The Move is almost over (3 days and counting)

[YoungOne]

Well, I havn't been on much because the move is on. The Double wide (wife chose a 1700sq ft 4bdrm) was delivered early june and septic was completed at the same time. the well went in on the 20th and Solar on the 28th. I spent the last two weeks building the solar shed, connecting the septic, trenching over 400' (for propane, water, and electric), ran 1 1/4" pvc from the well to the tank. Loaded the uhaul and made it up over the rim. unloaded and unpacked the kitchen (the most important part). and back to the valley for one more week of cleaning out the house (small stuff) and work. The kids love the new "YARD" and I have enjoyed several evenings star gazing which has never been possible before because of city lights. I still have to make the final water connection when we get back up there (an hour to the nearest hardware realy sucks). The propane tank and hookup is scheduled for tomorrow.
I read many posts by others about how much work went into getting there places ready and WOW, no joke. I have put in about 200hrs between site prep and hookups and I haven't even gotten to the good stuff (MY shed, bridge, asthetics).
To anyone thinking or getting ready to make the move either have the money to pay to have this stuff done or be willing to work, HARD. That said the payoff is so worth it we cut our bills by almost 2/3rds and have room to breath. Our nearest neihbor came by on his quad last week. He had seen the house go in. From a mile away he wanted a closer look. At this point we are waiting to get internet till we pay off the ALMIGHTY HOMEDEPOT so checking in will be limited but I hope to check in now and again.
Thanks to everyone who has given me advise and suggestions as I have gone through the planning and executing process, big hugs are in order since many times I'd go "so and so said....." and sure enough it worked great.

[shellrow]

Congratulations!! Sounds as if you are off to a great start! Keep us posted! I know I love to hear about new homesteading adventures!

[tnokie]

My wife put in a nearly same size mobile a few years(and two homes) ago. It was a lot of work but it was sure nice to see it come all together as we had planned. Congrats and enjoy the new adventure. Keep us posted.

[Mysticdream44]

Congratulations, how wonderful for you and your family.

[huzzyjr]

Congratulations. One of my favorite thing's is to star gaze, you never know what you will see. Keep us posted on the progress.

[BAmaBubba]

WOOHOO! Congrats!

Brandon

[turtlehead]

Congrats! That sounds like a good sized place. I know what you mean about being able to see the stars. The first night we spent here was exceptionally clear and when I went out on the porch I actually gasped. Hadn't seen stars like that since I was a kid.

You mentioned solar and electric. What are you running on solar? We're going to move to partial solar when time permits (full time jobs) and plan to do it in phases.

[YoungOne]

Turtlehead -
Are entire house is solar (kinda). Any and all electric will come from the solar system, problem is that on our budget we didn't get any panels. Yea I know they pay for themselves but there's only so much robbing peter to pay paul I'm comfortable with. We run the generator for several hours every other day and keep the batteries charged. The system we went with was the Outback FX series (we got a 3600watt system) were the entire electronic system is shipped prewired and programmed to you in a crate. Even though we don't have solar panels we did go ahead and have them mount the MP60 so that once we get panels they will plug right in.

[turtlehead]

Thanks for the reply. That makes a lot of sense, the way you're doing it.

We're starting by moving our freezer and well pump to solar, then when we know what we're doing we'll add fridge and clothes washer because those are the big expenses here. Not sure when/if we'll get enough panels to do lights and small appliances.

[sssarawolf]

Wonderful, congrats.