Frog choker

Today it rained so hard it would have choked a frog. Not a nice day to work in. Concrete work was out of the question. The crew arrived shivering and damp just from the walk from their cars to the site. I felt much the same. But the deadline is pressing and there is a great deal left to be done so it was a day to throw up some tarps and do work under the eaves as much as possible.

I hunkered down under a tarp to do some welding on the small cabin by the pond. Marty stapled wire under the saloon eaves. The rest of the crew broke out the wiring tools to tie on mesh in readiness of the sunny days ahead when concrete will be again possible. Ashley was under the wave swinger wiring the beams as were Jenessa, Kendra, TJ and Peter.

Down in the bike rental area Matt, Jack and Sarah were busy wiring under the porch roof.

We made the best of a very rainy Thursday. Some Timi's donuts helped brighten the mood a little. Tomorrow the sun is bound to shine at least a little.

-grampa dan

When it rains it pours

Today the weather forecast wasn't very good. It called for rain but a bright afternoon. We decided we could mud the upper portions of the building as long as we stayed under the overhang. But by first coffee break the sun came out and we could see lots of blue sky. We decided to go for the gusto and do up the facia boards as well. It would be nice to finish off the upper portion of the front of the building! We got a good start before the first shower hit but it just sprinkled and then the sun came out again. About half way through another shower passed by but it was brief and the sun returned again. Just before lunch as we were getting close to having the facias done the clouds again rolled in and this time the rain got serious. We ran for the plastic to cover things up and hoped for the best.

Thankfully the rain did little damage and by after lunch the sun again broke through the clouds. We made great progress thanks to the efforts of the entire crew. There was a LOT wood grain on a LOT of boards to carve. By the end of the day the building was transformed yet again and looking pretty cool. This is the view as guests will view it from the path to the west.

From the lower lineup area the whole front of the building is visible. The lower roof facia and one gable facia still needs the mud work. That will happen on Friday if the weatherman delivers as promised. You can see a bit of the blue base coat starting to go on as well.

To get a look at the whole picture and how everything fits together you have to back up way into the parking lot. It is going to be pretty spectacular when we are done!

So today was a day of ups and downs as far as weather. We got a little wet but the mud survived and lots got done. A good day after all.

-grampa dan

Instant forest

This morning dawned wet and cool - not the perfect day for mudding outside. Even so the deadline gets closer every day and we need to press on. Marty fired up the cement mixer and TJ did the last of the wiring we needed in order for us to apply the concrete to the beam and trees under the main building overhang. The rest of the crew scattered to covered spots to apply the galvanized mesh. There's not many left but we can still handle a few rainy days yet before we have to resort to working under tarps.

Peter and I set up the small rolling scaffolds and we set to work, starting at the far end of the long beam. There was sixty feet of beam and six tall tree posts to get covered as fast as we could in order to allow time for us to carve before quitting time. And that we did. Marty mixed up twenty-seven batches of concrete (the record is forty) which is pretty good for working on tricky overhead work on scaffolds. Peter and I carved the trees while Matt did the overhead beam and we finished without going into overtime today. The sun came out in the late afternoon as we finished things off.

As it does every time, the look of the building instantly changed as the columns went from see through mesh to solid trees. Each day another piece of the park is mudded and carved bringing final shape to the project in a hurry. Tomorrow we hit it once more.

-grampa dan