SURPRISE!!!!!

As much as I wanted an RV cover for the Arizona desert house, it just wasn't happening.  I was turned down at every corner.  The property is built on a slight hill and originally had absolutely NO parking area at all.

The first thing Dan and Patty did for me was to have ten truckloads of fill dirt hauled in, in order to have a place to park the RV, all compacted by Dan and his backhoe.  That was followed up with a pedestal, since luckily there was a 50 amp plug available from the now-gone-hottub.

When I went to get a permit for the cover, I was told there was no way it was happening because I didn't have the ground compacted by a licensed Engineer.  That and the $14,000 price tag ended my RV cover adventure.

In the meantime, unbeknownst to me after the donation of my horse trailer, Dan and his son Mark began the gigantic quest to get a cover approved.  No, they did NOT tell me about it until it came down to actually signing for the permit.  They said either the owner had to sign, or at least write a letter allowing the construction.

Dan had to spill the beans.  I was pretty shocked.  No one has done anything like this for me EVER!! There were several hoops to jump through, including a land survey and Arizona Engineered plans, but Dan was taking care of it ALL.  

The plan was to pour the side foundations and have a gravel parking spot.  In the end, the plans submitted had a concrete pad which is what the permit now required.  To accomplish all this when the building division was closed down is just beyond amazing.  They even did a video conference to approve the footings.  

You cannot imagine my surprise when I backed down the driveway to find this beautiful big concrete pad on which to park my motorhome.  Just WOW!!!!  It's the most beautiful thing I've seen and worth all that heat to get here!!

It will be about the exact length of the motorhome.  We just couldn't squeeze out any more space, although I can back up another two feet.  I'm sure I heard Baby squeal with joy when her feet were parked on that nice smooth concrete.

But wait ..... lookie here!!  The old slate I pulled out of the back yard is now a beautiful walkway to the back yard gate.

And another to the garage!!  This is just too cool!!

One load of concrete cost the same whether small or large, so Dan got a large load and extended the garage skirting, added a little sidewalk to the front and to the motorhome.  No more scrambling on the gravel!!  The puppies are so happy ... no more stickers in their feet!

The icing on the cake, which I noticed immediately, was how neat my garage was.  What happened to all that junk I had laying around??  I noticed THIS as soon as I walked in the door.  A tool rack to hang my stuff.  

You just cannot imagine my excitement over this whole thing.  I had completely given up on the idea.  At this point the actual cover should be here the afternoon of the 22nd, with installation in one day.  Of course you never know about that since contractors don't have the same calendar as the rest of us.

I think I have the best friends on earth!!!

Baby is going to be in the shade SOON!!!!