My Great Family Team

My mother and sister live locally to me. My brother lives in California.

My brother came home for my 50th birthday in 2012, which happened to be just one month after we acquired our property. So his last visit was when the property was raw and un-touched, and when we had to park at the road and hike into the property.

Our family has been facing Alzheimer's disease with my mom's husband/our step-father. He was a good man. He was good to all of us, was our children's grandfather and our grandchildren's great-grandfather. He passed last month, and my brother wanted to make a trip back to spend some time with our mother. Of course, I saw an opportunity to travel up with them to do some work, but also to see the development of the property over time.

My mom had not been up to the property since 2015. My sister not since 2019. So none of them had seen expanded clearings, new stairs, nor the new building. I was excited for them to see it.

As far as work goals go, I needed to get the Bravo trailer out of the building. It was in the way of where I want to install shelving for my lumber storage. If you don't know this from prior blog entries, I am a bit of a lumber hoarder. But it really comes down to the fact that I really like to re-use and re-purpose "stuff". I have lumber from prior construction projects that I could not fathom to burn or dispose of. I can use this to build useful items at the property. I also need to get it all dry and out of the weather. Most of this is cedar and treated lumber, but any wood that gets wet without the ability to dry out will rot. Lumber that is moist enough to grow algae or moss will rot. I need to get my lumber dry and protected. The Bravo had been outside since we acquired it, so I think it will handle it still.

I also needed to do some re-organization. We are still trying to figure out the best way to keep track of things under the concept of "a place for everything and everything in its place". I still have lumber and fence posts at the property. Clutter gets in the way of the experience we are trying to create. But, I must have a place to store the lumber and make the best use of the space inside of the building.

I also needed to get the brush guard installed on the ATV before one of us hits a tree and damages the machine.

We left at 8:00 AM, with my sister riding with me and my brother driving he and my mom. It was an uneventful trip which had us arriving a bit before noon. Filled the portable water tank (for the camper), to Hansen's for some side salads, and out to the property.

After a quick lunch, it was on to pulling the camper out of the building and parking it on the fire lane. Then we got the Bravo out and positioned on the east side of the building. The plan was to do this, and then just put the camper back in the building and move on. But, there was so much debris (dust/dirt/rock/leaves/spiderwebs) in the area, I just could not move on without doing a sweep of the floor. Of course, I could not stop until we did the whole building. In any case, we got things re-organized and cleaned, and I feel good about how the organization plan is coming together.

After getting beyond cleaning, it was time to show my brother and sister how to drive the ATV. They both took some test runs and had it down with no issues. I need to show others so they can make trips throughout the property and not require me to do it. It could be something as simple as a trip to the outhouse, but I don't want to be the taxi driver. And, when there is work involved, I need others to be able to drive in case I am working on something that I don't want to stop working on.

Of course, everyone likes driving an ATV.

My mom did not want to learn, but she was fully willing to ride. On our way back, she confessed she thought about learning to drive it, so maybe next time it will happen.

Then, it was time to take them to show them the clearings (campground), stairs and waterfront. I drove with mom riding, while Brian and Dawn walked it. We spent some time at the water where the conversation turned to kayaking. I told them "you can kayak if you want to", and they both jumped on it. So, Brian and I went back to the building to get kayaks and oars, and trucked them back and then took them down the stairs. They were off and running.

Once we picked them up and got back to the property, it was time to start to prep supper. I took off to deal with trail cameras.

We had a good night by the fire, with them getting their laughs at my expense. I tend to sit for a little bit, and then up doing something. So they were placing bets on certain things I may/may-not do. By the way, they all owe me the money because none of them won the bets they were making. But it was fun and I enjoyed playing their game without me even knowing I was playing it. Around 11:00 PM, Dawn was taking mom to the outhouse, and all Brian and I could hear was them laughing hard. Ends up they had gotten lost driving to the outhouse.

I slept on my cot in the building, while they stayed inside the camper.

Up early and did cleanup outside. Burritos once they awoke.

Brush guard installed on ATV. Cleanup and prep for departure. Departed close to 11:00 AM.

This was an awesome trip, much needed by all of us. I also think it helped our mother to flip that switch from being a primary care-giver to moving on with her life. It will take some time, and there will be times that are not easy. But our mother is strong, in good mental and physical health, and we have no reason to have any concerns with her.