The view from the outhouse
Wednesday October 6
Hello friends from Silty Slough, Alaska. Population 2 people, 2 cats, and 2 dogs. 34 degrees at 8:29 when the sun rose. It has been raining all night and should continue until after midnight. The river is low, low. The generator has been slow to start so I ordered new glow plugs for it. They should be on the mail plane tomorrow. I underestimated our gas and diesel needs for the summer construction. We are out of gas but our neighbor has a couple hundred gallons that we can borrow until we can haul more after Christmas. We have enough diesel if everything works. Roger and Cory brought 55 gallons up yesterday and plan to bring 55 more. If something goes wrong with the batteries or the inverter/charger we will have to run the generator more so I wanted to have a little extra. If the diesel system goes bad, we have 2 gas generators for backup. With the rain it is a lazy day for us and the dogs and cats.
I’ll get started on the day by day report.
Wednesday September 8
We are going to town this morning to get some supplies and to pick up our guests from Michigan, Dan and Rob. Roger, Myra, and Cory are headed in today also so we will have 3 boats heading down the river. The water was low but we had a good run. Kari kept the water under the boat and in a couple hours we were at the landing. First order of business is to head home, drop the boat and pickup and get Karis car to go back to A&W/KFC so we can get through the drive through. I am suffering from chicken sandwich and root beer float withdrawals. Now it is time to start the shopping trek.
Thursday September 9
Started the day with a run to the landfill, the lady there scolded me for not having my load tarped. The trash was in the back of the pickup in black contractor bags that had ridden perfectly 60 miles on the river and 40 miles on the highway in the bow of the boat without blowing out. I just don’t know how they made it the last 3 miles to the landfill in the back of my pickup. Anyway I begged for mercy and promised I would tarp my next load. On to the Sunrise Cafe in Palmer for breakfast then to Eagle River for dentist appointments. I had mine first and went to AIH for more tools and lagbolts while Kari had her appointment. I have a carefully planned the route in Anchorage so that we make all right hand turns when pulling out into traffic. First is Arctic Cat in Mountain View to get some special oil for the Bearcat transmission for only $25 a quart. Glad I just need one to change it. Then to the the bakery thrift store to get bread. It used to be Hostess and Wonderbread but they went bankrupt and moved to Washington DC to go into politics. We now have a Ding-Dong and a Ho-Ho in the White House. On to Kubota for parts and oil, then to Duluth Trading to get some shoes. This is my first new pair since before I retired 4+ years ago. The duck tape was wearing off my old pair and the soles were so thin I could step on a dime and tell you the date. Anyway I got to the checkout and I thought the pair I picked was on sale for $69 or $79. They rang up as $39 so I went back and picked out a second pair. Now a right turnout from here and head for Costco. We didn’t need too much so I think we got out of there for less than $500. It would have been a lot less but this construction project is going through a lot of Margaritas. Now it is off to pick up Thor. It is his birthday today so we are going to Red Robin for dinner. The wait is too long so we punch out and head for Texas Roadhouse where we had a great meal with Ken, Ben, and Jenny joining the party.
Friday September 10
Roger and Myra are heading home today.
Cory came by later and needed to work on his boat trailer. We needed the boat off so we headed over to Finger Lake and put it in the water. We made the repairs to the trailer in the parking lot and loaded the boat back up. Dan and Rob arrived about 7 so we picked them up and headed to the Palmer City Ale House.
Saturday September 11
First thing in the morning Dan, Rob, and I went to Palmer to fuel the boat and have breakfast at the Sunrise. Back home, loaded the boat and we were headed for the bush with a couple intermediate stops. On to the landing and up the river to Silty Slough.
Sunday September 12
Cory is still in town and Dan has something to do at his place so it is Roger and I. We planed some 6 x 6s to put some more corner bracing on the front deck post
Monday September 13
Roger, Dan and I made a platform to work from and set up our 2 temporary posts to hold the final ridge beam to go into place
Tuesday September 14
Rain No work
Wednesday September 15
Rain No work
Thursday September 16
Rain No work
Friday September 17
We have a full crew today. We completed the truss for the front wall of the cabin. Only two more trusses to build in place. We used the gin pole to lift the 6 x 12 for the ridge into place on top of the temporary posts. These posts will be replaced when we build the trusses.
Saturday September 18
Today we built the final two trusses and set 5 of the 6 x 6 rafters. Only 7 more of these rafters to go.
Sunday September 19
Dan and Rob fly home tomorrow morning so we are headed back to town in the boat. Cory is taking his boat in to be repaired so we met up on the sandbar out in front of Fish Lakes Creek. It is pretty cold. Cory is in the lead with us not far behind. The river is even lower than last trip but we made it in without any problems. Dan and Rob helped me put the Wine Down to bed in the hangar for the winter.
Roger and Dan stayed behind to work and got up more 6 x 6 rafters today.
Monday September 20
3:30 wake up so Dan and Rob can make their 6:20 flight. Nothing is open yet so Kari and I head back home after dropping them off. We were really sad to see them go.
Roger and Dan put more sheeting up on the back wall.
Tuesday September 21
Kari has a doctors appointment today just to renew a couple prescriptions otherwise we would go to the cabin today. I made another dump run this time with a cargo net over my load. No problem.
Roger and Dan finished up some loose ends and got the 1” lumber sorted and ready to go on the rafters smooth side down for the finished ceiling.
Wednesday September 22
Roger came in to pick Cory, Kari, and I up and take us to Silty Slough. We have a lot of supplies to haul along with our 2 dogs. It was a good ride in the afternoon. I didn’t get too cold.
Thursday September 23
It is windy and cold today. We started putting the 1” lumber on the rafters 3 feet or so at a time then covering it with bituthane. Then another 3 foot row of
wood then cover. 3 rows done today in the wind.
Friday September 24
It is cold and windy again today and we were seeing a few snowflakes. And I don’t mean like the ones you see running around in town. We finished the wood and bituthane on to the peak on the east side and got two rows on the back side.
Saturday September 25
We put up another 3 foot row of wood and bolted 6 x 6s to 10 x 10 deck beams where there is no wall for the 2x 10 rafters to set on. I know all this trusses, 6×6 rafters, 2x 10 rafters, 1” ceiling is as clear as mud. Basically we built a frame out of heavy beams and then framed a house around it. The roof/ceiling will be foam insulated from the outside in the spring. Then the purlins and metal roof will go on at that time. The rest of the roof over the existing cabin will be tied together in the spring also. I hope you can get a better idea from the pictures. Any questions forward them to Mayor Cooper, he is the project engineer.
That’s enough for now. I’ll post again the next rainy or snowy day.
Stay safe and healthy my friends!!
Thank you Lord for keeping us safe.
I’ll be in touch.
Blue skies!!!
The View from the Outhouse 