I'm still curious how all of these maple trees came to exist in a sea of large pine trees.  I'm assuming the property was harvested of most of the pines. All well and good - tho thankfully there is still a good sampling of pine trees all over the place.  

But who plants maple trees in place of pines? Well, I don't think they were planted. Whether from bird droppings or being carried through the winds or however, they must have gotten there naturally.  They are dense, very thick stands of them that will need to be thinned out substantially in order to have healthy trees.  

That won't be a big deal, they are mostly smaller trees less than 30 feet tall and will come down easily with a chain saw.  It's more of a curiosity thing to me.  The western side of the front of the property is lined with huge trees of various kinds, I assume that's what covered the property previously. Some of those will also have to come down, which is fine, there is nothing for them to crash into besides other trees if the cutting goes foul.  The trees that need to come down are either completely dead or various stages of death rot that I won't even think twice about getting them out of there.  

There's a very large dead tree on the front of the property that I'm not sure I want to handle tho.  It will have to be cut so it falls on the street.  The power lines are literally right next to it on the other side, hence my reluctance to cut the thing down. If it takes down the power lines, I'm probably going to get a bill in the mail for the repair of everything and likely some pissed off neighbors whose power will be out for many hours.  

IF I feel comfortable cutting it down to fall on the street, I will still need helpers there to shut down the street and to hook a chain up to the thing and drag it off the street to clear it for traffic.  It's just that hiring someone to do the job will likely get a hefty bill to do it.  They want 4 grand to cut down the oak tree in our front yard, to give an idea.  This tree is completely dead, however, it's coming down eventually regardless of whether it gets cut down or rots and falls down on its own.  From that perspective, I probably have less worries about cutting it myself and saving thousands of dollars in the process.

I will get good practice on other big trees first before I try that one.  And clear everything out around it, that portion of the property will likely be cleared of all trees in order to make nice, neat entry ways into the park.  There appears to be an easement anyways - maybe 25 feet - from the roadway.  

I don't care too much about the loss of land in driveways, entryways and easements as long as I can get somewhere around 60 lots on the property.  I'm looking at net profit in the end.  Expenses can be fairly high and still make a good living off of this venture.  

At 35 feet wide, I'll have 1,050 feet of space needed out of 1,350.  Take out 25 for the easement.  Take out around 50 feet in the back for a turnaround - please complain endlessly about parks with narrow driveways and no turn arounds.  Another 200 feet in depth, not width, for things such as a bath house and a doggy park and a community area.  A bath house doesn't need to be anything more than 20 feet wide. That's plenty of side to put in 4 rooms that are 8 feet wide - 20x20 - includes the space for walls and such.  8 feet wide, 10 feet deep in other words.  I only want 4 bath/shower rooms. That's enough mess to have to clean up on any given day.  

If the width is enough, I can go 3 spots wide.  That makes 90 spaces, which I don't want.  It's just too much to deal with and you have to have full time management on site.  Of course, if it's making boocoo bucks then no biggies, but I'm stepping into new territory and I'm not going into it thinking the park is going to instantly fill up and stay that way forever.  I'm more of the half full thought - at half full my profits will still be quite good. The weekends typically appear to be when you fill up a park.  

But I am in love with my primitive camping sites idea. .  They will be no where near the RV park.  it will be a separate operation - sort of - all to itself.  They will cost nothing more than putting in the driveway back there, clearing out the lots and putting in picnic tables and fire rings.  Probably some grass.  That's very cheap compared to RV lots with full hookups.  I'm hoping to find enough suitable land for 10 of them.  Minimal cost, $15 or $20 per night.  It will definitely be out in the woods, out in the wilderness. I was out there today, the only sounds you hear out there is nature. No freeway noises, no mining operation noise, not even homeowners doing their thing.  It's so far from the road that the noise of the road simply doesn't carry back there and frankly, that road has very little traffic as it stands.  

Yes, I intend on using every last inch of that property for the operation.  Whether it be rv pads, a bath house, a pond, a series of intertwining hiking trails or these camp sites, it's all going to be integrated into a nature theme that I think will become very popular, very quickly.  Money is an issue, but I think I can get the thing rolling.  I teeter and totter back and forth on the loan idea - big loan that covers it all.  It just looks like an insurmountable amount of information they want that will cost a lot of money to obtain and will not guarantee I get a loan even after getting all of that info and submitting it.  

As far as I know, if I"m not going for a giant loan, I don't have to have a blue print of anything.  I don't know that for a fact yet, my dealings with the county Road and Bridge department have yet to fully begin.  I'd like to get a professional setup on paper first, yes.  That seems prudent.  

Have I gone too far, too soon, with this particular property, such as I did with Finklea?  Perhaps.  I've just had too much time to think about it and try to develop a plan in my mind that will work in real life.  I'm not planning on this property also falling through, but the hint of it remains in my head.  It would be really nice if the surveyors would get their @$$es out there and get the job done, that's what I can say about that.  

My nature theme may not be unique, but I do believe the park will be set apart from most other parks. It will be more like state parks in the nature and trails aspect of it - and people really like the state parks because of the fact that they aren't all dumped closely together and they are out in the nature without all of the elements of nature being stripped from the land. I can't compete with state parks in terms of the cost of the pad rental, they are much cheaper.  One nearby place I looked at is $15 per night.  But, it doesn't have wifi or sewer hookups.  It's a huge facilityand it's surrounded by trees such as what I am intending to do.  How can I compete?  

I dunno, I just know that the RV parks - all of them that are in good locations - in my area are all 80% plus filled up, all the time.  Some of them are trashy, many of them are old and need upgrades.  Many of them do NOT have 50 amp services, something that many newer RV's have. They can use 30 amp outlets, but they can't use all of their electrical stuff inside the RV. I am planning on putting everything in to be able to compete with everyone, with all lots having 50 amp access.  It's the only way to go - these people are spending fortunes on these rigs and they want to be able to use everything in them.The park I looked at only had 30 am hookup.  That's not enough for a rig with 2 ac units and all kinds of electronic gadgets and dishwashers, freezers and laundry.  

I was long, this project has been eluding me for some time.  I am hoping I am near the end of this lengthy search and that I can finally move on with this in the near future.

 No, the surveyors weren't out there lmao.

But I wasn't really looking for them.  I need to get more exercise, more often.  Sitting in that truck is definitely not good for you and there are diseases that prevail amount truckers. Obesity is the most obvious one, diabetes is also another big one.  High blood pressure is also up there.  And some sore of embollism that is related to not moving around enough. 

So I tend to do at least some walking, but I have really been trying to go on more hikes, more frequently ever since this 25 acres came into the potential reality of obtaining it.  

To that end, we went on the longest hike yet. We being Me, myself, I, Addler and Aspyn.  As a kid, I used to talk to myself.  Lots of people do it, I don't answer myself back, lol, but I can talk out loud to no one for long periods of time in having a "conversation" about things going on and what course to take.  Hence, the me myself and I bit.  There aren't 3 of us, lol, it's just me.

I did take the hunting camera this time and got it hooked up to a tree. I was going to put it near where I found the bear dung but I thought twice about it after getting back in there. Will I ever be able to find it again? Probably, but with a lot of trouble I imagined. So I doubled back about 100 yards to where there is an old, falling apart, home made deer stand replete with home made feeder nearby and set it up in an opening in that general area.  

I knew I could find that area, I pass through there every hike I make back in there.  I'll leave that up for a week or so and then remove the memory card from it, bring it home and see what there is to see on it.  I'm guessing deer since whoever put a deer stand up in there.

I went clear back to the back of the property again, this time I found a stake in the ground with a pink ribbon on it.  This was an old stake, not part of any current survey.  I then looked at GPS to determine where I was actually at and was surprised to find how far east I was of where the county appraisal map shows it. At least 100 feet if not 200.  I then looked at the appraisal map again, perhaps I was at the wrong place and well off the property?

No.  There are no other properties besides the one next to me and the one behind me.  It's either the survey is off or the appraisal site is off. I'm guessing the appraisal site.  It was interesting to find that there to say the least. I knew  - or thought anyway - I was off the parameters of the property, I was trying to find some way to get to the other side and the only option was to go well out of the way around the thick underbrush.

I will say here that I had quite a bit of blood on my arms after this hike was over.  I was getting eaten up by thorns pretty bad in my thirst and quest to get to the other side.  Anyway, I eventually found the fenceline - it's old and mostly fallen onto the ground, but it's barbed wire so it's not really going anywhere.  That was about 300 feet to the west of the stake I had found and it was right in line with the stake. I had set a marker on my GPS to keep track of where that stake was at versus where I am at along the fenceline.  Anyway, I got to the stream and that's where the trouble is.  It's so thick with underbrush.

I stood there quite a while wondering how to get through there, the dogs getting restless, staring at me - where are we going next? We aren't just going to stand HERE all day are we" was the look I figured they had on their faces.  Well, I found a way over the creek and started climbing up the hill on the other side. Pretty steep, actually.  But the further up I got, the more it started to level off.  Along the way, Addler was jumping over a log and apparently went down into a hole.  I heard a "ooomph" coming from him and wondered if I would have to get people back in there to haul him out of there?  

Thankfully, no, he got up and started running like nothing happened. But, he's a tough dog and he seems to ignore pain, I'm going to be watching that leg for any signs of muscle or ligament injury.  Regardless, there were no further incidents besides me getting torn up by thorns.  I have huge, long scratches on my arms this time, they went deep and drew some blood this time. There isn't any pain now, but it doesn't exactly look appealing.  

I followed the fence line - as best as one can anyway with all that mess in there - and finally got to the other side and to the west side easement! Yayyyy!  I was delighted to have finally made my way over there.  I got out into the easement - at that point there was nothing but some grass, no small trees and no thorn bushes.  Looked back to the north - towards the front of the property and knew I wasn't going back through there. First you run into all kinds of small maple trees growing and then....you run into those nasty thorn bushes.

Can I say here that if I do end up with this property, eventually every last one of those thorn vines and bushes will be cut down and burned?  Or even plowed under?  I have visions of just cleaning out the entire forest back in there of all of the undergrowth.  It adds nothing to the scenery and makes it a pain to get through anywhere.  Clear that ALL out of there it would be 100% nicer back there.  Just leave up the bigger trees, let some sun get to the forest floor and dry it all up. 

Okay, so I started making my way back to the front along that side.  I hoped to find a way out of there - and hence - a way back in there without having to go clear to the other side, all the way to the back, all the way to this side to get over here. Along the way, I was looking for potential camp sites.  Primitive sites, just tent camping, no RV's.  I found several places that could be cleared out, cut down some trees, put in some grass and put in a picnic table and a fire ring.  That's my style of camping. I could rent those out $15 per day and people that like tent camping really could have a good time back in there, at least from my perspective of tent camping. 

Well, maybe $20 per day.  I dunno, but that's low maintenance.  I've definitely come to the conclusion I'm going to need some part time employees to help run the place.  Cleanup after each camp site is vacated - clear out the fire rings, clean up any trash/waste, make it good to go.  I wouldn't mind having a large trash can at every site.  More work, but less work for the trashy people that just don't care.  Here, dude/dudette, is a trash can RIGHT AT YOUR SPACE. Please use it, don't be throwing trash on the ground.  Yet, you know some people are like that and they will chuck their trash on the ground anyway.  Of course if this thing ever gets up and running I will work full time there and won't need much extra help.  At least, not for the existing campsites.

Anyways, the tent campers would be well in the rear of the property and well away from the RV'ers.  RV'ers apparently don't want to be around tent campers and tent campers the same.  I get it. If I'm camping in a tent, I don't want to be around anyone.  I've tent camped hundreds of times, at least, maybe over a 1,000 times in my life span and we mostly stayed away from people.  We don't got out there for a social gathering, we go out there to get the feel of nature.  The back of that property? Oh yes sir, you are going to get nature.  If  that's what you want, that is definitely what you're going to get.  

I could see some primitive cabins back there in the future.  It's too far to run electricity back there, it would cost a fortune to run a few thousand feet of electrical cable underground.  There are no power easements running through there that I could see, either.  The only utility is natural gas and that is a gas main, not something you would run residential use off of.  Primitive cabins are just a small cabin structure with bunk beds, a table and chairs and not much else.  

I will, however, be looking for any power easements running nearby.   I know, it's not the old ways of camping. Some people are still into that, many people still want power at the very least.  Put heating and cooling into those primitive cabins and they'll come year round.  

I know, I said I wasn't going to get this involved with this property  until after the closing.  I can't help myself.  The possibilities with this property are far greater than Finklea. It's 12 acres larger, the front portion is perfectly designed for an RV park, the rear is perfectly designed for nature buffs.  I don't even care about the gas well now.  That's just a small thing in the way, I'll get around that.  The title came back through clean, that was the biggest roadblock and the only thing really, in my mind anyway, that would have held up the closing of this property.  And anyway, regardless of whether it becomes mine or not, it has been interesting to go hiking back into it and observing nature in al of its mostly untouched glory.  There's no trash laying all over the place, it's pretty clean as far as human interference goes.

I will, however, want to put someone to work cleaning out the brush in the back and I have a solid candidate in mind. 

Got back from that adventure, took a shower, cleaned up the scratches on my arms and went to a new Irish pub/restaurant that opened up in town.  They failed on that one. Not because it's in a hotel, but because it doesn't have the feel of an Irish pub at all. They took over the hotel lobby to build their restaurant. They don't have the nook and crannies Irish pubs do for the eating "rooms".  There is no traditional wood anything. It's all modernistic and simply doesn't look like a pub.  Pricey, the food is ok but not worth what we paid for it.  You pay for the experience as well as the food in a pub like that, the experience didn't exist.  I don't know what they were thinking, they should have bought or leased their own building. They have a pub in a town north of here, that is a real pub atmosphere. We won't be back. I doubt I'll leave negative reviews, just wait and see what everyone else has to say about it.  

And now? We are all taking afternoon naps.  I slept soundly last night but woke up in a fog.  Too much sleep, I had to force myself to get up and go on that hike.  I either sleep too well or get too little sleep, there is nothing in between.  Then it's time to get up and clean the large throw rugs in the kitchen. They have become stained and dirty and need the carpet cleaner on them. They're too big for the washing machine, my favored way of cleaning rugs.  

If there's time, get the canopy up over the pond and transfer the fish from the aquarium into it.  If not, it will have to wait until I get back from the next trip, which I "assume" is tomorrow. I haven't received anything yet, but I'm not working today, I need to work tomorrow.  A good 3 day run would suffice.  The older boy was asking if I would be home when he gets here tomorrow - Wednesday, today is Tuesday.  Mom said "I don't know".  I'm saying hopefully not.  The boys have been gone 2 weeks and they are getting very homesick and not having contact with the people they are normally around, which is mom, dad and me.  Oh wait, I did receive notice from dispatch today that the loading plant is mandating everyone wear masks. 

I think I have a mask in my truck.  I threw those things out.  I am done with masks.  But not done, apparently, I will wear one in there to keep my job.  If I'm "forced" to start wearing one in places like supermarkets, I'll have to pick my battles. I do not like the idea of the government or even private enterprise telling me I have to wear a face diaper.  If you don't have a problem with them, fine, that's your prerogative.  I don't like them and more so, I don't like being told I have to wear one.  

Well enough of this, g'day.  

  

 Getting quote to have the Harrison property surveyed.  It showed upon the real estate listings yesterday, it is by far and away the cheapest property on the list for in-city land.  It's a really great location, I wish I could have done something with it.  

The next thing is to go over to the Caddo property and look around for invisible structures.  I've been up on that property, there is nothing there.  But I'll take a 2cd look, the tax appraisal website shows 2 structures with a combined total of 410 square feet of space on the property.  

Either they have the wrong property, or the structures were torn down, or the structures were portable and someone stole them.  I dunno, but I'm sure there aren't any structures on that property and I don't want to pay taxes on something that doesn't exist.  

This morning - going to the property. Not to see if the surveyors are there, but to take the dogs for a nice walk. It's a bit nicer out today, in the 70's this morning which is a far cry better than the last time I went out there.  No particular plan on trying to access the portion of the property I haven't made it to, just get the dogs and I exercised.  Oh, but I will be taking my hunting camera and finding the area where the bear roams, set it up and hope to catch it on camera.  I've got that thing ready to go.

It can sit up there for  week or so and see what kind of animals are roaming that land.  Someone had put up a crude deer stand replete with a home made feeder.  They obviously think there is something there- they were probably looking for deer, tho, not bears.  Deer droppings are far different looking that bear dung, that's what I can say about that and I haven't seen any deer droppings back in there, but then again I haven't really looked.  Taking kids back there is a chore unto itself, this time no kids and dogs are self sufficient.  They don't need much of anything but an occasional "ADDLER, WHERE ARE YOU GOING!?" and he comes trotting back lol.  

This time I will also look to see if any trees are scratched up by any potential bears, that's another sign they are present.  

Checklist: Pistol, water, mosquito repellent, boots and machete. Checklist complete, let's go!