In the last three months, we’ve bounced from one vision of our future to another to another. We have some pretty firm ideas of what we want to end up with – lots of farm animals, peace and quiet and the opportunity to share our new life with others (both virtually and in person). And I think that is what kept us sane through the onslaught of finding a rental in an area where there really aren’t any, looking at homes, applying for a mortgage and so on.
I won’t go into mass detail about the adventures that have led to this announcement (the finger is still a bit sore, but perhaps I will soon). The abbreviated version is we considered moving to Denver, Boston, Austin, Portland (Maine), Bellingham (WA), and Portland (OR). Then we read about Floyd, VA in Mother Earth News early this year. We already had a full week of travel booked for the spring in the Pacific NW… But Floyd sounded so perfect that we planned a visit in March before our big trip out west.
Well… We loved it, and canceled our trip to the Northwest. That was the easy part. The hard part was finding a place to live! We were lucky enough to meet quite a few great people when we visited, and one of them put us in touch with our current living situation. We arrived sight unseen at the end of June. It’s been a great three months here, but thanks to this and that, and a growing knowledge of what types of land we need for our goals…it’s time to move on. A whirlwind of ideas and opportunities collided recently, and our next step revealed itself.
It involves a yurt, two of our most favorite people as neighbors and 22 acres in Meadows of Dan. MOD is only a hop skip from Willis (which is where we are now), but it’s a totally different energy and view. We’re pretty excited about it! So as of Nov/Dec, we’ll be moving into a semi-permanent tent of sorts, reclaiming some land and huddling down for the winter.
Before then? Well, we’re pretty much dealing with the quirks and red tape of building a home (electric! septic! permits! ack!), with added hoop jumping because, as the Patrick County building inspector said “nobody here has done anything quite like this before…”
Sweet. That’s just how we like it!
PS. The picture is of a yurt we toured in Floyd county…ours is going to be berry red and slightly bigger. 
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Yurts are awesome! Good luck guys…what a fun adventure!
Awesome! Can’t wait to visit you guys someday =)
Erin,
SWEET, SWEET, SWEET! I looked at a website for MOD, and it sounds like a wonderful place to live, but the best part is the Yurt! I loooooooove it. I went to a Yurt site and got a virtual tour. What a great home for two people and some inside pets! I want a 30′ one that’s yellow with a light brown roof installed on our property that can used as a guest house. Unfortunately, what I want and what I can afford to get are two different things, but I can dream. My dad was a contractor for 60 years, and growing up my dad always took me around to show me thing various things he built, from Cathedrals, to bridges, to high rise office buildings, to small starter homes; so I really appreciate architecture. The Yurt looks so homey and comfy.
One Question: Have you thought about the safety factor from tornadoes? They do pass through that area. Actually, they can pop up anywhere, and we are probably more at risk than you. Anyway, we live in a double-wide prefab house with lots of extras and we love it, but we did have a storm shelter installed in the backyard, about 30 feet from the back door. Although we love our home, and I would hate to lose my “things”, they are only “things”, and “things” can be replaced, but life can’t. So that’s the reason for the storm shelter. We’ve actually had to use it three times, but we lucked out and the oncoming tornado took a turn and didn’t hit our area, but it’s still a relief to know we could run to it. As far as our home, everything is fully insured at replacement value, and if a tornado should wipe it out, we would just have another one built. Just something to think about. In the meantime, I’m happy for both of you, but I wouldn’t want to be there on moving day! LOL!
One more thing — I just checked out the mileage. When you guys move, you will only be 6 hours from Smithville, but 9 hours from Fredericksburg. Someday we will have to get together in TN or VA.