Regular_Joe
11-15-2007, 06:19 AM
My parents are contemplating opening an ATV park of sorts for a retirement business. Overall I am looking for ideas, suggestions, comments, feedback, etc.
Here is their background.
My dad works as a lineman for the local power company. He is a very active person and doesn't like to sit around. He is always doing something around the house. He will be up for retirement in about 4 years. My mother has been a stay at home mom for a while. She loves to cook, but that has taken a big decrease since all us kids moved out. My parents have everything they want and need nothing financially. Basically they need to keep busy in retirement, and they don’t care to travel.
They own a 200 acre farm. Its about 1/3 fields and the rest is woods. There is also a good sized creek that goes across the property as well. About 15 yrs ago they bought a big weed eater with a brush blade, a chain saw, and began making a few small trails. Fast forward to today they have a big tractor w/ a loader, dumpcart, brush-hog, backhoe, and a wood chipper (pto driven, quite big, and handles up to 6” logs). We now have tons of nice, well groomed, and maintained trails all over the property. Many follow the creek and its very nice.
The barn has also been transformed. The hay loft has been empty for years. We cleaned it out nice, added lights, etc. We put up a basketball hoop, added Texas Horseshoes, etc. It’s a nice big area to just hang out in. Kind of like a recreation room of sorts.
I live about 3 hrs away and plan weekend trips there quite often. Generally I show up with a crew of 10-15 people. We all bring our quads. We go riding and hang out all weekend. Play in the barn here and there. At night we have a few drinks, play games, and relax. My parents love the activity. My mom cooks huge breakfasts and dinners for us all. Dad will make a big fire in the backyard to cook marshmallows. Its like a vacation at a bed-n-breakfast.
I think they would really enjoy making the property into an ATV park. Kind of like a bed and breakfast style place. This would give dad something to focus his energy on. Mom can cook like crazy. They don’t need to make a living at it. If they had 20-30 people show up that would be plenty. They would mostly have the week to themselves and everyone would show up around the weekends. They could put electrical hookups for campers. It would keep them busy and they would be doing “work” that they really do enjoy, and would be doing anyway. Also the opportunity to buy 300-400 more acres that is adjoining their property has come up. The location is in upstate NY about 1 hour from the St Lawrence river. This could also add some appeal to it. Attractions like Bold Castle are less than 1 hour away. Ottawa Canada is about 1.5 hours away. Honestly I think the property is perfect, but their family/fun oriented hospitality, and the fact they would cook big breakfasts and dinners is what would win people over. So not only riding, but a mini vacation where the cooking and stuff is taken care of for you as well.
What do you guys think?
Here is their background.
My dad works as a lineman for the local power company. He is a very active person and doesn't like to sit around. He is always doing something around the house. He will be up for retirement in about 4 years. My mother has been a stay at home mom for a while. She loves to cook, but that has taken a big decrease since all us kids moved out. My parents have everything they want and need nothing financially. Basically they need to keep busy in retirement, and they don’t care to travel.
They own a 200 acre farm. Its about 1/3 fields and the rest is woods. There is also a good sized creek that goes across the property as well. About 15 yrs ago they bought a big weed eater with a brush blade, a chain saw, and began making a few small trails. Fast forward to today they have a big tractor w/ a loader, dumpcart, brush-hog, backhoe, and a wood chipper (pto driven, quite big, and handles up to 6” logs). We now have tons of nice, well groomed, and maintained trails all over the property. Many follow the creek and its very nice.
The barn has also been transformed. The hay loft has been empty for years. We cleaned it out nice, added lights, etc. We put up a basketball hoop, added Texas Horseshoes, etc. It’s a nice big area to just hang out in. Kind of like a recreation room of sorts.
I live about 3 hrs away and plan weekend trips there quite often. Generally I show up with a crew of 10-15 people. We all bring our quads. We go riding and hang out all weekend. Play in the barn here and there. At night we have a few drinks, play games, and relax. My parents love the activity. My mom cooks huge breakfasts and dinners for us all. Dad will make a big fire in the backyard to cook marshmallows. Its like a vacation at a bed-n-breakfast.
I think they would really enjoy making the property into an ATV park. Kind of like a bed and breakfast style place. This would give dad something to focus his energy on. Mom can cook like crazy. They don’t need to make a living at it. If they had 20-30 people show up that would be plenty. They would mostly have the week to themselves and everyone would show up around the weekends. They could put electrical hookups for campers. It would keep them busy and they would be doing “work” that they really do enjoy, and would be doing anyway. Also the opportunity to buy 300-400 more acres that is adjoining their property has come up. The location is in upstate NY about 1 hour from the St Lawrence river. This could also add some appeal to it. Attractions like Bold Castle are less than 1 hour away. Ottawa Canada is about 1.5 hours away. Honestly I think the property is perfect, but their family/fun oriented hospitality, and the fact they would cook big breakfasts and dinners is what would win people over. So not only riding, but a mini vacation where the cooking and stuff is taken care of for you as well.
What do you guys think?