Friday, November 13, 2009

End of the Road

We made it out to the property yesterday and got the road (Elna Rd) brush hogged and the only problem now is all the thorns that got shredded from small mesquites that were in the road. The tractor tires picked up a bunch of them on the way back. I guess I named the roads wrong. Thorne Rd. doesn't have any thorns and Elna Road has a lot! I plan to start going back out there and walking that road and trying to find any parts of the shredded mesquites and get them out of the road before taking the falcon to the land. I'll also take an ax and chop off the stubs while I'm at it. Now that its been brush hogged the road is in plenty good enough shape for the car to handle it. For safety sake I'll probably also green slime all four tires and I have two spares in the trunk for even more safety. Also I think the trike will handle the road so hopefully I'll be able to get it here to once I can get something to live in there. That will at least give me a backup vehicle in case of a breakdown or emergency until I can get a beater 4x4. Now if I can ever get a decent connection here I'll post this and some photos. Unfortunately it will probably still be at least another month before I can pull off the move. The one Photo shows a natural drainage ditch through the property. It appears to be several feet deep and perhaps would lend its self to collecting rain water via pump like John Wells does to his road.

On another note today is my brother in law's birthday and Sunday is mine so we celebrated a good bit by tipping beer cans and last night went to the Ghost Town Trading Post for a few more beers on the famous Porch there. I recognized a few of the people from the 24 Hours in Terlingua video found on YouTube.

 
 
 

Had a visitor tonight. I call  The Beer Drinking Butterfly! I caught her drinking my beer (first picture) and had to send her on her way in the second one.


 

13 comments:

  1. Again the pictures of your land always look great. It would be intresting to see your place after a major rain to see where all the water goes and hopfully it won't be where you plan on living. I have heard of some people who buy a piece a land and only find out later that it is a collection area for water after the rain.

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  2. looks good! road seems to be no problem in good weather maybe a little slippery when it rains but you can make escape ways to drain the water off the road later. nice tractor! I bet youd be popular if you had it out there full time.

    task 1 complete whats your next step?

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  3. Nice job of brush hogging that road. How much area did you clear for parking and building.
    I know a guy who bought an old 40 ft trailer real cheap and just dug a pit deep enough to back it down into where it was level with the ground. He just left the wheels on it and blocked it up. Old trailers that are not worth much and you might be able to get some cheap.

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  4. Scavenger, Probably a good reason not to go with a shipping container and build stick. Maybe build about a foot or two off the ground. In that case I'd need to build up about that high with stabilized soil for the carport part.

    OGT, I commented to my Bro in law that he could probably make some money with the tractor down here. Not likely to happen though.

    Riverhauler, there was already a pretty good area near the road that was clear and looked like high ground. Plenty big enough for a starter and very little needed to expand that a good bit. There is actually some dead mesquite on it for fire wood to.

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  5. The land and the road look good. You should be able to do just about anything you want there. Your only limiting factor will be your budget. Maybe you could do an on-line search for what's the most cost effective, and easiest building method. Personally, I've always wanted an earth home, for the great insulating ability. The inside temperature stays relatively stable from day to night, and from season to season. Adobe and Straw Bale are some other good building methods for out there, and also have great insulating ability. Hope you find the right one for you. You might be able to find a good, cheep, used travel trailer to live in while you build. Craig's List is a great reasource. Then after you've built your house, you can sell the used travel trailer again on Craig's List, and probably get almost what you paid for it.
    Good luck, and I'll be looking forward to your next post.

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  6. Congratulations on getting your road cleared and finally being able to make it to your land. You are very fortunate to have a brother-in-law that is willing to help you out with the tractor and with his time. Happy birthday to you both.

    On your blog you have mentioned putting slime in your tires on several occasions. Forgive me if this sounds like a dumb question as I don't know much about tires or cars for that matter. I thought you put slime when your tires were flat, so how would I go putting slime if they were not?

    The reason I ask is because I would like to go check out some land in Terlingua Ranch and I want to make sure my tires do not go flat while I am out and about.

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  7. Allen Hare, The way I see it is once I get something to survive in there I'll have plenty of time to figure out how to go about it and maybe change my mind several times before I commit to what ever I'll use. I did notice a bunch of termite mounds on the far side of the road about a half mile down down from the property so may change my mind on the stick part or have to use treated wood exclusively. I really don't want to do that. I can build metal to so no big deal either way.

    MsBelinda, You have to let the air out of the tires to put that stuff in. There is a cap that lets you take the valve stem out and then the bottle screws on the valve stem. You make sure its facing down and then squeeze the stuff in the tire. I'd suggest having a jack under the car and make sure the tire does not get totally compressed, but that all of the air is out. Screw the bottle on and then jack the car up so that when the tire goes back in to full circle it will help suck the stuff in while you're squeezing the bottle. Sort of a pain, but the stuff works very good!

    You are right. I have a great brother in law. It helps that he is also a friend to and we both like a lot of the same things.

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  8. Thank you for your response was kind of hoping that was not the answer, guess I will have to forget about putting slime in my tires, oh well...

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  9. If you need help doing it I'd help. I have a compressor here and have to air one of my tires up. I need to go ahead and get it done to the falcon pretty soon if I start going out to try and get the road cleaned up the rest of the way. Unless I feel better tomorrow than today though it may be a few days.

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  10. Thank you Tffnguy but if I ever plan on getting a parcel of land out there I have to learn to be self sufficient and do it myself. In this case it is a little out of my league for now.

    Probably wont be in Terlingua till January or February so by that time you will already be in your property.

    Hope you get to feeling better. Have a good weekend.

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  11. Wow! I'm now 1962 instead of 62 (According to my profile.) I'd say something is screwed up!

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  12. Are you going to grow any vegetables, etc. on your land?

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  13. Willie Wildcatter, Yes I hope to. It won't be a farm by any means, Probably a small greenhouse.

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