Hello everyone,
Here’s a recap of the cabin close-up events and lessons learned for next year’s events…
Each vehicle (leaving Jean’s house and Mom’s house) took 90 minutes to arrive to St. Cloud. We met in St. Cloud (Crossroads Mall by Sears off of Division Street) around 8:30 AM and left in one vehicle 15 minutes later. We had a 15 minute bathroom/gas break (Elizabeth, MN off of Hwy 59) before DL. We arrived at the cabin and began work around 11:30 AM with the following events (not all inclusive), most simultaneously with the five pairs of able hands we had available:
‘Reserved’ the old cabin for the bathroom cabin.
Turned off the circuit breakers for the water heaters (all cabins) and drained the water heater for the chalet and main cabin.
Removed the boat lift canvases and raised the boat lifts.
Pulled in and winterized the boats (time consuming project requiring two adults)
Cleaned the cabins, especially the refrigerators
Winterized the two cabins (main and chalet), including the underground water supply line to both cabins (usually requiring two adults).
Removed the freezable water and perishable food in the cabins
Mowed the entire lawn.
Drained and stored the new outdoor water bath
Cleaned the gutters on the main cabin
Moved and secured the outdoor furniture and paddle boat to the outdoor South deck on the main cabin.
Moved the main cabin’s sun room furniture toward the east end and covered it with bedsheets.
Removed the center dock panels (main cabin dock) and stored them on the opposite end of the main cabin’s sunroom.
Installed the winter panels on the bunk outside windows
Lowered and closed the drapes for all windows.
Did a final bathroom call for the old cabin and then drained the water heater, waited about 45 minutes for it to drain completely, and then winterized that cabin.
Final action: Turned off the master circuit breakers for both cabins and locked all exterior doors.
We broke for a 20 minute lunch (all pre-prepped [no cooking required] and ate outside) around 2:00 PM and finished up and left the cabin around 6:30 PM. We arrived at our initial St. Cloud rendezvous location around 9:30 PM and went our separate ways. Although we were worn out, we could not have done this close-up in one day without the number of people (and great weather) we had. So, thank you to everyone that helped out.
I hope you and your families had a good holiday weekend.
- Dave.
