I'm in the Mustachian camp of living cheaply in a cheaper-cost remote rural area instead of the walkable/bikable Mustachianism that many here are into. To that end, I have a 3+ acre property that is at the end of a dead end street (the actual "end" of the street is a power company read: water dam). There's an empty home right next door that is more of a summer cabin that is vacant 90% of the year, and the nearest actual neighbor is about 1/4 mile above me. We're the only houses on this road.
Behind me is a campground, 200 acres, so for the most part, I see no other people around. Though this weekend was a small festival at the campground, there was an abundance of traffic and people from outside the area.
My driveway is rather long and up off the road. It was a small campground in the 70s and thus we have some "shacks" that were previously cabins, along with a bath house and other sheds. They're empty, abandoned, and falling down.
The past 2 mornings, we have woken up to a car (presumably different cars, though we couldn't see well enough to be sure) in the driveway.
Monday, 6:30am, a lady came out of the car (not sure how long she had been there) and walked towards the house and asked if we had a "changing room" -- at which point we told her it was private property and she left, though not necessarily promptly. We're unsure if she ducked behind one of our cabins to change or maybe even got in one that was unlocked. My MIL was the one who encountered the lady and didn't wake me to shoo her off properly.
Today, 5am, my kid woke up very early and my wife was bringing him down the stairs and turning on the living room lights. When she started turning lights on, a car started up and pulled out, the only thing she could see in the darkness was tail lights. No idea how long they'd been there, what they might have been doing, or why they were even here.
We're concerned that this may happen more frequently if the baby sleeps through the night and we don't see. Or maybe people driving up are what is waking him up so early. We just don't know.
I need some mustachian security ideas. My first thoughts were to put up a trail camera and try to capture plates, but that only helps after they've come and gone.
We have lots of wildlife, so setting up some motion lighting will just have lights coming on and off all night. I'm reluctant to put a massive electricity eating flood light out there as it's close enough that it could be a pain to sleep. It's also passive security that won't necessarily keep out people.
Thoughts appreciated...