It is always an interesting and educational exercise to look back over the past year, so here we go taking a look back. 2022 was a very different year for us. Instead of spending the winter somewhere in Yuma, AZ, as we have done for the last 9 years, we spent the 2022 January- March winter in Parker, AZ and Pahrump, NV. When we traveled back north this past spring, we arrived to restart our house construction project that we had left in pause mode over the winter. The last time we attempted a project on this scale was almost 25 years ago in Stockton, MD and the home we built on our beloved ranch, Cloverland Ranch. Just like that 1999 project, we again felt the need to be intimately involved to the point of acting in the general contractor role, and a number of the subcontractor services as well. That just seems to be the way we still roll.
Below is our 2022 Christmas Self Portrait. It was a balmy Christmas day today, with the high temperature hitting 40⁰ F. Considering last week's storm Elliott brought us lows as cold as -13⁰ F! Yep, 40⁰ F feels balmy.
Staying in Parker, AZ for January and February, which is on the CRIT Indian Reservation, and just down the road from Lake Havasu, we enjoyed a mostly quiet and rural visit. That said, the young Natives do get restless on the weekends. Lots of drunkenness and mischief. Doubt we will stay there again. Made a day trip up to Havasu for a hike in the surrounding area. Havasu is too crowded for our liking, but a day visit outside is kind of scenic. We hiked "The Crack" and Gari goes down one of the "slides" below. There's no going back after that!
We celebrated Gari's birthday in the desert at Pahrump, NV. We took a champagne picnic out in the bush and that's just our glass of bubbly! We have heard it said, if you're lucky enough to be in the desert (in the winter), then you're lucky enough!
As often happens while RVing across our country, you meet all kinds of interesting and awesome people. Some of these people just seem stick with you and become fast friends. We were fortunate enough to meet one such wonderful couple in Pahrump, John & Lu from Lake Tahoe, NV. They have already stopped by to see us in Swan Valley on their way north this spring, but they didn't stay. Now if we could just get them to stop and hook up for a spell that would be a dream. Maybe next time through...
We finally headed back north and Romeo (truck) and Penelope (trailer) docked at Eagle View (our Swan Valley lot) on April 2, 2022. It was beautiful weather that day, but as you can still see snow on Mt. Baldy in the background, winter wasn't finished yet...
We had a new Kioti (coyote) tractor waiting for us when we arrived. Our local friend Troy, who owns Valley Excavation here, took delivery over the winter and went through the acceptance checkout for us. Then he left it in our Shop just waiting for us to return. Within a day or two of arriving, we were up and starting some rough grading work around the yet unfinished house foundation.
Within a couple more days another wonderful couple from back east stopped by for a short week or so stay over, before they moved on to a work gig they developed in Wyoming. This is another couple we met a few years ago and who are now our family. We aren't sure if they are our brother & sister or our kids. They are so much younger and smarter than us, they could be our kids! We were sad to see them depart so soon, but happy for them at the same time to strike out on the seasons adventure they had planned. Godspeed.
Right on the heels of our kids departure, Michelle & Jim arrived in time to celebrate our traditional Kentucky Derby Party together. As always, that's the first Saturday in May. As you can see winter is still making its presence known into early May. Michelle & Jim also had set up a working adventure by scoring a gig at a local guest ranch here. We could just about see the guest ranch from our place. Michelle & Jim's experience and expertise in the hospitality industry was a huge help for new owners of the Hansen Guest Ranch here.
Whenever they or we were not working, we would just flat out celebrate. It was a great almost 4 month visit. Below it looks like we were having a Mexican Food night. Andale arriba! Notice the snow is still making itself known?
Jim baked us a lovely cake for our 27th wedding anniversary in July. We made a party out of that too! Thanks Jim!
We got a later start on getting the construction going again in the spring. Of course the concrete foundation work had to be completed before much framing could be accomplished. However the concrete couldn't pour until we were confident that we would have two consecutive nights of above freezing temperatures. The concrete forms went on, but we had to wait for weather to pour. Below is the last pour, the garage slab on May 25th. Rob spotted the camera and struck a "working hard" pose, haha! It was great working with Rob & Troy his partner. They were a two man show and boy did they work hard and were really great guys to be around. We helped them haul forms, and braces and clamps, etc. That is some heavy, heavy work they do everyday. I know we slept like logs after those days!
Around the same time, building lumber & materials began to arrive on site.
We were very fortunate to get a framer this year. We had established an "Idaho contract" (an email agreement without any signatures) with a framer in the area last year, 2021 for a framing start in June 2022. In April we get a "To Whom it May Concern" email telling us he can't frame our house this year 2022, now. We scrambled and were luckily able to find an available framer, who turned out to be a neighbor of ours less than a mile from our place, Nate Thorne Construction. We said that we would winter over up here this year if we could get the house closed and dried in before cold weather. With Nate and his partner Chet coming to the rescue, we were able to do that. Hats off to you Nate & Chet!
We helped Nate and Chet as much as we could hauling materials, consulting on design, we even pounded a few nails, or should I say shot them with Nate's nail guns. Below Gari helps hold roof trusses in place while Nate & Chet nail then down.
Below was one day of setting roof trusses. That was a hard day of climbing up and down, over and over again. We slept good that night.
We had a design idea to encapsulate the crawlspace. We did that with 2" foamboard. We installed 2 layers on the walls and three layers on the ground. Below was a beta install test on the walls. It worked very well, fit just right. Every once in awhile things just seem to fall into place, and this was one of those happy things.
All roof trusses are up and the roof decking is going on. It is June 25th.
Chet uses the big circular saw to make the architectural cut in the end of the porch beam. We designed this on the fly and marked it up for the guys to cut. We copied the design off of a big new fly shop that is under construction.
Metal roofing is going on. It's the first week of July.
We decided to do some of the metal work ourselves, which saved us thousands of dollars in labor, 10 thousand to be exact. We decided that we could probably handle installing the porch ceiling metal. Below Gari proves that to be fact check true!
Steve installs the last piece of the porch ceiling. It is always a happy moment when a task is successfully completed.
Everything is closed in below, all metal siding and roofing, exterior windows and doors. Houston, we are ready to stay over the cold winter! Now the inside work of plumbing, wiring, insulation, drywall, painting, trim, floor coverings and whatever else I missed in that list. It is now August 23rd.
Plumbing has entered the building. We were working in the garage that day below, designing the water supply header that will serve the sand filter and water softener that will reside in the garage. Gari is such a patient soul, I love that woman!
Just before our next guests arrived we were finally getting a driveway in front of the house. This will enable us to drive and roll equipment into the garage through the overhead door opening. We plucked all these larger round river rocks out of the yard as we slowly perform finish grading and cleanup. We stacked every single rock by hand to outline the limits of the driveway gravel. There is one thing missing in this shot, the overhead garage door. We ordered it in May 2022 and it is now September 10th. Houston, we have a problem, we do need this overhead door to completely close this structure in before the snow flies.
Our friend Troy of Valley Excavation came shortly after we had the driveways outlined and delivered thousands of dollars worth of crushed rock. Roads are expensive to build, and we knew that. And rock roads certainly beat wet muddy roads. Worth every penny!
Let the electrical wiring begin. It is starting to get cold, a good thing we are working inside now. It is September 20th.
We finished spreading and compacting the driveway gravel just before our Arizona friends, Tom & Cathy and their dog Duke stopped by for a week long stay before they went onto their winter AZ spot. They like us have been fulltime RV living for over a decade. This day was September 24th.
A little different angle.
Tom & Cathy have left. Do you see it? Yep, we have a garage overhead door. Now we can keep the snow & wind out of the house. It is October 3rd.
We see on our bi-weekly trips into Idaho Falls, that the Swans have returned to Swan Valley. We understand that they spend the entire winter here. These Swans must not know about Arizona.
We spent much of October chasing leaks in our drain-waste-vent plumbing system. All of the leaks were professionally installed. We installed 90% of the plumbing fittings and did not find a single joint that we glued to leak, just the pro jobs. That was a nightmare of a month, but we got through it.
Finished with the insulation and 6 mil plastic on walls and ceiling. I couldn't get my respirator off fast enough. Gari still has hers on. It is really cold now and it is the first week of December.
The drywall arrived one snowy day, a day earlier than scheduled. We had to get out and plow a path for the truck to get up to the front door while the driver waited.
Two days later the drywall crew showed up. They hung the entire house and garage in less than two full days. They did a nice job and we are pleased. Luis at frame right is the crew lead. Great guy, who has been working for the same guy for 10 years. Luis's boss is the guy who we have an Idaho contract with.
Luis at right spots the camera and gives a thumbs up from atop his drywall stilts.
Sitting room and hall all hung out. It is December 15th.
And that is a wrap for 2022. We aren't sure what will happen in 2023, but we will do everything we can to get to occupancy permission so we can take a break from all this work! We wish all our family and friends all the best in 2023!
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