McGuyver for a Dad

So, you may have noticed that my dad is helping us a ton with our house.  He's pretty amazing when it comes to what he can do.  He is technically an electrical engineer, he attended the Maritime Academy for college and went to work on tug boats for the Merchant Marines after graduation.  But don't let that fool you, he can do a lot more than just electric work.  A while back I mentioned that I have quite a story about a trip to Mexico we went on when I was a kid.  Well, I thought today was as good a day as any to give you a little insight into the capabilities of my dad...

When I was in 6th grade we went on an awesome family vacation to Mulege, Baja California Sur.  You may not be familiar with Mulege...  It is a tiny town way south in Baja on the Sea of Cortez.  When I say way down south, I mean way down.  It is past Ensanada, Rosarito, Guerrero Negro (near the 28th parellel), and even past Santa Rosalia (about 38 miles south), so when I say it is a long way down south, I really mean it.  And we drove there.  We had this old 3/4 ton dodge truck with bench seat up front and a 5th wheel trailer.  We had a CB Radio between the cab and trailer, so my brother and I rode in the back almost always while we drove the long trek to Mulege and back.  I have to admit, it was pretty cool seeing all of Baja from the back of a trailer.  And it was an incredible trip.  We met family who flew into Mulege and spent a week snorkeling, fishing and just living the small town Baja life.  AMAZING!  And then we headed home...

The roads in Baja are all 2 lane highways up on levies, and they aren't really kept up like in the states.  We had traveled down to Mulege about 10 days before our trip back home and there really hadn't been many issues with the road conditions.  Unfortunately that wasn't the case on our way home.  While we had been in Mulege there was a huge storm with Hurricane winds and incredible rain.  Apparently that had caused a wash out on the highway between Mulege and Guerrero Negro that we were driving to get back home.  Because of the mirage of the heat on the pavement, my dad didn't see the washout ahead, and we hit it going about 60 miles an hour.  The truck kind of jumped the washout and the trailer hit it hard.  I was sitting on the bed over the hitch looking down at my brother laying on the couch of the trailer in the back...  Okay, let's be real...  We were fighting over what tape we should listen to next.  But that gave me a pretty awesome view of my brother literally hitting the roof when the truck jumped the washout.  And I pretty much gaurantee I was plastered to the ceiling up on the bed, but that wasn't nearly as far to jump as my poor brother who ended up on the ground between the couch and table.  Next thing we knew we were stopped on the levy with no where to pull off the road.  There really isn't a shoulder to speak of on these levies and they are about 5 or so feet higher than the desert they are surrounded by. 

So there we were, trapped on the levy in the second largest stretch of desert between Mulege and California.  Apparently hitting the wash out had completely broken off the motor mounts and the engine had fallen out of the truck.  But never fear, my dad had a plan.  While my brother and mom flagged down the big rigs to slow down as they went around our truck and trailer on the 2 laned highway, I found a great resting spot in the shade of a cactus and my dad put the engine back in the truck with a chain and some bailing wire.  I know, totally McGuyver style, but it gets better from here. 

We somehow managed to limp our way into Guerrero Negro, where we spent the night and my dad shirred up the engine to make it through the longest stretch of desert on our trip home the next day.  At one point  I remember my dad working under the truck and my mom stuck her head into the trailer and told my brother and I not to move, because the engine would literally fall out on our father.  I don't think we more than breathed for the next 2 hours until Mom told us he was past the worst of it.  Well, he got things together enough that he thought we would be able to make it to Ensenada, where there was a chance we might be able to purchase new motor mounts.   

The next morning it was time to head out, and I found my mom standing outside the passenger door to the truck.  I asked her what she was doing just standing there???  "I'm praying we make it through the desert today."  Well, that kind of put a damper on the vacation feel of our return trip...

So, into the truck and trailer we loaded and started into the desert, day 2.  While the chains did manage to keep the motor in the truck this time and we didn't find any more wash outs in our path, apparently chains don't hold things quite as steady as actual motor mounts and not too far into the drive we found ourselves stalled on the levy again.  This time, when Jeff (my brother) and I piled out of the trailer we were met by instructions from our father to walk down the road and pick up every peice of metal we could find.  Now, it seemed weird at the time, but you have to understand that when my dad says to do something, you just do it.  No questions.  So, we did.  The problem was that all the metal we found was too hot to carry, so we pushed an old tire up onto the road from the desert and stuck all the metal in it and rolled it all back to my dad.  Around then I got the nerve to ask my mom what was wrong.  Apparently the movement allowed by the chained in place motor had knocked the driveline out of the truck.  And that is what Jeff and I had been picking up off the road in the middle of the desert.  Our only way out of the desert and back to California was lying in a discarded tire in small pieces.  This was 1990.  There were no cell phones, our CB radio wasn't that high powered (and who exactly were we going to call anyway) and we weren't in the states where they have really nice things like rental cars...

So back under the truck my dad went, back to flagging down big rigs for my mom and brother, and me?  Well, I found another giant cactus to take refuge in the shade of.  Definitely not our original plan for a vacation end.  Remember, we are stuck on a 2-laned highway on a levy in the largest stretch of desert in Baja.  I don't know how, but using some bailing wire and duct tape, my dad managed to get that driveline back together enough for us to limp our way to Ensanada (where we had planned to buy new motor mounts).  Now our only issue was a language barrier.   

So we proceded to stop at every auto parts store we could find, and it was slim pickens.  And then using their handy English to Spanish dictionary, my parents attempted to translate motor mounts any way they could.  They were met with one blank stare after another.  Just about at the end of their ropes, they found a very nice Hispanic man willing to walk out to the truck and see if he could help.  My dad crawled under the truck and pointed to the engine held in place by a chain and bailing wire and said, "Como se dice?"  (Translates to "how do you say?")  The very nice man smiled and said, "Oh! La motor monte!"

So when I tell you my dad is totally capable of helping us crazy, over-eager DIYers to fix up an old farmhouse, it's nothing to him!  He can save his family of four in an old pick up and 5th wheel from the treachery of the Baja deserts and wash-out caused truck trouble beyond most imaginations... He can do anything!

Torn Apart

Well, I think we have finally done it...  We have officially taken out everything that needs to be out to start building things back up.  I have to be honest, things look pretty rough right now.  The only things that look good are the pine beams we have put up.  Our work crew finished installing the beams where I tore down the wall last Sunday while I tried to sleep off the flu and this weekend, my dad and Matt installed beams on the kitchen side of the living area as well.  They look beautiful.  I can't wait to see it all put back together.

This week wasn't nearly as productive as I had hoped.  I was finally allowed to go back to work on the house on Thursday, but my stamina wasn't all the way back to normal yet, so I didn't get nearly as much done as I had hoped.  With having to take a week off of my real job while still contagious, I had high hopes of getting all kinds of stuff done, but not so much.  Hopefully this week will go a little better.  On the bright side, Matt has been kicking butt out there.  He even went back over to the farmhouse after we got the kids in bed on Tuesday.  I think he was hoping that if he got extra work done there, it wouldn't be so hard for me to stay home and get better.  I have to admit, it did help.

So, on the agenda for this week...  I am prepping everything for paint.  I have to seal all the window seals, repair holes in walls and texture everything.  Matt being 6'4" helps with painting the ceilings, so I will be putting him to work on that and I will be washing down walls and taping everything to prep for wall color.  I can't wait to see how it all looks as we get things put back together.  In the mean time, here are a few pics to give you an idea of where we are right now...

 This is the new pine beam in place of the wall we took down between the living area and the "middle room".

This is the view of the new living area from the front door.  It looks great, and much bigger!

This is just a reminder of a before pic in the "middle room" from the door into the living area.

This is a before pic of the wall we took down, and the gas heater we took out.  Now the house will just be heated by the gas stove that was in the "middle room" and is now in the larger living area.

Another before pic of the wall and heater we took out.

This is the kids room now that the carpet, curtains and wall paper are gone.  You may remember it as the pink room...

 The "pink room" before renovations began.

 The view of the kitchen from the living area.  To the right is the dining area where I removed 4 layers of wall paper...  Thank goodness for the steamer!

Dining area and kitchen in renovation process.

This is a little hard to see (it's an iPhone pic), but this is the beam Matt and Dad installed between the kitchen and living area.  It's hard to describe, but the ceiling had a bunch of different header heights.  We took them out and replaced them with pine beams that "flow" much nicer.

More kitchen pine beams.

This is a before shot of the headers in the kitchen.  We took out the cabinets in the center and moved the fridge there from the location on the right.  This really opened up the kitchen and makes it seem a lot bigger.  (And the wall paper is gone, another improvement!)

I will post more pictures as we get the painting and floors done!  I can't wait to see it all come together after all this tearing apart.