Camping in the Rain

Today's adventure took place: Gifford Pinchot "Balki" State Park

If you are old, like me, you remember Perfect Strangers a TV show from the 80's about a guy whose long, lost cousin from some small republic comes to live with him in New York City. The cousin was Balki Bartokomous played by Bronson Pinchot. So from here on out, we shall refer to the adventure as camping at Balki Park!

First off, I will state that cooking over an open fire is HIGHLY over-rated! My wife and I both have been "camping" when we were younger, in RV's and Pop-ups with things like refrigeration and stoves and propane grills. Whatever we were thinking when we decided that we would just cook over the campfire is beyond me. I nearly starved Friday! I think I lost half a pound, and was feeling flush.........


First item on the "things we need to buy for camping" list: Camp stove and Propane.


We stayed in a cabin with electricity and electric heat. No running water, no fridge, no stove. We bought some wood after we got to the park, but had a hard time finding good, dry kindling to get things started. I was up for campfire frolicing Friday night, but could barely toast a marshmallow with the little bit of fire we had. By the time the fire was starting to kick, it was bedtime, and so we had to spread the coals and hope for better luck tomorrow. Good thing we had PB & J for dinner!

The cabin was nicely appointed for it's lack of modern convenience. Fairly new and sturdy, the two older ones made a rush for the top bunks as soon as they walked in the door (it was only a couple of steps to the bunks anyway!). There was a nice table with a bench and chairs inside, a double bunk down low for Mommy and me, and a nice little porch on the front that kept us dry all weekend (more on that later). Outside was the fire ring with grill, a large picnic table and a Lantern hook (item number two on the list!).



Best quote of the night - "Wow, Look at all the stars" - The Rooster. (Even though it was starting to cloud up, he could still see more than a clear night at home). Whatever else happens, observations like that make everything so worthwhile and priceless.

More to follow soon..........

Old books or nothing

Today's adventure took place: The Library and Bookstore.

As a group of nerds, library book sales are a family fieldtrip any time we hear of one. As an information junkie, I love reference books, my wife loves Stephen King books, and the kids are active readers as well, so a good time was had by all.

I did find a couple of books on fishing and the outdoors, and while they weren't new, they have so far proven to be very useful. One is a book on fly fishing with some good information about tackle, fly types, dressings and tactics, but not quite as comprehensive as I might like (again, I am an information Junkie - more on this in a future post). Another was a Bass hunters handbook, which I bought mainly to compare the tactics of today with the tactics from back in the day. The third is a look into the mind of the fisherman from an analyst's point of view. While technical at times, it is a good read.

The last book, and the treasure of the bunch (although the fly fishing book is a close second), is the everything outdoors book published by Outdoor Life sometime in the 60's. It is truly everything outdoors, from handling and cleaning of guns, to field dressing game (with pictures...eww), to tips for fishing, hiking, backpacking and camping. The section on camping is one of my favorites, as it has everything from building a fire and recipes, to tents and RV's. It is quite the retrospective, and fun to read about what was, at the time, state of the art. It is fun to see the old contraptions (for lack of a better term) that were designed for the nuclear familylifestyle that have since gone away. It makes me look at the different MP3 player accessories and specialty cooking gear of today and wonder how fondly we will look back at that stuff in 40 years......

The next day, we went to the big box bookstore to get a gift card for a birthday, and I had my own to use up, so again, family roadtrip. I was amazed at: 1) How difficult it was to find books on the outdoors. They were buried in an odd corner with sports books, heavily dominated by baseball and auto racing/collecting; 2) How few good outdoor guides there were - in both quantity and number of titles; 3) That most were geared toward the most extreme side of things or were Army field guides to survival, plants, etc.

There were more books on iPhones - quantity and number of titles - than on fishing, camping or hiking - maybe even combined. People have been living with, on and enjoying nature for hundreds of years, but there is more information available about cellphones than backpacks. Where is the accumulated knowledge? Boy Scouts? Or are the people out there keeping it to themselves? This is what I want to do with this blog - find the information on how to successfully get out and enjoy nature activities, and then share it so that the next person who wants to get out and try something new has a place to find everything they need to get out there.

Just leave the cellphone at home.

Back to Basics

Somewhere along the line in the not-to-distant past, I re-discovered (or in some cases, discovered), a love for all things outdoors.

I always loved to fish as a kid, but lost my way when I got cool........

I love the smell of autumn leaves and a drive down a country or mountain road, but lost my way when I had to clean up all those leaves........

I used to walk or ride my bike everywhere, but I lost my way when my "bike" had a motor on it.......

I used to think camping was a hotel/motel without free HBO or a microwave......

I never learned how to fly fish.......

The past few months, I have stepped back and put more time and effort into being outdoors, and more importantly, sharing that time with my family. My son has been my fishing buddy for a couple of years now, and now we are adding more and more outdoor activities to the list. The purpose of this blog is to both recount my adventures outdoors and to be a resource for others that are looking to get more outdoors. Fishing, Hiking, Camping and whatever else cross our paths (pun intended) will be covered in hopes of creating a repository of memories, inspiration, and knowledge for those who follow our path.

Please, only leave behind your comments, and your footprints.