So, About That Trailer

Hey, y'all - 

We did a lot of truly wacky, questionable things in 2018, but this one is the cherry on the sundae.

Last spring, I was looking at real estate listings, because it's a weird hobby I have, and I came across a double-wide trailer for sale on a half-acre wooded lot, just up the hill from Seeley Lake. It looked like the kind of place a Hatfield or McCoy would've stumbled to their death after a knife fight, but I convinced your dad to go take a look, because this piece of land also cost about the same as a Volvo. 

The super-shady, pint-sized realtor (or as I came to think of him, "60 Inches Of Lies,") met us at the trailer to give us a tour. Y'all, I made it into the front room and quit. It was fifty years of hoarding staring me in the face. I said "I'll just wait outside." "You don't want to see the rest?" the realtor asked. "Nope," I said, "because as soon as we close, I'm going to light it on fire and kick it down the hill." But again: half an acre at the lake for the price of a Volvo. 

I texted my boss a picture of the place. He's from Vermont, where they call rednecks "woodchucks." As soon as the picture went through, he texted back: "A roof built on top of another roof? Classic woodchuck architecture."  There were gates made out of refrigerator shelves, doors made out of shower curtains and decks that led to other decks that led to a pile of rocks. But again: half an acre at the lake for the price of a Volvo. 

We held back $3000 in the deal, because if the owners didn't clear all of their stuff out, that's what I estimated it would cost us to have it hauled away to the dump. And let me tell you, they ran the clock out. 

Our plan was to demo the place when we had time, and build a cozy little cabin, where we could spend weekends, because we truly love spending time at Seeley Lake. Even Hagen:

Then, Grandpops decided he wanted to move to Montana; he'd been visiting a lot and had started to go native. 

"Have we got the place for you!" we said. So Grandpops moved in and started fixing the place up and made it actually livable and lovely, but still with the goal of tearing it down this coming summer and building something nicer on the site. You kids got your own bedroom and I scrubbed the kitchen and stocked it with enough gear to host a Lee family Thanksgiving, should the need ever arise. I'm sure Grandpops wondered why a dude living alone would ever need 12 place settings. 

There was just enough good weather left in the year to excavate the future build site and get the foundation mapped out.

I think it's all going to work out fabulously, especially since I've been married to your dad long enough that it no longer stresses me out to be in the middle of thirty-eleven building projects. 

Grandpops seems happy at the new place, and grasps the potential for what it could become. 

...and we've already got our weekend plans for next summer all lined up. 

Love,

Mom