This weekend, we went up to Virginia to visit family and tour the acreage some.  Cousin Mead, with his trusty and manure-encrusted Jeep, took us around the 1400 acres.

Being family (on my wife's side), we're able to buy ourselves a handful or acres for a reasonable sum.  And my own grandfather always said land was a good investment.  There's always more people wanting land, and they aren't making any more of it.

Anyhow, Mead showed us several potential sites.  We tried to judge them based upon road access, suitability to some farming, and potential for off-the-grid living (solar, hydro).  Being active agricultural land, we also need to consider how many gates we have to stop at, open, drive through, close, and re-latch for any trip on or off the property.

One site involved traversing 3 gates though fields of grass-fed cows.

While it had beautiful views, it did also lie precariously close to hunting land.  I worry for the cows.

From that site, though, we could spy our eventual selection.

You're going to have to click to enlarge a time or two, but beyond the Jeep is a creek, then a slope up to plot we ultimately want.  We'd like to include the creek if we can draw the lines the right way.

From the site itself, the vista is amazing down the valley.

There's a hill suitable for a wind turbine, the stream available for irrigation, the water table is about 700' below the surface and plentiful.  And there's a shady glen in the middle just waiting for someone to build a cabin.