Poof!
Just like that, nearly seven weeks have evaporated into thin air. As our time here in this beautiful place is quickly coming to a close I’m trying to extract every bit of enjoyment I can from the last couple of weeks.
I’ve learned from our stint of extensive travel (2017-2019) that on every trip, somewhere just beyond the halfway point you realize no matter how long your trip is it never quite feels long enough. That’s certainly been the case here.
Since Amstel is getting older and his stamina isn’t what it once was, we got our beagle boy a carrier so he can go on longer hikes with us. This is a real workout for me carrying an extra twenty-seven pounds on my back. He instantly took to it as you can tell from his chill demeanor. His bar of expectations has been raised once again.
This dog carrier should be fun back home too. I’m going to see how Amstel will tolerate short bike rides. I guess time will tell. Maybe I'll get him a little pair of goggles for those fast rides on the VanMoof. What a sight that would be.
Sedona is truly a place like no other. Where else do wild javelina pigs forage at sunset? We spotted this herd of eight in my sister-in-law’s back yard. As I was snapping this picture my wife reminded me that it wasn't a good idea to stare at them too long. I guess they see that as an act of aggression and the entire pack will charge at you. Thankfully I got that warning before it actually played out. I don't know how fast they can run but don't want to find out the hard way.
Coming from the Upper Midwest where spring may not rear its head until May it’s been amazing to get an early glimpse of it. Lilacs and flowering crabapple trees are a common sight in Minnesota but we were surprised to see them blooming here in the yard of our Airbnb.
Absolutely everything is in full bloom here now and the fragrance in the air is almost unbelievable. This is definitely the best time of year to be here.
Apparently yesterday was my lucky day. I found a piece of raw turquoise in the gravel by the side of the road during a walk around our neighborhood. It's customary to see small veins of in larger rock formations around the hiking trails but this is the first time I’ve seen a piece all by itself. I may have it set into a pendant for a necklace at some point. For now, it’ll be my good luck charm.
Our Last Few Weeks
My brother and his family will be down in about ten days to join us and then we will hit the road for home the very day they leave. We had initially come down here to Arizona to scout out a few acres of land to eventually build on. After some research we realized we are either way too late or, possibly, very early to the party. Just have a look at these prices.
Due to the booming real estate market all across the country there’s a massive land grab going on that makes it very difficult to find anything reasonably priced. It’s the same story for single family homes. Historically the real estate market is cyclical though (not always true with land prices) so we’ve decided to wait it out. Once the market cools down we'll resume our search for a winter home here.
I’m not quite ready to give up on our Sedona dream just yet. As I relayed in my previous post dreams sometimes take years to manifest. This will be worth the wait.
Enjoy the rest of your week everyone! I’ll be posting more in our last few weeks here in the desert.
Eric
--
(Photos are original.)
Poetry should move us, it should change us, it should glitch our brains, shift our moods to another frequency. Poetry should evoke feelings of melancholy, whimsy, it should remind us what it feels like to be in love, or cause us to think about something in a completely different way. I view poetry, and all art really, as a temporary and fragile bridge between our world and a more pure and refined one. This is a world we could bring into creation if enough of us believed in it. This book is ephemera, destined to end up forgotten, lingering on some dusty shelf or tucked away in a dark attic. Yet the words, they will live on in memory. I hope these words become a part of you, bubble up into your memory when you least expect them to and make you feel a little more alive.
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Let’s Keep In Touch
Hi Eric , what a nice vacation climbing the mountain and seeing the beautiful natural scenery. Especially now that the flowers are blooming there. Amstel is very lucky to have an owner like you that ready to take him wherever you go. Have a nice day, Eric.
Thank you Eliana. I hope you enjoy your weekend!
The flower scents in the air alone would be worth the trip. Lilacs are a personal favorite, and they are a more versatile flower than I knew if they're even in the desert states. We had lilac trees in the yards of both my childhood homes, and to this day that scent takes me back :)
Amstel is super cute, haha, Lucy is a bit too heavy for that at almost 70 pounds, but if Howie were carrying her she would love it too!
So glad you enjoyed your vacation :)
I totally agree @dreemit. It's been like a preview of spring for us. We won't see lilacs blooming until some time in May. I'm not sure if they'd survive here without irrigation but maybe? We had a while and purple lilac bush in the back yard of the house we lived in from 2008-2015. I really miss it.
Amstel is borderline too heavy too. 27lbs of squirming beagle strapped to your back doesn't make me the most stable hiker. I bet I'll look like I've "had a few" when people see us on the trail. : )
Thank you, we have a couple of weeks left and I know those will go by in the blink of an eye. We're looking forward to summer back home though. There's so much to do in these next few months. I hope you and the family have a wonderful weekend!
Oh wow, two more weeks.. Now that's how you do a vacation!
I just picked up a thirty pound bag of dog food today, and let me just say you must be in as magnificent shape as you look to hike with that weight on your back, haha!
It's been a working vacation but I'm so grateful to be able to do this.
I try my best to stay in shape. I've transitioned from more intense workouts to simpler things like a Russian kettlebell, cycling, walking, qigong, and burpees (thanks to my nephew the Marine drill instructor).
I hope you and the family are having a great weekend!
Time flies indeed. It feels like it's getting by quicker lately.
I hope you'll find your perfect patch of land eventually.
!invest_vote
Thank you! Very true. People are really snapping up the open land surrounding Sedona now since a lot of it has been declared a protected wine-growing region. That will likely only make its value go up over time.
Hello dear friend @ericvancewalton good afternoon
It is normal for time to pass quickly when we enjoy the place where we are; How beautiful what you have bought for Amstel to accompany you on your walks; nice gesture.
It is wonderful that stone that you have found, very beautiful, what a lucky day
What a beautiful collection of images, I appreciate that you have shown us
Have a beautiful afternoon
Thank you my friend! I hope you have a great day as well.
Lol the javelinas raiding the garden, I grew up in southern arizona and they would decend upon our plants every now and then. Those guys will even eat cactus thorns and all.
This is the first time I've seen so many in one spot. We were doing some landscaping in the yard just a few hours before that picture was taken so we must've exposed something that was tasty to them. Wow, thorns and all? Talk about fiber! Lol.
Here's evidence of their snacking habits.
Ha!!! Yes! I didn't believe it until I saw them do it in my yard in Gilbert!!!!
I've seen them out in the wild with lots of needles in their snouts, maybe they don't have many nerve endings in their mouths and noses and don't feel the pain of the needles.
Wow, I bet they think to themselves, "That was spicy!". Lol.
Definitely some spicy pico de gallo.
That will also help you vividly remember your experience on that day. At times our memory gets pivoted with a certain milestone or object or something special. It could be that.
Amstel is pushing you for an extra real workout, but you can do it every now and then you look at his cute face. Indeed very very cute.
Thank you!
Any chance I could purchase the book from you on PDF? I’m leaving for Viva Las Vegas in a few days and I have to pack extreme light. Anything I can get on the Kindle, the better. Let me know when your back in Minnesota. We’re long overdue.
I decided not to do an eBook version of Ephemera, unfortunately. All of my other books are available in eBook format though. Yes! We definitely need to plan lunch when I get back. We can compare notes about our Teslas. I should have mine somewhere between June 25 and August 6. Have a great trip!
That is a pretty cool carrier that you got for Amstel! I remember a long time ago I did the race for a cure thing in downtown Columbus with my inlaws. Their youngest daughter was just an infant/toddler at the time and I got volunteered to do the whole two miles with her in a carrier on my back. I know how exhausting it can be! I've never been on a trip quite as long as yours. I know about halfway through I get to missing my home, but that doesn't seem the same. That piece of turquoise you found is awesome. I love it! My wife and I are experiencing the same thing with home and land prices. We could easily sell our current place, but finding a new place at a decent price is impossible. It's nationwide sadly. We are waiting it out for now too. Best of luck to you and safe travels on your way home!
I was pretty skeptical about this carrier at first but was surprised by how fast he took to it. That picture is literally the first time he tried it. It must hit their pressure points to help calm them down or something. It's a very snug fit. I'll be burning calories like mad on these trails.
Oh yeah, we are in a super bubble right now. Real estate prices are absolutely insane out here. We initially thought we could dodge that by buying some acreage but weren't counting on the corporation coming in to snap up all the available land in the outskirts. I think our best bet at this point is to wait it out and find a modest single family home within city limits. There are even mobile homes scattered around, all of them are from the 70's era. They don't allow them here anymore but the old ones are grandfathered in.
Thank you my friend! Are you all still on the road?
No, we got home about a week ago. We took a small overnight trip last night to see Elton John in concert across the state. It was a great show. If the corporation is buying up the land, it might not be an area you want to live in anyway. That is really cool about the carrier. If Jovi were 50 pounds less I might think about getting one! In the grand scheme of things waiting even five years if you have the luxury might be the best bet. That or you revisit the RV thing again...
I bet that was an awesome concert. All of these musicians we grew up with are getting up there in age. It's a good idea to catch them when they're on tour. Yeah, good point about the land. They're barred from building any industrial facilities but we'll probably see more hotels going up. We are now officially in waiting mode. I'm going to be keeping an open tab on the MacBook and will be checking prices periodically.
Yeah, it was really great. There were a couple of songs I wish he had sung, but when you have a catalog as vast as his, you need to pick and choose. I knew I wasn't going to hear everything I wanted. He had a tough time getting around the stage. I guess that happens when you get to be 75 though.
Glad to hear he still "has it". We saw Hall and Oates a few years back and they were still very good.
I saw them maybe 15 years ago and they were really good then. I am glad they are still killing it!
I like the discovery of the green stone in the gravel, does it have any properties.
Thanks! Here are some of the reported metaphysical properties.....https://www.charmsoflight.com/turquoise-healing-properties
you're welcome. thanks to you too
I have read it, so the stone is very good as a purification of negative energy, Can we tie the stone as a ring stone? I also have two ring stones in my hand, which I always wear, one type of iron content stone that I use.
Yes, I think it would work well as a ring stone or as a pendant.
Back in 2008, when the US market was in fairly bad shape, I was "this close" to pulling the trigger on buying a property in Arizona. My guesstimate at the time was that it was listed for about 20% of its normal market value. Link to an article discussing the foreclosures at the time. I looked in the Tempe/Mesa/Scottsdale areas.
The only thing that held me back was that I had no way of securing the property after purchase (since I live in Canada). I didn't know enough ways to ensure it wasn't going to be vandalized/squatted/damaged etc etc.
Looking at the property values now ... I really should have bought. Even if the building had been demolished, the land value alone is higher than what I would have paid.
I really enjoy that neck of the woods. So far, it's only for vacations though.
I remember those days @gikitiki! We had just bought a beautiful little craftsman style bungalow in a middle class neighborhood. Within a year almost 25% of the homes on some blocks had been foreclosed. We nearly walked away from ours at one point. That's when everyone was buying properties and flipping them for huge profit. Homes were being picked up for next to nothing. I think we'll see opportunities like that again within the next 1-3 years so you may get a second chance.
Isn't Canada experiencing some kind of housing crisis due to high costs? I think I read something about that recently.
I bet it is difficult buying in other countries. I've looked at purchasing property in the Montreal area. It was a fast track to getting a Canadian passport too. I think back then you had to spend $250k or something like that and you could apply for citizenship.
This part of the country is pretty amazing. We still are holding onto our original dream of finding land and putting a few of these on them -- https://zennihome.com/pages/denizen
Canada's housing crisis is the simple economic truth of "if there's more demand than supply, the price will go up". Many of the provinces are now playing catch-up to try to get more houses made by "fasttracking" approvals of building permits etc etc. I expect that in a few years, things will get back to normal. For us, we are in the situation where in under 5 years, our house has more than doubled in value ... but, you have to live somewhere, if we sell high, we will force ourselves to buy high.
I've looked at the Zennihomes before, but I don't think my wife and I are tidy enough. After I'd pulled out the closet to get at my office desk ... I'd likely never get it back in again. My "stuff" would just organically grow into the space. :-)
We've rented a pop-up camper and proved that we need fixed walls. I'll freely admit it. I'm a little messy.
The price aspect is similar to what we're experiencing here in the US. We have a condo we'd like to sell but the condo market is strangely cold so we've decided to wait a bit.
If we find suitable land to put these on our plan is to buy a couple of the larger ones and connect them with a covered breezeway. It's REALLY difficult to share such a small space and more of a modular set up will allow us a place to retreat when we need our own space.
While you are doing research, you can now get triple wide trailers (that can be very modern) with about 3000 sqft for around $100K. That's larger than most freehold homes.
I have friends at https://www.mapleleafacres.ca/. With a double/double (wide/long). Inside, you'd never know you were in a trailer. Outside, you've got the lake or the indoor pool and the community center is larger than most town halls I've been in. The park fees are a lot cheaper than property taxes... etc etc
This trailer park really reminds me of a high society country club ...
Thanks for the information! We're actually looking into this option now. They no longer allow this kind of dwelling within city limits but older trailers are grandfathered in. My parents lived in one of these communities in Florida. Their trailer was really nice. In the time they lived there survived four hurricanes, two of which were no joke.
Time flies. Some days this worries me more than others - making the best out of it is all we can do.
I would love to do the same with my Cat, but most cat don't like to be unable to move :D
They have similar carriers for cats but they're fully enclosed. With a carrier like the one we got I can't imagine the damage a cat could do with their claws if they got spooked and wanted out.
To be fair, Sedona and Flagstaff have always been expensive, Scottsdale too. It is more cost-effective to buy a new home in Arizona than it is to build one. But, that is the story almost everywhere I had checked out. The last time I check land/prices in Arizona was in 2018. I will inherit land in Flagstaff, so I don't want anymore there, but Sedona is in a class of its own.
Spring is the very best before the hell of summer. I did fry an egg on the sidewalk so I could show my mother how hot I was, plus it was great entertainment for the kids. :)
I backed off last year with the real estate. It is (I think) obvious it will crash and burn and then we can buy more real estate at bargain-basement prices. Right now, everyone is trying to triple their investment.
Can't blame them but some of them are just unaffordable.
Oh, yes, absolutely. This has always been more expensive relative to other areas. Some of the Sedona properties around here have doubled in market value since 2019. If that's not a bubble, I don't know what is. That's great that you'll inherit land up there in Flagstaff. I haven't seen much of except for driving through but it has to be nice.
I've heard horror stories about the heat! I don't so much mind it but my wife is not a fan. It gets swelteringly hot and humid in Minnesota in the summer but for one or two week spans, not anything more consistent than that.
I just cannot believe the property mania that's going on here. It's an ominous sign. It reminds me of the years leading to the 2008 Housing Crisis. Corporations are snapping up single family homes right and left.
We'll wait it out for now. We can rent again for a couple of years if we need to.
Hello Eric
Such a nice photo of Amstel in the carrier, I'm sure it will be appreciated.
That piece of turquoise is truly a fortunate find, definitely must have it set in something that you can wear and have your good luck charm with you permanently.
"...dreams sometimes take years to manifest." So true, just have to keep chipping away at them one day at a time.
Enjoy the remaining time you have in Sedona and the upcoming weekend.
Thank you! I hope you enjoy the rest of your week!
Sedona is a place you can dream of thanks to the picturesque canyons and coniferous forests, mild climate. The beauty of nature and stunning panoramic views. Do not leave this dream, this land is just heaven on earth
@ervin-lemark denkt du hast ein Vote durch @investinthefutur verdient!@ervin-lemark thinks you have earned a vote of @investinthefutur !
You are the man with real passion best of luck for your journey. The purple flowers are looking beautiful.
Travelling is certainly a part of life I enjoy so so much
very nice post
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Great post and pictures! I love your Beagle!! OMG is so cute!!!