The tranquil image of camping is beautiful. The idylic thought alone lowers your blood pressure and brings happy sighs. Imagine sitting by a crackling fire in the cool early morning with a cup of coffee in a beautiful mountain setting. The music of a bubbling brook sings to you as the butterflies play in the nearby wildflowers.
With these thoughts in mind, plus getting away from the summer heat in the Basin and spending weekends closer to the fishing, my husband, Dave, and I embarked on the GREAT HUNT for a small camper. Here in grizzly country the appeal of the old tent is gone and it was time to move up to a hard sided camper.
We eventually scored! Late in June a 2007 15′ camper became ours! It’s certainly a baby sized camper compared to most of those you see around, but it’s what we wanted.
The maiden voyage was over the 4th of July weekend. Our trip to Soda Butte Campground just out of Cooke City, Montana was “an experience”! Most of it was good, there was little bickering, and no major problems. Before the next trip we’ll figure out the water so we’ll actually have indoor plumbing! Oh, for a toilet at 2 AM! Oh, for a hot shower!
The greatest excitement was at 3:30 AM the first night when the alarm went off. It took us a while to figure out what was happening. Luckily, Dave, the engineer, had actually read some of the manuals that came with the camper! It seems that at elevations over 7,000 feet propane refrigerators can act up. After resetting something the refrigerator worked again and the alarm quit alarming when the battery was reinstalled. What you don’t learn in the middle of the night.
Fireworks seen right from the campground was pretty special! Half the town was along the roads near the campground. With the mountain backdrop these were the prettiest fireworks I’ve ever seen! Of course, every one is my favorite!
Life is good and camping is a wonderful part of a good life. I’m so happy we’ve joined the ranks of campers once again.
It’s been a fantastic week here at Johnson Home and Land. Mustang Days is always an exciting week for Lovell. Last night we hosted “Business After Hours” which is a fairly new program that our Chamber of Commerce and our local economic development organization, Lovell Inc, put on. We provided snacks and drinks and Sue Taylor, director of Lovell Inc., came prepared with a presentation. This month’s program was on the upcoming housing study that they will doing in Lovell. I think our attendees had a much better understanding of why our community needs this study after hearing Sue’s explanation. We had a good turnout and really appriciate all who came.
With the temperatures on the rise and the skies turning blue, it’s on everyone’s mind to get outdoors and enjoy. One easy way to add a little extra “square footage” to your home for the warmer months is to create a living space on your deck or patios.
Transforming even the smallest of patios or decks into an inviting outdoor living space doesn’t have to take a lot of work or effort. Planning is the key to get it just right. To get started making your deck or patio your “spare room” for the summer here are a few things to consider:
How much space do I have to work with? – Before you run out and buy outdoor furniture, potted plants and other enhancements, take a good look at the space you have and brainstorm what you can do with it.
What is important to me? – Some people have enough room and a desire to create almost a full room feel on their decks. They might choose to make their decks outdoor cooking, eating and living spaces for the summer months. Or you might want to simply create a quiet getaway for reading, or relaxing with a cold drink.
How much money do we want to spend? – This can be expensive if you go with all new furniture when creating an outdoor living space. Of corse you really don’t have to spend a fortune to create an enjoyable space. You just want to stick to your budget. If yours happens to be tight, consider visiting second-hand shops or garage sales for treasures to make your outdoor space comfortable for your needs. Or even giving a new look to some of your old patio furniture with a fresh coat of paint.
Relax & Enjoy your new outdoor living space. Get out the grill and drop a few ice cubes in a glass with your favorite drink, sit back and enjoy summer!
Tomorrow is the annual Big Horn Lake Celebration. How fortunate we are to have such recreational opportunities in our back yard? There will be free boat rides given all day as well as other fun activities for every member of your family.
My kids love going out there and playing on the beach and swimming in the lake and I love to picnic.
Hope you all have a wonderful Father’s Day weekend. ENJOY!
Just wanted to stop by real quick and let you know that we are up and running with our new Johnson Home and Land fan page on Facebook. We are having a lot of fun with it and have had a great participation. Stop by and visit when you have an extra minute or two.
Ahhhhh….call me crazy but I love the fresh start of a new week. I know it sounds un-American to say I like Monday mornings but it’s true. Last week was wonderful in every sense of the word and having Jyl and Lisa here at the office taking care of all our customers and clients was the icing on top.
This week should be a normal week. Is there ever is a normal week in real estate? Maybe not. Let’s put it this way…..all three of us are here all week and we are filling our schedules with showings, listing appointments and other normal activities.
I’ll keep you posted thoughout the week and let you know what I’m up to.
I’m checking in with you from my comfortable cabin in the Big Horn Mountains. What a perfect combination of work and play this week has been for me. On Monday my family and I headed for Bear Lodge. The Wyoming Real Estate Institute held a class here this week and each instructor taught one day. I taught on Tuesday and got to be a student on days two and three.
My kids have been catching fish, swimming, 4 wheeling, moose watching and having the time of their lives. My husband has baited a lot of hooks and untangled a lot of fishing line….but he loves it too.
I hope to update this post later with some photos of the absolutely beautiful scenery. We are so blessed to live an little over an hour from here.
UPDATE!!!
These photos were taken earlier today less than an hour’s drive from Lovell. It was a beautiful drive down the mountain and it’s good to be home.
The Great American Dream is home ownership! Now is an excellent time to buy with all of the wonderful and exciting loan programs available. The interest rates are historically low.
With so many affordable homes in our area, you could be making a house payment instead of paying rent.
Nationally rent increases yearly at an average of 3%, With that, if you were paying $800 a month or $9,600 yearly, it would go up to $9,888 in just 12 months!
We all know how time goes by so quickly, as soon as 3 years you would have paid your landlord over $29,672.00.
That is a lot of money that you could have invested in your home that would be building equity. You can use that equity to move up and buy a larger home or one that has more features. In our area of Wyoming homes are increasing in value at an average of 3% – 5% annually. It is a nice steady investment that will build in your favor when you sell if you care for your house and put in a little sweat equity of your own.
Talk to us and we can show you the loan programs available. We will help you every step of the way. We can help you connect with the right loan officer in our area. They will help to get you qualified for the loan program that works best for you. We will work together to find your Home, and invest in your future.
The tranquil image of camping is beautiful. The idylic thought alone lowers your blood pressure and brings happy sighs. Imagine sitting by a crackling fire in the cool early morning with a cup of coffee in a beautiful mountain setting. The music of a bubbling brook sings to you as the butterflies play in the nearby wildflowers.
