Hello to my family, friends, and fans all over the world. I am sorry that I haven't posted on my blog for nearly two months. This is the longest amount of time in the history of my blog that I haven't talked with all of you. I have no excuse other than being lazy, and that's not a good excuse at all. I'll try not to let it happen again. Needless to say, I've got a LOT to tell you about. In my previous post, I mentioned that Gary and Casper (the white cargo van), were going to Georgia to possibly find a new place for us to live. They made two trips, and looked at five big industrial buildings in four different towns. During the first trip, they camped at Little Ocmulgee State Park for one night. The park is relatively close to three of the towns where the buildings are located. A couple of the buildings were totally out of the question. The three buildings of interest are all pictured above. The red brick building (13,804 square feet) on 1.06 acres of land was the one that Gary instantly fell in love with. It's located in Thomaston, GA. It was once part of the RC Cola Bottling Company, and has also been a car dealership and several other things since it was built in 1950. It is packed full of the owner's personal belongings, actually to the extent that it was hard to see some parts of it. What was obvious is that it needs a substantial amount of work, including a full upgrade of the electrical system, plumbing work, door and window work, and possibly some roof work. Gary still loved it enough to make an offer on it, and the realtor wrote up a contract. However, the owner counter offered with a price that was MUCH higher than what Gary felt the building was worth with all the issues it has. Disappointing for sure, but it's not the only big building available for sale, so on to the next one. In Vidalia, GA., Gary looked at the old Southern States fertilizer complex. The main building is 8716 square feet, and the warehouse has that beautiful red brick that Gary and I love so much. This is a 3-1/2 acre property, that also includes a 3280 square foot metal shop building, a 1950 square foot pole barn, and a 3600 square foot open front carport with divided partitions that was originally used for bulk fertilizer storage. This property had a cheaper asking price than the building in Thomaston, but it had worse issues. The roof on the main building needed TOTAL replacement, and there was a structural issue in the back corner of the warehouse that was downright scary. On the second trip, Gary and Casper spent a couple of nights at FD Roosevelt State Park, and went to see two buildings in the nearby town of Manchester. One building was very nice, but totally not right for our purposes. The other building (pictured) was VERY interesting. Most recently, it was a small town hardware store and lumber yard, but had also been a grocery store and a roller rink during it's existence. The main building has a nice showroom in the front, and a warehouse in the back. It's a little over 7000 square feet. The property sits on a combination of 19 lots, and all totaled is a little over an acre. There's a covered lean-to against the main building, and 4 very large open and covered carports outside. Like the property in Vidalia, this place is completely fenced. The electrical had been upgraded, and the roof is older but not leaking. This place was WAY cheaper than either of the other two, but overall not as pretty. The deal killer on this one was the ridiculously high property taxes in Manchester. The taxes on this building would be more than 3-1/2 times what we pay here in St. Augustine. So, I'm pretty sure at this point that we are going to be staying here at the Green Acres Garage, and that's not a bad thing at all. We love everything about St. Augustine except our neighbors . Gary occasionally checks online at the Georgia real estate listings, but nothing exciting has come up. All of the buildings he looked at are still for sale. As far as happenings go here at home, the A-100 van has gone to it's new home over in St. Cloud (near Orlando). It now belongs to the guy that Gary originally bought it from back in 2002. He has big plans for it, and I'm sure he will have it fixed up and on the road in no time. During the weekend that the A-100 was leaving the Green Acres Garage, Dodge and I camped out in the yard for three nights. It would have been nice except for the rain. It has rained here almost every day or night (or both) for weeks, and it is REALLY getting old. Dodge and I are happy to be back inside again, although it seems kind of odd not having the A-100 van sharing space with us. I am sitting closer to the big garage door than I have ever been before, and that's kind of nice. When the door is up, I get to see outside. Well, it's going to be a long and very hot summer, just like it is every year. My air conditioner runs 24/7, and I provide a nice cool hangout for Gary. That's my job this time of year, while I eagerly await the start of our camping season this fall. Gary is busy working on the house, working in the garage, working in the yard, and working on Dodge and all of the other vehicles here. Oh, and speaking of Dodge, Gary dropped the claim he had with the insurance company of the guy that most recently crashed into our old buddy. In order for them to pay the claim, they insisted on totaling Dodge and either taking him from us, or to take his title and have it changed to "salvage" status. If the title got changed, then it's a long process to go through in order for Dodge to be cleared to legally be on the road again. For the small amount of money that they wanted to pay for the claim, Gary figured it wasn't worth his time or the hassle. So, Dodge will be repaired and paid for out of Gary's pocket. It shouldn't have to be that way, but Dodge is 26 years old and has high mileage. According to the insurance company, he is worth virtually nothing, but he's priceless to us. We already have most of the parts here to fix him with. It's just a matter of time before he's worked on, and whatever Gary can't fix himself, our buddy Chris at the local body shop can do for us. Hopefully, Dodge will look a lot less "wounded" by the time we hit the road in the fall. That's all I can think of to tell you about. That should pretty much bring us up to date. Stay cool and hydrated, my friends, and I'll try to keep in touch more as the summer continues.
