By the end of our visitor period, Nux and I were eager to apply for residency. We knew we wanted to stay and find a plot of land that could be ours within the land trust. On April 14th we officially became Residents, and were finally able to choose a spot on the land to set up camp, start a garden, and dream of the good life to come.
It was all fine and dandy for about two days. We pitched the tent (an 8x12 Coleman my Mom lent us - Thanks Mom!), put a Huge tarp over it to help with wind and rain protection, and even had a surprise visit from Chad, who gave us a tarp-securing tutorial. We felt pretty good about our setup, like everything was safely tied down. Our tent was up against the southern wall of a shed that had been left on the land by a previous resident. We used it as a windbreak, since most of the winds were coming from the north and west.
Well, after two days, it got windy. The grommets of that tarp, though metal and extra reinforced, ripped right off. With no tarp over our tent, rain was sure to get in, and the wind would certainly cause even more damage.
We spent a day and a half trying out different configurations, using just the tarp, moving around the site here and there, thinking of different spots to use for wind cover and different structures (including trees) that we could tie off to. Finally the next day (after a blessedly calm night in an exposed tent) Nux had a stroke of genius, and we managed to get the tarp back up, staked to the ground on Three sides, and secured solely with Indian grommets (more on those later).
All seemed well with the world. We were spending quality time with our new neighbor Jacob, who had been living on that plot for awhile but wanted to move to a different part of the land. We were lucky to be able to share his shed for kitchen/tool space, his dish/hand washing setup, his pooper, and the existing rain catchment setup. Talk about living in the lap of luxury!
It was all fine and dandy for about two days. We pitched the tent (an 8x12 Coleman my Mom lent us - Thanks Mom!), put a Huge tarp over it to help with wind and rain protection, and even had a surprise visit from Chad, who gave us a tarp-securing tutorial. We felt pretty good about our setup, like everything was safely tied down. Our tent was up against the southern wall of a shed that had been left on the land by a previous resident. We used it as a windbreak, since most of the winds were coming from the north and west.
Well, after two days, it got windy. The grommets of that tarp, though metal and extra reinforced, ripped right off. With no tarp over our tent, rain was sure to get in, and the wind would certainly cause even more damage.
We spent a day and a half trying out different configurations, using just the tarp, moving around the site here and there, thinking of different spots to use for wind cover and different structures (including trees) that we could tie off to. Finally the next day (after a blessedly calm night in an exposed tent) Nux had a stroke of genius, and we managed to get the tarp back up, staked to the ground on Three sides, and secured solely with Indian grommets (more on those later).
All seemed well with the world. We were spending quality time with our new neighbor Jacob, who had been living on that plot for awhile but wanted to move to a different part of the land. We were lucky to be able to share his shed for kitchen/tool space, his dish/hand washing setup, his pooper, and the existing rain catchment setup. Talk about living in the lap of luxury!
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