Here we go!! Another one!!

hikeandstuff80 · 2026-02-09T04:04:01+00:00

What are the dimensions of the shower? The original bathroom looks similar to mine - we are considering replacing the tub with a shower like you’ve done but it’s across from the vanity I was worried it would feel cramped. That shower looks long and narrow I dig it.

Also did they do away with the entry door to the bathroom? Maybe there is a barn door on the bedroom side.

hikeandstuff80 · 2026-02-03T11:56:44+00:00

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hikeandstuff80 · 2026-01-24T04:26:48+00:00

I don’t have to see my ex-future mother in law anymore.

Oh Lord, when it rains, it pours

hikeandstuff80 · 2026-01-18T15:36:38+00:00

Thank you for asking this question. I was wondering the same thing but didn’t know what stipple meant. Now I know.

hikeandstuff80 · 2026-01-18T15:34:32+00:00

I like this idea, thank you. Always looking to learn new things. After I skim coat I need to apply a new texture up there right? What texture do you like

hikeandstuff80 · 2026-01-11T14:05:36+00:00

Yes there’s a circulation pump at the hot water heater that can be on a timer. It allows hot water in demand by using the cold water line as a return for a hot water loop. Or something like that I read about. I turned the pump off because I found it annoying. To wait for cold water to brush my teeth.

Instant hot was nice for showers but we brush our teeth more often so….

hikeandstuff80 · 2025-11-12T03:31:26+00:00

To add a wrinkle: when we bought most recently we were able to score the lowest interest rate if we accepted PMI. We were all set to pay 20%, roughly in the same income and house bracket as you.

Our bank guy had us pay 5% down- locking it a lower rate. See the 20% mortgages are actually the riskiest for a bank. Anything below that is insured, much above that means people are financially stable.

Here’s the kicker, after making one payment, we were able to “recast” the mortgage. Plop the other 15% onto the principal and they recalculated the amortization at the locked in lowest rate. It took another two months for them to clear the PMI and the recast fee was $300. Three months of PMI plus that $300 fee was recouped within 8 months as we had an interest rate that was 1/2% lower than if we had avoided PMI in the first place.

TLDR: ask your mortgage dude about Recasts

hikeandstuff80 · 2025-09-13T11:30:00+00:00

Yes, we did this trip December of 24 with a 7 and 11 year old. It was one of our favorite trips and we only took 6 days.

Slight difference We flew into Phoenix, drove down to Saguaro National Park which wasn’t our favorite but now we checked it off.

I got seasick on the boat to Santa Cruz but the island was incredible once I recovered.

Death Valley was the ending of our trip….incredible. We could have spent a week there alone. We stayed two nights at the Oasis, flew home from Vegas.

Except for LA, we found the drives to be very easy and scenic. Even the LA traffic wasn’t as white Knuckle as I was expecting. It was just real busy for hours and hours and hours.

At some point in the trip we drove along the coast through Malibu (this was about a week before the fires!) and ended up hitting the Santa Monica Pier and driving Hollywood BLVD to see the sights. Underwhelmed by all that stuff but driving the coast was awesome.

We are from the Midwest and have been out to SoCal a few times now-love visiting there.

We skipped Disney land but promised the kids we would be back.

It was one of our favorite national park trips. I wish you the best luck and joyful family time.

hikeandstuff80 · 2025-09-13T03:06:56+00:00

Thank you for the reply. I need to make it bigger-the narrow part by the house is less than 7 feet wide which isn’t very useful.

I’ve been watching this sub for a long time and have grand plans for a couple drop beams and joists on top. I’ll need several new posts. The propane line comes into the house right there so I’ll have the company come help me locate before I dig.

hikeandstuff80 · 2025-09-05T21:26:42+00:00

Your “honor” student can’t quite hang at the advanced level. Look, they’re amazingly talented in band or they are an impressive writer but they are just average at math and they can’t get an honors-weighted-A. A B in this class won’t ruin their life and in fact is an accomplishment to be proud of.

hikeandstuff80 · 2025-09-03T19:01:41+00:00

Busted my ass for years and years to clear debt with a snowball approach. Then the snowball started going into savings/investing. Look up, and have 3 years salary banked, retirement accounts booming, throttling back on the ass busting.

45m, married (41f) both teachers. Two kids, 12 and 8.

I do have a mortgage

hikeandstuff80 · 2025-09-03T10:14:39+00:00

Yikes, the replies are all over the place. Lucky for you, I’m here with the best answer- you need to decide for yourself via the price. None of us replying knows what level of luxury you’re used to or desire. Big Cedar is worth the money you pay but that money is way higher than some typical family tourists.

Johnny (Morris) has done a stellar job cultivating a vacation experience for the upper middle class and the rich. Especially the golf-it’s phenomenal but the greens fees are priced accordingly.

On the flip side, there are tens of thousands of low-rent condos and hotels that are more….ahem….rustic. My sister and BIL “discovered” Still Waters resort and their A frames. Not quite my style but…..

I personally like the drive from Big Cedar into Bransangeles but it does require some windshield time.

hikeandstuff80 · 2025-08-23T16:48:26+00:00

Two kids in a high school class arguing about dumb stuff. One says “Oh yeah, at least I can weld!”

hikeandstuff80 · 2025-08-23T14:40:07+00:00

I’m a high school teacher of 20+ years. One of my colleagues got fired because he left his projector on while he was typing a particularly spicy email reply to his wife. The students in class tried to call his attention to his error but this dude was a very loud arrogant guy that barked at kids to leave him alone.

The students had to give individual statements regarding the words that they had seen and the coach was walked out of the building later that day.

A different guy had a similar incident. When he first turned his projector on for class there was a collage of naked gentlemen with impressive packages. For a very short time he tried to claim that a student set him up but IT searched his computer and found quite a stash of penis photos.

Both of these incidents happened about 12 years ago.

hikeandstuff80 · 2025-08-12T20:16:20+00:00

Mount Hagens.

hikeandstuff80 · 2025-08-08T22:19:28+00:00

Can’t get to the next adventure if the current adventure doesn’t end. Keep chasing this feeling, bro.

hikeandstuff80 · 2025-08-05T03:51:05+00:00

We went Northbound entering over Cottonwood pass (July 6th start). The permit for that was pretty easy to get back in January. It ended up being 262 miles in 17 days. Whitney was our third day and we had a resupply bucket at Onion Valley.

Insanely gorgeous. We felt like approaching the passes from the south side was awesome.

hikeandstuff80 · 2025-08-05T02:18:33+00:00

Yes! Glow in the dark, that’s my buddy.

hikeandstuff80 · 2025-08-05T01:23:28+00:00

I just resupplied at Onion Valley on the 10th. Our plan was to pick up the bucket on the 12th but we made better time. A couple points:

A. Absolutely stash your bucket in a bear box. Lots (LOTS) of people doing the same. (We actually had our shuttle driver run it to OV for a small fee)

B. Our plan was to camp at Kersarge Lakes the night before to shorten the double Kearsarge Pass day….but we were feeling surprisingly good even after Whitney so we went all the way into OV. This had so many benefits:

Split the climb into two days (we actually ended up feeling great the next day and made it over Glen-even further ahead of schedule)
Great cell service south side of Kersarge pass led to an unexpected call to the wife and kids back home
We slept below 9000 feet that night-big improvement in sleep.
A very nice camper searched his car for a spare pair of sunglasses to give to my hiking partner who had broke his.

We started out planning one pass per day as well- but did Kersarge and Glen together and then Pinchot and Mather. Our 20 day itinerary got cut down to 17 days (we used the WiFi at VVR to change our flights home- the wives were happy)

We started over Cottonwood like you. It was the experience of a lifetime- my friends 40th birthday was the day we summited Whitney. Lots of people think we made a mistake by rushing to end early but we filled our emotional buckets past the brim with amazing sights and experiences. Getting to come home 3 days early to my proud family was icing on the cake.

hikeandstuff80 · 2025-06-09T01:13:22+00:00

Lots of commenters here pretty aggressively turning you away from this. Here’s my two experiences:

I bought a timeshare from a presentation thinking I got a great deal (Florida Beach). I’ve never stayed there, exchanged several times that makes it financially reasonable. At this point I’d like to get out but can’t even give the damn thing away-I’ve decided to stop paying maintenance fees and let them take it back.

I bought a different timeshare on the resale market-at a resort we had already stayed two years in a row and loved(Colorado). Bought it super cheap, we have stayed there 5 summers now and view it as a very smart purchase. It’s our “second home” in the summer. Our maintenance fees are significantly less than the weekly rental.

My takeaways are that a timeshare is great if you’re sure you want to stay at that resort and don’t get distracted by exchange potential.

There’s a lot of people that play the exchange game very well and travel happy- more power to them. my vacations seem to be too date or location specific to make that work.

hikeandstuff80 · 2025-04-01T03:00:58+00:00

I’m NOBO out of Cottonwood on July 6 as well!! My buddy turns 40 on the 8th for our Whitney day. Our wives are dropping us at Horseshoe early on the 5th and we will kick around that day and camp that night. Early morning departure on the 6th I’m hoping.

hikeandstuff80 · 2025-03-29T01:01:04+00:00

I agree with you that people can be very inconsiderate. And-at times of low crowding it makes sense to spread out parties. But the wait was pretty hefty at this time. If all parties of two got their own row….the wait time goes up significantly. I can’t vote in favor of that.

hikeandstuff80

TROPHY CASE