We went up to the property on Friday afternoon to spend the night and get some stuff accomplished on Saturday, the 15th. We all slept on air mattresses in the shed, except for Jaron, who slung his hammock across some trees and settled in for the night.
Jaron on Hammock
Each one of us woke up cold at different times in the early morning hours. It is typically 8 to 10 degrees cooler at night up there compared to Virginia Beach. We grabbed blankets and sleeping bags and quickly settled back in. It was nice. All except for Davin, who had a tough time getting comfortable all night. He ended up sleeping much of the morning in this relaxing position.
Davin Asleep
My first order of business was getting the solar panel hooked up. We had cell phones and a fan to power. Important stuff! It didn’t take long, and it worked great. I think we do need an energy efficient fan though. This one pulls 60 watts, which would drain the battery if used overnight. We’ll also get some LED lights, and it’ll be just like home. Here’s the battery, charge controller, and inverter setup. I’m using a 100W Renogy kit and a Bestek 1000W inverter from Amazon, and a Diehard Deep Cycle battery from Sears. Total cost was just under $300.
Battery and Power Setup
After breakfast. Ava and Davin cut down some trees, Bryan checked the bees, Lianne cleared and cut dead branches, and Jaron took the tractor out to clear the blackberry brambles. The bees are strong and healthy. The clearing and cutting will go much quicker once we get a chain saw.
Davin and Ava Cutting Tree
Bryan and Smoker
The 1.5 acres of blackberries is a chore. We felt like Jaron was making good progress, as you can see from this first picture. However, when we walked up to our neighbors property to have a look we realized the enormity of the task. Feel free to click and zoom in on that panoramic view. You can see where Jaron has started making some progress over on the far left, but there’s still a lot of work to be done. For more photos from the trip check out our Photo Album.
Cleared Brambles From Next Door
Panoramic Blackberries From Next Door