Blogs

Hi!  We started off in Portland (well, Colton really), Oregon and are headed to Homer, AK!



We've been making great progress, though slow going.  We've gone 1,017 miles, figure there is another 350 to go before we're half way.  Lucky me, Monkey has been doing the bulk of the driving...


This is our view of the truck this morning at Dawson Creek, it's warmed up to a balmy 30degrees from the 10 it was last night.  Whew.  We've been taking pictures and video along the way.  Once this is all in the rear view, I'll probably be able to put something fun together.



Cross your fingers for us, the trailer has been trailing and the Cruiser has been  humming along.  I had to hit second a few times to get up some of these hills and because of the slick - have had some real pucker moments when passing or being passed by the big rigs.  We had one small, slow moving jack knife situation leaving a rest area, getting ready to pull out into traffic (hah - there was no real traffic) and having to hit the brakes when a car appeared out of nowhere but nothing really got hurt, the spare tire on the back of the Cruiser repelled the trailer at the propane tanks.

Btw, the trailer is a 1968 Aristocrat

Things are beginning to happen, although slowly. Since we have decided to wait on our getting our logs, we figured we would plant our kids future homes. This past weekend, we planted 500 white pine trees on our property; filling in the dead loss of the 1000-1500 that have been planted over the last 7 years and to create a buffer between us and the road. We have our driveway in (just so we can have a place to park our storage trailer/container), and I have contacted the electric engineer to come out and see where our electric will come in.

Dave and I are in heated debates about self-reliancy and the like. We will be doing some solar electricity and are looking at doing a small wind turbine for some more electricity. We even read an article on a couple who had a stationary bike in their basement that pumped their water from the well to their water tower every day. I think that's awesome and Dave is reluctant to agree, but he does. The biggest debate we have is about water. I want to have a well and he wants city water. (While we are in the "country", we still get city water.) Apparently the area is known for having sulfur water, but we also have underground springs. We will be drilling a well, and deciding what to hook our house up to after we taste it. If it's not run to the house, we will use it to water our animals.

This weekend we also marked the place for our very large garden and fruit trees. We have no idea what to do from here. We have bought an Alaskan Sawmill and Dave is itching to cut some trees down so he can use it! We found a guy with some oak and walnut trees that he was cutting down for firewood (can you believe that!?), and we thought we could cut some up for our floor joists and rafters. Then again, we could sell them to a mill and then buy what we wanted; but the mills aren't buying anything like that right now (they said). Maybe we'll just get them anyway. :)

Due to be out of my house Dec 31st.

Due to hit the road to Fairbanks on March 12th.

...if all goes as planned of course.

Next big step...

...bought a moving truck, loading with everything I have:

...here is where I'm going to be living between the sale of the house and the move to Alaska to start buildling:

...stuff is coming together!

I thought I could do it but I'm human.. Its tough enough to keep my blog updated and haven't kept the LHBA blog going. Visit http://bradsloghome.blogspot.com/ for the latest happenings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Df9KU69TKQ

Hey Guys. Im living back in my homestate of Colorado now.  If you need some help building, peeling, chinking  hit me up for some help.

The only downside is I work offshore in the oil industry so I never know when I'll be home. The upside is when Im home its usually for a couple of weeks just polishing a chair with my butt.

The only rules I have are:

1.is that your wife can't whine more than me.

2. A drug free worksite

4. A can cuss like a sailor cause I was one for so long.

5. I will do anything reasonable for the right amount of money 

Short list. So far.

Email me at rowley.clark@gmail.com   Cell phones dont work offshore so please don't call and wonder why I never got back to you.

Also my Dad is in the Denver area and is a retired General contractor that actually has some integrity and believes in common sense and if your having a problem he may be able to help you out.   He's worked on many kits log homes and knows the pitfalls enough to stay away from them. He also was the man in charge of Refurbishing Hot Sulphur springs resort so if you get up that way you can admire his work like he likes too.

Thats it for now.

Best of luck to all you who were like wise bitten

Rowley Clark

Well, there are more changes. It's a good thing, because we still have no idea what we're doing! We have decided to wait on logs and such. We have a semi trailer coming this week and we will be gathering items for the build (ya know, like they advise in class!) to store in it. So far, we have almost all of the tools, antifreeze for the home brew solution, a driveway, and.... a telehandler being delivered soon! We have also reverted back to our original plan of having a basement. There's so much to get and do, and we really need to allow ourselves the time to get and do those things. We have a tendency to rush into things we are excited about and realized we are doing the same with this project. Patience is not something I was born with, but I am learning it in a very painful manner!

The plan now (which I'm sure will be revised several more times!) is to gather things we will need. We have a telehandler being delivered within the next week or so (and the hubby is super excited about playing with it!) and are on the lookout for anything we will need. I'm researching ICF for our basement. We will consider buying the ICF in advance; as with anything that picks up popularity, I'm a little afraid it will increase in price before we are ready for it. Once this house is sold (putting on the market spring 2012-but hopefully before), we will buy a trailer, move onto the property and get logs. Hopefully logs will be readily available when that time comes. Part of me feels we should try to get logs now, treating with the solution as often as needed, so that we don't run into that problem. But, the longer they sit, the bigger chance of log issues, etc. Plus, we have to have faith, right?

So, there's the update. Gathering stuff, storing stuff, and praying it will all work out!

Im looking for some help with:

(1) Logs (Northern White Pine) - Finding Free or Cheap source;  for exterior walls, colums, girders, (ideally close to Western North Carolina (Sylva, NC)).

(2) Cedar logs - finding free or cheap source - considering using this type of material for interior walls, floors, and roof.

(3) Cheap architect - Ive tried using the pucnh software & better homes and garden software and havent had much success.

                             Im wanting to build a 3 story approx 4,500 sq ft house

(4) If someone has already built something on the size scale that im desiring to do and you want to share some picutures..if its something that i like the design of then maybe I could work a deal with you.

If more convenient my email is drmjmule@yahoo.com

Thanks in advance!   

Matt Mule'

*No catchy tag line yet, but im sure that will change after construction is kicked off.

Well my first attempt to get a special exemption, for a micro-conference center and cabin resort, has not been successfull. Now I will have to appeal to the courts and strenghten my resolve. I sit on my local zoning board an adjacent community and really believed this thing would pass without a problem. Needless to say I very disappointed. I hope this doesn't turn into a long drawn out legal battle, I have allready invested 10 years in this project. I am really anxious to get building. Rather than sit around and wait Ive decided to build a 20x20 protype cabin in my backyard. Hopefully that will keep me from going stir crazy why I wait on the zoning appeal process. I anyones interested you can read the following articles in local newspapers regarding round one of my zoning battle: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/dailycourier/news/connellsville/s_700899.html

http://www.heraldstandard.com/news_detail/article/2809/2010/september/30/dunbar-twp-man-to-appeal-zoning-decision.html