Upon the painstaking renovation process of Dark Nest, we picked at it. The first major project my dad and I worked on was running electricity to three different campsites. Upon completion of that we needed a place with running water, which was the Airstream, a 1985 Airstream International Land Yacht '34 footer, which we parked on a site ( I promise that I'll try to get some photos uploaded to the blog when I dig them out from the archives). We spent many weekends, the kids pitching tents, and us exhausted retiring to the Airstream at night. I remember it vividly, all nine of us housed in the trailer, at times, and picking at projects inside Dark Nest. Year after year, for approximately 12 years, we diligently tackled one thing after the next, putting one foot in front of the other.
In 2016, after five of our children were grown and moved on, to college, work, and independence, we decided to move in with our two youngest. We created space for them and my commute to work was extended by about a half hour, but I figured we needed to cut our losses. There was no sense in taking care of two houses, and our house in the small city we lived in, was just too big to justify keeping. We rushed through Dark Nest's plumbing, building a floor in the furnace area, making it habitable, and with the help of my mom, dad and some family friends, we made our way to sustaining life there.
Most would ask, how do you live in about nine hundred and sixty square feet? Easy, you just have to have thick skin, and you have to share space. It's a nice place, our slice of heaven in the rural community, with great neighbors. The property, nicely landscape provides a get away if we want to step out into our backyard, cup of coffee in hand, and enjoy nature (some eighty seven trees and shrubs that we planted), and the sounds of spring and summer. The downfall is the winter driving to work, thank goodness and hopefully, if all works out, that won't be happening as we make progress to our goal.
The plan, is not for everyone, it's a risk, really, but our goals are paying off. We will be able to begin our travel, put our travel bug to work, hopefully next year, and "part-time" it.
I write, therefore, I procrastinate. I write fiction, so being free from that full time work life will open up some free time to do what I've always loved. For those of you who know me, and for those that don't, just Google Tim Eagle on Amazon to find my book. I'm not going to officially plug it, it was really a flop as far as sales, but I don't write to make a living, I write because it's an escape. Traveling will give me the time I need to write (an escape within and escape), get some video on, and teach others who may be interested in the lifestyle we are going to live.
The "part-time" plan, well, it's simple really, I work a job, (pick a job, any job, just spin the wheel and where it lands, game on). We travel a little. We come back and actually enjoy the holidays that my work has prevented me from fully engaging in through the years, and we head south after the holidays.
We're fortunate enough to have a home spot in Florida, thanks again for my mom and dad. They have always taken care of things in life, and that's where I get a good portion of our inspiration, and drive to "semi" retire. The travel bug, well that comes from my Grandma Ruby, who recently left us (another story, altogether, which I will write),
Today, I'm fortunate for our life, the job I have currently, and am so glad that we were able to give our children the tools they need to succeed in life and gain their own independence. Today, the humidity is rising, another apocalyptic weather condition that will be in everyone's conversation. The birds still sing, the deer still roam, and we still trudge forward to our future together, enjoying every mile, every hill to climb, and we are forever thankful for the life we live. We have no regrets, we will move on, we will love, and we will travel.
Welcome to our history... (darknesttravels.blogspot.com) Come travel with Cocoa, the Daschund, me,Tim Eagle, and my wife, Maria. As we are on an adventure of travel with our fourth Airstream, a 1995 Class A Land Yacht, in the not to distant future. Our Mothership is being updated and made to be road ready for our long distant travels through the USA. Come join us, subscribe to our YouTube channel, follow us on Instagram. We will leap into a dream we've been patiently waiting for!
Saturday, June 30, 2018
Friday, June 15, 2018
Dark Nest Travels ... The History ... Part Two
You're probably wondering why I have't given too much information about our children. Well, that's private, they are private, and we love each of them so will respect their privacy and the life they live. They are all adults, now, except for one, who is less than one year from that magic "18". They thrive the way each one of them can, some graduated from college, some work everyday, doing what they love, and our youngest two, have a blank slate to paint their picture. Regardless of what they decide to do in their life, and despite what some think, we love each and every one of them.
In 2006, as the children were winding down for the night. I remember it vividly, it was winter, January to be exact, and Maria and I were sitting on the couch. Both dogs at the time, a Beagle named Jimmy and a Gold Lab/Husky mix named Jar-Jar, curled in their corners, sometimes lifting their heads to see what was going on, but they were relaxed. Maria was perusing a newspaper with real estate ads in it. She asked me to look at an ad she was interested in.
I looked. It was a black and white photo of an old school house. It looked dilapidated, from the old wood siding, to the missing school bell, and like it needed a lot of work. Within the next two days, after the weekend ended, I set up a day we could look at it. I was kind of excited, and we already had a house to live in, so I had a small, very small number in my head. Deep down, I figured I would throw a low ball offer to the realtor, they would reject my offer and we could move on.
The place was massive, for a one room schoolhouse. There was a drop down ceiling to help with heating since it had, five years prior, been used as a nursery in the area. It had thin glued carpet to the original wood floors. As we walked through it, plumes of air could visibly be seen exiting our mouths, due to the winter weather howling in what we call now the "wind tunnel" in the yard. The floors were solid, not a creak to be heard, that was a bonus. I could see the light in my wife's eyes as she looked around. It was a blank canvas, and my offer would surely save me some blood and sweat when the realtor gave it to the owners.
I threw my offer to him. He wrote it down, we signed the paperwork for the offer.
The waiting game ended when the realtor called and told me the group of people who owned the place accepted the offer. I was bummed, yet a certain excitement filled me. Our journey began, after a few hurdles with the title, and we signed the paperwork in February 2006.
It had begun. It was going to serve as a cottage, located in the small town of Stevats (not the real town, but a city I often write about). We had a '34 foot Airstream that we camped in with the family. We used this to shower and sleep in after a hards day work. First and foremost, we titled it, my wife thought it was a cabin, so it needed a title. I write horror, this was going to be our retirement "nest" so we titled it "Dark Nest". Here it is, twelve years later and a lot of hard work, and it's ours. I'm going to end this portion here. Remember this is a build up, and I don't want to bore you.
Remember, help us brand our YouTube channel by subscribing to our adventures and giving us some video support, if that's your thing. Dark Nest Travels is here. Click the link, hit the subscribe button, and get your video on! I will have more, there's plenty more to share with all of you, so please stay tuned!
In 2006, as the children were winding down for the night. I remember it vividly, it was winter, January to be exact, and Maria and I were sitting on the couch. Both dogs at the time, a Beagle named Jimmy and a Gold Lab/Husky mix named Jar-Jar, curled in their corners, sometimes lifting their heads to see what was going on, but they were relaxed. Maria was perusing a newspaper with real estate ads in it. She asked me to look at an ad she was interested in.
I looked. It was a black and white photo of an old school house. It looked dilapidated, from the old wood siding, to the missing school bell, and like it needed a lot of work. Within the next two days, after the weekend ended, I set up a day we could look at it. I was kind of excited, and we already had a house to live in, so I had a small, very small number in my head. Deep down, I figured I would throw a low ball offer to the realtor, they would reject my offer and we could move on.
The place was massive, for a one room schoolhouse. There was a drop down ceiling to help with heating since it had, five years prior, been used as a nursery in the area. It had thin glued carpet to the original wood floors. As we walked through it, plumes of air could visibly be seen exiting our mouths, due to the winter weather howling in what we call now the "wind tunnel" in the yard. The floors were solid, not a creak to be heard, that was a bonus. I could see the light in my wife's eyes as she looked around. It was a blank canvas, and my offer would surely save me some blood and sweat when the realtor gave it to the owners.
I threw my offer to him. He wrote it down, we signed the paperwork for the offer.
The waiting game ended when the realtor called and told me the group of people who owned the place accepted the offer. I was bummed, yet a certain excitement filled me. Our journey began, after a few hurdles with the title, and we signed the paperwork in February 2006.
It had begun. It was going to serve as a cottage, located in the small town of Stevats (not the real town, but a city I often write about). We had a '34 foot Airstream that we camped in with the family. We used this to shower and sleep in after a hards day work. First and foremost, we titled it, my wife thought it was a cabin, so it needed a title. I write horror, this was going to be our retirement "nest" so we titled it "Dark Nest". Here it is, twelve years later and a lot of hard work, and it's ours. I'm going to end this portion here. Remember this is a build up, and I don't want to bore you.
Remember, help us brand our YouTube channel by subscribing to our adventures and giving us some video support, if that's your thing. Dark Nest Travels is here. Click the link, hit the subscribe button, and get your video on! I will have more, there's plenty more to share with all of you, so please stay tuned!
Thursday, June 14, 2018
Dark Nest Travels ... The History ... Part One
Okay, this blog is slightly premature, but it's okay, because I like to think in advance and get things rolling. While we just purchased our, new to us, Class A motorhome (a 1995 Airstream Land Yacht 30'), it has some work to be done, and we have time to get it done, before we begin long distance travelling. I've been tinkering, filming, getting our tube channel rolling, and counting down the days. Yes, I know, why rush the time? Well, we've raised seven children, two have yet to fly, and it's sad to watch them spread their wings and fly from the Dark Nest, we are still excited to have come full circle. I begin with a little history of Us.
Maria and I met in 1993, back in the "good ole days" the nineties. A flash flood of memories comes to mind when I say it that way. We immediately jumped into our life together. We enjoyed our time, renting, which led to purchasing our first home, and yes, finally tying the knot in 1996, September 21st, to be exact.
Life was pretty good, a little adventurous, and without any other distraction except for our big hound, Barney. We worked, passing each other sometimes like ships in the night due to our schedules, and had some battles and challenges, not to our marriage or each other, but those battles and challenges that life threw at us. We battled them, together, like married couples should. Those struggles were just the beginning, the tiny drops of glue that was going to make our future together stronger. In the winter of '97 we began our family. Our first two children came into our life, and life seemed to be a little more complete. In late 2000, our third child entered, challenging us a little more, but it completed us...so we thought. We left our first house, sold it just before the housing market imploded, and moved in 2001.
There we lived a pretty great existence, raising children, giving them a good school and the tools to thrive with. But we weren't quite complete, yet. In 2004, enter the completion of our family, our next four children entered our lives. Yes, it made seven in total, and yes, my beard used to be black, but began showing signs of silver. We were complete! We were happy! We were doing what some want to do in life and that was to raise our family, to be the best parents that we knew how to be. Life was good.
We traveled then, vacations and trips, but realized it was a little different to travel with children, as everyone knows. Life was a little different, a little less fun, so to speak. Not that our children took that fun, fun just became more responsible, we were forced to be careful of our actions, to be cautious of the life before us because we had little people to take care of, teach, and to provide. Life went on, our marriage grew strong, and we always stayed on the same page. No wedges, just trucked through, each of us doing our part to make things happen.
I would like to ramble on, but have to break this post up, or you'd be reading this blog for the entire day, this is already a condensed version, lol. There's so much of our beginning that I want to share, the build up to now, our move to Stevats, the purchase of Dark Nest, which you'll hear so much about, and the decisions we made to make Dark Nest Travels a reality. So stay tuned, if you want to, and join us, if you will. Happy Reading! Here's the link to Dark Nest Travels you can subscribe for future videos if you will, please do, it will help get my personal channel branded if I reach 100 subscribers. Thank you!
Maria and I met in 1993, back in the "good ole days" the nineties. A flash flood of memories comes to mind when I say it that way. We immediately jumped into our life together. We enjoyed our time, renting, which led to purchasing our first home, and yes, finally tying the knot in 1996, September 21st, to be exact.
Life was pretty good, a little adventurous, and without any other distraction except for our big hound, Barney. We worked, passing each other sometimes like ships in the night due to our schedules, and had some battles and challenges, not to our marriage or each other, but those battles and challenges that life threw at us. We battled them, together, like married couples should. Those struggles were just the beginning, the tiny drops of glue that was going to make our future together stronger. In the winter of '97 we began our family. Our first two children came into our life, and life seemed to be a little more complete. In late 2000, our third child entered, challenging us a little more, but it completed us...so we thought. We left our first house, sold it just before the housing market imploded, and moved in 2001.
There we lived a pretty great existence, raising children, giving them a good school and the tools to thrive with. But we weren't quite complete, yet. In 2004, enter the completion of our family, our next four children entered our lives. Yes, it made seven in total, and yes, my beard used to be black, but began showing signs of silver. We were complete! We were happy! We were doing what some want to do in life and that was to raise our family, to be the best parents that we knew how to be. Life was good.
We traveled then, vacations and trips, but realized it was a little different to travel with children, as everyone knows. Life was a little different, a little less fun, so to speak. Not that our children took that fun, fun just became more responsible, we were forced to be careful of our actions, to be cautious of the life before us because we had little people to take care of, teach, and to provide. Life went on, our marriage grew strong, and we always stayed on the same page. No wedges, just trucked through, each of us doing our part to make things happen.
I would like to ramble on, but have to break this post up, or you'd be reading this blog for the entire day, this is already a condensed version, lol. There's so much of our beginning that I want to share, the build up to now, our move to Stevats, the purchase of Dark Nest, which you'll hear so much about, and the decisions we made to make Dark Nest Travels a reality. So stay tuned, if you want to, and join us, if you will. Happy Reading! Here's the link to Dark Nest Travels you can subscribe for future videos if you will, please do, it will help get my personal channel branded if I reach 100 subscribers. Thank you!
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