Author Archives: Britton

Nice Day for a Drive to Estes Park

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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

And Then We Can

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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.

Roof Project Update

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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.

 

Kicking Butt and Cleaning Up at the PR property

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Well…It has been the most productive time I have had at the property in Rincon so far (but we’ve had some fun too).   We got the yard mowed with the modded trimmer.  I spent my morning finishing up the backyard trimming.  Then Matt and I moved on to cleaning the roof and prepping it for cross coat sealant.

Very productive day and my arms are very sore.  So we went to the beach and are now just hanging out on the roof of the cabana.  Which we decided may need a view improvement by way of chainsaw (more on that later…hopefully).

I also checked on a Pineapple Mango tree we planted a while ago as well as a Corazon tree.  Pics below.

Tall yard
Lots of Growth Since the Last Visit

Yard Mowed
Mowing to the fence line (backyard)

We planted about 10 Mexicola Avocado seeds last visit.  And three of them sprouted while we were away!
avacado
Avocado trees were marked by a cinder block so we could find them after a year away

corezone
Corazon Tree, it is doing very good and way bigger than when we planted it!!

backyard mowed
Mowed Lawn (backyard). Still lots of vines on the fence.

The next step was to start on the roof.  Matt started early so I don’t have a before picture but the alge was about 1/4 inch thick!!  It was basically green /black when we started and now it is white.  There were a few plugged drains and on one of them I used a vine as a snake to clear the clog!  LOL

Big Dustpan
Worlds largest dust pan

bubbles on roof
Scrubbing Bubbles

Mat scrubbing 2
Matt Scrubbing

clean
Super clean results! Almost ready for the sealant

Matt was looking for something to clear the drain.  He mentioned that we should Macgyver it.  So I used some jungle resources to make a sewer snake and put it up the drain.

Vine
Jungle Macgyver

There has been so much going on it is hard to post it all!  Here is a picture of how the yard looked from the front before we started.  There was quite a bit of growth.