I would like to go back a few years in time and tell you how we came to own our home in West Virginia. First I have to tell you my husband is one of the most generous and impulsive men I have ever known. Both of those qualities sometimes get us into unusual situations as the story below illustrates. This one has to do with the impulsive side of his nature.
I think I may have confused you a little about our 5th wheel trailer. We did live full time in that trailer for about 6 years. Then we bought a little house in West Virginia. I do mean little house. When my daughter came to live with us, it was really a bit too little. My daughter, Wendy, house sits for us when we are away working at the tournament and assumes guardianship of all the various critters living with us.
After we quit taking the trailer to the tournaments, we bought a GM conversion van and packed everything we needed for a 6 months stay in that. We shared an apartment with another couple when we got to the host city for the tournament. This seemed to work out well for all concerned. The year the tournament was in Knoxville, Tenn we shared an apartment with our friends, Jeanne & Gary. One day the four of us were out driving around on our day off and spotted a mobile home lot. Jeanne suggested that, just for the fun of it, we should go check the homes out and so we did. They really were pretty nice and my husband found one that he decided he just had to have. Now, keep in mind, we are staying in Knoxville, Tenn but we live in West Virginia. However, little details like that never stop Homer when he makes up his mind he wants something. The next day we went back and bought it, completely furnished. (I told you he was impulsive)
I liked the nice roomy kitchen! Compared to the fifth-wheel this room seemed enormous.
And a real bathtub! Wow!
Now we own this huge double-wide and guess what? We don’t have a lot to put it on! Homer called his brother-in-law Doug, in West Virginia and asked him to check out property in the area. Doug called back and said he had an acre just down the road from his place that we could buy. And then the fun began. We bought the trailer in April and it was November before we finally got it back to West Virginia. About a week after we bought the mobile home (I don’t know why they call it that…there is nothing mobile about it) we got a call from the company. They had some good news and some bad news! Ever hear that before? We said give us the bad news first and maybe the good news would make us feel better. The bad news was this particular mobile home did not meet West Virginia standards for insulation, it does get a little colder there. The good news was, the factory was going to build a brand new home for the same price that would pass West Virginia standards. Ok that wasn’t so bad. Next the salesman said, bad news is we sold the furniture with the original mobile home. Good news…you can go to the factory warehouse and pick out the furniture you want. Ok we can handle this. Everything seemed to be working out in our favor.
The tournament ended in July and we went back home to start working on our lot to get it ready for our new home. The weather did not cooperate. It rained..a lot! The mobile home company finally got the two sections of the home as far as Harrisburg, Va, where they parked it to wait for more favorable weather. Now I have to tell you that in rural West Virginia the roads are narrow two lane roads that are either going around a curve or up and down hill, or both. I could not see how they would ever get to our small town and no way could I see how they would ever get this home on to our lot, which is on the side of a slope. (Everything in West Virginia is on the side of a slope)
Homer assured me that these drivers know what they are doing and have put homes in worse places. Hah! The weather was still not cooperating and everything was a muddy mess. They got stuck under a railroad road overpass and tied up traffic for what seemed like hours. They finally got our new home onto the lot…well almost! The back half slid off the foundation into the mud and required a bull dozer to get it back into place! But they finally managed to get it put together and we went out to to local rock quarry and gathered up rocks to build the surrounding foundation. A couple of old folks with a hugh do-it-yourself project!
End of Part 1 of the continuing saga of Our New Home.
