Redirected…

Posted on August 20, 2012 by Lance Hartland

Once we signed the contract on the Austin house, CJ and I reflected on how smoothly the process had gone and how we saw God’s hands at every step.  With the Austin process coming to an end, we realized that we needed to get the Salida process started.  I contacted our realtor in Colorado to ask him about rental houses in downtown Salida.  However, since he lives in Buena Vista, which is about 25 miles north of Salida, he referred us to a woman that specializes in Salida rentals. I contacted her, gave her our wish list (i.e., location, type of house, etc) and let her know that we would be moving July 1st. When she asked if we had any pets, I told her yes…5 (3 large dogs and 2 cats).  You could almost cut the silence with a knife followed by a great big “OHHHH”. She said that it was going to be very difficult to find someone willing to rent their house to someone with so many animals. She also told us that many of the places don’t notify her until a month before move in, so many of the houses up for rent at that time were available June 1st. She said she would keep her eyes and ears open for a place that would take our pets with available of July 1st.

We waited for several weeks for our rental contact to call us back. We didn’t want to seem pushy or impatient, but after no response and concerned with the lack of time we had, I finally called her.  She answered but didn’t seem too excited about finding us a place. All she had to say was that nothing had come available and that she would call us when something came up. After more waiting, I called her again and left a message, but more days passed and no return call.  So we prayed about the situation and took the lack of response as a sign that maybe we weren’t to rent in town. By this time it was mid-May, and the reality of us being homeless as of July 1st really started to hit us. Both of us started to feel a sense of urgency.

We originally sensed the direction that God wanted us to go was to rent a house in town (in order to connect with community) and buy land which we would then lease back to SWR. Well, not finding a rental house prompted us to check our budget again, and we realized that we actually wouldn’t be able to afford to pay both rent on a house and a note on property. We took this as a door closing, not on SWR but on our original understanding of how we were to go about this.  We knew God had a plan, we just weren’t sure what it was. So, we continued to pray for a clear vision of the next step in His path for us.

After much prayer, CJ felt led to start looking at houses for sale in the Salida area.  My initial reaction was negative: (1) because it was not in the direction that I thought God was leading us (towards land for SWR), and (2) I had never bought a house in an area that I hadn’t lived in for a while (I’ve always felt it was important to get the lay of the land before making a commitment to a certain location). Well, we continued to pray about this direction and soon I realized that I wasn’t trusting that He was going to provide. My fear was that if this endeavor didn’t work out, we would be stuck with a house in an unfamiliar.

With CJ getting the idea to look at houses for sale, the rental market being non-existent, and me trusting Him, we had a strong sense that God was redirecting us to buy our own home and then have SWR buy the land at a later date (which actually makes better sense from a tax perspective). In faith, we dove in head first. I called our realtor about pulling all the house listings in Salida, Buena Vista and the areas in between. The next day he sent us the MLS listings for all the available houses. Sifting through them, it quickly became clear to us that for what we can afford, living in town wasn’t an option. The houses in old town Salida within our budget were too small (like 800 sq. ft small) and/or needed a ton of work. This was discouraging, given that we felt very sure that God wanted us to connect with the local community and town living was the best way to do that.  However, with that door closing , we then focused our efforts on the houses in the rural areas. While we were reviewing the listings, our realtor contacted us about a rental house that would be available when we needed it and that would also allow our 5 pets. The catch was that it was in a subdivision in the northwest part of Buena Vista, which is about 40 minutes north of the Salida community that we felt God was leading us. So we discussed what this could mean and we prayed about it. Two questions came up in our discussion, is God directing us away from the community we thought we were to become a part of and towards the community in Buena Vista? Alternatively, could this rental be a distraction and an easy way of relieving our fear of being homeless? After prayer, we both sensed that we were to continue to move forward on the path we were on until a door closed. I talked to our realtor about what we were sensing and he said that the rental could aslways be a fall back if we couldn’t land a house by July 1st.

As a side note, even though our realtor knew that we weren’t ready to buy land, he also sent us MLS listings of available properties in the areas between Salida and Buena Vista. In this area, property appears to be on the market for some time, so it wouldn’t hurt to start looking.  All properties were a minimum of 35 acres due to the lesser development restrictions on larger lots regarding water rights and such.

Well, after reviewing over 40 MLS listing for houses and properties, we found two houses and two properties that we thought had a lot of potential. The houses were located very close to each other in a prime location along US 50 about 8-10 miles west of Salida and about 8 miles east of the Monarch Ski Resort. The houses were also located about 10-15 minutes south of the two potential properties for SWR, which are located about 3 miles west of US 285 in the area which we envisioned between Buena Vista and Salida.

Now that we found some houses that warranted a closer look, we needed to fly up and see them as soon as possible. Our window of opportunity in finding a house within the typical month timeline necessary for loan processing was quickly closing. I had to go it alone this time because CJ couldn’t take more time off of work at that time.  She was really bummed that she couldn’t go, but was ok with me going alone because she trusted my prayerful judgment. 🙂

I don’t want to make this blog too long , so my adventure back to Colorado will be in my upcoming blog.

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Diosidence

Posted on August 9, 2012 by Lance Hartland

Highlights from April

As promised, here’s the next installment of our recent adventures.

The last we posted, we had not yet listed the house but were continuing to work on home projects and ongoing SWR related business in hopes of relocating at some point during the summer.  As for the house, our goal was to have it on the market by end of April in order to meet the prime selling season.  However, on a day trip to Round Top, Texas in early April, CJ was discussing the sale of the house with our friend, Kennette, and she mentioned how much she loved the community.  By the end of their girl’s day, she let CJ know that she would be very interested in looking at the house despite the fact that we still had 101 projects to complete.  When she came by for the walk through, Kennette was amazed by the fact that the floor plan was the exact floor plan of a home that she lived in when her daughter, Bentlee, was small.  What a surreal “Diosidence” (a term coined by our Spanish speaking friends in the Dominican Republic referring to a Godly non-coincidence).  Needless to say, she fell in love with it immediately!  This was a dream come true…and yes, our God is really THAT good!  But here’s the rest of the story…..

In preliminary conversations around the sale price, we discovered that what our friend was hoping to pay was a good bit less than what we expected to list the house for.  However, we also learned that she would not be retaining a realtor (the seller typically pays for the buyer realtor’s commission) so that difference certainly helped fill the gap.  After much prayer and deliberation, I was still unsure as to what we should do given what I expected we would need in order to relocate.  Then CJ made a comment that made me see things in a completely new way.  She mentioned what a blessing our home had been to her and our daughter, Alli, when she was a single mom. She also shared that she would love for our home to be a blessing to another single mom and her daughter. I sensed that was a sign that God was leading us to sell our house to our friend.

We looked at the numbers and figured that we could sell the house at a price very close to our friend’s pre-approved amount. We figured that since she wasn’t going to use a realtor that we could save at least 3 percent, and transfer that savings to our friend by reducing our asking price. We discussed this proposal with our realtor, and he agreed as long as we did all the negotiating without him, to avoid a conflict of interest. Our realtor just handled the paper processing that would be required of the buyer’s realtor. Once our friend and we agreed to a price, we met with our realtor to sign the contract. God’s hands were all over each step of this process. We are so thankful that he worked it out that we did not have to go through the difficulty in keeping the house show ready with five animals living in it while showing it.

We were able to set the closing June 1st; however, that would have left us very little time to find a house in Salida.  Our friend said that she couldn’t get out of her current lease until July 1st, so we worked it into the contract that we would lease the house back to her for the month of June. This was clearly another Diosidence! It worked out that we would have two months to find a house in Colorado, and that our friend would have income to cover her mortgage for the month she wouldn’t be in the house. GOD is Great!

In between doing all the house stuff, I was able to expand the SWR website to make it more like an actual website not just a blog. The site now includes the following pages: Home; About Us (Mission, Statement of Faith, History, and Board of Directors); Adventures; Recent Posts; Contact Us; and Donate. CJ was also able to help me finalize the content that was uploaded to the website. Most of the pages are now self-explanatory, but the Adventures page may not be as clear. The Adventures page describes the various types of trips that SWR will offer, the possible trip duration, and the level of SWR involvement in a particular trip. So if you get a chance, check out the site. We would love to get your feedback on the site.

So, that’s our April adventures following God’s path.

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A Long Time Coming

Posted on July 19, 2012 by Lance Hartland

I guess I should start by apologizing for the lapse in time since the last posting.  CJ and I were so busy trying to get things in order for the big move that we didn’t have a lot of extra time for blogging.  However, we’re hoping to get completely caught up in the next couple weeks and promise to be more diligent in updating on a more regular basis in the future!!  Not only do we want to keep you guys in the loop, but we’ve found that in our updates, we are continually reminded of God’s goodness and sovereignty.  We’re still amazed to see how He’s been working in and through us and we’re so glad you’re along with us for this journey.

Highlights from March

So we continued to work on getting the house ready to sell, completing projects both inside and out.  But despite the immensity of that task, it did not completely distract us from our work on SWR.  God, through the unlikeliest of sources, connected us to the leaders of two existing Christian retreats.  A friend of ours, Bridget, happens to work at a youth camp along Lake Travis in Lago Vista, got us introduced to Don Barr, the President and Program Director of Candlelight Ranch. I spent some time with Don discussing the camps’ property arrangement, the phasing of their infrastructure and general operations. It’s always nice to hear others’ stories and to see how God has worked in their lives!  A few days later we got a call from our friend, Judith, who was living in Washington at the time.  In talking to a friend of a friend, she mentioned SWR.  The gentleman that she was in conversation with mentioned that he had a friend that runs a Christian retreat in Twin Lakes, Colorado, which is be about 45 minutes to an hour north of the area in which we expect SWR will be located.  Funny thing is, she gave us his phone number and it turns out that he actually lives in Austin during the off-months….how crazy is that?  So I called Jerry James, the president of Majestic Mountain Ministries and spent the time discussing our ideas about SWR as well as how they handle their operations and property / infrastructure arrangement.  Although there was a similar vision, it turns out that their facility only operates from May to September (it’s not located near a ski resort or other winter sport area) and is focused more towards church staff retreats.  Jerry invited us to visit their retreat and we look forward to that at some point in the near future.  After all, the more we get the feel for other retreats and how they do things, the better educated we will be on how to manage SWR.  So in the end, both conversations were very informative and totally God ordained. We just love the way He connects us all!!

In March, we also continued to work on the 501(c)3 application, a very dry and tedious job indeed!  I was able to develop the preliminary budget forecast and retreat phasing spreadsheets, adding some great search features with CJ’s excel expertise.  CJ and I also refined the retreat’s mission statement / goals as well as creating the SWR faith statement, which illustrates the retreat’s core spiritual beliefs. And finally, we were able to sell our Suzuki (Lil’ Blue), so we were back down to two vehicles and one less worry on our plate.

So that’s pretty much March in a nutshell.  As always, we find ourselves continually amazed by God.  One of the major insights that He’s recently given us is the importance of putting ourselves out there and networking.  God has laid this vision on our hearts, but it’s definitely not the Lance and CJ show and we sure don’t have a lot of answers.  We definitely feel that He’s calling us to continue to reach out, bring others into this and depend on Him for all the answers.  We can’t wait to see where He leads us next.  This is very much a God thing and He will get all the glory! We will be posting more updates for the months of April – June through out the next couple weeks.

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It’s Official!

Posted on March 6, 2012 by Lance Hartland

As we left Colorado, both CJ and I felt a sense of sadness. Not that we won’t miss our friends and family in Texas, but we both feel such a sense of belonging and peace when we’re in Colorado. We believe this feeling is a reassurance that we’re walking the path God has for us…a path that’s leading us into the wilderness.  However, before we can make this transition, there’s still a lot to be done here in Austin.  This is a challenge that we eagerly face.

So a lot has happened since we’ve been back. CJ and I have been working diligently on getting our life and belongings prepared for the move and I’ve been working on the legalities of incorporating in Colorado and becoming a 501(c)3 nonprofit.

Prep for Move

There are quite a few logistics that need to be taken care of before we can physically relocate to Colorado, including selling the house, cars, etc.  Before we left on our trip, we bought an all-wheel drive Subaru Outback, which we believe must be the state car of Colorado based on the number of Outbacks we saw on the road while there.  But now we’re a little car heavy.  We plan on selling both of our other vehicles, since neither will drive well in the snow, and head to Colorado as a one car family.  So if you know of anyone that’s in the market for a little Suzuki Reno or rear-wheel-drive Xterra, let us know.

As for the house, we plan to put it in on the market near the end of April.  Working towards that goal, the weekend after our return we invited our community to help us in numerous construction projects around the house.  About 15 of our friends showed up to help us in our efforts.  Although we originally planned for both inside and outside projects, the weather kept us inside for most of the day.  But even so, due to the hard work of our friends, we made tremendous progress.  We are truly blessed to be a part of such a servant hearted community!  We even had the pleasure of having our sweet friend Katsy with us, as she travelled all the way from New Orleans to be a part of our work weekend.

New Tile Floor and Baseboards

Several years ago we had wood floors installed throughout the house.  In order to save money, we decided to do the baseboards ourselves.  However, it was now 3 years later and we still didn’t have all the baseboards installed.  But with our energetic work crew, we got most of our baseboards installed and painted on saturday.  And that’s not all….our blessings come not only in the shape of enthisiastic and loving friends, but also in very skilled friends.  With Eric’s help, we were also able to install tile in both bathrooms!  What an accomplishment!!  We will definitely miss this community, but we recognize that separation is not the end of friendship.  Our friends not only have an open invitation to our place in Colorado, I really think CJ is planning to start a relocation program.  She would be on cloud 9 if everyone just picked up and came with us.

After the big workday, CJ and I spent the next week finishing the baseboard and tiling projects.  And then the weather cleared, with Saturday dawning bright and beautiful, allowing us to tackle a few of the outside projects.  A couple of our friends came out to help and we were able to complete a few of the smaller tasks as well as making a big dent in two of the larger ones.  One step closer to being ready for market, woohoo!  Our last big project is improving the front curb appeal. This will include replacing most of the front shrubs, creating a large planting bed around our big oak tree, and installing new sod in the front yard. Inside we only have a few small projects left to complete.

As for the cars, I spent quite a bit of time detailing our little blue car in order to get it posted for sale. If nothing else, this process has reminded me how much I dislike selling things on Craigslist.  I’m having to deal with so many scams and people trying to negotiate online before even seeing the car, which is only the start. What happened to the old fashion way of negotiating….come take it for a test drive and then talk to the seller?  ‘Lil blue car has been a good car, but it has some blemishes (hail damage from before we owned it).  This has been a huge deterrent for many people.  I know this sounds odd, but I find myself feeling bad for the car.  It reminds me of how the world often judges people based only on their external appearance with no regard for what’s on the inside.  Maybe this is just one more lesson God is teaching me through this whole process.  I may not understand it all, but I feel sure that God is molding me more each day.

Legalese

As for the majority of our time, CJ has been spending her days building pricing models for Dell while I continue to work on a number of important documents necessary for the establishment of Sonshine Wilderness Retreat.  Although I continue to network, the majority of my time has been spent deep in legal documents and tax language.  This has definitely been a learning experience, but I won’t bore you with all the very dry details.

Incorporation Form

On a positive note, I was able to submit all the legal documents needed to incorporate in Colorado. So we are are now a legal nonprofit corporation in Colorado, can I hear an AMEN?!  So now that’s done, I’m working on the 501(c)3 application to become an official religious nonprofit organization in the eyes of the IRS. This type of organization doesn’t have to pay taxes and the donations are tax deductible. The application is extensive and very complicated, requiring a number of large items before the final submission. The requirements include an Employer Identification Number (EIN), a faith statement, a board of directors, bylaws, and a phasing  and financial plan, just to name a few. So far I’ve  mailed out the form for the EIN and CJ and I have started drafting the faith statement and bylaws.  We’ve also prayed about and invited several people to be on the Board.  And if that’s not enough, I’ve also started our phasing and financial plans, although these will take a while.  Not to mention, most of these documents will require Board approval before the application is submitted.  Fascinating, isn’t it?  All this is definitely guarenteed to put you to sleep!!

Another item on our agenda is an idea that we brought home from our trip, something that our new friend Bruce suggested….the possibly of SWR partnering with an existing organization. He thought it would be worth investigating becoming a part of an organization that currently exists but doesn’t do what SWR proposes.  An example of such an organization would be a Christian dude ranch, which focuses primarily on ranch activities centered around horses and not on wilderness treks and other outdoor adventures. We are lifting this up to God and allowing Him to work on our hearts in this as both CJ and I seem to be struggling with letting go of some of the control.  It’s not that we feel the need to be calling all the shots, but we seem to have an idea in our heads of what this all will look like and it’s been difficult giving this up.  But in the end, this is God’s plan, not ours, and we want nothing more than to be walking in His will. Our initial response to the idea was that the organization would need to have a similar belief structure / approach to its ministry.  We would also like the two operations to be autonomous.  However, if this is not God’s plan, we pray that He open our eyes and humble us on this front. We continue to pray and I’ve also been active in doing research on the existing Dude Ranches in the area. The only one that exists in the area we’re looking at does not include their faith statement on their website.  Concerning but definitely not a closed door.  This is were we can use prayer, to understand if this is the direction God is leading us in the development of the retreat.

Day of Rest

With all the busyness, CJ and I really needed a day of rest.  After an awesome sermon on fasting Sunday morning, we decided to take the dogs for a walk at a leash-free trail in Central Austin. Both of us were desperately in need of some time in nature, away from all the activity.  We can very easily get caught up in the “Doing” that we forget to “Be” with God and each other.  Our hike on Sunday allowed us some time to go deep, discussing where our hearts are and where can encourage/support and pray for each other.  We also spent time talking about our highs and lows of the week and found ourselves refocusing on one of the main reasons we’re taking this step in the first place.  And of course, the dogs were in hog heaven….or is that dog heaven?!!

In any case, wishing you all a similar experience some time soon.

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Our Trip Continues….

Posted on February 16, 2012 by Lance Hartland

After a few big days of exploring the area from a property standpoint, CJ and I decided that Saturday would be a day of play. I headed up to Monarch Resort for some snowboarding, and CJ and Judith had a great day hanging out, checking out the local shops, and sightseeing.

The weather at Monarch was absolutely beautiful with the sun shining and temperature around 30 degrees. The snow conditions, however, were a bit on the icy / crunchy side due to the last snow fall being only 6 inches two days prior. My experience with Colorado ski areas is pretty limited….I’ve only previously visited Wolfcreek near South Fork (southern Colorado) and Purgatory in Durango (western Colorado). In comparison, Monarch’s facilities and slopes are more like Wolfcreek, being solely a ski area, not a resort style facility. There were no condos or other “ski in / ski out” accommodations adjacent to the slopes. I found the lodge nicer than Wolfcreek, although there were fewer slopes and less snow. However, this may not be a good year to compare, due to the lack of snow throughout Colorado.

I’ve never snowboarded by myself before, so wasn’t sure how long I would last. Unfortunately, Monarch doesn’t offer half day lift tickets, so I needed to buy a full day pass regardless. When I arrived at the ticket counter, a young boy approached me asking if I would be willing to purchase a ticket with him on his two for one ticket deal. At first I thought he was scamming me, but the guy at the ticket office confirmed that it was legit. So I ended up paying half price for a full day lift ticket! Out of all the people milling around, that young boy chose me…God is awesome! He knows our deepest desires, even my struggle to pay full price if I were only going to board a half day.

As for Judith and CJ, they spent a great day in fellowship and enjoying the local scenery. They drove up to Buena Vista to check it out, looked at some properties that CJ and I viewed the day before, then headed back to Salida for lunch and shopping. As CJ puts it, ”there just isn’t enough time to explore all cute and quirky shops in downtown Salida”. Not only does Salida have a great food scene, but they also have a pretty extensive art district. Our girls were pretty excited to find Ploughboy, a farm fresh and local grocer that has everything from meats, cheeses, and produce to refillable milk jugs and homemade brandied applesauce, just to name a few items. When I met them back at the hotel, they were both tired and happy. We decided to make it an early night, so we headed to Amicas (our favorite wood-fired pizza joint) for pizza and a glass of wine. I think this was Judith’s first pizza in years and she was thrilled to finally find a place that made gluten free pizza crust and non-tomato based sauce. We were all happy campers!

On Sunday we visited River Valley Community Fellowship for worship. The church met in the local theater, which was previously the town’s steam plant. The old plant was very nicely remodeled into a theater for the performing arts…cool architecture and very comfortable seats. The people were friendly and the worship / message was authentic and spirit filled. The theater was packed with about 100 – 150 people, which is much smaller than our church in Austin (Gateway). It felt a bit like small group, with the pastor’s wife asking for prayer requests / praises prior to service. I found it amazing that she knew everyone’s name. As people stood and shared their struggles, she would ask those close to the petitioner to surround them as she lead us all in prayer. Certainly, if we chose this church as our home, the size of the church would require some adjustment. But although it’s not what we’re used to, we sense that a smaller church venue is where God is leading us.

After church, we stopped for brunch at a restaurant just down the street from the Church, called Laughing Ladies. One of my favorite breakfast meals has always been eggs benedict. However, when I gave up beef and pork I couldn’t eat it anymore. So when I saw that they had salmon eggs benedict, I jumped on the chance to try it and it was delicious. Both CJ and Judith agree with me in saying that the food again was awesome!

After brunch we wished Judith farewell as she headed back to Pueblo and we headed back to the room for some down time. It was nice to relax, watch some TV, and play game after game of “Words with Friends”….CJ is addicted. Around dusk we looked out the window and noticed it was snowing. This was the first time since we arrived that we saw snow coming down…although you see it on every mountain vista. We were energized!! The snow pulled us from our movie coma and prodded us to go for a walk. Since we don’t see snow very often in Austin, it seemed like Christmas to us. Of course, to the locals, it’s just another snowy evening. I kinda like the sound of that…next year at this time, we’ll be locals.

Monday morning we woke up to a beautiful day. We packed up and headed north to Buena Vista to meet Bruce Kramer for breakfast. He was a major player in the YoungLife organization for over a decade. His role was to help in building existing camps and finding locations / developing new ones. He’s now retired from full-time ministry and has his own custom home building company.

The meeting began with Bruce asking a few questions and us then sharing our story / path to this point. He told us that he loved our passion and excitement for our ministry, but he did caution us on the mundane and bureaucratic efforts that are required in running a retreat. We had experienced some of that leading the Outside Ministry at Gateway, but it was a good reminder. Another major issue that he raised was in respect to finances…he indicated that it’s important that the operation be self-sustaining, with donations being requested for initial investment and capital improvements, such as buildings. Understandably, it’s been his experience that people have more of a tendency to rally around a physical improvement than around daily operating expenses. Luckily, this was already our vision as we’ve been developing the financial plan.

As the meeting was drawing to a close, Bruce introduced several other options that we had not yet considered. Instead of building a retreat from the ground up, we may want to partner with another retreat/camp or outfitter. In doing this we could possibly have some funding for start-up, an established client base, and experienced personnel. Sonshine Wilderness could be a separately run arm of the existing operation…residing together under the larger umbrella. He also mentioned taking over another retreat location as an option. Certainly, whether it’s a retreat facility or not, any land that has pre-existing buildings would be a huge plus in terms of cost reduction due to utilities already on site. Overall, the meeting was extremely enjoyable and very productive. Bruce gave us lots of ideas, guidance, and affirmation.

So as we continue our journey, we ask that you all pray with us for God’s vision to be revealed. Are we or aren’t we to partner with an existing entity? If so, which one? Pray that it becomes clear and that our eyes are open to the steps forward. In addition, we also need prayer on stripping away any pride and / or need to control and replacing it with humility. Above all else, we want to let go of our own expectations and walk in God’s will, whatever that looks like. Thank you all for sharing this journey with us…..

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Another Day Exploring

Posted on February 12, 2012 by Lance Hartland

Friday dawned bright and beautiful in Salida Colorado, and CJ and I woke with a sense of peace. We may not know what God has in store for us, but we are eager to follow wherever He leads.  With a new desire to enjoy this journey, no matter what the day had for us, we set off to meet with the County Zoning Director to better understand the zoning and permitting steps required to develop property in this area. The director, Don, was very amiable and seemed to have a genuine williness to help. He explained that based on the size of the land parcel (i.e.,less than 35 acres), certain restrictions or covenants may apply.  We also learned about the steps / permits that we need to obtain and from where in order to develop and / or build on a piece of property in Chaffee County.  Overall, the visit was informative and time well spent.

After the meeting, we found a really cool coffee shop in downtown Salida, Cafe Dawn, that had great ambiance, good coffee and a friendly staff (as we’ve found everywhere in town).  And did I mention the free wi-fi?  We used this opportunity to chill and finish the blog of our first day. Phillip, the owner, took time to visit with us and we discovered that he once lived in Austin…..what a small world!  When we told him our intentions of moving to Salida, he merely smiled and said he enjoys living here but the pace is slow. Many locals call it “Slowida” instead of Salida.  I think CJ likes the idea of a slower pace, but I’m not so sure how she’s gonna adjust.

After a little down time, we grabbed a quick bite and headed north (about 25 miles) to Buena Vista to the Remax office.  We were very blessed that our Austin realtor, Tom Sunstrom (he is awesome if anyone is interested), connected us to a fellow realtor that works in the area. Unfortunately,  when we called him on Thursday, we discovered that he was in California through Monday.  Luckily, he pointed us to another gentleman in his office that could meet with us this trip.  Kent was very helpful, printing off a number of listings, all properties over 35 acres with no covenants or restrictions. He seemed to know what we needed before we did.  One thing we’ve noticed about everyone that we’ve come in contact with is how genuinely helpful they are.  Kent was no exception.  As we were leaving his office, he followed offering help in anything we may need, whether it be a good restaurant or auto repair.

From the long list Kent provided, we selected eight properties that we wanted to check out. Some of the properties were out of this world and out of our price range, others were not exactly what we had in mind.  Once we explored each one of them, we weighed the pros and cons of each. Two properties in particular stood out.They had many of the characteristics that we were looking for: location, terrain, views, etc. Unfortunately, we couldn’t actually reach the lots due to the snow on the private road leading to them. However, despite not seeing these properties personally, we saw enough of the neighboring area to know they are great possibilities.  We also really like the proximity to Salida (15 minutes from downtown) and the Monarch Ski area (within 35 minutes).

After many miles driven, we headed back to the hotel to meet a friend of ours from Austin that is currently living in Pueblo. Judith drove in to hang with us this weekend….what an amazing treat. We decided on a local steak and seafood place in the historic district, Currents, for dinner and fellowship. Add this one to our list of must tries. Since we’ve been in town, we’ve eaten at the top 3 recommended restaurants (per trip advisor) and we have not been disappointed!.

Another day is in the books, and a day of play is planned next….

Categories: Colorado | Tags: | 2 Comments

Lay of the Land

Posted on February 10, 2012 by Lance Hartland

CJ and I arrived in Salida Wednesday evening very tired but excited about what lay ahead.  With the change in elevation (Salida sits at 7,000 ft), I had a difficult time catching my breath so I spent that first evening just adjusting to the altitude. But no worries, I’m breathing like a local now!

The hotel we’re staying in is run by a very hospitable eastern european couple. It’s very clean and well mantained and the only hotel in town that allows pets. They have a sweet little pooch and two birds that greet us in the lobby.  The more we explore Salida the more we sense that a majority of the businesses are locally owned and operated. In every restaurant we’ve entered, the staff seem to know a good number of the patrons personally.  It has a very hometown feel….one of the many reasons we fell in love with Sailda in the first place. 

So the main purpose of this trip was to get a feel for the surrounding area. Before we came, we did some research on potential properties and planned to check those out first thing.  Our exploration yesterday started in the area west of Salida, which we think is a prime area  — 10 minutes from the Monarch Ski Resort and 20 minutes from downtown Salida. The first parcel was a beautifully treed 18 acre property with tall aspens, cottonwoods and pines. The property also borders the South Fork of the Arkansas River on one side and the San Isabel National Forest on the other.  It sits just off US 50, but still felt very secluded. We weren’t able to walk the property due to several feet of snow, but from the road it got high marks and we were really excited about the potential.

The second property we checked out was about double the acreage and half the price. It’s west of Salida as well, but east of Route 285 and much closer to town. Route 285 travels north / south in the valley dividing two mountain ranges.  This second property sits on the eastern mountain range whereas the first property is on the western mountain range (very different vegetation and feel).

The drive to the second property was up a very long / curvy road and the countryside was covered with pinon pines. These pines don’t get very tall…honestly, they look alot like the cedar trees in Texas. Not the most attractive. However, the property was located at the end of the road and  backed up to public forest land, which would insure that it wouldn’t be developed. Not to mention, it already had electricity run to the property and the most awesome veiw of the Arkansas River valley.

From there we decided to explore the area northwest of Salida. What we discovered was that the terrain and vegetation was very similar to the second property, short pines and more open land (great for ranching…but maybe not so great for a wilderness retreat). It appears that the taller trees only grow in the river valleys or above an elevation of around 8,000 feet.

After a morning dedicated to driving around and searching for properties, we were famished!  We headed back into town and found a neat little restaurant called the Boathouse Grill located in a really cool building built in 1903. The food was good but the atmosphere was better….it was situated right on the river and had beautiful views. Just another way God has been showing us His love.

After lunch, we walked along the river, talked about our morning, and plotted next steps.  We decided to check out a few more county roads that we had seen on the map in the vicinity of the first property. One of the roads in particular peaked our interest because it appeared on the map to head deep into a mountain valley. So we packed up our gear and headed west again. However, shortly after we turned onto the road the County winter maintaince stopped, which meant that the plowing stopped.  There was about a foot and a half of snow and very little area to turn around, yikes!  Despite this hiccup, we both thought the road was heading into an area that would be great for the reatreat and worthy of further investigation in the future. The only downside would be the need for us to plow the road ourselves (if we do indeed head in this direction), which would likely be a be a major expense.

During our morning drive we noticed a few other parcels for sale along the same road as the beautiful 18 acres.  So after our snowy dead end, we decided to head back to the hotel to do some online research of those properties. We weren’t very successful in finding information on those particular lots, but we did find more info on the first property.  Unfortunately, 12 of the 18 acres are designated as “open space” and 3 utility easements cross the remaining 6 acres of developable land making this property much less attractive. 

In saying this, I ended yesterday a little discouraged.  At this point I’m not sure if my expectation of what the retreat should look like is the same as what God has planned.  Both CJ and I feel so drawn to the areas with larger trees further up in the mountains but we’ve had little success in finding property.  However, our goal for this trip was to merely get the lay of the land.  In God’s timeline, there’s still plenty of time to find the perfect property…I think my discouragement may be rooted in my excitement pushing me ahead while God is saying, “One step at a time, my son”.  CJ, on the other hand, left yesterday feeling a sense of re-direction in terms of our vision.  Our original thought was that we would need much larger acreage (35 to 40 acres) in order to handle the capacity we had set.  However, after seeing the properties, we’re talking about downsizing and building something much smaller and more intimate….say maximum of 30 people. Hmmmm, what do you think?

So my hope for today is that I find excitement in another day walking in God’s will…a fruitful day, another step towards God’s bigger vision.  We ask that you pray for us, that our expectations are removed and that God’s will is made clear.

Categories: Colorado | Tags: | Leave a comment

Adventure to Salida….

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Lance Hartland

We continue to plug away on the development of the retreat as we sit here in Austin.  However, CJ and I will be taking a big step in the upcoming weeks as we head to the Salida region to make local connections and explore possible sites.

We already have an appointment with a county representative to hash out the development process and zoning requirements.  We’re also really excited to be meeting with a local builder/realtor that is a relative of a Gateway pastor. He’s worked with the youth camp, YoungLife (that is located near Buena Vista), for many years. We’re looking forward to hearing his perspective on camp life, gaining insight about operational issues, discussing building ideas, and developing a new friendship with a local brother.

But this isn’t just a business trip…once we move to the Salida area, we want to plug into a community pretty quickly.   We’ve been doing research on local churches and plan to visit River Valley Community Fellowship for Sunday service.  We’ve already gotten great feedback, so pretty excited about checking out this faith community!!  Also, in our property search,  we would like to be located near Monarch Ski Resort to provide winter retreat opportunities. Having said that, only seems right to spend some time exploring that area….aka, spending a day on the board!

This journey has been one step in faith after another, some big…some small.  But with each step taken, God has shown His direction  without fail.   It’s been such a wonderful experience for us to see up close God’s hand move in such amazing ways. We’ve been praying for people to come forth to walk with us in this journey.  We are fully believing that “if we build it, they will come” ….the trickle has started, we await the flood!

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Status of our effort as of early January

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Lance Hartland

We have been working on what we need to incorporate in Colorado, and are currently waiting to hear if we need a physical Colorado address before we can incorporate. We also completed draft by-laws for the organization. Now we are working on a strategic plan which we will need to include in the federal 501(c)3 application, as well as drafting rough concepts of the envisioned buildings. We will soon be approaching individuals to be on the Board of Directors.

There is still a lot to do before we can start the initial phase of the ministry. We will need outside help in order to complete many of the tasks. The following tasks are where we currently need volunteer help:

– Logo/Branding: graphic artist (work with marketing person)
– Real Estate: Realtor in Colorado
– Marketing: Help with marketing strategy
– Web Designer: Create website
– Legal Help: Lawyer to review legal documents
– Architect: Review concepts and help with rough capital and construction cost estimate (required by Federal application)
– Site Engineer – To assist in evaluating a potential property
– Administrative – To assist in the paperwork necessary for the federal application.

There will be more opportunities to help, but right now this is all I can think of. We ask that you pray on these opportunities to see if your desire, gift set and time are a good match. Or if you know of someone else that may be a good fit, please let us know. CJ and I have been praying for the right people to join us on this journey.

Categories: Austin | 2 Comments

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