First Days in Our New Home

                                            September 5, 2014

We left Magnus RV Park and drove up the hill to Odawa Casino Resort for a free night stay.

Because we were paying a daily rate at Magnus RV Park instead of a monthly rate starting September 1, we decided to leave a day early and save our self some money. It also got us packed up and ready to move to Boyne City faster the following day. If you have been following us, you know that our little Mallery (our Yorky) has cataract and can't see well at night. She has fallen out of bed several times, so we resorted to bed rails and a blanket pulled tight and attached to the bed rails at the end of the bed. The blanket is also tucked under the bed. This has prevented anymore accidents for our little Mallery. The only problem with this solution, is it is a struggle for Joe and I to get out of bed in the middle of the night for bathroom runs. That night I forgot to put the footstool at the end of the bed that helps me to get out of bed. In the middle of the night, I forgot that it wasn't in place and I fell out of bed hitting  against the cabinet drawers and handles. Oh man , did hit them hard, and for a while I worried I might have broke some bones. The next day we ran to Lowe's to get a lawn mower. Unfortunately it would not fit in the trunk of the car. We took the bus to Lowe's and it just barely fit into the bus front door. I drove the car and Joe followed me as we drove SW to Boyne City, 30 minutes away.

Joe was worried about the back wheels of the bus going into the ditches of our drive, but we managed to just miss the ditch by about a foot. Half way into the drive, we had to stop, and Joe had to get his saw out and cut some tree limbs that were scratching our roof. Once the limbs were cut, Joe moved up the drive a bit further only to have to stop and do the same thing on another tree. This picture is the third time he had to stop and do some more tree trimming. We had to drive this far up the alley, so Joe could get positioned to back into the RV spot.

Here is Joe on top of the bus cutting some limbs of the many White Cedar trees that are in and around our yard.

Here is the pile of limbs Joe had to cut just so we could get the bus parked for the short time we were going to be here.

Here the Nest is nestled under the White Cedars on our property, but not until Joe had to cut limbs in this area too.  At this point , it had taken us 3 hours from the time we entered the drive until we got in this spot. After getting settled we realized somewhere along the way one of the leveling jacks pad must have got caught on high ground and got jammed out of it's proper position. Joe got under the bus and tried to pull it back into its proper postion. He couldn't get enough leverage laying on his back under the bus. He had me get under the bus with him, so I could try to help, but I have the weakest arms ever. Luckly the side that was messed up was on the high side and Joe was able to level us without that jack. Not a good start for our new home arrival!

We got to the front porch and put up our feet and relaxed with a beer. This makes it all worth it. Though we both agree some trees need to go so it will open up our lake view.

The next day the work begins. You can't have a home without chores. Joe said he was really out of shape. It has been 6 years since he had mowed a yard. While he was mowing with his brand new mower, I noticed it was making a strange noise. He called the company and they told him that it shouldn't sound like that. We could have took it back to the store, but it was the last mower (winter is coming and they won't have any more mowers until spring). He found a business that works on them and he took it in the trunk of the car (it fit in the trunk now that it was not in the box). Again this is not a good start.

Joe noticed a black top crew working on our neighbors drive. We had a low spot at the beginning of the drive that we bottomed out on every time we came in and left the drive. Joe went over and asked if they could come over and fill our low spot when they got done.

For $75 they filled, heated and rolled the low spot. Joe felt he got a good deal on this job! Don't be shocked with the next picture. I normally would not post a picture of my thigh (not my best body part to show off but I just had to show you it or you would not believe me when I told you I got a bruise bigger than the size of my whole hand from my previous day fall out of bed. Be warned it isn't a pretty site!

Now I was really feeling old. Only old lady's bruise like this. Things are just not going so great these days!

A close up of the bruise and cellulite I'd rather not show off. It has been 6 weeks since that fall and it is finally almost gone.

The next morning Joe came into the RV (we were staying in the motor home because we didn't have any furniture in the house), and said " You want to come out for another adventure"? "Now what", I thought. Joe told me the dock was floating away. He went into the shed and put on the waders that the previous owner left for him. It had been raining through the night and the waves and rising waters had taken out the last 2 sections.

He managed to get one close to the shore, and headed out for the other one.

He could not get them any further. I suggested we go and buy me some waders so I could help. We called around and found the closest stores that carried waders was in Petoskey. Once in Petoskey we found they did not carry my size. The only one available came above my head. On the way home we saw lots of docks floating. We were not the only ones needing help. We got a phone number of a dock removal service, and they only remove docks they sell. Luckily they gave me a number of someone else that took out docks. They agreed to take our dock out after 5:00 for a higher price. We could wait until the next day, but more rain was predicted and we didn't want to wait.

The only furniture we had for the house was two lounge chairs we had bought from the previous owners. We parked them in the dining room in front of the slider window that has a view of the lake. Every night we would spend the evening on our computers in these chairs. We were unable to get a satellite signal in our Nest because of all the trees, and we didn't want to have cable hooked up in the house for just 5 weeks, (with the hefty hook up and disconnect fees), and we didn't have a TV yet for the house. Joe suffered terribly without TV for 5 weeks. He was ready to hit the road again just to have TV.

At 5PM our dock removers showed up and started to bring them to shore. These dock pieces are very heavy especially when they are water logged. The big guy reminded us of our daughter's husband. He picked up one end of a dock with one hand and held it above his shoulder and then jumped up on the dock that was still present. It took every bit of Joe's strength to drag a section to shore, but Sam did it with ease.

These are what holds docks up. I thought they were pounded into the sand, but they just sit on the sand under the water.

The charge to take out the dock was $20 per section, but because we wanted them out that day we paid $25 a section. Next they were going to take out the boat lift.

They took our metal boat that was left for us for this very purpose, and put it under the lift.

Once the boat was under the lift, they could float it to shore.

Once close to shore the two man crew tried to drag it the rest of the way. The lift we inherited is an old steel behemoth and weighs  a ton. The guys tried with all they had, but it was too heavy.

They finally took Joe suggestion to put the wheels on  the lift to roll it to shore. Unfortunately the lift and wheels are old and the wheels roll out, making it not much easier.

As hard as they tried, they were wearing out and could not get the lift up the rock bank shore.

Sam had to call his brother, who also has a business removing docks, to come with his truck and chains to pull it out. I have to give the two boys much credit, they really gave it their best, but our beast of a lift was just too heavy.

The dock was finally out.

This was a chore we knew we were going to have to hire done, but we just had not planned on it so soon.

The boat lift is out of the water and drug up the rocky bank. One winterizing job is done, but not a good start for a 3rd day welcome home!

We had Ratatouille again for dinner that night. Here is the recipe for it.

Ingredients
1/4 cup olive oil, plus more as needed
1 ½ cup small diced onion
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 cups medium diced eggplant, skin on
2 cups diced green, red, orange, or yellow bell peppers
1 cup diced zucchini squash
1 cup diced yellow squash
1 ½ cups chopped tomatoes
1 tablespoon thinly sliced fresh basil leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions
Set a large 12-inch saute pan over medium heat and add the olive
oil. Once hot, add the onions to the pan. Cook the onions, stirring
occasionally, until they are wilted and lightly caramelized, about 5
to 7 minutes. Add the eggplant to the pan and continue to cook,
stirring occasionally, until the eggplant is partially cooked, about 5
minutes. Add the peppers, zucchini, and squash and continue to
cook for an additional 5 minutes. Add the garlic and let cook for
one minute. Add the tomatoes, basil, salt and pepper, to taste, and
cook for a final 5 minutes. Stir well to blend and serve hot over rice
or noodles.
Notes: The proportions of all the ingredients in this recipe are
dependent on what you have/what you like.

Enjoy!