It all began last year when i decided that i needed to invest in my future and that of my children. I began the quest for land that i could both afford to buy and afford to live on, and in the back of my mind was my mom's statement that she wanted 40 acres, so, 40 acres is what i started out to find. I found myself bidding on tracts of land in Southern New Mexico and West Texas via Ebay...now, i know all about the horror stories and fake land deals but i was on a quest. By my calculations, i had about $8,000 to invest and was hoping to buy my 40 acre dream for that amount.....sadly, it didn't take long to find out THAT wasn't happening! But, during an annual ski trip weekend, i stumbled upon a tract of land that looked perfect! I few quick emails and a brief moment of extreme terror, the money was transferred and i became a landowner! Well, not exactly really since the deal was for quite a bit more than what i had but the seller was happy to carry the note for me for a five year term. I couldn't even wait for the paperwork to be in place before i was on the phone with my mom screaming out how i just bought 56 acres in Catron County, NM - just across the state line, and only a mere 4 hour drive my entire family (i currently live in North Carolina, but thats another story for another day). The first thing we did is plan a camping trip :) whats a 30+ hour drive when its your future you are driving towards? April never arrived more slowly in my entire life! But the day arrived and we dropped the kids off at grandmas and took off in my boyfriend Andy's 1992 powder blue Lincoln Towncar - piled high with all sorts of camping equipment. My mom, dad, sister, brother-in-law, and their brood of children would be arriving the day after we got there, they had a travel trailer, we had a tent. The first memory i have of the property was almost hitting a giant elk baby, and i mean giant! It darted out into the road and andy swerved, it swerved, then the funniest thing.....it just ran down the middle of the road with us following right behind it. This was one of those times when i really wished i got a hold of my camera more quickly! Nobody else got to see any elk though, just cattle. The local ranchers free range their cattle and unless you live on your land and have fencing up, your land is their land. It was noticeably barren, overgrazed, undermanaged, but the most amazing and beautiful piece of land i had ever seen - and yes, i know - i was a little biased :) We had taken our TomTom for navigation and were able to use it to stake out our property lines, and we all set out with cans of marking paint, stakes, and brightly colored plastic tape. What a sight that must have been! Ah, but even better was the fire andy built - he is a master at that, and if you are ever in need of an amazing fire pit i would consider loaning him out :) Since we arrived in the wee morning hours we just parked in the general area close by where we thought our property was and got some sleep. I couldn't make that man wake up soon enough though! I wanted to be up with sun seeing everything that there was to see! Once i finally bugged Andy into waking up we realized that we had no cell phone reception, none at all. so we drove down the road (our five mile "driveway") to the rest stop which is conveniently located directly opposite our turn off on highway 60 to call the family and set up plans for meeting up to guide them to our camp. Then we had to go set up our camp! at this time it was like 8 degrees and snowing, and it was awesome to see but not fun to be out in without windbreaks or coffee! i had brought a coffee pot and power inverter, but i forgot to test the inverter before we left so i had to go without (for those who know me, it was a rough day for those around me!) We noticed very quickly that the property was chock full of lava rocks. and not the little ones that you can put in your flower beds or fishtank, but BIG ones that left gaping holes in the ground (and quite possibly your gas tank if you werent careful), but andy pulled them out one by one and built that fire that you see here:
(thats my brother in law, two of their kids, and my mom)
We set our tent up on the south side of a big bushy tree so that we were mostly out of the wind. sitting between the tent and the fire was really neat because one morning my sister and i were sitting there and it was really warm so we took off our sweatshirts and wore only tanktops and i got sunburned! Andy pulled up from a wood gathering excursion and promptly informed us that it was only 40 degrees outside. Cooking fresh eggs over the camp fire was a blast! Staying up late into the night, getting a little drunk and giving everyone silly indian names was also quite fun! Next time you see my sister remember to refer to her by her indian name - Woman Who Camps Inside. The day that everyone left (we weren't leaving until the next day which was Monday i believe) a whole herd of cows walked right through our camp. I must've looked the fool taking video and pictures of them, and all the while they just kinda gave me this look that i interpreted as "woman you are insane" and then they went on their way. While we were out driving around and sightseeing the area we found several abandoned properties, and one in particular had been vacated so long ago that the expiration date on a tylenol bottle was 1987! I found a real treasure though, a huge cast iron cooking stove - one of those real nice 4 burner types. I forgot to record the coordinates though :( I sure hope next time we go out i can contact the owners and offer to buy it!
I guess this about wraps up my story of how Nyn Acres came about, next post i will fill you in on the legwork i have been doing this past year, lots of things we have done and are planning. Also, this is where my training begins - if i want to live self sufficiently, i sure as heck oughta start practicing! oh, and the Lincoln Towncar is now the Lincoln FARMcar :)
Cheers, Nyn
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