Coming Soon...

So with my time being up in Idaho, I'm gonna be moving on to the next job. But if you guys are interested in keeping up with Gold Coin Lane, Carol might start a blog to continue documenting the building process. I'll post the link here when she starts it.

But if your interested in my work, theatrical sets, or just me in general, then check out the new blog I'm doing for my work building scenery for plays.

http://temporary-thing.blogspot.com/

Late.

End of Day Shots: Last Day

So my last day in Idaho, and what am I doing? Working, of course. Thought I'd throw up some pics of where projects stand as I make my move back to Colorado.

The water tower workers are working on a little addition to the base. This will be a deck for for something, rumors say hot tub...

Remember way back at the beginning when we poured this wall. Here it is as I'm leaving. The mason will keep chipping away.

Just barely reached the end of my project. With a little help from a professional, the roof didn't turn out too bad.

...And as for the water wheel, well, she's still spinning.

Looking back, I got to do some amazing things with my time here. I've definitely left a mark on the place and, if Jon has his way, that mark will be around for the next hundred years. I hope you enjoyed the pics as much as I liked building the things in them.

End of Day Shots: Day Fifty-Six

So I'm on my last days here. I've been given a final project for the time while the others keep plugging away at the water tower and the flow control for the waterwheel.

My project has been to shake the roof on the shower. Easier said then done, I've found. But It should look pretty cool when it's done.

Les and Ben have been baring the sun on the water tower. It's ready for the water tank to be installed.

It's been built to withstand a earthquake. With all the triangles in this guy, I'm prepared to believe it.

Pete's been busy with Joe and Jon putting the creek together that will flow under the wheel. I guess I won't get to see it completed til the wedding.

Anyways, I probably got one more post in me and then I'll say goodbye to Gold Coin Lane. But I might convince Carol to continue on posting, and I think I'll start a new one for my work in the theater. More on that next post.

Late.

July 4th

So I kept hearing about the big 4th of July parade in the bay when I got here, but no one could quite put it into words. Neither can I, so here are some pics. Happy Birthday America from Idaho.

What did I do for the 4th? Why I grew a bushy mustache and got me a farmer's tan, what else?

Thanks to Jon for the pics

Late.

Full Circle

Remember at the beginning of this blog I said I'd post more Grand Canyon pics when Johnny Blaze got them to me. Well, he just got them to me. So as the summer comes to close the blog comes full circle.

Actually, before we get to that, first we must celebrate Rachel's big achievement. On this past weekends trip to Seattle, she turned over the big 100K. Though I've only been with her for a year of her travels, she's handled the road like a pro. Here's to the next 100K.

These pictures just sorta remind me how pictures can't capture the grand canyon.

As promised, John took pictures of my back to trade with mine of his.

Again, as cool and happy as I look here, I looked exhausted and panicked on the way up.

Late.

End of Day Shots: Day Forty-Five

As the sunny days keep coming, so do the busy days. We're really starting to move on the tower now. Also, some of the other guys are fixing up the landscape around the water wheel as this project is starting to come together.

It's kinda hard to put the size of the tower into scale, but you can kinda tell size compared to the Dean Mine and the 12 foot wide water wheel.

The sides were put up first and held up with some cross members and removable supports while we started putting in the permanent supports on the front and back.

Being as big as it is, we needed a number of straps to hold it together while we sized and bolted it.

Had some downtime between bolting together timbers so I got to put up the sun for the shower.

I've been speaking with the folks back in Denver and it looks like my time here might be ending in about three weeks. But if this sun keeps up, I might see a finished tower yet.

Later

End of Day Shots: Day Forty-Three

How to describe the results of the last two days; joy, relief, catharsis.

Just seeing this guy being lifted from it's parking spot was enough for me. We picked it up and leaned it against the gravel pile to get a better grip with the forks.

Then we marched it up the hill, much like one would an elephant.

It may not look it, but I'm actually overjoyed right here to be putting this wheel into place.

The original axle actually ended up being to thin for the bulk of the wheel.

Eventually we got this 2" steel rod in and seated on the bearings.

Jon got the wheel running with the garden hose, but really, you could run it with your pinky finger.

So there it is, it may have seemed larger then life during the construction, but up on the hill it looks just the right size. Jon's definitely got a keen eye for scaling water wheels.

Still have plenty of work to do on the wheel. It runs great, but it needs a braking system and more decorative features around it. You know, like a thirty-some foot water tower next to it, but that's for tomorrow.

Later.

End of Day Shots: Day Thirty-Nine

So I've been talking about how we've been prepping and finishing up the water wheel and the water tower now for a bit. I thought I'd show you just where we are at.

Couple of the guys are starting to put together the timbers for the sides of the water tower. This is one side of the big guy. Once we get the other three done we'll be ready to stand it up...

... here. This spot was poured before I got here. The posts will sit on top of the columns. The scaffolding is poised and ready for the big day.

The water wheel itself is to the point of being ready to hang, so Jon, Pete, and Joe, the landscaper, have been placing rocks to create a creek for the water to follow.

In the meantime, I've been working with Jon and Carol on designing a mobile for the outdoor shower. This sun is what we've come up with so far. Still kind of a work in progress.

We've had two days of sun in a row, which I'm pretty sure is a record. Definitely lifts the spirits to spend a day in the sun.

Later.

Human Impact

A sign we saw on one of our hikes spoke of human impact and how it gravely effects nature. True, but I saw a couple examples of human impact that made me smile. I'm not saying that I want to see the mountainsides painted, but a few cleverly placed art pieces can't hurt, right? (I'm sure my sister will tell me otherwise.)

This is at the base of Fletcher Falls.

Alot of the trees were marked by the forest service. This guy was by Green Bay.

The Road To Kaslo

I guess I haven't updated this in a while. Work has been going steady, but the wheel and the shower are getting some final detail work on them and it's kinda hard to take pictures of that kind of work. Plus, it's been raining every other day. The water tower is also moving towards completion. Looks like Friday might find us setting a wheel and raising a tower.

In other news, my folks came up for a visit to see what's changed around here.

These are my folks. We took a little trip up to British Colombia to see what we could see.

We took the Selkirk Loop up to Kaslo, which meant we had to ferry across Lake Kootenay. Beautiful country up there. Very Canadian.

We took a couple hikes just outside of town. This is an old growth cedar forest with massive trees that would take at least 5 or 6 hippies to hug. As I had only the two with me, we let them be.

Fletcher Falls was another nice walk. I say walk because the falls are pretty much right next to the highway. You just have to climb down the hill side to see it properly.

We did a bunch of other stuff, too, but I figured this is enough family trip photos for most people. Maybe I'll put more up later, but I'll definitely get some more work pics soon(ish).

Later

End of Day Shots: Day Twenty-Seven

The projects are all moving closer to completion, but that doesn't mean there isn't plenty to do around here.

In case you were wondering, here's what the concrete towers we poured ended up looking like.

I spent the week working on two projects, one being the water wheel, of course. We're fitting bottoms to the paddles for the water to collect and release as it spins.

The other project gaining speed is the water tower. Pete and Ben put the 3000 gallon tank together.

I've been helping Pete a bit handling this massive saw and cutting some 8x8 timbers to build the tower itself.

Hopefully in the upcoming week we can start putting some pieces together and I might get this water wheel done to a point that we can rig it to it's posts. Plenty of work.

Later

End of Day Shots: Day Twenty-One

Did a little work on the wheel, but the big story was the concrete pour up the hill for the wheel's posts. The concrete company was a little if-y about sending a truck up the thin road to the pour spot, so we improvised.

First, we pour the mud into buckets on the Takeuchi.

Next, Jim takes the buckets up the hill (I have seen him take much larger vehicles up the road, but I digress...)

Next, The buckets are loaded onto the big fork truck which we have the worker platform on.

We extend the forks...

...to the form...

...which is just out of reach. So we got this bearded guy, who should remember to lift with his legs more, to pass the buckets over to the column form.

Pour in the mud.

Vibrate it down, then repeat.

While we were at it, we poured the stairs at the beginning of the yard wall. Remember those?

We were all gearing up for the pour so it didn't end up being too bad. Teamwork really saved us on this one. Thanks to Jon and Carol for the documentation.

Later