Build Day in Kellogg

I think I may have awakened at 5 but couldn't bear to get out of my sleeping bag. A few of us had camped out on the baseball field. I was freezing in my tropical weight sleeping bag though I was wearing cycling tights, shorts, t-shirt, windbreaker, and had a sheet on top. My sympathetic comrades threw a jacket and another sleeping bag over me before leaving me alone out there. I eventually warmed up enough to make my way out of my cocoon. We were treated to breakfast at a local restaurant, and bused to the work site.

There we found our assignment; install siding on a triple-wide manufactured home. Essentially it was a salvaged double wide with a construction trailer between the halves, and a pole building style roof over the entirety to shield it from weather. Much work had been done already in bulldozing the land, assembling the sections of the home, installing utilities, building the overhead structure, installing storm windows- and those were just the things that were apparent to me. I'm sure there was much more. The entire square footage seemed suitable for the family of 12 making it a home.

We are a well-oiled machine when it comes to getting ourselves on the road and attending to the tasks of bicycling and speaking, but the build part...let's just say we have a diverse skill set, some of it suitable for construction. Volunteers are eager folk, but really need close supervision and direction or they'll sort of scatter about with the tools, doing things with them they weren't intended for. A few of them know what they are doing, so start at the task, arguing until opinions align and the work begins. Help is needed and appreciated, but when orders are barked at nearby groups of malingerers there is an immediate "deer in the headlights" look followed by scurried collisions and then things start happening. After a while folks find their niche and the well-oiled machine chugs right along. I've worked in the trades for so long most things are second nature and I have to remind myself I wasn't born with these skills and they didn't come quickly. Patience is the key.

After lunch things really got rolling, and we worked until we ran out of materials. (video link) Part of the crew was taken to another site to do some roofing, so all were being better utilized. Just prior to 4 pm we got back on the bus, and were headed back to the school for showers; some opted to go to the Coeur D'Alene River for a refreshing dip.

Dinner was provided by the local Fuller Center for Housing covenant partner with the help of the Seventh Day Adventist church ladies. I love church lady food, and they love us, as Agnes stated to Marge a few dinners back down the road, "we'll do anything for a pot-luck!" After tonight's rhubarb crisp and huckleberry cake it occurred to me that if I do this again I'm going to feature local recipes in my blog.

There is so much more to write about. Every day is such an inspiration, and exhausting. It can be hard just finding the time to write. It's getting late. Tomorrow we head 50+ miles to Plummer ID, all of which will be on trails, mostly downhill. It will be nice to get back on the bike. Speaking of bike, mine is needing a bit of work...not quite a well-oiled machine lately.