2010 TRAVELING FLOAT

CONSTRUCTION PROJECT

February 1 - 7, 2010

by Tom Grady:

Well...we finally finished the framework on the lower deck of the chassis this week. It took longer than I had expected - but really a lot of thought has gone into it - not to mention safety too. I think that our team will enjoy the new shape. It is quite an improvement from the old "rectangle" of the past.

In designing it, we took into consideration that we didn't want to have to remove anything - so, the "new" front and rear pieces are "foldable". The rear deck used to pull out and store on the trailer floor (how many times did we do that over the years?) - well, now we do have to do that. You just fold the rear end down and flip the two side ends up and lock them into place. It also is a little bit larger than it's predecessor.

The front folding piece is pretty much cosmetic. You could say we gave our float a "nose job"! hahahaha! Actually, it makes the float look much better. I am sure that you will agree. It folds up also and even the shortest of drivers will not have their vision impaired while driving into the trailer.

Gosh, everywhere you turn, there is another piece of excess, unused metal - that we could cut off...so we did. I am amazed at how we were told a few years ago by someone that they removed 800 pounds of metal from our float (to lighten it) - and still left all of the stuff we are finding (that had no use whatsoever). But, at least this year we know that we will be stripped down as much as we can.

Greg checked the fuel pump pressure and we checked out at 5.5 pounds - which is good for a carbureted engine.

We made steel receivers for our papier-mâché characters and mailed them off to Meridian, Idaho for our artist, Moni Ramsey (of Painted Paw Studios), to make the ants, lady bugs, frog and bees upon them. We'll get them back around the end of March. Then we'll place them on top of the spots we've made for them on the float.

I contacted a foam carver in Olympia - who volunteers for Capital Lakefair, John Lindstrom. He has given me preliminary drawings for a foam sun and foam moon that we will use for our float. I have been an admirer of John's work for years. If you have ever seen the stuff that he has done for Lakefair on their float - you will know what I mean. John's work has helped Lakefair win many awards over the years - and he still is with them on the float construction crew. I was put in touch with him via our good friend Kent Farringer (Capital Lakefair) who is now in Phoenix, Arizona working on his suntan and golf game.

Carol and Jodi went to a craft's show and purchased some metal flowers, bird houses and birds for use to use on the float as decor. Carol showed pictures of them to me on our weekly meeting. They look cute. Carol also found a tree that fits our needs and our budget (on sale, of course!) so we are good there also.

Jodi and John Hiatt have really helped out (Marysville Everett Ceramic Tile - Marysville) by providing samples of Astroturf-like carpet for our float and advice. The advice has been what we really needed. They recommend that we used a "pet-proof coating" pad for under the covering. We haven't had a pad for a few years - and that might be because the old pad was water damaged. This pet-proof coating pad will be a little more moisture resistant...something that we could use considering our weather. We never considered that when we originally built this float - and other float builders don't care. So, it should last a while. Plus, Jodi was able to work out a "special" price with her vendor for the Strawberry Festival on this project. Thank you, Jodi and John!

As for the covering - Jodi and John recommend the BN287 model which had a longer pile of grass than the other one they had...it looked much better and I think that it will work just fine. You won't find this type of carpet at Home Depot or Lowes. Jodi is going to get this for us at her cost. John also volunteered to come down to Federal Way to offer his advice on how to install/secure the carpet/Astroturf so that we don't damage the pad or carpet/Astroturf - all on his own time. Thanks again, Jodi and John!

Greg is on vacation next week (Disneyland) - so when he comes back - he really comes back he'll really know how to do things in a Mickey Mouse manner! hahahaha!

The following week, I'll be on vacation up there - and we'll get a lot of stuff done then.