Off the MountainI must be getting old because all my Nieces and Nephews are graduating college and even getting married. I RSVP’d yes to the next one in Ohio at the end of October. So I’ve had to wrap up this year’s work and hit the road. I have to drive the 2200 miles to Ohio, find a suit that fits, find and shine my shoes and figure out how to tie a tie again. None of which were going to be short term efforts. So pressure was on.
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There was one big potential problem though. Autumn lasted all of one week before winter weather settled in with a couple of inches of wet snow. It had been raining off and on for a few weeks already. The access road goes from bumpy and dusty to bumpy and muddy pretty quickly. Luckily, it hadn’t been soaking rains and the road dried out pretty quickly after each storm. but more serious rain was definitely coming.
The dirt road becomes a slippery tire tread clogging mess that makes it nearly impossible, for my car at least, to navigate as evidenced by this video from last year. I learned my lesson from that episode and just put it in park before I get to the edge, leave the car and come back when the mud dries up.
I needed to wrap up the remaining projects and lock up the camp before the weather stopped I didn’t have time to get stuck on the road with all the work I needed to get done before I could leave. On a dry day, I stocked up with all the project supplies and beer that I would need for the final push ahead of time.
The property usually has many projects going on at any one time, mostly for productive procrastination on the main project, the winter shed. As with many of my projects over the years, “done” is more of a continuum rather than an absolute. I was happy with a locking door and a non leaking roof. As far as I know, I finished both.
The last few days were a good example of no good plan going unpunished. In the final couple of days, unforeseen problems (Who knew crossing positive and negative battery cables was a bad thing?) and supply shortages caused me to make two 70 mile trips to the nearest Home Depot. All travel time aside, I got the shed finished, solar panels moved and security cameras set up. The fact that the locks and cameras probably cost more than the stuff they are protecting is beside the point. Spring thaw will show how water tight the roof is.
But time is up and done is what done is. I am off to church. I am a bit disappointed that I never got around to fixing the Meth lab rustic look of the place. I’ll spend the winter thinking about a new look and feel for the place. Maybe Meth Lab Chic. Here is a link to a quick video of the property right before I left.
I have progress photos of the work I did this summer on my google pictures site. That should keep you busy until my next entry, Stay tuned….
