Good Morning!!!! 57F @ 4:30AM. Plentiful sunshine. High near 70F. Winds NNW at 15 to 25 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.
Sounds like most of you have been busy getting ready for winter. Nice to see the fall colors, too. Not much of that going on here yet, though, since up until this past weekend it's still been very warm. Temps dropped into the 70s for this weekend, with overnight lows down into the 40s. I woke up cold in the tent the first night and had to put on an extra layer, but otherwise slept pretty well.
I laid laminate floor in both this house and the one before it, David, both WilsonArt and Pergo. Both required a vapor barrier sheet to be put down first, but that may no longer be required. Best to check with the manufacturer. I extended the sheet up the wall a few inches so as to prevent water from getting under the laminate if there was a water leak elsewhere in the home. Ted's right about using foam under it to damp out the noise. Clear case of some is good, more is better. If there's a pattern/grain in the laminate, you might want to lay out a few boxes loosely and adjust the positioning to take best advantage of how it repeats or matches up. That could also help if there is color variation between boxes. I used a carbide blade in the chop saw, and it was worn out by the end of the job. Something to do with the anti-wear coating on the floor boards.
Other than starting this weekend's trip out on the freeway to leave more time on the little back roads, things went pretty well. The GPS did a nice job of picking the way, there was plenty of sunshine, and I got to revisit some old roads I hadn't been down for quite a while. Our campsite was located under a band of trees that bordered a dried up riverbed, so we had plenty of shade. Being a horse facility, the owner had composted the stall sweepings, then used them as mulch under the trees. It made fine bedding under the tent.
Unfortunately, PG&E did call for another blackout starting in the wee hours this morning, so I though it best to be home to keep an eye on things. That meant cutting the trip short by a day, but it also meant not having to fight big headwinds on the way home.
The return trip started off on roads less traveled, and being a middle day of a three day weekend, there was very little traffic yesterday. I went a fair distance out of my way to get to this
scenic view, a new overlook built on CA49 north of Mariposa, CA after last years wildfires. The road drops through a couple thousand feet of switchbacks as it snakes north down through the canyon and then back up. The Dragon may get all the headlines, but I had the snake all to myself yesterday.
Hope everyone enjoys their Columbus Day. I wonder how long the wokestrs will continue to tolerate such an un-PC celebration?
