Making Real Progress... at Last!

Kyle and Dave have completed their whirlwind visit, and I am again latte-ing and blogging at Cabin Creek Coffee in Alpena.  Yesterday afternoon I took the guys to Camp Chickagami to see the buildings they and other subs might rent once the Camp's normal summer business abates.  While we haven't yet worked out the financial details, it's clear that using Camp Chick would be significantly less expensive than staying in a motel.  Then we drove over to the building site and chatted awhile with Tom and Dean.  My woodpile is growing!  Indeed, this cut has involved far more trees than Tom originally thought.  After that I gave the guys a half-hour tour of the Lake Esau-Grand Lake-Presque Isle area, including stops at the Fireside Inn and Presque Isle Lodge, a B-and-B.

Sharon and Attila, their granddaughters Hope and Kylie, Kyle, Dave and I had dinner at the Portage Restaurant — most of us enjoying an excellent whitefish — after which I showed the guys our two lighthouses.  As we stood on the beach admiring Lake Huron, Kyle reached down and plucked a Petoskey stone from among a couple million pebbles, rocks, and boulders underfoot.  Sharp eyes!  We spent the rest of the evening working out details of the contract and house plans.

This morning Dave, Kyle and I made a run to Rogers City for breakfast and some wooden stakes, and then marked the place where we want Presque Isle Electric to bring the temporary power line.  I'll get that part of the project rolling as soon as the tree-cutting is finished (Tom and Dean took today off).  We also agreed that some additional tree-cutting will be needed for the power company's purposes.  Poor Tom and Dean!  Then we pulled the site permit at the Township Hall, had a good visit with the mortgage officer at the bank... and the guys headed back downstate.

This has been a very positive day!  After months with this project wallowing in the doldrums, I'm finally seeing progress.  Kyle, who has been in the construction business since boyhood, assures me that problems and delays are part of the building game.  Now, at long last, we are making real headway.  That feels great!

I'll drive back to Grand Haven tomorrow afternoon.  On Saturday I'll begin mounting photos from this week.  You can see for yourselves how impressive a woodpile I now have.  I'll be splitting wood for months to come! •••