Very narrow entry to the RV door.
I have been working on the A-frame project for quite a while. It has made me far more understanding of the cost of these obstacles. I bought ours used, around 15 years ago and even then it was about $350. Last time I looked at them the cost for a new one was $950 and that was not the one with "kick- down wheels". Nor did that cover shipping for this heavy, heavy obstacle.
A few weeks ago Journey was going over it and as he went down the far side, he put a foot through the plywood, at the lower right area. He did not get hurt, nor did it frighten him for future work on the A-frame, thank goodness. However it did necessitate rebuilding of the A-frame. Our handyman, Devin came to the rescue again, and he picked up new sheets of outdoor plywood. He cut it into the 3'x 8' pieces we needed and I went to work on it. I painted 2-3 coats of white undercoat, This covered both sides and all the edges. It required waiting between coats before turning the boards over for the opposite sides. The weather was in the 80's and 90's when I was doing this and it was drying pretty fast. Next I bought the little strips for the dogs to grip as they ran up and down the A-frame. I think it was six strips on each side, every 12". They also got painted with undercoat. Next I searched out the proper colors for the equipment - I use blue and yellow. I measured and taped and began to apply coats of oil based paint (hard to find). Of course as soon as I started work with the oil based paint the weather changed to occasional rainy days. I moved the boards into the end of the RV garage. I leaned them against the front of the RV and kept them there. When I finished painting the boards: blue on the underside and blue and yellow on the top sides, Devin came over and removed the old boards from the metal frame of the A-frame. We thought we were ready to screw the new boards on the frame. As it turned out, there were a few rust spots on the frame that we could only see after we took the old boards off. Devin and I thought it would be better to sand and repaint the frame. That also took several coats of undercoat, and a couple coats of oil based paint. I was able to maneuver the frame under the overhang of the roof. When it finally dried Devin came back and did a wonderful job of screwing the boards and strips to the frame, with stainless screws. It looked great! Fortunately, although it was not raining at the time we were working on it, I anticipated possible sprinkles, so Devin helped me set the A-frame upright and push it into the RV garage. It barely fit beside the RV. I really had to maneuver to get to both sides of it and paint the strips their appropriate colors. Yesterday late afternoon I had painted the blue upper strips and was just finishing up the lower yellow ones.
The dogs have been so good at staying away from the paint! It only took yelling at them a few times as they ran out of the pool house, shaking water everywhere. Anyway, they knew not to come close to the paint cans or shake on the work I was doing. I was about 10 minutes from finishing the paint coating on the strips.
It was then that it happened! A BRIGHT FLASH OF LIGHTENING ACCOMPANIED BY A GIANT CLAP OF THUNDER . There was no warning and no previous distant thunder, (that I could hear) as one might expect. Just this huge, giant boom. Both Pirate and Quest came flying into the RV garage where I was and they were very upset. They both squeezed between the A-frame and the RV nearly upsetting the step ladder with the paint can on top. They wanted to get in the RV and I opened the door for them. They seemed to feel a little safer in there.
Journey was not with them and I guessed that he had probably bolted into the house via the doggy door. I finished the painting and opened the door for Pirate and Quest to come out. I actually thought they made it past the wet paint, but no..... they did not come through clean.
Pirate's picture does not look as bad as it does in person
Pirate looking not near as bad as it really is....
Keep in mind, if it did not look any worse than it does in these pictures I would not be that concerned, but it really does look bad. Of course it had to be the oil based paint, so clean up really had to be fairly gentle. I could not just wipe them down with Acetone.
As I finished scrubbing the dogs with old towels, you can probably guess who appeared. It had been about an hour since that lone thunder clap.
Yep, here he is: Journey, the lone white dog of our pack.
He seemed pretty smug. He sure checked over his older brothers to see what the fuss was.
Later in the evening we had a lot more thunder and lightening. Neither of the dogs seemed particularly concerned. We were all in the living room and I guess they felt pretty safe. The heads all went up each time the booms sounded, but other than that all was well. It pretty well stopped before we went to bed. It rained hard most of the night though.
Today it is so fresh out and it smells wonderful. The grass is already showing signs of green coming through. The tomatos are beautiful. We are ready for friends to come over tomorrow to practice agility.
I wish I could say that the A-frame was finished, but we still have a couple more coats of paint to go; both yellow and blue. First a coat of paint, then a sprinkling with sand, followed immediately by a spray coat of paint to hold the sand in place. I cannot remember for sure, but I think it will take more than one coat of spray paint, after the sand is sprinkled on the boards. I checked my paint job today and other than a few strands of white dog hair, they look pretty good.
The agility course looks a little bare without the A-frame, the tunnels, etc. I moved them inside the shed for the big rain storm. Tomorrow we will set up the whole course, with the exception of the A-frame. We have a broad jump, a couple tunnels, a teeter, and a variety of other jumps.
Next week is supposed to be hot and dry - so hopefully I can finish the A-frame during that time.