The wife and I traveled out to camp this past Wednesday and while she dozed off on the deck, I installed the foundation to the entrance ramp / deck extension on the Shed Mahal.  The wheel barrow made easy work of transporting the 18 bags of quickcrete to holes needing to be filled.  I parked on gravel of our drive into camp and let the hill propel me down through the woods to the area.  Much easier than pushing 180#'s (X9) up hill or even sideways across our gradients!  Water was provided via our neighbor's containers and the spring at the base of the mountain.  I needed just 5 of the 9 jugs to complete the task, which I believe works out to 35 gallons of water.  You become quite aware of your water usage when absent of the convenience of a water faucet!  The day wasn't all work, I was able to spend some quality time with the wife as we hit both T&K Dinor and Texas Roadhouse for our meals.  It was nice to see her and it was even better to see her enjoy the quiet and relaxing ambiance of Trout Camp.

Jim and I are headed back up this Saturday evening to hopefully take care of some framing, a few more bags of quickcrete and some painting.  Installing the subframe (beams and joists) won't be all that difficult with the bulk of the time being spent measuring and cutting so that the deck boards that will make the floor will cover with minimal overhang or underhang.  All the necessary hardware and lumber is already up at camp waiting to be used.  For the painting, we've got two more walls that need a first coat.  Once we get this finished, it'll be time to trim the entire structure out.  Woo Hoo!

Until next time...

Getting there...

Video says it all...

What's left?

• Frame up entrance landing/ramp
• Trim entire structure
• Faux board and baton 
• Soffit work
• Interior maple floor installation
• Thompson waterseal the recreation deck

I can't wait for summer and upcoming vacations so that we all can begin to enjoy the fruits of my labor.

One step closer...

Wednesday morning was supposed to be the start of the post hole digging required to equip the Shed Mahal with a means of entering and egress.  Plans call for 6 holes that will support a narrow 4' X 12' patio deck extension that will have a ramp on one side and a set of steps on the other.  The ramp will permit us to drive the riding mower (or anything else 4 wheeled and recreational) straight up, through the roll door and into storage.  The stairs will be oriented 90 degrees to the entrance door and facing the fire pit. The mountaineer was lightly loaded with the necessary gear to dig holes, then the cellphone rang Tuesday afternoon.  With the weather looking promising, and as a consequence, I was speaking with Mike Owen's (a referral of our excavator Steve Martin) of Owen's Pools and Construction about the time the roofing crew should meet me up at camp!  This was exciting because painting and trim work was waiting on the roof installation.  Finally, I thought, the time has come to put the metal panels that Jim and I bought in mid-December, 2011 in their rightful spot.

I re-packed the mountaineer with items that I thought would be better safe than sorry out at camp and not at home.  My plans for the day changed to working on organizing the interior of our shed to better handle our needs instead of chipping away an unwilling soil laced with boulders and stone.  This "organization" included installing a few shelves (free of CL), putting Harbor Freight casters on a free cabinet so it'll roll along with the other one when we need it moved, taking off that ugly shiny white laminate covering the cabinets we hung a few weeks ago, hanging coat hooks and key rings, etc...

The headlights slice through the darkness blanketing our camp sometime around 12:30AM.  I quickly made a fire, staged the tools for the next day's events, prepped my sleeping arrangements, set my alarm and then enjoyed the firelight.  As I began to doze in my folding chair around 1:30, I realized it was time to call it a day and hit the sack.  There is something to say about those old Coleman popup mattresses.  By themselves, they do a fair job of providing a bed (not better than home, but respectable), but stack two of them on top of each other and you have an instant memory foam mattress.  I don't sleep better anywhere else.  Within 30 seconds of switching off the headlamp and my head hitting the pillow, I was out until the wake-up alarm began to sound.  Sleeping completely through the night is an exception, so when it occurs...I can truly appreciate it.

In between capturing the small video snippets of progress and playing the unfamiliar role of the one not working their backside off, I was able to shoot a few rounds through a black powder rifle and the ruger with the neighbor at his camp, hike up the ridge line behind our property and take in the awesome views of dense fog in the valley, get breakfast and even do a bit of relaxing! (no really!)

Ten hours later, the new roof was installed and looks fantastic.  Once we get paint on the sides and the trim, this project will be close enough to finished that I might just breath a sigh of relief!

Loft Ladder, Cabinets and a Green Telephone?

$5 prize goes to the person who guesses how much the dinner photographed below costs.  Those that I've discussed this delicious dinner with are exempt from winning.  What are you viewing?  Fresh baked sour dough bread, baked potato, 22 ounces of prime rib, (side salad w/blue cheese missing from photo) and 22 ounces of Yeungling draft...you do the math and let me know how much you think it should cost.  BTW, totally worth the drive!

     Another productive day of work at Trout Camp and on the Shed-Mahal.  It began with the mounting of several free cabinets re-purposed from CList.  The ugly white laminate exterior will be removed at a later date to reveal the underlying brown wood frame.  But today, the goal was to get them hung.  It wasn't difficult and with Jim's help we had them on the wall, level and secure in a very short time.  You may notice that we mounted the smaller cabinet low as opposed to high on the wall.  It just so happens that the space above is the perfect size for milk crates, two in fact and will be used in this way to increase our storage capacity.  Below the array of cabinets is a four door cabinet addition.  The goal will be to give it the rolling cart treatment like I've done with the butcher block model next to it.  

     I had intentions of video taping the construction of the loft ladder for your viewing pleasure, however...it never happened.  Working on it at home in the garage made life easier, but the labor involved had me pulling a few late nights to have it ready for this trip.  As a consequence, I just didn't have the energy to devote the time necessary to take you along the construction path.  So I will describe to you instead.  It began with (2) 2 x 10 x 10' side rails and a just about 22 feet of the same lumber cut into steps.  The dado cuts were made using a home made jig and the router.  Finally, the steps were both glued and screwed into the side rails.  A palm sander brought the lumber from construction grade to complete smoothness.  When completed, it was obvious that this loft ladder was worthy of its placement within our shed regardless of how much sweat it caused hauling from the trailer through the roll door!  It is as solid as a tank and will be a part of the structure for as long as it stands.

     Finally, both Jim and I brought up a few odds-n-ends of tools and storage.  The most humorous addition brought to camp was by Jim.  An old green rotary phone will find its place attached to a tree somewhere on our property.  In the event a well entertained guest wishes to make a call, we'll point the way to our camp's one and only phone!