We made it to Inks Lake

By Sunday afternoon we had made it to Inks Lake State Park in Texas. Tom and Joy are Hosting there this season.

If it wasn't for the cactus this place could be c0nfused for Minnesota.

The wind finally stopped blowing on Monday and we went to a cookout that evening with all of the Camp Hosts. We may have to look into this for future years.

On Tuesday we went into a "off the main drag" catfish grill, which since Bart introed me to catfish it appears I can eat. The Texans down here swear it tastes just like walleye.

The happening though was going for pie happy hour at the Blue Bonnet Cafe, which is noted for its pies. They were excellent. I had two pieces, German Chocolate and Apple. On a scale of 1-10, they are a definite 8.5.

It was real nice to spend a few days in one place and our time at Inks Lake ended on Wednesday when we left for Austin.

Our plan was to get into a RV Park do laundry, wash the rig and get ready for the next loop to areas east of Austin.

BTW if you haven't heard this before the wildflowers blooming down here are pretty amazing. We heard it is due to the efforts made by Lady Bird Johnson back in the 60's. It seems as if every ditch and fields covered in color..

What pie rates a 10? Stay tuned as crossed an item of my bucket list on Thursday.

When last we left you.....

We had just left "The Hermitage" in Fort Garland.

The next episode saw us heading toward Santa Fe in New Mexico...during a wind storm.

The camper managed the side wind well and we were able to stop at the targets for the day.

Our first stop was Taos, only to find that the only place open in the old town square before 10am was the coffee shops. After walking around and noticing that there were only two types of shops there, tourist crap and high-end galleries, we headed out to Chimayo.

We had only one stop in Chimayo which was Ortega Weaving. This is where Molesworth got the cloth used in his furniture upholstery. I picked up a blanket that will be part of the Club Chair project slated for later this year and Marlys got a purse. If you have an interest in Indian weaving this is place not to miss.

By this time, it was pass noon and the only place left on the way to Santa Fe was "The Black Hole" in Los Alamos. I had heard and read about this place for a number of years, and now with time to meander we could make what thought of a a pilgrimage. TBH is a surplus shop stocked with items from the Los Alamos National Laboratories, i.e. nuclear etc.

By the time we got the wind was really ramping up and Los Alamos is situated on the side of a mountain. The airport is one of those out of a James Bond movie in that it looks like you can only land and take-off in one direction as there is a mountain range at the other end.

I will make this short and sweet, ""The Black Hole" was a disappointment. I would rather spend time in Axeman Surplus. After the obligatory walk through we left for Santa Fe with nothing to show for our efforts.

In Santa Fe we stopped at our first official RV park of the trip and it was real nice other then being on top of a hill south of town. The wind was incredible.

The next morning we headed out for Roswell, another one of the obligatory stops when in New Mexico.

As with the day before we were rasil'en with a side wind all the way down.

The UFO Museum in Roswell appears to be in an old downtown theater. If had the requisite crowd and there was a notice on the door that two film crews were in attendance, so if you didn't want to chance appearing on TV, probably best not to visit.

It took us about an hour to make the circuit and the story does raise the question as to what happened here. I don't know if it was a UFO or not, but something seems have impacted a lot of people....and of course made for a great tourist attraction.

Leaving Roswell we were now heading east, a 90 degree turn which should have put the side wind now at our backs. Guess what the wind turned too and was still at our side.

We ended the day in Big Springs, TX at another RV Park. The office was closed so we paid via an envelope put into a slot in the door. These folks never saw us arrive or leave the next morning at 7am. A nice way to make $32 bucks.

So far this trip we have only been on a Interstate for 10 miles in Santa Fe.

Next stop Inks Lake State Park in Texas, but that will need to wait until tomorrow.

The Journey Begins

Yesterday we hit the road for the first camper trip.

Of course, it snowed the day before and the first stop was Gunnison for Dereks Art Exhibit. It was bright on top of Monarch Pass and the road wasn't too bad.

Derek's, exhibit was his senior show to complete the requirements for a BFA degree.

To actually see Derek in pants pulled up to his waist was a treat also.

We had three of his professors talk to us about what a future he will have especially if he gets into the right masters program.

His Art History Professor mentioned she wanted his Digi Man sculpture, but couldn't afford it. She may get a deal as he gets closer to needing to crate them up and ship them to PR.

We are being totally objective.

As a parent we were very proud of him.He had to give a short presentation to a packed auditorium on the exhibit. He seemed the most relaxed and has his grandfathers speaking voice.

Also in the gallery afterward, and being very objective his pieces got the most interest from the attendees and other students.

We of course got the proud parent picture.

Mid-afternoon we head out for Fort Garland and "The Hermitage", which would be our stop for the night. Leland was a very gracious host and answered my non-stop questions on building and living off grid.

We did see and experience the blue bottle wall. The LED lights in the bottle are a real treat.

We would like to copy the idea, but I am concerned that with the high altitude airway overPR that we may be mistaken for a airport taxiway. Maybe green bottles?

Leland's power system though is something we may need to consider though.

Spring Storm Aftermath

After about 12 hour the snow finally stopped.

At Pinon Rock we received just over 12 inches of snow.

The camper looks pretty frozen, but is actually nice and warm inside.

Even though the road was plowed yesterday about noon the cleanup will take me a few hours.

Tomorrow the forecast is for the mid-40's and mid-50's by Monday. It took about a day for the 8 inches that feel last Sunday to melt, so I give this until Monday and most of it will be gone and we can get back to shorts, at least until the next storm which is forecast for Wednesday, but it may be more rain then snow.

Spring Storm Update- Most snow I have experienced up here in my 13 years!

As they say at the ski areas, we are getting bombed...with snow!

It started at around 6am and now at 4pm we are at ~12".

There are no signs of a let up.

The NWS is forecasting the snow to continue into tomorrow.

The Load Out

Jackson Browne, in his song of the same name, had "roadies" to pack up after the concert, we have Marlys...and me.

Next week, we are taking off on the inaugural truck camper trip. Marlys started loading it up today and cleaning it up, since it has sat since last October.

She quickly found out that it has less storage space then our old travel trailer. She even had the audacity to ask about putting HER items in the basement storage spaces...of course I said no, but we will see how long I can stay with that answer.

I also had time to mark the camper for the laser back up alignment system, that I read about on the Truck Camper Forum.

The loading of the camper on the truck probably seems pretty straightforward, but in fact with all things that seem simple it is not.

The object is to center the camper in the trailer bed, so that the weight distribution is somewhat equal on both sides.

Jim, from whom we bought the camper, had a pretty good method using a string and a couple of reference points in the truck bed. I will not remove the string from the truck and camper until I have validated the laser method, which if it works removes the string and requires the driver to only look out of the drivers side mirror to make the docking possible. Kinda like the shuttle docking with the space station.

The laser is mounted on the truck bed rail and while backing I only need to keep the light on the two lines in the pic to the right.

We will see how well I do. Using Jim's method I did it on my first try, in a rain.

One of the other things we accomplished this week was the replacement of the awning on the camper. It had been previously damaged, so we ordered a new one from Carefree Colorado via the AwningDepot.com.

This was a task we approached with a little trepidation, since I had images of a big gust of wind catching the awning in mid-install and destroying it.

I went to a few sources for instructions, but actually ended up using those that came with the replacement awning, word for word. This is one of those tasks where you should read the instructions BEFORE you start rather then mid-stream, when something is going wrong.

It took us right around an hour to remove and re-install the awning. I used the part number on the original one when ordering so it is an exact replacement.

It worked our well, just remember if you attempt this that there is a spring wound up inside the awning tube that has a little power to it. SO FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS on releasing the tension and re-applying it.

I also got around to installing the gate leg table in the camper. There was only one snafu...it was three inches too tall. After some surgery in the shop it fit real nice.

BTW, yesterday when these pictures were taken it was close to 60 degrees up here and I was wearing shorts.

...Today I just got done calling to get the Associations roads plowed as we have 5" of an expected 12" of snow already on the ground.

I get to plow our road starting in about an hour.

Ahhh, springtime in Colorado.

What's a "Little Nicky"?

What's a "little nicky"?

Adam Sandler and his movie came to mind, but this wasn't while watching TV or picking out a movie.

This was during a very vulnerable moment...while sitting getting my hair cut. Marlys was handling the duties and the RAZOR.

All I heard was "Oops, a little nicky".

Dreaded words.

Now I have the start of a Vanilla Ice chevron over my left ear.

At least I can be thankful it wasn't what Bill had to live through at the hands of his LOHL, Cathy.

Luckily hair grows back. Only not so much, or as fast in my case.

The Mystery of the Blue Bottle Solved...I Think.

Amanda and John left a mysterious comment on last week's "The First Day" post about the appropriate gift to bring to Leland at the Hermitage as "wine in a blue bottle".

Other then knowing of Leland, via a friend we have in common, we have never met, nor have I met Amanda or John, but all three are building/living in the San Luis Valley or south central Colorado.

So I was stumped what wine comes in a blue bottle...Blue Nun?

Leland has a blog/website call "The Hermitage" where he has covered the building of his off-grid home. If you haven't read it you should.

Anyway Amanda and John are acquaintances of Leland's and when I threatened to drop in on him last week the "Blue Bottle" mystery arose.

I have asked a number of people around here for help...as I am a beer drinker and I know of only two types of wine; red and white, or maybe its bottled or boxed, anyway I had no idea.

So I went to our common friend PP, who just like Amanda and John said any wine in a blue bottle.

I asked for an explanation.

Leland is building a blue glass bottle wall at the Hermitage and needs all of the building materials he can get.

So there you have it mystery solved.

Golden Mean-Ratio-Section and the Fibonacci Gauge

When I finished the bedroom side tables I noticed that something didn't quite seem right...the drawer pull didn't appear to be the right size for the drawer fronts. I experimented a bit by changing the size, but I kept thinking there had to be a better or more formal way to figure the sizes/proportions for different aspects of a piece of furniture.

Derek had mentioned on occasion when looking at a piece the use of the golden mean formula in sculpture in proportioning pointing to Da Vinci's use of it in his works .

So the search was on for how this formula was used in woodworking. At the time I had just added a blog to my Google Reader list called Design Matters by George Walker. Most of what George writes about in his blog and in Woodworking magazine is way over my head, but his practical method of using the golden mean seemed to led me to finding the tool ( yes there is a new tool involved ) to help in my building projects. My next big one being the dresser for the bedroom ( Read George's post on figuring drawer size).

All of this lead me to the Fibonacci Sequence. In reading about the Fibonacci Sequence I came across a gauge used in design along with golden mean rulers in proportioning called (dramatic pause) a Fibonacci Gauge. Now this could be purchased, but as I searched a number of interesting plans to build one came up. I printed out one of the simpler ones from goldennumber.net .

So I had a plan in hand, now it needed to be built.

As you may recall, I retired earlier this week and most of the time since then has been taken up with consolidating and moving items from the Denver crash pad to Pinon Rock, yesterday was the soonest I spent anytime in the shop, but the objective was to build a modified ski back Adirondack chair...this one would be more of a love seat.

As I sat contemplating what I would need to do to my current templates I was a bit befuddled in how to get started. So I decided I needed a warm up project to get in the right mind...the Fibonacci Gauge.

I used scrap luan plywood and pop rivets for the pivots.

To understand how to use it, I recommend watching this YouTube video.

It only took about 30 minutes to build, but it was a rewarding project, it put me in the right mind.

Which is good since I am left handed.

Gate Leg Table is ready to be installed.

We purchased our truck camper (Okanagan 117DBL) last October it has been sitting in the driveway waiting for its shakedown cruise, which since I retired on Monday will be coming up soon. Even though we haven't been using it, we have been thinking about it.

The need for a table to use while sitting on the sofa was one of the main objects that either needed to be purchased or built.

Being especially lazy, I went to eBay and was out bid for a new cherry folding table coming out of a Class A being retrofitted for wheelchair access.

So it looked like I would end up building it myself. I started a exhaustive (you bet) search and fold a plan on Popular Mechanics site for a Gate Leg Table.

After measuring the space that was available and knowing that I wanted it to be secured to the wall behind the buffet and at the end of the sofa with the slide in or out I adapted the plan. It is built out of Home Depot oak and finished to match the interior. It will go right under the window at the right rear of the camper.

It is pretty skinny so that the slide can close in front of it.

The gate leg will swing out to stabilize it, when in use.

We will be leaving for a month on the road starting later this month.

First Day

This is the first official day of retirement.

The Team at work had a real nice going away at a local Irish Pub on Friday evening, thank you everyone.

The next couple of days are about getting the crash pad in Parker closed down and everything consolidated up to PR. Wouldn't you know it would be kinda snowing today.

Gallery Wall in Shop & the Gate Leg Table

It has been a snowy weekend in the mountains, but that's to be expected during the winter in Colorado.

I have "had to" even plow twice...but it is more fun then work running the plow. Remember, I said this if I start to complain about plowing when we are up here full time.

Dusty the dog always gets a good run when plowing in that he tries to bit the plow blade. I am hoping that as he gets older he slows down and stops chasing it...although with more practice he may catch the plow some day.

Be careful what you wish for dog.

BTW, that little peak in the background above the barn roof is called Samson's ( the next one to the east is Delilah) and is ~9200' MSL.


Let me get to what I promised in the last post. Here are a couple of shots of the developing shop/gallery.

Derek seemed a little hesitant when I mentioned the shop as a storage facility for his sculptures once he moves them out of the studios when he graduates from Western.

He mentioned that they are being prices to sell, during his show the end of March.

The posters/pictures do add a little more character to the space...as if it needed it.

Wait until the phone booth/bathroom is put in this summer for some character.

On the top of the bench you can see the gate leg table starting to take shape. At that point I was dry fitting everything to make sure it worked.

Drilling the hole for the wood hinge and pin turned out to be less problematic then I actually thought, but fitting the swing out section took some finagling so that it cleared the apron the stationary portion is attached too.

Here it is glued up and with a first coat of stain/poly. I used the Minwax PolyShade product and as far as Oak is concerned I am sold on it.

For the second coat I wet sanded it after application, but before it set up. The surface is baby-behind smooth.

There will be at least one more coat before I am finished.

Setting the hinges into the bottom of the top surface showed off my lack of chisel technique. It took me a while but the hinge mortises are just right, and luckily when installed the chisel marks underneath will be hidden.

The edge also has had the same round over used on the folding join. Re-setting up the router to match the joint had me going through a few pieces of scrap to get it right. I did this on the plastic router table I picked up at Menard's a few years back for ~$25. It works like a $25 table too, but it was better then using the trim router and bearing.

Next weekend we are moving everything up to PR so there will be no fun time, but after that the projects will focus on getting the Truck Camper ready for the shakedown trip to Texas to visit Tom and Joy and Inks Lake State Park.

Wood Finishing Flow Chart

If you don't get this ezine, you should. One of today's items was a real treasure for me, since I am finishing challenged.

http://woodworkersjournal.com/Main/Articles/Skill_Builder_Finishing_Flow_Chart_5463.aspx

The sanding section alone was invaluable.

Thumbs Up on the Alston Shower Heads

I mentioned last Friday the installation of the Alston 1. 5 gallon lower flow water amplifying shower heads ( http://www.alsons.com/he-watersaving/showerheads/products/658.aspx ) that utilize pattern and droplet management, rather then air injection and we can now say that they work.

Water feels warmer due to larger drops, and the pattern makes you feel wetter (figure that one out), but now the flow rate has been reduced ~40%.

The Alston and Delta shower heads look identical, but Delta calls them H2O Kinetics.

Shop and/or Art Gallery

Due to the GPC (Great Pothole Controversy) during the Daytona 500 there was some time to fill Sunday afternoon. Not sure how long it would go on and not wanting to miss a second of what would become a 6+ hour race, I started through the closet under the stairs near the big screen.

In it was a pile of framed pictures, poster, etc. from days gone by, previous homes, artistic epochs....you get the drift.

Like piles of shoes these would not move unless they could be re-purposed or given to a charity for distribution in some third world local.

Somehow I could not picture a framed copy of the "1990 Olympic Festival" or vegtables soaking in a pot pretending its a hot tub, hanging in someones, home, hut, shack, shanty, abode etc., so the natural place would be the shop. Here everything literally flows down hill.

Luckily there was a wall with nothing on it (above eye level) screaming...actually mumbling for something.

Just like a "To Be Continued" episode on TV, you will have to wait till next week for the pictures.

As a teaser, let me just say it is very eclectic.

Daytona Delimma

Just got back from walk in a nuisance snow (more then flurries, but less then a light snow), and I am facing a dilemma, should I watch the Daytona 500 or continue working on the latest project in the shop? Now you may say these are not mutual exclusive, but in this shop they are, as there is no TV in it yet. We don't get broadcast TV up here so a satellite receiver and probably another dish will be needed.


Another project for the post-retirement life.


So, since this is the Superbowl of NASCAR, and since I got further along on the current project then planned yesterday, I am going to watch the 'Tona...at least for a while.

But let me tell you about the latest project. It is a table...again, but it is for the truck camper we got last fall. In the camper there is a wall with a mirror between the sofa and the dinette when the two slides are deployed. So this will need to fit the space and not get in the way when the slides come in. So what fits those requirements?


I found a few folding RV tables on eBay. One in fact was made out of solid cherry and when folded formed a cabinet. Alas, I was out bid, as normal when it is something I actually needed vs. just wanted.


So in searching the Internet found something called a gate leg table, So the search was on for some plans that could be used as a starting point and that is where I found this.


I mentioned that this was going into a camper so some adjustments were needed and that is what the chicken scratching is on the sheet.


This also lead to another project that is on the list, a Fibonacci gauge. I will let you google/wiki that one.


After the head scratching (different from chicken scratching), I came up with the overall dimensions of 26" tall, 18"/6" deep and 24" wide. When the wing is folded down the sofa slide should be able to pass the table, which will be attached to the wall under a window. With all of the interior pics of the camper I don,t have one of this area, but here is the area from the outside http://picasaweb.google.com/PTCaulfield/OkanaganTruckCamper117DBL#5396911027761780034 the table will go under the window between the two slide outs.


I need to pause for a minute here as we are coming up on the boogity, boogity, boogity moment, e.g. start of the race.


Ok, a clean start, so back to the blog. Which lasted right up until I started typing.


As you can tell from the dimensions, the top will not be round and in looking at how to do this I went to a source used on many of these projects Highland Woodworking's website and their tips page http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/free-woodworking-tips.aspx which gave me a formula on how to figure the table radius. I will bring the edge to the line using a belt sander.


This table top because of the ability to fold had an interesting technique between the fixed and folding wing in that one edge has a cove and the other a round over, that caused me some real fine tuning on the router table before I got them to match up. BTW the top is upside down.


Before closing up yesterday dry fitted the legs and aprons. What looks like a spare leg is actually the gate leg. I need to cut a wood hinge in the front secondary apron on which it will be attached.


The legs are tapered from 1 1/8" to 7/8" on the inside faces.

In order to do all of the table saw work I need to build a new zero clearance insert...because I dropped the current one on the floor and broke it. Here again I used a spare cherry drawer front in the cutoff pile.


This also brought back my wounding of the table saw top when I made the zero clearance face for the circular saw that was needed for cutting the office work surfaces. The carbide tipped saw blade cut right into the cast iron top. I filled the wound with epoxy.


I need to go back to the race.

After a Snow Shower

Waugh looked kind of interesting after a cold front induced snow shower went through at sunset.

Small Projects

Friday when we arrived I was able to get a few small projects done.


The first got rid of a blanket that we draped over a Doolittle print we have to keep the Sun from hitting it.





Last weekend the novel and revolutionary (to us) idea of hanging a roll up shade behind the glulam that could be pulled down when we aren't in resident (here).


The next project is one that those of you using wells and cisterns may appreciate. It was the installation of low flow shower heads. Now I have seen these before and had no interest in a dribble shower. Over the last few year fixture companies have experimented with ways t0 reduce flow without reducing the flow...how can that be you ask, well it has to do with "apparent" flow experiments. The two methods used currently are air injection, similar to the jets on a hot tub, but this tends to cool of the water. The other is pattern/droplet control. This is the way we went. Read up on the Delta H2O Kenetic's and Alston.






The last project had to do with door stops. I don't know if you have problems when the windows are open and the wind is blowing with doors slamming shut, but up here it is pretty regular. We have installed a number of these magnetic door stops around the house. The also have a cushioning spring built in. Initially I had to buy these at jobber hardware stored, but Lowe's now carries them.

I am retiring

February 28, 2010 will be my last day.

Now it is time to get to the growing list of things, e.g. projects, trips, beers, races, etc.

The Office Comes Together

I know, its been a few weeks since my last post. But in the last few episodes I have talked about the office build out using the excess cedar form the house build back in 2006. The 6x6 timbers say outside beside the shop for a number of years waiting for me to come up with a project for them.
The timbers were sawn into 5"x 1 1/4" pieces on the sawmill back in August and allowed to dry even more in the shop for the last 5-6 months.

Last mentioned here I was edge gluing them into 30" wide slabs and getting them ready for the install. Well I finally got a round to cutting them to fit the office.

I started by setting the height at 26" ( a compromise between Marlys and me, but well within the acceptable work surface height). I used a tool that has come out only a few times...the laser level which worked nicely in running a line around the room. Then I marked the studs using a finder in order to attach the wall brackets.

The rough lengths were pretty good in that they were long enough to allow me to fine tune, but short enough that I could get them into the office without marking the walls and ceiling too badly.

Once on the brackets I could check the angles and shave off (if you could call using a cir saw shaving) the excess. I used biscuits at the joints to make sure the heights aligned and pocket screws on the under side to draw them together. I tried to get the joints as tight as possible by putting a 5 degree back cut on the ends, but there is still enough room to slip a piece of paper into.

Next the surfaces were taken out into the garage for finishing, where we attempted to blow up the house by applying the BLO/tung/poly blend while using a propane open flame heater. This situation was frowned on by the local retired fireman (Bart). I think the fumes had me addled because once he brought it up it was kind of a duh to me.

They have turned out pretty nice. Now it is on to the shelving for the corner area, that and the printer will serve as a hard boundary between Marlys area and mine, since she is a noted sprawler.