To be or not to be

I made an offer on the house and 7 cabins on Lake Vallecito near Durango.  We're still in negotiation.   I've been investigating tiny houses further and am realizing that getting one for under $60K may be a challenge.  I did find a builder called Hummingbird in British Columbia who designs and builds unique "micro" homes for just under $30K US but I'd have to transport it over the border from Canada.  What do you think of their Cowboy model?  Pretty funky huh?  I'm trying to find out why they are half the cost of the two builders in Colorado who I've been investigating---Rocky Mountain Tiny Homes and Sprout Tiny Homes.  But first, I have to wait to see if I have any property to put it on.

I've been on this adventure in my 24' motorhome for 4 months now and have enjoyed it immensely. However, I'd have to say that for the first time, last weekend, I did feel a little down.

After dropping Lydia off at the Durango airport Sunday morning, I met with Mitch the realtor at Keller Williams to go over the offer he wrote up for me.  Then, I bee-bopped around Durango like a tourist.  I found a cool old movie house so I went to see Meryl Streep's new movie (don't recommend it) and while I was there, it occurred to me that when I leave, I don't know where I'm going to stay for the night.  Moving almost daily from campground to campground trying to find one at a decent price, with a nice view of something other than other RVs with phone and internet access has proven to be quite challenging.  Saturday night, Lydia and I pulled into a park that claimed to be on the river.  I asked for a river front site with trees and was assured they had one for me.  The site had what looked like a man made stream and while it did have a tree--it didn't provide any shade.  As we backed the Navi in, one of our neighbors was sitting outside his RV smoking and while he was just trying to be friendly---started providing me with verbal guidance on how I should hook up my utilities.  Basically, this park was a big gravel parking lot with a bunch of RV's stuffed together.  We were disappointed but since we had already paid, we distracted ourselves with a soak at Trimble Hot Springs north of Durango.  By the time we got back, it was dark and we were lulled to sleep by the little trickling sound from the stream.

While I feel very much at home in my tiny house on wheels and it is retrofitted to meet my specific needs, I find that staying in one of those parks and paying the price ($35-$46/night in and around Durango) makes me really appreciate the good camp sights when I find them.  The next night I stayed in a National Park on Lake Vallecito with no hookups for $22/night.  I wish I would have taken a picture of the campground closer to town to show a comparison but here's what it was like on the lake....much more of what I had in mind when I started this trip.  The Navi and I are quite comfortable with the onboard systems so living off the grid is quite doable.

As I'm writing this post, I'm sitting in the Navi while my clothes are washing/drying at the coin laundry near downtown Salt Lake City--a task I've learned to grin and bear.  At least I get to wait in my home while I wait.  I took the picture with my new remote shutter gadget and a Gumby like tripod and my iPhone.  I plan to shoot my own "how to" videos showing lessons learned about the RV lifestyle and post to YouTube.  Maybe it'll help others as I was helped with similar videos before I embarked on my own adventure. 

They joys of the gypsy experience

  

I'm staying at a KOA near the SLC airport and am flying out to see Reid in Google land for a week.  While the KOA is nothing exciting, they will allow me to store my RV for $20/night and there's a rail line in front of the KOA that will take me to the airport a few miles away.  I'm looking forward to seeing Reid and helping him in his quest to find a home near his work.  He's found some lovely places but none fit exactly.  For the price he's going to have to pay for a home near Google, he deserves one that he can get excited about.  

Reid has been working at Google since October and has been living out of a suitcase most of that time.  He had his car shipped to CA and he's got his SUV at the Houston airport for his trips home to see his boys.  Like me, he's found the nomadic existence can be challenging.  

Before I left, I was concerned that I might feel "untethered" and wasn't sure how I'd handle that.  That can be a plus or negative depending on how you look at it.  For the most part, it's been ok because the excitement of getting to do this has outweighed the negatives.  But I am a little tired of not knowing where I'm going to be from night to night and not always liking the choices available to me.  

For this reason, I'm hoping the real estate transaction works out so my family and I can begin to try out our own little community in Colorado before the first snow. 

Hanging out in Durango.....or thereabouts

I met up with Kent and Hannah last Wed at the property we're thinking about buying near Durango, CO.  They were renting out one of the little cabins overlooking Lake Vallecito.  I stayed in my RV at a nearby campground.  Here's a shot of the lake with the mountains in the background.

Lake Vallecito in the Summer

This part of the country is simply beautiful with lovely weather to go with it compared to what we're used to in Houston this time of year.

Reid flew into Durango from Googleland on Friday and we all explored the property and strategized the fun things we could do with it.  We thought about opening a coffee house with WIFI in the house/store up front to hang Mom, Kent and Hannah's artwork for tourists and the locals.  I'm dreaming about demolishing a few cabins and replacing them with tiny houses.  Kent's dreaming about refurbishing some of the cabins to make them winter-able.  There's the house/store and seven cabins so we can each fulfill our dreams as long as the money holds out or the winters don't scare us away.

Kent's rendering of our own intentional community

Besides all the dreaming, we've also visited with the folks in Planning, Building Codes, San Juan Basin Health Department (busy with the Animas River debacle), Community Development, etc.  This particular area around the lake (a man made reservoir created in the 40's) has been there the longest and has hodge podge cabins all along the lake before stricter codes were developed in the 70's to regulate density and setbacks.  We don't care because we like the laid back, lake front, seasonal village atmosphere as long as we can make the improvements we want to make.

In addition to living there, we would like to rent out cabins as a business for potential income and tax advantages.

So, since May 4th, I've visited about 10 intentional communities--a couple of them twice.  I've enjoyed traveling around in my tiny home--the Navion.  With the emergence of this property, I'm gravitating towards starting my own community with my family and continuing the simpler, down-sized lifestyle in a part of the country that has four seasons.  We've even got my Mom considering a move from where she lives NW of Houston.  I've found that RV's are great but I'd like to put down roots.  While I could continue to explore other parts of the US, I can't imagine any other place as affordable and beautiful with people I already know and love.  

Kent's wife Lydia is coming for a look this weekend.  I've done about as much research as I can think to do.  We should be in a position to make an offer soon.  Time will tell if this one is meant to be or not to be as I continue my search for a simpler life.  

Prologue:  I had to include a funny piece of video I captured of my niece Hannah who helped me come up with a creative option for a new gadget.  Have a look here:

  

  

I'm in love with tiny houses!

Lots has happened since my last post.  Kent and I found a lake front property near Durango, Colorado that we're very interested in potentially purchasing.  I toured the property with the selling and buying agents 2 weeks ago.  Now, Kent and his daughter Hannah drove back there from Houston to check it out further.  We could start our own tiny house, intentional community in a beautiful part of the world with an incredible lake view.   There's work to be done and we're not sure about the winters there.  It'd certainly be no fun if they turn out to be just as brutal as the summers in Houston.  There is lots to consider so we'll see how it all turns out.

Meanwhile, I made another visit to the Hummingbird intentional community between Santa Fe and Taos New Mexico for a long weekend visit.  I had an opportunity to spend more time visiting with several of the community members for a deeper dive into what they're all about.  I enjoyed the volunteer work weekend I participated in back in May.  I really like the community members I've met and love the 500 acres they live on though it is quite remote--about 45 miles from Taos.

When I left Hummingbird, I headed north again towards Colorado Springs for the Tiny House Jamboree.  On the way, I visited the Sprout Tiny House manufacturer to see how their houses are constructed.  It was interesting to see how their manufacturing process compares to Winnebago.  Sprout can build in a home in about 3 weeks while Winnebago builds about 40 units a day.  Obviously Winnebago is a much, much larger outfit.  Check out the Sprout website to see what they do.

Last weekend, my good friend Barbara joined me in my travels. We had fun filled weekend together at the Tiny House Jamboree in Colorado Springs.  She flew up from Houston last Thursday night and we stayed in my RV at one of my favorite places--the Pike's Peak RV park in Manitou Springs.  We rented a car and drove up to the Jamboree Friday, Sat, and Sun.  We had an absolute blast.  The weather was gorgeous, the people low key and friendly and the idea of living in a beautiful tiny home in a beautiful part of the country has got me excited.

Barbara and I at the Tiny House Jamboree

Granted I've been living in a tiny home and traveling around the country visiting beautiful places and people.  I love the coziness of my home on the inside but the outside leaves a lot to be desired.   The tiny homes we saw were so interesting looking inside and out---so much more charm than any RV I've seen.

So, my mind is awash with tiny house ideas.  Will I continue my tiny house adventure in my RV and/or buy some property near Durango, CO with tiny cabins already there...or, do something else entirely?  One idea was to buy a tiny house and put it on land next to the Hummingbird community to further explore a relationship with that group of warm and interesting creatives.  Another is to buy two, live in one and rent out the other for income.  Time will tell how it'll all play out.

As I'm writing this, I'm sitting in my RV listening to it rain outside.  I had a long drive from NW Denver where I had some preventative maintenance done on the Navi at the Mercedes dealership to a quaint RV park near Wolf Creek Pass.  I plan to get up early and drive to Lake Vallecito to meet up with Kent and Hannah to discuss the cabins now that they've had a chance to see them.  These are exciting times to be in search of a simpler life.