July 7, 2021
Quick update on Thunder Mountain. As Arizona is basking...er, baking in the heat I am in Alaska for my daughter's wedding. The coldest winter I have experienced in over 20 years is summer in Alaska! This morning I hear there are some freshly snowcapped mountains. Snow in July? Yep! No heatwave up here! Although, it did hit mid 70s one day and the locals were commenting how hot it is. LOL! Did you know it snows in Alaska every month of the year? That's crazy! It sure is beautiful though.
The other day a friend asked what I was up to and I told him I was working. He asked, "Aren't you on vacation?" I told him, "Gotta make hay while the sun shines!" Later I realized that I would be exhausted if I followed my own advice. You see, the sun rose at 4:16 AM and set at 11:44 PM on that day! It's actually really cool to be up at 11:PM and it's still broad daylight. I did experience this way back when I was a teenager and lived in Finland for a year. But, that was a long time ago. It's awesome to experience the midnight sun again. Thank goodness for "Blackout Curtains" in the bedroom! Did you know they have a whole aisle at Walmart here with hundreds of colors, sizes and styles for "Blackout Curtains"? Yep. It's a thing around here. Who woulda thunk?
This morning I asked for an update on the permits. I was told no update yet. None? Let's push them, I thought. I then asked when we applied for them. June 22nd. Oh. It's barely been 2 weeks and here I thought maybe they were delayed. When the A.D.D kicks in I get impatient. And, on top of that I have a poor concept of time. I will tell somebody, "Remember last month..." while sharing an experience and they will gently remind me it was 9 months ago. Hey! It's why I surround myself with the people I do. They keep everything in order! Nonetheless, we were told in the beginning it's about 4-6 weeks from application to permits if we have everything in order on the application. It appears we are 2-4 weeks out for the permits then. Duly noted. I will probably forget and ask for an update again next week.
Yesterday we received the updated electrical bid. Nate went over it with a fine tooth comb and made the necessary changes. As you may recall, we need to run new electrical to each unit to compensate for the additional appliances needed in an apartment versus a motel. They confirmed with the engineer that the power we are supplying is sufficient to run the stovetop and the remaining new and existing appliances. Looks great! Electricians will be ready to go as soon as the permits are ready.
Speaking of new appliances, Nate sent payment to the property management team to order all the appliances AND the pool equipment. He is proactive and making sure everything will be ready and onsite when they are needed. Besides, with the silly delays in manufacturing, shipping and delivery who knows how long it will really take? At this point it appears there will be no delays on that front and we should have them delivered in a timely manner. We will keep on the details.
Speaking of shipping, I saw a few ships yesterday...and lots of boats. Was fortunate enough to spend a day on the ocean fishing with friends from Arizona who summer up in Seward, Alaska. What a wonderful experience to be on the sea! Love it every time I get a chance. Being at sea is amazing. Seward sure is a busy harbor with lots of people milling about and the tour guides who bring them. Be fun to go back someday soon. Beautiful place!
While Seward has about 3,000 residents, Thunder Mountain has 5. Seward is bigger than Thunder Mountain, so they should. Could you imagine if we had 3,000 residents in a 65-unit apartment building? That would be a lot! Speaking of densely populated areas, there was this place in Hong Kong, until 1994, that had over 50,000 residents on a mere 6.5 acre plot of land!
Kowloon Walled City. Insane! You can read about it HERE. Don't worry. We will not compete with them.
Anyway, the first three who have moved in for temporary residency while we are doing the conversion have expressed interest in remaining there after the project is complete. This is exciting! Hoping to fill up as many as we can during the redevelopment phase and creating our community there in Sierra Vista.
And that is our project from my corner of the globe ~Bruce
Thank you for the update! Sounds like good progress is being made. Glad you are enjoying a great Alaskan summer. In 2019 I lived up there for six months working in the cruise line industry. I was stationed in Denali National Park and helped with our guests that were arriving or departing via the train. Absolutely one of the best and most memorable experiences of my life.
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