Plans are Coming Together

We send our best wishes to all our family and friends for peace and joy throughout the remainder of this 2020 Holiday Season and bright hopes for a Healthier and Happier New Year.  We sincerely hope that all enjoyed a Merry and Blessed Christmas.

We find ourselves at the end of our Sun City (Phoenix) Arizona stay with family and in the midst of making travel preparations.  This coming week we plan to pull chocks and change our location to Yuma, AZ where we plan to stay with our new family until the warm weather drives us back north.  The heat usually sends that signal toward the end of March.  At that time we plan to return to our Eagle View Project in Swan Valley. 

Evidence of the travel preparations, Gari up on the roof!

We have seen some progress from our remote Sun City location on our Eagle View Project.  The crew disappeared all of November, but then suddenly reappeared at the beginning of December.  We asked for and received a few pictures of the progress on the Eagle View Shop.  They completed the house wrap on the gable ends of the Shop.  We aren't super thrilled with the care and attention to detail on the house wrap, but it should suffice for a Shop building.

Finally the standing seam roof metal begins to go on.  We went with the little bit more expensive standing seam to get the no exposed fasteners on the roof in hopes that leaking will prevented at least while we are there.  We wanted to have that installed before we left in October to close the building in before the weather turned poor, but that didn't come close to happening.  Better late than never!

More progress on the east roof slope.

Front/North Side mostly completed, overhead doors were to be installed this month.  We don't think that happened.  As a matter of fact, we were advised that they would be installed in late November; that didn't happen either.  Maybe we will see a picture with doors up in the New Year!  It looks like all the wall steel is up  and the soffit installed judging from this picture.

Back/South side view.  That rear overhead door is the same 12 ft width, but is only 10 ft high, whereas the front two doors are 14 ft high.  It looks like all the wall steel is up and the soffit appears to be installed as well.

The picture below shows the brick molding on one of the personnel doors.  The J-channel install was awful on the initial attempt and we asked that it be improved.  The shot below is the improved version and we are much happier with this improvement.  We asked them to do something that they don't normally do, and that was coil wrap the brick molding, because we don't want to paint anything.  Keep going to see the result.

Below is the coil wrap over the brick molding.  We are pleased with the result based on what we can see in the picture.

We do note that it appears pretty cold there, and from the area camera at the nearby ski resort this suspicion is confirmed.  It's good to be visiting Arizona this time of year.  See you soon in Yuma, where it will be even warmer still!

A Few Loose Ends

After arriving in Sun City, we realized that we had not provided an update on the Z-Flashing situation.  Fortunately the Z-Flashing turned out as good as we had hoped and we have the documentation to let you decide too.

Below was the extent of the Eagle View progress at our departure from Swan Valley last Friday.  The front gable end still does not have the house wrap installed, the darker color wainscot was installed on the two sides of the Shop and a week later (today) nothing has changed; even the lift is still sitting in the exact same place.  When we learned this, we were highly disappointed, because this week looks like the last reasonable weather week in Swan Valley.  Later we learned that the crew has been quarantined due to Covid... again.  Last time most of the crew that tested positive, they did not have any symptoms, the few that did have symptoms were mild.  We think the PCR tests are throwing a lot of false positive results, but that's another Blog.

Front & west side with wainscot.  The good news is that we were able to move this project quite a long way all things considered.  Amazingly enough, there was a run on unimproved properties in this area, so we consider ourselves extremely fortunate to have found and closed a deal on a suitable lot for our needs.  Additionally as amazing, there was also a run on new construction starts in the area, so pretty much every contractor we contacted had a significant waiting line, some as long as two years!  Add to that the shut downs, causing all kinds of price increases in materials and supply chain delays.  Lastly don't forget the virus; how could we?  Covid took key workers out of the workforce in most all businesses.  When we stand back and consider all of that, we feel pretty successful to get as far as we did in the short time we were in Swan Valley this summer.  We realized progress on two driveways, of course the Shop building, the electric service, the well drilling and the septic system.  We still have some amount of work to do on all of these elements, but we feel that we made a very reasonable start on the overall project.  One thing we did finish was the structural plans for a future house and have the building permit in hand, hoping for a start on that element next spring.

The view below shows much of the progress on the overall project mentioned above.

Teton Steel visited the project site last Thursday as scheduled and brought their portable roll former to manufacture the standing seam roof steel.  That worked out very well.  We didn't get to hang around and watch the entire process as we were breaking camp for a next morning departure that day.  Below the operator lines the roll forming rig up in position.

The rig is in it's manufacturing spot and the German engineered roll former is uncovered.   They will roll the roofing out right into the Shop for stacking.

A closer shot of the fascinating machine.

The finished product stacked in four piles inside the Shop.

Close up on the standing seam roofing steel.  1-1/2" Standing Seam with Field Striations, WooHoo!

 Had to include the back view.  Part of the house wrap is on the gable end.

And now the rest of the story on the Z-Flashing.  The new and redesigned flashing has a nice 3" top flange that provides plenty of nailing area to get above the top of the concrete slab and into the pressure treated sill plates.  The extra height on the top flange give also gives a nice area of overlap and preventing any outside moisture from getting behind the steel.  We asked that the flashing be installed directly onto the OSB sheathing and let the house wrap run down over the top of the flashing flange.  That way if any moisture does get behind the wall the house wrap will force the water to run down and exit outside the flashing.

Below you can see where the house wrap is installed over top of the Z-Flange.

A closer up view below of the corner detail, nice job guys.

Another long view.

And we leave you with a shot of a pair of Swans swimming in Swan Valley...

Arriving Week

We made the transition from Idaho to Arizona uneventfully for the most part.  We sat in Idaho this summer for longer than we have sat in one spot for several years, and as a result the moving thing took a little more effort to remember exactly what to do and when.  We started cleaning up and working maintenance procedures for various systems a few weeks prior to departure... grease truck and trailer suspensions - check, inspect brakes, shocks and springs - check, torque wheel lugs - check, inflate wheels and install tire pressure sensors - check, clean, inspect and lubricate slide outs and hydraulic jack mechanisms - check, change the truck oil, oil filter, two diesel filters, and transmission fluid - check.  Then of course there is all the cleaning and packing up of things that have been outside the coach; such as bicycles, kayaks, gas grill and camp stove, etc.  All went pretty smoothly until the day before departure...   

We turned on our tire pressure monitor Thursday, the day prior to our planned departure from Idaho, and then we saw it.  We had a tire on the truck reading half pressure, about 50 psi.  We normally run around 100 psi.  Of course it couldn't be just any tire, it was an inside dual on the rear, making the tire much more difficult to deal with.  We went outside immediately that morning and started to inspect the tire.  Steve got out the tire pick and pried every single stone out of the 19" tire, while Gari moved the truck up a few inches at the time.  We thought that we found a staple in a crack of the tread.  We cut it off with cutter pliers and aired the tire back up to 100 psi.  After about an hour we tested the pressure again and it was down about 5 psi. So we thought for sure that the tire was leaking air.  We scrambled to find someone who could repair a puncture... on a Ram 5500.  This truck is 11,000 lbs and does not have a jack.  Long story short, we made an unplanned drive into Idaho Falls 50 miles away, only to find that there was no leak!  Our only conclusion is that the pressure sensor we installed on the valve stem was not seated just right and there was a very slow leak.  We have yet to find a certain explanation as to why we measured 5 psi lower after waiting an hour, because we didn't replace the pressure sensor at that time.  Nevertheless, that was the biggest event in the entire trip and for that we are very thankful!

Gari getting set up in Arizona.  It is much easier to wash the bugs off of the front cap in the first couple of days after arrival.  If we wait for a week or more the bugs tend to dry out and turn into concrete which is much more difficult to remove. 

Our first rest stop after departing Swan Valley and Buck's RV Park was at the rest stop called Massacre Rocks.  Sounds brutal huh?   The rest stop is near Pocatello, Idaho just east of a State Park named Massacre Rocks.  Massacre Rocks State Park is located right along the Snake River.  It contains a configuration of boulders along the south bank of the Snake, known alternatively as Massacre Rocks, "Gate of Death," or "Devil's Gate."   Massacre Rocks was a well-known site on the Oregon Trail and California Trail during the mid-19th century.  Immigrants gave the name Massacre Rocks to the trail's narrow passage through the rocks.  The name stemmed from the fear of a possible ambush by Indians.    The pages of some immigrants' diaries indicate that settlers in five wagons clashed with the Shoshoni just east of the rocks, on August 9 and 10, 1862.  The fight involved four wagon trains; 10 immigrants died in the fighting. Geologically the park was created during the repeated volcanic activity on the Snake River Plain.  The rocks were deposited in their present location at the end of the last ice age some 14,500 years ago, during the catastrophic deluge known as the Bonneville Flood, when most of Lake Bonneville surged down the Snake River.  The rocks are all that is left of an extinct volcano; they were often used as campsite for wagon trains along the trail.  Many of the immigrants carved their names and dates on the rock face, which is now called Register Rock and is protected by a shelter.  The passage through the rocks is now the route of Interstate 86 along the south edge of the park.  All we saw this time at the rest stop was the giant electric producing windmills.

The shot below is taken from the Route 93 bridge in Twin Falls, Idaho over the Snake River - looking to the west .

We crossed the border into Nevada just south of Twin Falls.  We were taking Rt 93 south all the way into Wickenburg, AZ.  It is a lonely route, which keeps the traffic to a minimum, and we like that!  We saw some rocks along the way....  We told you it was lonely.

A few more rock formations we saw along our path... 

Coming into Wells, NV

After a 365 mile day, we found a nice spot at a truck stop/Motel 6 in Wells, NV to spend the night... they left the light on for us!

We were up early the next morning (Saturday) and back out on Rt 93 south.... starting to see some Yucca in the shot below.

We passed by the Alien Highway and kept on going. Gari is on a mission for our longest day of this trip, 450 miles to our targeted resting spot!  That is a long day for us. We cover about 50 miles in an hour, which is about a nine hour day, and that is overtime!

We had to go through Las Vegas.  Normally we avoid large cities and towns, especially while pulling the trailer.  This is one area where we feel compelled to drive through or we must take a much, much longer route.... so Las Vegas here we come baby!  You can see the Stratosphere Casino that looks like the Seattle Needle.

A new Casino on the Strip, Circa.

Leaving Las Vegas and going down into the Colorado River canyon...

The Boulder or Hoover Dam is a very large hydroelectric producing dam and there are high voltage transmission lines and equipment everywhere over there.

Magnificent scenery down there through the canyon and some very high winds from time to time!

Coming up on the bridge over the Colorado River.  The concrete walls on the bridge are so high, we couldn't get a reasonable picture, so this will have to do.

Over the river and into Arizona we go!

Still not much except wide open spaces south of Las Vegas in northern Arizona... in fact it looks a lot like the desert in Nevada!  Beauty as far as the eye can see.

Look there's another wind farm... not a single wind turbine was turning. 

We found a nice spot at a small but brand new truck stop called Last Chance Truck Center.  We filled up diesel tanks and found a nice spot to spend the night.  You can see the open door on the camper, it's not cold anymore!  We stayed hooked up for ease in stopping and just dumped the air in the rear end of the Ram to level the trailer out.  It looks like Romeo is squatting a bit in the picture below.

Our third and last day was an easy 200 mile drive, which is about the distance we normally plan for a one day drive.  That is about a 4 hour day and that's plenty when you are retired.  We enjoyed a nice leisurely cup of premium coffee that was gifted to us by our dear friends Chad and Rebekah, and then we were back on our way.  Normally we don't drink coffee on a travel day, but we couldn't resist this tasty roast!  The shot below is coming into Kingman, AZ.

Entering the Giant Spur roundabout in Wickenburg, AZ

And a hour or so later there we are getting set up in Paradise RV in Sun City, AZ for the rest of this crazy 2020!

Leaving Week

We have a plan to depart Swan Valley this Friday October 30th.  We like to pull out around 9:30 AM.  This is because most of the morning rush hour with everyone trying to get to work is over.  By 9:30 AM most everyone is already at work, and the other good thing is they haven't left work for lunch yet and that makes for less traffic and ease of pulling our behemoth trailer Penelope.  We call ourselves 9:30 People.  That's the plan and we will soon see how it pans out.

The Shop build is not complete, but we haven't missed seeing it completed by much.  This week has been very eventful on the job site after the last week and a half of nothing but crickets there.  Monday morning we arrived fairly early and the temperature was still in the low 20s.  Gari keeps warm by the job site fire.

The crew got most of the house wrap applied to the walls.  It's not real pretty, but it will suffice for a Shop.

Red up on the lift staples more house wrap on the back of the Shop.

Derrick the crew lead installed the second and last personnel door.

We even got the deadbolts and lever handles installed and Derrick turned the four keys over to us.

Lots of steel parts arrived on site Monday, so this was very encouraging.  Because it was so cold Monday morning we didn't think anyone would be out there as we rode out to check our project site.  So this was a great surprise.  The steel you see below is wall, J-Channel, Ridge Cap/Vent, door wraps, and various flashing.  We are told the Standing Seam Roof steel will be roll formed onsite this Thursday, the day before we depart.  We were very close to getting this build completed before we left the area.  We think we have missed the end by a week or so.  We think that was pretty good and are happy; however it sure would have been nice to lock the door then leave.  We will have our agents do that for us in our absence.

Then there is the story of the Z-Channel.  An interesting feature of this design is that the 6" concrete slab had a 1.5" notch formed all around the exterior wall areas of the build.  They did this by tacking a 2"x2" to the top of the perimeter concrete form boards.  The idea is that the wall steel will extend down past the top of the slab and seat at the bottom of the concrete notch.  After we thought about this a bit, we realized that the OSB sheathing did the same thing and also became in contact with concrete.  This is not a good situation; untreated wood should NEVER be in contact with the ground or concrete.  We asked about this, and were told they would block the OSB up off of the bottom of the notch by an inch or so; the notch being about 1.5" high.  We thought that would be better and was acceptable to us.... but that didn't happen, so we asked the foreman to trim the bottom of the OSB after it was in place.  They did that without complaint.  The next strategy we employed to their design was to add a Z-Channel to the bottom of the wall OSB sheathing, underneath the house wrap.  We were given this idea by a new friend and former builder here in the area.  We thought it was a great idea and would prevent most all of the moisture from getting back into the bottom of the wall.  The Shop builder was very receptive to the idea and ordered the Z-Channel flashing; below Red and Paul install the first section.

That is not the end of the Z-Channel flashing saga... It turns out the flashing was bent with a top flange of only 1" high, but the concrete notch is every bit of 1.5" high, plus the flashing would have to be attached precariously low on the OSB.  To make it work, the foreman directed that the crew lift the flashing up off the seat of the concrete notch so they could get a nail into the OSB and be above the top of the concrete slab.  After we thought about this for an hour, we went to the foreman and told him we didn't like it; that the Z-Channel design was just wrong.  The foreman agreed that the existing design was not viable and that the top flange should have been taller than the concrete notch; we settled on re-bending the Z-flashing with a 3" top flange.  We are advised that the new Z-flashing should be back on site this Thursday.  Once the Z-flashing is back in, they can begin installing the wall steel.  Problem solved?  We shall see.

Derrick and Paul up on the lift install J-Channel trim around one of the 7 windows.

While all the building was going on, our across the road rancher neighbor moved his herd of cattle to the pasture to the east.  The brave black lead cow knows just where to go.  And just like the neighbor cows we will soon head to our winter pasture in Arizona. 

A parting shot, soon to be the last of this season...