The Too Much Fun Club Convenes This Weekend At Shangri-La

It's been an interesting week.

After staying at the mountain retreat to watch the NFL Draft, which I think was an awesome success for the Super Bowl Champion Steelers, I returned to Black Squirrel Run and put in a long work week (nearly 40 hours) in just a few days.


Before we left last weekend I asked GreeningAmerica to take care of a few things for me.

He sat in on a conference call I had with a security consultant and the company that installed my system at Black Squirrel Run. Getting an office set up and the system installed were my top two priority items and GreeningAmerica's help made it much easier.

We returned Thursday to find him watching over the installation (I'd arranged) of a new gate. He'd also posted a sign as I requested.


I'm pleased to say, at this early date, things are running ahead of schedule. In that vein, the mountain retreat has a new name, Shangri-La, as well as a new security system.


Yesterday morning TurnYourHead&Cough went to the West Coast, accompanied by TheSpecialOne, to start looking at houses.

Shangri-La sits on a 10-acre parcel, much of it being virgin forest. I was anxious to get a close look at the property and that's what GreeningAmerica and I focused on yesterday.


Knowing I intended to install a fence around the perimeter of the property GreeningAmerica said he particularly wanted me to see the back end of the parcel.

We'd walked for about an hour when he pointed to a tree with a tree stand he'd built in it. He told me that the property line was 100 yards beyond it.

I noted the spot on a map GreeningAmerica had provided, as I thought it would be a perfect place to install a camera.


I was surprised when at that point GreeningAmerica asked if I wanted to meet my new neighbor.

It seemed odd given that we were an hour from Shangri-La, but he said it would be just about another 15 minutes to the neighbor's (house)...and we'd be able to get a ride back instead of having to walk.

He phoned the neighbor, found him home and arranged a meeting.

He suggested I would likely want to put in a gate to provide easy access between my property and that of the neighbor, known henceforth as The Admiral.


It wasn't long before we came upon a body of water. It was The Admiral's lake and I was amazed by the size of it.

The color, he later told me, is consistent and that it comes from the deep depth of the lake, which is fed by six springs.


It took closer to half an hour than 15 minutes to reach The Admiral's sprawling compound.

He'd bought the property, totaling 20 acres, less than a month after retiring and had designed the house himself, as well as a few out buildings.


It turned out that The Admiral and his wife, an Eva Mendez look alike, share a number of my sensibilities and appetites.

They invited us to join them for lunch. This was the view from the deck where we grilled steaks, while smoking Cuban cigars and drinking Scotch...


Later, after his wife had left for the spa, The Admiral sampled his latest sensimilla crop with us.

Next we went to one of the out buildings. I was surprised to learn that the ride GreeningAmerica spoke of would not be The Admiral taking us home, but lending us a pair of ATVs.

We had a great view of the lake when we were leaving...


Riding the ATVs made for both an interesting and effective way to explore the rest of the property. By the time we were finished I had identified five more locations for cameras that I thought would provide an adequate view of what was happening throughout the property.

Sorry to have to cut this short, but we're convening a meeting of the Too Much Fun Club this afternoon and I have a few things to take care of before people start to arrive.

Ciao