Becoming Outdated

 Since family camping trips when I was a child I remember Dad firing up the Coleman 2-burner white gas stove and Mom, then, cooking up breakfast. The hissing, the fire, the smell. So when Wilma and I married, on our gift list was a stove for us. That one lasted 45 years and time to retire it. I've overhauled it but it's still getting temperamental. My quest begins to replace it, in kind. 

However, white gas is getting harder to find. Retail stores are phasing out these stoves, too, for the convenient green bottle stoves, which cost about a third as much. Finally was able to order one online for around $200. I tried to light it and it created a huge fireball. Got so hot that the paint on the stove caught fire. Enough pooled up gas to burn for a few minutes. 

Exchanged it for another and had the same result, which I sketched here. Raw gas spewed into the bottom of the stove. HUGE fireball 6' high. I've lit these for 55 years and know how to do it. The feed tube and shut-off valve do their job, so it's the manifold. Design or construction problem I don't know. Coleman is producing TRASH! I just created two crispy critters. 

I'll start looking on eBay for a used older one. White gas, Coleman 2-burner stoves and I are all becoming outdated.

Pick Only One (Really?)

 I recently downsized my 27' RV trailer to an 18' RV trailer. It's just me now and the old RV just had too many memories. Much less storage! I can't have ALL my coffee making methods on board. So . . . which one should I pick?! I can rule out the drip maker because it's just too large. I like the sentimental value of the percolator, but the French press is so darn simple, but it doesn't keep things warm. I just don't know.

Fountain pen, watercolor pencils and water brush. 

Back On Task

It's happened more than once in my creative pursuits. First: brainstorm a new big project. Second: plan all the details and get in an excited pitch. Third: get a great start. Then: hit a brick wall and everything stops. Then I set there, like the morning after a night of heavy drinking (so I've been told) and ask myself - what just happened? Why can't I move?

Project: a family memory journal for my mom (dad is deceased). My three siblings will help. I bound the journal from scratch. I made it through about half of the illustrating of our childhood. When I'm done I'll rotate it to my siblings and they can write in details and memories of childhood through our day of marriage. But I came to a stop. Dead in the water! Don't know why. I sabotaged myself. It's been on the "To Do" list for a few months now. BUT I'M BACK ON IT NOW!

What I want to know is how does this happen?! It makes now sense. I love my mom and I WANT my mom to have this. My siblings are all on board and my sister will even help with some illustrations. My mom's not getting younger. I know she'll love it. So how does such a project come to a halt? This is illogical! I've run into this in my other hobbies, too. I've heard woodcarvers complain of it. Wilma's quilting projects can get this way, too. If anyone can explain it please do!

One Season Down

It's that time of year. Need to winterize the travel trailer. We had our last trailer for sixteen years and a windstorm totaled it out. This Spring we bought a replacement, and we just finished our first summer of camping with it. Love that trailer! This is our first time for a slide-out and we're enjoying it.

For the old trailer we could blow the lines out with compressed air and all was fine. This trailer has a more complicated plumbing system, and no drawings to show how anything works and the Owners Manual has a minimal explanation of how to winterize.

So, I had to draw the plumbing out to see how it worked. Then I cruised some YouTube how-to videos. Once I understood how these things are done, the cryptic directions in the Owner's Manual made sense. The rest is history. The winterizing process worked fine. Then, all that was left to do was sketch it.

Fall River Lake Camping

Last year a wind storm totaled out our travel trailer. We replaced it early this year and have been camping out more this year that in recent years. It's been nice.

We had our fourth outing this past weekend.  Packed our tandem kayak, too. We spent Friday scouting out the Fall River as it comes into the Lake. Our Kansas kayaking book tells us of the various put-in points. We scouted out where to go when Amy and Cody come out to visit us on Saturday with their kayaks.

Had a nice chat with a Wildlife & Parks field guy. He verified the book's information. The names for the access points are all correct. Water conditions are low right now so the flow is down. Several riffles would be present, but that was OK. It's an excuse to walk through cool clear flowing shallow water on a hot day. Felt like a little kid again!

Felony Banjo, II

First off, WHO STOLE JUNE! I've never missed a whole month of blogging since I've been at this. No excuses are being offered. It just happened.

Now, if you remember from last July 4, our family camps out with extended family and friends on July 4 (and other holidays) at Clinton Lake in northeast Kansas. Part of that tradition is evening picking and singing at least one night, around the campfire. Ed on guitar, me on banjo. Last year, for the first time, we got shut down by authorities because it was Quiet Hours. A first.

So I wrote a protest song of sorts to memorialize the event, and was looking forward to singing it this year in its debut. Daily storms got in the way. Ed's son drove his family in from Tennessee (with huge 5th wheel trailer and truck) and really wanted to hear his Dad sing, so on the last night we huddled up under Ed's awning, in light rain. Started at 9:30 p.m., when the rain started to let up.

Things went well until 10:15 (Quiet Hours start at 10). Nobody camping close to us and people with any sense are all inside their campers to stay dry, so I thought we were safe. Nope. The deputy walked in, suggested we make this our last song and walks off. Well, we think another couple songs won't hurt. Wrong. He keeps driving by and stopping to watch us. Tension builds. I'm ready to quit but the group wants to push the envelope. I sing my "Shut'em Down" protest song and everyone loved it. Just one more song. But as we're playing we see a second patrol car pull up to the deputy. We sing more. A third patrol car pulls up. Then a fourth. Then a fifth. I don't feel so good. I think five night sticks and five 9mm semi-auto pistols trumps a banjo and guitar. We call it quits, quickly, and disperse as the five cars eerily drive in close formation into the camp to shut down some illegal fireworks (very few this year) and US. Once again, my banjo is my weapon in the commission of a crime.

We all make it to our campers without incident. A couple guys in our group stay up and the deputies clamp down on them for laughing too loud. We can't win.

So, another year, another violation of federal regulations. This just isn't working.

Just For Fun

Had some fun over the last week. Entered a promotional competition at Starbucks for their new VIA instant coffee product. Made a 2-minute video and posted it on http://www.youtube.com and www.starbucks.com/via (http://www.starbucks.com/via/occasion/inthewild/recent/video#sorting-anchor and titled "Using Starbucks VIA in the Kansas Wilderness"). Also entered a recipe for a hot drink I put together (http://www.starbucks.com/via/occasion/recipes/recent/story#sorting-anchor and titled "Wilderness Latte"). No way I'll win in a national competition, but it was fun doing it and I got my 5 minutes of fame by having it visible on the Starbucks website.

Walkabout 2009, Part II

This is the second half of the travel journal. The sketching worked well
because it forced me to slow down, which wasn't a bad thing.
I'm not in as good of shape as 40 years ago
when I started this backpacking thing. There's no hurry. I usually get in trouble when I have flashbacks of the energy levels of youth and try to do it now. Gotta keep grounded and hike smarter, especially since I'm solo. Don't need any overuse injury complicating things. And this trip showed me the enjoyment level is just as high as when I covered twice the distance. Actually more enjoyable because I'm absorbing more of what I see and smell and feel.

In reading what people are posting on the web about solo backpacking, one said that it's not better that going with a group, it's just another form of backpacking. It's still fun to go with a group but it's a totally different experience because you're always interacting with the others. That communication is fun but distracts from experiencing what's around you. I think that says it well. That's also why it blends so well with sketch journaling, which is also about absorbing what's around you. They were made for each other.

One last thing I wanted to note here. When Wilma and I took a week in July '08 to see Glacier National Park I created my first travel journal. It was a combination of pre-trip, trip, and post-trip sketching and photo transfers. I like that approach for big trips. But another approach is to have a goal that when the trip is over, the journal is over. I wanted to try it, so for this trip that was the goal. The sketches you see are done live (one from memory) or not at all. The only exception is the map (which took some post-trip analysis) and a couple factoid inserts. My conclusion: the "sketch now or never" is OK if you're in control of your time, but I don't think it would work for trips with others. That said, it sure is nice to be finished with the journal and not drag it out.

Walkabout 2009, Part I

Last year I took a 2 day/2 night solo bicycle trip to stretch my legs. It was backpacking the two prior years. This year I decided to try backpacking again. I like to have something to plan for and to exercise for. That gives me a chance to be in fair shape one week out of each year. It's a goal. Maybe I'll be in fair shape two week out of a year in the future.

Since I sketch more now, I'll pack my sketch gear. Had to reduce some, though. The graphite pencils and erasers and gel pens didn't make the cut. Only the watercolor pencils and Pitt Artist pens. The journal is the one I just made from Roz's class in Minneapolis. Looking forward to trying the new paper, and to carry my own handmade creation.


This day's post is the first half of my travel journal. The other half will follow. The trip went well. With no long distances planned and only myself to accommodate, I'd stop hiking when something struck my fancy to sketch, and I could hang around camp to get sketching in. Works well. Missouri has some beautiful country out there.

Felony Banjo

Ok, maybe not a felony, but it's my blog and I can sensationalize for the fun of it. At a family camp-out I was jamming with a family friend into the Quiet Time, entertaining our families. Ooo . . . criminals! We violated the Rules and Regulations of a federally owned campground. That's breaking a federal rule. A rule is almost a law, so this was almost a felony. What bugs me is that I tolerated loud boom boxes all day and that was legal. We play live music and we're shut down. Oh well. We'll be at it again at our next holiday camp-out.

Last One In

We forced ourselves to make reservations this year for Memorial Day to start camping. Always comes too soon, but if you don't make plans, things don't happen. The mud daubers were at it again (see last Sept.7 "Camping Time"), causing mischief and mayhem with their nests. Very enjoyable time, though. Forgot salt, pepper, cinnamon, bug spray, and forgot to check charcoal (but we had enough). Thought we had water and electric services but only had electric (had half tank freshwater and it was enough). Not bad for first camp of the year. But we got labeled as "Last one in".

PS: I'm taking Kate Johnson's Watercolor Pencil class for the next 6-8 weeks so my posts here will be less frequent. But they'll continue.

Just One More

I make no apologies . . . I'm an outdoor gear nut. A recent mail order sale, mixed with an already fairly new tent being too small for all needs, caused me to buy another tent. They are my little castle in the wild. A touch of security that really isn't that secure. But I think this one will do the trick. We'll see. It can hold my duffle bag and my banjo along with me, so that makes it close to perfect already. I set it up in the living room to check it out and decided to do my first sketch of it before I took it down.

Spring Break '09

The weather's been nice. Spring Break is here and it's time to get out and do some hiking. We headed over to northern Arkansas to the Buffalo National River. It was Amy's idea to see some hiking and backpacking country. I was all too pleased to plan it out. We kept too busy for me to sketch during the trip. Took pictures, though. Got home and figured out what I wanted to show. The country there is so scenic I think we'll be back.

Another Spring Break, Pre-Trip

Time for Spring Break again. We decided to head down south again to pursue warmer weather. Arkansas this time. Wife and I, daughter and boyfriend. We'll catch some day hikes and three of us will do an overnight backpack trip while Wilma lounges in a cabin. Sounds like a plan.

Quick Solo Biking Trip

Well, the year has passed by quick and I knew if I was to get in one last trip, I better do it now. So I put together a 3-day 2-night loaded tour with my bike. Haven't really kept in good shape. Two weeks ago my daughter, brother and I did a 26 mile event in Wamego and it went ok, but back-to-back days like this one are tougher, and I've only done an overnighter before on the bike. Bunch of unknowns here. I also wanted to do something that didn't require burning gas or paying for motels. i.e. on the cheap. Local lake should do it nicely. Last weekend was the last weekend with electric and water in the lake campgrounds so the crowds should be gone . . . another plus. Cool weather . . . another plus.


Sounds good to me. This is also my first solo since I've started illustrated journaling, so I'll try my hand at it each day. This time I finished it shortly after I got back home, so the whole thing is right here.



I'm still getting the hang of this blog, so my orientation of these journal entries isn't perfect. Still learning.

The trip went fine. I was able to sketch as often as I felt the urge. The first campground was great and the second one was, well, interesting. Nice campground but some of the people were odd. One guy thought he'd bring his chainsaw and get some firewood for the night. A lot of firewood. Irritatingly noisy. Then, as I was leaving, a couple good ol' boys were dressing out their two whitetail deer killed fresh this morning. I'm a deer hunter myself, but there's a time and a place, and the family campers there (several) may not understand. Still a good trip, though.

Camping Time

The wife and I made it out camping. It's been a while. We pull a 26' trailer now, but started with a tent when we got married. Then migrated to a pop-up trailer when the kids came along and finally to this trailer. We love to camp but just don't make it often enough. We have routines for packing and set-up and take down. When you don't go often, you get rusty. It's neat when we act as a team to do the tasks it takes to camp. We each have our jobs and it all works with little communications. And we get to relax a little more now without the kids. Less planning on how to fill time and less supervision required (other than the wife would still say she must supervise me).