Ready To Roll

I’ve been at the Bolt Hole for five days getting the truck (a 2000 Chevy Silverado 2500) and trailer (a 27-foot Wilderness travel trailer by Fleetwood) ready for our trip to Colorado starting Monday, June 27. I hitched up truck to the trailer and pulled it out of the barn, parking it closer to the cabin where I could get an electric line from the porch and water hose from the well pump over to the intake ports. First I had to clean the kitchen drawers and both cabinets beneath the sinks. We haven’t taken the trailer out for two years and the mice found the paper products (towels, napkins and TP), sponges (though they were still in the wrappers and artificial to boot), and Ivory Soap bars (must be the 99 and 44/100 pure). They chewed up most of that stuff leaving tiny pieces scattered about along with their droppings. I found a likely looking nest (empty) under the kitchen drawers. We were smart enough to leave no food items but dumb enough to leave the soap and paper. I should have remembered our BSA camp clean-up regimen and realized those things had to go. After vacuuming up the mess and washing the kitchen utensils, I deemed the inside of the trailer fit.

Then I went to work on the water system. Once hooked to a water supply, I proceeded to flush the water system of antifreeze by letting all the faucets run until they were clear and for three-five minutes after that. Then I put about 20 gallons of water in the freshwater holding tank, drove the trailer into the street and backed it up in a k-turn so I had the drain plug on the down hill side of the lawn, and drained that water out of the tank.

Last time we went out—our first experience—I had filled this tank with water. We hauled that 200 gallons of water to Colorado and back and never used it since we were hooked up to a water line at every camp at which we stopped. I don’t want to think how that affected the performance of the truck. I do know that traveling across Kansas (uphill from east to west—don’t let anyone tell you it’s flat—and against a headwind of about 25 mph) we only managed 5 mpg. I’m not making that mistake again! If we aren’t boondocking (camping without out hookups for electricity, water and sewer), we aren’t carrying that amount of water.

Finally, I checked the running lights and the signal lights, the tire pressure, the propane system, etc. I found I only needed to replace a broken level at the rear of the trailer.

I spent the better part of another day going shopping for food supplies, trailer supplies and truck supplies. The rest of that day was spent replacing the foam gasket on the truck where the cap meets the bed. The old one had slipped, aged and hardened to the point where I was concerned about dirt and water getting into the bed and damaging what ever I had stored in there. This must be a popular project around this time of year. I had to go to three different auto supply stores before I could find the broad foam material. The first two stores were out of stock but the third had two rolls left and I took them both.

I finally got all the shopping done and finished the chores. I may have to cut the grass again on Sunday as well as head down the hill to gas up the truck, but everything is ready and I’m anxious to get started.

Company

I've been at The Bolt Hole for five days now getting ready for our big trip. Except for the one day I had to go down to town to do some shopping for supplies I haven't seen or talked to another person. That doesn't mean I am alone.

Red squirrels chastise me from the pines as I work in the yard. Birds (lots of birds) wake me at 4:30 AM and continue to sing all day long. Hawks and turkey vultures glide overhead. A chipmunk came out of the bushes to spy on me while I burned some wood in the fire ring in the backyard. And the occasional garter snake makes my heart race as it slithers back into the grass when I walk past. But my best visitors to date were the two pairs of deer that casually walked through the yard Wednesday and Friday morning.

Wednesday I was sitting at the kitchen table surfing the internet during breakfast when I say a deer walk past the window. I grabbed my camera and went out the front door to see two does standing in the lawn. They spotted me and went through the gate and across the street. I stepped into the road and snapped a couple of pictures. (And, no, that is not the trailer we are taking west in the background!)



Friday morning I happened to glance out the front door at 7 AM (the birds had me out of bed much earlier) and spotted a 4-point buck and a doe feeding on the lawn. I snapped this picture through the glass before heading upstairs to the deck to see if I could get another photo of them before they headed down the trail on the other side of the yard. (I did snap two more pictures but the buck's was the best.)



Here's a close up of the buck.



It's twilight now and the robins (as well as other birds) are getting in their last chorus for the day. Soon the swifts will be chittering above the tree tops, then the owls will start. Perhaps there will even be some coyotes yipping away during the night.

No, I haven't seen many humans up here where the paved road ends, but I am hardly alone.

Getting Ready to Travel

I drove up to The Bolt Hole this morning hauling some of the debris from the old deck, three bags of concrete, one-and-a-half dozen tomato plants (I always over plant my seedlings and hate to kill them off) and the clothes Terry and I will need on our trip to Colorado next week. Besides delivering all this stuff to The Bolt Hole, my job this week is to prepare the trailer for our trip.

But first, there’s the matter of the lawn. I was last up here three weeks ago and the grass has shot up 8-10 inches. So immediately upon my arrival, I started cutting grass. I spent four hours and have only half of it done. It will take another four hours to do the areas east and north of the cabin. If the lawn mower holds up, that is. I hit a chunk of wood over by the barn that was laying in wait for me and may have done some damage to an already ancient machine. All I know for sure is that it didn’t run as well after I dislodged the wood from the mower blade. Perhaps the shaft is bent slightly but I couldn’t detect anything visually wrong.

Tomorrow will be grass cutting and tomato planting. Then I will start to look over the 27’ Wilderness travel trailer that will be our home for three weeks. The battery is already hooked up to the charger. I need to flush the anti-freeze from the water lines and the holding tank, check the tires for air pressure and the propane system for proper operation. The refrigerator needs to be checked, too. I may have to do some lube work on the wheels and slide out. And who knows what else needs doing? The inside has to be aired out even though I was sure to leave the windows cracked just a tiny bit. Then I will have to practice hitching and unhitching the trailer to the truck as well as checking the wire connections to the truck. I just pray there is nothing wrong. We already have reservations in Monument for July 1st.


I'm doing all this on my own because Terry has a wedding to attend on Saturday and a wedding shower (different bride) on Sunday. She will be driving north after the shower on Sunday so we can get on the road early Monday morning.

Home Improvement

After several years (okay, more years than there should have been) of living with a damaged and rotting 10’ x 20’ redwood deck in the backyard, I decided to tear it out and rebuild.

Tearing out the old deck was no great feat. A framers hammer, crowbar and pry bar were all that were needed. It did take time to remove all the nails, cut up the old wood into either salvageable pieces (for use at The Bolt Hole in NY) or scrap for burning (also at The Bolt Hole). Due to the heat that swept into NJ during the beginning of June, the process took longer than I expected. I had planned on three days but it took five.

All Gone:


On Monday, I began my trips to Lowe’s to purchase new pressure treated lumber to construct the deck frame and surface and to the local hardware store for concrete for piers, fasteners (stainless steel screws for the surface, hot dipped galvanized for the frame) and hangers for the joists, beam, stairs, etc. Lowe’s is about 20 miles away but has much better selection of lumber than Home Depot (three of which are closer) and I can pick through the stack for pieces I want (something I can’t really do at the local lumber yard).

I had to rent a post hole digger (the manual clam-shell type) since mine is up north in at The Bolt Hole. (DOH!) I was able to dig three holes in just under two hours and slide the cardboard tubes in place for the pouring of concrete into the piers. (Damn, those 80-pound bags have gotten heavier over time!) While the concrete hardened, I built a 20-foot long beam from four 2 x 10s overlapping the joint in the middle and gluing and screwing them together. That was day one of construction (Tuesday).

I also rented a hammer-drill so I could anchor the ledger board into the concrete foundation. After mounting the ledger boards, and measuring out the location for and attaching the joist hangers, I cut and placed the three 4 x 4 posts on top of the concrete piers and enlisted the aid of my wife to lift the beam into place. Next, the joists were cut to length and placed in the hangers along the ledger boards and fastened atop the beam so they cantilever past the beam about 18” and a header board was attached to their ends. Day two (Wednesday) was complete.

Back to Lowe’s for the decking. I purchased 10’ and 12 ‘ lengths so the joints could be staggered and three 2 x 4s to double the thickness of the joists where the ends of the decking would butt against one another. I began cutting and laying the decking; screwing it down using three stainless steel square drive screws on each joist. (Joe, if you read this, I am sorry I didn’t get square drive screws for the barn. They are a joy to work with, just as you said. Beat Phillip’s head screws hands down.) The only problem with these screws is that they are very costly—and it took a lot of them. I got about a third of the boards in place before the sky darkened and I could hear thunder in the distance so I had to quit for the day. Five minutes after I had all the tools put back in the garage, the sky opened up and we had a torrential rainstorm that lasted only a half hour to forty-five minutes but made the backyard a pool. That’s day three (Thursday).

Day four, (Friday) I completed the placement of all but the three boards closest to the house.

Day five (Saturday) and it was back to Lowe’s for stair material. I got a 2 x 12 for the stringers and four 2 x 6s for the treads. Returning home I first cut and placed the three final deck boards and then puzzled out how to measure for the steps. Having decided to use a closed end stair, I didn’t have a lot of fancy cuts to make, but I did have to know how long to make the stringers and where to place the support brackets for the treads. I figured it out and made my cuts, drilled some holes for the lag screws that would hold the brackets and put them in place. I then positioned the stringers and attached them to the deck and put two of the tread in place before calling it a day.

Father’s Day I was back attaching treads and finishing the steps. The deck is complete except for a railing along its edge and for the stairs. Those will have to wait until we return from Colorado. I cleaned up the site and loaded the truck with the old joists cut to 8’ lengths, five large plastic bins of burnable scrap and three extra bags of concrete bound for The Bolt Hole.

All Done (for now):

Proper Lawn Care (?)

This spring I became determined to improve the backyard of our home. Approximately 100’ x 50’, the rear yard is on the north side of the house and is shaded by several large oak trees and surrounded by maples and locusts. In the middle is a specimen Japanese red maple that turns a glorious shade of red in the fall. Because I used a mulching mower much of the oak flowers and not a few leaves got mulched and returned to the soil. This lowered the pH of the soil to around 5.5—which is not god for grass but just dandy for the moss that loved the shade. I don’t think we have had a real lawn in the backyard since my son was around 10 (he just turned 22).

Any way, right after Easter I formulated and implemented my plan of attack. First, I raked up all of the moss. Some of the moss was one-half to three-quarters of an inch thick and extremely plush. Then I screened the moss to get any topsoil back. I purchased lime—lots of lime—and spread it on the soil until it looked like it had just snowed. Then I spread some fertilizer over the lime, rented a tiller and turned all of this into the top four inches of soil. Next I spread some Scott’s shade loving grass seed and used a rented roller to tamp it into the soil. Then I began a regimen of watering. Three times a day I would water the lawn to ensure it would not dry out. And I waited. And watered.

Ten days later the grass began to grow. It grew slowly at first but then it began to fill in. When it was about three inches tall, I cut it for the first time. About a week later I cut it again. And then On May 13th, a Friday, I cut it for the third time. At this point some broad leaf weeds were also making their presence noticeable, but I had read that after the third cutting it was okay to spread some weed-and-feed on the new grass. So I purchased and applied Scott’s Step Two, along with another 150 pounds of lime. Temperatures soared to over 90 in blistering sunshine on the 14th and 15th of May but I let the chemicals sit on the lawn without watering so they could better work their magic on the weeds. The night of the 15th, however, I relented and watered the lawn heavily.

Then I went away for two weeks leaving the watering chores to my wife who did follow the program as prescribed. She therefore escapes blame in what followed.

Wha' Happened?


When I returned on May 31, vast swatches of my beautiful new lawn were wilted and dead. I almost wept. Then I looked more closely and could see that those areas where the weed-and-feed had not been applied were still growing well. (I had applied the lime first and then the w&f; making full coverage difficult to determine—that whole white-on-white thing.) Did I apply the w&f; too soon? My neighbor thinks so. Did I overlap the w&f; in spots to provide too great a dose? The stripes tell the story of missed areas but not necessarily overexposed ones. Did the combination of lime and w&f; create too strong a chemical scene? Possibly. Did the searing heat without water do the damage? The still growing strips of grass suggest heat alone may not have been the killing factor but add the chemicals and the young roots may have been killed. Was the application of the chemicals on Friday the 13th to blame? Mmmm?

I’ll be back to reseed the lawn during the end of July when I can be sure to keep the watering on schedule and perhaps I will yet have a real lawn again. And this time I will let it grow a whole lot longer before I apply any weed killer—maybe until next April!