Latest land hunt, tractor update, miscellaneous items

This post is going to cover a variety of topics. First on the agenda: Our latest land hunt.

On July 4th Pam and I returned to the  Fairplay and Lake George areas to check out some properties we had seen on-line. These 4 all have some plusses and minuses and overall we enjoyed seeing them.

First up was this small cabin near Fariplay on 3.3 acres. Located on a cul-de-sac and with a spring, the views were pleasant but not dramatic. No running water or electric. Lots of Aspen trees.

Small cabin on 3.3 acres

The views from the lot overlook South Park and are pleasant:

Views from small cabin lot

We marked this one as a possibility, but it didn’t really ‘speak” to us as our dream lot.

The next place we visited, near Lake George, is a 10 acre lot with a couple of cabins on it.

10 acre Lake George lot

This lot is the best we have come across in a while. It has a good mix of pine and Aspen, is gently sloping, has two wells and a septic in place, and access is very good. Views are not great from the lot but not bad from the access road. There are 2 small cabins on the property, one has water and the other does not.  Electricity is on the lot.

One cabin on the Lake George lot

There must be more to the story of this lot than meets the eye. Why are there 2 wells on the property, and we found what appears to be an easement to a property behind this one. The other cabin is in sorry shape as is a small storage shed near it. The lot “spoke” to us, the cabins also spoke to us – they said “tear us down!”  We may explore this one a bit more, but only as a lot. The cabins would have to go and a new place built closer to the meadow area.

The 3rd stop of the day was to visit an off-grid cabin that sounded interesting, and it was.

Off-grid cabin

Located off the side of a side road, this cabin has a great deal of  charm. It has lots of trees, a hand-pump well, a great deck, and overlooks a meadow. Down side is the driveway into it is steep and electrical service is quite some distance away. I didn’t realize quite how steep the drive was until I took this photo of Pam hiking it on the way out:

Driveway into off-grid cabin

Note how the top of the drive is still above Pam’s head! Winter access would be problematic at best (think ski tow…). For all of that this is an appealing cabin. Now if we could just put it on the Lake George lot…:)

The last stop of the day was to see a cabin that seems close to what we would like to eventually have for ourselves. This neat and tidy place is for sale near Fairplay.

Neat cabin

Located on several acres, the owners of this place have thinned some of the trees and cleared all underbrush, plus put up a neat and tidy cabin. Obviously a weekend get away place, the cabin has a nice storage shed behind it. Overall this appeals to our Midwest sense of tidiness and order.   No view at all, however.

Some of the cabins we’ve seen have hand-pump wells. This place also has one, converted to run from an electric motor.

Converted hand pump

I am familiar with these conversions, called pump jacks,  from my childhood as they were common on farms in central Wisconsin. It has been a while since I saw one in operation, though. Generally either a hand pump or a converted hand pump indicates the water level is not that far down. Over the years most of these installations were converted to modern well pumps. Still, it adds a rustic note to this property and is probably quite functional.

We liked the Lake George lot the best, but the asking price is well over our budget. We plan to watch the property and see if the price drops at all. We will do some follow-up research on the easement and history of the cabins.

We just wish we could find “the place” that has a cabin (or just a nice mostly level and treed lot) within our price range. Oh well, champaign taste on a beer budget. We just have to get lucky!

Other topics and notes:

We are finally getting some rain after one of the hottest and driest month of June on record. Most of the fires that have been burning are out or contained. One bummer side effect for me: the BLM has closed the Wild Horse Mesa area to public use. That’s where I did most of my ATV riding.

I have been working on my tractor. More bad news: After I bought a used set of tires and parts, I tore the valve stem out of one of the rear tires. In trying to fix it the tire shop poked a hole in the tire. Not uncommon for a tire this age due to the tires getting old and brittle,  but it leaves me with no left rear tire. I am not happy about this, but that’s the way it is. For a few days I did have a tractor that could move around on 4 tires that didn’t go flat. Now I am looking for another rear tire.

Bringing home tractor parts

We are as busy as ever and time seems to go past quickly. Hard to believe the summer is half gone already!  September marks the two year point in our land hunt, time flies when you’re having fun?

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!