We had a snowy ride to Eureka this morning! It was starting to snow as we left and by the time we got there we had big flakes. We went out to Gateway Village so John could work with Paul on the neighbor's house. There was a lot of activity going on when we arrived and we couldn't believe the progress that had been made in the 2 weeks we were gone. When we left there were 2 walls standing and here it is now!
John helped stain the fascia boards (which Paul wants up before the roofing goes on) and then worked on some wiring. While he was doing that I was taking care of some items that need to get done.
- Get the mail, 2 weeks worth...which necessitated going to the desk cause it sure doesn't all fit in one PO box.
- Trying to figure out how to get Montana drivers licenses and register our cars using our new street address which technically doesn't exist yet.
- Trying to find a way to prove we are residents of Montana when we don't have a rent receipt, a mortgage, a utility bill, an electric hook-up order, or an auto policy that shows our street address (PEMCO will not list our garaging address as being in Montana cause they are not licensed here and can not get a rate quote for us unless we use a Washington addy...Thanks, Corki...we still "live" at your address. Pemco can only insure us through this policy period, so we'll be shopping for new insurance soon.) That proof is needed to do the above. Hmmmm...maybe if we can't register our cars and get Montana drivers licenses, we don't have to pay state income tax yet!
- Visiting Lincoln Electric to activate our application and start a new one for getting power to the hangar. This will give us the electric hook-up order (above), but maybe not before the tabs run out on the truck. Hmmmm, ok...a little talking to the engineer got me new copy of our hook-up estimate with our street address instead of the legal description of the property. I'm hoping that will satisfy the licensing people at the county annex so we can get this done!
- Getting the paperwork and information to get the electric permits for both the house and the hangar. This is the only permit needed here. None for building, septic, etc. This is a great place :) Turns out we can do the paperwork and pay the $ online, then print our own permits. All done! Just need to get them back to Lincoln Electric and they can turn the power on.
- Visiting Gary, the granite guy! I am still unsure about granite. I just haven't seen much that I like that well. When we visited the St. George Parade of Homes we saw several solid counter tops we liked. What I found out today when looking through his shop is that what we were seeing was marble, not granite. He will do marble, but doesn't recommend it for kitchens as it is softer and will scratch and stain more easily than granite. Anyone have any experience with this??? I did find a couple of granite pieces I liked, although not in the color wave we want. And of course, they are not the "mid-range" priced stone, either! I had my stain sample board (for the cherry cabinets) with me and found a good match with those granites I liked. I now have a hunk of granite sitting on my desk to live with for awhile and see how I like it. I'll get some pictures and post those later. We also talked a little about soapstone, so I may consider that.
So, we got a lot done today. It snowed most of the day and by the time we left town about 6:00 it was coming down hard. We decided to stop in Trego at Molly Brown's Pub & Eatery for dinner. Another great place with good food and friendly people! By then, I'd decided that I'd had enough winter driving practice for the day and let John take over to Whitefish.Here's a little peak at downtown Eureka this afternoon. Don't you wish you were here???!!!