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CAMPING WITH MOM

May 142012

We finally got out camping this spring. Boy, did it feel good to get out there in the campground and away from the business of the home, slump down in a folding chair, stretch the legs out and stare at the campfire. Even on Mothers’ Day weekend. The Misses needed to get away and relax for Mothers’ Day and I needed to get out and cook some steaks, burgers and brat’s.

But of course we were not alone very long. It didn’t take very long before the grand kids found out and we started having company. First to show up were the oldest granddaughter and her six month old daughter and then came the two youngest with their parents. The next night it was the oldest grandson with his new girlfriend and we stayed up late nursing the campfire.

This being Mothers’ Day weekend it got me thinking about camping with mom. Mom loved camping and she was the catalyst for camping in our family. Raised on a farm in southern Illinois she loved the outdoors. She was an athlete also and she could run with the boys in school, played basketball and fast pitch softball. I remember one of my proudest moments in eighth grade. I was out for track and I challenged her in a forty yard dash and I finally beat her by inches. I don’t think she let me win.

Although she was a farm girl she was afraid of snakes; very afraid of snakes. At her one room school house during recess the boys found a big bull snake and as she was running away one of them threw the snake at her and it rapped around her legs and tripped her. My first recollection of camping with my family was in southern California in the mountains. Our tent was beside a stream at the bottom of the hill and mom was walking with my little sister up the side of the hill when all of a sudden I heard a scream and mom come running down that hill carrying my sister and when she got to the blanket next to the tent she fainted. Another time in California she almost stepped on a rattlesnake and the same thing happened. When she got to a safe place, she fainted. I still have the rattle of that snake.

Camping at campgrounds was pretty cool. I think the nicest people in the world are people who camp. Every once in a while we would meet up with group campers and they would invite us to their community barbeque. Mom and Dad loved to visit and they would stay up all hours of the night visiting with the other campers. I know, because I had to go to my sleeping bag for the night. Camping with friends is neat but camping with strangers and making new friends is COOL. So, on Mothers’ Day it is nice to remember mom and the things we use to do.

I remember talking back at my mother when I was about six or seven and sitting on the back steps with no shirt and she had a wire fly swatter. I never, ever, talked back at her again; never. She always came to my games, always cheered, and she always encouraged me.

When we moved from California to Iowa we camped all the way and a round about way. We camped in Sequoia National Park and got my picture taken in front of the General Sherman tree, saw deer peek in our tent in Yosemite National Park, witnessed bear along side the road in Yellowstone and remembered my first snow at Crater Lake. I remember the Grand Canyon and Bryce Canyon. All this and in a tent.

The day this Iowa boy left for the Navy she gave me some advice; or was it instructions. She said “don’t get a tattoo and don’t bring home a foreign wife.” I never did get that tattoo.

I never had the guts to ask her if she thought Tennessee was a foreign place.

I miss you Mom.

Camping the National Parks with the BEADY EYES

Camping Tips No Responses »

May 012012

One of the greatest pleasures in camping is taking the grandkids with us. Not only do we enjoy them but they love to go with us. They love to go from place to place, play in the streams, run around the campground, eat smores and listen to grandpa tell stories around the campfire. There is always one story that they mention every once in a while……the “Beady Eyes” story.

This story was particularly effective around the campfire when there were no other campfires around and it was pitch black away from the campfire. I believe this story was told while we were camping in the Bighorn Mountains in Wyoming. It seemed as if we were the only ones there at that campground on this moonlit night. All was quiet and still except the snap of the tender in the fire and I had three young ones with their eyes wide open as I told the Beady Eyes story. It went something like this.

“Once upon a time we were camping in a campground like this and sitting around a campfire like this and it was very dark out in the trees. Look out in the trees; can you see passed the trees into the dark? Well, that was how it was this particular night; really, really dark. But we were having a good time around the campfire, talking about what we did that day, eating smores and drinking hot chocolate.

“All of a sudden I looked out into the trees and there were two beady eyes gleaming in the night. We didn’t know what those eyes belonged to but if we kept the fire going whatever was behind those BEADY EYES they probably wouldn’t come any closer. We put more wood on the fire and the beady eyes disappeared. As we sat and watched the flames of the fire go down smaller and smaller those BEADY EYES were back again and right next to them there was another pair of BEADY EYES. Maybe we’d better put more wood on the fire.”

I looked down and found one of my grandchildren sitting right next to me. So I continued the story. “We put more wood on the fire and the flames shot up and the beady eyes went away. But it wasn’t long and those BEADY EYES were back again. Two pairs of BEADY EYES looking at us; I looked off to the left into the trees and there two more sets of BEADY EYES and the fire was getting low again. Maybe we’d better put more wood on the fire.” As I looked to the other side of me two more grandkids were sitting right next to me, so I went on with the story.

“We put more wood on the fire and it got hot and bright and those BEADY EYES went away again. But it wasn’t long until the flames got smaller and those BEADY EYES were back again. They were over in front of us and to the left of us in the trees……gleaming beady eyes. Then we looked behind us and there were two more pairs of BEADY EYES and the fire was getting low again. What should we do?” And a little voice off to my left said, “put more wood on the fire.” I continued the story.

“We put more wood on the fire and again the flames were bright and the beady eyes disappeared again. As we sat there around the fire we noticed it was getting late and time for bed so I said we should go into the trailer and go to bed. As we got up to walk to the trailer we SAW them again…..those BEADY EYES and this time they were under the trailer. What should we do?” I said, and two little voices, simultaneously, said, “put more wood on the fire.” So, again I continued the story.

“It was getting very, very late, but we kept putting wood on the fire because the BEADY EYES were all around us. All of a sudden the crack of dawn popped up in the East and the campground was lit up and we could see what was behind those BEADY E YES. They were only raccoons wanting to come in and eat our cake on the picnic table.” Then I heard “grandpa, that was a scary story, and they were only raccoons!”

Well it’s getting nice these days and the camping will be good. The parks are starting to open and soon campfires will be burning in all our National Parks, state parks and county parks. Enjoy yourselves this year, but when you are camping on a moonlit night with the campfire burning please have plenty of wood close by. You might see those “BEADY EYES.”

Campers – Teach a Man to Fish

Fishing No Responses »

Apr 232012

Give a man a fish and he will eat it for a day.

Teach a man to fish and he will buy a Eureka High Camp four season 2 person tent for $560. He will buy a Vaude Kiowa 900 Mummy sleeping bag for $160, a Vaude Kiowa 900 Mummy sleeping bag for $180 for the little lady, and a Coleman 2 burner stove for $120.00. He will then buy a Cabela’s MTx Combo Powerlux matrix resin 9 ft. Fly Rod and Reel for $540 and a Pflueger Combo IM8 graphite and lightweight rod with a sealed drag system reel and aluminum spool with a titanium lip for $130 for his lady. Next, he will buy an 84 piece trout assortment of dry flies, elk hair caddis, hoppers, ants and woolly buggers for $90. Then he will buy the 5mm Neostretch Neoprene Chest Waders for $145 and a Teardrop Trout Net for $22. Finally he will buy a sports utility vehicle for $35,000.

On a seven day trip he will travel 1000 miles to the “hottest” fishing spot and stand waist deep in cold water so he can outsmart a fish. As he looks down into that beautiful clear water he will see the trout swimming around his legs. If he is lucky….. really lucky, he will catch a couple of trout for the fry pan that day and a few “catch and release” fish to make his day. Average cost per fish: $1,055. 63.

The Redwoods and the Rain Forest

Travels No Responses »

Apr 142012

There is a country song out that says life isn’t measured by the number of breathes you take but by the moments that take your breath away. One of those moments was last fall when my wife and I traveled through Humboldt Redwoods State Park. We wondered off Highway 101 to a two lane state highway 254, called the Avenue of the Giants, and runs through 32 miles of the most magnificent trees in the United States. There we were, driving on this road witnessing tree after tree reaching for the sky, standing so straight and elegant as if they were standing guard over the queen’s palace.
We stopped for lunch along this highway so we could take in these beautiful statutes close at hand. Standing next to them was an awesome experience. Many of these trees were well over 200 feet tall and some well over 300 hundred feet. It is amazing that a tree can reach these heights..
What I found out was very interesting. It is not only the type of tree it is but the conditions that allow this to happen. I picked up a special type of onion the other day because it is supposed to grow, not large onions, but” jumbo” or” colossal” onions. I have grown these onions for two years now but all I harvested were average size onions and I’m convinced that I have not created the right conditions.
Only in the Northwest United States will you find these special conditions to allow these gigantic trees to grow this tall. These conditions are caused by the coastal mountain ranges in Northern California, Oregon and Washington that trap the air masses that hold this moisture. This moisture then condenses into rain and creates a lush rainforest that feed the Redwoods in California. This rainforest is called a temperate rainforest which is much different than a tropical rainforest.
In the moist and mild climate of Northern California these Redwoods are the fastest growing softwood trees in the United States. Some reach the height of over 360 feet and some are over 2000 years of age. They do not die of old age or disease but will fall in a high wind because they have a shallow root system. The high tannin content of the bark makes it undesirable to insects and the low amounts of resin resist fire.
There are 3 types of redwoods but in this region the Coast Redwood is the native tree which is in Humboldt Redwoods State Park. The Coast Redwood is the tallest tree in the world and the bark on a mature tree is often a foot thick. The Redwood name comes from the red color in the bark and heartwood. It is a soft wood as opposed to oak and walnut and can be easily worked with and is resistant to rot. I’m a woodworker hobbyist and I love working with redwood.
So the next time you are driving down Highway 101 turn off on State Highway 254 and take that 32 mile drive through the Avenue of the Giants and stop for lunch. Better yet, stroll through one of the beautiful grooves of redwoods. It will be a moment that will take your breath away.

A New Beginning, Campers, Hikers, Backpackers

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Apr 012012

Today, March 31, 2012, was a very special day for me. I witnessed two families come together through matrimonial bliss. A young widow and a young widower, each with two young children all less than seven years of age, said their vows.
This blog isn’t about a camping, hiking, backpacking or someplace in a national park but as I look back at the experiences I’ve witnessed through God’s infinite wisdom and the work He has carved out of this earth I can certainly draw a parallel to the work he has done in people.
I remember last September, when, in the forest of the giant Sequoias, two trees which had grown side by side for a thousand years fell to the earth. These magnificent giants don’t die of old age or disease but fall to the earth when their roots can’t hold them anymore. So too did I witness the pain that this young couple went through with their former spouses. We watched both of these young women grow up in our church from infancy. One would lose her life and the other her husband.
Jessica’s husband contracted cancer and after a few tests it was determined that it was terminal. The doctors said they could delay the inevitable through chemo and maybe, just maybe, a miracle may happen. As Josiah was in the early stages of his cancer I was at the end of mine, successfully going through an operation and then radiation and several times my wife and I would run into them at the hospital. Of course we saw them at church every Sunday, well at least when Josiah was feeling well enough to come. He didn’t last very long, dying in February of 2010. At church I stay out in the foyer during the service and I would often see Jesica sitting out there with one of her children, sitting quietly watching the service on the moniter and it would break my heart. Dustin’s Rebecca, contracted lung cancer and it was terminal also. I remembered seeing her out in the foyer of the church during the service sitting with one of her children her body wasting away, the cancer slowly taking its toll and that also hurt me inside. It reminded me of the fire in Yellowstone ravaging millions of trees day after day all through the summer. Rebecca and Dustin’s pain was much longer and she finally died in the summer of 2011.
These two couples were friends and lived only eight houses away from each other so it was inevitable that Dustin and Jessica would try to bolster each other up in their grief and in doing so would eventually fall in love. Just as the fire in Yellowstone took away life of thousands of acres of trees so did it bring new life through the opening of the pine cone seeds, and a new beginning.
It was a beautiful service watching these two families coming together. As beautiful as colorful Bryce Canyon with its changing colors as the sun rises and sets. Because no man can change the course of the Colorado River running through the Grand Canyon or stop the flow of Bridalveil Falls at Yosemite no man has the right to change what God has brought together in this young couple and their children.
Spring has sprung, the flowers are blooming and the trees are pushing out their leaves so get out there campers, hikers, backpackers and bicyclers and enjoy God’s creation. Enjoy a new beginning.

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CAMPING WITH MOM

Camping the National Parks with the BEADY EYES

Campers – Teach a Man to Fish

The Redwoods and the Rain Forest

A New Beginning, Campers, Hikers, Backpackers

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