Friday, November 9, 2012

Parasite Ranch Expands

All big ranching operations include thousands of acres scattered among many locations.  Well, the Parasite Ranch might be small by comparison (approximately five acres total), but like the big spreads, it is now located in three different places each hundreds of miles apart --  American Fork, 1.08 acres; Grover, 3.33 acres; and St. George .79 acre. 

Little Valley -- St. George
 
The St. George locations doesn't look like much right now, but Ole Dangerous has plans.  Try and picture a barn and corrals next to the two trees on the sandy lot he and Trea recently bought.  I know it's hard but with a little imagination, you can picture Rose, Dot, and Gen wandering around eagerly waiting for Dangerous to load one of them in his horse trailer to ride on the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve.  It was the opportunity to ride year round that prompted Dangerous to move all of us almost 300 miles south for the winter.  Trea agreed to move because she gets a new house.
New Retaining Wall
 
While the house isn't under construction yet, Dangerous has already started fencing the property.  He and Walking Horse Bill are standing next to the recently completed retaining wall at the back of the lot.  Once Bill completes Trea's house plan, construction will get under way.  In the mean time, Dangerous and Utah Jack have planned the barn and stock fencing which they will build once the house is sited and the foundation dug.  Hopefully, construction will get underway in the next few months.
Street View
 
I know it's hard to believe, but our new southern Utah location is in a very nice neighborhood.  Dangerous looked for almost five years to find a place where he can keep his horses, and Trea can be close to town.  Unfortunately for Bill, Dangerous is within walking distance of his place, but he can't complain too much about having us as neighbors because he actually found the lot.  Since we are just four blocks north of Bill's horse operation, I suspect he and Dangerous will be trading horse tending duties when one of them is out of town.

Planned Pool
 
Dangerous might be building the cheapest house in a very nice neighborhood, but it won't be without important amenities that other neighbors have.  If you fly over the area using Google Earth, you will see a lot of swimming pools in various backyards.  In fact, Dangerous had a six foot high wall built at the back of the property to screen out the neighbor's pool directly behind us.  He thought his daughter-in-law might prefer the neighbor's pool to the one he has planned for our new place, or maybe he was concerned that the neighbor's guests and family might not want Rose, Dot, and Gen staring at them over the fence while they swim.  I suspect he will need to hide all the ladders around the place to keep his daughter-in-law and her children from climbing the wall to join the neighbors because I doubt the pool he has in mind will be heated.
As construction moves along, I will keep you updated about progress and misadventures.  Once the place is completed, you have a standing invitation to visit.  Supposedly, Dangerous is constructing two downstairs guest rooms with an indoor bathroom where visitors can stay.  So, let me know if you are interested, and I will try to get you a reservation.  I am now booking for the 2013 season.


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

We will enjoy following the progress of this new adventure.

Dipsy said...

What, no diving board?
Phil