About 2 months ago Barb and I started talking about retirement. When we moved here a year and a half ago we thought we were done. In that time Barb has continued to teach online at Missouri State University and I have continued to build in LaPaz. Even though we have both scaled back what we do, we have agreed, we are not done yet.
As Barb approaches the last couple of weeks of her online class, she admits she doesn't know how she will fill in the time. As for me, I have been planning to build a sawmill and drying and milling operation in LaPaz for my next building project. When we decided to come to Ecuador our second choice was the Asheville, North Carolina area. At that time we couldn't see past the real estate downturn so to protect our investments we came here to sit out the recession. Even though we have saved money here it has become increasingly difficult to predict how things will play out in a socialized nation facing an inflationary trend in an economy based on the devalued dollar. The bottom line to all this talk is that we are convinced that after this year's spring bump in real estate that next spring the housing market will begin a slow 10 year recovery in the U.S.. I have never seen so many building permits pulled and contractors ready to pull the trigger waiting for some good economic news. Well, they didn't get what they were looking for but they will next year.
We've decided to send Barb to the U.S. in June to talk to some folks, we'll see what she comes back with.
