After a long day of soccer games we packed up and headed west. A crew was on the lot this week grooming the long driveway down to the home site so construction trucks could access the build. The builder also requires that we clear the build site and all trees within 20' of the foundation. We marked a lot of trees for removal last week but still left several oaks alone despite violating the 20' rule. Hopefully we'll be able to keep them through the build process. They also dug some exploratory holes for the septic design which is now underway.
The driveway really looked great. I didn't get any pictures of it this time out, but we were happy to see they preserved the winding path we had created through the trees. The crew also left the trees relatively dense for the first 150' to maintain privacy from the road.
The home site was definitely a shock! It was a lot easier to imagine how the house will be placed and it looks like we are going to have great views of the river and hills from the rear of the house. It was amazing how much more pronounced the slop of the property was when the trees were removed. It is probably 6" drop per 10' at the site but it looks steeper now.
It didn't take long for the kids to conquer a giant pile of dirt that was delivered for future use. Here are the Kings of the Mountain still in their soccer gear.
So far, the best part about starting this project has been the passion the kids have for being on the property. Up to this point our occasional visits to the lot were met with little enthusiasm from the kids. There were constant gripes about prickers, cactus, bugs, the sun, tall grass, etc.. Now that trees are being cut down, earth ripped open, and giant rocks exposed we can't drag them away. They prowl the area in a pack collecting gnarled sticks and rocks creating games of exploration. We love to watch them.
