What A Stellar View

Didn't blog last night... we pulled into Lexington past midnight and it was just too late to do much besides sleep. Yesterday was full of a stellar views...

First the morning started with no snow, no rain, and a temp above 30 degrees... that was a stellar view.

Our work day was slower than planned, our deck project took a quick detour as a couple things didn't go together as planned. It turned out to be a good thing, as our delay meant our group would not be split up. We finished the deck, and it was a stellar view.

Put a fork in it... its done. 

Since we didn't have time to attack a new project we had some extra time in the afternoon... so we spent time building random items out of spare parts. We made a bench, a small box for one of the boys who wanted a "snack box" for the deck. Seeing the two boys running around on the deck was a stellar view.

Our bench... we ended up making an armrest,
a foot stool and a snack box..

Our project inside also got to a great stopping point. We got the house jacked, and started to cement in new supports for the house. Seeing all the cracks in the walls come back together as we jacked up the house was a stellar view.

Then we packed up, said bye to the families... seeing the entire family on their front lawn, thankful for our work and waving was a stellar view.

On our drive we were driving into a sunset, through the mountains and just in awe of the beauty. We got lucky and fund a great place to stop at "Clinch Mountain Restaurant" in Thornhill, TN. We stopped for photos and then had a true downhome evening. They had live blue grass, dancing, and all you can eat Friday fish... dinner, a show, and a stellar view.

This morning we are in Lexington, KY and packing up... wrap up blog coming tonight once we pull into South Bend, which for us, will be a welcome and stellar view...

No Not That Way, That Way, Oh Wait...

Today was do-over day... and then do it again... and then...

We got cracking on the deck today we would get it done, but hit a few snags. It is hard doing construction when the project isn't yours, because you aren't always sure how you "should" be doing it. Then you run into changes in supplies, or you forgot the washers... again... oops. We put railings on, thought we did them wrong, took them off, mounted them a new way... to realize we had it right the first time and put them on again... so it was a frustrating morning... but the work day ended with this site...

Its Alive! 

Everything but the handrails for the steps on the deck are done... Yeah! Tomorrow we "should" be able to button it up quick and take a group picture on it!

However the bad news is on the inside of the house. We aren't making a lot of progress because the damage was a lot worse than originally thought. Some of the floor joist were pretty much completely eaten away by the termites. So we spent more time removing flooring than planned and preparing to jack up the house.

That used to be a floor joist...

Finally close to the end of today we got to start jacking up the house... Hopefully by the end of Friday we can get the house leveled and start to put floors back into place. However that is a small chance and it looks like we will just get some temp floors in until the next crew comes to finish it.

Getting ready to jack the house

We did end the day on a great positive. Our church site hosted a BBQ and we invited our family, and they came. They brought their two kids that just been a joy at the site, and they were even more fun to interact with outside of the home. Part of our group took them to a near by cave to go "caving" and they loved that adventure. The rest of us stayed and just talked to the parents and learned more about their lives.

Our Trusty ASP Van "Molly" 

Tomorrow we will try to get as much done as possible, and then we will sprint on out of town...

Over the Hump

Today we hit our stride and got over the hump... but its not all celebrations.

Our deck project made some serious progress. All the deck boards but one are down now, we got the stair stringers down and boards cut. Now we just need to get the railings on, and button up a few things and it will be done! 

Deck is nearly done! 

Our project inside took a turn for the worse. We knew jacking the center of the house was going to be a lot of work... and the thought was that the floors and structure rotted from lack of maintenance and other home issues. However it came from termites... it was so bad that the Orkin guy even said, "Oh Goodness!" when he looked under the house. 

As we took up the floors... we found more problems.

Basically all the structural boards under the house were eaten up... so it will be a bigger job than we can do this week. Plus we will have to be out of the house all Friday morning after they spray the house. So it is going to set us behind, and hopefully future groups can get to it soon.

Our evening gathering was a game of Jeopardy against the other college here in local trivia. Guess who won... thats right, Team Ivy Tech! Afterwards we did a real scenario where we got six applications to ASP from local families and we had to pick which one we would help... guess who won that? No one... it was so hard to choose and there is so much need in the area. It great to know that we are a part of supporting some local families, and especially their kids. 

Tri-Cities Jeopardy!

I was going to make a trip to Walmart (yep again) for some more supplies. Ruth decided to come along and we had a great time... on the way back we decided to get some burgers from Pals a place we heard a lot about... well that turned into a 20 minute driving adventure, pretty much "Sam and Ruth go to Pals" type legendary saga. Yes, the burger was worth it, and the peachie tea... 

www.palsweb.com

Tomorrow we go at it again... only two work days left... 

Wagon Wheel and Screws A Turning

The wheels were moving early again this morning... morning always comes too fast when you are tired... and last night we didn't get good sleep... the church janitor stumbled into our room at 4:30AM and didn't know we were there... so needless to say we freaked him out with 8 bodies on the floor when he turned the light on... and clearly our male bunk room was startled when the light came on...

Our worksite today was very productive and our group felt more productive. We made serious progress on the deck we are replacing in the back. The one there was so unstable and rotting the homeowners boarded up their back door. Which is not safe since it means the only exit to their home is out the front, and that is where they run space heaters. So it is a needed and important repair.

Day Two starting on the deck...

After lunch we split our crew and some started our project inside. The center of the home is sinking, so we are going to cut out the floors, jack up the center, and put in new support girders. We are here to complete an entire new floor for the house. Then other volunteer crews will come repair walls and doors and everything else that will shift when we jack up the floor. (Pictures of inside coming soon)

All our joists went in, tomorrow we finish
decking it and put on handrails!

It was a muddy day, and it was 38 degrees when we left for the worksite. It was a muddy mess, but we powered through cold and rain to make some serious progress on the deck. Tomorrow might be as cold, but dry and we are hoping to try to nearly get the deck done. Wish us luck!

The Jeter's - Family Trio

Well now I actually know some of the lyrics of "Wagon Wheel" by Old Crow Band... its one of those songs most people know... "So rock me mama like a wagon wheel... Rock me mama like a south-bound train... Hey mama rock me..." and then it mentions Johnson City, TN! We learned that and a lot more from The Jeters at our culture night put on my ASP. The band was great, we loved the music and you should check them out on their Facebook Page for cool videos of the type of music we enjoyed tonight in our mountain town. They taught us about Bluegrass music (you can major in it at East TN State!), the area and the culture. Great night.

I hope that today taught us how to be humble... to appreciate what we have... even when we don't feel like we have enough, we know those who have less, when we want more, we need to remember those who dream to have what we have...

Learning Country Roads

So here is the daily schedule at our Appalachian Service Project site...
7:00AM - Wake Up
7:15AM - Group Devotion
7:30AM - Breakfast
8:00AM - Morning Chores/Pack Sandwiches and tools
9:00AM - Go to Work Site
NOON - Lunch Break
12:30AM - Back to work
4PM - Pack/Clean Up
5PM - Back on Site
6PM - Dinner
7PM - Group Devotion/Educational Activity
11PM - Lights Out
Then rinse and repeat... until Friday.

So we have a strict schedule, but are learning a lot and still have a good time. We had a change in our plans and we got a new project. We are now on Project Oakland and we are working with a couple that have two kids. Their home needs some serious repairs and one is to replace a dangerous deck on the back and then we will move into the house to jack up their floors, rebrace them, and put down new flooring...

Old Deck Gone, New Deck About to Start

We will see how far we are able to get this week, stay tuned for updates. The first day on the site is always hard; we are learning tools, new processes, and getting to know our work styles. I am sure later in the week we will hit a stride and crank through work.

Our gathering time tonight included some fun activities to get to know each other, but also an Agree/Disagree activity. We got to chose sides and argue topics like why poverty exists, do all people deserve dry, warm, safe housing... it was great to hear views, and word smith answers. We also argued the age old question, do you roll toilet paper over the top or the bottom...

Gathering Time Activities

Each night our group is journaling, writing about our experiences, and we have a few prompts about what we are learning. All our participants received a nice little trip journal that I hope is overflowing with thoughts by the time we return.

One thing we have learned is driving on winding country roads... one thing we haven't learned is singing the song "Country Roads". They played it at the gathering and we struck out majorly... and not just our singing voices... but the words. Weirdly afterwards, we were all humming it.

Song Sheet... 

So here are the lyrics, lets see if we are able to sing this on the way home on our winding mountain country roads... be home soon.

That's Country Fried

Day light savings time change caught us off guard... our morning was a little slower than planned but much more eventful. By weird happenstance we ran into the Turtle Man from Animal Planet at our hotel, in Lebanon, KY of all places. So to add to our delay was some autography and picture time... but he was fun to meet!

The Turtle Man!

We made up some time and luckily beat the big lunch rush to Harlan Sander's Cafe, the Original KFC. It's another site that probably doesn't make many "bucket lists", yeah I said bucket... but it is for sure a fun piece of American Fried Americana. We had a family style chicken dinner and enjoyed learning a little about the Colonel.

Off the Bucket List

The drive today was more scenic, as we entered the mountains and the curvy roads we got to see the Appalachian Mountains. The beautiful hillsides, the historic farmhouses, and of course, some of the poverty. The big homes, next to small trailers, the long white picket fences and the shanties with rusted out cars on the lawn.

We ended the night with our first trip to Walmart... yup good ol' ASB tradition. I counted and think they always included practically nightly trips for things we forgot, or people watching, or just a break from our site. I think some of our best memories might have happened, you guessed it, at a Walmart.

Orientation Meeting with ASP Staff

Our site is a church, a new set up for me... we are sleeping on the floor... also a new set up for me (I expected bunks). We are going experience some discomfort, and sleeping on the floor to ramp up our empathy level as feel some pain this week for those we are serving. So we will experience poverty figuratively, literally and actually... that floor isn't going to be pretty for my back that is for sure.

We are going to be working with an older disabled woman this week, and helping make her house more friendly to her wheelchair... starting with a ramp on the front of her house. ASP always gives code names for the family and ours is "Project Pearl".

Everything we need to know about
construction is in this book...

We are joined by a fun group from Messiah College in PA. I got to respect their game, they are here without a professional staff member, mostly sophomores and juniors and ready for an adventure. They are very hospitable, and we are looking forward to our evening gatherings with them (they will be at a different work site during the day).

It is 3 minutes to lights out... good night, and tune back in tomorrow for our first day on the job site...