Off to Idaho

The last evening of September, my final official day of my job, I boarded a plane for the US. The idea of returning to the US for a couple of weeks had been in my head since we visited in July. My brother and I had been working on the RV lean-to and, for various reasons, we were unable to complete it. Prior to leaving, we covered the structure with a tarp to protect the build from the elements during the winter, but I wasn’t very satisfied with the way we left it. Moreover, in the weeks that followed, my brother had noticed some structural weaknesses that had developed. It wasn’t entirely surprising given that we had suspended work on it midway through the build, but it was concerning and added additional motivation to return to complete the structure prior to winter.

The challenge would be to find a window of opportunity to make the trip. I was still employed through the end of September. We had also planned on a trip during the girl’s autumn break the second half of October. And by the time you are in November, it becomes questionable whether the mountain weather would be conducive for construction. The first half of October would be the only window for the trip.

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My plan for the two weeks would be to have a half-week in Boise, a week in the mountains working on the lean-to, and then another half-week in Boise to wrap things up. The key assumption was that five working days would be sufficient to complete the project. It was a bit of a roll of the dice given the need to make sure that the RV was sufficiently sheltered for winter and that the lean-to itself would be protected and structurally sound. I felt like I had enough time, but you can’t predict what snags you might run into. These things always take longer than you think they should. 

 

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I arrived on a Thursday afternoon and slept well enough that night such that I didn’t have much jet lag. The following morning, I was ready to go, joining my sister in running errands with my mom. By Sunday, I would take my mom to church and lunch before heading to the mountains.

I made a brief stop at our property to scope out the status of the lean-to before heading to my sister’s in McCall where I would be staying for the week. There was a dead mouse in the shed where the tools are stored. Rodents have been a big nuisance in the area apparently so part of my task would be to do what I can to protect the RV and the storage shed from the destructive little critters.

The shelter was definitely leaning more than when I had left it in July and a couple of the joints were compromised, but it all looked like it could be fixed.

The next morning, my brother and I met at the lean-to and went to work. Day one would be devoted exclusively to shoring up the structure and making sure it would be strong enough to survive the challenging mountain winters.

The weather was chilly in the mornings and hot in the afternoons. It’s the time of year where there are significant temperature swings, but at least it was consistent throughout the week.

On day two, there was some more bracing to do, but by afternoon the work shifted towards the roof. This would involve the removal of the tarp (which took longer than I expected) and then picking up where we left off with the wood panels (OSB). The day was cut short due to some other obligations, one of which was the gathering of my siblings by late afternoon. It’s always special to have all five of us in the same place at the same time. This time would be to acknowledge/celebrate the fact that my younger sister and I left the workforce the exact same day (six days prior).

dinner with siblings

By day three, the panels were all in place and we began the water-proofing underlayment and metal roofing. We seemed to be on track but it was hard to say. Neither of us had built a lean-to before so every day was a new adventure.

On day four, we continued the roofing work and it was clear that it would roll over into the next day. Though Friday was projected to be the final day, I did leave the door open to working on Saturday if I absolutely needed to. I was hoping that wouldn’t be necessary given that the weather was expected to take a turn for the worse on the weekend.

By Friday afternoon, it looked as though we were indeed going to finish as scheduled. After the final metal roofing panel was screwed in, there was not much time to celebrate as there was still the lattice work which was saved for last. This would only need to be done on the north and west sides, and, given that evening was drawing near, I simplified my expectations (a single row of lattice panels rather than two).

 

The last screw was in and the RV was parked inside the shelter just before 6:30pm. After a full week of effort, we had crossed the finish line. We cracked open a couple of beers, made ourselves comfortable in lawn chairs and enjoyed the sunset. 

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finished lean-to left of center

 

As expected, temperatures dropped precipitously the next day and it was clear that we had finished the shelter just in time.

I was a bit tired and sore and happy to take Saturday morning off. But by afternoon, I would need to load up and head back to Boise. I wanted to accompany my mother to church and lunch again the next morning. I also had loads of errands to take care of prior to my departure Wednesday morning.

My last couple of days in Idaho were uneventful. I ran errands, took my mom to dinner, and spent time with my sisters. So nice to have the time to just sit and chat. Hopefully in my post-work life I’ll have time to do more of that.

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The travel back to Nairobi was pleasantly uneventful. I would have a couple days before traveling again, this time with my family.