Getting ready to hibernate...

After enjoying unseasonably mild and dry weather right up through Thanksgiving, the winter season has finally arrived. The reprieve from winter gave us time to get all the big things done: Well dug, power brought in, driveway cut in and base rock put down, and power and water lines buried from the base of the hill to the homesite. When spring arrives, we'll be ready to get right down to the task of building the house and the shop.
I have been busy making improvements to our little foreclosure house, too. After hearing tales of how the crawl space is prone to flooding in the spring, I dug a 3-foot deep, 150-foot long french drain between the hillside and the house. I also piped the downspouts from the roof into the drain. After laying a 4" perforated pipe in the bottom of the ditch, I backfilled the ditch with 2 1/2 feet of gravel. That should do the trick. The little house is snug and cozy, and we are enjoying feeding our adopted covey of quail. We are looking forward to the beauty that winter brings.

Finally done...

The electrician ran wires to the pumphouse, the pump guy installed the pump controls and the pressure tank, and I finally finished backfilling all the open trenches. Now all we need is for Idaho Power to come out and connect the meter to the transformer. Once we have power, I'll install a baseboard heater and a light in the pumphouse. Harvey should have the road completely graded and ready for gravel by the end of next week. Aside from a few small chores, that will pretty much wrap up the activity at the ranch for the winter. After we move all our stored stuff out of the warehouse in Boise and into a storage facility closer to Ola, we'll begin concentrating on the details of outfitting the new house.

Winter is on the way...

As Old Man Winter extends his icy fingers over the butte, I am scrambling to get all the dirt work done before the snow flies. I finished running the water and power lines at the forclosure house from the new well to the pumphouse and backfilled the trenches. The water lines are four feet below the surface to protect them from freezing. On the ranch property, I still have several hundred feet of trench to bed with sand, then backfill. Two days of rain have made the fields very slippery, even for my tractor. Six or seven hours on that tractor with the cold, wet wind blowing isn't as much fun as you first might imagine. The electrician will be out on Monday to set the meter and wire up the well.

Farewell, well driller...

The picture shows the second well we drilled on the ranch. Remember those milsurp communications shelters I bought last spring? You can see that one of them is now set into the hillside just above the wellhead, and will serve as the pumphouse. When the trenches are filled, I will backfill dirt around the back and sides of the pumphouse, thereby increasing its insulation, and reducing its visibility. All the water pipe and electrical conduit is now laid in the trenches. If you look carefully, you'll see an arm and a leg in there as well. I will now spend the next several days putting sand in the bottom of the trench to cushion and support the water line, then backfill the trench.
We are finally finished drilling wells. Jim finished drilling the well at the High Valley Road house, bring in 10 GPM at 485 feet. It was an expense we would have preferred not to incur, but it will make selling the place a whole lot easier. Looks like I'm going to have to hold a few bake sales this winter.
Because it is so late in the season, we have decided to postpone pouring the concrete for the house and the shop until springtime. The steel company will store the components for the shop for the winter, and we weren't going to start on the house until then anyway.

Power to the people...

The Idaho Power crew arrived at 8 o'clock this morning to run power from the adjoining property. By 6:00pm they had installed nine power poles, two transformers, 810' of conduit, and pulled all the wire necessary to energize the installation. Now that's what I call a good day's work! They then cut the power until my electrician can install the temporary meter pole, and the water lines and power lines for the pump system are laid in the trench. Once the trench is backfilled, Idaho Power will energize the lines again.
Denny Weaver is shown digging another 310' trench to connect the powerline trench to the well, which can be seen in the background to the right of his backhoe. Once that is done, we will run the 2" water lines and the electrical lines from the well to the shop site and to the home site, and backfill the trench.

Can you dig it?...

The pace is really picking up. Jim has moved his well drilling rig down to the High Valley Road house, and is preparing to drill a new well there. The old well is so poor that the pump guy can't even get a flow reading from it. Hopefully Jim will have the same success he enjoyed on the ranch property. In the meantime, My friend Denny Weaver is finishing up a 4' deep, 850' long trench for the power and water lines to the house. I started digging with the backhoe attachment for my Kioti tractor, but hit decomposed granite, and had to go with the heavier, full sized backhoe. Denny will also dig a trench from the well to the existing trench and connect at the base of the hill, a distance of another 300' or so.
Idaho Power is scheduled to bring in the power from the adjoining parcel tomorrow, planting five power poles and setting two transformers. By Friday we should have power to the building site.

All's well that ends well...

This is a picture of Sherri, Jim and their daughter, Pearl. The first well Jim drilled for us was one problem after another. After drilling 420 feet, the hole collapsed, trapping his drill pipe in the hole. It took three days of constant and determined effort to retrieve the pipe. The hole was then lined with casing, and the drilling resumed, only to have similar problems further down the hole. Reluctantly, we had to stop drilling, and, after two weeks of work, ended up with a 5 gallons per minute well - mediocre at best.
Susan and I agreed that 5gpm would not meet our water needs, so we decided to drill another well. This time we had three different people witch for water, and they all picked the same spot. Jim drilled to 210 feet in three days, and brought in a 60+ gpm well. That, my friends, is a huge well for this part of the country. My scepticism about water witching is fading rapidly.
Jim has now moved his rig down to the forclosure house we just moved into, and will begin drilling a new well there. Needless to say, we will have the same folks witch this well, too.

More traffic congestion...

Chilly nights and shorter days mean that old man winter is on his way. Usually the first snow comes right around Halloween. Winter really sets in about mid-November.
Time to move the livestock down from their summer range in the high country to the winter range in the valley. This band of several hundred sheep was being moved along the Sweet - Ola Highway. Hundreds of head of cattle have come down High Valley Road past our house headed for winter pasture.

More news on the well and the driveway in the next post.

You don't miss your water...

...'till the well runs dry. This old blues song has a lot of truth in it. If you don't think so, try shutting off your water for two days.
This week is water problem week in Ola. We are in the process of moving into the forclosure house we bought on High Valley Road. We had heard that the well might be a problem, so we were delighted when we tested it and were able to draw over 800 gallons before the pump shut off. Just to be sure, we tested it again with similar results. Imagine our surprise when our neighbor from up the hill came down to tell us that since we moved in, he had been running out of water!
We found out that the previous owner of his home built our home for his mom. When his mom's well didn't come in very strong, he simply connected his mom's house to his well.
The solution was simple - all I had to do was dig a four foot deep trench to locate the water line, then excavate the connection and reconnect the house to our well. We now have water again. That backhoe attachment I bought for the tractor is really paying off!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...
The driller was down to 400' when the hole collapsed, locking his drill pipe string in the hole. It took him three days to work the pipe out of the hole. Now he'll have to case the entire hole to prevent further collapses. He's now back in business, and is hopeful that a good well is not too far off.

Well, Well...

Yesterday the well driller arrived with his rig. His wife is pictured "witching" for water. She does this by holding two steel rods which have been bent at a right angle. She walks with the rods pointing out straight in front of her, and when she is above a likely spot for water, the rods mysteriously swing out to the sides. As unlikely as this may sound, it is a common practice in rural areas. Very few people are able to do this, and are in great demand. Jim, the driller, was down to 125 feet when we left him this afternoon. Other wells in the area average 300 to 700 feet. Think shallow!

Movin' on up...

Sometimes things happen that really make you wonder. Here we are, living in a motel apartment in Boise, knowing that we weren't going to get the house built before the winter, and wondering just what we were going to do. Then out of the blue, this manufactured doublewide right at the end of Timber Flat Road showed up in a forclosure auction. We had heard that there were other folks in Ola interested in the property, so went to the auction ready to rumble. To our surprise, we were the only bidders, and picked it up for a fraction of it's real worth. Now we have a base of operations that is 1.4 miles from our property, and we can finally get out of Boise. We are hoping to have the deed recorded, the utilities turned on, and the carpet replaced by next week, so we can move in. It's really nice to hit a home run once in a while.

Oops...

This dump truck was backing up the driveway in order to dump its load of base rock when the driver got a bit too close to the shoulder. Loaded, this truck tops 80,000 lb. Although it may not look it, the truck is very close to tipping over. I hooked some chains to the front tow hooks and attempted to help the driver pull out of the ditch with my tractor. As you can see in the foreground, all I managed to do was dig four divots in the road with my spinning tires. Harvey arrived with his giant loader and managed to extricate the truck from the ditch without mishap.

Let's Rock...

Harvey has begun to dump crushed rock for the base layer of the driveway. If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you'll see that there are thirty-two loads of rock, and he hasn't even gotten off the hill yet. He estimates that we will need about two hundred more loads of base rock to reach Timber Flat Road. Without that much rock, the driveway would turn into a quagmire when the wet weather comes. After he grades it, he'll come back in with road mix - smaller gravel mixed with sand - to finish the driveway. The good news is that he is getting the rock from a quarry that is less than two miles away. Note that we moved the trailer to the top of the hill to avoid the dust that the rock trucks generate.

The driveway is taking shape...

In this picture, Harvey is widening Timber Flat Road to make a turnaround for the county trucks. Our gate is at the end of the part of the road that the county will maintain year round. Kent and Alvin, the men who will be maintaining it, mentioned that they were having difficulty turning their trucks around, so I had Harvey cut out a nice big turnaround for them. Now they will be able to manuver their snowplows and sand trucks this winter. Within a week, they had graded and gravelled the road all the way to our gate. Susan always has a box of cookies ready for them when we see them working on the road. Never underestimate the power of a cookie.
Harvey has the driveway completely cut and graded, and will begin laying the base rock this weekend.

Welcome to Jellystone Park...

We found these bear tracks on our newly graded driveway about 50 feet from our little trailer. My footprint to the right will give them some scale. We had been told by the local residents that there were bears in the area, but this is the first positive sign that we have seen. The list of critters keeps on growing. So far we have seen - or seen positive signs of - deer, elk, bear, coyote, turkey, quail, chukkar, partridge, dove, rockchucks, and a variety of snakes and lizards. We have been told that we have mountain lions as well, but they are elusive and rarely seen.

Another productive day...

Today Susan and I hiked around the western perimeter of the ranch, painting fenceposts orange to signify no hunting. This afternoon, Harvey Church and I laid out the route for the driveway, just over 7/10 of a mile long. Harvey then went to work with his old Caterpillar D7, and made it look easy. That machine can really move some dirt! He'll be back tomorrow to do some more, and hopes to be finished cutting in the driveway on Monday. He'll then begin to level the homesite in preparation for pouring the footings and slab.

We finally have an address!

Yesterday we drove to Emmett, the county seat for Gem County, to pick up our building permit. We were issued an address, which I am installing on our gatepost. Now the construction phase can begin in earnest. You may notice that the top of the post is painted orange. This is to designate that the property behind the fence is private land and is posted for no hunting or trespassing. Archery deer season opened today, and various deer, elk, and mountain lion seasons will run well into November. I will also have signs posted as soon as I can get them back from the printer. The law requires that signs be posted or fenceposts be painted every 660 feet. In reality, it is necessary to post every 200 - 300 feet or so to achieve the desired visibility. With 3 1/4 miles of perimeter, plus both sides of a 3/4 mile road, we'll be busy for a while getting it done.
The weather is beginning to cool, and working outside is becoming a lot more pleasant.

Carrying coals to Newcastle...

These are sandstone blocks from the foundation of a 100 year old Victorian house in Boise. Susan thought they might be nice for landscaping accents. Our area of Gem County is full of rocks, but no sandstone. Hey - no problem! We can just load them on the trailer and haul them up to Ola. Only three tons. Piece of cake!
I'm encouraging Susan to drop the word "just" from her vocabulary. Oh, well. I have learned to trust Susan's judgement when it comes to design and aesthetic matters.
Things are progressing nicely. Much to our surprise, Gem County has graded Timber Flat Road, and is in the process of laying gravel the entire 1.4 miles to our gate. This means we will actually be able to access the property when it gets wet and snowy.
The driveway is being improved, the pad for the shop has been leveled, and we have gone over our plans with our builder. It looks like we will be able to have the house built before the first snow flies after all.

From dusk to dawn...

As one day ends and another begins, we get a taste of what our new life will be like. A cool mountain breeze blows through our little trailer, and we sleep like logs. Yesterday we met with a steel building manufacturer and ordered our shop building. We should have the plans in a couple of weeks so we can begin placing the concrete footings and pouring the slab. We also met with the Gem County health inspector to conduct soil percolation tests for the septic systems. There will be one for the house, and another for the shop. I topped the day off with a little target practice - another benefit of country living.
Today began with a 35 mile trip to Emmett, ID to pick up our septic system permits, and apply for our building permits for the shop and the house. Upon our return, we met with the surveyor and our neighbor to the south to mark our mutual property line. Later in the day we met with the representative from Idaho Power to establish the route for the power lines from our neighbor's property to the shop and the house. It was a full day, and we felt it was a productive one.

Before and After...

Here's what vision, determination, and a lot of hard work will do. Susan provided the ideas and a whole lot of the hard work. I took care of some of the big stuff. The result - one neat-o little camper.

Our not-so-new camper trailer...

I have to give Susan credit... she saw a silk purse where I saw a sow's ear. This is our $200 1954 West Coast trailer by Westfield Mfg. of Los Angeles, CA. I said no way, and she bought it anyway. Well, after about three weeks of constant work, the interior is completely refurbished and decorated. It's great! It's perfect for staying overnight at the ranch, so we don't have to make that 120 mile round trip every day. I must admit, I really enjoyed working on it, and thanks to Susan's decorating talent it's really quite comfortable.
Now, where did I put that polishing compound?

Doing some serious mowing...

It sure is nice to have the right tools for the job! The new Bush Hog is already earning its keep. So far I have cleared the driveway from Timber Flat Road all the way up to the homesite, a distance of 4400 feet. I have also cleared the site for the shop, the house, and an area down by the creek. The homesite at the top of the hill is visible in the lower photo . The shop site is just visible at the base of the hill. The actual dirt work is scheduled to begin next week.

Load 'em up!

The backhoe for the tractor finally arrived. Here the tractor is being loaded onto my trailer for the trip to Ola. Note that the Bush Hog has already been loaded onto the front of the trailer. When I get it to Ola in the morning, I'll remove the backhoe and attach the Bush Hog. I've got some serious grass cutting to do.

Finally!

After four months of some of the most frustrating dealings I have ever encountered, the property closed today. Because of the delays, we have probably missed our window of opportunity to get the house built before the winter weather closes the road. I am hopeful that I can at least get a shop built before the road becomes impassible.
We now can contact the well driller, electric company, telephone company, excavator, and road builder to get things going. I have a feeling it's going to be a very busy summer and fall!

Our not-so-new tractor...

Here's a picture of our almost new 2004 Kioti Model DK45 4x4 tractor. The DK45 stands for Diesel Kioti 45hp. It has a front loader, and I've ordered a backhoe and a bush hog (a 6' wide rotary mower) for it. That should take care of the tall grass that has taken over the property. I will now be able to begin widening the driveway and preparing the home site and the shop site. When it comes time to do the septic systems, I'll be able to do them, too. I have a feeling that this baby will pay for itself in short order.
The only things missing are a gun rack and an ice chest! :-)

Our not-so-new 4x4...

This will make it a lot easier to get around. The older I get, the steeper the hills become! The grass is over three feet tall in many places. We'll have a tractor next week to do some mowing.

Traffic Jam on Timber Flat Road...

The rush hour traffic on our road is getting pretty bad. This is the worst congestion I've seen so far.
This is the county road that runs through the property. The rancher is leading about 50 head of cattle up to grazing range on the north side of our place .

A Slight Diversion...

Nothing like staying on task, I always say.
I was surfing the net a couple of weeks ago and saw this cute fire truck up for auction. It's a 1966 Dodge M37 4x4 Cargo Truck which had been converted to a woodlands fire truck. It seemed like a good idea to get it for the ranch, since we are not too near any firefighting equipment. I was the high bidder, so I had to go get it and bring it home.
The fact that it was located in Lexington, NC, and required a trailer I didn't have was no deterrent. My wife & I jumped into the truck and headed for North Carolina, only 2450 miles away. Once there, we purchased a trailer and hauled our 6,000 lb baby back to Idaho.
NB to those who have never towed anything that heavy across this beautiful country: It's all uphill from Nebraska to Pocatello, Idaho.
All in all, it was a fun trip. Actually, the timing was good, considering that the closing on the property has been delayed several times. I have never seen such a Chinese fire drill in my life. That is a story unto itself.

A peaceful moment...

This is the approximate location of our new house. We put this swing up so that we could enjoy the views from our homesite. The plans should be ready later this week, so things are finally getting under way.

Aerial view of the property.

The county road bisects the property

A great idea for the pumphouse...

These are three military surplus electronics shelters that I picked up at Mountain Home AFB. They originally housed field communications electronics. I'll use one of them to house my water well pumping equipment. I'll build it into the hillside, and paint it to blend into the surroundings. Don't know what I'll do with the other two yet.

This will become the driveway...

This trail will be widened to 16 feet and packed with gravel. It will ultimately be over 4000 feet long.

Getting started...

Today we met with the excavator and the well driller. The excavator's wife is a "water witch", and used dowsing rods to search for water. I'd never seen this done before, and was fascinated. I'm not too sure whether I believe in it or not, but folks out here sure do. First on the list is to cut a 3/4 mile long driveway into the home site. After that is done, the well driller and excavator will begin, and the electrical company will begin bringing power in from the adjoining parcel.

Here's a panorama of the Ola Valley...

We'll build our home on the sloping meadow in the center of the picture just to the right of the pine tree.
That's Squaw Butte in the background. The entire valley is over 30 miles long.

And so it begins...

After years of dreaming about getting back to my rural roots, we have finally found the "right" place. It's a little slice of Paradise located in Ola, Idaho, about 60 miles north of Boise, and about 75 years away from what our politicians keep ramming down our throats as "progress". If "progress" is defined as more traffic, more pollution, more crime, higher taxes, and endless subdivisions and shopping centers where beautiful and fertile farmland once stood, I guess they're right.
That's not for me. My wonderful wife and I are embarking on a new adventure - taking 276 acres of beautiful rolling ranchland and making it our retirement getaway.
Let the fun begin!