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!

First Week Long Trip - Day One: The Drive

Hello, and happy 4th of July to all!  Our first week long trip to Shangri La has begun!  We arrived last night at around 9:00 PM after an blessedly uneventful drive.  We hit the road from Ohio at around noon.  Kyle marched with the Central Crossing High School Marching Band in the 4th of July parade.  This kicks off the marching band season, and it sure was good to hear the band.  I was at my usual pit crew station, loading and unloading gear and walking with the band in the parade.  When Kyle and I returned home afterward we found that Shelly had the Explorer and trailer mostly loaded and ready to go, and she had lunch ready for us.  She rocks...she truly does. After loading a few more items we hit the road. 

One good thing about leaving Saturday instead of Friday.  No holiday traffic!  We clipped along the whole way up, only having to pass a few farmers once we turned off of I-75 on to M33.  We stopped for dinner in Rose City at the Faull Inn restaurant.  Awesome pizza, and root beer from a keg.  

After arriving at the house we quickly unloaded the truck.  The mosquitoes immediately began their aerial suicide bombing runs.  SMACK!  We'll be going through the DEET this trip.  We relaxed for the remainder of the evening, Shelly and I watching a little TV and reading, and Kyle playing some online games. 

This morning we have some shopping to get out of the way.  After that, the work begins.  We had a dumpster delivered on Friday, which will make the clean up a whole lot nicer.  While we're out we're going to swing by Shelly's uncle's place to pick up some scaffolding.  As promised, I'll be posting daily updates of all the "fun" we're having up here.  :)  We'll also be taking some time to play.  We're thinking maybe a tubing trip down the Ausable River would be nice. 

Talk to you all soon!  GOD BLESS AMERICA!

Wheel Bearings and Tall Grass

The last trip was a quick up and back to pick up the tractor.  We needed to put new tires on it, and we got that done in time for this latest trip.  I made another solo run, or at least most of the drive.  Shelly rode with me as far as southern Michigan.  I dropped her off at her folks' house in Taylor.  Shelly's parents are moving soon, and she's helping to get their new place ready for them.

So, Shelly and I took off from Columbus around 3:00 PM on Friday.  We arrived at her folks' place, and after a short visit I hit the road again.  I got about an hour north of their place, which had me near the Brighton exit.  I heard some squealing and immediately thought "WHEEL BEARINGS!".  I quickly pulled over to the side of the road, and walking back to the trailer I touched the hub on the driver's side.  It was cool to the touch.  Over to the passenger side, and a quick touch of the hub told me all I needed to know.  The passenger side bearings had seized, and I knew I'd be going no further.  Fortunately for me we have a auto repair shop on the family, and a flat bed wrecker.  I called Shelly's brother and he immediately hit the road to rescue me.  He arrived about an hour later, picked up the trailer, and hauled it back to the shop in Flat Rock.  I headed to Shelly's folks house to crash for the night.

The next morning Shelly and I headed to the shop.  She was going to be borrowing a vehicle for the week so that she could get around while working on her folks' new place.  I needed to get the trailer fixed.  I bought the bearings at a local auto parts, and after getting the bearings replaced I was back on the road.  A big THANK YOU to Shelly's brother and father for all of their help. 

I finally arrived at Shangri La at 3:30 PM on Saturday.  The main purpose of this trip was to cut the grass.  It had been six weeks since our last trip, and after a whole lot of rain the grass was fairly long.

I got right to work at unloading the trailer and attaching the mowing deck to the tractor.  As the picture shows, things had gotten a good bit overgrown.  I was real proud of our 26 year old garden tractor.  She went right through all of this without slowing.  Here's the after shot of the same area.

Between the mowing and the weed whacking it took about three hours.  With the late start, when I was done...well, I was done.  I headed in, made some dinner, and relaxed for the remainder of the evening. 

The next morning I was up at 6:00 AM and I headed outside first thing.  The second big goal of this trip was to spray weedkiller on the driveway.  I was already late in doing this, and the weeds were already getting ahead of me.  I got about 3/4 of the way done when I got a call I had been expecting from a friend in our camping club.  He was north of our place, 4 wheeling in a Jeep Jamboree on Drummond Island.  They were driving back through on Sunday and we had made plans to meet for breakfast in Mackinac City.  I cleaned up and headed out.  I met with Chuck, his son, his sister and his brother in law.  It had been a while, and even though it was a short visit it was good to catch up a bit.  After breakfast I headed back to the house and finished up with spraying the drive.  Here's the before picture of the drive.  I'm hoping all of this will be gone when we head back up in July.

Our next trip up in July we'll be spending a whole week.  Our primary goal for the trip will be to clean and stain the cedar siding, and to paint the cinder block foundation.  We're also looking to have some fun while up this time.  Boating...fishing...canoeing...hiking...swimming...etc.  Whatever we feel like doing. 

This next pic will be one of the last of the house looking like this!

Talk to you all in July!