Some of our friends from South Florida had
already retired and moved up there, and we thought it
would be fun to just stay there a few months each year.
Once we found the perfect location,
we couldn't resist, we had to buy it!!
The next year we went back up, we loaded up
the van and our two dogs, Emmy and Houston and off we went!
We parked the van on our new property,
camped out there and just enjoyed the scenery.
It didn't take long for me to decide that
I couldn't just sit around looking at the leaves
all day and I asked Una if she would like to have
a log cabin up there.
She said she would love it!
I was 71 years old now. I wasn't sure if
I still had it in me or not, but I decided
I could build the log cabin myself!!
I could also build the furniture!!
When we told the kids what we were planning
to do, they thought we were crazy!! haha
They said, "Dad, why not get someone to build it!!"
But NO, not me!! I could do it myself!!
(silly old coot!)
Each year, around June, we would travel up to N.C. stopping
along the way to visit with our kids.
We would return to Florida in the fall,
before the really cold weather or snow started.
We didn't quite make it back every year before the snow!
Every year that we went up,
we met more and more people in our new little
(and when I say little, I mean little) town named Trust.
We didn't actually live in Trust. Trust was the town nearby.
It consisted of a grocery store, a gas station, and a restaurant.
It was about 20 miles southwest of Asheville, N.C.
We just loved it up there.
Everyone was so nice and friendly.
We met new people every time we went up.
One neighbor that lived next door
(well about 1/2 mile down the road)
named Ralph, had a fish farm on his property.
His daughter and her family lived down the road
not far away. Another neighbor grew tobacco on his property.
Everyone knew most everyone on a first name basis.
Everyone helped each other if they needed help.
It was like going back in time!!
It was just great!
If we had nothing better to do one day,
we would get in the van and drive to the nearest big city,
Ashville or Waynesville.
It took a couple of hours through the mountains
but we didn't care.
We would drive along singing old songs,
or Una would tell me about some new cause
she was writing some kind of editoral about.
The weather was almost always beautiful.
Cool nights, warm days,
and the mountains and forests were just so beautiful!!
There was this one tree near our property that Una just loved.
It would turn bright red in the fall.
She would always say,
"When that tree turns red, it's time to go home."
We bought a travel trailer and left it there on the property.
That's where we stayed each year as we started building our log cabin!
I built a deck on the trailer so Una could sit outside.
I built her some flower boxes on each side of the stairs.
That took care of that year!
We'll start again when we get back up the following year!
June the following year, I had to get my toolshed ready!
I had built a small one but
I was going to need something bigger for this job!
Una Marie needed some furniture!
My log cabin tool shed!
One chair almost ready!
Taking a break in my new shop!
Each year we would do something else in the progress
of building our cabin. One year we bought a Jeep
so I could travel up and down the mountain side.
(You can't do that in a van!!)
Moving the trailer to the right spot.
The first thing we did the following year was get
the permit to start the building!!
We could hardly wait to live in our
little log cabin!! I had built many houses
over the years, but never a real log cabin!
This was going to be a first!!