Dean’s Campground, Washington

In 1975 Dean and Barbara Inabnit purchased 11 undeveloped acres from Weyerhaeuser. Dean’s plan to bring two manufactured homes to the property was only shortly delayed by a $20,000 bid per house to have the Coast Guard air lift the houses in to place. The only option, it seemed. Dean took his $40,000 and purchased a bulldozer and tractor. Weyerhaeuser granted Dean permission to widen well over 2 miles of county access road through the forest from the direction of the nearby fire station. He drug the homes through his temporary driveway and finally in 1978, the houses were hooked up to water, sewer, power. They moved in. He spent the next few years building a logging road as his main drive from Auburn-Black Diamond, sourcing all materials from the land. Dean and Barbara finished raising their family here, and for a while their grandchildren enjoyed the land, too. Dean is 81 years old, living in the Centralia area. We bought his bulldozer and his tractor, and he and his family are happy to know we are continuing their hard work.