Project Wojtak!

In a round 'bout way, this post is loosely TC related.  Follow me as I tell the tale full circle...

Several months ago, I agreed to build a deck for my neighbor and friend at his Geneva campgrounds in a barter for "club seating"

C-N-C work on replacement wood slats for a set of folding bleacher seats that are destined for a trip up to camp.  I'm not sure where these bleachers came from, possibly the Old Cleveland Stadium, dunno?, but they needed the wood seat and seat backs replaced and the cast iron framing sandblasted.  Since Shawn is responsible for the programming at Millwork Design Solutions, I envisioned some tricked out seat back slats that will have the above pictured design milled out of them.  Once completed, they are going to look sweet!  I'm not really sure where the heck we're going to install them, but we'll worry about that later!

That agreement was for the first 10' X 15' deck.  In the course of its completion, it was mentioned that a better set of stairs was needed for the camper.  If you've ever climbed in / out of a hard side camper, you'll realize quickly that you need a high level of balance and agility as the stairs that fold underneath them are an afterthought of the assembly line manufacturing process.

Or, they put much thought into making the cheapest set of metal folding steps that they could get away with and not be held liable in court.  In any case, they are not safe for permanent use.

I was asked if I'd be interested in building a set of rigid wood stairs with a landing and handrail to make navigating in and out of the camper easier and enjoyable for the Wojtasik's.  After a some suggesting, we "super-sized" the stair idea into a second deck project.  This one is 10' X 9' and sits 30" off the ground to the undersill of the camper door.  The photos show it before the last two boards were custom made and installed on the deck ends.

Thanks extended to Shawn's Dad for turning out the boards that fit the sizes needed to fill the end gaps in the photos.  The deck is now finished, Shawn and Amy are happy...so I'm happy! 

Which brings me to the end of the story and full circle.  With the completion of "Project Wojtak #1 & #2", the finishing of a 15' CTS float rod that is being shipped to Canada, the painting of 6 window trims this weekend at home, I can now focus more of my attention on TC's construction needs which of course is "Project Thinker's Box."  Maybe I can convince Shawn to mill us up a ledger board that has a cool graphic and build date when the storage shed is finally finished?

It's just a thought! LOL!

July 3rd, A Great Day @ TC!

the family and I headed out to trout camp early Sunday morning.  We were blessed with wonderful weather.  We got the order of business correct this time and spent the warmest part of the day enjoying the cool spring creek in town and then we headed back to cook up some good eats, get a little work done and challenge ourselves with some target practice.  The Glock is dialed in and groupings of 1-2" at 30' are frequent.  I'm happy that I was able to tweak the sights and save the expense of getting a new pistol, although that Springfield XD and the KelTec SG are calling to me.  In the background, behind those calls, is the nagging repetition of "Build more rods!"  Darn it!

I took up the lawn mower thinking that I'd actually get a chance to use it. That seemed to be a bit premature as the grass is indeed growing, but not anywhere near the rate that I had guessed. No worries, less work is fine by me.

I did haul up 9 newly acquired 6" diameter cedar posts. THANK YOU GREG! and plot out where I'm going to put them. Once they're in the ground and cemented, we'll start the construction.

Here's a video recap of some of our day.

Spending My Day @ Trout Camp

Saturday evening was spent with the extended family at my cousin's daughter's first B-Day party. I hope that my endless rambling surrounding trout camp was not interpreted as anything but excitement for what we've accomplished, how it has been transformed thus far and the ideas of what is to come. I'm outspoken, I'm firm in my beliefs, I'll go overboard with details when story telling, I'm a ball-buster, prankster, even a clown, but I'm not a braggart nor will I ever be. Let's face it, I don't live next to the Jones' and I don't aspire too. Just so there isn't any confusion now or into the future. I apologize if it seemed differently when I was sharing with you guys Saturday evening.
When we arrived home from the party, I took to packing the mountaineer by going down my checklist for the day. That took only a short while and it was off to bed. The plans were to leave bright and early, by 7:15AM.

Well we made it. After a few pitstops before the trek even began, we finally were headed East on Route 6! Yes, Route 6. The motivation behind taking this alternate route was to discover how the road conditions were along the way. Pulling the 22' banner up to camp would be no problem. Most of the driving was over good roads and at manageable speeds.

The plan was to have breakfast, lunch and dinner at camp prepared on a wood fire. During that time I had a list of things that I wished to scratch off one by one. I was able to complete most of them.

Here was the short list:

• Plot out the space for "Thinker's Box" (the shed/eco-friendly-latrine structure)
• Adjust the sights on both the .22 and the Glock
• Get in some target practice
• Address the gravel ruts into camp
• Find the surveyor's pin under a pile of scrub and reinstate it to its original location
• Drop off the gas grill
• Level the mini-deck under the grilling area
• Shoot a video of the drive up the mountain into camp (for my cousin & camper hauler - Dave K.)
• Get some video of the Lake/Dam/Outflow/Recreation Area (for my cousin - Tyler)
• Capture video of some of the in town locations that we visit regularly when at TC

 I promised myself that I'd write less and let the videos tell the story.  Here you go:

A Face Lift That Even Joan Rivers Would Find Spectacular!

It's Friday evening, Jen and I are headed toward Trout Camp.  The Mountaineer is loaded down with the remaining Craig's list bricks, the trailer is in tow and loaded as well.  The plans are to meet up with Floatman and attempt to catch up to the head start in celebration that he's got on us.  It is nearing the end of my vacation, we've done a lot on this one...99% of it for the kids.  My body is sore and I'm tired.  Two days at both Kalahari and Cedar Point/Cast-Away-Bay can do that to you.  We've all enjoyed ourselves and I was able to spend much quality time with the family.  Working 85% of the time that my place of employment's doors are open takes its toll on relationships, the few weeks a year that I'm able to full immerse myself in family bonding is a vacation within itself.  However, the two remaining days of this vacation will be spent with the wife.  The kids are with Grandma and Grandpa and looking forward to an anime meeting at the local library the following day.  They have their kid activities that excite them and don't appreciate Trout Camp anywhere near the intensity that Jim, Jen and I do.  It isn't their fault, but they can't see the future potential that we see.  There'll come a time when the ideas that swirl in our heads are reality and provide a welcome refuge from the concrete jungle and constant barrage of noise and beehive-like activity of city dwelling.  I would perdict in a few more years they'll be more inclined to travel to camp, maybe even bring their friends up there with us and show them how special it is.  Who knows???

I've got a ritual that is initiated within only a few feet of crossing the border from the "So much to discover, the heart of it all and birthplace of aviation" and entering the "You've got a friend in the Keystone State because America Starts here" that involves purging the toxic stale and bitter gas within my lungs and replacing it with the cool, crisp and clean air of a place that comforts me with its natural wonders.  This trip was no exception, well...except for the fact that I now have a co-pilot that joins me in a well choreographed and only slightly exaggerated disply.

The wheels of the 4X4 spun the mandatory time and eventually hit the gravel parking lot of Trout Camp's local tavern.  It was dusk and the lot had not filled permitting the backing up and parking of the trailer into the very corner much more easy to navigate.

Friday is fish fry night.  Jen and I chose to order separate meals and share.  Her cod was baked, mine was fried.  The garlic wings that were a constant source of desire expressed during the ride into camp were ordered.  The evening took shape and the first of many cold ounces of Yuengling were being depleted from their containers.

Setting up camp in the dark after a joyous time at the local pub is a challenge.  Many things conspire to make effective execution of fairly simple tasks extremely difficult.  Gravity, darkness, bugs, remembering where you put things, heat, humidity, strange noises just past the tree lines, etc...they all play a role in slowing camp setup progress!  LOL!  We survive, but only barely! 

The following morning with claim to a total of about 1.5 hours of sleep, I woke and grabbed the video camera.  Today was a glorious day!  Not only because it was truly glorious, but because today was the day that Mother Nature turned her revolting disgust and temperment away from Jim and I's plans and ALLOWED us to have rain free day that would permit Trout Camp Excavation (cue:  stadium applause)! 

As you'll notice, thirty days is approximately what it takes for a jungle to sprout from a semi barren landscape.   The ferns have run rampant, taking over just about every square foot of ground that isn't covered by something or worn in from automotive travel.  The trees have florished and bright green leaves abound across the entire mountain.

From my previous blog posts and linked videos, our intent of transformation for Trout Camp was fairly well documented.  That vision and those plans are now a reality.  We now have a blank slate to build upon.  The endless quantity of tripping hazards, root ball dirt mounds that stood 2-3' tall, the adjacent 2-3' deep pits, the downed and rotting trees from the 85' tornado's fury, the big and small stumps that littered the landscape, the sprouting trees from those stumps have all been terminated, permanently!  Our excavation contractor, Steve, has left us with plenty of room to park our campers, vehicles, play catch and basically use camp at our discretion.  While leveling the mountain side, Steve installed rain diversion trenches, beveled adjoining hillsides and included appropriate grading decisions to make sure that our land improvements would stay intact and not get washed away.  Our property sits fairly close to the top of the mountain, but still the slope and contour of the excavation site is designed in such a way to direct water coming down the road to the left or right and around the "flat" area.  The "flat" area is sloped to facilitate proper run off as well.  While I weed-wacked around the fire pit and deck, Jim used a spreader to seed.  We were advised to use a combination of perrenial rye grass and tall fescue.  Here's to hoping that we get a few good rain showers to spark the germination!  Worst case scenario, we'll reseed in the fall when the climate is better.

The Dressor wide track dozer is an impressive and powerful beast.  Only a couple times did the dozer slightly slow in the battle to tame the mountain, but that was only when huge buried boulders put up a fight.  They were dispatched quickly with a change of blade angle and brushed aside.  Trout Camp's trees were new growth, likely only 8-10 years old.  The Dresser moved them like they didn't exist.  Watching the man and the machine work was awe inspiring and impressive to say the least.

All-in-all, the entire orderal didn't take long.  I was able to condense down the 4.5 hours it took into about 35 minutes of filming.  I expected to upload the full 35 minutes that I rendered using Sony Vegas in widescreen HD to Youtube, but the flash based "advance uploader" they're touting for those of us fortunate enough to be able to upload longer than 15 minutes and up to 20gigs is extremely buggy and doesn't deliver as promised. So, I chopped the videos into 4 parts and lowered the quality of rendering to a more managable size.
 
Well, enough typing...here's the video proof of the event.  If you don't care to watch the entire thing, I would suggest that you watch the first couple minutes of "Part I" and the last several minutes of "Part IV".  The rest of it may be boring to most, but I thought it was important to catch it all for TC's legacy.

Enjoy!  We're headed back up come Father's Day.  Look for a video of the drive into camp which will include us traversing the switch back road from the valley up the mountain, the bumpy secondary road and our private and semi-washed out drive just outside camp's entrance!

The Lumber Pile Grows...

Wednesday morning began with the wife and I dropping the kids at school and then it was "Road Trip" time. We traveled to Sullivan, Ohio in our quest to acquire more free lumber and possibly a 10'X16'  shed for parts to use on our project.  The hour and twenty minute ride went by fast.  Without the constant noise of energetic children and the radio set to "off", we took advantage of the time to talk and enjoy each other's company free of distractions.  And, when a long pause between subject matter occured, we basked in the pure unadulterated sound of silence.  It was certainly something to listen too!

We stopped for some breakfast at Mickie D's and ate outside.  The weather was beautiful, finally!  Fast forward to a dusty gravel country road. 

The rear view mirror reflected a dust cloud that hid everything that we had just passed.  A quick right turn into Kenis' place and a bumpy trek down a farming trail about four acres and we were backing up to a pile of 2X4, X8, X10, X12' and a few 1X6 rough sawn Amish lumber.  Next to the pile stood a barn style kit built 10' X 16' shed that was in great condition except for the inner floor and a few bottom sills of the exterior wall sheeting.  But, for the most part, this barn has all the t-111 and OSB skinning that we'll need for the roofing.  Kenis and I loaded my trailer with all the scrap wood we could (which was alot) and we headed back home.

In the next several weeks, I'll return with a saw-zaw and some other tools necessary to break the shed down and salvage the parts that will be usable.

The best part is whatever I don't want and can't use from the shed can be left where it lay.  Kenis said he'll burn it where it stands. LOL!  I love country living, fewer rules and less neighbors to worry about!  When I finally get all the parts from the free shed back to my place, I'll have to formulate a plan on how to best build our "thinking box/storage shed" so that I can haul it up to camp in pieces like a modular home and assemble onsite.

Here's what I plan on building courtesy of my new Youtube friend BuffCleb (Chris).  It'll be very similiar with only a few changes that involve the access door and a ramp instead of stairs.

Bat Houses, Brick Pavers and Latrine Lumber

If you been around me long enough, you've realized that I can't sit still.  My motor runs constantly and I'm always looking to complete a task, tackle a chore or find and finish a project or two (or ten).  Granted, I tend to lean toward challenges that have an enjoyable outcome and are worth the blood, sweat and tears that I invest (number one reason why my house needs painting STILL!) to complete them.  But in my reality, I have a tough time just sitting still and doing what most people consider "relaxing".   To me, slowing down to the point of inertness is NOT relaxing at all.  It is difficult to describe fully, but an easy chair and watching the clock tick feels like imprisonment to me.

The point of that paragraph?  Well, my "off" day (Wednesday) is never spent relaxing.  Realistically, the day is filled with "things to do" lists of chores or projects that I have created to occupy myself.  Yesterday was no different!  By 10AM I had traveled to Brecksville, taken the kids to school, gone to mentor, stacked a load of bricks, cut the lawn, worked on a grip for a 15' float rod headed to Canada, and I'm sure a couple other things I'm forgetting.

Through Craig's list (again) I made contact with a nice couple in Mentor that had a bunch of lumber free for the taking.  Part of the lumber was still part of a "tree fort" that needed removed.   Some may have baulk at the hour or so time it took to saw-zaw my way through the structure only to retrieve a half dozen pieces of usable lumber, but destroying things is the best part of any project! LOL!  And since Jason was kind enough to give me a bunch of other wood that I needed, it was my way of saying "thank you!".

The trip out to Brecksville yielded the last of the bricks that will have to be hauled to trout camp next month.  I believe marking the last time we'll have to haul pavers to camp for a while.  The quantity stockpiled there is enough for all of our projects which will involve finishing the fire pit patio, walk ways to connecting the pit to the deck, the pit to where the camper will eventually be placed and from that place to where the storage shed/latrine will be constructed.  I would like to add that the quantity of bricks on hand has taken a significant amount of time to assemble, but the fact that we've gotten all of them for FREE makes the patience involved worth it in the end.

The latrine/storage shed (mentioned in video 1 of the mother's day 2011 youtube links that I posted) will permit us to keep tools, mower, weed eater, etc.. up at camp and give us all somewhere to use the facilities without having to drive into town or borrow a kind neighbors restroom.

I'm about 60-70% of the way to having the materials need to frame the 6' X 9' shed.  And I'm guessing that I've got about 80% of  the exterior skinning (Thanks to my buddy Greg) for the batten board look that I'm aiming to build.  The goal is to actually build the structure in my driveway in a modular fashion and then haul up the pieces to camp for quick final assembly.  That's the thought process and goal anyway!

Lastly, my goal of constructing 3 rocket style bat houses is just about a reality.  I've got 2 of them completely built and just need to acquire another 4X4' PT post to affix the houses on top of in the field.  The third one is going to my Mom.  I promised here that I'd build her some years ago and life got in the way of delivering on that promise.  Sorry Mom!

The "rocket" bat house design has the capacity to house a colony of 250-300 bats.  In case you didn't know, bats eat 600-1000 insects an hour, the equivalent of a human eating 10 pizza's overnight!  Those insects most certainly include mosquitoes.  While we don't have many at camp because of the cool nights and altitude, we have plenty of black flies and other pesky flying things that they'll find yummy to munch on.  Currently, there is a healthy bat population that we've noticed come dusk.  The addition of (2) more houses to the open area at camp will only improve the bug situation for us and habitat for them.

I discovered the rocket bat house plans online at the following link: http://www.ekpc.coop/NewGreenweb/bats.html

All wood was acquired through CL or by donation.  The interior walls as well as the 4X4" that they mount too have many thin kerf cuts.  This gives the bats somewhere to grab onto as they make their way in and out of the house.  The gap between the post and the walls is narrow at 3/4".  The post has two wedge shaped cut outs high up inside the house for additional roosting and one side of the exterior wall has a hole to allow air circulation.  I had some left over tar paper and shingles that I used for the roof.  I'm hoping that'll improve the longevity.
Finally, after all joints were glued, screwed and caulked, the entire house was painted black.  Black is important to keep them warm.  Warm narrow spaces are bat's haven as they normally (in the forest) call home between bark and dead tree when not found within a cave.  Lastly, I found a cool bat graphic and screened it onto the house with gold spray paint.  If you stumbled across this house on the property and wondered what it was, the graphic tells the story.  When we finally get to camp, this 4' structure will be attached to the top of a 9-12' long pressure treated post mounted into the ground.

That's all for now.  The scheduled date for excavation is fast approaching and to be completely honest, I'm not sure that it is going to happen unless we get a decent amount of sun for a good period of time.  I'm a little worried that it'll never stop raining and I'll have to use the wood pile to start building an ark instead of a latrine!

Breaking in the sewing machine...

This story begins with a 40% off coupon and a purchase at JoAnn Etc. for 12 yards of desert sand camo print fabric and an XL spool of HD tan thread.  Jen and I had purchased a beginner's sewing machine at Walmart a few months ago that I used to hem pants for Nicko.  This time around it was Jen's turn and she surprised me with the coolest looking drapes.  I was really impressed with how great they had come out considering (to my knowledge) that Jen had never used a sewing machine before in her life!  Props to Jen for a job well done!

In case you aren't aware, 12 yards of almost denim thick material is A LOT of cloth!  Jen used a good portion of it, but there was still some left.  We were determined to use every last bit of it.  Although not pictured, we did manage to sew a bathroom door/separator complete with grommets in the top, drapes for the small window near the stove and a large set across the front wall behind the dinette area too.  We also tackeled what to do with the opening that the fridge once occupied.  Once we purchase the appropriate width poles, wall mounts and hangers... we'll have it all up and functional.  All and in all, I believe Jen was able to cover 10 windows, a door opening and the fridge opening.  BUT WAIT, there's more!  My wife thought it would be great to reupholester the dinette seats with the same fabric.  I was hesitant, but the end result looks great and is a definite upgrade from the scratchy old material that was wrapped by Coleman in 1984 when they were factory seating in the Newport pop-up that we salvaged them from.

We'll likely take another run to the fabric store because we have a big room devider that we wish to create as well, but all in all...the new look is perfect for the camp theme we're after and the browns work well with all that wood of the Banner Camper's interior.