At this time unemployment had reached 10% nationwide. However, out in the country this was more like 30% to 50% at that time. So, I had a choice of going away from my family and working in another area and maybe come back on weekends to visit or buying land and building my own house and home schooling my children.
Since we had enough money saved to buy the land outright we were able to buy remote land at 4000 feet with a water spring on it about 10 miles from the nearest Gas station and at least 5 miles or more from the nearest power lines and at least 2 to 3 miles from the nearest paved road.
I figure by buying land and building our own A-Frame house off grid we saved at least 60,000 dollars in rent during this time which was no small thing at the time.
The other reason that we bought this land was a friend who owned land close to this land who showed this parcel of 2 1/2 acres to us who had lived out there since around 1972 when he began building his home. He has since passed away this January there on this land but he was instrumental in us making this decision to buy this land.
What he said to me is this? "If you go away to work there are men locally who are going to go after your wife. You should stay here and buy land and build a house out where I bought my land."
Actually, I agreed with him. My father just retired then and drove his motor home up there with my mother and along with my friends and my wife and even my children we all built our home. So, in 1980 saving 60,000 dollars from 1980 to 1985 was no small thing and home schooling our children because we were really too remote to take the three children to a public school. IN 1980 they were 5, 6 and 8 years old at that time and we home schooled them until 1985 when we moved back to the San Francisco Area and bought another business. This helped us through the Recession then when I personally believed the Government might go bankrupt from the excesses of the Viet Nam War at that time.
However, I didn't realize what good friends we had made with Japan, Germany, England France and other European nations devastated by World War II. So, since we had made friends by economically saving all these places and helping them rebuild they all loaned the U. S. Money and goods then in our time of need.
So, buying land for my family was economically and in all ways a very good thing we did in 1980 and building our own home in the wilderness where at times in the winters it snowed then up to 7 feet at a time deep. When it snowed like this we would park our 4 wheel drive where the plowed roads stopped and put on our Cross Country skis and tow our food on a bobsled to our home in the wilderness.
It was very healing for my wife and I and allowed us to home school and better bond with our kids.
Then when the oldest was 12, a boy, he asked to return to school so we all moved to the San Francisco Area and bought a business. However, we were never as happy (my wife and I) after returning to the big city after our wonderful life hiking and skiing and swimming in the mountain lakes depending upon the season.
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