In the beginning...

After several years of weekend drives across western Minnesota, researching various websites and contacting various realtors (who surprisingly never even returned our phone calls!), we were led to Little Chippewa Lake (aka, Little Chip) near Brandon, Minnesota. We met a great realtor named Carl Kvale with Edina Realty in Alexandria who promptly returned our call and showed us several options last summer. When we walked onto this land and waded in the water...we knew we were home! The property consists of 2.1 acres with beautiful mature trees and some open space for volleyball or a tennis court (what??) or a garden or four-wheeling or laying and looking up at the stars. But what really excited us most was the awesome, crystal clear water and amazing shoreline...154 feet of perfect, level, sandy shoreline. Ahhh!

Our original plan was based on the hope that as the summer and fall came to an end, we may be alone in our pursuit of this property. We intended to make an offer after the first of the year. However, things didn't really go according to that plan. We were told that there was another potential buyer and we needed to do some soul searching. Was this crazy idea we had even realistic? What about the declining economy? Was this new information valid or should we hold fast to our plan/time frame? Was this an indication that we should shut everything down? Would we be alright letting this land go in the hope that we'd find something we liked equally as well in the future? The answer to that final question was really the deciding factor. No! THIS was the place we had dreamed of! So, after a tense evening of negotiations, at last our offer and several counter offers resulted in a purchase agreement! We asked for a closing in January of 2010 and were granted that request. Now it all starts...planning, designing, saving...and so much more! Here we go!