Just before Christmas, Dennis and I flew down to Phoenix, Arizona. We rented a car and drove two hours west to Quartzsite. It's an interesting, desert community. It is also where friends of ours own property. The lot adjacent to our friends was for sale, thus our impromptu trip to Arizona. We flew Westjet from Prince George with a stop over in Vancouver. The flights were good. We arrived in Arizona without a hitch and spent the following 3 days touring the area, inspecting the double wide that came with our lot, and deciding which lot, if any, we were going to buy, as there were three lots left for sale. We loved the desert and found the town of Quartzsite interesting. Mostly, we enjoyed the company of our friends and others in the neighbourhood. We bought the lot next to our friends. We shook hands on the deal and next day flew back to Canada and home.
We are now in the process of moving the double wide manufactured home on to our lot. It is difficult to take care of business from so far away, so I am flying down to Arizona on January 30 and will stay for a month. I hope to get the home set up on the lot and take care of any business that needs tending to, such as where to send the tax bills, electric bills etc.
So as you can tell, life is changing for us somewhat. We will continue to farm in a smaller way. Our adventures will now take us south in the winter. Next winter we plan to load up the dogs and point the van south, destination Quartzsite, Arizona. I will write about our adventures and of course, take lots of pictures so the blog doesn't just become a travel log.
Back on the farm, winter has been anything but normal. The warm weather continues. Snow is melting, everything is covered in ice as the melt freezes overnight. The lake is still not frozen. Unless we get some mighty cold and windless weather, I expect the lake will not freeze this winter. The lake water levels are also extremely low. Lack of rain last fall and no snow this winter does not bode well for Francois Lake. It also does not bode well for our water lines. I predict we will be re-digging our lines into the lake to deepen them. Of course, if it stays as mild as this, there is no fear of the lines freezing. I would liken our winter to a coastal winter. Today is foggy and damp with temperatures of -1. Everything is grey, damp and clammy. Not a traditional bright blue sky, crisp and cold, northern winter day.
I am busying myself preparing for my month in Arizona. I hope to update this blog with what I'm doing down there. I will take pictures as things move along so you can see the changes.
This spring, Dennis and I will be working on our little house in Topley, BC, to prepare it for sale. We will also photograph the changes and improvements so you can see the before's and after's. I absolutely love renovating houses! Here are some pictures from our trip to Quartzsite last December:
I think that's all for now. We are excited about our new adventure. We are also a bit fatigued from all the new things we have to learn. Just opening a US funds bank account was traumatic!! Everyone has been very helpful and kind though, so we cannot complain. The people at the city of Quartzsite, the engineer for the site elevation certificate, the mobile home moving company, and our neighbours at Quartzsite have been patient, kind and helpful. I think this is going to be a good change!
Bye for now!
