Lots of Driving With a Voluminous Load

I'd just expressed my willingness to drive anywhere if that were needed to pick up house materials for Anrahyah, whose house is nearing completion. Residing on my computer where I hadn't seen it yet was one from her asking if I'd drive over to Carbondale the next day and pick up a load of insulation!

So on Wednesday the 10th, I drove my Toyota Tacoma north toward Leadville, over Tennessee Pass, west on I-70 to Glenwood Springs, and then south to Carbondale. In summer, I would have gone over Independence Pass and through Aspen. But it sure ain't summer right now!

Carbondale appears to be a community of people who "get it." The Building for Health Materials Center is there, and was the nearest source for a type of insulation made at least in large part from ground-up Levis. It promises to be better than the more common fiberglass--which I just learned is illegal in Minnesota because its R-value actually goes down when the temperature goes lower than 25 degrees!

Above, the Building for Health store in Carbondale. Below, Cedar Rose, the proprietor. Their website, with lots of interesting products and books, is www.buildingforhealth.com

Packing six large bundles of insulation into my truck (with a shell) would be difficult. Four of them went rather easily into the back, and another--with enough maneuvering and pushing--finally went into my "extended cab" behind the seats. I don't have a four-door truck, but the model with a jump seat.

I tried to put the last one in the passenger seat, angled downward in front. It fit, but then I couldn't work the gearshift! Out it came again.

I went inside to tell Cedar I'd be over again, and she said I could tear open the package and stuff the strips wherever they fit. Aha! I didn't know I could do that without it falling all over the place. So I opened it, and started stuffing.

It worked. I only had use of my left mirror, so I had to drive home like I'd done a few years ago when I drove big trucks for a while. I stayed mostly in the right lane except where I knew a left turn would be coming up.

I drove home in bodily contact with the insulation, and I do not itch! I would not have allowed myself to be in such contact with fiberglass insulation. I like this a lot better, and it'll have a higher R-value. The latter will greatly reduce an imbalance between porch and main floor with Anrahyah's solar heating system. The rest of the house has sprayed-on insulation.

I continued on down to Anrahyah's this morning. The porch, still pink here, is the space in question. Note the solar panels on the roof. The house has several "warm walls" and tubing underneath the basement. Down there is a large warm water tank and a control center for the system, with a network of tubes and valves.

On the way home, I could use all my rear-view mirrors!