30 Apr, 2022
April 2022
It has been 5 weeks since our last visit to our Idahome…this trip is dedicated to painting doors and trim and hopefully well pump and well pressure tank.
In 5 weeks time, we have been simultaneously getting our California house ready. Moving is a huge task. We moved once before from Hawaii to California and that was a big task too. This time, we are moving out of a house that we raised our 3 children in. All the children are grown and out of the house. Only myself, my husband, and my mother-in-law remains. Art’s mom will stay in California with her family. This house has been a family farm for over a decade and we have been rehoming our livestock that took us a decade to acquire. At this time, we only have “Hobby,” a Nigerian Dwarf doeling (and our farm mascot) with her doeling daughter and our breeding pair of American Guinea hogs (Ruby & Albert ‘Albee’ Einswine) and 1 pet pig, ‘Pepper.’ All but one of our family dogs have left us due to old age and only Milo remains.
Boxing up our belongings takes time. I have been selling off furniture and plan to only bring a few pieces with us. I had this idea of moving as a way to purge so much, but in reality, it is hard to let go of memories of the kids growing up and some things just feel like they are irreplaceable.
In addition to packing, our house is also under construction. 16 years of living has taken its toll. Walls need to be repaired, painting needs to be done to freshen it up, and general maintenance and repairs are underway with my good friend, Handyman Joe.
This trip will be my first trip driving myself. Art will be driving with his struck and our boat (for future big fishing!) and I will be towing our spare vehicle on a car trailer. Going in, I am pretty nervous about driving over 1000 miles towing a trailer, but once we get started, it seems okay. By the grace of God, we both make it safely.
I have 3 weeks approved vacation from work and we have a pre-set date for new carpet in our California home. Plan is to make it to Idaho and complete scheduled tasks, return to California to oversee new carpet, and reload and return to Idaho with a second trip. We…have...so...much...stuff!
When we arrive in Idaho on Wednesday, I can’t believe how all that snow from just 5 weeks ago is almost all gone. There are a few white patches here and there, but it has disappeared nicely. Our driveway is firm and the beautiful landscape is all visible. Cabinets have been installed, hard flooring is installed and covered for protection, and doors and trim also all completed. Tile is in, needs grout.
Our job is to paint doors and trim and general homeowner cleaning. First day of work was spent burning all the cardboard boxes left behind and brush. We have huge piles of brush and twigs that have to be burned down, that’s going to take some time. Now that all the snow is melted around the house, new debris that was not visible before needs to be picked up, mostly smaller pieces of roofing material and siding and nails and screws (which I pick up with my roller magnet).
Thursday. In the house, the installed vinyl flooring is all covered. I removed a huge pile of cardboard and swept the floors. All the baseboards and door trims need to have the nail holes filled. I use DAP spackle and I bought a medium size bucket, but I didn’t even use a ¼ of it…I thought I would have needed more. In retrospect, the smallest container probably would have been enough. I even considered buying the bigger bucket, but went with the medium bucket because I didn’t want it to dry out. Took a good portion of the day to fill in all the nail holes on door trim, baseboards, and window sills.
RV: connected a water tote to an on-demand pump to the RV, bypassing the need to fill our water tank. Now we have access to 250 gallons without having to keep filling our water tank. The sink faucet sprung a leak. Took it apart and thought it was the O-ring…nope…probably need a new faucet.
Friday. Progress made on securing information and ordering materials for the well pump and septic. Small progress on painting. Ordered new faucet from Blue Dog RV. Rick H. from RC Worst Co. was very helpful to us and coming up with a quote for the well pump and pressure tank based on our well log report. He also helped us with a quote for the septic pump based on our perc test completed last year by Panhandle Health. Our well produces approximately 50 gpm (gallons per minute), is approximately 300’ feet deep, and a distance of 300 feet from the well to the house, our quote is approximately $8100 for the well pump, pressure tank, poly pipe, and associated materials. Septic pump estimate is approximately $2200. Product availability will decide when we can complete this project. Once this is all done, I will tell you how much it cost us.
We went to Bonner Concrete Products Inc (BCPI) to order our concrete septic tank. We chose the 2-piece vs the 1-piece partitioned septic tank because it is slighter less expensive. The tank is 1500 gallons, partitioned into 1000 gallons and 500 gallons. We were provided with dimensions and dig instructions. We plan to have Leroy from Construction Management Team assist with the septic install. Delivery set for May 19. We asked specifically for the Knuckle-Boom truck. This is a special truck that can deliver and place a tank with an extended arm. Our soil is very sandy and this truck will be needed to prevent the walls from caving in upon approach.
We must return to our CA home for new carpet there. Driving takes approximately 20 hours with stops, nearly 2 full days with sleep in between. Carpet installed in our CA home took 3 days, we arrived a few days before to clear out the rooms and pack more stuff to haul on our return trip.
Returning to Idaho…woodstove has been installed. Plan is to paint exterior trim where gutters will be installed and install water pressure tank and well pump. We ordered all the supplies earlier this month for the well and picked up our supplies from R C Worst in Coeur D’Alene.
Rain, Rain, Rain. Can’t trench for the well line because the trench will just fill with water and likely collapse due to our sandy soil. Well pump is going to have to wait until next trip.
Our 'soil' is like the beach. The sand is very clean and Woodstove looks great! Thank you to All About Chimneys in Sagle. Originally, we thought to have carpet installed and then the hearth pad laid on top, but project manager, Guy, suggested that if we ever want to change the carpet out, it will not be a clean re-install because the old carpet will be under the hearth pad. He suggested that we place the hearth pad on the floor and carpet around it. We take his advice, but then seeing the way the carpet will be around it, we decide to upgrade the rest of the living room to the vinyl flooring; another $4K add-on.
Garage. Concrete install the day before we have to leave again. Pressure tank is supposed to go in the garage. I guess that can wait until we return.
Our 'soil' is very sandy...like the beach. Milo, American Bulldog/American Staffordshire mix
Check back for May update…things are moving fast…with any luck, our next trip may be close to completion!
These "dirt snakes" are likely some kind of burrowing rodent/vermin...voles?
Moose poop...moose are to be looked upon by afar. They can be dangerous and do not fear humans.
Turkey tracks. Curious animals, they come real close to the house and are everywhere.
While gas prices are nearing $6/gallon in California, Idaho is much less...
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