Mini-trip

We had an eventful weekend.  Back in June when we moved out of our house we hauled one UHaul trailer full of stuff to our land in the NE part of AZ.  We built a 500 sq ft garage in 2006 with the intention that, one day, it be a fully functional tiny house/cabin.  Until then it we put some furniture and personal property there...but it was a in huge pile and not organized.  Additionally there were things that we needed that were stored there and there were things we do not need that needed to be stored there!  This was a weekend of the continuation of managing our stuff. 

Our land sits at about 5500 ft elevation....the temp was slated to reach 19 degrees...so Friday I ran to the local kid exchange and found winter coats for the kids.  Brother has long outgrown his last one, and I Sister had one when she was one, but not since then...it was time to get a couple.  Together we spent about $40 for two very nice down coats that the kids loved and that, in retrospect were well worth the cash for the kids were very warm.  I did find my two boxes of winter clothes while we were there and was able to find gloves & hats for everyone...which was good, because we AZ people can't handle the cold!

Here is where we sleep when we visit The Land:

Yes, that is a tent inside the garage!   We can't take the Hideout because the roads are terrible - non-maintained - and we don't want to damage the trailer.  Someday we will pay to improve the roads so that we can drive it back. 

We were able to put a huge dent in the organization, but it could still use some work.  We also found all of the items on our list to bring back and we dropped of some unneeded items there. 

I kept many blankets and comforters from the McMansion...it was a good thing.  We needed them to stay warm last night!  We do not have a heat source, but the insulation in the garage helps, as does sleeping in a tent inside and putting blankets over the top of the tent.  It was at least 10 degrees warmer in the building than outside and even warmer in the tent.  We were cozy...in fact, Sister was too cozy between husband and I, she kept kicking off the covers! - burr!  Brother used one of our zero degree sleeping bags and slept solo - he said he was fine.  Once he was asleep I didn't hear a peep from him all night.  We have a futon mattress inside the tent so that makes it pretty nice. I was worried before we left, but found that I once again worried for nothing.  The whole adventure was really quite fun.  The kids were really well-behaved in the car, they had fun playing with toys they had been parted from, and we were able to work.  All in all a fun overnight trip. 

Regarding the Hideout - when we are away we shut off the water, just in case we have a leak or something and we are not present.  We also turn off all propane, strip surges, and we set the temp to 50 degrees - it had gotten into the 40s a few nights ago.  It was only a day, but the trailer was exactly as we left it when we got back and our neighbors even stopped us this evening and said they noticed that we were gone for a night!  It's a close-knit little park here:)  Tomorrow we will organize the things we brought back and I will take another trip to the kid exchange store to sell the too small winter clothes we are not going to be using.  Probably in January we will take a trip up the mountain for a sledding adventure - as least we are half-way there with the winter coats!