The Affordable Way to Get Your Own Cabin

As we sit in our urban homes, we live amid highways, strip malls, office buildings, and parking lots. But the primal part of us hungers to live among trees and water and winding woodsy roads. As we tap away at our computers, we wish we could run off to our cabin kits . Alaska is far away, but with the Alaskan cabin kit that are now available, you can build a cabin closer to home, but with a similar woodsy ambiance. And, because its a kit, you can make it as simple or as full-featured as suits your needs and budget.

Call it a cabin, call it a cottage, or call it a camp. Its all the same thing. Its a little, uncomplicated house that sits in the woods. If youre lucky, you can find a spot on a lake where you can build a dock. Imagine the fun of watching your kids jump off the dock into the clear, clean water of a northern lake. With their air mattresses and blow-up sea monsters, they can paddle around in the shallow water, growing the sibling bonds and building shared memories that will nourish them when they have their own urban homes and computer jobs.

Imagine tying your boat to the other side of this dock. When the kids are big enough, you can give them the excitement of water skiing around the lake. You don't need the hugest lake in the state for the water skiing to be fun. It just has to be big enough for your boat to navigate large enough circles to keep the skier on the water.

Imagine sitting on the end of the dock, feet swirling the water, with a fishing pole in your hand. Put a night crawler or an artificial lure on the line, and toss it in. The result of some patience and a couple of beers could very well be tonight's supper. Whether the lake is stocked with blue gills or bass, dinner will be a big hit! If the fish aren't biting around the dock, throw the gear in the boat, and look for greener fish pastures. Dawn and dusk are the optimal time for boat fishing. And, who can say? You just might see a muskrat, beaver, or loon.

There's another important part of this fish dinner, and that's the berry pie! Later in the summer, the wild raspberries and blueberries will be ripening. Hand out a pan, large tin can, or bucket for you and each of your kids. Spray on plenty of bug repellent. Dab on the sunscreen. Then head out into the woods. If its been a good, warm season with plenty of rain and sun, the berries will fill your buckets quickly (of course not quickly enough for the littlest one of the crew). When the berries are sorted and washed, they will be ready to toss between pie crusts, along with a liberal amount of sugar, and baked.

So put your dreams to work. Buy a piece of a lake shore and a cabin kit, and get building!