10.23.2013

Yesterday morning started off drizzly - the forecast was for rain much of the week but in typical fashion here, by afternoon things dried up enough for Jim to go out and work a little bit.  You can see in this first picture that he got another big section backfilled and graded.

Plus he got the first layer of dirt on this leg of the top part too!

He knocked off a little early and we went to Home Depot and Lowe's to look for a portable generator.  Since we aren't going to hook up the electric until spring, he needs something to power his tools to do some of the work until then.  But neither one of them had the one he wanted and had seen on line.  We were looking for other pump parts but we kind of struck out there too.  I told Jim that he's kind of outgrown those stores except for the basics.  They just don't carry enough specialized things.  He hasn't found anything to compare to Wolff Brothers who had all things building.  But at least we know what they have and what they don't - he can probably get a lot of things on line.

Speaking of which, this morning Jim found the generator he wanted new on eBay for $100 cheaper than Home Depot online with no shipping or tax.  So he'll order that one tonight.

The forecast was for rain today too but no rain.  We had planned to go to Glens Falls to try that DMV office to get our driver's licenses.  So we went there right after lunch.  On our way, we stopped at that scenic lookout that I had wanted to see - we thought it was going to be the other side of the dam/falls we saw last week.  This scenic lookout took us through some beautiful woods...although we said that all of the woods are beautiful here!

 It did take us to another power plant/dam area that probably is really pretty too but because of the pre-drought conditions here, there was no extra water going over the dam.  You could just see all the rocks.

This DMV office was much friendlier than the Saratoga office.  But of course the process is the same - big form to fill out, passport, old driver's license, and original Social Security card.  We were both semi-worried about the eye test - no matter how good your vision is, those little machines at the Ohio DMV with the flashing lights always put you in panic mode!  When you wear glasses, it just compounds the problem.  Here, the eye test was turn around, look at this framed eye chart and just read one row of letters.  No stress there - that was it!  Jim was able to take in his DD Form 214 and he will have his license marked with his Veteran's status.  Jim never likes to do things like that but I told him that he earned that right.  So we smiled pretty and then they gave us a temporary license - apparently they mail the real one in the mail to you.  Since we are moving in from another state, this license is only good for 5 years; after that, they are good for 8 years! 

So we think we are just about done with all the administrative paperwork to license the cars and ourselves here in NY!

On our way home, you can see the West Mountain Ski Area - this is probably 5 miles from our house.  This isn't a great picture - if I could have gotten my phone unlocked earlier, you could have seen a couple different ski runs in this shot.

 

The Glens Falls/Lake George area is really pretty - and they say the further north you go into the Adirondacks, the mountains are just spectacular.  We said that once the bad weather sets in and we can't work on the land, we want to take a day a week and just explore the area.  Definitely want to go north a bit, but there are so many historical areas that we want to see - Battle of Saratoga site, Fort Ticonderoga, just to name a couple.  We're still kind of pinching ourselves that we are living here and not just on vacation!

 

Jim went back to the lot this afternoon for a few hours - he said he got more backfilling and grading done so I'll take pics when I go out tomorrow, weather permitting!  My mom said she had snow on her windshield from overnight and she's in southern Ohio - no flakes in sight here, thank goodness!