.. A CROSS BETWEEN THE POWER WASH AT THE CAR WASH AND A BACKSCRATCH...

What an interesting weekend....

Everything started even BEFORE we got to the cabin this week...  I swear, we have nerves of steel.

Several years ago, as a birthday present, I bought Jim a cement mixer.. I know, it's a little untraditional  present, but, I know what Jim likes and wants, and I really try to get him things he likes..  remember, I am the one who bought him a box of rocks as a Christmas present... and he loves them... Anyways, this cement mixer has sat in the carport of our house for a while now, and being that we are about to need it, I told Jim earlier in the week that we should put it on the trailer and take it to the cabin..  great idea...  So, Friday night, I am expecting to see Jim loading up the trailer with the cement mixer as I pull into the driveway.. Before I even get home, I get a call from Jim, all in a fluster, telling me that he's running waaaay late... he tried to get the cement mixer into the trailer, but it had two flats, and with only one spare, he had to go to the tire place and buy a tire, and it was $75.00 that he didn't want to spend just to get the thing into the trailer ... and now, he and Lowell  (Brianne's significant other) were getting it into the trailer... I feel bad, because, Jim always tries to get on the road on a Friday by about 5 or 6, and we get into Panguitch between 8 - 9...  we were going to be late...  way late, grrrr.

Well, Jim and Lowell got the cement mixer into the trailer finally, I got some stuff packed into the back seat as well as some furniture in the trailer too that I wanted to take down... I'm sitting in the truck ready to go, and Jim asks if I had seen his work keys and ID badge for work.. I had not.. he said he set them on the tailgate of the truck, and they weren't there, and he's looking in the bed of the truck and on the ground... poor thing, couldn't find them..   So, he decides to just leave.

We get about halfway down our street and I tell Jim to just go back and look in the house.. because, if he doesn't, he is going to worry about it all weekend... He finally agrees and we go back... goes into the house, and sure enough, they are on the island in the kitchen... worry over.. travel time still an issue...

Fast forward, we are now two hours down the highway, just past Beaver, Utah, and the hotel manager calls.. wants to know if we are still checking in, it's 9:30 PM and we're just a little under an hour away...  He tells us that he's going to turn off the lights, and we should ring the bell when we get in...  giggle... (Still cracks me up that he would just turn off the lights.. we've had it before where the hotel stuck the key on the door in an envelope for us....  uhuh"... Panguitch!

The next morning, we get to the cabin and unloading was a challenge.. The cement mixer was put into the trailer with 2 people, and was coming out of the trailer with 1....  But, Jim had a plan.... The first picture is the cement mixer in the trailer.

It is laying on it's back in the trailer...

The second picture it has been tipped out of the trailer and now rests on the ground.  Big bang!  .. on the ground...'nuff said... it's out of the trailer...  Poor Jim...

The major job is that we have got to finish before snowfall -  is getting the rest of the siding on... and it's proving to be a daunting job.. Every time Jim goes, he tackles a little bit more.  This week, he was working on the bay window.  A lot of small detail takes a long freaking time.

I was inside the cabin and this is what I walked out to see... Jim, with a corner piece of siding... on his head... and he's bending it up and down the length... I was like... what?  Well, I guess we've all just learned that his head is good for something... giggle.. It had to fit on the edge of the bay window but it wasn't a full 90 degrees bend.

And, this is what he finished this weekend... We'll be back again this coming weekend, trying to complete more of the same project.

My job, this past weekend, was to clean out the RV.  We've had it for several years, and we've outgrown it... so, it needed to be cleared in order to sell it.  In one of the drawers, I found these three little knobs... I don't have a clue what they came from, or what they were going to go on, but, they're kinda pretty.  I brought them home to clean them up and see what they really look like...

Jim has been looking for his pith helmet for several years... I found it!!!  giggle.

I don't know why I had some things in the RV... but, they are ending up in the cabin...included is a toaster oven, a set of moose dishes, a donut maker, a wing maker, a crock pot, a mini pie maker, a mini cupcake maker and a set of spring form pans... I don't have a clue what I had in mind when I put these in the RV...  I'm going to be finishing the job next weekend, and then give it a good cleaning.

One of my furniture finds this past week was this corner cupboard.  Something about it just looked like it belonged in my upstairs bathroom.  Jim put it in place, and I think it's going to be perfect for towels.

Do you remember the other week, I wrote about seeing a steer down on the side of the road.  Well, on Saturday night, we had dinner with our neighbours, Ron and Mary. I mentioned to them the whole story of the steer and how freaked out I was, and they had heard about it too, and filled in the blanks... apparently, some guy was driving a little too fast down the road (it's dirt) and didn't see the steer (black and probably 1000 pounds), and he hit it while driving his car.  It totaled the car, and spun the steer totally around breaking it's back legs.  The poor cow dragged itself into the ditch.. The driver of the car knew the owner of the steer, and called him... that's when I showed up...  I don't know how you couldn't see this animal in the road...  beyond me.  They just don't move that fast!

While we were at dinner, (it's kind of a cowboy steakhouse) a lady walks up to this music area, and turns on the mike, plugs in her phone and runs a karaoke app, and starts to sing... and she is phenomenal...  absolutely gorgeous voice.  She sang mainly country songs recorded by women, and it was the sound that was amazing.  She started with "Crazy" by Patsy Cline, and it was the most impressive rendition I have ever heard...  Dolly Parton, Shania, Whitney Houston, it was amazing.  We at our dinner, then had dessert, and just listened... it was like an amazing concert.  She sang for 3 straight hours.. We were talking to her and the restaurant owner afterwards, and he said, she comes in every once in a while and just sings... he doesn't pay her.. she just wants to sing...She said she was tiling a bathroom all day, and just needed a break, so she came down to the restaurant to sing...She says she has the greatest job in the world - shows up when she wants to, is always welcome, sings and leaves. Her name is Becky Henry, and she said she had a vocal scholarship to SUU years ago.. Never graduated, got married and had 5 kids...  Such a gift.. Such an amazing talent.

Sunday, while Jim was doing siding, I hear a thump and then Jim is yelling for me... Well, you see these new boards on the deck...

..and this other new board on the deck... well, those boards weren't there.. until Jim stepped in the hole and fell through.  He was kind of stuck on the deck with his leg down a hole and I had to help him out....he scraped up his knee.  When he was back moving around again, he put some boards in...  poor thing..

One our way back to Provo, we take Hwy 20 over to Exit 95.  It goes from Panguitch to I-15... and, that road takes you through mountains.  It always scares me driving that road at night, because there are lots of deer.. Jim always says that he likes a car in front of us, just in case.  Well, we were driving on Sunday about 7, and it's pitch black out.. There's a car from California in front of us and they are driving sooooo slow and Jim wants to pass.. Personally, I would just put up with the slow speed.. I hate passing - I am really a nervous driver..  All of a sudden, the car in front slams on the brakes to the point that Jim slams on our brakes and we go into the opposite lane to stop...  There, crossing the road, is a little herd of deer, just moseying across.. no hurry... One doe stood in the middle of the road and just stared... and then, wandered off the road as if to say, "I will take my time, and you can freakin' wait"..  They must be so used to cars at this point..no fear..

Now, to get back to the heading of this blog... We were supposed to spend the night at the HooDoo Motel in Hatch, but the owner called earlier and asked if we could change our reservation to somewhere else.  He has a very small motel, and some guy who was staying in our room the night before, wanted to stay in it for a whole week...  So, we switched hotels..  We got to the new hotel late, rang the doorbell, and the owner comes out and we check in.. It was reasonably comfortable, except my husband has this idea the heat has to be set at 74 degrees to warm up the room and it feels like a sauna to me all night long... but, I digress ... in the morning, Jim gets into the shower first..  There are just a couple of things I judge a hotel by... first is the bed.  I really love my bed at home, so, the bed is going to be a tough sell.  The second, is the shower and water pressure in the shower.  I am so sick of staying in a hotel where the water pressure is questionable.. Jim gets out of the shower and I ask him how it is, and his answer was, "Well, let me put it this way.. it's a cross between the power washer at the car wash, and a back scratch"...  Interesting wording... and when I get in the shower and got in, I understood.  The pressure was so great, I thought it was tearing my skin off... well maybe..... amazing... I was thrilled I actually had eyebrows left...The shower felt like I was scrubbing with a wire brush, or having dermabrasion... The pressure was so intense, my skin was stinging...  quite like something was ripping flesh off...  No problem with water pressure.. nope...and not a speck of dirt would have survived... giggle.

We are desperate for help these last few weeks.. if anybody knows anybody who'd like to spend a weekend with us, let us know... we'll even feed and pay 'ya...

As always, the adventure continues...

Jim and Cheri