First Some Background

Larry and I married in August 1997. Aside from Larry's dream of building an airplane (which is weeks away from being completed, however, we're in NC and the plane's in Wisconsin), we both dreamed of living somewhere more bucolic than Mundelein, IL. Our search took us to Galena, IL (when the dream list included enough land for a grass landing strip); outside Asheville, NC (when Michael Ocker and family moved to NC the first time); Grafton, IL overlooking the confluence of the Illinois and Mississippi rivers (near Judy and Dave Sanford); and Brown County, IN (we'd driven through and seen pretty pictures). Then at a family party at my sister Jeanne's, I asked her in-laws, Carol and Sandy Goldman-- world travelers -- where they felt was one of the prettiest spots in the U.S., with milder weather than Chicago. Without hesitation Sandy said, "Grandfather Mountain and Blowing Rock, North Carolina." Since Michael had recently moved back to NC for a new job we thought we'd check it out.

In August 2006 we spent a couple of days with a Blowing Rock realtor who kept showing us houses after we'd told her we were interested in land. Then we went over to Sparta, NC to see if there were any bargains to be had. The views just weren't "big" enough.

In my travels, I picked up a copy of "Homes & Land of the High Country" and saw a listing: Large high elevation tract just outside Banner Elk, 4200' elevation, very good views possible; 13.49 acres, TBD Old Beech Mtn Rd, Elk Park. I emailed the realtor, Will Buckner, in October to ask if this was really the view from the property or one of those "...similar view from neighboring property" deals. He laughed because he was familiar with how some realtors will do this, but he said he definitely took the picture from the property. We asked Michael and Cherell to please go look at it for us. They reported back, "You've got to see this." Less than a week later we walked the property.

So, okay, the picture in the listing was taken from the property, but he took the picture standing on one leg in the very corner next to the road. The land was completely wooded. He assured us, and Larry assured me, that we would find our view. The price was right. We nervously plunged in. Well, I was nervous, Larry was confident. We didn't even ask for a perk test contingency because we didn't know where the building site would be and, hey, with 13 acres we'd have no problem. More about that later. Here's the view from the neighbors on both sides:

The two pictures above were supposed to be at the end of this post. I'm sure there's a way to get them there but for now I can't figure out how.