We just closed on five acres in the mountains of Tennessee. Right now it’s raw land, an unfinished road, and a long list of unknowns. Neither of us has done this before. We’re doing it anyway.
What It Is
Five acres near LaFollette, in an offroad community sitting right next to the Royal Blue and Tackett Creek trail systems – hundreds of miles of trails, essentially out the door. Norris Lake is about 25 minutes away. If you’ve followed us for any amount of time, you can see why this piece of ground made sense to us: wheeling and water in the same place. The two halves of this whole brand, on one property.
What it is not, yet: anything else. There’s no cabin, no pad, no power. There’s a road that isn’t finished and a hillside with our name on it. That’s the honest starting point, and it’s exactly the part we want to show.
Why We Did It
Every trip we take ends the same way – with us driving home and immediately talking about when we can get back out. Base Camp is the answer to that conversation. Not a vacation property. A launching point. Somewhere the Jeep can live closer to the trails, somewhere the boat is 25 minutes from the water, somewhere the adventure doesn’t require three days of planning to start.
I researched this decision the way I research everything, which is to say: thoroughly, with spreadsheets, over months. Ron walked the land once and knew. We arrived at the same answer from opposite directions, which is roughly how every decision in our marriage works.
What Happens Next
First, honestly: not much for a few weeks. We leave in the fall for three weeks out west, and the land will still be there when we get back. Phase two – the road, the pad, the real work – starts this fall.
We’re going to show all of it. The parts that go well, the parts that cost more than we planned, and the inevitable moment where Ron fixes something with whatever’s in the truck while I stand there having already worried about it. If you’ve ever thought about a piece of land as a home base for this kind of life, follow along. We’re figuring it out in public.
And if you’re wheeling in this part of Tennessee before we get anything built – Windrock is nearby, and our insider guide covers how we run it.
| This is post one of the Base Camp series. Follow along – we’re just getting started. Phase two begins when we’re back from the September trip. |
