The Great House Hunt, Part Deux
More model homes, more floor plans, more sore feet, more time on the road.
The Great House hunt started as a plan to build a simple, compact, log home. After all, we’ve lived — for the most part — in a 950 square foot condo in Arlington for the past 23 years, so why do we now need 2600 square feet, two floors, a large deck and so on?
A simple bungalo would do. You know, something with a den, a spare bedroom for occasional weekend guests and a small yard that won’t take all day to mow. For the past two decades, yard work meant sweeping off the Astroturf on the balcony.
Just one more model…
Going to build a new home on 105 acres we own right where Floyd and Carroll counties meet just off Buffalo Mountain road.
Which means looking at floor plans, model homes and builder samples — lots of them.
First we go to Galax to look at a model. Have to be there by 2 p.m. Then off to Mt. Airy to look at another. Over lunch, Amy finds another model in a brochure and says we just have to see it — in Lexington (North Carolina, not Virginia). By the time we finish house looking, we’re less than 60 miles from South Carolina.
Got back home late — really late.
Whoa!
Still trying to play catchup here.
Wasn’t life in the mountains supposed to be relaxed? Why am I running so far behind?
Viva la difference
At least once a week one of our friends in “that area up North,” otherwise known as the greater Washington, DC, metro area, asked the question:
“So, what’s the main difference between life here and down there in the hills?”
Our usual, flippant, answer is that “the employees at the drive-through at Hardees speak English” but there are other differences.
For example:
A traffic jam is three cars backed up at the county’s only stop light.
Gas stations close at 10 p.m. Miss the window of opportunity and it could mean sleeping in the studio (been there, done that).
Rain
Last year at this time, Southwestern Virginia still suffered through a drought.
Not this year. More rain on Tuesday, more rain forecast today, more rain for later in the week.
Lord will it ever end?
Anybody got an ark?
Morning in America…
Takes 30-45 minutes to make the 19-mile trek from home to the studio — a pleasant drive on the winding Virginia Rte. 758 (Buffalo Mountain Road) and then U.S. 221 for the final 15 miles into Floyd.
XM radio provides musical backdrops on most days, usually Bluegrass or folk. For a mere $9.95 a month, XM provides commercial-free music channels to please just about any taste. No interrruptions for news, ads or traffic reports. What are they going to say? There’s a backup of three cars behind a farm tractor and combine two miles north of Willis on 221?
Whither FloydFest?
FloydFest is over and Kris and Erica, the organizers, tell the media it was a success with about 6,000 attendees.
We hope it was a success and, if it was, then the organizers and volunteers who make FloydFest a reality deserve a major league pat on the back. Once the party is over, though, FloydFest needs to face some major truths about itself. It needs to make the transition from eclectic and eccentric musical event to a serious organization that shows signs of organization and an ability to meet its obligations.
Invasion of the Festivals
Ah, at last, the invasion of the festivals weekend has passed.
Between FloydFest (which is actually in Patrick County), the Oldtime Fiddler’s Convention (in Galax) and Steppin’ Out (in Blacksburg), last week was a case of so much music, so little time to hear it all.
You gotta wonder why people schedule these things on top of each other. It dilutes the crowds big time.
Where’s the crowd?
It’s August. Height of the tourist season along the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Yet, drive by any campground on or near the Parkway and you find many empty spaces.
A friend and I drove on the Parkway from Virginia Rte. 8 at Tuggles Gap to Staunton on Friday and saw just three cars (two oncoming and one traveling our direction) and no RVs. It’s the middle of August and no RVs on the road?
Nope
We last drove our Jeep Liberty in May while on a short trip up to Arlington. It sat in the garage from then until Friday night when, after hitching a ride with a friend.
Of course, the battery was dead. Called AAA.
“We’ll be there in 90 minutes or less,” they said. Friday evening in the Washington area. Ninety minutes if considered express service.
True enough, the AAA truck appeared 87 minutes after the call. Hooked up the hot shot box and the engine fired up right away.