Stuck In St. Augustine.....For Now

 Hi, everyone! It's me, your old pal Toaster. Let me set the record straight. I'm still alive, contrary to a few rumors I've heard. I just don't do much or go anywhere anymore, so there isn't a lot of exciting things to share with you like I used to when I was traveling and going to new places. I'm 51 years old now, and I know that life slows down quite bit whenever you get older. I just didn't think I'd be stuck here in the Green Acres Garage with piles of junk around me, and not even be able to go outside to see the sunshine and maybe get that bath so I so desperately need. At least I'm in a safe place, and I know I'm still very well loved and appreciated by my owner and best friend, Gary. That's more than a lot of my vintage trailer friends can say. For now, I live vicariously through all of the travel videos I watch on YouTube. I'll be patient. I know that many more fun days are ahead for me, I just don't know when. 

The last time I blogged, I told you about the 34 acre property that we (Gary and I) bought in Elberton, Georgia. Did you notice how I include myself in on this purchase? HaHa!!! There was some good progress made there last fall and winter. A granite gravel driveway now makes the property accessible from the road, and a section of fence with a gate crossing the driveway helps keep any curiosity seekers out. A temporary power pole was installed, and a separate new power pole was also installed, with a bright LED nightlight to light up the entrance area. Where the driveway currently ends behind the 100+ year old house that sits at the front of the property, Gary worked on chopping his way through the woods. Smaller trees and vegetation were removed and burned. Larger trees will be removed by professionals with the proper equipment. There's limitations on what Gary can do with a small chainsaw and hand tools. He's trying to keep safety in mind. That's a relief to me, since I'm not there to keep an eye on him. 

Clearing and cleaning continue around and inside of what Gary refers to as the "Elberton Mansion". Originally, only the back of the house was accessible at all, but now there's no problem getting all the way around it. Accumulated piles of cut debris have been burned, and so has water damaged and termite eaten old furniture that was piled up in all the rooms of the house. All of the metal junk was hauled away for recycling. A few choice useable pieces are still in the house, while other pieces were brought back here and sold on Marketplace. 

In October (less than a month from now), Gary will head back to Elberton to continue working. He will hire those professionals I mentioned earlier, to do whatever he can't do himself. He plans on making major headway in the coming months, and maybe even have a homesite cleared by the time next spring arrives. He hasn't actually chosen a homesite location yet. He just knows he wants it to be somewhere further back from the main highway. The property is roughly 2200 feet long, so he can go as far back as he wants to. Right now, he has only cleared back as far as where the blue dot is the following photo. He is attempting to keep the future driveway extension very near the center of the two 17 acre properties. The former owners names (Moss & Wells) still appear on the properties in the photo. Not sure why, but it takes the Counties in Georgia a LONG time to update property ownership names. It took over a year for Gary's name to finally show up via online property records searches, even though he had paid taxes and gotten permits. 

I guess that pretty much catches you up with the lives of Toaster and Gary for now. As you can tell, rumors of my demise were totally false. I'm still here! Gary and I hope you are all doing very well, and enjoying your lives to the fullest. We will try our best to do the same. Thank you all for being so patient, and continuing to read my blog and about our past adventures, even though I very rarely post anything new. I'll do better if and when I can actually get out of this garage! Take care, my friends.