Mobile foundation removal complete!

After four days of breaking and hauling, the four ribbon slab foundations from the mobile home are now gone!! Woohoo!! We rented a CASE 580 backhoe with a breaker bar and a diamond blade saw from Eastside Rentals in Bellevue/Redmond. Doug, one of the owners, was fantastic aiding me with the right piece of big equipment and training me on it in the yard prior to rental. I would highly suggest these guys if you ever need heavy equipment. The machine handled the slabs great. They ranged in thickness from 6 inches to 3 feet! The thicker chunks took a bit more work but we got them moved off. The breaker bar attachment, kind of like a gigantic jackhammer, popped thru most of the cement with no problem. Here it is breaking up the old mobile driveway. I had a ton of help from a few friends and would have not been able to complete the task in four days with out them. The vast majority of the chunks of cement are being used by my neighbor as fill. So we didn't have to pay to have it all hauled to the recycler.

After the cement was removed we switched out the breaker bar for a normal bucket and dug the trenches for the water and electrical lines. Now all is covered and ready for winter. We are hoping to get more work done if the weather allows. We will need a good stretch of dryness to get a truck in with soil and rock. We are planning on using 1 to 1 1/2 man basalt rock for the retaining wall to tie in with the basalt raised beds on the north and south of the house. Paul out at Pine Creek Nursery has been a great help with decisions on the rock and hardscaping. He's got a great place out on Hwy 2 off Sophie road. So for now we have a large soupy semi-level mud pit for a backyard, perfect for raising two boys.

Here is the view from the master bedroom after all the cement was taken off. The remaining slab was the old garage and will become a second level to the patio. We will surround it with raised beds of similar basalt rock and stairs off the back then acid stain it a dark olive/brown. The upper patio will match up to the front and back slabs for a walk around effect. It will reach out about 30 feet into the the backyard with access to the main house through the double doors. There will be three sets of stairs from the upper patio to the yard. (Completion date projected to be in the fall of 2011.)

We are also getting ready to head out to Scotland for the Adventure Travel and Trade Summit. We are good friends with the Prez and he is flying us out to help run the event. While we are out there I will be running in the Baxters Loch Ness Marathon. I will update as events unfold. hopefully with pictures from Scotland.

Tony

Tatoosh Lake Hike

For an end of the summer trip the boys and I joined with a couple guys from work to hike in to the Tatoosh Lakes near Packwood on the south side of Mount Rainier.

The trip was an incredible success. We started out with the long drive and a couple Geocaches along the way. The boys had to climb up a small cliff to find the first cache. Then we met up with Jim and Dennis at Jim's parent's cabin just north of Packwood. The next morning we departed for a quick drive to the trail head. There were a few cars already there and we feared the lake would be full of people. The hike began with 2+ miles of uphill switchbacks through dense stands of cedar, hemlock and fir. We broke out of the woods and traversed across lush sloping meadows to an exposed saddle. As we had the saddle in view we could see a party of about fifteen traversing to the summit of Tatoosh Peak past the cutoff to the lake. This pleased both me and the boys knowing there would most likely be no one at the lake, and added a little energy to the hike. We attained the saddle with renewed energy and continued down the mile or so descent to the lakes. The hike was more strenuous then I anticipated and the boys were real troopers. They made it about two hours in (2 miles or so) before the first, "Are we there yet." I engaged the back up plan quickly getting out the gummy geckos, granola bars and other trail-bribes to calm them for a bit.

Once we hit the saddle and the lakes were in view it was game over and I found it hard to keep the boys from running down the trail. Above is Gabe doing a little trail running of his own.

The camping and fishing was the best ever. Jon and Gabe hit the lakes and ripped open the packs to get at the fishing gear and start.

We set up camp next to the larger of the two lakes and settled in for two days of hanging out and fishing in the woods. The lake was crystal clear and full of perfect sized cutthroat and rainbow trout. All the wildflowers were in full bloom; lupine, paintbrush, heather, and a bunch more.

The rest of the day we fished and settled in. Dinner was a wonderful chicken Alfredo with veggies followed by cocoa and smoores. The next morning was cool and beautiful. We fished all day, landing about 40 or so fish. We kept enough for dinner and enjoyed the fresh trout meal. There was a friendly dad and daughter camping next to the smaller lake just for the night. they greeted us when they arrived and pretty much kept to themselves, enjoying the get-away.

Later in the day we were visited by the local ranger who welcomed us, commented on our perfect choice of timing and location, complimented us on bring the kids into the woods and then informed us that the lake was closed to overnight and campfire use. He regretfully had to cite us (and our neighbors) for camping in a closed area. The fine was not outrageous and he gave us a break due to passing, what he called the "attitude test". As you can see from the posting on the trail head sign (small print) we should have been fined $100/ tent ($300) and an additional $100 for the campfire.

He allowed us to stay in camp for the remainder of the day and the night due to the lateness of the day and the fact that moving the kids would be difficult. All in all he was a very reasonable ranger; just doing his job. We were a bit surprised that such an incredible place was ours for the taking. I guess we know why now.

The final morning we awoke to high clouds and a really cool temps. The clouds broke shortly after breakfast allowing us to comfortably fish for a bit without worry of weather. We soon began breaking camp and made our way out.

The boys found the need to do their standard pose prior to departing the site. The hike out was uneventful and went by in half the time of the hike in. When we reached the car and Jon knelt to pray. Thankful the hike was DONE. After the the drive back to the cabin we took a quick dip in the community pool prior to loading up for the ride home. All in all a great time for me and the boys. This was their first real hiking trip carrying their own packs. I am very proud of them.

Tony

Banana Boy

Hard to say much about this photo of Gabe from the Monroe fair...

Tony

Speed update....

It has been awhile so here we go...

The mobile is gone and the slabs are next, I have been learning about pressurized tanks and plumbing. All out water lines are above ground until the slabs are gone. Our neighbors married off their daughter in their yard just days after the house rolled through, no problems, it all went well.

We spent a day floating the Skykomish River with friends.

I took a coyote 10' from our garage, and tanned the hide for a pillow. Cheryl thinks it's gross but I love the idea.

We floated part of the Sultan River for Cheryl's company picnic.

We spent a day at Jeddy Island playing in the ocean.

Last night the boys and I spent the night in Man-Land for the first time. (While Chery did a midnight horse back ride at the farm.) It is officially a tradition. We even had bug nets. But there were no bugs. We cooked the fish on a grill over a fire and then had hot dogs and cocoa. Perfect night.

Jon starts at the Fair tomorrow, in the dairy barn with Penny, his new calf.

I am gearing up for the Loch Ness Marathon on Oct 3rd. I haven't been able to train like this for years, and my body is reminding me why.

Cheryl is now http://classicphotosbycheryl.com/ There is some good stuff there.

That pretty much sums up the last month...

Tony

It's Gone!!

The mobile is gone, all three pieces and the garage has also been removed. My apoligies for not posting earlier but we have been involved with a couple weddings, one in our neighbor's yard.

The ribbon foundations will be broken up and used for fill under the soon to be build patio. We are planning on bringing in a lot of fill to cover the rest of the mess and scape a large yard.

Tony

From One to Three

I haven't done a house update since the completion of the new structure and things have changed a lot in our front yard. After much frustration and many phone calls with the title company and lender we were able to get the correct paperwork filled releasing the mobile and "disconnecting" it from the property, figuratively. Above is the view from the roof of the new house looking northeast at the garden and what was once our side yard, you can see portions of the mobile home foundation on the left. Below is a shot looking east at the three sections, the old garage and our new well house (brown shed).

Next is a view looking southeast at our neighbors placed with the brown/red roof and their metal roofed garage. Things are a little tight around here right now. Now as you can see it is literally disconnected from the ground and ready for the move. It should be rolling away this Saturday. The separation process was complicated by the fact that the three sections were installed facing north and had to be spun around 180 degrees to facilitate the move via our neighbors driveway. Then, of course the Bobcat's hydraulics went out and a section was left overnight blocking the driveway. But now all is well and the the move permit will be filled and then the landscaping nightmare will begin. Anyone have a few hundred yards of free fill dirt?

Tony