The Plan

We went home to visit and took our list of scenarios. We expressed our interest in returning home to work on the ranch. As you can see we didn't really know what would be the best way. We worried about health insurance, buying land, finding a lease, a place to live. Nothing was decided at that visit but we all had lots of stuff to think over.
I don't remember exactly when we visited again but during our next visit to Oklahoma Papa Nano put forth this plan.

Andrew could work for Salas Land and Cattle. We could live at the Wade place. "The Wade Place is 880 acre near a town called Wade. It was bought in 1997. It is about 25 miles from "The Home Place." The Home Place is the original 400 acres Papa Nano bought in 1975. Today the total acres operated by Salas Land and Cattle is about 1800 acres.

Andrew's salary would be $10/hour. He would help his Dad, learn the business and be free to start his own operation when the time was right.

We accepted this. Now you must realize that Andrew doesn't really make $10/hour. He makes $400/week working from sun up to sun down.

We stayed with GM for another year. Andrew transferred back to the GM-OKC plant. We continued to save money and sold our house in Michigan. The housing market was near the top of the bubble in 2003!!

Over the next year it was decided that we should not buy a trailer to put on the Wade place. Grandma Audrey had a say in this part! We were perfectly ready and willing to provide our own housing. We actually went shopping for used trailers. Papa Nano decided that he would build us a house. We were floored! Andrew drew the plans and we helped work on the house during weekends. They poured the concrete on Christmas Eve 2003 and we moved in May 1st, 2004.

Andrew had already quit his job April 1st. That was a scary day. Quitting an $80K/year job to make $10/hour is usually considered crazy. His bosses didn't know what to think.

Papa Nano has continued to be very generous to us. He never switched the electricity to our name after we moved in. He also gave us a herd of 150 sheep and 100 goats.