Some may remember that I've mentioned Mrs DF and I were building a little ranch in Utah for retirement. It was remote and quiet which is why we liked it. When our oldest son passed away last summer, something clicked inside and we no longer wanted to be far away from our remaining sons. So we sold the ranch and the other two properties we've been holding for a decade.
In November we closed on some land in East Tennessee big enough to move the whole clan onto it. We are in no rush, but looking to build homes, shop/barn, green house etc. in the next couple of years. There's a lot to do and it's a life changer, but Utah has become too crowded for us and expensive for the Jr DFs. Tennessee ranks higher on the freedom chart than Utah by far.
We flew out to our place last week and scoped out the building sites. Mrs. DF gets her pick and the rest of the DFs can fight it out. We'll be on a hill in the woods with a view of our 10+ acre pasture and a vineyard across the road. We've worked and saved our whole married lives for something like this. Lived like no one else so one day we could live like no one else. Just thought I'd update.
You’re a lying dog-faced pony soldier
Posts: 30004 | Location: Norris Lake, TN | Registered: May 07, 2008
Congrats and best wishes on your new home. That's funny, I just got off the phone with one of my closest friends and he was trying to sell me on Kingsport. A quick look had me thinking he's not wrong.
______________________________________________ “There are plenty of good reasons for fighting, but no good reason ever to hate without reservation, to imagine that God Almighty Himself hates with you, too.”
I think you’ll be a lot happier in Tennessee than Utah. You will never have to worry about water availability or quality, you’ll have greenery, access to a lot more infrastructure (for what it’s worth), good hunting (if you or yours hunts), and most importantly no Californian leftists fleeing their self created utopia to poison a red state.
“Remember to get vaccinated or a vaccinated person might get sick from a virus they got vaccinated against because you’re not vaccinated.” - author unknown
You will love it here in East TN it is the single best decision we ever made
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Thank you gents! Mrs DF chose Tennessee for some of the reasons y'all have expressed. Chief among them is water. We plan to grow as much of our family's food as possible. Utah is arid and water is Damocles' sword here. The possibility of drought is our constant companion. With so many people moving here for the culture and natural beauty, it is becoming critical. Our property in Tennessee sees plenty of natural water as well as three streams.
I enjoyed the visit last week. Everyone we met was kind and welcoming. While surveying the property line pins, one of our neighbors wandered over to introduce himself. Within the first three questions he asked us was if we were from California. There was dread in his voice. Made me chuckle. If I had known him better I would have teased that we were and proud of our Leftism just to watch him squirm. By the flags and bumper stickers I can see that the culture there is conservative so we'll fit right in.
We are near Knoxville but not close to it. We chose to be small town and remote. I'll need to get used to the roads and driving. Streets are narrow and with a lot of activity. 25 mph means 35 mph or more. Turn by turn instructions there are helpful but hard to anticipate because the topography is disorienting. In Utah the Wasatch mountains are on the east so you always know where you are.
Anyway, thanks again for the well wishes.
You’re a lying dog-faced pony soldier
Posts: 30004 | Location: Norris Lake, TN | Registered: May 07, 2008
Rule for rural living: The weekend you move in, if it's possible, take some time to enjoy your newly laid out range and shoot some of the larger rifles.
Very few will be bothered, some may even like what they hear. More importantly there will be one or two who need to be subtly informed your property is no longer their free hunting grounds and its occupied. It's considered polite notification.
New residents griping about it are outed and your neighbors will thank you for revealing who they are.
After all, that's the point of moving to the countryside, where you can go out the back door and safely fire a rifle on your own property. Goes to, if you can't step out on any side of your house and relieve yourself, you are too close your neighbor.
Rural is different. I now wish I had moved one more mile outside of this small town. I could have enjoyed a bit more instead of paying range fees or driving 30 miles for free.
Congrats. May you and your wife live long fulfilled lives enjoying the fruits of your labor. You certainly earned it.
How young were you when you learned and decided to incorporate the value of delayed gratification into your life?
"It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946.
Posts: 20263 | Location: The Free State of Arizona - Ditat Deus | Registered: March 24, 2011
I lived in Knoxville for five years. Spent most weekends in the Smokies. Winter was the best. Have friends in Townsend,Maryville, Oak Ridge and Morristown. Can you be more specific as to where?
Posts: 17705 | Location: Stuck at home | Registered: January 02, 2015
