They Paved Paradise

Dad and I arrived this afternoon to see the final excavation work. More rocks have been removed and gravel has been put into place. The entire site looked like a large parking lot.

Alan was good enough to clear a path to the house. It is wide enough to drive on and has gravel so it should be clean and dry. Or not muddy.

The Tillamook Project

Today Dad, Pearl and I had the chance to go to Tillamook and check on the progress of my sister and brother-in-law's fixer up project. Here are a couple of before and after shots of the house.

It is nicknamed Craig's Place. This is because many of the materials used have been found on Craig's list.

The Big Dig

It is just amazing seeing the amount of dirt and rocks that have been produced during the excavation phase. The rough work was completed yesterday. Alan, our contractor, stopped by to do a rough lay out of where the building will sit on the site. The next step is to fine tune with a track hoe. We were able to dig down about 6 feet but, have hit some really large rocks. The track hoe will be able to grade the site and work with those rocks.

On Tuesday a friend of mine came by to drop something off for me. As she approached the house she looked at the excavation and it did not look familiar so she drove right by! Eventually she figured it out and came back. It turns out that Alan Carlock is the same contractor she used for a remodel at her home.

Bill's parents dropped by on their way back from Portland. They were amazed to see all of the rock and our big hole.

Bill and I have been out to dinner both of the last two nights. Monday night with his folks to celebrate his birthday and last night we went to our neighbors. Both nights we have come back to the house after dark and have been careful to avoid walking by the hole in case we should end up at the bottom!

We've Got Rocks!

Yesterday was a big day! Our neighbors were very kind. Chainsaws going in the morning for a couple of hours and the back hoe running from 1 pm until dusk.

The trees were sawed up and hauled off the property with the help of Manual and Javier from the Foley orchard team. Mike Byers, Bill's brother-in-law and fellow orchardist, ran the back hoe. Bill had warned me Mike was good. He operated the backhoe with such skill and grace.

The big unknown in this project was how soon we would hit solid rock. We were very fortunate. Mike managed to dig a deep hole in the backyard. However, there were lots of boulders of various sizes but all movable objects.

We had a constant stream of neighbors coming by to view the progress. One of our neighbors offered to take the concrete off our hands. This was great news! He just lives two doors down and is planning to use it for fill. Originally, we were going to haul it to the dump in The Dalles.