RVers talk a lot about their plans being made in jello--they can be changed whenever we want or need to do so. That's all well and good, but personally I prefer plans made in concrete. I like to plan our travels months ahead, make reservations where and when necessary, and then carry out those plans. Not this summer.
We had reservations that covered most of the time from May 3 when we left our casita in Gold Canyon, AZ, through June 26 and four nights in September as we started back south to Arizona. As you have read here, the problems with our hydraulic leveling system have made drastic changes in our plans. So far we have been unable to make it to two of our reservations. We have made plans to travel to Indiana to have repairs made in early July, so I have cancelled two of our July reservations.
Since my last blog post we have had even more problems with the level-up system. The front of the RV started drifting down fairly quickly. Now, we are staying hooked up to the truck, using it to hold up the front end of the Mobile Suites. We'll see how everything goes. Taking the RV with us everywhere is rather a pain (to say the least).
Stay tuned to find out if we will drown in this jello or find some firm footing for our plans. Will we go to Indiana for repairs or buy a new RV? We don't know yet.
Some parts of jello are really quite pleasant. This weekend we are near Canon City to visit John's sister and brother and their families. We discovered that John's great nephew is being married tomorrow and they asked John to bless the marriage. What an honor to be asked to be part of their lives.
Showing posts with label concrete. Show all posts
Showing posts with label concrete. Show all posts
Sunday, June 05, 2016
Monday, January 26, 2015
See Us Now
Finally, we have it all together--our two homes, that is.
This is why we bought this house. We have a full-hookup RV pad right next to the house. We now have a guest house. And we can easily move things back and forth between the two. Two weeks ago, the last of the concrete in our yard was poured. We had to wait a week to park our truck here. And today, two weeks out, we were told we could park our RV here. At 8:15 this morning, we had our truck hooked up to the RV, then drove around the block and parked it here. We are very happy.
We have been doing a few things other than equipping the house and looking at the concrete. We have visited with blogger friends Jim and Gayle and Art and Connie. We attended a pancake breakfast as guests of Bob and Marcia, who had come to see our new house several days earlier. We do weight training and walking. In addition to church services on Sunday, we attended the spaghetti dinner at Epiphany, as well. And we have both endured through colds.
Two Saturdays in a row, I have been to the wood shop here in Canyon Vistas, learning how to turn a piece of wood on the lathe. I really enjoy working with wood and one of the residents is in the wood shop to help people learn this skill on Saturday mornings. Here is what I have made so far, a small vase. It is made of mesquite wood.
Using the lathe is something like using a potter's wheel to shape clay. As the wood spins, I use a metal tool to start removing wood. As I do, the square piece of wood turns into a round object. How wonderful! I hope to make some bowls and some pens.
John has been carving and writing a book about his ancestors.
We certainly enjoy our life here in the Arizona winter.
This is why we bought this house. We have a full-hookup RV pad right next to the house. We now have a guest house. And we can easily move things back and forth between the two. Two weeks ago, the last of the concrete in our yard was poured. We had to wait a week to park our truck here. And today, two weeks out, we were told we could park our RV here. At 8:15 this morning, we had our truck hooked up to the RV, then drove around the block and parked it here. We are very happy.
We have been doing a few things other than equipping the house and looking at the concrete. We have visited with blogger friends Jim and Gayle and Art and Connie. We attended a pancake breakfast as guests of Bob and Marcia, who had come to see our new house several days earlier. We do weight training and walking. In addition to church services on Sunday, we attended the spaghetti dinner at Epiphany, as well. And we have both endured through colds.
Two Saturdays in a row, I have been to the wood shop here in Canyon Vistas, learning how to turn a piece of wood on the lathe. I really enjoy working with wood and one of the residents is in the wood shop to help people learn this skill on Saturday mornings. Here is what I have made so far, a small vase. It is made of mesquite wood.
John has been carving and writing a book about his ancestors.
We certainly enjoy our life here in the Arizona winter.
Saturday, January 10, 2015
More Concrete Poured
Yesterday afternoon, while some of the workers watched the concrete that had been poured and continued to smooth the surface, they began preparing the area for today's concrete pour. They had to level the carport area, as well as the RV pad space. By the time they left, the forms on the concrete posts for the carport and around the floor of the workshop had been removed, as well.
The last event yesterday was the arrival of the Zip Zap termite control man. He heavily spayed all the area that would receive concrete today. This is the first time we have had to deal with termites. It is standard procedure here. We don't have to do anything--the contractor calls Zip Zap to prepare the soil before they put in the concrete.
Some folks arrived a little after 7 am today to complete the forms. The cement truck pulled in just after 7:30.
A barrier had to be placed between the solid concrete and today's new pour. They used a wheel-barrow of concrete to hold the barrier in place. They had masked the surface of the workshop floor so no wet cement got on it today.
The next step was to pour the area behind the workshop.
Then they moved on to the rear section of the RV pad. Notice the wire mesh that provides a backing for the thicker RV pad. As they filled in that large area, it was impressive to see how well the crew chief communicated with the cement truck driver, using only small arm and hand signals to tell him to direct the shoot right or left, to pull forward or back up, and when to let cement pour out and when to stop. If John and I could communicate that well when he is backing up the RV, life would be much easier.
Finally, they poured the carport floor.
While that work was going on, one man continued to smooth the first section.
Notice how many people it takes to make sure the entire form is evenly filled with cement.
About half an hour after arriving, the cement truck pulled out while they continued to work on the last bit of cement poured.
We had workers here for several hours, smoothing the cement, marking the seam lines, and sprinkling the surface with rock salt. The seams are there to help control future cracks. The salt makes small holes in the surface to improve the appearance of our driveway.
Doesn't this look good? We can hardly wait till they finish up on Monday.
The last event yesterday was the arrival of the Zip Zap termite control man. He heavily spayed all the area that would receive concrete today. This is the first time we have had to deal with termites. It is standard procedure here. We don't have to do anything--the contractor calls Zip Zap to prepare the soil before they put in the concrete.
Some folks arrived a little after 7 am today to complete the forms. The cement truck pulled in just after 7:30.
A barrier had to be placed between the solid concrete and today's new pour. They used a wheel-barrow of concrete to hold the barrier in place. They had masked the surface of the workshop floor so no wet cement got on it today.
The next step was to pour the area behind the workshop.
Then they moved on to the rear section of the RV pad. Notice the wire mesh that provides a backing for the thicker RV pad. As they filled in that large area, it was impressive to see how well the crew chief communicated with the cement truck driver, using only small arm and hand signals to tell him to direct the shoot right or left, to pull forward or back up, and when to let cement pour out and when to stop. If John and I could communicate that well when he is backing up the RV, life would be much easier.
Finally, they poured the carport floor.
While that work was going on, one man continued to smooth the first section.
Notice how many people it takes to make sure the entire form is evenly filled with cement.
About half an hour after arriving, the cement truck pulled out while they continued to work on the last bit of cement poured.
We had workers here for several hours, smoothing the cement, marking the seam lines, and sprinkling the surface with rock salt. The seams are there to help control future cracks. The salt makes small holes in the surface to improve the appearance of our driveway.
Doesn't this look good? We can hardly wait till they finish up on Monday.
Friday, January 09, 2015
A Lot of Work
Finally, today they began laying the concrete to complete our driveway and pour the foundation for our workshop and carport. The first workers showed up just before 7 am, way before the sun came up.
It was over half an hour later when the cement truck arrived. After the truck was backed in, they had to assemble the shoot to direct the cement to the proper area.
The concrete filled the footers for the walls and then they filled the deeper spots that will support the columns at the front of the car port.
The workers were very neat--taping up paper on the walls of our house so there wouldn't be spots of concrete stuck there. Later, they even used some wet paper towel to clean up some spots on the walls.
This is the cement truck driver, turning the flow of concrete on and off.
After they finished pouring the workshop floor, it was time to start smoothing the concrete.
The cement truck drove off about half an hour after it arrived. But, that doesn't mean the day's work was done. The men were working for nearly 8 hours, the last one leaving about 4 pm. Part of that time, they did a lot more work making the workshop floor really smooth. Finally, they removed the forms around the floor and the supports for the carport columns. They also graded the driveway and put the forms in place for much of that area to be poured tomorrow.
We had no idea how much work goes into pouring an RV slab, a driveway, the floor of the carport, the workshop floor and footings. These men--some probably in their late teens, others up to maybe 40+--work really hard physically. And they know how to do things I haven't got a clue about. I know some people install their own driveways, even build their own homes. There is no way John and I would know how to do that. We have learned a lot about construction in the past 10 years of volunteering. But these fellows have knowledge we lack.
I am reminded that all kinds of skills and abilities are needed to make our lives good.
I will post about the rest of the work on our front yard later.
It was over half an hour later when the cement truck arrived. After the truck was backed in, they had to assemble the shoot to direct the cement to the proper area.
The concrete filled the footers for the walls and then they filled the deeper spots that will support the columns at the front of the car port.
The workers were very neat--taping up paper on the walls of our house so there wouldn't be spots of concrete stuck there. Later, they even used some wet paper towel to clean up some spots on the walls.
This is the cement truck driver, turning the flow of concrete on and off.
After they finished pouring the workshop floor, it was time to start smoothing the concrete.
The cement truck drove off about half an hour after it arrived. But, that doesn't mean the day's work was done. The men were working for nearly 8 hours, the last one leaving about 4 pm. Part of that time, they did a lot more work making the workshop floor really smooth. Finally, they removed the forms around the floor and the supports for the carport columns. They also graded the driveway and put the forms in place for much of that area to be poured tomorrow.
We had no idea how much work goes into pouring an RV slab, a driveway, the floor of the carport, the workshop floor and footings. These men--some probably in their late teens, others up to maybe 40+--work really hard physically. And they know how to do things I haven't got a clue about. I know some people install their own driveways, even build their own homes. There is no way John and I would know how to do that. We have learned a lot about construction in the past 10 years of volunteering. But these fellows have knowledge we lack.
I am reminded that all kinds of skills and abilities are needed to make our lives good.
I will post about the rest of the work on our front yard later.
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