Access or bust

The biggest, most important, and thus far most obscenely difficult and frustrating project I've had since we moved is obtaining access to the land. As I think I've mentioned before, the biggest reason we were able to get so much land for so little money was the fact that there is no legal access, as in no roads leading to it that we're legally allowed to travel year round. There are two roads, however, that do lead here. One is a forest road that travels in and out of City of Flagstaff open space, in which the road is closed to all motorized vehicles. The other is a forest road that was closed to the public last year, because it gets frighteningly close to the rail road tracks for a section. I spent a good bit of time working with the city to figure out if there was a loophole in the paperwork that would allow us to drive through the open space (many thanks to DM at the city, he's a super nice guy and worked really hard to help me), to no avail. So I set my sights on the front road. Bah.

       Havoc loves to swing on the gate.

Turns out, neither the forest service nor the rail want to claim this road. That led to weeks of back and forth between myself and the entities, before the forest (thanks Judy!) found a document going all the way back to 1875 showing that the rail owns the road. Well, most of it. All of it but a few dozen yards, which the forest owns. So, I have to get a lease from the rail for the part they own, and then a permit from the forest for the part they own. Oh, and create a HOA to hold both the lease and the permits. OH, and join an existing HOA so I can use the road to get to the road in question. 

             Dinoland, because Havoc.

Here's the real kicker, kids. Until all this paperwork gets filed and all the hoops have been jumped through, I can't get building permits issued. Without building permits issued, I can't get power to the land. At this point, it's a near certainty that none of this will be done before fall, and likely not until winter. Which means no houses until spring. So... It's gonna be a cold winter.

Send firewood. And whiskey.

       Monument Plant, because pretty.