Hello Everyone,
Here are some pictures from our recent visit to Utah to build Sandy’s grandpa’s cabin in Bluff, UT. 
Here is the sign at the fort.
Here we are stacking the logs. All the logs were numbered and pre-notched.
The logs were tied together with long screws.
We put about 3 inches of dirt on the roof.
I made the door latch and hinges. Here is the latch.
Here is Sandy inside the cabin next to my hinges and latch.
Dear Family,
July is more than half over. I guess that means that the summer is more than half over. It is going too fast.
We had a very nice trip to Blanding a couple of weeks ago. I’ll write about here and then put up some pictures as soon as our camera comes. We accidently left it in Salt Lake City at Wes’s house.
Before our trip to Blanding we had a nice visit with Ruth and Curt. They came out during Ruth’s school break. I participated in two of the activities. On Tuesday we went out to the coast. It was nice sunny weather at home but when we got to Cannon Beach it was raining and blowing. We tried to walk on the beach but were driven back to the car. We had a nice meal at Moh’s restaurant and then went into Cannon Beach and looked though some of the art galleries there. That is always a fun thing to do on a rainy day. It was nice weather again when we got back home.
On Thursday we drove up the Columbia Gorge on the Oregon side to see the waterfalls. We started at Vista House which is a monument/building on a promontory at the mouth of the gorge where you can see a long ways up and out of the gorge. We then drove up river and stopped at 8 waterfalls. Some were right on the road and others we had to hike a short way up the hill. I think that the longest hike was about a mile. It was cool and pleasant weather and a great day to be out. We ended the day with a milkshake at the ice cream place in Cascade Locks. Ruth went back to Washington DC to start her school again. She must be pretty busy because we have hardly heard from her since.
Saturday we got up early and drove all the way to Salt Lake City and stayed with Cynthia and Loyal. They seem to be doing well, Loyal is about to set up a wood shop. He got a table saw as a present years ago and just barely pulled it out of the box.
Sunday we got up early again to drive to Blanding. We stopped in Orem and picked up Candy, Philis and Sandy’s cousin Bodell. We got to Blanding in time to go to 1PM church.
Monday and Tuesday we spent in Bluff building a cabin. Sandy’s great grandpa was one of the first settlers in the area and there is an effort underway to rebuild the original settlement in Bluff. Two cabins were built at this time, one for the Lyman family and one for the Perkins family, (Sandy’s family). They are not trying to build the cabins in an historically correct way. The cabins are built on a cement pad. The logs came on a truck and were numbered so we just had to stack them up and screw them together. In the original cabins, they used shorter logs that didn’t necessarily span the length of the walls and were held together with dowels driven though holes bored between layers. The cabins had dirt roofs. The original one leaked in the rain, the modern ones have a rubber sheet under the dirt. I brought hinges and a door latch that I put on the Perkins cabin. The hinges didn’t turn out as well as I would have liked because the pintles didn’t fit well on the two inch wide boards used to frame the door but the latch worked very well and they asked me to build another to go on the Lyman cabin.
Thursday and Friday were spent in various family reunion activities. It was a nice time except when we went to the mountain for a cookout and got rained out. Sunday after church we drove north and spent a couple of nights in Salt Lake City with Wes and April. I helped Wes make some shelves in his storage shed. We had a nice visit with Paul & Jane on Monday evening. Tuesday we made the long drive home.
On Monday while we were with Wes I got a call on a job that I had applied for. The job is in Flagstaff, AZ with a real nice company. I talked for a few minutes with the HR person then had a phone interview on Thursday after we got back home. Now I am waiting to see if I get asked to go to Arizona for an interview. I should know in a day or two. I am spending a lot of time looking an applying for jobs online. I am also trying to find contacts at the companies that I apply to but that is quite hard and most often I just don’t hear anything. Trying to keep upbeat about it all.
After we got back, Sandy left again to help Allen move back here. He is finished with school now and also looking for a job. It is nice to have him around.
I have been working on a few projects to fix up the house. This week I replaced two of the hearthstones on our fireplace. One was broken when we bought our house and another broke since we moved here. I was lucky to find ones that matched. I have also been working to refinish some of the window sills and other woodwork that are showing some wear. Well that is all the news. Take care and keep in touch.
Love,
John