May 11th, 2019

May 11, 2019

Captain’s Log: City to Gritty

First off—we are grateful no one was hurt today. We are grateful for insurance. We are grateful for our investment into construction equipment education today. We are grateful for our new GC that can rush an excavator out to finish our foundation + septic soils test prep. And we are grateful we can reschedule our soils test and practice again the art of patience in this build.

Today we got a literal crash course in DIY excavation. This back hoe lived approximately 40 min. It is much harder than it looks!! We did not get done what needed to get done. In the first 40 min of construction we are now 2 weeks behind schedule and already over budget as we definitely were not planning on a construction rescue mission, recovery, towing and repair.

But, choosing a remote, raw, off-grid location has its dangers. You have to listen, be aware and honor the land.

We’ve had back to back rain and snow. It snowed several times today. The ground was wet. The elevation, steep. And just one wrong move and 16,000 pounds of metal can crash—with you inside.

Luckily, Todd was safe today. Everything in life is replaceable. We can always make more money. We can always dedicate more time. But, lives are totally different.

Luckily, our blueprints are still set to be complete in the next 10 days!! So, the delay in soils test won’t effect time too much (we hope). We need both of these complete to get our build schedule and construction loan kicked off and again—are getting so close.

When the tow truck arrived, he immediately had to turn around and leave. Though there was no rain in the city—the mountains are different. The rain was too much on the soil on our land and it wouldn’t be safe to tow 16,000 lbs of metal with a 20 ton tow truck today.

So, our 24 hour rental gets to hang out on the land until Monday—as the forecast claims bright, sunny skies, and the soil will have time to dry out.

Everyday is a day closer to our goals, even when it may not feel like it. Everyday is a new life lesson that gives us wisdom. Hoping to still break ground in June!! We are SO close!!

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