Habitat for Kelly and Jon

We are glad to do some projects on Jon and Kelly's house.  They were ready for us and had a few lined up.  One thing we did the first few days we got there was weed a small portion of their back yard and transplant some cuttings we picked up from Joan and Mike's in Tennessee.

We will see how they do.

Another one was to shorten the end of the workbench in the garage that we built last year while we here.  The clothes drying  hanger rack now can accommodate dresses with out sitting on top of the bench.

When shirts and dresses hang there, it hides the TV.  But they only use the TV when they workout in the garage.  That one took about 30 minutes to do.

Then I needed to remove the second shelf on the bottom of the shoe rack/shelf we built last year.

That way boots can fit onto the shelf.  That was about a 10 minute deal.

Along the way Jon borrowed a high pressure wash and we did the house around all the windows and soffit and fascia.  It was a pretty easy job and really cleaned up the windows.

The soffit and fascia and gutters will have to be painted.  But there is some work to do before we can tackle that job.

While he was at it, he cleaned the shed with the vinyl siding.

Pam has been making shelves for the back closet.  She is putting them down each side and above the main coat rack and shelf.

Kelly wanted the washer and dryer raised up on a platform of sorts.  So we built a couple of 'boxes' with some wood they had left over from the deck.

We cut the platform to fit the width and depth of each ones, then put them in place to make sure they fit.  We used OSB board to cover the top of each 'box' so the when the washer and dryer were working their hardest, they would not slide off the platform.

Then we painted them and put them in place.

I think we are just getting started on our projects.  We have more to do, but we are enjoying it!

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Habitat for Marty

We went up to Marty's cabin in the Sierra's three times over the last month.  It is located about 2 1/2 hours east of Fairfield CA (Travis AFB) where we had the Roadrunner parked.

We like to do projects around the house and the first time we were there, we power washed about 50 2x10s that will be reused for the trellis on the deck that is being rebuilt.

Pam and I and Marty got a system going so it only took us a couple of hours to get them cleaned up.

Another day we started tiling the sauna bathroom downstairs.  The floor had to be swept and then mopped and then we laid down some of the Saltillo Mexican tile.  Marty has kept extra boxes for 25 years for this room.  The first floor upstairs has the same tile throughout.  We wanted to see what they looked like with the spacers and get a feel for any issues we might have.

The task for that day was to lay down the square ones.  Another time we would get the tiles that had to be cut.

We started in with the thin-set mortar by putting water in a bucket and adding until we had enough and at the right consistency.  After mixing it with a hand trowel, we had to let it set up for 10 minutes and then we got to it.  We ended up using the whole 50# bag of mortar.

I got to lay a few but my job was primarily to get the mortar to Pam so she could put it down.

She started out in the far corner and it was pretty steady from there.

Before you know it we had a few rows down.

And then we were done for the day.

The tricky thing about these bad boys is that they are all hand made.  And not necessarily the same size.  Or thickness.  And some are warped a little just to make it interesting.  I guess that is the whole idea - the uniqueness.

We let it dry and came back a few days later.  This time, we needed some more supplies and a tile cutter.  We went to Home Depot and got one more bag of mortar and three bags of grout and a sealer to mix it with.  And a stir rod attachment for my electric drill.  And a few other things.

I was a little leery of the tile cutter.  I had never used one.  Five or six years ago, Pam and Kelly used one to tile our laundry room in our stix-and-brix house.

Home Depot rents them for $68/day.  Arnold Tool Rental had one for $55/day.  Since it was a couple of miles from the cabin, I rented from there.  It has a separate stand and we got it loaded into the back end of the CRV.  Then I unloaded it at the cabin and got it all set up in place.   It took a minute to hook up the water and get it flowing to the blade but it was really pretty easy.

I became the tile guy and Pam did the measuring.  I took us another half bag of thin-set mortar to put down the rest of the pieces we cut.  And then we wiped it down and let it dry overnight.

Then another final wipe down to get the sheen and remove excess mortar and streaks.  In the process, it was a little brutal on the fingers, but after a couple of hours slowly going over each and every edge of every tile, it was finished.

We were done there and returned to the Roadrunner which is parked at Travis AFB.  After we got home, I made a quick trip to Home Depot and returned a few things that we didn't use.

One bottle of sealant, a bag of grout and a stirrer amounted to a refund of over $42, so it was worth it.

That was our 'Habit for Marty' Saltillo Tile project.  We figured it was 20 hours between the two of us and a fun project.  We learned a lot and hope we can do another one.  A couple of things we learned had to do with the equipment

• Kneel pads are essential.  We had the expensive and the cheap (foam type).  Foam type worked best.
• The stirrer attachment for electric drill is a must.  We hand mixed the first mortar batch, but then got a small stirrer attachment.  It made a big difference in the consistency.
• A tile cutter is required.  We wouldn't attempt the project with out one.  

That's it for this edition of the Roadrunner Chronicles!  Thanks for joining us today.  Until next time...

Care-A-Vanner Habitat for Humanity, Dade City, FL

We are in Dade City, FL for a week-long Habitat for Humanity Build.

We are here with nine other couples and two single ladies.  The area where they parked us is called "Volunteer Camp".  It has full hookups and as you can see, it is a bit crowded.  But we are not here for the amenities or scenery this time.  It is completely adequate.

The work has been great.  Jerry and John and the other leaders keep us moving and explain things and let us do alot.  This has been the biggest Care-A-Vanner groups (20 people) so it takes some planning to keep us productive throughout the day.

Stuart and John laid out the floor and made marks where the walls go.  And others put felt on the roof and put nails in the outside walls.

And we started framing the walls and setting them upright out of the way until we were ready for them. And others put the house wrap up on the outside.  On this house they secure rods the full length of the walls and bolt them into top and bottom for hurricane protection.

 Once the walls were in place, we square it and secure it, then make some more walls.

And we have our breaks-- one at 10:00 for about 20 minutes and another for lunch at 12:00 for about 35 minutes.  Then we wrap it up about 2:00 or 2:30 which is fine with us.  The heat and hard work take their toll.  Then there is that aging thing…we run out of gas about then, so it all works out.

Yesterday, right after lunch about eight of us went over to a warehouse and loaded some pre-made walls onto a trailer for the house next door.  These walls were made by a church in Tampa and sent over to Dade City.  It is impressive that there is such good coordination with other communities and churches in the area.

It has been a good build and we recommend it.  The group here is a hard working bunch and the work has been fun.

Tomorrow is a bonus-- we have a house dedication at 4 PM and will see Dedication Ceremony for a new homeowner and many of the folks in the Habitat Office who made their house possible.  This affiliate is going to finish their 100th home sometime later this summer!

That is all for this edition of the Roadrunner Chronicles.  Thanks for joining us.  Until next time…

Habitat Groupon Golf and Birthdays

Not knowing exactly what to call today's edition, I decided to 'focus' on four items:

Habitat for Humanity -

As you may know, we love working with local affiliates and are glad to be back in the South Hampton Roads area to work with some of the same group who befriended us here last year.  

Our latest assignment is an old house in nearby Portsmith that is being refurbished and redone.  

Our effort has been concentrated on the small back porch and deck.

What I loved about this project was that we got to learn about the whole thing from the beginning.  Joe measured out where the 4x4 foot posts went, we dug the holes, poured in cement, then we worked off that to attach the support runner from the house.   

It took us a couple of days and we are still not done, but we got the deck on and now are working on the steps, support posts and railing.

Golf/Groupon:

Pam and I also love to play golf and we have done that a few times while the weather has been good here.  I found a city course deal on Groupon.  $14 covered greens fees and carts so it was a bargain.

Also, we played three city courses in the area we normally would not have played:  Bow Creek,  Kempsville and Red Wing.

They are all on the rebound and the new management company that is managing them for the city is really doing a great job.  Apparently six months ago, they were in bad shape, but the new crew is really getting them in shape.

I loved them all but my favorite was the last one we played at Red Wing.  Pam enjoyed them also.  The thing I noticed is that they are not really long courses and they give the woman a 50-80 yard advantage off the tee box.  Their teeing area is well out in front of the men's but that makes it more fun and competitive for everyone.

We have seen some great deals lately on Groupon - Have you?  Do you use Groupon?

In addition to the Habitat and Golf, we have celebrated birthdays in the last couple of weeks.  

Kelly's friends from church usually get together during the week a couple of times and we joined up for a Sunday afternoon cookout and kickball time at the RV campground.  These 'kids' (late twenties are a great bunch and very welcoming to us.

In addition to Kelly and Pam's birthdays in the last few days, I think there must have been 5 or 6 other peoples as well.

It was a bit windy but we were able to eat and hangout and they even had a rousing game of kickball.  Some really got into it and it was fun.

Afterwards, we chatted some.

It was coolish so that didn't last long before everyone headed out.

We are thoroughly enjoying our time here in Virginia Beach and will be here two more weeks.  I love this time of the year and it is great to be near our kids!  Adam will be joining us next week for Thanksgiving and we are looking forward to it.

I hope you and yours are well and looking forward to the holidays also.  Thanks for joining on this edition of the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Two weeks in Brookings comes to an end

We finished up our two weeks at the Habitat for Humanity Care-A-Vanner build in Brookings, SD.  We began each day gathering at the sign-in table for morning coffee, devotions, and getting our daily instructions.

We really like the folks on this build. Four years ago when we thought the RV lifestyle we thought about having good times with good people like these.

In addition to working all day, we frequently got together in the evening for a 'Mix and Munch'.  And we went out to eat together a couple of times.

The work here has been great.  We all felt like we contributed and we were all surprised at how fast the house went up.

After we got the walls up and the rafters on, most of our time the last week was spent on the roof and doing the siding.  Pam spent a lot of time on the chop saw.

Two weeks went fast but at the same time it seems like a long time ago from this:

To this:

This build has been one of the best we have participated in.  The local Habitat guys on site (Steve and Dave) were great.  They kept us moving in the right direction and were good teachers and patient with us.
A big plus on this job was the scaffolding.  It was a lot of work putting it up but it really helped.  The temporary fall protection around the facia was another great idea.

Last night we had one last dinner together and went the annual McCrory Garden Party a block away from the restaurant.  The Gardens have many beautiful plants and flowers and a place for plant research.

McCrory Gardens is said to be 65 acres of the most beautiful land in South Dakota.  It serves as an outdoor laboratory for students at South Dakota.  

Today, we move on about 50 miles down the road to Sioux Falls for a few days.

Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!  Until next time...