Monthly Archives: January 2013

Puerto Rico Prep Time

Can you believe it has already been 2 months since Britton’s memory/health scare? Me either! He went back to work this week and our schedules have normalized once again. However, what is in the back of our minds (and sometimes in the front), of course, is our move! This is a big deal for us because we have lived in our Greeley, Colorado house for nearly 10 years now! Talk about time flying! Now that we have only 8 or 9 months until we move we are seeing how much really needs to get done!

Thankfully we have already made our checklist and have started working our way down our timeline to Puerto Rico at a nice pace. We are certainly on track, but just like any major event (say, planning a wedding for instance), most things have to wait until just before the actual event is about to take place.

In the mean time, we have accomplished a few tasks on our lists. One of those was to find Kitty a pet carrier that was airline approved. We found a Sherpa brand soft-shelled cat carrier on Craigslist for just $20. Brand new they cost about $70, so we thought that was a decent deal and Kitty seems to like it ok.

Kitty and the Carrier
Kitty and the Carrier

Britton in carrier
Britton liked it more! 🙂

We also pulled the trigger on buying new carpet for the upstairs of our house. Now that Schnoodle is gone and we will be renting out  the house when we move, it makes sense as an investment to fix it up for the future tenants. Plus we will be able to enjoy it for these next few months. I believe they will be installing it this weekend, so stay tuned for the before and after transformation.

In order to install the carpet we have to move off all of our furniture and anything else that is on the carpet. That has helped us to see more clearly what we will be dealing with in terms of “stuff” when we actually move. It’s kind of astonishing how much “stuff” we accumulate over the years. And we have consciously tried not to buy or accumulate!

Basement Stuff 2
Stuff from around the house now in the basement -clothes, shoes, computers, pictures, guitars, etc

I am starting to see the wisdom in Britton’s view of starting fresh in Puerto Rico and not bringing much with us. For one thing we will be living in a studio cabana when we first move there and two, it is going to be difficult to transfer/ship a lot of our life and belongings there. Already a few of the items in our “first moving bag to PR” ended up getting broken in transit even with the “Fragile” warning. So…we have a lot of stuff to clear out one way or the other. It is eye opening to realize that our stuff is just that -stuff- and it feels good to have a clean slate. But it is still difficult to sort through especially when you’re a sentimental and collecting type like me.

Overall, things are swinging right along during this Puerto Rico prep time and we are still on course for our tentative move date. As it gets closer and closer, our dream life of Puerto Rico and “real” world  of Greeley life are starting to converge and it is very exciting!!

Tall Yard 2
Soon we will be back here!

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Nice Day for a Drive to Estes Park

I woke up yesterday and didn’t really have anything to do, so I figured I’d take a drive up to the mountains while I still can.  Driving up to Estes on a Thursday is definitely the way to go.  Traffic was virtually non-existent and the roads were completely dry and clear.
Hill Top
Coming back from Estes (Glen Haven Road)

During the summer months these roads get so packed with people (tourist season) that it takes a lot of the flow away from the driving experience.  The road has long sweeping turns that keep you engaged the whole way up.  The Big Thompson Canyon is a road I have been on virtually my whole life.  When I was a kid the family would take trips up.  When I started to drive it was a common destination.  It is a drastic departure from the mundane straight highways that are on the flat plains of Colorado and it is only about an hour away from Greeley!

view
Countryside in Estes (around 8,100ft)
When we move to Rincon I am either going to list my Corvette for sale, or store it away.  I am not sure yet.  I thought about shipping it, but it just doesn’t make much sense in PR.  It has stayed rust free living it’s life in low humidity and salt free air.  I think it could get destroyed in fairly short order if it were to live in PR with us…lol.

In any case it is nice to have a fun classic car that is V8 powered with a 4 speed to climb up hills effortlessly.  My Honda doesn’t do nearly as well.  It doesn’t use nearly as much gas either!  It is more about the smiles per gallon.

Car at Stop
Car at Stop

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And Then We Can

Well I have been back in CO now for a few days and am getting back into the flow of this time zone.  It does take quite a bit to adjust 3 time zones and back again.  Since I have been back I noticed that I am very excited to really get going in PR.

The roof project and mowing down the front and back yard is a very small start to what we would like to do.  All of our conversations start with “And then we can…..”.  This is a great sign as it shows how excited we are to move.

 beach_pic
Woke Up and Went Swimming Here On the Last Trip to Rincon

One of the first things we want to do when we arrive is to start planting trees:  banana, orange, grapefruit, avocado, plantain and anything that is fruit producing.  We figure we need to get as early a start on this as possible.  Along with this is to get a flock of chickens going.  And then we can get going on the wood house, and then we can get goats, and then we can build a water catchment system and then we can plant potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, and then we can.  “And then we can” is endless.

When I visit the property I get a surge of energy.  We have come a long way and sometimes I still can’t believe it.

And then we can paint whatever picture we want on our newest canvas of life.

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Roof Project Update

Well today was a bit more laid back, but we still got quite a bit accomplished with the roof.  We would have liked to have let the concrete dry longer before putting on the sealant, but since we are on such a tight schedule we didn’t really have much choice.  It was totally dry on the surface, but I just don’t know how far water sinks into the concrete.   We did our best and I think it will be fine.

roof in progress
Crossco 5500 going on
roofdone
Finishing up

We still have another coat to put on in the morning before we head back to the airport, but this looks pretty much like the end result will look.

Of course once we finished a stray cat got up on the roof and pooped.   Right on the nice clean white finished surface..lol.

Just having working drains will make a huge difference, but having the acrylic elastomeric coating should keep the cement from getting moisture, which means I can then paint the inside ceiling without having the paint peel.  A project before a project!

The moss/alge on the roof that was there before we started looks to have gone up the sides pretty far.  I think the roof was most likely a pretty nice pond after rain storms.

 

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