Soon to be no more Bill in San Jose....

[ETX-Deerslayer]

Living the good life sir.


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[Bill]

Yes, we are.


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[3ChordTruth]

Great pics Bill, really beautiful place you got there.

[Bill]

I took off for a ride in the SxS this afternoon, get some fresh air (and eat dirt) and scout for elk and deer hunting. I can’t believe I took these pictures 45 minutes from our house.







Other than stickin’ wild hogs 10 minutes away from the old house, I really don’t miss Cali.


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[Pstraw]

How is the heat wave hitting y'all? I have some friends traveling through Boise that had encountered 106* last Wednesday.

[Mertzon Man]

Beautiful pics Bill, awesome you can be there in 45 min!

[Texas Grown]

Beautiful spot there! Wonder if there's any Indian artifacts on that noel your parked on.


Looks like some arkose in those stones?

[Bill]

Originally Posted by Pstraw

How is the heat wave hitting y'all? I have some friends traveling through Boise that had encountered 106* last Wednesday.

It’s low 90s this week- very warm weather for Montana in June.


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[Bill]

Originally Posted by Texas Grown

Beautiful spot there! Wonder if there's any Indian artifacts on that noel your parked on.


Looks like some arkose in those stones?

This area was hunting land for the Shoshone and Crow (Absorka) tribes. There are obsidian arrow points found around here- but the nearest obsidian is in Yellowstone 100 miles away.

I know a rancher who said he found a pile of obsidian in a large draw on his property. He guessed the Indians were carrying it somewhere, and left it behind for unknown reasons.


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[Texas Grown]

From my studies, you are correct in them leaving stashes behind. That way they didn't have to carry around a lot of raw material and half finished points. They could always knap points as needed when moving back and forth from different areas due to the seasons and game migrations.

The fish are biting, and there's hogs to be kill-t. Gotta go!

[tps7742]

Looking good Mr Bill, great to see a plan/dream come together. Thanks for continuing to take us along your journey.

[Bill]

Getting towards the end of large, outdoor projects. Or so I think.

We decided to expand a 4x4 pad for under the ac compressor to the right of this rear slider to be a patio. It is stamped/ stained concrete poured this week. The cinder block wall will be covered with the same dry stack prairie stone we used everywhere else. The recessed area will be where the propane grill and Traeger go.





I’m thinking I have left over stained cedar from the board and batten siding to build a box on the sides of the compressor. If it needs lateral airflow, I might just omit the battens and have vertical slots between the boards.

After my ‘saving’ and moving what seems a ton of the fractured rock from our foundation excavation, I think we’re going to use railroad ties to build a retaining wall. I sure hope I can use a lot of the stone as backfill behind the wall.



….. then there’s finding/ building a level spot for a greenhouse for my wife as a Christmas present.


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[Bill]

Compare the sky this morning picture with a storm coming in from the north.

Glad I’m not out hunting or scouting in the mountains! But it probably be sunny in 2 hours as it passes heading south.






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[Pstraw]

Take all the rain and cool weather that you can get this time of year.

[3ChordTruth]

Awesome Big Sky pics Bill. You have great views in all directions. Dig that patio, it is perfect for cold beverages and cool guitar music.

[ETX-Deerslayer]

Great pics. Amazing place for sure.


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[Bill]

Rear patio was poured with stamped concrete. The mason is putting the same stone on it as everywhere else inside and out. We like the dry stack prairie stone I guess.

Air conditioning condenser was installed on a corner of the patio. Ugly- but it’s great having ac when it’s 94 outside. It’s a ‘dry’ 94- but still 94.

The Traeger and gas grill finally have a home. I’m not sure how well cooking next to the wood will work out with grease from smoke. I’m sure they’ll be moved when used.



Less than 2 months to chase elk.



Here’s what you see when you get to the top of the Tobacco Roots Mountains- Branham Lake.






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[ETX-Deerslayer]

Really enjoy when you update this thread Bill. Looking great.


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[Burnadell]

Livin' large, Bill!

[Bill]

Are you fishing in Montana this summer?


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[3DW5]

Just got done reading this whole thread, how amazing!!!!! I’m going to be following Bill.

[Bill]

I need to go back to the beginning myself.


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[Bill]

Originally Posted by 3DW5

Just got done reading this whole thread, how amazing!!!!! I’m going to be following Bill.

I hope it serves as an inspiration to folks that you can overcome whatever **** is thrown your way and achieve your dreams. I don’t forget 8 years ago I was unemployed (again) 18 months into looking for a new job every day and afraid we’d have to sell the SJ house.

Never Give Up.


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[Bill]

Opening day of 900-20 tag archery only pronghorn season. Life is good.

Working to clear the project list by Sept 4 for elk season. Finished a window / storage seat, just bought a solar automatic tube double gate opener I want to install.




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[ETX-Deerslayer]

Awesomeness. Good luck Bill.


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[jstamps50]

I concur with Big Sky Bill

[Bill]

Ss I was leaving to hunt pronghorns several miles from home, the drizzle stopped and I took some pictures from the road.






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[Fritz]

Beautiful

[WyoBull]

Good luck Bill!

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[ETX-Deerslayer]

Outstanding


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[Bill]

In the middle of elk season- Im spending Sunday afternoon organizing my workshop. Go figure!



Seeing elk, no shooting opportunities yet. No hurry- they’re within 5 miles of our house- my neighbor had a moose sunning itself on their side yard. I’m enjoying the chase.

There’s snow in mountains above us, and everybody says the rut starts this week. I’ll be on private land Tues, Wed and Thurs that is not hunted.

Psyched?

Had a griz come 60 yards upwind from me last weekend. About 2 years old- no big hump yet. Talk about getting straight with Jesus really fast!




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[GARY]

Great thread Bill. I along with other members sure appreciate you taking the time to keep this updated AND share all the beautiful pics!

[ETX-Deerslayer]

Originally Posted by GARY

Great thread Bill. I along with other members sure appreciate you taking the time to keep this updated AND share all the beautiful pics!

Agree 100%. Love coming to this thread.


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[Mertzon Man]

Good luck Bill, can’t wait to see one on the ground!!

[Bill]

Sunset tonight looking south at the Greenhorns and the Snowcrest Range in the distance.




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[Bill]

Livin’ in the lap of luxury. I just finished installing solar powered gate openers. I hand trenched between the posts 6” deep, put the supplied direct burial 12VDC wire in plastic electrical conduit, and then 300 pounds of quick set concrete on top. I don’t want to damage driving over and repairing the wire.




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[Bill]

The Montana wind twisted the cattle gate pretty badly. They act like giant sails.



A stick of auto muffler, a metal cutting blade and a few hours later- let’s see how they stand up to 40 mph wind gusts. Primed indoors but too cold to paint outdoors.




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[RascalArms]

That sucks Bill. That Ghost Controls system will take some abuse but not that much brother. I'm like my system so far. It's worked well opening and closing my 250#+ gate so far for the last year and a half.

[Mertzon Man]

Looks good Bill, how’s it working?

[Bill]

The Ghost Controls works just fine. It’s just the motorized arms held the gate so well the force if the wind caused the gate’s tubing to pinch.

The 1 3/4” ID exhaust pipe fit the 1 3/4” OD gate tube. Since I had 7 1/2 feet ($28.00) of pipe, I cut 2, 30” pieces, then 2, 8” center reinforcing piece I pressed on (actually hit it with a hammer) and then drilled the holes for bolts.

The Ghost Control keeps honest people honest. Pull the 2 pins on the arms and swing the gates open.


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[Pstraw]

Hopefully that'll keep the wind out.

[Bill]

There’s no way to stop the wind- you can only build to withstand it. When the architect finished our plans, he strongly suggested we take them to a engineering firm in Bozeman for structural analysis. They recommended we also do wind shear since we have a lot of large glass windows. They did structural calcs for 115 mph winds. Those resulted in our doing additional foundation bolts and metal plates added at key locations to ‘stiffen’ the framed walls.

The Shoshone Indians who travelled here to hunt called the wind Neiapaih.


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[SaltwaterSlick]

Looks like a good fix Bill, but what is all that "WHITE" stuff on the ground!???

[Bill]

White stuff? I forget y’all don’t live through months of cold where 30!degrees outside is comfortable with a swaetshirt.

I really should get it together go to Bownanza and some warm weather in March.


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[SaltwaterSlick]

See the Bownanza 22 thread!! April 2!! Come on down!! Gonna be some good groceries n fellowship!!!

[Bill]

3,500+ miles roundtrip. Possibly fly and connect with somebody going. Let me ponder this- I’ve wanted to go for years.






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[Tmag]

She's finishing up real nice Bill. You've done really well getting her built.

[WyoBull]

Originally Posted by Bill

The Montana wind twisted the cattle gate pretty badly. They act like giant sails.



A stick of auto muffler, a metal cutting blade and a few hours later- let’s see how they stand up to 40 mph wind gusts. Primed indoors but too cold to paint outdoors.




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The wind has been horrendous down here in Wyoming this winter as well, Bill.

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[Bill]

I made Best Western hotel reservations for Fri and Sat nights in Bryan today. Still figuring out if we’re really going. To be continued….


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[Texas Grown]

Originally Posted by Bill

I made Best Western hotel reservations for Fri and Sat nights in Bryan today. Still figuring out if we’re really going. To be continued….


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If yall do come, I look forward to meeting you . I'll be flip-n fish with Team Fish Head.

The fish are biting, and there's hogs to be kill-t. Gotta go!