The Shadow Knows

Since I have had this bike for 2 months now I thought it would be a good idea to post the photos of it. In November we were talking about upgrading my bike and the requirements were pretty specific. The rebel was a great bike for me to learn on because it was a 250cc and was lower to the ground than most mainstream bikes. Whatever bike I was going to look at to replace the rebel had to be roughly the same seat height, but with more power. We were thinking that if I had a more powerful bike we would be able to ride longer distances together (see next post) more comfortably and would be able to ride on the interstate more safely.

The bike we decided to look for was a Honda Shadow VLX. We were thinking that it would take a few months to locate one that we liked and that was reasonably priced. Boy were we wrong! Scott was perusing eBay and came across the exact bike we were looking for and it was even being offered by a dealer. This meant that we could trade in the rebel without having to go through the trouble of trying to sell it. Scott called the dealer who ended the auction and the rest is history. Here she is...


Scott loading up the new bike. Rebel is in the foreground.


Me and my bike =0)

Moving In

Moving day has come and gone without much fanfare, just how we wanted it to be. We finally got the major contractors to finish up and were able to move in just in time to entertain my parent's for the Thanksgiving holidays and Scott's parents for Christmas. We actually moved in the weekend before Thanksgiving, giving us about 4 days to put up a majority of the house. Luckily, since we were moving from a 40' x 8' motor home we did not have a lot of collected stuff to put away. The turkeys for both Thanksgiving and Christmas turned out great, if I say so myself, and the visits were wonderful (see next post).

The bed was our only real piece of furniture and you can see below how ecstatic we were to get it out of the rent house and onto the trailer. We took turns jumping off the back of the trailer onto the bed, somewhat like jumping into a huge pile of leaves. It was a blast!!


Scott in Flight


Me

Before moving anything into the house I went through and took these photos of the finished interior. The floors were so polished and the cleaning crew did such a great job on everything throughout. The first two photos are of Scott unwrapping and unveiling the long awaited wood-burning stove.




The Unveiling

These next two photos are of the great room from the vantage point of the staircase. The door with the large window in it is the front door. We had the front porch screened in as well as the side porch and the results were fantastic. The light through the windows in the morning is fabulous.


Morning Light


Great Room

The kitchen is just the perfect size for the two of us. In fact, I don't think I would want a kitchen any larger than this. Everything is within reach while cooking and the size makes cleanup a snap. The kitchen is to the left when you walk in the front door. When you go through the kitchen you can go right into the laundry room and then right again into the pantry that is tucked away just below the stairs. We tried to make use out of every conceivable space either for daily usage or storage.


Kitchen





The laundry room is directly across from the refrigerator. When my father in law was touring our house he promptly stopped in front of the refrigerator and surveyed the various buttons. After what seemed like a long pause, he said with a hint of sadness "oh, crushed ice!". It seems that his refrigerator he had installed last July did not come with this option.


Crushed Ice




Laundry Room


Pantry


View of Great Room from Kitchen

The great room consists of the space from the entry door to the kitchen on the left and the staircase and hallway on the right. Entering through the front door you have the wood-burning stove to your immediate right and the staircase in front of you beginning on the right and going up and to the left to the second floor. If you pass by the bottom of the staircase and continue through the small hallway to the right instead, you will pass a half bath on the left and end up in the master bedroom. The master bedroom has a full bath with a garden tub and stand alone shower and a walk in closet, too.


Great Room


Staircase and Hallway to Master Bedroom


View from Master Bedroom

Proceeding up the stairs you can see the front door directly under the fan and the two doors to the right (as you are looking at the photo). The door without a window goes to the garage and the door to the far right goes to the dogs' fenced in yard. This door to the yard is just off the kitchen. There is also another door that goes from the fenced yard to the garage.


Great Room to Garage

Reaching the top of the stairs you can look over the railing into the entire great room, or turn to the right to enter the small hallway that leads to our two upstairs offices. The office on your right is Scott's and the one on the left is mine. Going through either office you can reach the common bathroom.


Upstairs Hallway and Scott's Office


My Office


Upstairs Bathroom


Looking Downstairs

The "last" thing

Our builder had a habit of telling us, whenever we asked when something would be done, that he "liked to do that thing last". In fact, he said it so often that it became an ongoing joke. After putting up with this for as long as I could I finally asked him "If everything is last then what is first?". We were tired of waiting for the "last thing" to be done so we started contacting the subs and doing some of the logistical work ourselves. We scheduled and had installed the propane tank and the backyard fence. Here are the photos of the "last things" to be done just prior to our certificate of occupancy being issued.


A creepy feeling seeing a grave shaped hole dug next to the house!




Proper positioning is apparently vital.


Goodbye Dumpster!