Very interesting, never thought Arizona considered themselves grape country.
Vacation / Property Scouting Trip
- Thread starter Kraffty
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for anyone interested here is a link from today on facebook, we got to meet sam and try some of his wines, really great stuff.
Mike
Mike
Only a very small part of it can even grow grapes. So most of the state is not good for wine production.
True, as with most other states. Trick is to find a way to be near those areas that can!
Maybe I'm misreading but in a lot of your posts you often seem to be a "glass half empty kind of guy".
Mike
Maybe I'm misreading but in a lot of your posts you often seem to be a "glass half empty kind of guy".
Mike
Kind of, I tend to be a bit saltier than a lot of the others and much more critical. Im in california and pretty much 90% of the state can grow grapes. So im a bit spoiled by that, its just the fact that we have such a variety of soils and such a variety of climates that makes the difference. Im in a cooler area of california thats very maritime, it mirrors the Rhone region of france. I am hoping the occasional fog and cooler breezes and temps will help to get wines that are much more balanced and not tannic as hell.
balatonwine
The Verecund Vigneron
Honestly, I thought I was the resident pessimist -- glass is half full -- kind of guy. And thought you were more the pragmatist -- glass is twice as large as it should be -- kind of guy.
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I'll go ahead and give you that Bala lol.Honestly, I thought I was the resident pessimist -- glass is half full -- kind of guy. And thought you were more the pragmatist -- glass is twice as large as it should be -- kind of guy.
We used the Thanksgiving holiday as an excuse to run over to Cottonwood after spending a couple of days at the In-Laws in Havasu City. There wasn’t really anything we needed to do there but we’re feeling a little like kids before Christmas and just wanted to look at “our dirt” and try another local restaurant. We’d received updated blueprints that included the elevation drawings and are really happy with how it’s shaping up. While, for the most part, Paul (architect) just redrew my plans, I never had a clear idea for the roof design. He added the gables and used offset scissor trusses to give us a vaulted ceiling over the main living area and kitchen and then continue out over the patios.
One of the other things we wanted to accomplish on this trip was to buy a new pickup and register/insure it in AZ since we’ll be there full time in just a few months. I’d picked a dealer outside of Phoenix based primarily on the fact it was on our route and a fair list price on their website on the model truck I liked. I planned to buy it cash so I spent 5 days emailing, texting and calling and speaking with 2 different salesmen and then the manager but never could get a written price ahead of going down there. So, based mainly on Lori saying “You shouldn’t have to chase them down to give them money.”, we drove past that dealer to the next closest dealer and drove out a few hours later in a nicer truck than I’d planned on and, at the exact price we’d expected to pay in the first place.
Next up will probably be renting a house near the site, maybe in Jan or Feb and starting to move stuff there ahead of selling our house.
Mike
One of the other things we wanted to accomplish on this trip was to buy a new pickup and register/insure it in AZ since we’ll be there full time in just a few months. I’d picked a dealer outside of Phoenix based primarily on the fact it was on our route and a fair list price on their website on the model truck I liked. I planned to buy it cash so I spent 5 days emailing, texting and calling and speaking with 2 different salesmen and then the manager but never could get a written price ahead of going down there. So, based mainly on Lori saying “You shouldn’t have to chase them down to give them money.”, we drove past that dealer to the next closest dealer and drove out a few hours later in a nicer truck than I’d planned on and, at the exact price we’d expected to pay in the first place.
Next up will probably be renting a house near the site, maybe in Jan or Feb and starting to move stuff there ahead of selling our house.
Mike
Mikey likes it!
Boatboy24
No longer a newbie, but still clueless.
All coming together very nicely. Very happy for you guys!
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Will your trusses have energy heels?
Hi Tom, I don't think so, honestly wasn't even familiar with that style before you mentioned it. I'll ask Paul whether he's used that style truss before, it looks like it has some advantages at a minimal added cost. Thanks!
....Even the losers get lucky sometime... The truck came without a bedliner, Ford liner is listed as a 599.00 option (obviously no one pays that much) and I mostly found them available between 299 and 399.00 on line. I did a search yesterday and found a brand new one for sale for $75.00 on Ebay. A couple just bought the same truck but theirs came with the bedliner. They wanted the spray on liner and were adding a camper shell so they pulled the new one and listed it for sale. It took me about 16 seconds to buy it, the catch was I had to pick it up in Tahachapi approx. 140 miles from my home. Figuring about 12 gals of fuel at 3.35 and a little driving time in my new truck, left at 11:00 back at 5:00, the total came to $115.00 plus 12.00 for lunch for my brother at sonic, STEAL!
Mike
Mike
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Alaska is the opposite of you. We insulate against the cold, you the heat. Typically the coldest spot is above the walls. With the energy heals, you get full insulation. I would think (not that it does me much good) that would also be where your hot spot on the ceiling would be. I’d be interested to know what Paul thinks. Of course I could be full of hot air... my wife thinks so.
Tuesday we left for a quick 2 day turnaround run out to Cottonwood to look at a few houses for rent. Saw a 1500 sf almost new modular home for $1,550, a stickbuilt 1400 sf house for $1,350 and a 1940’s home close to the historical down town area. The first two were nice but didn’t really excite us and when we snuck a drive-by peek at the older home on tuesday night (appointment to view on Wednesday morning) we didn’t have a great feeling about it either. Monday before we drove out Lori probably spent 30 mins talking with the property manager and he told her he really thought the house would be a good fit for us and promised he wouldn’t let it go before we saw it in person, we’re so glad he did that.
It’s got some odd quirks BUT we fell in love with it. 1700 sf plus approximately 1000 sf garage/workshop and about 300sf basement or as I’ve already dubbed it, the Cellar. The cool: While there’s no doubt it’s an old house, it has the original solid oak flooring, it also has an almost modern style Kitchen/Dining/Living/Family Great-room area, two giant bathrooms, all new kitchen appliances, screened in front porch and built in shelfs and dressers and cabinets throughout the whole place. Completely tree lined privacy with large lawn and a covered patio area. As for the quirks: Kitchen has friggin ugly spotted 4” sq. tiled countertops and there are cork tiles in a lot of the ceiling but I can live with that for a year or so. It’s the original home on the corner of a large property that has been turned into a small RV park. At least we have free access to a Recreation Center and the park maintenance guys do our gardening.
All in all it’s absolutely perfect for what we need right now, a comfortable home, large home office area, guestroom for visits from friends and family and lots of storage for materials and things as our new house progresses. Our So Cal house goes on the market in 4 or 5 weeks and we don’t want to be here when it does so it looks like we’ll be taking weekly trips out to arizona to make the house full time livable by March 1st. If I haven’t said it out loud before, I’ve certainly thought it, “looks like there’s no turning back now”!
Mike
It’s got some odd quirks BUT we fell in love with it. 1700 sf plus approximately 1000 sf garage/workshop and about 300sf basement or as I’ve already dubbed it, the Cellar. The cool: While there’s no doubt it’s an old house, it has the original solid oak flooring, it also has an almost modern style Kitchen/Dining/Living/Family Great-room area, two giant bathrooms, all new kitchen appliances, screened in front porch and built in shelfs and dressers and cabinets throughout the whole place. Completely tree lined privacy with large lawn and a covered patio area. As for the quirks: Kitchen has friggin ugly spotted 4” sq. tiled countertops and there are cork tiles in a lot of the ceiling but I can live with that for a year or so. It’s the original home on the corner of a large property that has been turned into a small RV park. At least we have free access to a Recreation Center and the park maintenance guys do our gardening.
All in all it’s absolutely perfect for what we need right now, a comfortable home, large home office area, guestroom for visits from friends and family and lots of storage for materials and things as our new house progresses. Our So Cal house goes on the market in 4 or 5 weeks and we don’t want to be here when it does so it looks like we’ll be taking weekly trips out to arizona to make the house full time livable by March 1st. If I haven’t said it out loud before, I’ve certainly thought it, “looks like there’s no turning back now”!
Mike
Always enjoy your updates, keep them coming.
Ok everybody, keep your fingers crossed for us for the next 30 days. We listed our SoCal house for 515,000 in hopes of selling for 500,000. Got 2 offers, 485 and 490, countered at 500 on both and both came back at 501,000. Accepted the one that seemed the best qualified and opened escrow this morning. Hopefully no unpleasant surprises come up. If it goes through we can break ground in May.
Saw on Zillow that it was now pending. Woo Hoo! Congrats!
Boatboy24
No longer a newbie, but still clueless.
Awesome, Mike!
Wow, that’s great!!
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