A Long Way Home
Copyright© 2026 by Asa Strong
Chapter 6
When I woke up the next morning it seems I had survived my own cooking. I felt pretty rested and only stopped for a quick cup of coffee before leaving for town.
I met JR at the restaurant in Cope and had a quick breakfast. We were on the road to Denver by 7:00 in the morning. The weather was trying to decide if it wanted to rain today and couldn’t seem to make up its mind. There was an intermittent drizzle all the way to just before we crossed the Denver city line. I guess the farmers around here were appreciative of the moisture, but to me it was a pain in the ass. We had taken JR’s truck and I was driving; he might have been in the city a few times, but he said he was afraid of driving in the heavy traffic.
Our first stop was at the used equipment dealer where I had bought the construction equipment. It was a quick stop. The salesman I had talked to before was there, and we quickly arranged for him to have the equipment trucked to my place in two days. I also lucked out as he had a complete surveyor’s set that was in really good shape. It wasn’t one of those newfangled laser ones, but it would be more than adequate for my needs. As we talked, I found out that he was the owner; his name was Manuel Gonzales, and he and his two brothers ran the business. His brothers mostly acted in the capacity of mechanics, while he did most of the sales. He also gave me a good lead on an older Kenworth rig that a friend of his wanted to sell. I also told him I wanted to take the cat with me tomorrow, if possible. He called his friend up, and I talked to him on the phone, getting the particulars on the truck. The truck seemed to meet my needs, so I arranged to see it after I left Manuel’s place.
The truck was located on the south side of town, just off of University Boulevard. When we arrived, the truck was sitting beside the house and was hitched to a flatbed trailer that also had a drop-down loading ramp. The owner and I jawed for a while as I looked the truck over. It was a 1992 model with a little over 300,000 miles and in good shape. It even had current state and DOT inspections. The asking price was reasonable, so I gave the man a check with the provision that he would run down and pay the sales tax and license fees. He agreed and promised to have everything ready by the following morning.
The next step was going to be a bit more difficult. I needed to find an architect that at least had some idea of what I wanted to build. Even I was smart enough not to try and build the house without a decent set of plans. That’s a good way to lose a lot of money.
JR was pretty quiet most of the morning. I guess he was getting an education he wasn’t prepared for. He was all ears and seemed to be paying attention to what was going on. I was getting more comfortable having him around with this type of attitude. The last thing I needed was a mouthy kid who opened up his ass when he should have kept his mouth shut. It was getting close to lunchtime, so we found a diner for lunch and I talked the waitress into letting me use the phone book while we ate lunch. As we ate, I copied a number of architects’ phone numbers that looked like they might know what I was talking about. My notebook was starting to fill up with a lot of useful information.
We finished our lunch, I tipped the waitress and then I spent the next hour on the pay phone. I had to send JR back into the restaurant twice to get more change. I finally lucked out with a firm that specialized in building maintenance structures for the government. Once I got through to an actual architect, he immediately understood what I wanted to do. He was free that afternoon, so I told him I’d be over to see him shortly.
The architect may have looked young, but he knew his business; within five minutes after we started, he was sketching plans. He had introduced himself as Wayne Oleinger. One thing he made me aware of was that there was a much better way of building what I wanted. He called it a monolithic dome. Basically, it was based on the use of a waterproof form that was manufactured to the specifications of the building. It would then be assembled on a foundation and strengthened with rebar. Finally, the form would be sprayed with concrete, to the thickness needed to support the weight. It could also be sprayed with insulation on the outside to better control the temperature. Another interesting fact emerged during our meeting; it turned out that sand would be an excellent soil to cover the structure.
One concern he raised was how I wanted to build the foundation. The basic design was fine, but he suggested that I leave channels between the concrete support piers, so water could drain across in case of a blockage in any given channel. He also suggested that the pier height should be at least 18 inches, with two feet being even better. We arranged to meet at my place two days later, so he could get a better sense of the building site and also see if we could come up with some dimensions. Then he would have enough information to start drawing up plans. With our business concluded, we shook hands, and I gave him a retainer check.
It was getting on toward five in the evening when we left the architect’s office, time to find a room for the night. We found one with two double beds in a motel, not far from where we had to pick up the truck the next day. After checking in, we decided to get something to eat. Neither one of us thought to bring a change of clothes, so we did a quick wash and headed out to find a restaurant. I’d decided to give JR a real treat. We had passed one of those upscale steak houses not far from the hotel, and I headed there for dinner.
JR was an interesting kid, but you could tell that he was unfamiliar with a restaurant of this class. His head swiveled from side to side, looking at everything we passed while being led to our table.
When the waiter came to take our order, I ordered a Coors while JR opted for a coke. While the waiter took our order, I noticed that JR had opened the menu. I could see his eyes bug out of his head as he read, probably surprised at the prices.
“Hoyt, it’s expensive here.”
I opened the menu and glanced at what was offered before answering. “JR, you’re used to what things cost at Ted and Loraine’s restaurant in Cope. The items you see on this menu, they wouldn’t serve, it would be too costly for what people are willing to pay down there.”
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