With the crew pushing me hard it was time to get the mud on another large piece. The GIANT tree house tree was just the ticket. Peter led the crew in the mud effort for the first couple of hours while I started the crew up at the lake. Six of the crew worked at applying the thick fiberglass reinforced concrete necessary to sculpt the textured bark. I kept my head down and the welder fired up while they worked at the tree. By the end of the day it looked pretty fine. To get a sense of how massive this piece is look for Hailey peeking from behind. She is five foot six.

While the tree crew worked on the tree Kendra was busy painting the rail inspection vehicle. It looked nice and clean with the base colors on but but not for long. We wanted to make it look like the well worn and rusty (REAL) wheels.

The truck is ready to roll out the door tomorrow.

The shop is full from end to end with only a few feet of empty floor between each feature. Look close and you can see the truck, the double sign on the tree, the trestle bottom and middle section, the water tank and the giant tree in behind. It's tight for so many pieces and our large crew but they work hard to make it work and have fun all through the day.

Tomorrow, the trestle with the mine car will be finished and the water tank will get much of it's colorful paint. Up at the worksite there will also be lots happening. Stay tuned...

-grampa dan