Has It Really Been That Long...

...since we posted here? Wow! It has been a tough year for many people. Just before the economic crisis hit we had talked to the realtor about selling our home here in Florida. She said "Wait a couple of months and let's see what happens." Then the bottom dropped out of the market. Needless to say, that's put a huge crimp in our plans! However, we have managed to keep our heads above water and are continuing in our goal to build this dream of ours! Unless we hit the lottery or a hurricane destroys our home or some such thing, we will have to start out much smaller than originally anticipated. BUT we are continuing in our plans!
Right now things are still in the very infant stages. We have a vision and a bunch of drawings that Steve has done. We have been doing some research and Ginni just updated the website with a few pictures at www.clarkbaylodge.com.
Our goal at this time is to wait a few more months until the South Florida market rebounds just a wee bit. Then we plan to move to Ketchikan where we will work. Meanwhile, we'll take the trips over to Hollis and build as we are able. It will just take longer than we wanted. :)
If you know of or want to invest we'd be interested in talking to you. You can email Steve at stevegass52@yahoo.com.
In the meantime we hope you've had a wonderful few months and I promise I will update sooner than every 6-8 months! (Very embarrassed here!) We look forward to meeting and serving you in Alaska!

We hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday season! And a great 2008!
As you can guess, the economic situation has affected our plans for building the lodge. But never fear! We have other options in mind. We talked to a realtor just before the economy tanked and got some very positive feedback from her. However, now is NOT the time to sell in our area! So we are going to Plan B. We will be spending the first few months of the new year working on finding some grant money for the building project. We are still VERY excited about this project and can't WAIT to get started with it!
Meanwhile, here's some pictures of the property to whet your whistle!
Enjoy!
First is a picture of the property as it looks now. We will leave as much natural beauty as possible and will be using as much wood from the property as possible. (Some of the pictures are a bit blurry because the ground was very soggy and it was hard to get a steady footing!)

Here's a picture of the lagoon in front of the property.

Some of the many tall cedar trees on the property.

A picture of Steve standing in front of a VERY large cedar tree! It's already leaning so we will have to cut it down and use it for building materials.

Here's a picture of the nearby world famous Harris River.

The Maybeso Creek is very close to the property. Is there gold in it? Maybe so!

I took this picture in nearby Craig. Eagles are a common sight!

We look forward to hearing your comments and/or suggestions!
Have a wonderfully blessed 2009

A little bit closer!

I haven't posted in awhile because our progress here has been VERY slow. Steve's mom got very ill and he's been working hard too. His mom's doing much better now and we're very glad. Meanwhile, there HAS been a bit of progress. We have a landscaping plan for the back yard. Thank you Heather!!! The dining room ceiling is finally finished! YAYAY!! And the guest bathroom should be done no later than the end of next week. I'll post pictures when it's finished. I'm calling it the "Ugly Duckling Bathroom"! Hopefully I'll be able to find the pictures I took a couple of years ago so I can post before and after pictures! We still have the living room ceiling to repair which will take at least a week between coats of mud and sanding. The living and dining rooms are all one big room so painting will be done all at once. That won't be much fun for sure! And then it will be little tiny touch-ups and finishing projects. Finally, we'll do the landscaping of the back yard and then we can talk to the realtor! So still awhile to go. Progress is being made slowly but surely! Remember, it was the tortoise that won the race! Hehe!

A TINY Bit of Progress!

So the first two projects are late. But they're DONE! This is a picture of our "new" front porch. The railings between the posts and the house are decorative only and are new. Gives a whole new feeling to the house! And the guest bedroom is finally painted and has drapes! YAY!

Next project is to redo our "Florida room". Some may call it a sun room. Basically it's a porch that previous owners made a permanent room. It needs new French doors, a new closet, paint and the ceiling needs to be finished. This is the room that totally lost the roof in Hurricane Wilma on October 24, 2005. That's a day we aren't likely to EVER forget!!!

Once that room's done we can repair the damage to the ceilings in the living and dining rooms from the hurricane and leaking. The roof was replaced a year ago and Steve did try to fix the drywall. But it's definitely not something he's good at and now we need to fix the repairs. Hehe! And both rooms need painting. That means moving furniture to the Florida room for a few days. Hopefully it won't take that long and we'll be back on schedule soon!

Alaska, HERE WE COME!!! (At least someday soon we hope!) :)

A Plan!!!

Steve and I finally had a few minutes to sit down and make a goal plan for finishing the work on the house. We were both amazed at how much was still left to do! But if we're able to stick to it as we wrote it, we'll be able to put the house on the market by August 1, 2008! Maybe by then this slow market will have perked up a bit. It's already started here just a wee bit!

Now, we need to figure out the best way to pay for the land .....

Sssh!!! Don't Tell Anybody!

I think we have finally come up with an actual floorplan and design for the lodge!!! It's taken LOTS of "discussions" and even a few tears, but a compromise has finally been reached! I can't share it yet, but suffice it to say IT'S AWESOME!!! I wish it could happen tomorrow, but what's that old saying? Good things come to those who wait! But it doesn't say anything about liking the waiting or being patient about it does it now?! Hehe! Until next time...

Stormy Weather!!

Here in South Florida we get some pretty nasty storms (aka hurricanes and tropical storms) but we don't often get storms like we've had the last couple of days. We desperately needed the rain though and after praying hard that the nastiest weather would stay away, I hunkered down in the house and prayed for Steve's safety as he worked. But today just about scared the wits out of me! I was sitting at my computer in the new office. (We switched rooms as soon as Steve's mom left.) It was beginning to get nasty again and I was glad I didn't have to go out anywhere. Suddenly I saw a flash, heard a very loud CRACK and then BOOM! This all happened within a nanosecond of each other and I realized that I'd just heard the lightning strike just outside my window! Sure got the old heartbeat going good for awhile! I quickly turned off the computer and stayed away from most electrical things (except a couple of lights) and started to scrapbook. It took several hours for all the storms to pass but when they finally did the skies were beautiful with huge clouds and blue hues. And the mango tree we love so much still has all of its half-grown fruit and most of the blossoms from the second bloom! Yummy! So thank You Jesus for keeping us all safe today and keeping the nastiest weather away - even though a bit was too close for my comfort!