Icy road leads to the castle

It was the first cold snap of the winter.  Temperatures had finally sunk well below zero, never mind the wind.  The difference between this deep freeze and most others is the fact a quarter inch of rain had fallen within the last 24 hours.  The remote gravel roads of the North Shore were luge courses.  Wood Mountain Road was no exception.  Our driveway was worse and we had a date with the cement workers to lay our slab.  This was the last opportunity to get our garage slab poured until spring time.

I'm lugging up the Lindskog Road from Highway 61 in four wheel drive when I see the first known "victim" of our road.  The crew hauling a trailer to pour the slab was unable to get up the "steeps" section of the road and slid back down the slope into the ditch.  It was still early on this December night but I already knew that it was going to be a long one.

The next few hours were spent carefully and slowly digging and pulling.  We finally got the trailer out of the ditch and hauled up to the garage site where a furnace was thawing the ground where the slab would be poured.  Crawling into bed that evening I schemed up my early morning plan to sand the entire stretch of road from the garage to the Taylor Lane, just shy of a quarter mile.

The darkness continued as I crawled out of bed that morning.  Venus was prominant in the northern sky.
I was determined to get these cement trucks up the road to pour the slab.  Once the slab was poured we would be home free.  The garage could be built within weeks and we would have all winter to finish it off.  The only thing between us and that reality was a couple of yards of sand and salt and a quarter mile of ice.

I began on the top.  Working with the long spade shovel I threw my sand mixture just in the wheel wells to conserve.  By daylight I was at the base of the driveway.  The young crew showed up shortly thereafter.  They were "concerned" about the cement truck's ability to make it up the driveway.  I think "no shit, it's concerning" but I know its not their call.  It's not mine either.  The decision to drive the cement truck up the ice-glazed road rests entirely on the driver of the cement truck.  You see, once cement is poured into a truck someone is paying for it.  I wasn't influencing anything about this call, limiting my liability.  Thankfully the driver was a seasoned old timer, he checked out the road, declared it fine and returned to get the cement truck.  I left before he came back with the rig.  I didn't want to see it happening.

Once the slab was poured everything happened real fast:

The slab with an insulating blanket on top so it maintains an even temperature while it cures.

Three walls, the roof trusses and sheathing on.

The fourth wall completes the shell.  The perimeter is wrapped and the windows are cut.

The red metal roof, facia, windows set, and the start of the beveled cedar siding.

Finished castle: our new home!

A proud new owner enters...

Check out that cedar!

So here I am; my back sore from cutting out our lake view.  (We waited to thin for a view until we had windows to see where it was blocked.)  This week I'll  continue cutting, burn a pile or two of slash, seal the cement floor and drive to Duluth to pick up our new wood stove.

My list of things to do is only getting longer...