Church then to the property. It's been raining so hard for so long, I was kind of hoping the dirt layer on top of the driveway would just sort of wash away. As I said in a previous entry, digging down just a little bit into the driveway, you hit SB2 gravel. A thick, compressed layer of it. I can say I was pleasantly surprised to see the entry way had the appearance of finely crushed gravel - the way it used to look before that giant grader came in and just made it all disappear.
Does that fix the driveway? Of course not, but perhaps less of the driveway is going to be so bad. There is a literal stream of water - I mean a good sized stream - running down the side of the driveway and then over the top of it. Driving over it didn't make it all muddy and screwing things up - of course if a tractor trailer rig showed up again? No thanks. Unlikely they'll be back any time soon tho.
A man called me a few minutes ago. Do you have any long term spots available? Yes. I don't know how the rain is affecting your facility, but would it be possible to come today? Yes, I just drove over there. The parking pads for the RV's are elevated well above the ground, you really don't have to worry about water.
He is - allegedly - coming today. This is yet a different person than the others I have spoken with that are also - allegedly - coming tomorrow and Tuesday.
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Allegedly turned into a done deal. Took a while to get them set up - they don't have leveling jacks on their trailer, it's a weird set up that is only designed to stabilize the trailer. So I had to get my boards for him to back up on. 2on top of each other was fine - until the boards sank. Uncompressed gravel. So we had to pull off and put another set of boards. The thing is perfectly level now.
I'm going to cut up more boards in case I need them tomorrow and try to get those railroad ties cut into blocks. I'll make it as easy as possible now that I have a better idea what I'm doing for people to pull in, run the trailer up on the boards and level it. If a trailer has leveling jacks, then they really just need them for the jacks, that's where the railroad ties come in handy.
It turns out that park charging high rates? Is full - solid - every day. They said as soon as one pulls out, another one pulls in. This is the one that was advertising that I had my doubts about. But, it's all oil field stuff. And that park is 20 miles closer to where they are doing that work than me. Plus, it turns out, those oil field workers get a substantial per-diem to pay for a place to stay. However - some of them don't want to spend that per diem on living expenses and hence they are moving further away - my place is definitely further away.
There are major drawbacks to that park, however. 1, it is 100 feet away from a set of railroad tracks and it blares it's horn going across the road right there. 2. The noisy Interstate is right there. 3. It is located right next to a garbage terminal for garbage trucks. But, they manage to stay busy and they are raking in the bucks. I didn't and still don't want anything that close to the Interstate and certainly not near railroad tracks, gag. However, it does work for overnighters who may not care that much as long as they can easy in- easy out. Many of these RV'ers are loaded with money. Oh, forgot the well water, they said it's brown and when you flush the toilet, the water that comes into replace it? Looks like you just took a piss in it, lol.
Regardless, I want this place full of whatever I can get in here, for now. I'm raising my rates as of today. If these other people show up tomorrow and Tuesday, I don't need the cut throat rates and I will be happy to take more money - mostly to cover utility expenses.
But really, I do think I will be able to fill the place up, just taking a little longer than I would have liked.
I've got to focus on getting the park built out larger. I want the place at least doubled in size by the time they start construction on the new Interstate loop - 440 million dollar project that will take years to build out. There will definitely by RV'ers in that crowd. No, I"m not starting construction today, lol, I'm barely making it as it is, But there is light at the end of the tunnel and I believe I'm getting closer to that light.
Even 1 extra lot at a time will be great. I'll need another septic system, but I can go with a smaller one to increase by maybe 5 lots. It's goal making time - I really get nothing done without goals. As for this laundry setup? The dude looked at me and said, well don't expect to dig out a trench for at least 2 weeks! High chance of rain the next 4 days, then low 4 days after that, then moderate 6 days after that. There is no way to dig out dirt that is wet, you just don't do it. But, if it's going to be that long, I think I will be looking at videos about how to dig out trenches in the rain.
Wait. I wouldn't mind trying a small version of an automated RV park right off an Interstate Exit. But, I really would rather find a plot of land for lease or rent and have truck parking. I haven't been able to find anything beyond 2 parcels of land in a great location - but they want $100k per acre. Lol. Truck parking only requires very little effort. Find someone to work 5 hours a day collecting fees, give them a level parking lot, that's it. I could make a ton of money off of it - maybe depending on demand - by simply charging a reasonable fee - I could eventually get a reputation, get on the Trucker Path app and have a full lot every night. I've been looking - really if the ground is good even if dirt, I can use it.
I dunno, but I have my work cut out for me.
Water draining nicely all but the new pipe I put across the old driveway. Need to make some adjustments and that tractor-trailer that came through didn't help any. Kind of blocked the pipe in with a wall of mud. The only thing that will really fix it is fresh gravel. If all these people do show up, some of that money is going to gravel instead of more credit card debt. 2 loads on the worst of it and see what happens. No, no machinery. I can't wait weeks to put down gravel, if I have to get out there with a shovel and do it by hand, then that's what it is. I'm not spending almost $500 on a machine just for that. If I can get a good driver, I can get the gravel spread pretty well just by him dumping while driving.
Today was encouraging, to say the least. These people will be there for a while - but - they won't be there all the time, which is great. They go home on the weekends. Weekends are when everyone is home and using up electricity and gobbling up data for wifi. I think that's what they said, anyway, I was really focusing on getting their rig level for them and we got it perfect. It took 3 tries, actually. Now I know what I need to do with boards for people to back or pull up their trailers on.
Basically, a 4-1/2 foot long board, another one a couple inches shorter and then 2 8X6 pads on the top. This will level it or come close enough that even stabilizers will be able to level it out.
Enough. I need to relax, chill and get all of this out of my mind for a while. It's kind of hard to do, but if enough people get in there, I won't feel so pressured. And I will be able to push off further my return to trucking - there is too much to do. Tomorrow I will be getting as much of the indoor stuff and hopefully the breaker box and can at least get started on that stuff. Well, I dunno. If I can get the breaker box in without getting soaking wet - you have to start there first and run the lines from it to your electrical outlets.
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Yes, I chilled and just kicked back. I was glad to get all of that junk out of my head. Unfortunately, I had all of these tabs up on my computer looking for washer/dryer sets and my mind clicked back on that stuff instantaneously. Yikes.
Tomorrow? I dunno. Likely go get the pipe. And I did look up digging out trenches in the rain/wet soil. Not impossible. Not sure it's a thing for a novice to be trying, I'll be looking at more videos. It looks any rain tomorrow is going to be late afternoon. I could actually go out there and pull out more weeds. All of this rain? Those things will slip out of the ground. Why would I do this instead of work on the laundry stuff? Because the front looks like hell and is equally as important in priority. Appearance is everything.
All I can say? I've got my hands full. I need to be there tomorrow anyway if these people are showing up as they said they were and the caller said he'd like to come in the morning. Wherever home is, it apparently isn't anywhere near here. Well of course it isn't, if he has to have 2 separate places to live.
Would there be any difference between paying with a credit card and paying on account with a loan? The loan is 12 months. Not forever and low payments. I didn't even know such a thing was available. $207 per month, coin operated set, we're done with that. It will be a while before they arrive, apparently. Next? Water heater. Water heater enclosure. Pipe. Electrical components for the shed. I just saved myself 2 grand worth of credit card debt that would have taken much longer to pay off at minimum payments. Will this be worth the cost? Yes. I expect the machines to get used.
Whatever. I'm getting mind fogged with all of this. It's time to get off of here, watch some reruns of some old show, get drowsy and go to sleep.
