The critters that wind up in the middle of the road can be funny or infuriating and other times down right terrifying. We have had several strings on this forum about frog and toad crossings and many of us have had to brake a little too fast when the headlights reveal a startled deer or two. (Have you heard about the deer in Colorado that have figured out the traffic signals? I've seen them.) On the same road where I acquired Birdy I had to get out of the car and herd a gaggle of geese marching mostly down the yellow line. Hey Horton, if you were missing a squadron, at least they were on Airport Road headed for the north-south runway. Another time I wound up chasing cows wandering along the same stretch. I've often wondered if I got them in the correct barnyard. You know it's really hard rounding up cows while wearing high heels, especially when there is a bull on the other side of the barb wire. Your turn. Sandy

This thread took a bit of a snarky turn, but it is obvious that it started when someone who doesn't understand the botany of the Texas hill country started defending "cedars." Whether you detest or defend "cedar" (really a variety of ashe juniper) in this part of the country is a touchy subject, LOL...they can be decent trees when they get large and do provide some wildlife habitat...and current thinking is they probably don't take as much water as was previously thought. However, they are also opportunistic scrubby little bushy things that will choke the land given the opportunity...this land was not originally covered with this stuff and clearing some of it gives the oaks, elms, redbuds and many other interesting and valuable native trees and shrubs a chance...also lets the native grasses recover in areas that were originally grassland. Now on to the original question. ;~))) aggie, I would choose the view if you think it will stay nice. I hope nothing happens to your majestic oaks, but here on the edge of the hill country we have been through some freak windstorms that twisted some of our gorgeous oaks and elms off and the occasional ice storm that coats everything can do a lot of damage to our beautiful oaks (which are also brittle trees.) As other posters mentioned..things happen to trees. If your view will not be endangered by development, etc. you really can plant trees where you want them (and where they benefit your house siting.) There are quite a few trees that are either native or very well adapted here which will grow pretty fast with a little supplemental well water...I am talking good trees like bur oaks, Monterey and other white oaks, some elm varieties, etc. You may also get a good breeze on the edge of a bluff which can be a big advantage in this climate!

There is definitely some calculus involved when determining what scale a renovation is, that involves both price and taste/finish. I think a middle-of-the-road renovation generally is around 10-15% of home value. But this frequently is retail cost, factoring in contracting labor, etc. Had I paid retail all along, my renovation would not be taking so long (coming on 2 years, thanks to interruptions for school), but would also be completely unobtainable for me on a students budget. Retail price for what I've done so far would be well over $60k. I've spent about $8k, through careful combing of craiglist and auctions, and free labor (dad). What I've gotten for my $5k* is amazing, however: SubZero 611 (craigslist, owner was upgrading to a Liebherr) SubZero 700BR (craigslist, never used) Gaggenau EB270 (craigslist, barely used) 30" Black Kohler Gilford sink (craigslist, display sale) 40sf of countertop slabs (bankruptcy auction) cork floating floor (craigslist, GC overage from a large job) 18 solid wood kitchen cabinets (friend upgraded her kitchen to Poggenpohl) steel spiral staircase (craigslist), going to the work/sleep loft we built over to the kitchen. *What about that remaining 3k, you ask? That went to a retail-priced 30" Bertazzoni Pro all-gas stove. Craigslist failed to deliver on a stove. There are some consolations- I absolutely love the range, and Bertazzoni had/has a free range hood promotion going on. So while I was never going to buy a $1200 range hood, I'm happy to get one for free. I did cry a little before spending full price on that stove, and a lot of it has to do with the calculus of middle-of-the-road and high-end. I'd talked myself into being reasonable, and just buying a perfectly fine mid-range GE. (Which was still going to be over $1k.) But the fact remained that the GE would stick out like a sore thumb in the kitchen I was constructing. And since craigslist was not coughing up a $500 Viking or Wolf, I finally accepted that I needed to pony up for a good-looking stove, and the Berta hit the sweet spot of no electronics, pretty, and reasonable (for a designer stove) cost. Being your own contractor is not easy, and craigslist is a minefield-- but even in it's half-assembled state, I'm completely in love with my kitchen now. (Possibly tinged with lingering gratefulness over the little things, like having a working sink to wash dishes in, or a stove that doesn't leak gas.)

Dear Kat_Wa: I am in agreement for the most part for the route that you have picked. The most unpredictable part is I-80 through Wyoming. This is an easy route when the roads are clear, and it is a main trucker's route between Chicago and the west coast. A major snowstorm can close this highway for several days. When a snowfall overwhelms Wyoming's plowing equipment, they close major highways. I-80 across Nebraska is flat and boring. If you pick up a stiff tail wind, you could coast all the way across. LOL. The remainder of the route from Lincoln, NE to Rio Grande, OH has no mountains or significat hills. major grades are caused by rolling landscape and dips into large river basins. You can handily avoid I-80 in the south side of Chicago and I advise you do so. I-80 south of Chicago and across the top Indiana is crowded with trucks and speeders. it can be a fast trip under good conditions, but can turn into a parking lot on short order. A jack-knifed truck 30 miles north of I-80 in Chicago can create a traffic backup that extends all the way back to the Illinois-Indiana border. The route that I would try is: 1. From Wasington State, take I-84 to Salt Lake City, UT. 2. At Salt Lake City, check the road conditions of I-80 through Wyoming. If open, ok, but if closed, either wait it out or find an alternate route across the Rockies. 3. I-80 east through Wyoming, Nebraska, and Iowa crossing the Mississippi River at Davenport/Bettendorf. 4. Immediately after crossing the Mississippi river, take I-74 south to Galesburg, IL. 5. I-74 turns east at Galesburg. Continue on I-74 to Indianapolis, IN. 6. Change to I-70 east at Indianapolis to Dayton, OH. 7. At Dayton, change to US-36 / I-36 and follow this to Rio Grande, OH. About 50% of this part is interstate. Get a detailed map of Dayton and plan a route either around or through Dayton whichever is your preference. Without a navigator at your side, the non-thinking and easiest route is to stay on I-70, then South on I-675 to US-35. This route is east of Dayton and totally avoids the city, but adds about a 5 mile backtrack. More about Wyoming: Wyoming is a high plains state with part of the the rocky mountains passing through it. The lowest elevation in the state is about 3600 ft at its SE corner. The last time I was along I-80 (several years ago) I found motels at Rock Srings and Cheyenne. When you first enter the state, you may see a set of huge gate arms beside the road akin to a railroad crossing. These are for closing the road. Its too bad this is not a pleasure trip. You are passing nearby a number of historical locations. Rock Island Arsenal, IL - site of a Civil War prison. There is a cemetery on the Island holding a large number of Confederate Soldiers. Many soldiers died at this camp from disease. Small pox ran rampant. Prisoners were taken upstream to a limestone quarry and there they cut stone used to construct some of the early permanent buildings at the arsenal. At my last count, some of these building were still standing and in use. Galesburg, IL - Home of Robert Frost. He was born in a garage sized house. Monmouth, IL - Birthplace of Wyatt Erp. Dixon, IL - Boyhood home of Nixon. Black Hawk War 1832 - Many sites and many of these forgotten. This war began in Northern IL, then into Wisconsin and westward through WI to the Mississippi river at the confluence of the Bad Axe river where the final masacre of Black Hawk's band occured. President Lincoln mania - Although Abe Lincoln was not born in Illinois, he grew up in Illinois and spent his early adulthood in IL, and was largely self taught. he was a 23 yr old store clerk when the Black Hawk war broke out. Lincoln was a Captain for 1 month in that war. He was elected Captain by winning a wrestling match. However, he voluntered for more terms serving in a position similar to assistant quartermaster. Vincennes, IN The site of Fort Sackville, the place where the French surrendered to a tired, rag tag group of US explorers. The leader of the group produced a sham to trick the French into surrendering. He knew that he had little chance of winning an outright battle and had to cross the Big Wabash River to engage the enemy. So waht did he do? at nightfall, he spread out his men into a number of groups, possibly as many as ten. There were only a few men per group, but the opponent did not know this. Each group kept a campfire buring all night giving an impression that an army was encamped on the river. Early, the next morning before his ruse could be discovered, he crossed the river under a white flag and demanded the French to surrender. The French's main object was fur trade, not make battle so they complied. After the surrender, the French leader asked to see a show of the troops hidden on the other side of the river, and when he saw how few it were, he became angry, but he was already under guard. Illinois and Indiana high schools are noted for basketball, not football. Dayton, OH - Wright Brothers. Parke County, IN - has 30 covered bridges. These are not as picturesque as those in Vermont and New Hampshire, but this is a lagre collection for one county. Ohio has covered bridges also. Battelle Memorial Institute at Columbus, OH. This institute helped to develop the Xerox process and accepted shares in the fledging company for payment. Nauvoo, IL - The site of an early Mormon town. They were attacked and then decided to leave. This was the beginning of their mass migration to Salt Lake City, UT. When they left their homes, some did a complete abandonment by leaving their houses unlocked and the front doors open. Because of this persucation, there are two Oregon trails in Nebraska: the main trail on the south side of the Platte River and the Mormon trail on the north side of the river. They took the less traveled side of the river to avoid fights and unpleasant encounters.