What's Next for Rick and Cathy?

 This blog started as a way for us to capture and share our travels around the country. For the last year-and-a-half or so, we - and this blog - have been much more focused on the tribulations and triumphs of having our new house built.

So, as I shared in the last post, that's done. We're comfortably in the house. In fact, we joyously shared Christmas with the entire family. We had nine adults, three grandchildren and three dogs here for three glorious days and nights, with the added bonus of having three of the kids (Scott, Heather and Sherry) spend an extra night because of bad weather along I-5. 

Here's the whole tribe, after a wine tasting at a local winery. 

Now, they are gone home; our house is both clean and quiet. Our attentions are now turned toward to the question posed in the title of this post: what's next?

As you might suspect, the inside of our home doesn't need any immediate attention. The only major inside project that we've ID'ed is to rip out some kitchen cabinets and replace them with open shelving; we'll add a tile backsplash at the same time. For reasons that pass my understanding, the cabinets are only 12" wide; two of them are in spaces at least 18" wide and, to my mind, look funny. This project is not urgent, though; it's just something that we want to do. 

The outside is another matter. We are literally sitting on an acre of bare dirt. With the rains we've had so far this rainy season - Paso Robles has already exceeded last season's rain total in only two months! - we've grown accustomed to muddy shoes and the constant cleaning of mud, dirt and gravel tracked into the house.

Fortunately, we had 8' of gravel placed around the entire perimeter of the house. Additionally, our driveway and parking areas are all road base, which drains very well. Because of this, one can get into and out of the house without too much mess being made. Beyond the immediate perimeter is another story.

Our immediate focus is the front of the house. We need to install rain gutters first. The way that our roof is constructed, the gables from the garage and porch dump the majority of their collected rainfall right in front of the house. Even with drains installed at the corners, our front "yard" is swamplike.

So, first gutters, then a sprinkler system, then grass out for 25-30' or so. After that, we're putting a rose garden out front; Cathy's already ordered some bareroot roses, which I believe will get shipped next month. 

After all that's done, we'll probably do something quick-and-dirty for a vegetable garden. I say "probably" because Cathy wants to build the deck out back next. I think we can do a garden quicker and easier, first... stay tuned.

What about the RV?  We are going to downsize. We're going to sell or trade our 40' fifth-wheel trailer in for something in the 30-32' size range. We recently went to an RV show and saw several models that will meet our downscaled needs. We fully intend to hit the road again - but we won't be living in it. That makes a big difference. We want something a little smaller; it's both easier and slightly cheaper to tow, and will allow us to get into some state park and forest service campgrounds. The beast we've got now is pretty much restricted to RV parks. Also, we will be getting a trailer with an RV refrigerator, which will allow us to boondock (camp offgrid) which isn't possible with our current home. 

WE ARE HOME!

 Yes, we are finally in our new home. It's been a long haul. Here's a brief timeline...

July 2020 - We purchased our lot and closed escrow on it right at the end of July.

October 29, 2020 - We ordered our home and submitted the building permit. The long delay from the purchase of the property was because of numerous tests and surveys that needed to be done for the submission of the permit.

January 2021 - The permit was kicked out because of some unmet requirements of Cal Fire.

April 2021 - We were informed the permit would not be issued until we had a well onsite. This was contrary to everyone's expectations and prior experience - even the well company!

June 14, 2021 - Well drilling commenced! After completion of the well, the water was tested and a report submitted to the county.

June 29, 2021 - Building permit issued!

July 31, 2021 - House arrived onsite.

November 16, 2021 - Final inspection completed. WE ARE DONE!

November 18, 2021 - First night in the new house.

Obviously, a lot happened in between, mostly summarized in previous blog posts. Here, I'll capture what's happened since my last post.

One story about the final inspection, and the huge bullet that we dodged. Our driveway plans called for a slope of 11.9%. Slopes above 12% grade trigger a Cal Fire requirement for an "all weather" driveway - one that's paved with asphalt or concrete. That's really expensive: like, $30K or so!

Unfortunately, the plans and the reality didn't mesh. Our grading contractor couldn't get the grade below 15%! How could this happen? Lots of finger-pointing here: the grading contractor, plan engineer, survey company all felt the other guys were at fault. At the end, we decided to wing it. Our contractor said he'd never seen a fire marshal pull out a grading level to check the grade.

So, the fire inspector pulls up. First words out of his mouth were, "You guys planning on paving this?" 

"No, we weren't."

"You got the plans handy?"

"They're inside."

We walked into the house; he took a look at the plans, saw the grading plan, commented "11.9%" and never said another word about the driveway! Cathy and I worked really hard not to bust into our happy dance until the guy left!

Prior to final inspection, we continued with the numerous pre-move-in tasks we had set for ourselves. This includes things like installing ceiling fans (5) and assembling a lot of furniture. Bear in mind... we essentially had no furniture. Aside from a TV, a piano, grandfather clock and antique library table, we were starting from scratch. So, we spent a number of days assembling bed frames, a TV stand, end tables, dressers, etc. 

We also had all kinds of deliveries. We had movers move our belongings, including the piano, out of storage on the 15th. We had ordered recliners and a sofa; they were delivered on the 15th. 

Oldest daughter Sherry spent Thanksgiving with us, and it was great having her here. Not the least of the reasons: time spent with her was time we weren't spending working like field hands around the house! It was a welcome break in the action.

Right now, the house is pretty much assembled inside. We don't have anything on the walls yet, but we have a number of items set out which will get hung in the next couple of days. We are starting to morph into a more "normal" life style for us: Cathy's busy organizing the inside of the house and I've been able to focus a little more on outside activities. We are busy planning on having the whole family here for Christmas. Not surprisingly, we've got a bunch of things to do before then, but they'll all get done - I think!

Was it worth the wait? You bet. Here's the view out our back door...