So, the money we invested in land and building our A-Frame wilderness house was priceless in that I felt completely healed there while home schooling our children there which was 10 miles from the nearest gas station and 20 from Towns and about a mile or two from the nearest paved road. So, this was really remote.
We found then because Solar was too expensive for us in 1980 that Kerosene Aladdin lamps were the best for lighting along with Candle lanterns or candlesticks with reflectors for reading where the light is all directed one direction.
So, downstairs we kept our big Aladdin Kerosene lamp and mostly kept our candle lanterns and reflector candles for reading upstairs in the loft where it was warmer during the winters above the wood cook stove and Cast Iron stove we used for heating the A-Frame then.
When we bought the land it already had a septic Tank on it and a toilet in a shed outside so this was both helpful and useful to us in keeping the land sanitary. Many people then had outhouses but they can be a lot of trouble. The worst problem we had with the shed and toilet area was the Porcupines loved the glue in the plywood of the inside of it and would chew their way into this shed to eat and knawp on the plywood which would wake us up night after night. However, a neighbor of ours eventually shot that porcupine so we all didn't have to wake up at 2 to 4 am every night listening to the loud knawing of the inside of our shed and toilet area.
The only problem was that this shed wasn't heated so in the winters the bowl in the toilet would freeze over so we had to do whatever was necessary then by digging a latrine.
It was an experience sort of like Mt. Shasta Family Robinson in many ways and we loved it because of the constant adventure living in the wilderness a long time can be with deer and animals like porcupines and flying squirrels around there all the time.
IN 1983 I believe I bought a 1974 International Harvester Scout II which was the most amazing 4 wheel drive I ever owned. Though it was a stick shift it was also a 6 cylinder engine with excellent mileage and enough power to tow a small trailer too and it had a locked rear end which gave better traction than most 4 wheel drives have too.
At one point the U-joint broke and I just put it in 4 wheel drive after I removed the U-joint and drive shaft and drove it for a while until I could get it fixed somewhere in 4 wheel drive just off the front wheels and that worked too.
The only bad thing was when I got it fixed in Santa Cruz, on the coast was that my buck knife I kept in a leather case on my emergency brake handle was stolen which I was sort of sorry to see that because I had found it open on Highway 89 years before with my first wife while exploring out there when my son was a baby. He is now 51 years old and lives in Portland and lives here with his wife and son.
My father was visiting one time and we saw a black bear out in the wilderness miles to the east of McCloud on a dirt road. The bear was a male and a big one and reared up on his rear legs in front of our vehicle so I backed up so it wouldn't break a window or rip one of our doors off our vehicle which is common for them to do. Finally the big bear realized we were not going to fight him and he went back on all 4s and walked back into the wilderness. I don't think he had ever seen humans before because of his reaction to us because we were so remote then. Amazing times and my son and my father were there to see all this then!
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