Tuesday, 3.7.17
Edgewood, NM to
Shalom CHRPALand, Tucson, AZ
483 miles
Today was a
LONG day. We got up and basically packed
up the trailer to be ready for our much hoped for phone call that the truck oil
pan had arrived! Around 11am we drove
into Mom’s, sat with her for about a half hour and then headed over to the
Toyota dealership. Truck not quite
ready, but it would be. We grabbed lunch
at the Wendy’s next door and then at 1:15 we finally were able to leave
Albuquerque for good!! Back out to
Edgewood to pick up the trailer. We were
officially ‘on our way’ by 2:15.
Since we
are later in the day on a weekday, we decided to take the alternate rural route
down to the freeway north of Socorro. It
adds only a few miles and keeps one out of traffic. Still it is two hours to pull into Socorro,
gas up, and then I drive down to Hatch.
The sun sets behind the western mountains just before we arrive in
Hatch, where we fuel ourselves up with burritos and a green chili sandwich
(Rick!). The vistas from Hatch to Tucson
we have seen plenty of times, and quite frankly, it is gorgeous driving on a
clear night, with a ¾ moon in the sky and plenty of stars.
I take a
brief 50 mile shift to relieve Rick from Lordsburg to Safford, and we pull into
the Shalom lot a few minutes before midnight.
They’ve been landscaping, but there is ONE RV spot left on the end of
the row! We back in quickly, figuring we
can adjust in the morning. Plug in and
go to bed!! (Well, Rick takes awhile to
unwind ….. both of us had plenty of coffee since Hatch!)
Much of the
rest of the drive I was busy texting siblings, sending emails, doing FB
updates, etc. regarding Mom’s status and her now pending surgery for Wednesday
in Portland. Prayers. Lots of prayers.
I also took ZERO pictures today. ZERO! The best photo opportunities were while I was driving, sadly enough. :(
Wednesday, 3.8.17
A Day of Rest
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| We are the last in the lineup at CHRPAland RV Park! |
Well, I can’t
say Rick and I actually DID very much today!
We listened to the click click of the bikes going over the RV hookup
metal plates at 7:15, the parade of cars and trucks coming in for the 7:30
CHRPA start time. And we didn’t get out
of bed after our midnight arrival!
Rick spent
much of the day trying to get the hot water heater to stop leaking after the
repairs that were made in Edgewood. Finally
enough for him to take a shower by evening….we are hoping the minerals in the
Tucson water will plug up the few remaining occasional drips!
We grabbed
some groceries mid-day to tide us over for awhile. Afternoon slightly napping and talking with
the many people who came over to introduce themselves, investigate the new
trailer, etc.
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| The first of our Arizona sunsets. |
We joined
the CHRPA crew at end of day to celebrate Kat’s birthday. I can’t get internet at the trailer, since we
are at the far end, but I can sit outside the CHRPA office and connect
there. A little more uncomfortable and
inconvenient, but the price you pay for inexpensive lodging!
THURSDAY, 3.9.17
CHRPA Day 1 – Mom’s
Hip Surgery
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| This has nothing to do with our Flooring CHRPA lesson, but I really liked the front of the Shalom sanctuary! |
Scott
scheduled Rick and I to work together today at the CHRPA headquarters. I had indicated a willingness to do so
yesterday when I overheard him saying how many people would be working Thursday
(often a popular day with the locals as well due to CHRPA-School). Our School this morning was on floor repairs,
taught by Dustin. I thought he did a
good job – we went over to the church to watch a PowerPoint on it!
Scott had a
list of things that need to be done in the new office space. (No, they are NOT moved into the addition
that Rick and I painted last fall! Still much to be done!) We spent the morning cutting corrugated sheet
metal to fit into place for soffits (a portion had been done already) and
installing the panels. The electric tin
snip work very much like the cement board cutter I used up in Bozeman, MT! And I
have a wonderful supply now of metal ¼”
curly cues to make into ‘stuff’! (Rick
just rolls his eyes on this acquisitions!)
Also got the assessments done and materials ordered (and later
delivered!) to finish the molding around the utility closet and to install the
sheetrock corner bead in the new entry between old and new. I patched a section of damaged sheetrock in one
of the offices – to paint later when the mud is dry. And we cut and painted 10 8 foot sections of
trim to put up in the gap between soffit and wall on the exterior. Not a bad day’s work!
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| Rick installs one of the soffit panels. |
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| A star made from my sheet metal scraps! |
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| Rick and Scott discuss trim. |
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| Tonight's sunset as I sit by the office working online! |
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| Cacti at Tucson Botanical Gardens |
FRIDAY, 3.10.17
Ginger’s 63rd
Birthday
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| Flowers at TBGardens |
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| Garden pictures |
Back to
trailer for a VERY lazy afternoon.
Eventually I went over to the SOOP lounge and found a puzzle! Spent 3 hours working on it! Talked with Luke, text with Mac concerning
mom. Saw oodles of wonderful birthday
wishes on Facebook!
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| In the butterfly house |
Saturday,
March 11
A Little Work, A
Little Play
A good night’s sleep, although both of
us work up at one point to the sound of shots being fired – 8-10 of them! We never heard sirens, so we think it was
just someone nearby having a little fun into the air. Hope so, anyway!! A little disconcerting, however!
A beautiful sunrise this morning which
pulled me out of bed to take a picture, although I was a little late for the
best show. Glad I got up, however,
because Liz called shortly after that! She is always up early and hospitals don’t
bring out the best in sleep patterns, anyway!!
Mom was doing well – staff keeping on top of potential bed sores,
infection, bladder, etc. Liz anticipates
Mom might get to move to the rehab center by Tuesday or Wednesday.
Conversations this morning with Marge,
Ted, and later Bob who rode his bike in to use the internet. Neighbor Joe stopped by, whom we hadn’t seen
for over a year (he had suffered through a few medical issues too – seems to be
a common theme with all our ‘old’ friends!) And during it all, Rick worked hard
once again to fix the water system. Ted
loaned him a heat gun which is supposed to make the plexitubes soft enough to
mold together. As of 4pm this afternoon,
95% success rate!
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| My patch job! |
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| Side view of soffit and trim. |
We decided to finish up a couple of
our CHRPA jobs today – eg. I painted my
sheetrock patching in one of the offices, and both of us installed the trim
molding under the soffits outside. We
can write down another 2 ½ hours of work now!
Rest of afternoon spent in SOOP lounge
doing my map puzzle and catching up on some drawing. Pleased to find I have marginal wifi there –
might not have to sit outside the office every night! (Cancel that last paragraph – lost it!) Rick came over and made popcorn for his
dinner! I eventually ate salad! Lazy day overall!
Sunday,
3.12.17
Worship and SOOP
Time!
Another beautiful morning out. Tucson can be downright pleasant when it is
52 degrees outside in the mornings AND we have that giant tree shading the trailer
until 9:30am or so!!
We went to church across the parking
lot, which from our current spot is REALLY close – had to walk, perhaps, a
total of 40 steps….maybe! Did feel like
we were a little in the middle of the parking lot at times as cars pulled
in.
Recognized two other SOOPS, Peter and
Viola, who sat behind us. They invited
us as well to the gathering after church which Marge had mentioned on
Friday. We just didn’t know when and
where! Well, Viola came over to the
trailer after church to make sure we knew the details! Olive Garden!
(when have I been to Olive
Garden TWICE in one week in my whole life??)
We ended up with a group of 13!!
Most of us just ordered the soup and salad lunch menu – you can’t go
wrong with that!
Shopping at Harbor Freight and then
groceries at WalMart to wrap up our ‘outing’.
Afternoon on phone or internet catching up. After dinner I went over to the SOOP Lounge
for game night – we finished the global map puzzle, others played Mexican
train.
CHRPA Day 2
Another beautiful cool morning, but
slated to heat up to the 90’s again today!
Rick is going out with our ‘neighbor’ from Alberta, Bob, on several
jobs. I am assigned to Dan Wilhelm and a
tub conversion job, which basically means rip out the bathtub, and install a
shower base, frame in walls, etc.
The demolition goes easily, followed
by a trip to Home Depot to pick up a shower pan, tiles, plumbing fixture,
etc. Upon return, I worked on building a
small frame to finish off the wall while Dan did the plumbing connections. Unfortunately, we struggled to get the
connections to stop leaking, but were FINALLY successful. Then we couldn’t get the shower pan to sit
level because of the height of the drain.
So….a frustrating afternoon in some ways.
Rick and Bob had a good day, got their
‘list’ done, and worked together well.
Rick is scheduled to help with a handicap ramp tomorrow, and I will be
back with Dan, hopefully getting started on the tile process!
I rasped and sanded the corner edges in
the office when we got back, prior to taking a shower! Hope to get those corners covered and
plastered sometime this week.
Tuesday,
3.14.17
CHRPA Day 3
Rick is on the north side of town
today with a four-person ramp crew! Abi
and Kara, Rick and Hugh. They completed
a huge ramp for a mobile home, all but the railings. Abi and Mary will return tomorrow to finish
it up.
I went out again with Dan to hopefully
make better progress on our shower conversion!
We decided to frame off the tiny remaining part of the wall, so I worked
on that while Dan still struggled for awhile to make the drain system
work. He finally had to drive over to
Naughton’s for some parts and we had success!
I even installed my frame section myself. It fit tight!
Before lunch we got all the cement
board up – not nearly as easy as sheetrock to install. I finally started hammering in the screws to
get them started and then drilled them in the rest of the way.
After lunch….tile time!!! Dan got started and then let me set about
three rows of the back wall in myself – he buttered and I placed the
tiles. After that, I went out to the
tile saw and made all the cuts, including the cut out for the shower head! We were all done shortly after 2:30! (Except for the small section of wall where
we ran out of tiles….it wasn’t part of our initial estimate.)
Rick had started the laundry already,
so I grabbed the black paint and a small brush and went out and touched up the
paint jobs on about 6 of the trucks.
Nothing major on most, just MAYA that needed a bit more. Puzzle time, and a long phone conversation
with Liz round out the evening.
Wednesday,
March 15
CHRPA Day 4
Another beautiful sunrise! Temps in the trailer have been in the upper
50’s most mornings – just pleasantly cool!
(Unfortunately temps have been near 100 degrees in the trailer when we
get back from the job! AC time!)
Rick has been changed to go back out
with Abi and finish the rail. They also
did a rail assessment, so Rick was able to see the process from the very
beginning. He is hoping to get enough
skills to be able to offer to build ramps for Baker City residents.
I originally was scheduled to go out
with Dan again, then changed to Don, then changed back again to Dan. I was glad because I really wanted to see the
shower conversion through to the finish line.
We stopped and picked up the tile we needed, got it installed (I again
doing the cutting), and then drilled the holes for the safety bars. Dan was using a diamond drill bit and I
sprayed with water every 4-5 seconds and STILL each hole took nearly 2
minutes! We had 12 to drill! Not a fast process. Then I installed the toilet safety rails
while Dan began grouting. Finally we
caulked all the corners, etc., installed the rails and shower fixtures, and
finally, put up the new curtain rod. We
proclaimed it done and Maria and Adina came to admire! (BYW, Maria did deliver more breakfast
burritos and OJ this morning!)
Lunch, and then up to the rooftop to
service the swamp cooler! I cleaned the
pan while Dan put in new pads, we tested the water system and motor, installed
a new fuse, and switched the vents blockers from furnace to cooler. It was hot
up there, but a nice view of the Tucson Mts. to the west!
Last stop was another cooler service
and a furnace assessment. Over near the
airport and RIGHT under the flight path!
The homeowner was at work and her daughter did not speak a lick of
English. We struggled at times. Some cute kids! It was a different kind of cooler, so we had
to make a trip to Naughton’s to pick up giant size cooler pads (extra thick
ones). By this time clouds had obscured
the intense sun and a nice breeze was blowing up on the roof! We didn’t get back to CHRPA HQ until 4:30! A full 9 hour day!
We walked down to Taco Giro for
dinner, with a conversation with Liz enroute!
BIG dinner meals that will be tomorrow’s as well! Beautiful sunset to the west while we walked
home. Puzzle and computer time, then bed
time!!
Thursday, March 16
CHRPA Day 5
Thursday is CHRPA School Day! This morning Ted and Elinor led some reminder
hints about electric boxes and fuse boxes, etc.
I learn just enough about electricity to be dangerous! I still would never feel comfortable doing
much on my own concerning electricity, but I learn a little more each time we
come!
Rick goes out again with Abi today,
but no ramps – they are fixing an awning that is preventing a front door from
opening smoothly. Also had a few water
heater assessments to make.
I am with Dustin and we are bound for
the far reaches of the county in Marana and beyond! But first Home Depot, stops at Dustin’s house
and a potential house to buy, then drop off some roof sealant for Abi and Rick,
and THEN house to do our assessment for a lady living in a small mobile home
out in the desert. She is definitely in
need of assistance, and while Dustin does the assessment, I get the figures and
facts for the paperwork from her.
Then on up the freeway some more and
out toward Saguaro West National Park.
Dustin has been working here all week installing a new swamp
cooler. We have to install the duct work
into the trailer heating system UNDER the trailer. We struggle at times to get the pieces to fit
together, and then we discover we are 10 inches short. We brought a few extra pieces with us (just
in case this happened), but didn’t have one big enough for the second large
section. Scrounge in the yard, which was
filled with debris, and Dustin found the underpan for an old BBQ – the right
size and very well corroded, so usable for our purposes! I cut everything with the electric tin snips,
and then we BOTH went under the house to maneuver the pieces into place and
attach them. Dirty work!
While Dustin then checked the swamp
cooler function, I installed two posts out by the front steps under the railings.
Enroute home I talked with Luke
briefly as he wanted to discuss putting money down on a condo unit! Hopefully it proves to be a good choice.
Quiet evening – Rick watching March
Madness Basketball. I got caught up on
some of my drawings. We are packing for
our adventure tomorrow up to Phoenix area and Carefree, AZ – Ron and Lynne
Rutter!
Friday, March 17
Visit with Ron and
Lynn Rutter
Carefree, Arizona
We are off on a beautiful St.
Patrick’s Day around 8:30 to drive up to Carefree, north of Phoenix, for an
overnight visit with Ron Rutter, Rick’s college roommate from Wooster. They haven’t seen each other in over 40
years!
The sides of the freeway are ablazed
with bright yellow flowering bushes – I think
I identified them as brittlebush. We
follow our map and Google maps on the phone to take us up to Ron and Lynn’s
beautiful home among the desert flora.
Wow. I feel like I am in a resort
of sorts! Landscaped back yard with pool
and Jacuzzi, barbeque fire spot with covered roof, saguaros and ocotillo, agave
olants and bouganvillia. A huge covered
patio with plenty of furniture to curl up and listen to the morning music of
birds. (Can you tell where I am sitting
right now?) The house is decorated with
artwork and memories from around the world.
Ron spent 20 years in the military and his oldest son is a Marine who
has been stationed throughout AND travels to various countries as well. They also have some incredible family
antiques in the way of furniture which help round out the rustic, old
look.
Ron Barbequed some chicken for lunch
along with fresh fruit, and then we headed down to the Carefree town center
which was having an art and wine show.
We declined on the wine portion, but thoroughly enjoyed wandering thru
the booths and admiring some very upscale (and expensive art!) Carefree was established as an artsy
community about 50 years ago. Some wise
city planning went into it with commercial areas hidden within the desert
growth, street names of Nonchalant and Ho Hum!
It is a beautiful retirement area for the Rutters, away from the harsh
Ohio winters and closer to the San Diego climate Lynn grew up in and they both
enjoyed for years while Ron was stationed there.
Back for a superb Mexican meal Lynn
prepared – chile relenos, enchiladas, fresh salsa and guacamole, chips, rice
and beans – the whole thing! Add a few
glasses of wine around the patio table and it was 11pm before we wrapped it up
for the evening. (Oh, I forgot the lemon
bars Lynn had prepared ahead from their lemon tree!)
Needless to say, our visit has been an
escape from the tiny living quarters of the trailer, a warm hospitality and
sharing of old stories, catching up on lives, etc. Lynn and I felt like we knew each other ahead
of time from our Christmas cards over the years!
Saturday,
March 18
Back
to Tucson!
A beautiful leisurely morning with
good coffee, breakfast, and more conversation before Rick and I take off around
10:30am. We will come back to this
little oasis in the dessert and wonderful people!
For an alternate route back down to
Tucson, we head east on US 60 toward Apache Junction, then south on Hwy 79
toward Florence and the north side of the Catalina Mts. NEW ROAD!
The mountains are much more impressive driving south rather than when we
came past them a couple years ago and were heading north toward Globe. Florence is set out in the middle of the
desert with a state prison. Some nice
saguaros dotting the landscape, but the desert got dryer looking the further
south we went, compared to the lush green desert around Carefree.
Discovered the location of Gold
Canyon, a town at the base of the Superstition Mts east of Apache
Junction. Carl and Arletta often winter
there and I think the Freemans were there right now! Mostly we found a traffic jam for 15 miles as
it is the current site of a Rennaisance Festival taking place! While Rick drove thru the mess, I enjoyed a
phone call with my mom (and Liz in the background!) A good 15 minute call and she sounded MUCH
better!! Encouraging.
Back around the edge of the Catalinas
and into Tucson around 2 pm. A stop for
groceries at WalMart and back to a very warm trailer (101!!) at 3, ready to
make some lunch/dinner!!!
I spent next few hours in SOOP lounge
on computer and puzzling while the laundry processed. Rick watching basketball games.
A lazy night!
Sunday, 3.19.17
CHRPA work
Both of us felt the desire to get a
few more of the tasks on the New Addition list done prior to our departure, so
we skipped church this morning and headed over to the office instead. Over the course of 4 ½ hours, we got the
utility closet trimmed and painted and the exposed sheetrock corner between old
and new covered and two layers of mud applied.
I wanted to paint, but it needs another layer!
A hot day, basketball, computer time,
and then puzzling with the SOOPS in the evening.
Monday, 3.20.17
CHRPA Day 6
Another hot one!! Just when we are getting ready to leave at
the end of this week, the weather is due to change to something a little more
tolerable!
Rick went out with YAV Mary to pick up
and install a gas stove unit, and then did some plumbing work on showers and
faucets. Touchy stuff to sweat a
plumbing connection in close quarters and flammable walls. But they got ‘er done!
I went with Abi and Hugh to build the
ramp that Rick helped assess last week.
Our client was an older man who kept falling on his stairs from the
mobile home and then calling 911 when he needed to go to the grocery store
because he couldn’t get down the stairs safely!! He looked a bit like Einstein! I put in a couple dozen lag bolts and
uncountable screws! Did some of the cuts
for the decking planks. Fortunately as
we worked down the ramp, the shade also moved in the same direction. Thank goodness as it was 95 degrees
outside!
A social date this evening! Abi and Alli have invited us over for dinner,
joined by Carrie and Josh. An
adventuresome meal of falafel, pita pockets, feta cheese, and cucumber yogurt
sauce! We brought wine and ice
cream! Always fun to just sit and visit
with these amazing young adults. Abi is
starting to get wedding stressed, as she and Josh are marrying on the 3rd
of June in Minnesota!
Tuesday, 3.21.17
CHRPA Day 7
Today is Scott’s birthday! We all signed the outside of a package Ted
wrapped up in cardboard (a map of Tuscon valley trails that was given to Ted by
a client, but perfect for Scott! It will
look great in his new office….when said office is ever finished!)
Rick and Don head out to do a little
roof assessment, and then a major floor repair.
It sounded like a huge chunk of the floor needed to be replaced. NOT a clean job, according to Rick. Grubs, dirt, gray water, etc. But the owner was finally able to safely
access his kitchen again!
Hugh and I went back to the Keller
(Einstein) home to finish up the railing of the ramp and then patch a small
hole he had in his bedroom floor. We had
some equipment issues since we weren’t in the ‘ramp’ truck, but we got it
done! I sanded it all after lunch while
Hugh worked on the floor repair. Then we
loaded up Lenny with all the
discarded step lumber and trash.
It is always interesting to work with
Hugh. He can share stories from a varied
and interesting life in many places.
Hugh seems to seek out the marginalized and learn their stories. He works for CHRPA a couple days a week, but
then I think he spends much of the rest of his time doing repairs for former
clients on his own!
A quick trip to the post office and
battery store after work. Packages to
mail and a new battery for the trailer.
(This has not been an inexpensive trip repair wise!)
Wednesday, 3.22.17
CHRPA Day 8
Roof Day!! Rick and I are both working together today in
a team with Josh and Tim (Scott’s brother in law) Tim formerly owned a roofing company, and
Josh worked roofing every summer during college, so Rick and I were in good
company!! Josh and I stopped to pick up
plywood while Rick and Tim went over to Scott’s mom’s house to do a quick
repair there. Basically we put 10 pieces
of plywood down, broke for lunch, and then put TPO (a rubberized roofing ‘fabric’)
down. Josh uses a heat gun to melt and
seal the seams. Edges are anchored with
lots of screws and plates. Plenty of
work for everyone. A nice breeze came up
during the afternoon which cut the heat somewhat. Our clients brought us out cold water three
different times! Nice! A good day and we were all pleased with the
results.
We got back by 2:45! Earliest day yet!! Decided to go out to Beyond Bread and
Bookmans since we had the time. A good
dinner and then spent far too much at Bookmans – audio books for the truck
travel, puzzles for Ginger, music for church, etc.
I spent a little time working on the
puzzle while doing the laundry. Quiet
evening. Much cooler and a chance for
some rain this evening.
Thursday, 3.23.17
CHRPA Day 9
Our last day for this ‘go-round’! CHRPA School today is Cooler Repair 101,
which means the Cooler season is upon Tucson, so it must be time to leave! I think we have had cooler training three
times and then we leave! This one was
interesting because basically Dan went over just the tools and parts necessary
to have on the truck during cooler season.
Rick and Mary are off for a couple of
different jobs – potential water leaks and cracks in wall and cupboards pulling
off walls. They are back early after a
frustrating time not being able to help people in the manner they wished. Some of it was just misunderstandings with
what CHRPA can and does do. Cosmetic
repairs are not our business! So when
they got home they worked on the final checkoff for the new addition – washing the
windows and putting up the screens!
I was on another four person crew
assigned to a modular home out in the SW corner of the city to replace some of
the siding. We took two rigs and I
worked with three men I had not worked with before: Al (local from Tucson), Ken
(a new Mennonite volunteer) and Bob H (our neighbor in the CHRPA
campground). We drove clear out to the
home, assessed materials needed, and then Ken and I drove back in to Home Depot
to pick up the necessary items. By the
time we returned, Bob and Al had cut off the deteriorating siding and were
waiting for our arrival! Basically I
caulked the rest of the day! The guys
cut and screwed up new siding and I caulked all the seams! (Plus any other holes I could see in the side
of the home, of which there were plenty!)
Back to CHRPA headquarters to say our
goodbyes to folks! Cleaning of the
trailer and a relaxing evening. I
finished the puzzle in the SOOP lounge and Rick watched a couple of basketball
games. We will try to make our ‘getaway’
by 7:30am tomorrow morning.
Cooler today!! We even had a few raindrops while driving out
to the job site. The wind picked up but
wasn’t really a problem.
