First Week Long Trip - Day Two: Siding & Picnic Pavilion

Good morning!  Busy day around here yesterday, and we're feeling pretty good about what we managed to get done.  Shelly and I started the day driving to Cheboygan, about a 30 minute drive.  We decided to let Kyle sleep in.  We needed to get the grocery shopping done for the week, and we also figured we'd swing by Shelly's uncle's to pick up the scaffolding on the way back.  After nailing down the grocery shopping we stopped by Shelly's uncle's place.  The gate was closed, so nobody home...and a no-go on the scaffolding.  Fortunately Shelly had suggested we bring our extension ladder, just in case.  Even more fortunately, I had listened to her.  :)

Back at the house we rousted Kyle and unloaded the groceries.  After a quick meal I headed out to get the power washer going, and Shelly and Kyle started in on clearing out under the picnic pavilion.  The power washer is working extremely well, but it quickly became obvious that cleaning the siding is going to take much longer than I expected.  Good thing we have the whole week.  I managed to get one side of the house done before we broke for the day.  Here's a few shots of the work in progress, and the final result.

Shelly and Kyle busted their butts clearing out the picnic shelter, and consolidating a bunch of lumber into one area.  They made good of the dumpster we had delivered.  It was a hot day, in the 90's, and they didn't have the luxury of having back-spray from a power washer to cool them off.  They didn't let that slow them down, and now we'll actually be able to use this area! 

This is what this area originally looked like.

...and here it is after Shelly and Kyle finished with it.

What they cleared out.

We'll be doing our best to fill this up before we leave.

After we broke for the day and had dinner we headed in to Cheboygan.  A friend from high school, who we hadn't seen in about 20 years, was up with his family.  Thanks Facebook!  We met up with Jim Miller and watched the local fireworks.  It was good to get caught up and to meet his family.  Afterward we headed home, and crashed.

The game plan for today:  I'm back at the siding, which will likely be my sole project for this trip.  Shelly and Kyle are going to tackle clearing out the barns...and filling up the dumpster.

I'll be back tomorrow with today's update.  Have a great day, all!