Tuscaloosa Thursday, April 26

Mission: Tuscaloosa 2012

Our church's van parked near the front of First Presbyterian Church of Tuscaloosa.

Loading the cooler that contains our lunches and drinks.

The floor plan of the house we're working on.  It's three bedrooms, two baths, kitchen, living/dining, and safe room.

Trying to keep ahead of the mess that collects with ten of us and several subcontractors working.

The fascia brigade has finished the back and one side, and are moving their operations to the front of the house.

Part of our stock of HardiePlank strips in different widths.  These are used in the fascia and other trim.

Beauty is where you find it.  One of David's rose bushes is stranded between the dumpster and the painting station.  We hope it's still living when the construction is over.

Work proceeds on the fascia, now wrapping the front porch roof.

The friendly dog showed up again.  He seems to like people, especially those that feed him, but he's wary of the strange contraption that is the camera.

Working on the roof purlins.  The metal roof panels will be installed by the crew that follows us.

The roof crew above, the chalk-line-snapping crew on the ladders, and the cutting crew next to the chop saw.

Taking a break at lunch time.

This woman helps her daughter run a two-person charity that tries to help out in the Tuscaloosa relief effort. Today she was delivering means from a McDonald's that just re-opened this week after having been destroyed in the tornado a year ago.  We posed for a picture with her, and Pete took one for her using her camera.

Continuing progress on the fascia.

Some of our intrepid roofers, including a mid-air resupply of water.

More progress on the interior, but debris is beginning to collect again.

A major step: installing the windows.  It really starts to look like a house after this.

One of the subs assists with the caulking gun.

Almost perfect.

After major parts of two days, the line-snapping crew (almost half our group) gets to check off their accomplishment.

Clean-up time.  The interior looks much better.

Trying to make sense of the tangle of air hoses.

Pete checks the master list before we head for the church.

In the church, across from our small kitchen, is a map showing from where the various volunteer groups have come.  There's a map pin now for Athens.  Red, naturally.

Near the map is the collection of signs made by the teams.  It's too dark there for a photo, so I moved our sign outside for this shot.  If the N in Athens looks a bit odd, it's because it's made from an M.  You work with what you have.

Pete invited all of our team over to his house for dinner with his family.  We brought bread, dessert, and drinks; he supplied the grilled chicken, vegetables, and salad.

Pete with his family.