The Continuing Adventures of Two Middle Aged Kids

The Tucson Return. The Kitchen Wreck

We recently returned from our 2400 mile jaunt from the Florida Keys back to Tucson (Scott drove both ways; Kathy flew out and we drove back together) [note depending on where the blog software positions this; "recently" means January, 2009]

The trip was... long. But having driven from our previous home in New Hampshire, to British Columbia, and back, multiple times, wasn't unexpectedly long, just... long. The furthest day was when we drove (Scott, actually) drove from Sherman, Texas (about an hour north of Dallas), to El Paso, TX which is about half-way across New Mexico, in the hunk of Texas that's underneath NM. About 710 miles:


Anyway, we're back. We are also in the midst of a kitchen renovation, and this wasn't a surprise (we've been in touch with the Contractor throughout) but it was still a bit of a shock to come home to a giant black plastic wall separating the "job site" from the rest of the house. The only think of use left in the kitchen is the microwave. Lean Cuisine R' Us for a couple of weeks yet.

When you travel a lot (and I apologize for probably saying this over and over), being "home" carries special meaning. When you drive for a week, arrive "home" and find it isn't "like home", it's rather disconcerting. This exacerbated by being "cumulatively tired" from 7 days of driving. I'd have broken down and cried, but I was just too tired. Better now.

The Kitchen Wreck:

A giant wall of plastic isolates us from the work (mostly the dust). A couple of giant zippers serve as doors. This leaves us with bedrooms and something resembling a studio apartment. The only functioning part of the kitchen is the microwave -- our new frig sits in the middle of the construction site and we're using our old one in the garage.













Tom Tuloss, Arizona's Best Contractor and, not-surprisingly, a fine human being. Here he's relocating some electrical switches for a wet bar we'll have installed as part of the kitchen renovation. Behind him is our heating/air conditioning; since Arizona homes don't have basements, the system lives in the attic.














The "new" kitchen as of 1/10/09. The existing cabinets are temporarily in the garage as are the old countertops and the old range. Everything from the kitchen cabinets is filling the dining room -- table, floor... everywhere.

The trench is just a couple of inches wide and about a foot deep (hence the rubble in the left side of the photo) is for a gas line for the new cooktop that's on order. The concrete slab had to be "radar-ed" to determine where the reinforcing bars are located; this technique of slab design is called "post-tension" and while my inner-Geek finds it fascinating I won't bore the rest of you with it.

Labels: travel, Tucson

posted by Scott & Kathy @ 7:29 AM