Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Thanksgiving has dawned, well actually hasn't dawned yet, but soon.  This is a big day and holiday for us.  We are thankful for our friends, family, and our lifestyle.  We have had the opportunity to travel all over this country this year, including the 49th and 50th state, and do it in part in company with family, we have enjoyed good health, and remained active and interested to enjoy and absorb all that we have seen and experienced.  We will later today enjoy the company of our close family, and welcome new friends.  We will think of the ones that were unable to come this year, and the ones that have moved on.

So, please do the same with your family and friends, and later this week as the holiday winds down, we will catch you up on our travels and a few gremlins we have experienced recently.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Clicking off the days, freezing our asses off, and waiting for Turkey Day

Which all sounds bad, but I don't mean it that way.  We've had a nice visit with Kelly and Todd and the Gkids when they drove down to see us.  It is very nice that they are nearby, only an hour and a half away, in fact Jan has gone up to help Kelly with some stuff and we are both headed up there today for the weekend to see their new house, neighborhood, and of course the kids.

We've been visiting with Tom, solving the problems in the world, and I have even had an opportunity to do one of my favorite things, mow some leaves!  And it would all be a lot better if it would warm up just a bit!

Karen has been off visiting one of her horses in NC, but will get back the same time we will on Sunday, then Jason will arrive Monday night, we'll go get the kids on Tuesday, Kelly and Todd will arrive Wed, Jason's friend will arrive Thurs, and our merry group will feast later that day.

It's nice to be with family, but we have to admit the Florida weather is calling us:-)

What the Hell?

We did not sign up for this!

Good morning!

This is what we woke up to.  Is it pretty, yes.  Is it freezing cold, yes to that too.  Is it going to get even colder, as in 10 degrees tomorrow night, yes to that also.  So it brings to mind, just what the Hell are we doing here?

The answer is easy actually.  We are here at Karen and Tom's beautiful farm in Louisville, KY for our Thanksgiving get together, my favorite holiday.  It's going to be a good one this year, as it is every year.  We've had huge celebrations with tons of people, and we've had little celebrations with fewer people, but each one is special.  It's a wonderful opportunity to gather and be thankful for all we have, think of friends and family in need, think of those that were unable to come this year, and think of the loved ones that have been here but have passed on.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone a week early!  Now if they could only warm it up, stop the snow..............

The Escape, oysters, and into the Cold!

As we were getting ready to leave Ernie's, we had originally planned to head directly for Kentucky and Karen and Tom's farm to be in place for Thanksgiving good times.  But watching the freezing cold descending on the mid section of the country gave us pause.  No, big surprise, the cold doesn't thrill us anymore:-)  So after a perusal of the map, we decided on a small detour that would serve numerous solutions, albeit temporary.  

It was either launch directly into the sub freezing temps or detour to the New Orleans area.  And so we did!  It was only about 275 miles "out of our way", but we got nice warm temps and weather, had too many oysters to admit to, po-boys, beignets and cafe au lait, and don't forget bread pudding.  So this morning the weather has caught up to us.  It's 40 degrees out and raining, at least we will outrun the rain on our way north in just a 100 miles or so, but our planned overnight around Birmingham is supposed to have a low of 25!  But that will gear us up for our time in Louisville that isn't supposed to get warmer than 44 in the next 10 days.  So adios south and warm, at least for a few weeks.

It's all done!!

Ernie made a real run for it Sunday, and it was looking pretty good, but Murphy got in the way at the end.  First he installed the carpet on the slide.

Laying it in

Making the final adjustments and cuts

In and vacuumed

Then he moved to finish the last big trim piece in the bedroom.  

All done also

Bert was NOT impressed!

Meanwhile Jan and I tried to stay ahead of him and do what needed to be done and stay out of his way.  I had wanted an extra switch to control the GPS and the Tire Pressure Monitor, so I got that installed and working while the dash was ripped apart.

Almost looks like I know what I'm doing:-)

Git er done

That left little trim pieces here and there behind the pedals, on the side consoles, etc.

Ernie working and me bothering him

But at the end of the day, with Murphy intervening, the entry step area won.  Piece after piece was installed and reinstalled as Ernie is a perfectionist, and it became apparent we would have to complete the rest this morning.  And that was okay, it gave Jan and I a chance to reinstall the cabinet and bookshelves, bring in and put away tons of stuff we had moved out, and by the end of our night things were looking like home sweet home.

Cleaning and cabinet going in

Taking a little rest

So first thing this morning Jan and I finished getting cabinet drawers and electric installed.  Then Ernie showed up with two big guys who carried the two captains chairs in, by the way they each probably weigh over 100#!  So Ernie jumped back in on the entry way and got the sides all finished and went to work on the step cover.

Wood going on the step cover

Bert says, "It's about time you got my chairs back in here!"

Chairs getting fastened down.

So after all the little things, we loaded up the remaining pieces of wood and a bit of carpet, said good bye and a BIG thank you to Ernie for his excellent work.  Please if you are considering having a new floor installed in your motorhome please give Ernie Ekberg a buzz.  He's pretty booked up and with good reason, but worth it in all ways!

All back in place and beautiful, beautiful!!

Closing in on it!

What a day!  The front main floor is complete.  And it does look wonderful.  Ernie worked a long day getting it completely done before he quit for the day.  And the best news, he is going to work today to (hopefully) finish us up.  Don't want to jinx it:-)

Pretty, huh?

The main floor

Jan and I got several little things done while Ernie was installing.  I added an outlet near the front door, trimmed up some wood around the entry so Ernie can finish the sides of the entry stairway, rebuilt the trim cover for the bedroom, and returned an extra can of adhesive.  Here's a view of our home away from home at Ernie's.

Parked right next to Ernie's beautiful Blue Bird

Working on the new outlet

So today, to quote Ernie's website, "The main floor has been completed. Tomorrow, I'll add carpet to the slide, work on bedroom cabinet area, and install the entry wood. Ernie"  All Jan and will have to do is spray some foam insulation in the gaping holes Monaco left in construction, bring in and remount our desk/cabinet and bookshelves, remount the captain's chairs, and try to clean up the incredible cluttered mess a project of this size creates.  But it is all good, it looks fabulous, and Ernie has been doing an incredible job!  So will we be out of here tomorrow, that's the $64,000 question??

Super!

Moving to the front!

As I said, Jan and I left Ernie alone to do his thing while we went to Addison, TX for a meeting.  And boy, did Ernie do a job!  He got the stair nose trim around the step entry all aligned and ended up getting almost half the wood in the front installed.  Looks great.  

Beginning on the entry

Looking good!

Almost half way done

The bedroom looks superb, but seeing the wood in the front of the coach makes us so happy we decided to do this remodel.  We are very pleased.

Really great

Today I am hoping to help by rebuilding the cover that goes in the bedroom, cutting out an offending layer of plywood in the entryway, hopefully installing an additional AC outlet for Jan, remounting a few trim pieces, drilling and mounting the couch in position, and what ever else I can do to help Ernie as we get closer to completion.

Moving right along

First of all, the awaited stair nose trim showed up yesterday afternoon!  That way Ernie will be able to start at the entry steps and begin laying wood in the front of the coach.  He finished up the rest of the carpet in the bedroom, so the only thing left there is a long cover under our cabinets that covers wiring and plumbing runs.  It was also waiting for the stair nose.  Ernie and I were going to start on that trim piece, but found out over time or whatever the front face of it is very wavy, so tomorrow I am going to rebuild it with a new piece of plywood so Ernie can do his magic with the wood, and that will completely finalize the bedroom.

Last bits of carpet in the bedroom

The brunt of the day was spent applying floor leveler to the front of the coach where the tile removal had done its havoc.  It is nice and smooth now.  Ernie is planning on a final coat of leveler, then will begin the intricate trim work around the step entry.  

Getting smooth!

We did some evaluation of the operation of the step cover, and with a little bit of modification it will be covered with wood as well.  The step cover is a movable "floor" that comes out and up to cover the entry well while underway.  It will be opportune that Jan and I have to go into Dallas for the day, so Ernie and Bert will be holding down the ship.  It will make it a lot better for Ernie in that he won't have to deal with Jan and I trying to get in and out while he's working in the entry.  And he will have peace and quiet except from Bert:-)  We will move the couch out of the way so he can lay wood down in front and on the slide out the couch mounts on.  We will be excited to get back this afternoon to see the progress!

Lots more progress!

Ernie took right off yesterday.  Tons of progress.  The bedroom is now 95% complete.  There is a little carpet to go around the far side of the bed and wood needs to go on a cover below the cabinets to cover some wiring and plumbing. 

Lots of wood

Ernie working hard

A few things needed to be engineered so as to be removable if a maintenance issue comes up.  So together Ernie and I got that done.  So today should be a quick finish to the bedroom and then moving on to the main part of the floor in the front of the coach.  The stair nose trim that is integral to beginning the floor in the front is "out for delivery", so hopefully we will see that this morning.  A bunch of floor leveler needs to be spread in the front around the entry steps where the tile removal did some damage, then on to the wood.  Really looking good!

Completion of the floor

Nice!

Detail as the wood meets the new carpet

We have wood!

We started a little before Ernie showed up by unbolting the couch and sliding it out of its place so we could start the demo on the carpet under the couch and on the coach floor in front.  This completes the demo!  We had another fight with the staples, only 2 trillion this time!  But we got it done.

Almost done under the couch

Then we discovered a little glitch where we had installed the new tile.  Since we didn't know exactly what was what when we did the tile, we chose to end it right at the galley cabinet edge.  Unfortunately that is exactly where the T-molding has to go for the transition from tile to wood.  The T-molding also stands up a bit from the floor, maybe 3/8" or so, and this joint is right on the edge as the slide moves in and out.  As it was, we only had about 1/4" from the tile to the bottom of the cabinet.  So we took that opportunity to do two things, one, raise the slide a bit throughout ( it needed that anyway) so Jan and I ripped apart the cabinets to access the rollers.  We raised it about another 1/4", then, two, we cut a little bit off the cabinet edge so it would definitely clear the molding.

You can obviously see I'm doing the hard part:-)

Ernie making the surgical cut

So the demo is done!  Jan graduated to doing a little floor leveler, and more will have to be done in the front of the coach where the OSB was damaged by pulling up the tile, but the big news is.......

We have the first bit of wood installed in the bedroom!  And it looks oh so good!

Oh yeah!

How sweet it is

So today we expect a lot more wood will be put down in the bedroom, if not all of it.  Ernie will be held up in the front as the stair nose trim is not expected until Thursday.  The stair nose trim is the first thing installed in the front of the coach and the wood continues from there.  But if necessary he will put down the wood under the couch on the slide first.  More and more progress, baby!  And the rain is supposed to finally stop later today, it has been pouring nonstop!

Lots of progress!

We had a great day yesterday, not that we feel much better this morning:-)  Ernie started right off by pulling out the old carpet on the slide out, using it as a template for the new carpet and sent Jan and I off to the binders.  The carpet edge where it meets the floor has to be bound.

Ernie hard at work

Then into the bedroom for demo of the carpet.  We got rid of the bed and its platform to give us access, and a lot of it was a bear to get out as Monaco must have used, oh maybe, a million staples!  But we did it!

Good access with the bed removed

Here we go

Ernie wondering how they even had room for all the staples

Also the pictures don't do Jan justice as she took the pictures, believe me she is as hard at work doing this as Ernie and I are!  But even though the demo might not be fun, it's the anticipation of what comes next.  Wood!

Demo almost complete

Floor turned out pretty good

Ernie put down a little floor leveler where the plywood meets the OSB to make it smooth.

Looking at the first piece of wood

Today is a big day, Ernie will be installing wood.  It's pretty exciting, meanwhile Jan and I have to pull the remaining couch, and remove all the carpet underneath.  Also when we bought our wood, we were unable to get the stair nose trim needed at the entry steps and had to order it.  We got confirmation yesterday that it will arrive on Thursday.  It should not hold us up.  Onward!

Tile is gone!

Jan and I worked all day long to get the rest of the tile out.  It is amazing that it is so difficult.  We could barely move at the end of the day.  We also removed our new desk/cabinet and bookshelves.  Then we collapsed into comas:-)

A good start

Almost done

The little shards under the trim work were
quite a challenge!

We have both decided that neither of us wants to get a job removing porcelain tile no matter what it pays.  How it can stick the way it does, and then of course it shatters into razor sharp shards when you try to pry it up.  Just that small area, perhaps 32 square feet took all day!  And we are still hobbling around today, but it's all gone and the good stuff is coming.  We did have one bad find though, seems we have a small water leak around the driver's side window.  We will patch it now and pull it out and recaulk later.  Always something, right?

Bert says, "Why are you disrupting my home?"

So we are loosening up and awaiting Ernie's arrival at 8am.  He said he will remove our slide out carpet, measure, cut the new carpet, put in a seam, and send us off with the new carpet to have it bound on the border that goes on the edge of the slide out.  Then the bedroom gets demo done, as he will start laying the wood there first.  Yippee!

Here we go!

We met Ernie bright and early and headed into Fort Worth, at least I think it was Fort Worth, we drove for a long time and went to a Lumber Liquidators.  Jan picked out a beautiful cyprus and a beautiful hickory.  Really couldn't decide between the two, but the decision was made for us, no cyprus in stock, but plenty of hickory.  So we loaded up the truck with our wood, then had to drive another 20 minutes or so to get to another Lumber Liquidator that had the T-molding we needed.  Only glitch in the plan was no one had the stair nose so it is on a fast track order from their warehouse in NY, and being sent directly to Ernie.

A couple pics of our new wood

One of our goals is to lighten up the interior of our coach, so as you can see the wood is light.  Since we lived with the color of the plywood all summer long, we felt that it was really effective brightening things up.

After a quick lunch stop we went to find some carpet.  We are using carpet on our front driver's side slide out, and a little here and there in the bedroom.  We found a really nice piece that fit the bill and had the added benefit of being a big remnant which saves some bucks:-)

So now that we have our material, that leaves the demo, which Jan and I are going to help with.  Ernie takes Sunday off, so after finding out exactly what he needs, we are going to tackle the rest of the tile floor.  We are not looking forward to it, if you remember our travails with the rest of it, but that's our chore today, and hopefully we can get it out and remove our new desk/cabinet, and a few other things and be ready to start fresh with Ernie tomorrow.  We already took the captain's chairs out.

No chairs and the last of the tile to come out

I have a feeling the mess is just beginning

More updates tomorrow if Jan and I can still move around:-)