Our First Weekend

Last weekend we stayed on the property for the first time. We drove over Saturday afternoon which was earlier than planned. We figured this would give us more time Sunday morning at Leader Lake to fish before meeting with David to get the keys.

Camper next to Guest Cabin

After taking the camper off, we had a small campfire but the rain put a quick end to it. Karl decided to go to bed early while I looked at the house plans. The rain moved on towards the eastern horizon and left a unique rainbow in it's wake. I got Karl out of bed to see it before it disappeared.

Rainbow

Sunday morning dawned bright and beautiful. Jelly spent some time chasing the chipmunks and marmots near the house.

Jelly playing on the rocks

Marmot

David showed up and we were able to get the keys early. We made plans to do another Q&A session with him at 3 pm later that day. Then it was off to Leader to get some fishing in and hopefully catch some fish for dinner. Fish Tacos were on the menu. We ended up with a total of six crappies and bluegills that was just the right amount for dinner. We couldn't remember how to make the white sauce so we settled for salsa verde. It just wasn't the same.

On Monday, we were scheduled to go to Nespelem to transfer the building permit on the house. David showed up around 8:30 with news that we wouldn't need to do it per a phone conversation he had with the permit office. That saved us a two hour trip over and back to Nespelem.

Karl and I took the opportunity to see Omak Lake. Karl described it as a mini-Lake Tahoe. When approaching from the north end, you arrive on a road elevated high above the surface of the lake. We found an access point to the lake and drove down a very windy road. The water was crystal clear and the cliffs quite scenic although the beach area left something to be desired. It was pretty trashy which was sad to see.

We were able to get an early start home that allowed for a stop in Winthrop at Sheri's to get an ice cream cone. It was a good weekend.

So much for Friday

Here it is, Saturday morning, and we aren't in Okanogan. What happened, you ask?

We got a call Thursday evening that the permit office may not be open on Friday due to summer hours possibly being in effect. A phone call to the permit office and a search of the web could not turn up the office hours. Rather than driving over and taking the chance the permit office would be open, we elected to wait until Monday.

It actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Karl got violently sick Thursday night and there's no way we could have gone over. Now we will drive over on Sunday. Slightly disappointed - yes, but better to lose one day of work rather than two. C'mon tomorrow!

Its Ours!

The deed recorded today and we are now the rightful owners of 22 acres in Okanogan. Woohoo! It went faster than we thought. Less than 30 days after I first saw the listing online, we own it. Wow. I guess this was meant to be.

Come on, Friday!

Is it Friday yet?

View from the hill

Guest Cabin

Main House

Yesterday we signed the closing documents on the property. If all goes well, the deed will record on this Thursday at the courthouse and it will be OURS! We're planning on going over Friday to meet with the previous owners (sounds weird) and transfer permits.

We've also started looking at the Hardieplank siding trying to decide if we want to go the ColorPlus route or just primed and ready for paint. It will all come down to how much the difference in cost is. We hope to get that on order on Friday as well.

Sleep? What's that? I think we are like the TV commercial for DisneyWorld where the family is too excited to sleep.

I can't believe we did this!

Maybe this should be called the misadventures of Karl & Sally. Why? We are buying acreage in Okanogan County, WA with a partially built house and cabin that we will have to finish. Us. Building a house! What were we thinking? I have some experience in building things, but its been a long while since I've done it. And I was much younger, too. Thank goodness for friends. We'll take all the advice (and help) we can get.

So how did this all happen? We've been looking for property for a year or so, but not seriously on the hunt. Earlier this year we looked at a piece near Wenatchee but it turned out to be less than desireable. Plus the price of property is really getting outrageous in that area.

Then we thought about the Moses Lake area. Close to fishing and friends, and the price of land is not out of sight. Subsequent web searches didn't turn up anything that demanded an immediate viewing. The week before Memorial Day I decided to search my favorite real estate link to see in any property was for sale in the Omak and Okanogan area. We were going to be camping in Winthrop for the holiday and just in case I found something, we could set up a viewing while we were over there. Lo and behold...a listing caught my eye. I printed it out and showed it to Karl for his opinion. He liked what he saw on paper and said "let's look at it". I contacted the realtor to schedule a showing for the coming Friday.

We met the realtor, Tami, and headed up the hill to the the property. We had never been in that particular area before so it was all new to us. So far, things were looking promising.

We pulled up to the property only to be surprised that the current owners were there. It was a blessing in disguise. We were able to find out a lot more about the property and walk the property lines. We also discovered that it was tick season. Yuk! At one point, Karl must have walked through the tick nursery. He had a cluster of 6 or so ticks on his pants leg. Double yuk. It still gives me the willies. I hate ticks.

We really liked the house and the property. But with our inexperience in building, we wanted a second opinion and made an appointment to come back on Sunday with friends. Tim and Patti gave up part of their camping weekend to drive back with us to see the place and offer up advice. Tim also liked what he saw and felt the house and cabin were well built. It reinforced my thoughts from our earlier visit. Jelly also got to play with the owner's big black dog while we were looking at the house. It was fun for her, too. I think she liked the place.

We told the realtor we'd get back to her after we talked things over. By the end of the week, we'd made an offer and had it accepted. We were on our way to owning the place! Yeehaw!

We close on the property next week and hopefully we can spend our first night there next Friday. We've got measurements to take, permits to transfer and Hardieplank siding to purchase. Then the next order of business is to get the bathroom in the cabin hooked up and useable.

From there...well follow along and I will update the blog with pictures and progress reports as we try to build a house and cabin.