Finally a paved driveway

Thursday

I was pleasantly surprised when I woke up and looked out the window this morning to see the guys from Butler Construction our in the driveway.  The paving project is underway.  Todays plan is to get all the prep work done and be ready to pave tomorrow.

First they flattened out the hump in the middle of the driveway.

 Then they worked on leveling the driveway

Starting to look good

Then they used the paver to lay down a good flat bed

And finally used a vibrating roller to pack it.

While they were busy I finished cutting the grass.  I noticed something is digging in the back lawn and it looks like they are making a home.

Not sure what animal is doing this.

So at the end of the day the driveway is ready to be paved.

Looking out the driveway

Looking in from the road

The other excitement for the day was descaling the Keurig coffee maker, now a movie and then a little TV.

Friday

The guys from Butler Construction were out in the driveway just before 8am this morning when I got up and looked out the window.  I had my breakfast and grabbed my camera and headed outside to watch the work.

It turned out to be a rather long day, they guys had some breakdowns and had to wait for the third load of blacktop.  Then later had trouble starting the backhoe.  They worked steady all day and did not even stop for lunch.  They did a good through job, they were neat and took care to clean up any spills and make sure that it was a good job.

Bonnie was outside this morning working on cleaning up the front flower bed, it looks good.  The she had trouble with the dryer and called me around 1pm.  I went into the house and found that the breaker must have gotten bumped the other day when I replaced a breaker, so that was an easy fix.

Here are some pictures from the day.  The rest are posted on facebook.

The paving begins

Slow careful progress

Attention to detail

Tamping the edges as promised

Making good progress, lots of leaves fell all day

Getting close to the road

Tearing out the old apron

Made it to the road

All done looking back toward the house

They finished up about 4:30pm just as it started to rain.  It did not rain much but it will help cool the blacktop.  Bonnie had a fundraiser to go to tonight and arranged a ride as we could not drive on the new driveway yet.  Time to get some supper and relax as the leaves continue to fall.

Saturday

So it was quite cool last night and we had a cold rain over 6/10's of an inch.  That should set the blacktop up pretty good.  I learned a lot about asphalt the past few days and it was nice that the crew let me watch and talked to me while they had short breaks.  Mostly they kept on the move and they all pitched in and helped each other.  If the truck drivers grabbed wheelbarrows of asphalt as needed and helped out.  So the driveway was cool enough to drive on today.  They cautioned me about turning the car wheels on it with moving but driving straight out was ok.  The driveway will also continue to cure for the next year and they said after that I could seal it but not before.  I did go out to court once today but that was it.  Monday they will come and get the cones that are blocking the end of the driveway.

The leaves have been pretty but lots are being blown off the trees today.

It was a cold and windy day and the yard is almost completely covered with leaves not much green is visible.   So next week I will have to get out the big bad leaf machine and get busy.  It will be a busy month getting ready for the snow.  We are planning to camp this weekend and then after that I will winterize the water system, get the coach inspected and then put it in storage for the winter.  It sure was seems like summer went quick but we did a lot.

Well time to read a little and get some sleep.

Sunday

Its a overcast rainy day here, been raining most of the day.  We went to church, then stopped and picked up a chicken and ribs dinner for lunch from the Kiwanis club in Wales Center.  Then I headed to the Varysburg VFD to pick up some claim chowder to freeze.  Bummer the chowder was all gone.  I did run into some friends so got to chat a few minutes with them.

Alexus had come home with us to work on her Facebook page and I helped her with that.  Now Bonnie has gone into Elizabeths to do some more canning so I am on my own to watch the race and some football.  Looks like we will have a cold night they are saying it is to be in the 30's tonight.

Well thats about it for Sunday so I will get this posted.  I am a bit under the weather so may nap a little also.

Thanks for Checking in.