I guess it’s been 3 weeks since I last posted. A few things have happened and others have not. Last post was about using a chainsaw mill to carve 12″ x 12″ x 30′ beams for my cabin to sit on. We finished those and got them set up on pier blocks.
The plan was to finish and set up the beams, then bring the sawmill on site to make my pile of logs into lumber. All the sawmill needed was a new battery and some greasing of the moving parts and maybe a bit of attention to a bit of wiring… And then he found that the alternator wasn’t producing power. And a motor that is supposed to raise and lower the blade to adjust thickness didn’t work. Even though he had the factory go through the entire thing before bringing it up here, 2 years of weather had taken its toll. So he talked to the local service guy (he’s just a couple hundred miles away in Anchorage) and got a replacement motor ordered. It came. It was the wrong motor and wouldn’t work. Another week went by and the right part came in and now I hear that the sawmill is up and running. We might be making lumber today. Yay!
The other thing that has happened is that I officially started my new job. 20-some miles north of Fairbanks is Borealis Basecamp. They are an off-grid eco-lodge that features individual domes as guest houses. These domes have acrylic panels as part of the roof and provide an unparalleled view of the sky, which is often filled with the aurora borealis. I’m their shuttle driver. So if you fly in to stay there I’m the one who would pick you up from the airport and drive you up to the site. The hour long drive gives me a chance to geek out over all the best stuff in the area and it gives me a chance to go on some deep dives into history and atmosphere science.
As the shuttle driver I also haul supplies up and occasionally I’ll do a Walmart run. Occasionally? Yesterday I had to go in three times. But I’m sure that won’t be the norm. I’ll be operating out of their shop in town so I only have to drive half the distance in my own vehicle. My place is 25 miles south of Fairbanks. Can’t get away from the commute, but at least the traffic is better!
I’m sure I’ll get better pics of the domes at some point. I haven’t had much leisure time up there yet, but I fully intend to go up for some aurora viewing soon.
So, cabin came to a halt for a bit, but we should start to see progress this week. The RV we are using is functional, but not quite what we want to spend winter in. My truck has an appointment to get set up for winter. I hear that -30° is hard on vehicles and don’t want to lose my Blue. A couple of friends are looking at the trees and predicting an early winter. I just want to get walls, a roof, and insulation in before the snow flies. Oh, and a Toyo. Gotta have reliable heat for that insulation to keep in.
I think that’s it for now. There are some smaller things, like how we bought a new generator earlier than expected because of the lightning strike. Or how the dog hates getting out of bed more every day. There have been hikes, picnics at the lake, visits to the gold dredge, and a dozen other little things. It’s easy to slip into daily life and let the details fly past. If I get in enough of a habit of recording the big things then maybe those small details will get recorded as well.
Oh, before I forget. I don’t yet know how to add links, but if you go search YouTube for Borealis Basecamp there are a couple of really cool videos. One is a Timberland ad, but it really captures the beauty of the place and the harshness of winter. The other is by a guy named Joel and shows the guest side of the experience. They’re worth a few minutes of your time.