Last weekend, our intention was to go down to the property on Friday night, and complete the percolation test on Saturday and Sunday so we could apply for our building permit. We have a contractor all set up to put in the power pole, excavate the building site, and do the concrete work this year.. But, basically the only thing that we needed to do is complete the perc test.
We stayed in a terrible little hotel in Panguitch on Friday night... the motel that we stay in, if we can't stay in the RV was fully booked, so we had little choice. I haven't been to the property this year because the recovery from my shoulder surgery and my knee surgery has been long and drawn out. Jim has gone and worked, but I haven't. So, this was my first cabin adventure for the year.
We get up on Saturday morning, and drive to the cabin site, and find that Blue Stakes has come out and marked the phone lines and the electric line and the water lines as promised, so we were good to go. I've put a couple of picture and you can see the orange paint and the red paint that marked the telephone and the underground power lines. I was stoked!
The perc test is done by digging a hole that is 5' deep and you have to saturate the ground for at least 16 hours, and then you fill the hole with water and see how fast the water drains out... you take measurements at 30 minute intervals... So, it's a little time consuming, so we were prepared for the two day event.
Jim dug the hole, and we were setting up to fill it with water. But, we found we needed a couple of extra hoses to get from the water faucet to the hole. So, Jim sends me into town to buy a couple of hoses at the hardware store.
I drive into Panguitch and pick up some hoses and drive back.
This is what I encounter as I am driving into town....
They had the idea that they owned the road and it took a little bit to convince them that I really wanted to get by.
As soon as I get back into the lot site, Jim sees that I have a flat. So, he changes the tire and we're ready to go. At the end of the day, the ground is nicely saturating, and go back into Panguitch for the night.
The next morning, we get up and drive back. As soon as we get into the driveway of the property, we see that we have another flat. We are so screwed... We are on the top of a mountain, with no spare, and sketchy cell service. We usually don't have service on cell phones, and if we want to get service, you have to walk to the highest part of the mountain and then you get service in intervals of about 30 seconds to a minute.
So, we decide to call the local religious authority, and we find out that he just had back surgery and was recovering, and on top of that, he was released from that job last October. BUT, he gives us the name of the new guy. So, we think we're golden. Think again.
We call the new guy, and the first thing he says is, "I don't work on Sunday"... um, hello? We are stuck on the top of a mountain with no food, no electricity, no blankets and no way to get down... We are pleading out case to this guy... offering to make a donation to the boy scouts in his ward, or buy groceries for someone who is in need, doing everything and anything to get someone to help... and it's always, "I don't work on Sunday".. BUT, he says, he owns a tow truck and he'd be happy to come up the mountain on Monday morning to pull us down.. Are you freakin' kidding me? I also told him that I was diabetic, and I didn't have insulin, and I needed to get down the mountain... (Because insulin is a little fragile, I only brought enough insulin for the two days, not three days).... He stuck to his guns and wouldn't budge...
At this point, I am highly annoyed and Jim is so frustrated also....We decide that we are going to have to drive the RV down the mountain and get into Panguitch for Monday morning, so we can get two tired fixed. The RV hasn't moved from the site in years, is not insured and the plates are out.... uhuh...
We get the RV out of the site and drive down the mountain. About half way to Hatch, Utah, where there is a gas station, we run out of gas. BUT, Jim has a container with a gas/oil mix in it that we use for the chainsaw, and we put that little bit into the tank. It fires up enough to get us to the gas station in Hatch... Thank you!
We drive into Panguitch and get a spot at the Hitch 'n Post RV park, where we can plug the RV in and stay for the night. There's restaurants in town so we got dinner, so all was well.
Monday morning, we take the tires over to the Tire repair at about 10 in the morning, and they say they are a little busy, but can get to it around 2... um... ok? So, Jim and I got to do a little Panguitch sight seeing.
We went into this one little store, it was a cowboy antique store. I found an interesting clock. When I was growing up, my parents had this cowboy clock on the mantle. It was all made of brass and my mom was going to get rid of it, until I snagged it. I had taken it to a clock repair place, and they cleaned it up and fixed it up and got it working again. Long story short, when I picked up the clock from the repair place, the owner of the shop gave me a little history on the clock. It was made in Canada, and the face of it was made of tissue paper. It was one of the first clocks made, and the clock that I had was one of the original manufacturing moulds made for this product. I had never seen a finished product of this clock... but, there one was, sitting on the shelf. Was very cool.
We got back up the mountain, completed the perc test, and were still a little annoyed and frustrated, but happy that we got the test completed.
I guess we can chalk this one up to... another grand adventure.
Jim and Cheri
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