Our vacation began a day early, a fortunate escape from a flu epidemic sweeping through Cat's office. She gratefully accepted the extra day off, dodging the bug entirely. The drive to our property is always a lengthy one, and we often ponder which is worse: the hours cooped up in the Jeep or the eager anticipation of finally arriving and getting to work. We arrived safely and with good time to spare. This allowed us to set up camp, enjoy a quick and easy dinner, and meticulously plan for the days ahead. It's always a challenge to balance our ambitious goals with the limited time we have before heading back. Our intentions are always good, but it's the unforeseen circumstances that often derail our best-laid plans.
Our primary goal was to clear the area for the conex container and establish an access path. If time permitted, we aimed to begin clearing the cabin site. Sounds straightforward, right? We started by felling trees and bucking them into manageable sections. We truly make a great team. While we could recount every detail of each day, it would quickly become a repetitive narrative.
So, where did our plan start to unravel? Firstly, the chainsaw proved temperamental. Poor Rick spent considerable time coaxing it back to life. We've now decided that a second chainsaw is an absolute necessity, ensuring we can maintain our momentum and save any mechanical fussing to the evenings.
Secondly, we had been diligently monitoring the weather for weeks leading up to our trip, and it had been absolutely beautiful. Apparently, we brought the nasty weather with us. Nights plummeted to below freezing temperatures. Thankfully, our tent heater kept us perfectly warm, allowing for comfortable sleep. The days, however, were not so bad – ideal working weather, in fact. Then came the wind advisories, which meant no tree felling. We endured two days of these. The first day wasn't too bad; I was on vine duty, battling the tenacious green briar, which left my arms looking like I'd wrestled a cat. Rick busied himself with smaller tasks around the property. The second day was utterly miserable. The wind chill made it so cold that motivation was hard to come by. We warmed up in the Jeep and headed to the local spring for water, followed by some grocery shopping. Finally, feeling sufficiently warmed, we managed a few hours of work. We used flags to mark the final locations for the conex and the cabin, as well as outlining the circular drive and the garden that would eventually grace its center.
Thirdly, Rick was convinced he could dig down and either cut out the tree trunks or at least level them to the ground. After about an hour, it became clear we needed to pivot. A quick online search for stumper rental costs revealed ridiculous prices. So, what now? We contacted the Landstruck for a quote on the stumps. Glenn stopped by, assessed the situation, and confirmed that the stumps would require significant effort. He suggested it would be easier to simply leave the trees intact. So, you guessed it, time to pivot again. Our new plan was to fell more trees in the cabin area.
Fourthly, just as we settled on our new plan, the winds picked up again. While not at advisory levels, they were strong enough to warrant extra caution. To keep us safe, Rick simply started felling the trees, planning to process them later. Cat headed to the front of the property and began working on one of the flower gardens near the road. She had hoped to complete the other side but ran out of time. She did manage to scatter some flower seeds, a long shot perhaps, but it would be lovely to see flowers on our next visit.
We did take some time for stargazing; the sky there is immense and incredibly beautiful. We collected a few rocks and successfully revamped our fire pit, which we are very happy with.
Overall, it was a productive trip. We accomplished what we set out to do and more. The stump clearing crew was scheduled to work after our departure, so we anticipate a favorable situation when we return in June. Our plan is to finalize preparations for the conex and continue felling trees until the entire area designated for our homestead is cleared. For the longest time, we doubted this was achievable. We had so many trees to cut, but with each boundary we redefined, the light at the end of the tunnel grew brighter. The remaining trees will be processed into five-foot sections and stacked, awaiting further cutting at a later date. On this trip, we stacked four and a half cords of firewood, bringing our total to five and a half.
Our journey home was long but considerably smoother than our last trip. It was difficult to leave, but we'll be back soon.
Remember Small Steps Get You Miles
Rick & Cat
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