April 18th: Massive Road Change

We swapped the old sink for a new utility sink. The pump and plumbing that was with the original sink works great!!! 

 Swapped sink

A little mouse kept the kids entertained for 3 hours :)

 While groups of people were down working on the road, Reagan, Lincoln and Makenna kept the kids entertained with wagon rides as the other adults cooked lunch and cleaned up camp.

McKinley is the cutest little ring leader with these two!

Sometimes I'm really glad that kids hijack my phone :)

New cooking/prep area.

Uncle Chris taking control of this out-of-control-tree.

There was a bushy pinyon tree right by the new kitchen station. Chris made quick work of the lower branches and the kids and women helped clear out everything underneath. It created an AWESOME climbing tree and shady area to sit and eat under. 

Curtain rod and hot water heater in place. It's rustic, but it works when you need a hot shower!!!!

Some interlocking tiles for the shower floor.

As the work day was coming to a close, Zach drove the backhoe up to Hidden Hills and gave all the kiddos a little ride in the bucket. Zach and the crew accomplished more in the last 5 hours of road work, than in the previous 12! By the afternoon Zach had mastered the tricks of the trade and started ripping a new road on the 3 sections that were the most treacherous. Of all the things to forget to take pictures of... I didn't get photos of the obliterated road!!! AHHHHHHH! I was up at the camp most of the day, and when I did run down to check on progress, I forgot to grab a phone that wasn't dead (mine was) to snap a video or a few photos. 

Here is a video of a tree he knocked down in the area we want to build the barn. I feel like this video doesn't do the backhoe justice. The size of the trees that Zach had been knocking over the previous 4 hours were 5 times bigger, but fell just as easy. But at least you can get an idea of how much fun he had all day :)

Bucket loads of fun!

Today's Guest List:
Our Crew
Chris Headlee
Mya Headlee
Maycie Headlee
Morgyn Headlee
Emily Peery
Jacob Peery
Adam Peery
Will Headlee
Tabitha Headlee
Tippy Headlee
Grandpa Mike
Greg Headlee
Whitney Headlee
Makenaa Headlee

April 17th: Road Clearing Time

  Two days after the "Deer Wintering" restriction was over (it runs from December 1st -April 15th) ... we couldn't wait to start working on the road. YEAH!!! First we had to get the backhoe out to the road that needed work. With the 6x6 completely operational, we used it to pick up a heavy duty trailer that belongs to Zach's uncle Elroy, and it is tough enough to handle the weight of the backhoe. 

  The 6x6 hauled the trailer and backhoe like a dream. We parked it 2 miles away from Hidden Hills, at the beginning of the road that was the biggest problem. Out of the 18 miles that it takes to get from town to our land... the last 2 miles was nothing more than a glorified jeep trail. Until we widen those last two miles, there is no way to get the materials we need for the barn, or to get a drilling truck for our well, up to Hidden Hills.

Months ago, we did buy a firewood permit which in this particular area (lucky us!!) allowed us to cut green wood (trees that were alive and not dead). So we had been able to cut down and slightly widen the so called "road" so that at least all the trees didn't scrape our cars when we would drive up to Hidden Hills.

 The road is full of turns, a few wicked ditches, and certain places are super rocky (aka buried boulders). So we are lucky to have a beast such as our backhoe to do most of the heavy lifting, scraping, digging and pushing.

I don't think that I have any pictures of the worst spots! I'm so bummed. It was seriously an adventure just to get to our land every time. And the times that there had been rain or snow... INSANE!!! 

 It was noon by the time everyone arrived. We decided to do a few housekeeping things before Zach & Les got to work on the front quarter of a mile of the road. 

 

Will and Tab's campsite

We expanded a different campsite to house 2 tents. This is where Emily and my dad set up their tents. We had to do a little more chipping and clearing in that area.

 

We added a smaller fire pit to a newly designated kitchen area which is right outside the shed. The last few work days we had spent up at HH, I spent a lot of time (or sending kiddos) going back and forth to the shed for supplies. Relocating our camp kitchen made all the cooking and preparing of food so much easier!

 

We made English  muffin pizzas for lunch. Reagan and McKinley were my good little helpers. First we toasted one side of the muffins, then added sauce, cheese and pepperonis. Then we put them back on the fire with a tin foil tent to warm them through and melt the cheese. SUPER EASY and SUPER YUMMY.

After lunch Zach and his dad headed back down the road to start working. The rest of us stayed at camp trimming, cutting, chipping, and setting up tents. It was a little chilly all day. The sun would peak through the cloudy sky occasionally, but it was really quite cool.

 Tippy was warm in her puffy vest and booties :)

These two keep the main fire pit going all day. 


We were expecting Greg and Whitney for dinner, so we made a total of 15 tinfoil dinners. With a few helping hands, assembly was a breeze.  

 

The dinners took less than 45 minutes to cook, and were BY FAR the best hobo/tinfoil dinner to date. Will and Tabitha had brought a few gravy packets and steak seasoning.  We put a mixture of ground sausage and beef formed into a patty, carrots, potatoes and onions.

Zach and his dad spent 6 hours pushing trees over, digging out boulders and digging up stumps. An hour before total darkness Greg, my dad, Will and myself went down to chainsaw and help clear. My dad would cut down the trees, Will and Greg would cut off the branches, and I would separate them into piles. It was a good system with 4 people.  However Zach realized towards the end of the first night that it is MUCH EASIER to just push over a tree, and then cut it up after, rather than to cut a tree down and dig out a stump. With the tree fully intact, he can get good leverage to uproot the entire tree. Juniper or Pinyon. Great lesson to learn early on. This made all the difference the following day :)

We all regrouped at the main fire pit for spooky stories and hot chocolate. Everyone was pretty tired and it was getting really cold. It was a great first day, with only one minor injury. We had joked about people wearing hard hats, but after William was attacked by a falling tree and suffered a minor concussion... we might seriously consider it. Either that or people need to yell "TIMBERRRRRRR".

Today's Guest List:
Our Crew
Grandpa Mike
Emily Peery
Adam Peery
Jacob Peery
Will Headlee
Tabitha Headlee
Greg Headlee
Whitney Headlee
Makenna Headlee
Grandpa Les

Backhoe Backstory

  
Before the next few posts I wanted to document and fill you in on the story of the backhoe.

  Last January we were approached by a friend who was looking to split a 20 acre parcel of land near Cedar City. The land came with a well, and a small modular home with solar already up and running. We seriously considered it, but at the time had no money to invest. In hindsight, we are so glad that we didn't have the money at the time. The land was off of a main road that led to a coal mine which had reopened and was used very frequently. When I (Kate) really thought about where I would want a cabin in the woods, that parcel was NOT what I had dreamed of. There also wasn't a ton of potential for me.... especially when I thought about the fact we were going to split it with our friends.  But I am grateful for that experience because it really got Zach and I to focus on saving money so that when we DID find a good chunk of land that we both liked, we would have the means to make it our own.

  After we decided to pass on that piece of land, we had Zach's cousin start to send us tons of listings of property all over Southern Utah. We were very open minded in the amount of acreage and location. We spent all of our free time looking at listings and driving all over to see what was available... all the while saving, saving, saving.

  On March 19th, 2014 Zach casually mentioned to his Dad, who lives in Paragonah UT, that when we buy land we are going to need a backhoe to fix a road and for general construction. The next day he called Zach back letting him know that someone he knew had one for sale. This persons mother had purchased the backhoe 6 years earlier so that when she hired Zach's dad to do yard work it would make it easier and it would go faster.  The woman had passed away 4 years ago and her son had parked the backhoe in his backyard and hadn't moved it since. In fact, there was a tree 4 inches thick growing through the arm of it!!! When Les asked him what he wanted for it... he said we could have it for $1500... but he also couldn't make any promises as to it's condition. He hasn't started it, let alone move it since he had parked it there 4 years ago. Without hesitation, we said NO PROBLEM! We drove up the next day to give him the money.

  Zach and his dad went to pick it up on Saturday morning, March 22nd. He exchanged the money for the key and then set to work on trying to start it up. After tinkering with it for a few minutes the monster roared to life. It purred like a 12,000 pound kitten! He attempted to drive it the 4 miles from Parowan to Paragonah, but the tires shortly gave out due to sun rot. So Zach borrowed his uncles trailer, and hauled it to his parents house.

  WE WERE OWNERS OF A BACKHOE!

  I'm sure loads of people chalked it up to us just being crazy. And that's ok :) because we are.

In July we found Hidden Hills. In October we signed papers, and we became it's landowners.

There is a retired mechanic in Paragonah who said he could help us fix it. So over the past year, whenever he had some time to spare, he worked on our beast. When he would find something that needed fixing... we'd order the part... He'd install it... eat... sleep... repeat. 

Well, on March 28th 2015 (Zach's birthday no less) we got the call that he was officially finished!!!! The backhoe was ready!!! One year and one week after we had initially purchased and brought it "home".

Now... here we are... with 92 Acres begging to be turned into a wilderness dream ranch, a road that needs to be made, and a barn that needs to be built, and our backhoe is rearing and ready to go! Sometimes you have to have the faith to buy a backhoe, and know that the land (and everything else) will come ;)

April 11th: Alternator, Tractor, Port-a-potty

   Today we had 3 goals.

1. Install new alternator on 6X6 truck

2. Find a good location for port-a-potties

3. Fix tractor (small misfiring problem)

 1:  Zach woke up early and got the new alternator installed in less than an hour. Check.

  

2: With the help of my dad, Zach loaded the 2 potties onto a 4x8 trailer that I found for free on Craigslist a year ago. They fit snug as a bug in a rug! It could not have been more perfect.

 

The drive up there was smooth sailing except for the last two miles... which were treacherous. I was having a mild panic attack the entire time. I'm so glad my mom was taking pictures to document everything this weekend! She's the best!

 

 After getting up to Hidden Hills, we decided the best place to keep them was against the back side of the shed.  My dad brought some round pavers to use as support and to level the commodes. Zach also brought up a water tank that he had found in the desert in Las Vegas. He cut the top and one side off. This will be our rustic outdoor shower. We will put a curtain between the two commodes to seal the deal. There is a drainage spout you can see at the bottom of the tank. We will  attach some hosing and run it downhill away from the shed and commodes so that the water from the showers wont ruin or compromise the stability of the shed and toilets.

You may be thinking this is "roughin it"... but trust me! These babies are awesome!  These are environmentally friendly, easy to maintain, and virtually have no smell. You can check out their Facebook page by clicking HERE! This was by far one of the best additions to the land yet ;-)  The gray tub is filled with sawdust that you sprinkle on top of whatever you have deposited. It's that easy.

 

 3. Zach found a wire that had become disconnected. He fixed it, and the tractor was running 5 minutes later. So we chipped and chipped and chipped some more! We made a few more campsites ridiculously comfortable with 3-4 inches of chipping as a base. It's so soft, you'd be better off sleeping on the ground in those areas, rather than sleeping on a cot!

 

This nephew of ours is amazing. He comes up EVERY POSSIBLE WEEKEND with us, and he is a workhorse!! He is like an energizer bunny! We love Simon!!! 

 

I spent the majority of the day emptying the shed, laying wood chips down, and reorganizing our rapidly growing bundle of supplies! Our long time family friend Lisa and her son Rafael came up as well, and Lisa was an organizing monster! I am so grateful for her help... because my pregnant brain stops running on all cylinders after about 10 am :)

My mom was busy ALL DAY, helping with the shed, taking, pictures, making meals, and jotting down notes. She really has a knack for this outdoor adventure, and thinks of the handiest tools or equipment to add to the "Next Time We Come Up We Need To Bring XXXXXX" list. Half of the reason things have been running so smoothly is because she has been scrounging and digging through second hand stores and garage sales for useful and VERY discounted items. We would be chopped liver without her!

Work-A-Holic. That's my dad. He'll be 65 in a few weeks but he works like he's still in his 30's. Between him and my mom, I have no chance of ever really relaxing. It's in my DNA to work from sunup to sundown... and unfortunately I love every second of it. I have the hardest time putting on the brakes and calling it quits. It's a good thing we don't have anything more than headlights... or we really would work into the night!

 Every time we visit these mountains, and are surrounded by supporting friends and family I am reminded of how much God loves us. He has put all of these wonderful people in our lives and we couldn't be more grateful. 

Don't ever forget... God is good... ALL the time.

Over and out. 

 Today's Guest List:

Our Crew

Simon Hulet

Mike Headlee

Pam Headlee

Lisa Bliss

Rafae

Potty Time!

Hidden Hills just got a bit more comfy!! His and Hers porta-potty composting toilets will be making their debut next weekend!!! 

March 28th: Happy Birthday Zach! Working All Day = Party Time

  Happy Birthday Zach!!! All he wanted to do for his birthday is work hard all day in the sun. So that is just what we did!!!

 

I really am learning that I need to be better at documenting what is going on. I don't think I ever took real "before" pictures. But this is pretty much what  the land used to look like.....

  

  And this is what it looks like now.....

You can see where we made a campsite out of the wood chips. It made the ground SO soft. You wouldn't even need an air mattress or camping pad! 

My mom got to test out her awesome tent and sleeping equipment. It was crazy good. 5 star accommodations. My girls always want to camp with Grandma Pam!!

We (the kiddos, my mom and I) were able to do some controlled burning while Zach was chipping. 

Zach's dad came up both days. He is a workhorse just like Zach! They just keep cutting, and trimming, and chipping, and clearing until I make them stop for food or to pack up and head out. 

I hardly recognize our fire pit anymore!! There were huge piles of brush and branches everywhere. It's really open now and looks amazing. 

The kids transported lots of items from our campsite to the shed on the 4-wheeler. They were all such awesome helpers!!

    

  We had some good meals on this trip!! They included...

Shredded BBQ Pork Sandwiches made in dutch oven 

Eggs, Bacon, Hashbrowns and Fry Bread

Hot Dogs & Mac n Cheese

Homemade Donuts

Tin Foil Dinners

Today's Guest List:

Our Crew

Marshall 

Grandma Pam

Grandpa Les