More Parking at Eagle View

We have been working hard since we arrived here the first of April this year.  This past week we made significant progress on the parking areas out in front of the Shop.  We waited all week and then everything happened on Friday.  We spent Saturday compacting the 3/4" stone and filling low spots.  

First load of 3/4" stone delivered for the front parking area.  Good gravelly things are happening at Eagle View now!

With gravel piles in place, Troy begins to spread the gravel in just the right places.

Action shot - Troy dumping gravel up by the Shop front apron.

The parking area has the first cut of gravel spread.  Troy hops out of his truck to survey the progress and determine what needs to be done next.  This view is shot from the west side of the Shop.  There is a 50 Amp and a 20 Amp outlet at the corner of the building.  The water and sewer are in front of the building.  We will cut the RV sewers down to grade once the final grade is accomplished.

Then an unexpected thing happened.  Troy decided that he needed more slag fill material for foundation in part of the front parking and drive area.  Since the quarry was short on 4" minus he decided to see what was in the future house area.  So there we go, we broke ground on the new house Friday; never expected that to happen.  It turned out that Troy didn't like the material from the house area so only a small hole was dug.

Another view of ground breaking of the future house - June 18-2021.

Troy begins to spread 3/4 on the west side of the Shop while Gari continues to rake and smooth the new gravel.

Once we had things pretty well smoothed to where we wanted it, we began the compaction process.  There is Steve running the vibratory compactor below.

Gari took her turns too.  We were worn out at the end of that day.  That machine is heavy, loud and will shake your bones loose!

Below is a shot of the compactor monster.  A perfect name for it, Wacker Neuson.  It's a wacker alright!

Another news worthy item, we took delivery of the well pit lid.  Local welder Mike Kopp did an outstanding job.  Excellent craftsmanship on that lid.  Gari painted it to match the Shop wainscot.

One additional strategy we used to set the gravel was to water it good.  Gari rotates sprinklers below.

Just about finished, Gari runs the wheelbarrow from the borrow pile and fills any remaining low spots.

Gari pulls Romeo out of the Shop and onto the new gravel for the first time.  The gravel bed held up very well.  All the effort in compacting and watering paid off.  We also hung a light on the front of the Shop on Saturday.  We were able to roll the scaffold out front now that the driveway area is complete and leveled.  Everything is LED now, and that's what the front light is, a LED flood light.

Next week is expected to be another big week of progress.  We have the communication company coming out Monday to install the fiber optic system.  Then weed control guy is also scheduled for Monday; we will see if he shows up...  Wednesday we have insulators coming in to insulate the Shop interior walls and ceiling.  Insulation install may take them 2 days.  They will install a 6-mil plastic vapor barrier once the fiberglass batts are in place.  Should be an interesting week!

Occupancy at Eagle View

We just arrived at Eagle View yesterday, so it is all still pretty new.  It was great to sleep at Eagle View and wake up and walk into our project area this morning.  The first thing we did when we arrived...CELEBRATE!!!

There is still snow on Mt. Baldy, but it is melting fast now.

Troy, our excavator, built us a sweet driveway onto the property.  That's his Cat backhoe at frame right.

The first job on our first day on the lot was trenching in the fiber optic communication cable conduit.  Gari patrols the trench to make certain the conduit is in good position prior to bury.

Looking back from the utility vault.  The trench is about 400 ft long to the Shop.  Gari remains on conduit patrol.

A little previous work to fill in the gap; Troy compacts the front apron.  We designed a 4 ft concrete apron across the front of the building mainly to keep the gravel out of the Shop.  Interesting sequence of events on this construction; we were told that the contractor would schedule us as soon as we had the pad prepared, so naturally we prepared it ASAP.  This piled up the initial stone and dirt in front of the two main overhead doors, which is preventing us from driving any vehicle in or out.  We were contacted at end of business last Thursday that they could pour concrete at 7AM Friday.  We wanted them to pour so said OK, and asked when are you going to form the apron?  Oh don't worry, the guys will be there very early and get that done.  OK, it is a small concrete pad so let's go.  We got over to the Shop at 5:30 AM that day... it turned to 6 AM, then 6:30 AM, and still no forming crew.  We thought maybe he meant 7 AM at the concrete plant which is an hour away??  Then at 7 AM we hear a rumble outside, it is the loaded concrete truck.  Oops, no concrete crew and no forms.  That pad didn't get poured that morning.  The truck driver had to take the concrete 50 miles back to Idaho Falls. He was not thrilled; neither were we.  Update - we are back on schedule to pour the apron for this Thursday at mid day.  With any good luck we will be able to drive in and out soon.

The stickers below are the last puzzle piece that enabled us to finally occupy the lot.  They are the rough electrical inspection and final electrical inspection stickers.

Below is some of the electrical install action.  Steve cuts in some light switches.

Pulling wires across the Shop ceiling.  Looks like Steve is having fun, don't believe it hahaha

One of our first consumer installs, a front loading LG clothes washer.  It is very nice to use that after living with a mini washer in the trailer for the last 8 years.  We set up a retractable drain as the washer shares the drain with the RV hook up.  A splitter on the water hydrant provides water to the washer.