We Made It!!!!!

10/30/06 Monday
We made it !!! Right now I am writing this from the Best Western hotel in Big Spring. I put a new alternator on and sure enough that was the problem. Got that done right at the twelve o’clock checkout time so we packed and hit the road. We are now showered and preparing to head to the farm after breakfast. The first stop will be at the Stanton post office where we will pick up the mail that has accumulated over the last three months. After that we will go to the farm. We are wondering what we will find. Worrying might be more accurate. Did someone break in?? Are the killer bees back?? Will the pipes leak when the water is turned on?? For that matter will the pump at the well work?? Stay tuned for updates.
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Cherie called me on the CB when we had not gotten a mile from the hotel “Honey, my battery light just came on. The temperature thingy is climbing way up and it’s hard to turn the steering wheel”. I know what that means, she lost a belt so I had her follow me off the next exit to a truck stop. We parked the car and when I looked underneath the hood, sure enough the serpentine belt was gone. We cleared out a space on the passenger side of the truck and after getting permission to leave her car we went to the farm.

You can tell it had rained from how much the jungle had grown up. Now these are tumbleweeds when they come up higher than the hood of the trunk. I got out the weed wacker and cleared a path for the truck and then to park the trailer near the front door.

Cherie went to sweeping while I cleared brush and then we unloaded the truck. With that done we have come back to the hotel where we can make some of the necessary calls that have to be done. High on that list is the well company so we can get some water at the farm. As soon as we have water we will move in.

I can’t quite describe the emotions we both feel as it begins to sink in. HOME, this is HOME. We don’t have to go anywhere else, we don’t have to answer to a landlord, this is ours. Cherie and I went out in the road to take pictures and I told her “We’re gonna bring this place to life”.

6:20 PM – It just keeps getting better. We called Ledford Pump Service and Leroy, the owner, said he lived in Greenwood which is close by so could come right over. We had just gotten back to the hotel room and were going to go fix Cherie’s car so dropped that and made the twenty mile drive back to the farm.

Leroy was a nice guy who I would guess is around seventy years old. We drove back to where the well is and he began to poke around. It was a mess with all kinds of half ass things done like wrapping old blankets and fiberglass insulation around the tank with electric and duct tape to hold it in place. That had long since rotted and it is evident that over the years they would just put another layer over the previous one. As Leroy poked through this looking for switches he jumped back.

“Did you see that snake?” he asked. No I didn’t but Leroy started digging around the hole the snake went down. Oh yeah, there are snakes. A whole nest of rattlesnakes. We killed three of them and kept digging around the well where the snakes were. There is no casing on the well which is not a good thing. When we got to the big snake who Leroy said was probably the mama I got it’s head with the shovel but it fell down the well.

Leroy had checked the well and the pump was burnt out. But he said it wouldn’t be a good idea to use the well because it would be contaminated due to the snake. The pump motor was only a ¾ horsepower which he couldn’t believe was what had been put in. Considering it had to pump the water a half mile to the house it was way to small. That is a reason my grandmother kept on having to replace the pump because it was too small for the job. The more he looked at the well the more of this kind of thing he saw like piping that was too small and electric tape being used as a gasket material. It would seem that her well service guy had been taking advantage of her for decades.

It looks like we will have to drill another well. That’s gonna cost a grand or more. Cherie is checking our finances and we will call the lawyer up in the morning to see what is left of the inheritance if anything and when we can get it. We gotta have water so that’s the way it is. Things will be tight for a while now.

I’ll work on Cherie’s car later. We got it back to the hotel so it’ll be safe. Leroy has a friend who will come and cut the weeds and stuff tomorrow morning. At least things are moving. Leroy may get the well drilled tomorrow also. Cash is the issue now.