footage can only be 1,500, and then...........you can't have any other buildings like sheds, or shade covers, because 1,500 square feet is it!  Who comes up with this crap?

OK, that's more than a hoop to jump through, that's a damn roadblock with armed guards!  This first guy was nice enough, but said that there wasn't any way around our particular zoning restrictions, other than to try and change the zoning for our parcel.  Having served on a county planning commission for several years, I knew that doing something like that would be about as likely as getting our Federal Government to stop being corrupt & dysfunctional.

Fortunately, there was another individual behind the counter who overheard part of our conversation (Timing is everything), who said there was actually a couple of ways that I might be able to proceed. The least costly ($263) would be to petition for a Modification of Setback Requirements (MSR).  Even though the shade cover is well within any setbacks from the property lines, this is the procedure that would notify all abutting property owners of my intentions, and if there were no objections, then I would be able to move forward.  If even one neighbor opposes my plan, then the only other course of action is to request a variance, pay just under $1,000 (to the county of course), and go through a public hearing process.  Not a very good option!

The bad news is that because our parcel is the largest in the entire subdivision, we have 12 adjoining property owners, including the Union Pacific RR, that all have to be notified.  We're doing some of the legwork ourselves, and have contacted several of our neighbors, who so far, have not voiced any objections.  This process will play out over a county estimated 4 weeks or so, and we'll be keeping our fingers crossed that the adjacent property owners will not have any axes to grind.  To say that the project to protect the motor home is on hold, would definitely be an under statement!  There were a few more hoops, but those were all doable, and we'll just have to wait and see how this plays out.

As is the case with most of my projects, a simple framing for a new concrete walkway turned into much more yesterday.  I quickly discovered that I needed to move, and extend one of the new water lines.  The backhoe sure makes jobs like this a lot easier, even though a bunch of hand digging was still necessary.  By the time I had extended the pvc pipe, covered the trench, framed up the area, and leveled the ground where the new concrete will go, it was late afternoon, and I was pooped.
   

Today, I'll try and figure out how much concrete I'll need to order for the wall, and the new walkway.  I think tomorrow morning will be a good time for delivery, particularly since it's supposed to cool off into the 70's for the next few days. 

Thanks to everyone who either commented, or emailed, regarding the loss of our little cat Gracie.  Patty and I appreciate the thoughts very much.

GRACIE 8/15/2007 - 10/7/2013

From an unwanted, unloved cat, who was one day away from being euthanized, she became a very much loved part of our family.  When Patty first saw her on an adoption website in Flagstaff, we both couldn't believe that no one wanted this beautiful kitty.  On a cold December day in 2008, we drove to snow bound Flagstaff, and rescued our girl from an unfortunate fate that too many dogs & cats face.  From that day forward, she became a member of our family, and traveled all over the U.S. and Canada with us in our motor home.

When she was diagnosed in Anchorage with kidney failure this summer, we knew that her time was limited, and that there wasn't much we could do, except continue to give her a good home.  Our little Snowshoe was dealt a bad hand regarding her health, but we have comfort knowing that we gave her the best of everything, including an abundance of love.

Saying goodbye to a pet who has become a member of  the family is difficult, but something that all pet owners go through.  It's been a tough pet year for us, losing our beloved Beagle Sami in April, and now losing Gracie long before we should have.  R.I.P. little girl, you'll be missed.  

POUNDING STEEL

The last component on the Great Wall before concrete, was pounding 1/2" rebar into the earth, through the wall.  I've still got another hour or two before I finish that job, but today, I'm off to see the folks at the county building department.  I would just about be willing to bet that there's some sort of curve ball just waiting in the hallowed halls, and about to be thrown at this project.

When I submitted the initial plans for the garage, the curve ball back then was that the structure couldn't be more than 1,500 square feet.  Originally, I wanted to build it larger to be able to accommodate the motor home, but the county had this 70% of residence, or maximum 1,500 square foot rule.  I guess a garage bigger than the house violates some sort of aesthetically pleasing to the eye building code.  Now that I want to build a separate structure for the motor home, I wouldn't rule out some other rule that will either create a road block, or worse, prevent the project altogether.  Stay tuned.......................