That’s Entertainment
One of the things we wanted most when we bought 5 acres was to have a place for our pretty big family to get together for fun. We especially envisioned our above ground pool all nice and setup as well as something that was going to be difficult in our last lot, an outdoor kitchen and gathering spot. We finally got to the point with repairing the yard that we could actually make an attempt.
We started with some earthworks. I definitely am a newb at getting ground somewhat flat. In this case, I wasn’t looking for level, just flat enough that I can mow it in the future. This area was our original poop dump from the first days of ownership. This position on the property seemed out of the way when we started, but once the grass started to grow back, it became clear the mower wouldn’t fit over the mounds that had been created. I had tried a bit last year, but it was taking a lot of time and we had other priorities, so I abandoned it. As we did our planning during the winter, it became clear that the poop patch would be a perfect position for the pool. I knocked down the high spots and created a level(ish) pad using that soil, a truck load of mound dirt, and some sand. The process took a couple of 8 hour Saturdays and I still have a couple of spots to finish off.
With the basics done, I pulled out the level and a 10 foot board and tested the platform I had created. I had done a rough measurement with the mound soil, but here I really made sure as I put down sand, that I was getting both flat and level in both planes. I did make sure I had one area just slight lower and that is where I put the drain plug. Once I had that where I wanted it, I pulled out the pool and unfolded it on the platform. If you are doing something like this, obviously you would want it sized for your pool. In our case it is 18 feet long, buy 11 feet wide. I’ll have to admit it was pretty cool seeing that spread out for the first time in place. Definitely beat the area we set it up last year, which was neither level or flat. That spot still hasn’t had all the grass grow back fully.
We eventually want a full on outdoor kitchen, but we aren’t really sure of the final location we would like. So this year we are trying out the location we think we want with a pop up canopy. We have the 13x13 version of the Coleman from Costco, so that has been a great proxy. No cooking, but we have a picnic table and some camp chairs out there, along with some LED string lights hung in the supports. Which brings up electricity. Until we have a final location where I can trench water and electricity, we ran out a 100 foot extension cord with a splitter to power the pool pump and the lights.
As the summer winds down, we are really enjoying the location of the pool, especially as we finish clearing the high brush that was leftover. We have had one get together of around 30 people (20 of whom camped over) and it worked great. At this point we believe the location of the shelter is good. It isn’t too far from the shop where we will be sending power and we think we know where we will have a couple of posts with power. The wife and I have also just sat and enjoyed the breeze in the trees and it seems like we are correct in where we think the location will be. What we are running into now is where we might be able to setup some semi permanent games like cornhole and ladder golf, where people can still be in the conversations and not hit people.
The lesson for us is that even though it seems like it has been painfully long (we’ve been on the property almost 3 years), we think it is going to be well worth it as the locations and projects for a great outdoor entertainment area are coming to fruition. This winter will give us some fun as we start to do some build ideas that we can bring to life next summer. Hopefully, this gives you some ideas and gives you some grace if you also feel like it takes too long. You could be building in the wrong place.
