The Beginning

                Day 1 dawns early with one goal in mind; Get the trailer on the land.  As I mentioned before we have a ditch between the road and our land so we need to fill it with something to drive across it.  While we contemplate what will be the most effective way to do this we start unloading the rest of the trailer.  It is still very full and too heavy.  Super D wants most of the weight out before we try to get it across any type of bridge to our land.   While we are unloading we meet another neighbor, sadly this one isn’t as welcoming.  Super D introduces himself and tells him what we are doing on the side of this dirt road.  He very bluntly tells Super D to get off the road and drives off.   Well Ok. That’s what we are trying to do.  I have found around here while they are nice people, everyone is very guarded until they know who you are and if you are anybody you have to know someone they already know before they open up a bit.   So it will take a bit to get to know people but that’s ok.

The beginning of unloading

                Sugarbug and Super D find a turtle first thing.  So of course we have to play with him a bit before we get to work.   This is the first of many creatures we will discover here! But back to today.         

Sugarbug holding Box turtle

                Grandma S, Super D’s mom, shows up a little later to help.  It is decided that since we are out where trees are abundant and we have quite a few downed trees on our land thanks to last year’s tornado that the quickest, cheapest, and easiest bridge is logs.  We borrow a chain saw from Grandma S and start cutting up the trees into logs we can move and fill the ditch with. 

Grandma S and Sugarbug beginning to fill ditch

                The sun is shining and it’s well into the 80’s today. By 11:00 we have all broke a sweat.  By about 1:00 we are hot, thirsty, hungry, and getting tired.  The ditch is just about filled but on the first attempt it became clear we needed a few more logs.  Sugarbug and I venture off to the only store in town (if you can call it that. It consists of 1 city block) to see what we can find to eat and drink leaving Super D and Grandma S to add more logs.  We haven’t had anything since the day before so we are hungry!  D’s store is about 10 miles up the road from us and they claim to have almost everything.  We find a case of water, some deli ham and cheese, bread, and mayo and buy a bag of chips.  This lunch seems like a feast to us.  I cheer when we get back and Super D and Grandma S have managed to get the trailer on the land in our absence.  Sugarbug and I make sandwiches for everyone and after a break to eat we are back at it. 

First test with four wheeler :)

Now the truck but, one branch is in the way.  I think he looks like he's about to go swinging like Tarzan.

We made it! Yeah!

                Remember we unloaded the trailer to drive it over the bridge and give us room in it.  So now we have to clear all that stuff off the dirt road.  A lot of the big heavy stuff was tools and equipment of Super D’s that won’t need to go back into the trailer.   We finally get everything on the land in some order by about 5:00.  We are hot, tired, and sweaty! But we made it.  Thankfully, Super D’s sister who is in the town (This is a town of about 12,000 people) about 30 minutes away wants us over to have dinner and celebrate her birthday.  We gladly volunteer to bring meat for burgers in exchange for showers.  Because it is a bit of a drive and we plan on being there late we decide to just stay the night.  But that shower felt good.  We had a great night with family and Sugarbug had a blast playing with her two cousins.

Break Time.





Grandma S teaching Sugarbug to drive :)