And The Walls Go Up

     Steve and I decided to go up to The Drunken Bear at 2:00 p.m.  Friday afternoon, May 4th, to get a few things done before our volunteer work group of friends showed up the following day.  It had been a relatively nice day, but when I got to Steve's the sky opened up and the rain came pouring down.  Steve had a large barbecue/ smoker he wanted to take to the cabin.  By the time we got it loaded into his truck, we were drenched!  The rain continued pounding down most of the drive to Monroe and traffic was already heavy for this time of the afternoon.  This is what is called "white-knuckle" driving.

     We stopped at Lowe's in Monroe to get some needed material and then again at the Sultan Bakery for an early dinner.  This is the first time we have stopped at the Bakery for dinner.  We both ordered chicken fettuccine.  For $9.95 you got a plate full of food that neither of us could finish.  It is not a five star restaurant, but the food is good and you can not beat the price.

     By the time we got to the cabin the rain had quieted down.  We worked on the small projects needed to get done before the others arrived in the morning...installing some wiring and some supports for attaching the sheetrock in a couple of places.  When we were finished, it was still raining some, so we did not build a fire outside and instead, pulled out a card table, and played a few games of cribbage and had a couple of beers.  This was the first night we would be sleeping in the cabin since we installed the toilet.  No longer would we have to get up in the middle of the night and put on clothing and shoes to go outside to relieve ourselves...now it was just a short trip to the bathroom.  Oh, life's little pleasures!

     The next morning it was still sprinkling, so once again, we did not have our usual fire outside.  We were having coffee when Robert arrived...around 7:30 a.m.  Not too much later, Joe arrived.  After a short bit of conversation, we decided to start working.  We no sooner got started when Bob and Doug arrived.  At first it was a little awkward with six of us trying to help, but in no time at all, we kind of split off in pairs and we were all doing our own projects.  With three drills and two t-bars, we were measuring, cutting and hanging sheetrock in three different areas at one time.  It was great to see so much happening. 

     Around 1:00 p.m., we broke for lunch.  By this time it had stopped raining and we were able to go out by the river.  Most of the surrounding mountains were covered in fog and clouds, but you could still see fresh snow on the trees.  Bob and Doug provided us with some great sandwiches...either tuna or egg salad, homemade dill pickles, and chips.  It was a nice and much deserved break.  After these breaks, it always seems so hard to go back to work, but that we did.  We continued working and the place was really coming together.  Joe wanted to get back to his home for the evening, so he left around 4:00 p.m.  The rest of us continued working for about another hour or so and then called it a day.

     This was the first time we were able to have a fire.  It being Cinco de Mayo, some of us had margaritas and others had Dos Equis.  Then it was time for dinner.  Steve and I thought it would be nice to treat our volunteer crew to a nice dinner.  We got the barbecue set up that we had brought up the day before and Steve proceeded to cook New York steaks and corn on the cob.  Along with potato salad and a quinoa salad, the meal was very tasty and well deserved.  For dessert, Steve had made his now famous, strawberry-rhubarb crisp...yummy.

     We sat around the fire and once again, shared stories and conversations.  Tonight was the "Super Moon".  At first we were worried that it would be too cloudy to see, but we were not disappointed.  We did not get to see it appear on the horizon, but we did get to view it through the trees and then above the treeline.  Such a beautiful sight.  It was a relatively early evening.  Bob and Doug had brought their motorhome and retreated to that, but the rest of us spent the night in the cabin...and for the first time, we were in our own separate little rooms!

     Sunday morning we awoke to a beautiful day.  The sky was crystal clear and the sun was shining bright.  Bob and Doug had stopped by the Sultan Bakery on the way up and had picked up some donuts and Robert brought some bagels and cream cheese.  It was a relaxing morning sitting around a warm campfire.  It was the weekend of the Wenatchee Lilac Festival, so people wanted to get going before the traffic started building up on Highway 2.  All of us were packed and on the road back to Seattle by 10:30 a.m.

     It was a weekend of much work, yet fun and camaraderie with our great friends!  Steve and I are so lucky to have friends that would give up their weekend to come help us!  Thank you Robert, Joe, Bob and Doug!

This is what the cabin looked like when we began.

(Picture courtesy of Robert)

Joe holding the sheetrock while

Bob is cutting out one of the holes for an outlet.

Robert sitting on his feet while he is working...ouch...how does he do that?

Doug and Robert securing the sheetrock.

Steve figuring out the angle needed for the sheetrock on the sides

of the cabin where the walls meet the ceiling.

(Photo courtesy of Robert)

After a hard day's work, almost all of the sheetrock is completed!

The snow covered trees in the surrounding mountains.

I always have to add Gunn's Peak.

It almost looks like a black and white photo,

until you see the green leaves on the right.

Steve's barbecue - a great addition!

Bob, Robert and Doug  relaxing after a hard day's work!

Sitting around the campfire on Sunday morning, Steve noticed

a plane's contrail that made it look like the mountain was erupting.

Two Milestones in One Week

     The daunting task of sheetrocking was our next task, and one I was definitely not looking forward to.  Much to my surprise, we had and will have, help dealing with this...and it was all volunteered.  First, Rick and Heidi, Steve's son-in-law and daughter said they would come up and help put the sheetrock up over the weekend.  Steve got in contact with a company in Monroe and arranged to have the sheetrock, the mud, the tape, and the screws, delivered to The Drunken Bear.  We went up on Thursday, the 19th of April and made room in the cabin for the sheetrock.  We had parked the truck across the road so that the truck bringing the sheetrock would have room to maneuver on our property.  We had the cabin all arranged for the sheetrock and were waiting for its arrival when Steve went to get something out of his truck.  And lucky for us, he did.  As he was heading to the truck he looked up the road and saw the delivery truck with the sheetrock make the wrong turn and head up the other direction.  He kept watching to make sure they turned around and came our way.  Well, they did turn around and started coming our way, but then they stopped and it appeared they were going to start unloading at the wrong place.  Steve hurriedly went up the road to get them.  Come to find out the company did not put down the actual address on the order and the drivers saw another place that was being built and just assumed that was the house for delivery.  That would have been a disaster.  After clearing up the confusion, the delivery crew was at our place unloading the sheetrock. It wore me out just watching them carry the sheetrock into the cabin!  After it was unloaded, we stayed around just long enough to get it organized and ready for the weekend.  On the way home we stopped by Home Depot in Woodinville to check out renting a lift for holding the sheetrock in place.  No reservations could be made, we just had to be there early in the morning on the day we needed to rent a lift.

     On Saturday, the 21st, we headed out bright and early, stopping by Home Depot for the lift.  We then stopped by our favorite restaurant, the Sultan Bakery, and picked up breakfast sandwiches to get our nourishment before the hard work ahead.  These sandwiches are quite large and filled with meat, cheese and egg...except this time, they forgot to put egg in Steve's sandwich.  He said it was still good however. 

     When we got to The Drunken Bear, we got things set up for when our help arrived.  Not too much later, Rick and Heidi arrived in their motorhome, along with their son, Nathan, and daughter, Christina and her friend, Brennan.  As the adults worked in the cabin on the sheetrock, the younger ones spread out a large portion of the sandpile to regions around the property where we needed it.  The sand was delivered when we had the driveway put in last year.  As a Christmas present to Steve, Christina and Nathan volunteered their help at the cabin and it was definitely appreciated.  Thank you Christina, Brennan and Nathan!

Christina and Brennan pushing sand-filled wheelbarrows out to

the rock wall along the river.  Nathan was back at the sand pile

and did not make this picture.

     Now to that task of sheetrocking...yuck.  Actually it turned out a lot better than I thought it would.  The lift really helped.  Not only that, but Rick and Heidi had done quite a bit of sheetrocking before and their knowledge really paid off.  It was nice for Steve to have someone helping that knew what they were doing.  We would load a 12 foot sheet of the sheetrock onto the lift.  Steve would operate the lift while the rest of us would be on ladders on opposite ends putting the sheetrock into place and screwing it in.  Rick was great at measuring and cutting the holes for the various junction boxes and vents before we would put the sheetrock up.  By the end of that first day, we had half of the cabin finished!  

Rick taking a measurement for one of the holes that needed

to be cut out.  Steve and Heidi standing near by.

This shows the lift that is holding the sheetrock into place.

It makes it look much easier than it really was, but I could

 not imagine doing this without a lift. 

Heidi and Rick securing the sheetrock with screws.

     Steve had prepared a hash the day before that just needed to be warmed up and served over noodles.  With a nice salad and garlic bread, the hash made for a much deserved dinner.  Drinks and banter around the firepit ensued into the evening.  Since we knew we would be up and working early in the morning, it was not a late night.

     The next day, it seemed like the work was running more smoothly.  Of course on this side of the cabin there were less cut-outs that had to be made.  We worked until lunch.  Heidi had made us tasty bagel sandwiches and it was nice to take a break in the warm afternoon...sitting by the river in the shade.  It is always hard to go back to work after a break, but we wanted to get as much done as possible.  We did just that and finished all the sheetrock on the ceiling with the exception of the laundry room.  Thank you so much Rick and Heidi!!!!!

 The ceiling is sheetrocked!

     Steve and I then headed up to The Drunken Bear yesterday, Friday, the 27th, to get ready for our next group of volunteers.  One of the things that has been difficult dealing with over the years of this construction is not having a decent bathroom facility.  Yes, we did have Steve's motorhome and I am ever so thankful that we had that, but that tiny little space can get to you.  We would even have some quests that would drive into the town of Index to use the restroom in their city park, before they would use the restroom in the motorhome.  But that will no longer be needed...HALLELUJAH!  Yesterday, we stopped by Lowes and picked up a duel flush toilet and in no time, Steve had it installed. 

A throne fit for a King! 

The half-wall by the throne is the shower wall.

This coming weekend, the 5th and 6th of May, a group of our friends have volunteered to come help us once again.  The first thing we will be doing is sheetrocking the room containing the throne.  I can already hear the sigh of relief from our many friends that have visited The Drunken Bear. 

Round-about at River Road.

There has been some road construction on Highway 2 this winter that will hopefully cut down on the accidents.  The major one was this round-about at the intersection at River Road, near the McDonald's east of Sultan.  Hopefully it will not add to the gridlock during the high travel period during the summer. 

Insulation Without The Itch

A friend recently told me I needed to update this blog, so here it is.  Steve and I have been going up to The Drunken Bear on a somewhat regular basis except for the first three weeks of March.  In that time period, Steve went to Hawaii and I wondered across the border to Canada.  Although I love my Canadian friends and Canada itself, I would have loved to have been in Hawaii...just to be away from the miserable weather we had been having.  Thankfully the work we were doing on the cabin had been on the inside and when we had to do some work outside, there were breaks in the weather to do that.  We finished putting in the rigid insulation as described in the last post.  Next came the rolled insulation.  Now you would think that if the requirement for insulation is now R49, there would be an R49 insulation.  Wrong!  First we would cut and hang R30 kraft faced insulation.  Following the R30, we would then add the R19 non-kraft faced insulation bringing it to the required R49.  Once we got that finished, it was time for the insulation under the floor.  Steve went under and I would cut the insulation into the required length and hand it to him.  Needless to say, Steve had the more difficult portion of this work...as he usually does.  But, at least with him doing it, we know it is being done right!  Our weather improved and we had some nice days to work around the property after our little vacations.  We got the property cleaned up from the winter, burning a lot of the downed branches and throwing other branches in a ditch that runs through a portion of the property.  We never have figured out what that ditch was for but it has come in handy when discarding the many fern fronds, wild blackberry vines, weeds, and so on.  We had some extra time this week while we were waiting for the inspector to show up to tell us if we had passed the insulation inspection.  For those that have been to The Drunken Bear, you will notice the disappearance of a couple of eye sores.  For one, the ugly fire wood pile is now gone and nicely stacked in the woodshed.  And for the other, the blackberry vines have been cleaned up across the path.  Unfortunately, with the disappearance of the vines, comes the disappearance of the very tasty blackberries...but having the vines gone really opens the property.

In the last post I stated we were behind in our snowfall for the year. 

Well, I spoke too soon.  After that last post we have had more than
enough snowfall. Looking back at the cabin, you can see a lot of the
downed branches from the storms.

Looking up at Gunn's Peak, you can see all the new snow.

Embiggen this picture to see the snow covered trees.

There is one bad thing about Highway 2...the high incidence of
traffic accidents. So much so, that this sign is along the highway
near Zeke's Restaurant.  I don't think we have ever seen
the number go higher than 80 days!

Fortunately, the church, turned art studio and gallery in Startup,
did not get totally destroyed. The front part was removed and the
owners have fixed up the back part.  Here they are just starting the work.

On the next trip up to Index, it was a nice day, but the wind was
really blowing. In this picture, you can see the snow
swirling around Mt. Index...brrrrr!

Closer view of the swirling snow on Mt. Index

Looking up at Mt. Index as we turned off Highway 2.

Close-up of Gunn's Peak

When I first looked up, I thought more snow was swirling around the
mountains up the Skykomish River, but then saw it was the moon
coming up. I love those days when you can see the moon
during the daylight hours.

I thought I had better provide the evidence that we really are
working.  Here you can see the R30 insulation on the bottom

and the R19 lying atop it.

As we were leaving on this day, Gunn's Peak was being lit by

the early evening moonlight...quite spectacular!

On our next trip up, we saw this bald eagle sitting in a tree
across fromThe Drunken Bear...
just waiting for that unlucky salmon to swim by.

Our friends, Dave and Micky, dropped by on their way home
from celebrating their anniversary in Leavenworth.
Hope to have them back when the cabin is finished.

The insulation on the inside was finally completed!

And the insulation in the crawl space under the house is completed.

Which brings us to the end of the insulation process and I am happy to say, "We passed!"  We still need to cover the insulation in the crawl space with visqueen.  Next we take on the daunting task of installing the sheetrock.  I am so not looking forward to that, but at the same time, it will be so nice to have it done.  Hopefully we will be getting some help with this process.

Getting Back Into The Groove

Steve came by and picked me up at 8:00 a.m. and we were on our way to The Drunken Bear for the first time since late last fall.  Steve had gone up a couple of times over the holiday season and did some various things.  I was still working then and trying to get my house decorated for the holidays, so I was not able to join him.

It was a cold morning, with frost everywhere.  It was one of those mornings where you look at the houses and the roofs are all the same color...white.  Steve pointed that out as we were approaching Monroe.  It looked like a scene out of the Stepford Wives where nothing could be out of the ordinary.  Thankfully the look was only temporary.

There were some major changes on the way to the cabin since the last time I was there.  First, the new exit from Hwy. 522 onto Hwy. 2 at Monroe is now open.  It makes it so much easier and faster to make the transition.  Now you just turn right at the exit from Hwy. 522 and as you leave that exit, you are immediately onto Hwy. 2...no more making the loop and having to stop at the stop light.  The next two changes were not so nice.  First, the church that had been converted into an art gallery and residence in Startup caught on fire on Christmas day and is now unliveable.  And the second change was the clear-cutting of trees on the ridge overlooking the quarry near Zeke's Drive Inn.  It ia always sad to see trees disappear...even knowing that one day they will be back.  Of course, these trees might never be back if the mountain is taken for use by the quarry.

We stopped by the Sultan Bakery for breakfast.  The food here is always great tasting and is more than plentiful.  Both Steve and I had the 3 meat omelet, hashbrowns and toast.  The omelet is filled with ham, sausage and bacon.  Neither one of us could finish the meal and each took a doggie bag.  Outside of Seattle, restaurants can still use the styrafoam containers.

When we got to The Drunken Bear, we decided to try putting on the doors to the wood shed first since it wasn't raining.  Steve figured out how we would do this and had brought the hardware for hanging them, but once we got started, Steve thought it would be better to use another type of hinge.  It will work better on one of the doors that we will not be able to open all of the way becasue of a large tree in the way.

We next tackled the rigid insulation.  When we first got the building permit, the R factor of the insulation required was R38.  When we had to renew our building permit, the R factor had changed to R49, a much thicker insulation and one that would not fit the trusses we already had in place.  The inspector even thought it was strange that the requirement could be changed once the trusses and the roof were already on the cabin.  Anyway, we are trying to comply and hence the need for the rigid insulation.  After some time of calculating, we finally decided we wanted to come up 3 feet from where the walls meet the roof (you'll be able to see what I am talking about in the picture below).  We then had to cut the installation to size.  What a mess that was.  We cut the first 4X8 piece inside the cabin and there was a fine dust everywhere!  We decided since it wasn't raining, we would move the saw outside and finish the cutting.  Out of each 4X8 piece we got 3 - 3 foot pieces and 4 - 1 foot pieces.  The 1 foot pieces we would tape together to make another 3 foot piece.  These 1 foot pieces were also easier to work with when we had to go around lighting fixtures or wires.  Just one more step on our way to finishing the cabin.

Oh, by the way, when we were going through Sultan, the temperature was 32 degrees.  It felt much colder at the cabin, but luckily Steve had brought up two propane heaters when he came up during the holidays and in no time, the chill factor dropped...thankfully!

The new Hwy. 2 exit off of Hwy. 522

Oh no Mr. Bill...we ran out of gas...luckily not too far 

from a gas station in Goldbar

While waiting for Steve to come back with the gas, I took this

picture to show you what $600 in insulation looks like...

each 4 foot by 8 foot piece was $99.16 plus tax!

There's our saviour...with the new $9.00 gas can he had to buy.  

Whatever happened to the friendly loaner can?  Oh, the good ol' days.

We are really behind in snow levels this season.  

This shows the snow line of the little bit of snow we had gotten the night before.

The water bucket by the fire pit had a very thin layer of ice
over the top.  Looking in, it looked like a little terrarium.

Steve standing in front of the woodshed as he was finishing taking the measurements.

We haven't yet figured out what is doing damages to the trees
around the area.   Here you can see where the bark has
disappeared on the left side of the tree. There are some
trees that are stripped of the bark all the way to the top.

The very fine dust from cutting the insulation.  Almost looks like a fine dusting of snow.

Steve installing the 3 feet of rigid insulation between the trusses.

We will be using rolled insulation on the rest of the ceiling.

Looking Around

This rusted metal was pulled from the river.  It is most likely a piece of a stove lost when a home went into the river.  We have placed it at the bottom of a large Douglas Fir.  The other plants are a Sword Fern and a couple of wild Huckleberry bushes.

Steve brought a Hydrangea plant up and it seems to love the acidic soil...the source of the blue.

There are very interesting stumps around the property.  Unfortunately we lost quite a few of them when we had the land cleared to build the cabin, but there are still some around.  The Huckleberry bushes thrive growing out of these stumps.  On the stump in the front, you will notice a notch on the right side of the stump.  That notch allowed a logger to put a board in the notch to stand on and cut the tree at a higher level.

The early morning sun filtering through the trees makes for a very peaceful setting.

A Douglas Fir seedling makes an interesting shadow.

The path leading out to the fire pit.  Steve is usually the first one to rise in the morning.  And to all those that follow, we are usually greeted by a nice fire and fresh coffee.

 

Hallelujah! The Electrical Inspection Has Passed

After four inspections, we have finally passed our electrical inspection.  The first inspection uncovered a short list of things we had to change.  One of those things was the grounding rod.  As has been stated before, the cabin is located on river rock and whenever you try to drive anything into the soil, you will most likely hit one of those rocks.  A grounding rod is 8 feet in length, so naturally, we knew we would never be able to sink it the required length.  We had heard about another process that required the driving of two 4 foot rods and connecting them with the wire. Apparently, this procedure is no longer approved.  Luckily there is another process where you can put a plate in the ground and run the cable to it.  Unfortunately, the inspector did not tell us we needed two plates with the wire connecting the two...so inspection number two failed.   It was off to an electrical store to get another plate.  When the inspector showed up the third time, the connectors that connected the wire between the plates was not the correct type...and inspection number three failed.  Finally today, the inspector looked at the work and it passed...HALLELUJAH!

'Tis The Season

...for berries!  This might have been a cold summer, but the berry bushes have been covered in fruit.  We have been eating the wild huckleberries for quite some time...using them in pancakes and atop our bagels...as well as just picking them and popping the fruit into our mouths.  The small wild blackberries have also produced quite a crop and are very tasty.  Drop a few in your pancake batter and you have a sumptuous breakfast.

A little cream cheese and wild huckleberries

Notice the small size of the wild blackberries