Drywall!

We're really getting there! We now have the propane all hooked up and have a new furnace and water heater (above). And look--DRYWALL!

As the contractor says, drywallers get all the love. This is one of the upstairs bedrooms--check out all of the snow in the yard. It's still definitely winter in Ferry County!

This week, they textured and primed the walls, and paint goes on tomorrow!! I can hardly wait for those pictures!!

The hardwood floor guy arrives on Friday. All of the downstairs hardwoods will be sanded and refinished; we're not sure what we'll do upstairs yet. Either refinish the old (and in some cases broken or chipped) pine, or maybe slap down some Pergo so we don't have splinters/rough spots.

They're hoping to do the roof while the floors are being done - the roofer showed up a few weeks ago, whined about the weather, the location, etc. and KC-the-contractor kicked him off the property. KC and his guys ripped off the old junk and put down new tar paper and are just waiting for decent weather so they can finish. No leaks so far, so all is well.

Next steps: kitchen cabinets and all the "trim" work (baseboards, window trim, bathroom tile & flooring, etc.). We're hoping to make it out in mid-April for our first real visit!!

American Flats update

Quick update on our 400+ acres in the American Flats (see post from 1/10). Remember, this piece is virtually inaccessible as it is surrounded on 3 sides in the US by cliffs (minimum 500' high, straight down to the meadow) and the 4th side is the Canadian border. The only way to get there is to hike through forest service land or fly in by helicopter. It's a beautiful piece of land, but unless we can figure out a way to blast a road in--through forest service land--it's fairly unusable.

So a few weeks ago, we got a phone call from a gentleman who wanted to purchase the American Flats piece. He made an offer, we countered, he came back slightly higher, and we finally told him that he'd have to make us an offer we just couldn't refuse as we really weren't planning to sell.

He made an offer we couldn't refuse.

He has until May 31 to do feasibility studies (is the land buildable, can he get permission to fly in/build an airstrip, can he put in a septic system, is there potable water, etc.). If he gets the answers he needs, we close on June 1. We're giving it about a 50-50 chance of actually closing.

Bizarre. What does he want the land for? We're not sure--and he's not really telling. Cult headquarters? Retreat for Hollywood mega-star? A-Rod's new drug manufacturing facility?