Have Trailer Will Travel

It's been in the back of my mind ever since we moved up to Idaho. We camp every year in our trailer, which we sold over a year ago. Because of the move last summer we didn't do any camping. This year will be different. We already have a 10 day trip planned to Utah for rafting and fishing so finding a new trailer has been my goal. We knew exactly what type of trailer we wanted. It had to be small, have a walk-around bed and fit our budget. The last part was the hardest. Finding the trailer to fit our requirements was never the problem.

Jayco Jayflight 21FB

Craig's List was part of my daily reading. Finally, I found it. There was good and bad news with the find. The good news was that it was just what we wanted. The bad news was that it was in Boise, 8 hours away. Since we felt we couldn't pass up this opportunity, we decided we had to make the trip.

We packed up some blankets and pillows and left on Friday at 6am. After an 8 hour drive and a 1 hour time change, our arrival at 3pm didn't leave us much time. We had to inspect the trailer, get it hitched up and get to the bank to make the payoff and get the title paperwork. Now that all of the business was completed, we hit the road back home. We wanted to spend the night in our new trailer, so we found an RV resort about half way home.

I had the sheets, a few blankets and pillows. As it turned out, there was no propane in the tanks and we didn't bring an extension cord or hose. To make matters worse the temps were going to dip down to the low 30's. Long story short: we froze our buns off! Stoneridge Guy even let Maggie into bed with us the next morning because it was so cold and he felt sorry for her. No water meant walking 100 yards in the cold to go to the bathroom at 6am.

Walk-around queen bed with 2-closets on either side and more storage above and under the bed.

Frige & freezer & stove. The table folds down to a small bed. There's even a TV with DVD player and surround sound.

Full bath with tub and shower. There's even a medicine cabinet and closet.

It's now parked in our driveway waiting for me to clean and load her up. I can't wait to start this project!

On Target

We have set June 1st as our target date to be moved into the new house. It may not be completed, but we're hoping that we'll at least be able to live there while we finish.

We have managed to move all of our belongs from the storage facility to the trailer garage.

All of earthly belongings

The main floor is getting painted now and should be finished by Saturday. The kitchen cabinets and the bookshelves will be ready for installation next Friday.

StoneRidge Guy has been really busy with his appraisal business and tries to help at the house whenever he can. Right now there isn't much I can do at the house, so I get to keep Maggie happy.


It doesn't take much. She LOVES to chase the ball. Now that the snow is gone, she's turned into a water dog. If we get close to any puddles or creeks, she's in the water. But she won't go swimming on her own yet. Time will tell if she starts swimming in the lake when we move to the house.
We are taking a two day break to buy a travel trailer. I've been looking since we moved and it's exactly what we've been looking for.

I'll fill you in when we get back.

Where Everybody Knows Your Name

I tell people all the time that I have made more friends here at StoneRidge in 9 months than I have my whole life down in So. Cal. Maybe it's something in the water. Probably it's because, somehow, this place drew us to it. The residents here have all moved from other areas. Some only 12 miles away, others from across the country. Most of us like to golf, but there are quite a few that don't.

This winter the few of us that stayed thought it would be nice to get together weekly for coffee; to get to know our neighbors. I've mentioned our Coffee Social in earlier posts. So what started with 6-8 people has now exploded to 29 and counting.


Not only is the group growing, but we're getting so organized! We have name tags and sign up sheets. There were even door prizes.

Here Betty and Marci get a name tag.

Debbie, our organizer, with Ed

Margee, far right passed out raffle tickets for the door prizes donated by the Mammas On A Mission Group.

Cari, Nancy, Susan and Shirley

Tammy, Russ, Rusty and Tuffy enjoying a cup of coffee and a treat

So as you can see it was quite a turnout. Being one of the original members gives me an advantage in getting to know all of my neighbors. In turn everybody knows me too. This is the kind of community where you need to give yourself an extra 15+ minutes to get to wherever you're going because everyone you see along the way wants to chat.

I'm not going to tell you that I know why this place is so special. I just thank my lucky stars that we found it.

Getting to Know Idaho #1

Everyone knows that each state has it's own flag. But did you know that they also have flowers, birds, horses, you name it. Now you get to know those picked by Idaho.

State Flag & Seal
Adopted by the legislature in 1907.
The state seal was designed by Emma Edwards Green

State Bird: The Mountain Bluebird (Sialia arctcia)
adopted as the state bird for Idaho by the state legislature in 1931. The Bluebird is about seven inches long, has an azure blue coat, and a blue vest with white under-feathers. The mother bird wears a quiet blue-gray dress and usually lays six or seven blue-white eggs. The bluebird's nest is usually built in a hollow tree or in a crevice. The Bluebird is very neat about its home and carries all refuse some distance from the nest.

State Flower: The Syringa (Philadelphus lewissii)
Was designated the state flower of Idaho by the legislature in 1931. It is a branching shrub up to 12 feet tall with clusters of white, fragrant flowers that boom in late spring to early summer. The blossoms are similar to the mock orange, have four petals, and the flowers grow at the ends of short, leafy branches.


State Tree: Western White Pine (Pinus Monticola pinaceae)
Our state tree is probably most notable since the largest remaining stand of this timber in the United States grows in the northern part of Idaho. Tall and slender, the Western White Pine is native to forests of the Pacific Northwest from British columbia to Montana and as far south as central California. It has blue-green needles, slender cones and can grow to 100 ft. It has many other fine qualities such as straight grain and soft, even texture. The Western White Pine was named Idaho's state tree in 1935.



State Horse: Appaloosa
Was the first horse breed to be acquired by the Nez Perce tribe around the 1700's leading to the tribe developing into excellent horsemen and breeders. Settlers began to refer to their horses as "a Palouse horse" in reference to the Palouse River in north Central Idaho. The term evolved from that to "Palousey", "Appalousey" and finally "Appaloosa". An Appaloosa Horse Club was chartered in 1938 and has become one of the leading equine breed registries in the world. The Appaloosa was named Idaho's state horse in 1975 because of its importance to Idaho history.

I know it's not riveting reading, but I'm just trying to share. If you want to find out even more you can check out Visit Idaho.

And don't worry there won't be a test to follow.


excerps taken from visitidaho.com

Happy Easter!

Stoneridge Guy, Maggie and me will be thinking of all of you on this Easter Holiday.

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Getting to Know Idaho, the intro

Since I am now an Idaho resident, I figured I should get to know my new state. I have links to a couple of websites on my blog. Assuming that you won't visit those sites I've decided to introduce my new state to you. So as I find interesting trivia, I'll be passing them on.

Many people don't know much about Idaho except "potatoes."

Adjacent to Washington and Oregon in the Pacific Northwest, Idaho is a big state. It's been said if you flatten all the mountains in Idaho, the state would be the size of Texas. Idaho covers two time zones, runs from Canada to Nevada, and encompasses the western side of the continental divide of the Rocky Mountains. rivers, mountains and farmland dominate the state's landscape.
The panhandle has emerald green hillsides, timbered mountains and pristine lakes. Central Idaho is covered with jagged peaks. The Snake River Plain, with its wide open vistas, irrigated farmlands and vibrant cities forms the character of Southern Idaho.

Idaho's history lies with its native tribes, the Lewis and Clark Expedition and determined pioneers on the Oregon Trail. Today's Idaho is both cosmopolitan and small-town friendly. Boise, the capital and largest city, developed near Fort Boise along the Oregon Trail has grown to a population of 190,000. Agriculture, manufacturing and tourism are Idaho's major industries. Abundant outdoor recreation opportunities and scenic vistas around every turn attract over 20 million tourists annually.

an excerpt from VisitIdaho.org

Now that you know the background, here are a few stats:

Population: 1,429,096 (July 1, 2005)
Land Area: 83,557 sq. miles
Capital City: Boise
Highest Elevation: 12,662 ft. (Mt. Borah)
Lowest Elevation: 738 ft. (Lewiston)
Water Mass: 823 sq. miles
River Miles: 3,100 miles (more than any other state)

Building Up Walls, the good kind

Our vision is coming into focus. Now when we walk into our new house you can tell which room you're standing in. They finished the garage and StoneRidge Guy's workshop yesterday so we can liberate our belongings from the local storage facility. It's going to be like Christmas time in Spring. There are boxes that haven't been opened in over a year and I have no clue what's inside.

Our 2 car garage, behind it you can see
the entry to StoneRidge Guys workshop.

The trailer garage

The upstairs is insulated and dry walled. They start tapping today and should be completed by next Wednesday. We'll be going into town to pick our texture style soon.

The insulation going in the great room and master bedroom & bath

Now that the walls are done, the rooms look smaller and darker. Would you like a quick tour?

The great room and fireplace.

This will soon be filled with cabinets and an kitchen island

Spare room upstairs

A slight change of plans, nothing new here. We weren't able to insulate and dry wall the downstairs due to a bit of a flooding problem. That was caused by the spring thaw running toward the house; we weren't able to do the finish grade before everything froze. We have two pipes that come through the cement stem walls that are leaking. It's fixable, but not until the ground thaws out and we can dig down to the pipes. In the mean time, we just keep sucking up the water and mud.

Stairway to the daylight basement, no problems here

The bonus room/music room

We plan to concentrate on getting whole main floor done first so we can be moved in by the end of May. Our appliances are waiting in a StoneRidge neighbors garage for just a few more days.

Our front door is finished being stained and varnished and will be installed as soon as the dry wall has been taped and the texture applied to the walls. Our kitchen cabinets will be completed in a few weeks also. Now our next task is to buy the rock for the wainscotting outside and for the fireplace.
Stay tuned.