Part II of "Luxury Living off the Grid"
When we went to see our house for the first time our real estate agent drove us up the river road and pulled into a private parking area that was butted up to the side of the river.
Then we waited…
And we watched the river…
And we waited...
And we checked our watches…
And the real estate agent honked her car horn… a lot.
Anyone on the ‘town’ side of the river could only communicate with the house by leaving a note on the tram landing and hoping the owners saw it or by honking until the owners heard them. We were about to give up when the cable started humming and a small cablecar zipped up.
The note the real estate agent had left earlier for the owners to set our viewing appointment had been blown away and the owners hadn’t known to expect us.
Already there were 2 things ‘wrong’ with the house.
1) No vehicle access.
2) No outside communications.
I had serious internet withdrawals for the first few months before we got our first satellite dish up! Today we have satellite phone, internet, and television but it started out rough.
A close secondary concern during the first couple years was resolved when we got the golf cart and a tractor & trailer to carry us (and the groceries, mail, and various Lowes, Home Depot, Tile Universe, Washington Chain, Highway Auto, DISH Satellite, Cascade Battery, etc. products) from the tram landing up the 1000 ft. of hill to the house!
That is insane, I would love to live off grid even if just for a while, but that is a bit too isolated for me!
It can be very isolating. It's about 15 minutes to a very small village where we can collect our mail and get a few basic necessities but 1/2 hr to the closest grocery store and gas. You do get used to the trip if you go out on the week days - 1 hr to the closest large town where almost everything is available, but last weekend we spent 2-1/2 hrs to make the same trip. Summer vacationers and winter skiers make the traffic truly evil!
On the other hand if you look there are things to do locally. My husband ran for and won a place as a local Fire Commissioner and our neighbors volunteer at the food bank, which is held each week in the parking lot at the local church.... And there's always the internet!
Wow I would love to live off the grid for like a month or somethign just to get away from everything.
It's been a desperate scramble, a total high, and occasionally its sooooo relaxing and freeing but we're never bored! I loved living in the city but I also love how very different it is to live here.
@re-engineer you have a new fan. I love the descriptive way you share living off the grid. I have always been curious about it! And, I crack up at the way you mention that Doug will pop in from time to time. My husband is so far only heard laughing in the background of my videos. Who knows if he'll ever make an appearance. :) You two look like you love being around each other!
Thanks! always good to meet people of like minds :-) It's true that we get along very well. We are around each other almost 24-7. That totally freaks some people out. We tend to have a LOT of the same interests but very different skill sets and are happy working within our abilities while we try to help the other as necessary. Hmmm... maybe that's partly because I don't want to take on his chores so if I play the 'helper' he'll do the largest part and vice versa?