Building a Home....Again
Parked at the fairgrounds in Jackson with all of our various rigs, someone asked us if we were part of a traveling show coming to town. In a way we were, but not the kind he was thinking of. There were 10 of us, 3 couples and 4 singles, coming from all different parts of the country as far away as Maryland and Georgia, for 2 weeks to help build a Habitat house for a single mom and her daughter. When people hear what we do they are kind of amazed. The future homeowners and local affiliate members are very grateful. But on both builds I’ve been on nearly all the RV Care-A-Vanner volunteers say the same thing. “This is more fun than you can imagine. We have a great time.” To me, it’s a blast. I’ve met great people, learned a lot about construction, felt like I was doing something productive, and got to practice/learn on someone else’s house (just kidding about the last part). What could be better than that?!
I’ve heard that some builds or groups are better than others, but I’ve been pretty lucky so far. My second experience was even better than my first, which was really good. We had one professional in the group, Jim, an electrician, but the rest were all very willing and able to help. Charlie, the team leader , was pretty laid back as far as team leaders go, but has been volunteering for Habitat for years with the Care-A-Vanners and at home. There were 2 construction managers because Trace, the new one, had just started a few weeks before we arrived. Ken, an Exum Mountain Guide and contractor
, was the interim guy until Trace got there. Right away we could tell that Ken wasn’t real used to working with volunteers. The first day he started barking out orders to noone in particular as we stood around clueless as to what he wanted and who he wanted doing it. We were really surprised when he told us at 12:15, after lunch had just arrived, that we had to finish the lower roof because he had a crane coming at 1PM to put the trusses on the upper roof. 
I was working on the lower roof at the time, ready to pass out from hunger, but wasn’t about to quit working after he told us that. To his credit, his communication improved greatly after the first day and he loosened up quite a bit. Trace (a guy in case you’re wondering) had much less experience than Ken, but was far more communicative. Between the two of them it worked pretty well. Trace is also my new inspiration. Besides working for Habitat in Philly and Hawaii, he’s worked in a kitchen in New York City, done construction in Antarctica (“on the ice” as he calls it) and various other jobs. As unstable as that might seem, he actually owns 2 houses, one of which he rents and the other he lives in about 1 month out of the year. I do have to mention that the second one doesn’t have heat, electricity or hot water but they're just details. I also got the impression that he will take off at a moment’s notice to do another job as long as the money, or the location, is good enough. Oh yea, and he claims to be an introvert.
Most days after work we had an hour or so before the sun went down so we would pull out our chairs with the little energy we had left and had Happy Hour out on the lawn at the fairgrounds. 
We all laughed at Patricia who was snuggled under her blanket, but once the sun set and the temperature plummeted we were pretty jealous. The first week the weather was beautiful – highs in the upper 60s and blue sky every day. We even managed to have enough energy left on Friday to go to the brew pub for Happy Hour. Abbey got to come along, but she couldn’t go on the deck so Trace and a few others sat with us on the edge of the parking lot. The beer tastes just as good there.
Unfortunately the second week didn’t live up to the first weatherwise, but we got a lot done on the house and still had a good time. One cold, rainy morning we all piled into my RV and Trace bought us coffee at a local coffee shop. 
Abbey was a little taken aback with 10 people riding in her house, but she survived. I felt bad because we didn’t take morning breaks like last time, and our lunch breaks weren’t all that long so she didn’t get out much during the day. So I tried to take her to the river or on a walk most days after we finished working, but I didn’t go too far because I was usually pretty beat. I’m not used to doing so much manual labor. I spent the better part of the two weeks up on a ladder, the rafters, or the roof. 
I seem to gravitate to the high spots (a bit of an oxymoron?) naturally, but they also usually decide to leave the heights for the younger guys, like Jim and I, since a lot of the older guys would rather not go up too high. Put another way, we were the only ones dumb enough to enjoy it.
Rena, the future homeowner, came around many days and pitched in by working or giving us massages. 
One of her 3 jobs is as a massage therapist. I was wishing she was there every day, but I guess she did have to work too. She was also real outgoing and a lot of fun. She also raises money for building orphanages in other countries by getting people to donate artwork and auctioning it off. So we made a birdhouse for her next auction. 
Habitat has a saying, “Not a handout, but a hand up.” They carefully screen their applicants for people who are willing to work hard, put in 500 hours of their own time, and be able to pay the mortgage (0% interest) for the home they get. That’s one of the reasons I really like working with them. Rena also came out to dinner with us a couple of times including one of our last nights when we went to Jackson’s famous Million Dollar Cowboy Bar. It’s pretty tacky, but not to be missed if your in Jackson. They have saddles for bar stools 
and, lucky for us, they had country and western music most every night. Rena dragged me out on the dance floor, but only after she agreed to lead because I had no idea how to swing or do the two-step. Since I’m the editor of this blog I conveniently left out the pictures of me on the dance floor, but did include one of Rena and Trace. 
Rena also tried to fix me up with most every single woman who came by our table, including a waitress. I somehow managed to leave unscathed despite her best efforts.
I have to say that in my year and a half of traveling I’ve seen a lot of great places and done a lot of cool things, but the most fun I’ve had and most rewarded I’ve felt have been working on the Habitat houses.
