Hitch up your wagons..we're settling out West!

Well, slap a huge "sold" on the front of this sign because Tom and I just bought 40 acres in southern Arizona!

Within a week of closing on the sale of the house in St. Louis we turned around and bought property in Arizona.  I know that may seem sudden but Tom and I have been talking about buying property for several years now.  Tom has been dreaming about owning property basically since I've known him.  He had a horse growing up and hopes to have one again some day.  We've even talked about running a head of cattle...perhaps organic beef.

We had been looking and talking about Arizona or New Mexico.  We both love the West.  Tom is originally from Arizona, born and breed.  I was born in Utah and went to college in Utah so if asked where I consider home...it is probably Utah.  Over the years I have loved going home with him to Arizona.  I always feel at peace there...happy and content.  I gladly follow him to Arizona. 

Off and on we have looked at websites advertising land sales and Tom actually looked at some property about a month ago when he was back in Arizona attending a course at Fort Huachuca.  Funnily enough it wasn't the land we just purchased. 

About two years ago we saw photos of some great property not far from where Tom's father lives in Benson, Arizona.  At the time the sellers' asking price was well above what we could afford.  Just a few weeks ago though Tom came across the property on another website at a price considerably reduced.  With the sale of the house we had the built up equity and now seemed like the perfect time to take the leap and buy property.  After Tom and I are done traveling the globe this is where we will be setting down our roots.

The property meets some of my requested criteria for owning property.  Some of the property we have looked at has been 100+ miles away from civilization.  If we were seriously considering buying property for retirement than I wanted to be a bit closer to shopping and culture.  I like being outside of busy city life but I want to be able to get there fairly easy if I want to go see a play, go to the symphony or just go see a movie.  Our property is about 45 minutes away from Tucson.  Yeah!

To go scout the land for us we had to send a proxy.  And who better than Tom's dad.  We needed someone wholly trustworthy since we are buying it sight unseen.  And there is the added benefit that Tom's dad is just 7 miles down the road.

Here he is checking out the property for us with the realtor Lynn, who is also our new neighbor. 

 
The views are spectacular.  Feel free to take a walk about our property.

The property is fenced and there are some catch pens for horses but the rest is open land.  We will eventually build a house but for now we'll just work on paying off the property.

This is the property's cross fence.  Just imagine the sunsets from this perspective!

These are the catch pens.

The high desert has a wonderful beauty all its own.  I am at peace here.

This final picture is just a sneak peek of the sunsets and sunrises we'll be watching in our golden years.