Red Bluff Lodge

December at Red Bluff

December here at the lodge is always a good time. The holidays mean that kids are out of school and can come hunting with (usually) their dads. It gets pretty festive around here and we have lots of fires in the fireplaces and fun all around. Some highlights:

Here's a great deer that Mark McCloud (MA) took on the 16th of December. Nice!

Erica Love and here father, Roger (PA) had a fun night - she got her first ever deer at the tender age of 9!

Here's Heather Finley with her dad, Scott. She got her first deer on December 27th.

Paige Allison also got her first deer with us this year, in November.

This good-looking boy, Lawson Schumacher (FL) got his first deer while hunting with his father Wayne on December 17th.

Now they're ALL killers! Suellyn Kostukovich (PA) showed her husband, John, how it's done on the evening of December 21st. Thirty minutes after this was taken she was transformed back into the Suellyn we all know and love, glitzed up and ready for a cocktail party.

Here's Trey Bailey (SC) got his first deer with his father Gil on the 14th of December. These are our favorite kinds of hunts. Families spending time together, enjoying the outdoors and each other!

Another cutie pie, Will Thomas (FL) poses here with his dad Billy. They always have the cutest pics. Will got his first deer with us here on December 29th. We love watching these guys grow up.

Red Bluff Flora and Fauna

We always have lots of interest in the more unusual animals that live around here. Maybe not so much from our Florida hunters (whose climate, etc.) is so similar, but definitely from our northern friends. A few of our hunters have taken some great shots during their hunts and have been generous enough to share them with us (thanks goes out to Matt and Mark Miller and to Charlotte Crider).

I thought that this was a dreamy action shot of our 'possum on the half shell' - an armadillo. Hunters often beg for a chance to see one of these - alive, that is. Most are spotted legs up on the side of the road. We've even been known to take hunters out on armadillo safaris in the efforts to spot one. For a laugh, it is always fun to watch our black lab, Zeke, try to chase and catch one. His teeth slip off of the scales - it puzzles him so.

Here's our neighborhood gator, Albert, who lives just 300 yards or so from the lodge. He's usually pretty shy, so I was glad to get such a great shot of him. The kids always like to drive over in a golf cart in the efforts to spot him.

Even though this shot is a little bit blurry, I love it. Here is a barred owl, who makes the distinctive, "who cooks for you" hoot.

I'm pretty sure this is a black pine snake. What a good eye to get this shot!

The oh-so-elusive vertical rattlesnake. VERY rare to catch one of these on film!

A picture here of our ultimate cleanup crew taking a break between meals.

Finally, a flora pic. This is a swamp tree that appears to be sleeping. Charlotte Crider spent the morning with it while hunting and got a good shot for us.

Lodge Building Update

We're getting awfully close to finishing the new lodge building. Here are some pics:

We had really come to love the 'Tyvek look', but feel like this siding may be a bit longer lasting!

Now a few inside shots:

Just inside the front door is the back of the fireplace, with a mudroom to either side.

This shot is from the right side mudroom, showing a bit of how the fireplace continues up to the greatroom ceiling.

Here is the front of the fireplace, from the top of the stair landing. The ceiling height inside is about 23 feet. The platforms on either side are for full body mounts. The doors to either side are bunkrooms - each sleeps 2-3 and has a private bath.

Roger and Dan of RW Love Construction (Etters, PA) did all of the stonework (as well as framing the building in February). They've done an AWESOME job. We can't believe how the fireplace really ties all of the other elements in the room together. We can't wait to use it when we host all of our customers!

Our last major project is to finish the stairs, which lead up to our family's new residence. Hopefully, they'll go in this week. They're faced in old heart pine siding that we reclaimed from a house that we tore down a few years ago.

Last week we had all of the flooring installed. Tile was done last month, so now all of the floor has a covering. Ashley and Latham even got into the mix:

Fat chicken with a mallet? Scary...

Here's a shot of a bunkroom. Hard to tell anything, since I don't have a wide angle lens to give you a sense of the layout. Guess you'll all have to come for a hunt to see it for yourself!

Other fun stuff: the audio system was hooked up yesterday, so Jim's been rocking out all day. The countertops and appliances should be done any minute. All we have left (after stairs) is hooking up the water supply and about 20 years of touchup caulk and paint (bring a brush!)

Lodge Looking Lovely....

We're moving right along on the new lodge facility. The tile is all laid (props go out to David Stevens Tile-Atlanta), trimwork is being done (picture Jim in a toolbelt holding a nailgun...gulp!), and light fixtures are being installed.

Here are some pics:

Here's Ashley, our roofing inspector, making sure the metal is installed according to specs.

More House Progress

Alright, already! For all of you who have so sweetly asked that I post new pics of our progress:

Here's the first chimney that went up; the back smaller fireplace.

Here's a shot showing both fireplace chimneys. Now for the roof:

This started Tuesday; from the looks of it, they'll be done this afternoon! With the galvanized roof and the housewrap, it's quite a bright structure right now. Can't wait to tone it down with the dark siding.

Raise the Roof!

Construction update: Monday the trusses for high, central portion of the roof were set by crane:

Here's the last truss being set. It's the front gable end of the lodge:

One of our favorite things so far is the framing for the screened porch; we used reclaimed boards from various teardown projects that Jim has completed over the last few years. These rafters will be exposed from the inside of the porch, with metal roofing on the top.

If I had a hammer...

.....I still couldn't do anything like what these guys have been able to do; and in only 4 days so far:

There's the first chalkline being snapped, and now for the progress made in the four days:

Day 1: All the lines are chalked and the outer walls go up.

Day 2: All of the outer and most of the interior walls are framed and squared up.

Day 3: Outer walls begin to be sheathed with OSB; interior walls are finished up.

Day 4: Back half is ready for floor joists; No more left to frame on the 1st floor!

Not bad for four days, huh? The first floor is all framed. The floor joists are placed and nailed for the second floor. The lower trusses will go on soon, and the second floor will be all framed out in no time; the crane is scheduled to be here Monday to place the high trusses; Katie bar the door!

Stone Soup

Great lakes of concrete, batman! The slab for the new lodge was poured on February 8th. Wow!

How happy is Ashley (Miss Heely herself) about that lovely skating surface? (Here's hoping she doesn't get an anchor bolt through the forehead...

Big thanks to the guys from RC Builders & Grading, Inc. in Etowah, North Carolina. 105 yards of concrete in about 6 hours with no problems = a great slab!

Broken Ground...At Last!!

After endless planning, bids, paperwork and waiting we have finally broken ground for our new lodge! Here are some pics from the construction to date:

Once site prep was done, here came the rock for the foundation:

A kid's favorite playground; a construction site....

Concrete arrives!

Watch for more pics soon!

Red Bluff Lodge

"Come as a Customer......Leave as a Friend"

To schedule your next hunting getaway, please call us at: (803)584-7363 or email us at: redblufflodge@wildblue.net. Our mailing address is: 130 Boone Trail, Allendale, South Carolina, 29810, and our fax number is (803)584-1717.