Thanks mostly to Dave's hard work collecting, cutting and even pre-assembling all the materials and tools ahead of time, the observation tower went together really quickly on Sunday. The pre-assembled walls and pre-cut lumber really helped minimize the impact on the building site as well.
Once most of the peices had been carried out the trail to the site and the peir blocks situated, Cary, Bo & Brian took turns hammering 5' steel fenceposts into the ground about 4' deep. These were then strapped to the support beams with metal plumbers tape to really tie the foundation down.
The pre-fab walls dropped into place really quickly.
Some angle bracing and decking over the top, and we've got an 8'x 8' platform 8' off the ground at the edge of the swamp.
Cary points out the highlights of the view to his mom. It's a wonderful vantage point for sitting in the afternoon watching the birds & the dragonflies over the marsh.
We still need to add stairs and a railing to it, but it's already useable. Dave really picked this idea up and ran with it, and we couldn't be more grateful. We'd have gotten around to it eventually, (probably,) but it's indescribably cool to have it now.
And those of you who didn't make it out for the work party, never fear - we'll be working from the same list next weekend! :)
