The troops arrived! Trevor, Angie, and Aspen were coming to help with the projects on the house. They flew into Ketchikan the first of July. We had give them a list of things we needed picked up--things that would not fit in the truck. So they went shopping! Among they things they purchased was some storage containers, a barbeque, and some kitchen and household items as well as some food items we could not find on the island.
Trevor, Angie, and Aspen arrived on the ferry at 6:30 and we were there to pick them up. They enjoyed the beautiful scenery from Hollis to Whale Pass. They love the outdoors and this was like heaven to them!
When they arrived, we got the beds made for everyone. After fixing dinner and taking some time to unwind, we headed to bed--we had a big day ahead of us.
The bedrooms in our house are quite small, so there is no room for a closet or dresser. Glenn and Deb thought storage boxes which fit under the beds could be used to store shoes and clothing. Trevor and Angie brought the storage boxes with them from Ketchikan. These were to be used in our bedroom and the twin bed bedroom. The bunk beds were too low for these boxes, so it was decided to purchase some smaller boxes for that bedroom. The boxes fit wonderfully under our bed, but the twin beds were too low. So Glenn, Trevor, and Jordan jumped in and rebuilt the bed frames so the boxes could slide under them.
While the men were busy with rebuilding the twin beds, Angie, Aspen, and Deb started working on the blinds. The kitchen window had a curtain up to it, but there was nothing at any of the other windows in the house. We installed mini blinds up to the windows and the doors in both the twin bed bedroom and the bunk bed bedroom. Next we installed 2-inch blinds up to the two front room windows and our bedroom. It was so nice to be able to close the blinds at night for privacy (although I think there are only bears and deer out there).
In the first post called, "In the Beginning . . .", I said: "There were two interesting parts about this house: (1) it had two roll-up metal doors in the back which were used to pull recreational vehicles up into the house, and (2) there were two front doors, both of which led into bedrooms." We wanted a front door that led into the center of the house instead. We also wanted a window in the bathroom to bring in light and allow for venting instead of the roll up door. So the work began. We purchased a new front door in Craig on one of
our visits to town. Glenn, Trevor, and Jordan removed the window at the front of the house which was between the two front doors. This was going to go into the bathroom.
After making some modifications to the opening, they installed the new front door. We now had three front doors!!! This would be the main entrance into the house. The other two doors could be used by those staying in the bedrooms, but they could enter through the main door if desired. Right now the new door cannot be used because it doesn't have any stairs leading up to it. However, we are going to build a deck on the front of the house which will be created in the "On the Fifth Day . . ." post. Once the deck is created, we will be able to enter through our Front Door.
After getting the front door completely installed, Glenn, Trevor, and Jordan turned their attention to the bathroom. First order of business was to remove the roll up door. Then they worked on framing in a place for the window which was removed from the front room. They screwed OSB over the 2x4's on the outside then installed the window. Wow, did that make a difference. To finish it all off, they finished the interior wall around the window to match the rest of the room, which was OSB painted gray. This wasn't really nice looking, but it was temporary.
Once the changes were made to the back of the house, they were ready to start putting on the vinyl siding. They sided the back and one side. There were now three sides of the house with vinyl siding. They looked great! The front of the house will be sided after the desk is built.
In an effort to collect more water, Glenn, Trevor, and Jordan also built a huge metal tank and lined it with a silver tarp. This tank would be able to hold about 3,000 gallons. You can see the tank in the far back ground of this picture.
Many times late in the afternoon or early evening, we would have some visitors in our yard. This picture was taken out or one of our windows. On this particular occasion, we were all in the house, but one evening many of us were outside and a deer came wandering through our yard. She didn't seem to be the least bit worried that we were there.
While the men were working on the exterior of the house, Angie, Aspen, and Deb worked on the interior. We decided to do the flooring first. Half of the living room, our bedroom, the twin bed bedroom, and the area in between those two bedroom had plywood that had been painted gray as the floor--it had never been finished. One of the things that Glenn brought up with him in the truck was a number of boxes of floating vinyl floor tiles. They were very easy to install and they looked beautiful! This sure made a difference in the appearance of the home and made the floors much nicer to walk on!
In the first post called, "In the Beginning . . .", I said: "There were two interesting parts about this house: (1) it had two roll-up metal doors in the back which were used to pull recreational vehicles up into the house, and (2) there were two front doors, both of which led into bedrooms." We wanted a front door that led into the center of the house instead. We also wanted a window in the bathroom to bring in light and allow for venting instead of the roll up door. So the work began. We purchased a new front door in Craig on one of
our visits to town. Glenn, Trevor, and Jordan removed the window at the front of the house which was between the two front doors. This was going to go into the bathroom.
After making some modifications to the opening, they installed the new front door. We now had three front doors!!! This would be the main entrance into the house. The other two doors could be used by those staying in the bedrooms, but they could enter through the main door if desired. Right now the new door cannot be used because it doesn't have any stairs leading up to it. However, we are going to build a deck on the front of the house which will be created in the "On the Fifth Day . . ." post. Once the deck is created, we will be able to enter through our Front Door.
After getting the front door completely installed, Glenn, Trevor, and Jordan turned their attention to the bathroom. First order of business was to remove the roll up door. Then they worked on framing in a place for the window which was removed from the front room. They screwed OSB over the 2x4's on the outside then installed the window. Wow, did that make a difference. To finish it all off, they finished the interior wall around the window to match the rest of the room, which was OSB painted gray. This wasn't really nice looking, but it was temporary.
Another project Glenn, Trevor, and Jordan worked on was to enclose this opening (in the picture) on the back of the house. This would increase our bedroom by a couple of feet.
Once the changes were made to the back of the house, they were ready to start putting on the vinyl siding. They sided the back and one side. There were now three sides of the house with vinyl siding. They looked great! The front of the house will be sided after the desk is built.In an effort to collect more water, Glenn, Trevor, and Jordan also built a huge metal tank and lined it with a silver tarp. This tank would be able to hold about 3,000 gallons. You can see the tank in the far back ground of this picture.
Many times late in the afternoon or early evening, we would have some visitors in our yard. This picture was taken out or one of our windows. On this particular occasion, we were all in the house, but one evening many of us were outside and a deer came wandering through our yard. She didn't seem to be the least bit worried that we were there.
While the men were working on the exterior of the house, Angie, Aspen, and Deb worked on the interior. We decided to do the flooring first. Half of the living room, our bedroom, the twin bed bedroom, and the area in between those two bedroom had plywood that had been painted gray as the floor--it had never been finished. One of the things that Glenn brought up with him in the truck was a number of boxes of floating vinyl floor tiles. They were very easy to install and they looked beautiful! This sure made a difference in the appearance of the home and made the floors much nicer to walk on!
The next project that Angie, Aspen, and Deb worked on was to finish the walls in the master bedroom. As you may recall, this room was used for storage, a meat locker, and a recreational vehicle garage. When we started cleaning out this room so that we could use it as a bedroom, we discovered a number of packages of bead board. Many of the walls in the house were finished with these boards, so we decided to finish the bedroom walls with these also. This picture shows how nice the room now looks. You would never have guessed that it was used as a meat locker!
"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." We didn't go to Alaska just to work. We also wanted to do some site seeing and fishing. In July the fishing in Whale Pass is absolutely fantastic! The refrigerator that was in the house when we purchased it was very small--especially the freezer section. In order to be able to freeze the fish caught by us and our guests, we purchased a chest freezer. We had to go to Craig to pick it up.
About ten miles from our home is a limestone cave which is called El Capitan Caves. The U.S. Forest Service will take tours through it. This cave was discovered by loggers who were working in the area. We made arrangements to go through a tour. We hiked up a series of stairs and walkways until we got to the cave. Our guide gave us information about the area, the plants and trees, and the discovery of the cave as we hiked. 
This was a picture of the forest below us as we came out of the cave. It is so green and beautiful!
After visiting El Capitan Caves, we stopped to see Beaver Falls. The falls were beautiful! They were also very different in that the water at the bottom of the falls disappeared into the ground. This area is all limestone, so it must have gone into an underground cave.
One day we were standing on a bridge looking down at the salmon that were stacked up in the Neck Lake River, when a black came out looking for dinner. He didn't have much success this time.
This is the cascades on the Neck Lake River that the fish are trying to get up so they can spawn.
We decided we needed a garage where we could park the truck and boat as well as to provide a space for storage. In the process of thinking about the possibilities of building a garage, we decided it would be nice to put an apartment on top of it. One of the last things we did on the Second Day was to have a pad made in the space across from the house. This picture shows the rocks being dumped in the whole where the garage will be built. The front loader then smoothed the rocks out. It took 12 truck loads to construct the pad for the building.
We were only able to spend one month at our house in Whale Pass. The troops and even Jordan left us about the middle of July and Glenn and I left about a week later to return home. They loved being here and we loved having them. Their help was much appreciated. We felt very good about all that we were able to accomplish. We were very grateful for the rain because we like to shower and wash clothes. We enjoyed all that we saw and did. This is a picture of what we saw as we left for the summer.
Glenn and I said, "It is good!"
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