Little Pine Trail - - AKA Spooky Trail

We found a new hiking trail that provides lots of Idaho beauty.  The locals call it Spooky Trail; we don't know why yet.  The proper name is Little Pine Trail.  Wildflowers abound along the trail and the scent of pine is wafting in the air.

A strain of Mountain Columbine along the trail. This particular patch had some blue tint to the petals.

Around the corner we find Bended Tree.

A divider on the hilltop.

The gang at the vista spot.  Grand Tetons and Victor Idaho behind.  L-R Steve, Gari, Rebekah, and Chad.

Hero Shot - Gari & Steve at Grand Teton.

Hero Shot - Chad, Dijon & Rebekah at Grand Teton.

Picnic at the summit.  Dijon monitors distribution carefully.

Grand Tetons viewed from the west side.

Zoom out to see Victor & Driggs, Idaho below.

 Interesting bark on this tree, seen on the way back.

Palisades Reservoir

We got in a little fishing from the kayaks this week.  First trip was to Big Elk Creek tributary to the reservoir and the second trip was to the main reservoir near the mouth of Big Elk Creek.

Gari paddling across the creek.

Gari way out in front.

Paddling south toward the main reservoir.

Interesting terrain surrounding the creek.

Looking back toward the head waters of Big Elk Creek to the north.  Still a little snow up high.

Bended tree.

More bended tree.

 Texture.

Up by the berm, and protected from the wind.

We put in the main reservoir today near Big Elk Creek.  We had some snow earlier this week in the higher elevations.  67 F today.

Palisades Reservoir near Big Elk Creek.

Gari takes in the scenery up high overhead.

Her overhead scenery.

Heading back after 2-1/2 hours.  Time to stand up!

Looking up towards Little Elk Creek.

Two Loons.

First Cut

What an incredible day!  We spent last week seeking answers to our questions on three bids that we received for Gari's She Shed.  We received all of our answers back by Monday (yesterday).  At that point, we made our decision of which bidder that we wanted to approach first, and see if we could establish an agreement.  We were invited to come into the builder's office in Idaho Falls and discuss the deal.  We had prepared a list of line items that we wanted written into the contract.  These were items that we had discussed with the builder and were told they were included, so we thought we would get that in writing.  There were two or maybe three other things that we wanted to add or request as well.  We thought we would make a day of it and accomplish some other shopping we needed to do in the big city, Idaho Falls.  We agreed to a first meeting around 8:30 AM.  Our guy told us to call when we were near Idaho Falls and he would be ready.

We rose at o'dark thirty this morning to be on time for the first meeting of the day.  It was cold last night, and we had a heavy frost. I went ahead and plugged Romeo in to warm his engine block and oil.  He warmed up for about 30 minutes before we jumped in around 7:30AM.  Gari cranked him up, but we couldn't pull out because the windshield was covered with heavy frost.  We situated ourselves and adjusted controls, specifically the defroster.  As soon as we selected the front windshield defrost function on the truck GUI, we lost the radio and USB and phone and settings functions!  We decided that maybe cycling power would do the trick.  Gari shut down, and counted to 30 then restarted.  No change :-(  We rode to Idaho Falls without our XM Radio WHA!  And that's how the day started...

We called the builder's office from 10 miles out and were told he was going out to meet a concrete truck and asked, did we have some other errands that we could do until he returned?  A very rough start to the day.  Sure, no problem, we can do that.  We decided to go over to the steel siding supplier and learn more about the siding and roofing.  That turned out to be an excellent stop.  We found a siding model that we preferred over that proposed, and we learned about the supplier's standing seam roofing, also called "covered fastener".  Again it turned out that we found a standing seam roof panel that we preferred over that proposed.  The great news was that our revised selections did not change the cost one cent.  While we were there we also selected the color scheme for the She Shed.  We went with a darker color for the roof and bottom wall wainscot called Weathered Copper.  For the upper walls we went with a lighter grayish tan color called Hickory Moss.  We will have three overhead garage doors on the shed.  The colors available for the doors did not match the siding or roofing so we picked a soft contrast of a color called Desert Tan and the pattern on the doors will be Raised Ranch, which is basically raised panels.

We finished up at the steel supplier and headed over to pick up all our dry groceries.  Just before we finished we received a phone call from the builder.  He was back and ready to meet again...  We finished up with the groceries, and when we started the truck at the grocery store, all of our radio and setting functions were restored!  Hooray!  Things are looking up!  We arrived at the builder's office and we went in and met for the first time, and then we got right to work reviewing the proposal and our list of requests for written additions into the agreement.  It was a very good collaboration.  Lo and behold we signed the agreement at the end of the meeting with everything in it that Gari wants in her She Shed and no cost increase.  WE are now on the builder's schedule and he believes that he will close us in before winter.  We headed back to Swan Valley feeling very fortunate and happy indeed.  A real contrast to the start of the day.  Things really seem to be gaining traction on the Eagle View Project now.

Now for the reveal of this post's title, First Cut... When we arrived back in Swan Valley, our local excavator Troy called us and said he was working on our driveway.  We put the groceries away and headed over to Eagle View.  The following pictures can tell the rest of the story.  It was a very good day, but didn't appear as if it was going to be such a great day at the start!

Troy begins to take the first cut with his grader.  The idea is to remove the plant matter to prevent future decay and spot sinking in a finished driveway.  The other objective is smooth and level out the contours for a nice flat approach from the street.

Gari observes the excavation work from a position of safety behind the dirt mounds.

Troy pushes more dirt into the swale.

Gari provides Troy a copy of our Septic Permit.  Troy will dig and install our septic system.  We have elected to go with a gravel-less chamber design drain field system.  Apparently these have been around for over a decade and seem to perform just as well as the traditional 4" pipes in gravel.  They are much easier to install and as a result cost a fraction of the old style.

Troy in his grader down by the road, taken from behind his backhoe Cat.

If this was ours, we'd give it a name.  Looks like a giant bug.... We love the American Flag!  Maybe Yankee Doodle Bug...

Dropping the dirt load at the end of the cut.

Little by little Troy piles up quite a load of dirt.

Mt. Baldy and Sheep Mt. in the background.

Troy uses the Cat to pile up the soil.... to be reused later.

Still a little snow on top of Mt. Baldy.  We had a little more snow this weekend up on top.

A mosaic shot below of the driveway near the road.  There is still a little swale left for Troy to work a bit more.  Not bad for a couple hours of work.  A Very Good First Cut.  Once we are satisfied with the grade, Troy will bring in loads of 4" square slag to form the driveway base.  We will retain that configuration until construction of She Shed and house are complete.  Then we will return and spread loads of 3/4" crushed stone as top dressing for a finished driveway.

Finished for the day, Troy drives the grader home.  He lives just around the corner.