That Was Fun

I'm officially a 62 year old senior citizen

Our trip to Zion was pretty awesome, we went to Kolob Canyons and it just got more beautiful as we rounded every curve in the road.  We didn't go to the other entrance, we will save that for another trip.

We did a little work to clean up the outside of the Pioche house, we had accidently left some junk laying around. Felt bad for the neighbor who had to look at it.

We went for a drive up to Mt Wilson and a couple of state parks, so beautiful. So much exploring to do!

We found this old stone house at one of the parks and I think I kinda love these outside window frames.

We're pretty sure we're going to knock down this brick chimney. It would take too much to make it usable & then might still burn the house down. IF we have anything for fires inside then we'll just put in a metal chimney for it.

This is our kitchen.

From the right, so far, we think it will have a tall pantry, cabinet, dishwasher, sink, cabinet, stove, cabinet and either put the fridge at the far left or put it at the bottom left of this photo so the 'kitchen triangle' will be in use.  This window will be replaced with a double width one, moved up to the level of the blue tape that's on the 2x4s.

While we were in Hurricane we stopped at Matts Offroad Recovery and checked out their tow vehicles. They had just left with the big wrecker but I really enjoyed seeing the banana and Lan liked the rest. We got to pet Peanut & Lady too.

Our next trip to will be for 2 weeks in April or May and we're hoping to get the walls finished, maybe some electrical done and insulation. I measured for plug ins and wiring, we'll need about 20 double plugs ins and 5-6 quadruple ones along with up to 500 feet of wiring.

For our trip we flew on Spirit and it worked well. In Pioche I spoke with a few of the locals and found out there is a shuttle bus that travels from Pioche to Las Vegas once a week and I'm thinking we could fly down & ride that to town and drive our own car once in town. We're planning on leaving one down there permanently. The shuttle only goes to Vegas once a week on Tuesdays, leaving Pioche at 6am. I have no clue how long the ride is since they will stop in Panaca and Caliente and its about a 4 hour drive to LV. I don't know where he stops in the big city or if he might pick us up at the airport or if we'd have to go to a certain location. 

We had to stay at the hotel in Pioche and it was $401 for 3 nights so once we got home we decided to get a camper trailer to haul down there to use while we're there. Found this on Marketplace for $1,500, its a 2003 Terry brand, 25' long and it has a little water damage. They already tore it apart and did the leak repair but didn't fix up the inside. If this hadn't leaked, it would sell easily for $10,000.  

We offered $1,000 and they accepted.

It has good tires, everything works except the heater but we can plug in a heater down there. Its got a cover and they threw in the brand new unopened twin size mattress they ordered.

Now its sitting in our back yard, we might move it into the arena to get it good and dry & finish the repairs. We might put the cover and a tarp over it.

I've already bought silverware for it, I'll put a few plates & get bowls for it. It needs a new queen size mattress, curtains, basically everything. That window at the back is where the bunk beds are and the water damage occurred. I purchased window film to cover it and IF there's a window the bathroom I'll cover it too.

For the curtains I'll use the same material I used in the other camper, its got little retro campers on it, super cute.

I'm pretty sure I still have enough to cover a couple windows in there already.

Today we picked up Soren and took him to get a Christmas tree at Alpine tree farm across town.  Super nice guys there. The tree was $100 (ouch) but its pretty. Soren got to cut some branches and I made him pull it to the car. At home he helped set it up and decorate it.

 

End of 2024

When we were in Pioche 2 weeks ago we had to stay at the local hotel and 3 nights cost us $401.00.  We stayed there for warmth but mostly for a place to go pee and shower.

So we bought this camper to tow down there to live in while we're down there.

Its a 2003 Leyton Lite, 23 foot long and we paid $1,000 for it.  Its got a little bit of water damage that they had started working on & just got tired of it so listed it at $1,500.  I offered $1,000 and they accepted too fast, maybe should have offered less.

You can't see from the outside but the back left side has the damage.

They had pulled out all the ruined materials and patched the outer roof but left the inside.

I do like the layout, a queen bed up front with night stands, large kitchen sink, bathroom has a tub. Bathroom also has a soft floor so we'll need to address that issue.

The water damage is in the bunk area and since we don't have kids we'll just have a closet or storage there. The table does fold down to a bed.

we're moved it into the arena to dry out and do the work in there.  Once its dry we'll put the roof sealant on it.  Until then, I can put stuff in there. I have a lot of stuff we use in the other camper that can go into this one full time and things for the Pioche house.  Tools and materials can definitely go in.  

The bed is a queen like the other camper so the bedding can be interchangeable.

This is where it will be staying down there, on the side of the house. Its already flat and theres a sewage clean out right around the corner of the bathroom that we can use. Neighbor Tom said we can use his water and I'm OK with that set up.

Our next trip down in in April or May so I only have about 4-5 months to save up for it, then another 2 weeks in September.

Good news, I will have Fridays and Saturdays off for the next 3 months.

 

 

A Week

My birthday is in 8 days

This week, before we leave on our trip to Pioche, I hope we can go to Orting to visit Denton.

I haven't been there in far too long and I have lots to tell him. BUT, I feel that the spirits of our loved ones already know what's happening here and watch us living out our lives.

Denton was only 43 when he died, 19 years ago~ wow, 1/3 of my life ago.