Work Begins on the Stairs- Sort Of

After lugging up the tools, taking an inventory of the materials and finalizing the plan, the actual work on the stairs began about 3:00 pm on Saturday afternoon.  Brent was able to put in about three (3) hours of actual work on the stairs.  We did make a trip over to Lowe's and Home Depot in Sevierville for materials and nails with no stops at thrift stores. Honest.   We did stop at a thrift store in North Carolina on Friday and obtained a few treasures but we did not go "thrifty shopping" on Saturday.

The girls came over for the weekend and we had a great visit as usual.  They baked some items on Saturday and we did break out the smoker and Brent smoked some chicken with apple wood on Saturday, which was another minor distraction from the stairs.

The weekend concluded with another weekly ritual of the "blowing of the leaves" and a quick trip over to inspect Zelda.  We are going to Evansville, IN next weekend to spend Pre-Thanksgiving with Renee and Greg as they both will be working during the Holidays.  While in Evansville, we will go by Menard's and pick-up the oak-stair treads for the stairs.  Brent is still optimistic about completing the stairway before New Years.

No bears were spotted this weekend at The Ridge but we did see some in the park on Friday.  In fact, driving through the park we were slowed by traffic as people stopped in the middle of the road to view bears and elk.  No they were not in the same location.  The elk, which consisted of a herd of about eight (8) were located in the large field adjacent to the Oconaluftee visitor center while the two (2) bears were located on Hwy 441 about three (3) miles from the Sugarland visitor center coming from the Chimney Tops.




Our reconenance trip to Menard's in October for oak stair treads yielded the best prices and selection.



The stairs and stairwell have been stripped of carpet and panelling and thanks to Pa Pa Neal who pulled out lots of staples and nails.

 

Some artwork uncovered from a worker building the house back in the 1960s.



The roses are still in bloom.



The tram makes it pass over head every 24 minutes during operating hours.