Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Quick update on the house









Well, we spent most of Monday afternoon looking over the house again and working with the sales staff at Lennar to see what our options are. They bascially gave us three options (at least they have been willing to work with us some so I'm happy about that).
1. Keep the same home and live with it. They will try to correct any water problems, etc.
2. Upgrade to a larger and more expensive home nearer Geiger Grade road (341). The house is very nice on a corner lot but has no views whatsoever with the majority of the windows looking out at the neighbors wall and the back yard. The back yard is 4 feet lower than the lot behind it and is only 20 foot deep or so. Basically the large view windows are looking at a dirt embankment and fence. An additional 20,000 to 30,000 dollars to go this route.
3. Change to a new lot with the same model we've already signed for and pay 15,000 for the honor to do so.

So, a lot of decisions to make and not much time to decide. Here's some pictures of the water in the house as of Monday afternoon, the damaged particle board, and the moat around the place. They are already starting to replace the particle board inside the house due to the large amount of warping taking place (particle board literally pulling itself apart) and other particle board that is falling apart due to the water soaking into it.

Monday, April 03, 2006

The Pardee Party
























See the notes below. More pictures of the same stuff. Lots of riding and fun. Gorgeous scenery. Perfect weather.

The Pardee Party Bike Ride













































Well, here's a lot of pictures of the Pardee Party Bike ride. Consisting of 67 miles through the foothills of California you start the ride in Ione, CA (about 20 minutes from Jackson) and ride in a loop into Calaveras County. The ride takes you around three lakes, Comanche, New Hogan Res., and Pardee Res. All three were built to supply drinking water and have a protected watershed area around them that allows for a lot of scenery with minimal housing - well, at least for California. The weather started out very nasty on Friday night and had us all a little bit worried. Lots of snow coming down over highway 88 and now shortage of rain in Jackson. But, Saturday morning had only a few clouds, wet roads, and temps in around 60 degrees. Perfect biking weather. We were joined by several couples on the ride. Ken and Betty, Randy and Yvette, and Joe and Cheryl. It was a great time had by all I think. Ken, Betty, Debra, and I ended the weekend with a tour of the wine country and some wine tasting just outside of Jackson. Ended up with 41 bottles of wine. Too much? Naaaaaawwwwww.

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

More ski shots









Just some skiing shots I took of Debra and Alex. I thought they came out kinda cool so what the heck.