MOTORHOME BARN

One of the many reasons we moved to our new home site was to have a building close by for our 2005 Monaco Diplomat Motorhome. Here are pictures of how we are doing on that project. We bought the home (near Branson, MO) in August, 2007. Part of the sale included the builder constructing a structure to match the house, to our specs, and we’d pay his costs only. The only surprise in the project was the mostly solid rock on-site that had to be jack hammered out. You can see Jeanne inspecting the rock rubble. The barn is now up, in use since November, 2007, and functions as planned. We will paint the barn door to match the house garage doors.

The heavy hand/back labor turned out to be the stone steps and garden sections Lee decided “would be a nice compliment” to the home and barn. Well, a few thousand pounds of limestone later I’m almost done. It was a nice winter project. Aside from the physical challenge, building the steps has been an interesting and fulfilling experience. All the stone was found within 300 feet of the house. I realized I had to become a stonemason - accomplished through purchase and reading of a few books plus less than $100 in tools (no power!). I built a wood sled to haul the 150-250 pound stones with our utility vehicle. Some of the bigger ones (500-600 pounds) I split in place before sledding to the site. You can see some of the pairs in the close-up picture of the steps. At the top of the steps is a 16 foot bridge also under construction as well as a boardwalk to negotiate around the house rather than trudging through Missouri’s frequently wet clay/soil/muck. As completion of construction draws close, Jeanne and her green thumb will take over.

BRANSON AREA FLOODING SPRING 2008

Jeanne and I have been following the spring, 2008 weather around the country and hope you each are safe and not faced with any major storm related trials and tribulations. I want to report on the Branson area situation, especially impact for RVing. Our Southwest Missouri area received around 25 inches of rain over the last 4-6 weeks. Tornado and wind damage around Branson thankfully was negligible. Three consecutive days of 2-3 inches of rain last week was more than the land and water control systems could manage. The most notable outcome was Table Rock Lake going to an all time high water level and the Army Corp of Engineers opening Table Rock Dam for the first time in over 40 years. The dam was opened on Thursday, April 10 and will remain open until Tuesday, April 15^th.

The dam opening caused flooding along the banks of Lake Taneycomo. Homes and businesses near low shores have been affected. A number of RV campgrounds (Turkey Creek Escapees Park for example) and many businesses have temporally closed. Branson Landing is partially closed, with most businesses on the lake side closed until the waters recede. If your plans are to visit here in the next few weeks I recommend you call your destination to check on conditions.

Jeanne and I are high up near Inspiration Point with the biggest concern being erosion on the hilly terrain and roads around us. We had a small area of damp carpet in a corner of the house lower level and minor seepage in the coach barn. I have posted a couple of pictures of Table Rock Dam at our Blog (see address below, click on individual pictures to see a full screen view). That sight has not been seen in 45 years . . . when will it happen next?