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As you know, we’ve spent the past eight years wandering around North America in Harvey the RV. Although we have a cabin in southern Missouri, we’ve kept our eyes out for the place we would like to build a home base. From Maine and North Carolina to Oregon and Arizona, we’ve looked in all four directions for the spot. Like those settlers who arrived in Utah 160 years ago, we’ve declared, “This is the place”!

In April, we purchased almost 10 acres of land in south-central Utah in the foothills of Boulder Mountain near the small town of Torrey. Our property is located in a secluded red, pink, and white sandstone valley at 7500 feet elevation with gullies, dry washes, bluffs, knobs, and knolls. Although we do have a few Douglas Fir and Ponderosa Pine, Pinyon Pine and Junipers are the main cover. There’s no need for a lawn mower. We’ve already seen lots of wildlife on our property including birds, rabbits, and deer. There are also wild turkey, elk, bear, coyote, and mountain lions in the area. The entire county (Wayne) has about 2500 people and no stoplights. However because the area is popular with international tourists, there are world-class resorts and restaurants. There’s even an organic farm nearby.

We’re a few minutes from Boulder Mountain (11,317 feet), Thousand Lake Mountain (11,295 feet), the Freemont River, Capitol Reef National Park, Grand Staircase-Escalante Natl. Monument, and Canyonlands. We’re a few hours from Arches, Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks and within a day’s drive of dozens of other national parks, monuments, forests, and public lands.

The next several years, we’ll be concentrating on establishing our home base in southern Utah. If you want to follow our progress, go to http://eduscapes.com/teasdale/
Then we’ll be back to the fun of full-time RVing.

Although we’re pretty excited about our land, there are other celebrations to share: Brooke got her Master’s degree, Ben received his Bachelor’s degree, and Blake is still living in Spain and enjoying a new job. Ben spent about a month and Brooke a couple weeks in summer visiting Blake in Spain. Ben and Brooke also took a quick trip to Italy.

Our year started in southern Utah. By April we were at the cabin in Missouri. Spring included trips to Iowa and Illinois. After a stop in the Black Hills of South Dakota, we spent most of the summer near Glacier National Park. After a few weeks in southern Utah, we headed to Santa Fe, New Mexico for the rest of Fall. A trip back to the Midwest combined work and family visits around Thanksgiving. It’s getting cold in the mountains of New Mexico, so we’re headed to Benson, Arizona for the rest of the winter.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Annette and Larry, December 2006, http://eduscapes.com/lamb