August Amazements

August has been mostly about our build out. It seems to be moving very slowly, but I have finally discovered the reason for it and I am quite pleased. I will disclose it later. It took several days for them to complete the dig out, and then almost immediately the delivered a great big pile of dirt and rock which will be used for the base

Next they dug trenches and started putting in cement blocks for the retaining walls. As it turns out we are pretty much going to be fully enclosed. I guess that's a good thing so when we let the Yumster out she can't leave and get lost or eaten!


Next we had to wait for the electrician to do his underground work. While we were waiting for that the guys switched to working on the front wall.

In addition to this, we realized that our palm tree was in a different place on the drawing than it was in real life so they dug it out. That was no big deal, the man who did the grading came and pulled it out and took it to his ranch. I was glad they didn't just chop it down. We wanted to replace it with a Canary Date Palm which are real full and when trimmed properly look like a giant pineapple. We discovered that a friend of ours has several. I asked her how she likes them and she said she wanted to get rid of one of them because she wanted to build a parking space for her golf cart. We got to talking about it and decided we would dig it out and put it on our lot. Yeah!! Soooo, poor Adrian dug, and dug, and dug, and dug for 4 four days. They finally pulled it out the rest of the way and put it in the ground on our lot. We love it. Adrian
Our Canary Date Palm that we named Adrian
So we got and passed the electrical inspection and they continued to work. But, instead of working on the inside they continued to work on the front. They built the front wall. They put slate trim and slate caps and stuccoed it a moss green which came out pretty light. At first it was lighter than I wanted. They also started building our cart turn around which is made of flag stone.

They continued to work on the lime stone parking which turned out beautiful and then moved on the the planter in the front left. They finally started building the rest of the walls. I was getting a bit frustrated because I wanted them to work on the inside and hurry up and pour the concrete. We were getting abit tired of living with the dirt.
Well, as it turned out they were waiting for the outcome of a big meeting that the county powers that be for inspecting and codes were having with our HOA and Outdoor Resorts Assoc (here on out known as ORA). Thank goodness they delayed because really good things came out of it.
We had been told that we could not get a plumbing permit because we were not allowed to hook in to the septic sys. Everyone who has sinks, washing machines, dishwashers put them in but did not hook them up until after their final inspections were completed. Then they would hook them up. These were called "futures" because in the future they would be permitted. Well, the county turned around and said no more "futures" If you put the sink in they would make you rip it out. We were a bit unhappy about it and there were no accurate solutions to the problem, only rumors. So as a result of the meeting solutions were disclosed. Rancho Calif has about 8 septic systems. Some have been inspected and some even certified by the county. As they get inspected and certified the county will allow plumbing permits for the lots connected to the systems. There were only two systems that had been certified. As it turns out, our system has been inspected and is scheduled to be certified in the next week or so. Contractors can go ahead and put the septic plumbing in and cap it off at ground level. They still cannot install washers, dishwashers, or sinks. In fact, they cannot even cut the hole where the sink will be installed. We are ok with this since we know the permitting is just around the corner.
The other awesome decision that came out of the meeting is that palapas (the grass shacks) are once again allowed. That is what we wanted all along but were told we could no longer have them. Since they had delayed in the construction the roofer had not ordered the alumawood that we were going to have to use, so we get to have our palapa. We are not going to go with the grass roofing, instead we are going to go with a light weight tile that looks like shake. We are very happy about that.
I feel like this whole decision about living full time in our RV and buying into this place was the right decision. We have both made many friends here and are both fitting in quite well. Also, all of the things that we wanted in our build out are becoming possible. I take that as a good sign.
Meanwhile, they completed the turn-around and it is beautiful. They completed the front planter and put in 3 Queen Palms and 5 Bird of Paradise. They also added 4 more Queen Palms to the 4 we already had down the left side, and planted 8 bushes that will fill out quickly and produce pretty blue flowers. It looks really nice. On the inside they finished grading it all out and spread out the base they build the wall that the kitchen cabinets, counter, and appliances will attach to. They also did the rough in wireing.

We weren't totally consumed with our build out, we also had some busy weekends and got to visit family. My father turned "85" on the 7th so we went to Fresno that weekend and helped him celebrate.
Rob's sister Sarah and her family went to Thailand to visit her father-in-law and explore and so we went to SanJose to see their pictures and help celebrate her birthday.
And finally, Rob went to the Bay Area for a couple days to visit several of his friends and to go to a Buddhist retreat.

It is now Labor Day Weekend so we, and the contractors are enjoying family, friends, and their time off. We are looking forward to vacationing in Lake Chelan, WA in September and the completion of our build out