Exciting News

I am now “camped” in a friend’s driveway in Elk Rapids, MI.  I moved here from another friend’s house which is inside the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park (!), right on the Platte River.  We floated the river one day and it was serene and relaxing, and played marathon card games.  I have had a miserable cold the past 2 days but after sleeping for 15 hours, I am feeling much better today. Love that Nyquil!

I was looking for some cheap wooded land in northern Michigan where I could legally park my camper for summers, since it’s much cooler here than in NC or SC.  Instead, I am buying a cute little cottage for only $7900!  It is in a subdivision of cute little cottages in Harrison, MI (population 2250), with deeded lake access to Arnold Lake.  Have not yet seen the access site, but I hope that lake is good for fishing, especially perch.

It is just 350 sq. ft.   One bedroom, living room, kitchen and bath.  There’s an electric wall heater in the living room in case I ever do have to live there year-round, but let’s hope that does not happen.  I’m not a big fan of that white stuff that comes in winter.   It was built in 1950 and has already been gutted and has all new insulation and nearly all the new sheetrock done and painted.  There’s an electric range in there and a lot of building materials…..the rest of the sheetrock, kitchen cabinets, well pump & pressure tank, water heater, carpeting, etc.

So that changed all my summer plans.  Closing is on July 17 so I’ll be coming back down from the U.P. for that, and will immediately move to the cottage until Aug. 9, when my friend Jeanne joins me and we’ll go back to the U.P. and start more touring, and when that’s done I will go back to the cottage and stay til late October.  Hopefully I can get a lot of stuff done on the cottage, though I won’t be able to spend any money on it; I am really scrambling to find enough money to buy the place!    I was very relieved to find that I could get the electricity changed to my name without any deposit.

I think I can get a bunch of free furnishings & kitchen stuff for it, too!  A friend’s neighbor died and they are looking to get rid of a houseful of stuff, and we think they will be willing to give it away, since most of it is from the 60’s.  (Think ORANGE) I don’t care what color it is!  I am keeping my fingers crossed on that.