We made it to New Mexico! After a long ride from the Albuquerque airport to Vanderwagen we got right to work. Our tool team had already been working for a whole day so they had much of the prep work done in the kitchen and were moving through the pergo floor installation in the Lee's home. The kitchen flooring had all been removed and a new subfloor nailed in. Some new walls were constructed and all the heavy moving and removal or existing pipework and such has already been done by the driving team! So we started laying our ceramic tile as soon as we arrived!
Once we laid our guide rows we had to let those set so we started digging\pick axing a whole in order to install an exterior basement entrance (because we're tiling over their only entrance to the basement - a secret ninja trap door in the kitchen floor! 😀)
We were about halfway done with that when the ladies showed up with a truck load of food for the week so we quit and had dinner (11pm EST) and headed off to bed.
Unfortunately my body is still on EST so I was up at 4am... So I had time to update you all on our first day. Will try and post some pictures as we go today!
Monday was pretty much a full work day. We continued work on the kitchen floor... Almost done laying tile! The digging of the hole was completed and we busted through the basement wall. We also dug out the two car garage and prepped it for concrete. We're ready for concrete for both projects! Meanwhile the pergo floor in the parsonage has all been layed and is ready for trim work.
Sunday we got to experience some Navajo worship as we attended services at the church. It was pretty awesome! After church the people treated us to some authentic New Mexico food. Mmmm...tomales! We got to sit and listen to their stories....some of which were heartbreaking. I spoke with Bill who has fostered 36 children over the past couple of years due to the incredibly high rate of drugs, alcohol, and abuse in their culture. So sad.
Afterwards we got to work. Despite a late start, we were able to accomplish a lot thanks to hard work, great teamwork, and late nights!
