Ridgetop - our place and how we muddle along

[Weldman]

I feel sorry for you moving at this time of the year. Took me 2 years to get everything here. At some point during the winter it's time to call it and just put stuff locally in storage. I had to go over 7 mountain passes one way moving tools just as you are. Never again.

 

[murphysranch]

Its a mess up here in Southern WA and Northern OR. Today everything is ice. All is cancelled - schools, government, restaurants, transportation, airport flights, etc. I cannot imagine what the passes are like. Gridlock, I'm sure. Warmer air coming in starting tomorrow.

The below is last nite on our downward hill. Its NOT WATER! We are at 410' elevation.

 

[Ridgetop]

Left Thursday at 6:30 am. Made it to Las Cruces, NM by 8:30-9pm. Dry and sunny but freezing - literally - temps below 35 degrees. DS1 Rick got out of truck, took 2 steps to gas pump and back to get heavy jacket. That told me it was COLD! Never got above freezing until we were headed back through NM.

Got to Sulphur Springs at 8:15pm, stopped at Walmart for eggs for breakfast. Into Yantis ranch by 9:00 pm. Brought in suitcases, DS1 turned on water, had supper, took showers, and went to bed around 11:00. Spent Saturday unloading the trailer - furniture, and then the bins and boxes. Rick and I moved the bed around in the MBR so we could fit the furniture in. I unloaded all the bins, put stuff away, fixed supper, packed up the empty bins and DS1 loaded them all back into the trailer. We had been warned by Bay to get out ahead of the major fain coming on Sunday or Monday. Got up at 6 am on Sunday and were on the road by 6:30 am. Stopped at Royse City Buc-ee's and made a horrible discovery! One of the tires on the U-Haul trailer was not just flat, it was GONE! There was just a circle of rubber around the metal rim! Called U-Haul and they have a road service. One and a half hours later the U-Haul man arrived in a car, pulled a tire already mounted on a rim out of his trunk, replaced our shredded tire, and we were on our way again. We bought breakfast rolls at Buc-ees and shopped ($72.00 including the breakfast) while we waited. Spent the night in Las Cruces again - nice and warm 44 degrees . On the road by 7:00 am, hit heavy rain 3 times on the way home, hit heavy traffic, and got in around 7:30 pm.

DGD1 spent the night last night and will stay tonight too. Her daddy is in Utah on business, and DD1 takes the older boys to school in the opposite direction before getting to the school where she teaches. Elizabeth stays with us for a few days, and we take her to school today and tomorrow. She is having her first riding lesson on Saturday. DD1 has been talking about getting her lessons for several years now.

It is supposed to warm up here to about 60-70 degrees next week. It rained and is supposed to rain more. The roof is not leaking anymore but the roofer has not called us back even though we keep calling him. He never gave us the estimate either so I will start looking or another roofer. The leaks are only around the heating ducts, although we do need to replace a skylight.

DH and DS1 will be loading up the rest of the corral pieces we are not using for sheep corrals and taking them and more feeders buckets troughs, etc. to Yantis in the gooseneck in a couple weeks. When they come back, DS2, DDIL2, DH and I will go to Palm Springs to take some furniture to the consignment store and see if we can find a couch/sectional and a king headboard. DS2 and his wife will be looking for a bedroom set and other furniture to replace what we have taken to TX. If they find a BR set they like, they will give our king size bed to DD1 who has finally decided that she wants a larger bed than the full size one she and her husband have been using. Once we are settled in the Yantis house, we may find ourselves bringing some stuff back to CA. LOL Particularly some of the Christmas tree ornaments that I love and took with me. It is harder to downsize when you move a little at a time since you don't realize that you are filling up the house before the final move!

I realized today that I forgot to bring a couple dozen empty quart jars back with me from Yantis to can more of the freezer contents. I found more frozen soup, strawberries, etc. when we packed up the lower freezer. Oh well, DH and DS1 can bring them back when they go out with the gooseneck. The boxes of jars are in the toolshed and labeled.

While in Yantis, I noticed that there is room in the laundry room for some 12" deep cabinets on the wall opposite the washer/dryer. I can buy OTC wall cabinets at Home Depo/Lowes and mount them on a toe kick. By stacking 36" x 36" wall cabinets I can put together a wall of 12" deep cabinets for my canning jars. I wonder if I can find some good used cabinets at Habitat. I don't want to remove any more cabinets from the tool shed.

 

[Baymule]

Glad y'all made it back safe and sound. How wonderful to have a shredded tire at Bucees! Heaps lots better than the side of the road!

 

[farmerjan]

Boy, that was a fast trip... I bet you are tired... and getting the next load ready....
Really glad the shredded tire was not worse...and they could take care of it for you... There are alot worse places to get stuck for a couple of hours than Buc-cees... cheaper places but worse places...

I think I would spring for a couple dozen new jars, with lids, and get the canning done while it is still winter and get that "one more thing" done sooner rather than later... and be ready to go in the trailer whenever you need to load them. But that is me...

How many miles is it one way? Long couple of days driving no matter what...

Glad you are back safe and ready for the next trip....

 

[Ridgetop]

Almost 1600 miles one way. 14 hours each day, nit allowing for traffic. We hit city evening traffic on Thursday and Friday, avoided Dallas traffic leaving Sunday am but hit Riverside evening traffic on Monday. Exhausting but I slept a lot of the way.

 

[Ridgetop]

I had to go over 7 mountain passes one way moving tools just as you are.

At least once we get through New Mexico we are all on the flat to northeast Texas. I will miss my hills and mountains but after 35vyears of climbing 30-45 degree slopes on all sides everything we have to work with livestock, being on the flat will be good. Both of us have had knee replacements - DH on both knees and me one with a partial on the other knee slated for April or May. Flat will be good. The LGDs won't be as happy because they like to lay up high where they can watch everything around them below.

I had a great idea yesterday about flooring for the side barn to store the hay rolls on. Instead of pallets, I have about 10 rubber stall mats and they will do great for under the hay. I will start shopping for more used rubber mats on Craigslist. I might pull the trailer mats out too and use them. Read that trailer mats i the stock trailer contributes to rotting floor boards. Not a problem here in so CA with dry heat and minimal use, but in ne TX could be a big problem. Between those, and the treated cross arms, we should be able to store the hay off the ground.

@Baymule gave me a great suggestion for the Connex container we are going to get for storage. She suggested waiting till we put up the hay barn and then putting the Connex under the roof in the middle. Use one side of the hay barn for hay bales and the other for parking the vehicles. Putting the Connex under shade will help keep it cooler inside and keep out humidity because we will have to put a turbine type fan in the roof of the Connex to prevent sweating and extreme heat inside.

 

[Weldman]

At least once we get through New Mexico we are all on the flat to northeast Texas. I will miss my hills and mountains but after 35vyears of climbing 30-45 degree slopes on all sides everything we have to work with livestock, being on the flat will be good. Both of us have had knee replacements - DH on both knees and me one with a partial on the other knee slated for April or May. Flat will be good. The LGDs won't be as happy because they like to lay up high where they can watch everything around them below.

I had a great idea yesterday about flooring for the side barn to store the hay rolls on. Instead of pallets, I have about 10 rubber stall mats and they will do great for under the hay. I will start shopping for more used rubber mats on Craigslist. I might pull the trailer mats out too and use them. Read that trailer mats i the stock trailer contributes to rotting floor boards. Not a problem here in so CA with dry heat and minimal use, but in ne TX could be a big problem. Between those, and the treated cross arms, we should be able to store the hay off the ground.

@Baymule gave me a great suggestion for the Connex container we are going to get for storage. She suggested waiting till we put up the hay barn and then putting the Connex under the roof in the middle. Use one side of the hay barn for hay bales and the other for parking the vehicles. Putting the Connex under shade will help keep it cooler inside and keep out humidity because we will have to put a turbine type fan in the roof of the Connex to prevent sweating and extreme heat inside.

I grew up in Beaumont, TX and will say it took awhile to get use to hills and mountains, didn't know which way was up or down anymore. Lost all sense of that direction since I never had to use it. Between 15 yrs in the service in who knows what terrain in who knows what country, to living in Washington state on west side to here of nothing is flat, I have gotten use to it. I understand the knee problem, bad boots finally took one out, thankfully only ice/snow and unstable ground affects it for now.
Might want to put vapor barrier (rubber mats might work too) under that shipping container, I built one into a 5th wheel back when I lived in Texas, had it in Washington state and now is here. Tried venting it and still happened.

 

[SageHill]

At least once we get through New Mexico we are all on the flat to northeast Texas. I will miss my hills and mountains but after 35vyears of climbing 30-45 degree slopes on all sides everything we have to work with livestock, being on the flat will be good. Both of us have had knee replacements - DH on both knees and me one with a partial on the other knee slated for April or May. Flat will be good. The LGDs won't be as happy because they like to lay up high where they can watch everything around them below.

I had a great idea yesterday about flooring for the side barn to store the hay rolls on. Instead of pallets, I have about 10 rubber stall mats and they will do great for under the hay. I will start shopping for more used rubber mats on Craigslist. I might pull the trailer mats out too and use them. Read that trailer mats i the stock trailer contributes to rotting floor boards. Not a problem here in so CA with dry heat and minimal use, but in ne TX could be a big problem. Between those, and the treated cross arms, we should be able to store the hay off the ground.

@Baymule gave me a great suggestion for the Connex container we are going to get for storage. She suggested waiting till we put up the hay barn and then putting the Connex under the roof in the middle. Use one side of the hay barn for hay bales and the other for parking the vehicles. Putting the Connex under shade will help keep it cooler inside and keep out humidity because we will have to put a turbine type fan in the roof of the Connex to prevent sweating and extreme heat inside.

Excellent idea for stall mats under the hay. My hay is actually in a stall that has padding and rubber on top of that. I just have to be careful not to put sharp things in there (metal shovels, rakes, pitch forks, etc).

 

[farmerjan]

Stall mats are okay but the hay will not breathe on the bottom and it can get musty unless the storage area is very weather proof. Pallets gives an air layer underneath that will allow the rolls to breathe better. That is why gravel is used in hay storage sheds... and not concrete floors. You may not see much problem there with it being so much drier in TX (well, drier sometimes... since lately it sure isn't drier) For smaller sq bales solid floors are not as big a deal since small sq bales are put up drier than rolls of hay... even so, small sq bales can get musty on the bottom layer... especially on solid floors like concrete....wood floors tend to breathe, and usually small sq bales are stored up on the 2nd floor where the moisture is not a problem.