Tiny House Shrinks

The wheels of my house touched the ground today.  All this time I've had the trailer frame raised off the ground on stabilizing jacks.  The extra height gave the house an unsettlingly tall profile that made me nervous about taking it on the road and took away from the aesthetic appeal.  But now that the house is resting on its foundation, it looks much more manageable.

I returned to Portland yesterday and was amused to find this ambitious stockpile of urbanite, sand, gravel, and woodchips laying on the exit route of my mobile cabin.  I had thought Nate was joking when he texted the day before, "I just finished the barricade.  You can never leave!"  He says he's trying to prevent me from leaving his homestead because he likes having me around, but I wonder if he's sending a message that he wants help with a project before I leave!  I'm more than happy to pitch in.  I've been so fortunate to have Nate's space, tools, and assistance while building my house.  I really couldn't have asked for a better setup.

I also set a date for moving the house:  December 31, 2014!  A symbolic day indeed.  Barring a nasty weather event, I hope to tow La Cabanita from Portland to Anacortes on that day.  To make the move more dramatic, I'll pull it on to a ferry headed to San Juan Island.  That will be a bizarre moment, as originally I did not envision La Cabanita on the high seas.

In the meantime, I need to ready the ship for sailing.  This means getting La Cabanita registered and licensed, hooking up the tow vehicle to ensure that lights and brakes work, greasing bearings, checking tire pressure and lug nut torque, adding extra screws to siding that could catch wind, and amassing construction materials to continue the next phases of the project.