Day 19: Lazy River Lazy Livvy

June 24, 2022 in Farmington, Missouri

Today was, in all ways, pretty fantastic.

There were three main events of my day: a build day, a trip to a local water park, and dinner and a show. We also had a leisurely 7am wakeup, which felt really nice.

And here's a picture from yesterday I forgot to add!

First of all, the build day! When we arrived, the only thing that had been completed on the house was the foundation. I'd never worked on a house at this stage before, but I remembered talking to Ashley about how cool it would be to put up walls.

Luckily for me, that's exactly what we did! We started with building the frame using very large boards and about 200 nails. It was not super easy work, but it was incredibly rewarding.

The process of laying out the boards and making sure everything was square and sturdy took the whole morning, and a couple friends and I took a short drive to get out of the heat and find a gas station to use the bathroom. While on the road, we saw a sign for a real life Whistle Stop Cafe like from Fried Green Tomatoes!

We had a bagged lunch from a local church when we got back, which had really fresh sandwiches, chips, a pickle, and cookies. It was needed and delicious.

The early afternoon was spent nailing plywood onto the framing and eventually raising the wall! It was my favorite build so far.

The supervisors on the build were really interesting as well. One woman, Linda, talked about a murder trial she'd served as a juror on 28 years ago which she was still trying to overturn the verdict to this day. Her story was so incredible.

We also got to meet the mother and daughter who were moving into the home when it was completed, which was really special. We all signed the walls so a little bit of love would already be in the home when they moved in.

After driving back to the host to change into our bathing suits, Wills, Zoe, Eliza, Flavie, Nathan, Ali, Bry, and I all went to the Farmington Water Park. It wasn't huge like Six Flags or Canobie, but it had two slides, a water jungle gym, and a lazy river.

We must have spent two or three hours riding around in the lazy river resting, talking, and playing games. It was very refreshing after a long day and a fun bonding experience.

We got back to the host with just enough time for quick showers before dinner. The methodist church we are staying at was having a variety show, so we sat in the audience.

The music was quite good and the pasta and cake they served was delicious. We all sang along to the last song (Friends in Low Places) and laughed our heads off.

After all that excitement, I learned I'm in the van tomorrow. This was a huge relief because it's just so hot out.

I'm wrapping up my day now for our 4am wakeup, maybe with a bit of TV before bed!