We’re at it again!

We are at the property searching again! Since I moved from Duluth in ‘79, I’ve always dreamed of having a summer home on a lake in northern MN. Perhaps that time is coming soon?

Because we wanted to see a local earth berm home, one coincidence after another is taking place. We discovered the earth berm home was for sale so called the listing agent about the price and if we could see it. The very next day we had an appointment. The house did nothing for us – it seemed very ordinary but the “on the ball” agent had a few other pieces of property that we just might want to look at.

We did. One that interested us the most was an older log cabin on a lake with several out buildings. I’m sorry but I didn’t take any pictures. We really liked the place. It had a lot of character but it would have needed a lot of work before it would have been move in ready. We’re still contemplating it. We haven’t given it a definite no – yet.

On our way back home from looking at that cabin we stopped for lunch at a local bar and grill. This sent us down a highway we hadn’t been down before. The country side is beautiful this time of year with fields filled with daisies, indian paintbrush and buttercups. Just as we rounded a turn, on the left hand side of the road stood an impressive two story log home built with huge logs!

Sam abruptly pulled over to the side of the road. We both quickly jump out of the truck and climb up the hill to get a bigger look at the home which is carefully set on top of several steel guiders. From the looks of it, this massive log house had been moved to this location quite awhile ago.

Sam lept up on the steel girder and peaked in the front window. “It’s really nice and modern inside.” he said. He then tried the front door. It was open! He walked in and told me to join him inside. I slowly walked inside not knowing if we should be inside or not. I loved what I saw…

 While it wasn’t very large as far as number of rooms went, what was there was really nice.

Closer inspection showed that the ceramic tile in the kitchen would need replacing, and because of the moving of the building, everything would need to be chinked up again. It would also need a whole new complete roof.

Sam dialed the numbers on the front of the building. One number was disconnected. A man on the other told us to call the third number. The third number was a voice mail.

We called up the real estate agent we had met with earlier and he knew the whole story behind the home. The house was built by a friend of his (too many coincidences). His friend decided he wanted a bigger, nicer home on his Fish Lake lot so he had the house moved. The mover was the one who bought the house and moved it to it’s current location. It has been sitting there for a year and a half.

We’re still waiting to hear how much they want for this beautiful chunk of trees. If it’s a reasonable price – we may be looking for a piece of lake property somewhere closeby! Stand by for another post when we find out more information.

Organizing

I have spent a large amount of time in the last few weeks uploading a majority of my pictures to a Picasa photo album. Click on this link to see my photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/kimsadventure 

There are 2 pages of photos so don’t forget to click on the link at the bottom of the first page to see the rest of the photos. I’ve uploaded photos from the last 2 + years. It would probably take too long for you to sit down and look at all of them.

I will be adding new pictures as I take them. Both Sam and I seem to have a hard time keeping up with blog work. I find uploading the pictures from an adventure easier than writing about it. Hopefully you’ll get the gist of what we’re doing from the photos.

I’m still in the process of finding old photos that I know I have somewhere in this trailer…….to finish putting them up for you to see. Still missing are photos from my old computer and from our climb on Mt. Khatahdin. I just hope I haven’t lost too many in the process of all our moving.

A Shuttle Launch

We had to try twice to see the shuttle take off but it was worth it! The first try to on Wednesday. We left our camp near Dundee, FL with friend Dave’s motorhome fully stocked with food and wine. We were set to make a day out of it! We arrived in Titusville a few hours later and found a spot in a park along the road. No sooner had we set up when we received the word that the shuttle launch was scrubbed – due to a leaky fuel valve.

 

We met our paddling/hiking friend Philip that moved from LA since he lived not too far away. It was a perfect day. The sky was clear blue and there was a nice breeze off the water.

Since we had drive a few hours, we decided to just make a picnic of the day. We made turkey burgers and sat around to talk for a few hours.

Sunday we prepared to watch the launch again. This time we arrived later. Sam and I had spent the weekend back in LA attending Sam’s son’s wedding. We flew into Tampa that morning, drove to our camp near Dundee and then drove over to Titusville arriving just a few hours before the launch was set to begin. Philip arrive there earlier and saved us a spot.

Again, we grilled our dinner – veggie burgers and sat around to talk until just before the launch was to begin. Sam got a connection on his HAM radio so that we could hear directly from NASA what was going on.

The crowds reminded me of a conservative Mardi Gras. The streets were lined with people who had set up mini camps. Everyone was well behaved and quieter………quieter than crowds at a Mardi Gras parade.

We found a spot along the bank of the Indian River – directly across from where the shuttle was to launch. We were about 12 miles away.

The rest needs no words…. It was totally one of the thrills of my life to watch the shuttle take off. The time of day (right at sunset) was probably the best time to see it. The way the clouds from the trail of the shuttle formed and the way the sunlight hit the clouds high in the atmosphere made for beauty beyond words.

You can see more pictures under my photo II link. There is also a video via this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9F3Iy0XeKk

I’ll be back!

I know it’s been a LONG time since I’ve posted on this blog. I promise that I will be back this coming week! Most of you already know but we’ve been in the Portland, OR area for the last month buying and selling a new home and truck. We’ve been so preoccupied with this that the blog has gone on unfinished. We are now at a campground where we don’t have a very good internet signal but I promise to get here this week with at least a couple of posts that continue with our Alaskan adventure.

Out of touch!

We have definitely been out of touch for a long time. Since we’re in Canada we can not use our air card for an internet signal. We have to depend on wifi when we can find it. We haven’t found it very often. We are treating ourselves to a campground that has full hookups, cable TV and wifi!!!  We haven’t had hookups in months!

In the last few weeks we have canoed several beautiful lakes, camped out under the stars and the moon, and seen some really beautiful country in British Columbia. We say we’ll have to come back here to spend a whole summer. There is so much to see.

To top it all off, we bought a new canoe today. Those of you who have seen our truck will wonder what we’ll do with it. We wonder too. We have 2 canoes and 2 kayaks on top of our truck already. We do hope to be able to sell a few boats while we’re in this area. We want to simplify things a bit.

We’re headed for Vancouver Island tomorrow afternoon after we figure out where to put another boat. We can’t wait to do some paddling in the ocean around the island. Hopefully we’ll find an internet signal to get caught up on the blogs….

Spring has Finally Sprung!

Finally, entering into warmer weather, I feel myself getting older. It doesn’t have anything to do with being able to do less or how I look. It has to do with how much I’ve come to love flowers! Somewhere in the back of my head someone put a thought that if you love flowers – you’ve entered into the land of the aged. 

Truly though, I have loved flowers for as long as I can remember. One of the things I really miss about having my own home with my own dirt is being able to plant flowers in the spring. It’s a craving I go through every time the weather gets warmer in the spring.

A few days ago while visiting Temple Square in Salt Lake City, I took dozens of photos of flowers. I had never seen a finer display of spring flowers in all my life. I oogled and awed over them for several hours. I can only imagine the work that went into such a display.

While I won’t be able to plant my own spring garden this year, I was able to enjoy one that I never would have had back in Louisiana.  

I hope you also enjoy this beautiful display!

Hello out there!

After much thought on what I wanted to do on my own blog, I think I finally have it. Since we don’t always have a cell signal and hence – no way to get on the internet AND the fact that Sam and I have to share the Verizon air card – it means that I can’t always get the time I want to get on and make a post. At the moment we are in Zion National Park. It is a beautiful place but we aren’t enjoying the throbs of people that are here – even off season. To top that off, gale force winds are making it impossible to sit outside and enjoy the beautiful scenery. I hope to be back here soon!