Several people have asked me, "Why did you call it Dynamite Acres?" Well.... its kind of a long story, but here it goes. Nearly 20 years ago my aunt nicknamed my husband and I "TNT" on account of our names being Tony and Tiffany. The nickname stuck, Fast forward a few years. Tony and I are Owner Operators, team driving our 18-wheeler cross country with our three amazing pups. We traveled in the lower 48 states and all of the providences of Canada. We specialized in "hot" loads which means they are the loads that needed to be there yesterday. We were always in a hurry, taking turns driving. Our truck only stopped when it needed fuel or if we were between loads. Jerry Reed said it best in his song, East bound and Down. One of the lyrics lines is "We are gonna do what they say can't be done!" We quickly earned the reputation of being a hardworking, fastmoving team. The dispatchers and load brokers also started using our nickname TNT. Soon the nickname morphed into the handle of Dynamite. We soon were being asked to do high value government loads, and we were chosen to provide relief when Hurricane Katrina hit the south. We loved our time on the road. Below is a picture of our truck.
For a time we put all of our items in a storage unit and did not have a house. We lived out on the open road. I tell you what...… if you want to get to know your partner try living in 80 square inches. You learn in a hurry what the other person is all about. Out on the road we encountered serious dangers. We encountered hijackers, massive ice storms, tornadoes, flash floods, we rescued stranded motorists, provided aid at car accidents, assisted the Highway Patrol with arrests, and so many other scary events. No matter what we came across we always knew we could figure it out together. While there were many unnerving events there were so many magical experiences as well. We love the desert sky at night, the beauty of a meteor showers, the stillness of an early morning in the mountains, the majesty of historical buildings in the big city, the herds of animals moving across the open land, or a rainbow after a fresh prairie rain. I found the miles of solitude, as the road stretched out before me welcoming. Knowing that an unending road of possibilities lay ahead.
We drove over the road for about 6 years before we decided it was time to go back home. We still drove our truck but we hired on with a regional company. We also purchased our first investment property. We purchased a house in poor repair and started fixing it when we could. We rebuilt the property on our free time, sold it, and bought a bigger project. This process continued with us selling and buying a new project every few years until we finally built up enough equity to buy our dream. A piece of property in our beloved Montana. We have worked very hard, and leaned heavily on one another. It has been an amazing, challenging experience which is far from over.
So back to the original questions..... "Why is our place called Dynamite Acres?" We called it Dynamite Acres because our handle is Dynamite. We are a phenomenal, three generational team that faces life's beauty and challenges together. My mother, and our two children are integral parts of our Dynamite Team. We work together to overcome the challenges that nature throws at us, and we rejoice in the beauty of our lives together.