Up before dawn to meet the Inspector at the house by 9AM.  It’s 34 and snowing when we leave camp and we cross a couple of ridges getting to the Interstate.  It is never really slick but the temperature gets down to freezing and we are grateful to meet the salt truck between the ridges. Inspection goes well with no serious findings and the inspector helpful with advice on the small things he does find.  We will have a few honey dos to get done this first summer.  It is a nice chance to look around the property a little more and chat with the seller.

We get a bit more flavor for the area when we grab lunch at Tellico Plains, Tellicafe.  Waitstaff and even customers are all very chatty.  I try their house-make green tomato and country ham soup…salty but sooo good.  A swing by the realtor office puts us in Sweetwater just across from the local Ice Cream Parlor, Sweetwater Creamery.  We check it out of course opting for delicious lemon crunch and pecan caramel.  Back on the road, we are back at camp by dark.  468 miles today. Ugh!

The other two houses are along the TN side of the mountains but about 4 hours south of our current camp.  Our local realtor enlisted assistance from a knowledgeable associate in that area who met us at the 1^st candidate.  It is a winner: log with lots of great interior wood detail, great-room living space feel, cozy, two bedrooms plus a big loft all on a quiet private lot.  The second candidate is a barn-like structure and further back into the National Forest.  Intriguing.  We look at it for about 3 minutes and rule it out.  Interesting and quirky; but, no.  We wander back toward civilization via some really forgotten roads (thank you Garmin).  Once we acquire a cell signal, we call the realtor to confirm our intent to make an offer on today’s house #1.  We learn that the seller has another offer but they will hold their decision until 4PM the next day.  Bummers.  We make the long trek back to camp arriving after 10PM and crash for the night.  The next morning our offer goes in and the waiting begins.  It seems like an eternity until Saturday evening at around 8PM when we learn our offer has been accepted.  We got it!  The process begins.

During our time in NY Lynn has spent many hours scouring home listings and put 6 on the “got to see” list.  One went off the market while we were away.  With a bit more research, we determine another is actually near the county landfill and located on flat ground on a lovely treed lot but surrounded by hayfields.  It comes off the list as well.  Our wonderful realtor set our visits and we preview 2 log homes near Mountain City.  One is really big with 4 bedrooms and a two-car garage but it took 4-wheel drive to get up the gravel driveway.  Ugh!  The 2^nd is pretty nice except the kitchen is small and feels isolated (not the great room layout we are going for), there was very little level ground to park, and no room to add a shop.  It stays on the possible list but we have two more to review.

A quiet (and bit early) toast at home.  It is going to be a year full of changes!