Annual Cabin Cleaning PARTY 2009!

Yes it is that special time of year again...Spring! Which also includes that much anticipated (and somewhat dreaded) family cabin cleaning get-together that is disguised as a party. I think I have mentioned before that my father's family motto is "First We Work, Then We Play". This is the exact source of it's creation and I found myself "quoting" it over and over to Aspen and Collin all day when they kept pleading for Grandma to come outside and do the usual "fun" cabin activities like swinging and ATV riding and river-rock throwing.

We did had a super, terrific participant turnout! There were 22 adults, including Grandpa AND Grandma (she doesn't usually come anymore) and 12 children. There was a lot to do this year besides just de-winterizing the inside of the cabin. We decided to bring up a wood chipper along with the usual chain saws and get a lot of the outside fallen trees and branches and over grown underbrush cleaned up as well. Things don't always go as planned. The Chipper looked like it could shred a tree in just a few minutes but it didn't perform as well as we expected and after some glitches including an unexpected little fire that started with some of the chips lying under the hot machine, we got some of the wood cleaned up but not what we had hoped to accomplish. It means someone (or two or three) will have to come back up and bring a better machine and still finish up that project.

Inside the cabin went really smoothly until the shower faucet valve decided it had put in enough years and was done holding back the water. After a quick 45 minute trip to the nearest Home Depot (which is about 20 miles away near Park City) it still didn't work and we had to shut down the water which ultimately shut down the rest of the cleaning too. Oh well, we got most of what needed to be done, done. My brother and I actually went back up on Weds and kind of pulled it all together except for the wood issue so the cabin is officially "Open for FUN"! Thanks to everyone that came and helped out!

PS: Thanks Katie for taking the photos and putting together the slideshow for me!