Category: Uncategorized

Going back to the Beginning

Hi Folks – Success!  I have figured out how to insert a bunch of photos into a post – yay!!!

So now I’ll tell you what this is about.  These photos are from my outing on 12/8/11 with my friend John to pick up my trailer in Denver and bring it down to Colorado Springs so that we could start serious planning of the building of my home.  BTW, Gypsy Turtle Home is too long a title for my home so I call it Gyrtle (soft g like in gypsy).  John drove the rig back since I was barely used to driving my huge truck.

I bought the truck back on 8/23/11 after a good month of searching and researching: what brand of truck, how big an engine, 4WD, crew cab or not, automatic or manual, diesel or gas, etc.  I decided on a 2005 Ford 350 diesel w/ 4WD, automatic transmission, crew cab, and goose neck hookup already in it. It had about 103K miles on it – which is very good for a diesel.  It also came with some really cool extras I never would have put on my “must have” list – a moon roof, keyless entry, leather interior, seat warmers, fog lights, a cattle guard, and some yellow running lights on the cab.

I did end up spending a few bucks more than I’d budgeted, but you have to make a choice from what’s available and on the value you’re getting.  Taxes and registration were significant and I also had a mechanic check everything out and put in a chip to improve mileage and engine performance.  I love the color of my truck and feel quite the “empress of the road” in it now that I’m used to driving it.

I’ll tell you about the process of finding the trailer in the next post.

Keep on Truckin’

Robin

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What Things Cost

Hi Folks,

This won’t be a philosophical post about costs, but a statement of actual costs to date.  So far I’ve spent just over $29, 000 – mainly for my truck and trailer and associated fees and repairs.  About $4000 has been spent on things toward the actual building – mainly $2500 for my windows and around $500 for a workshop with the Tumbleweed House Co for me and my architect/engineer.  I found the workshop helpful, but I’m not sure Scott (my engineer) did.

Here’s a chart of items so far:

DATE Amount Item Category
Aug 23, 2011 $854.79 Truck Taxes Fees
Aug 23, 2011 $500.00 Destination Fee Fees
Aug 23, 2011 $16,400.00 Ford 350 Truck, 4WD, Diesel Vehicle
Sep 23, 2011 $376.41 CO State Registration Fee – Truck Fees
Oct 18, 2011 $3,500.00 28’ Flatbed Trailer Trailer
Nov 11, 2011 $100.00 100’ sq. of bamboo flooring Building Materials
Nov 11, 2011 $0.00 140’ sq. of bamboo flooring Building Materials
Nov 11, 2011 $0.00 15.5’ sq. of marble counter top Building Materials
Nov 18, 2011 $1,429.74 truck maintenance and chip Vehicle Repair
Nov 29, 2011 $50.00 AllFleet, stove top Appliances
Nov 30, 2011 $1,809.61 trailer painting and repair Vehicle Repair
Dec 2, 2011 $380.00 Norcold fridge ($250), shower pan ($130) Appliances
Dec 2, 2011 $50.00 AllFleet, space rental Space Rental
Dec 8, 2011 $19.00 lunch w/ John @ Mugsy’s Food for the Help
Dec 8, 2011 $100.00 John Sherman, help getting trailer Labor
Jan 1, 2012 $32.03 Gyrtle miscellaneous Household Items
Jan 3, 2012 $24.53 Lights, jars, under couch box Household Items
Jan 6, 2012 $50.00 Allfleet, space rental Space Rental
Jan 9, 2012 $264.37 Allfleet, truck repairs & hook install Vehicle Repair
Jan 16, 2012 $448.00 Tumbleweed House Co – Workshop Research/Training
Jan 22, 2012 $37.40 Boulder Cafe Food for the Help
Feb 6, 2012 $94.04 CO State Registration Fee – Trailer Fees
Feb 13, 2012 $50.00 Allfleet, space rental Space Rental
Feb 29, 2012 $2,586.98 Home Depot – Windows Building Materials
Mar 2, 2012 $50.00 Allfleet, space rental Space Rental
Mar 2, 2012 $27.91  Lowe’s – handcart Tools

Total:  $29,234.81

Some other time I’ll put this up by categories.

Happy Trails,

Robin

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Nothing Goes Exactly as Planned

Hi Folks,

I haven’t updated in awhile.  Last post it looked like we’d start building the end of last week but that was not to be.  My very intuitive carpenter was listening and heard what I was hearing too, that I was pushing the time schedule, so we’re “scheduled” to begin now on April 2nd.  That’s not too far off considering this project began six or seven years ago!

I’m still having my architect put together a list of materials and am deciding what roofing materials to buy, and where, as well as how many rolls of aluminum to buy to protect the bottom of my home from entry by water and vermin.

Happy Trails,

Robin

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Making Connections

Hi Folks,

I now have a Facebook Fan Page that you can join if you like.  Apparently, to join it you have to be a member of Facebook.  I hope that’s not a problem for you.  I’ll post my photos and short updates and keep in touch with people who want to know more about what’s going on with the building of my home there. This blog isn’t really condusive to conversations.

Wednesday evening after teaching I went over to Home Depot to pick out my windows.  I’m going to have plenty of light because I like it and I plan to be in beautiful places and want to be able to see the sky and the land whether I’m inside or out.  So I have a window in my bathroom and one in the entry, two in the kitchen.  One of those is over the sink and is 31/2′ wide.  In the living room I have windows on each side that are 6′ wide x 3′ tall.  And I have windows on three sides in my bedroom.  I know it’s not good feng shui to have a window at your head when you sleep, but I want to be able to look up and see the stars and the moon.  I stayed in a trailer last September in Nevada near to Lake Tahoe that had windows all around the bed and I loved it.

Anyway, three hours later (and an hour after the closing time at HD) I left the depot with a greatly depleted bank account and somewhat dazed from weighing all the considerations of sizes, prices and awning vs. single-hung vs. sliders, etc.  I decided to pay the greater price and get awning-style windows since I won’t have gutters and also want to be able to have my windows open if it’s raining.

I confess that many nights lately I imagine myself in my house – what it’ll be like, what I’m doing in it.  It’s been somewhat difficult to get my possessions down to an amount that might fit into this reduced space.  But, I have been able to reduce the number of my clothes to the point that they all fit into one dresser and about 24″ of hanging space – and the hanging space could be smaller if I have a double rod for short things.  I’m quite proud of that.  Still might not be enough though.  And, even though I’m trying to design the space so that it will be possible for me to have a partner, I don’t think I’m anywhere near actually having the room for someone else’s things – but that is a problem for another day.

Tra-la and Heidy-ho

4

Maybe I Should Just Keep It Simple

Hi Folks,
I Have just spent the last five hours trying to get this site set up. I thought it would be simple, and I tried to keep it simple, but it still took me all these hours and I still don’t have anything. I think I should just go to sleep. But, I will at least try to show you what I’m planning for my little house on wheels.

The Template

Apparently this drawing of my future home comes up as a link, so I hope you’ll click on it and see what it is I’m planning.

My desire with this website is to have a place to direct family and friends – and anyone who is interested – so they can follow the progress of this dream of mine. There is lots more to come – photos of all the steps of planning and building a small house on a trailer and plenty of discussion of the process and why in the world I’m doing it anyway when I could just buy an RV second hand for much less and be done with it.

So, stay tuned and I’ll do my best to keep you informed.

Happy Trails,
Robin

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