So much to tell

Click photo for a slide show of the ground breaking and some of our new neighbors

This has been a busy week. Last Thursday, we met with our contractor. He took us to visit several of his vendors, so we could see the quality of materials that will be included in the basic allowances. If we want to upgrade anything, we have the option to do so at our own expense. So far, we see little to no need to consider upgrades. At the very least, I think we may be looking at a few hundred dollars rather than a few thousand.

Monday, we met Duane again in Salem. We signed two contracts. The first was to secure the lot in our name. The second was for the building of a house on said lot. We met at an escrow office and did everything in a very business-like fashion, which I appreciated very much.

Following our meeting with Duane, we parted ways temporarily. Jill and I went to Independence and made a reservation to stay at the Ash Creek RV Park during the time of construction. We picked up some lunch, and then we headed for Dallas, where we were able to see the footprint of our new home plotted on the lot. It is going to seem like an estate.

Duane met us there and walked us around the lot and explained everything to us. We met several of the neighbors who walked by and stopped to chat. Jill already has two water aerobics partners and a walking partner, and Pogo had a friend named Buster.

Today, we drove back to Dallas for the groundbreaking. We arrived a few minutes past nine, and the crew was busily "logging" the lot. Several trees had to come down to make room for the house, but we will have several oaks, a cherry tree and a fir tree in the back yard. It should be quite lovely, with plenty of afternoon shade on our west-facing patio.



The weather soured while we were on site, so we decided to come home and let the workers do what we are paying them for. We stopped at the mechanic's shop to pick up Sadie, our motor home and soon to be full time home, following a carburetor rebuild. We took her to the storage facility, and now we are home.

Tomorrow, we continue packing up the house. Our official move out date is June 17, 2010. We have ordered a change of address with the post office, and we received our keys for the community mailbox that will be ours. As soon as we get to Independence, we will have mail delivered to our new Dallas address. Stay tuned; things are happening at break neck speed around here!