Wild Goose Chase.

Started my extended(6 day) weekend yesterday, and searching for something to do, I convinced my wife we should get in the car, and head to the town of Dayton for some light antiquing and lunch.  I then added in, 'since we were going to be in that direction, maybe we could swing out into the fields and hills between Dayton and Pomeroy and look at a parsel of land that is for sale'. 

I wasn't fooling her....recognizing that I was really looking for an excuse to go on scenic drive, she made sure to grab some knitting and books for the girls. 

Dayton was as advertised...there is just something about it that feels right.  There was some antique shopping, and yarn shopping, and lunch at the Grain House Grill.  It's a newer restaraunt, and this is only the 2nd time I've eaten there, but it's now neck and neck with Skye Book and Brew as my favorite place to eat in Dayton.  My wife and older daughter both had the 'American Kobe' burgers, and they must have been good, because they both ate all of their 1/3rd pound burgers, and my younger daughter tried to eat all of her grilled cheese with bacon sandwhich, but allowed me to help with the last two bites. 

After that, it was back in the car for a frustrating 2.5 hour drive.  You see...the address of the property I was looking for, doesn't exist.  As with some rural property that they are still making roads to get to, the property has a street name, but the actual address is TBD...but that street doesn't show up on any map I've tried to use.  However, there is a creek with the same name in the area, so I tried to use that as a guide for maybe getting close enough to find a 'For Sale Sign' pointing me closer.

No luck...although we did find come across over 50 deer(only one sad looking spike buck amoung them) and about the same number of turkeys. 

Despite the lack of luck, I can't say the time was wasted.  I had a great lunch with my family, the kids were PERFECT the whole day, and I got to hold my wife's hand when she wasn't knitting. 

We were close to the property...the land looked like what the pictures on the internet show...rolling fields with pine trees in the draws.  I was totally satisfied with the amount of wildlife we saw.  The piece of land for sale is not huge...10 acres, which is not necessarily big enough to go hunting on, but it is big enough that if one were to convince turkeys and mule deer to hang out on the property, you could safely shoot it. 

That's appealing. 

Since we aren't really in a position to buy it right now, I'm not too upset I couldn't actually walk to property.  We need to get through buying this house first...but after that?  Well, there is a reason we are buying a house in the 150K price range.  Getting our hands on vacation property IS a priority.  If this is still out there 4-6 months from now, then I might actually worry about talking to an agent and saying 'escort me to this property so I can walk the boundary.'

Until then, I will dream.