Knowing that Perry was on his way to Fern Lake (just in case I needed an extra body to help set things right if (when?) this next adventure turned into a disaster), took the Tacoma over to the old stairway and backed it down the hill to the waterfront. Figured this would be a good test of how “drivable” that slope is, as the rain showers the last couple of days have made that area rather muddy. Sure enough, every time I touched the brakes, the truck slid a couple of feet. Uh, oh!!!! Stopped at the bottom (and not in the lake!), took a picture for posterity, put the truck in 4WD low range and… (wait for it!) drove right back up the hill like I was on a paved highway. Was so impressed that I backed down and did it again, with no problems whatsoever. Perry took me up to Junction Auto to retrieve the Ranger. The body work repairs cost less than half of what I was expecting, though the Thibeaults will still be able to afford private schools for their kids on my account. Spent the rest of the morning vacuuming out and washing the grime off both trucks. Note to self: light-haired dogs and black carpeting are not a good combination. Once the Ranger was looking as good as it’s going to get, took some pictures, then posted a For Sale ad on Craigslist. By the time all that was done it was 3 o’clock, so time to go back to work on the walkway. The mosquitoes were out in swarms and hungry. Two baths of Deep Woods Off helped some, but it was still pretty miserable working. You can see from the picture what a one foot deep hole yields these days. Notice the distinct lack of dirt?!?! It’s a good thing Bob LaPorte trucked in nine loads of gravel when we back-filled the shed foundation, ‘cause I’ve been having to steal quite a bit to plant the in-ground posts. Hit a BIG rock six inches down with the third post for this section. Figured that could be deep enough if the fourth post (to which the third post will be tied with a stringer) was put in extra deep. Got down eight inches with the hole for the fourth post and hit the main tap roots (note the plural) for the 5″ maple that I’m going out of my way (literally) to save. That ain’t gonna work! So, with one gentle tug (and that ain’t right, neither!), pulled the third post out of the ground and left the field of battle to the mosquitoes until another day.
