George Kaplan lost in the north woods?

[jefe1037]

Just keeping an eye on things for you bro. Drop us a line if you feel like it.

 

[Harlock999]

George and that beetle girl are both missing...
Hey, I'm just sayin'...8) 

 

[Puff Daddy]

George and that beetle girl are both missing...
Hey, I'm just sayin'...8) 

Gotta do what you gotta do to stay warm (poor girl, she coulda done so much better :lol: ).

 

[Kyle Weiss]

BoB is a marathon, not a race...even the ones with big hearts and minds don't always make it. :heart:

Sad, but true.

8)

 

[Harlock999]

George and that beetle girl are both missing...
Hey, I'm just sayin'...8) 

Gotta do what you gotta do to stay warm (poor girl, she coulda done so much better :lol: ).

Maybe they started a band...8) 

 

[George Kaplan]

Lost in the north woods? Not any more. Although I’ve attempted to explain my absence in Life Events, I thought I should address this one as well, since the title made me laugh out loud. You’re closer to the mark than you realize, Jefe. When I first arrived at the Michigan end of Green Bay, I walked about 20 miles into the nearest cedar thicket and stayed there under an Indian blanket lean-to until I had honestly lost track of which day of the week it was. When I was unsure of the month, I walked back out again, leaving the heaviest of my psychological burdens behind. (Along with at least 40 squirrel carcasses) So yes. North woods? Literally. Lost? Perhaps metaphorically, but I’m finding my way back.
This was my second domicile. It served me well until the snows buried it.



If I walked up the drive to the mailbox, then crossed the road, I’d be in the Hiawatha National Forest. Walk the same distance in the other direction, I’m knee deep in Lake Michigan. Speaking of which, my smoking chair afforded me a spectacular view of the Chicago skyline:



There it is, just 300 miles or so over the horizon. I can almost see your house from here, Jefe!
(If you look closely, you can see my pipe on the bow deck of my canoe.)

Now I’m even further north, a short walk from the Marquette ore docks on Lake Superior. A cot in the laundry room of an old friend’s house feels like luxury to me now. I wish I had a camera to show you guys more of my smoking spots. Thanks for thinking of me, brother. I’ll be back downstate eventually. For now, it’s good to be back on the forum. Be prepared for more zombie threads like this to be resurrected. Too much good stuff has happened here it the past year for me to ignore it.


p.s: Beet’s not back yet? Too bad. I don’t think I’ve seen her, Harlock, although it’s not unusual to hear folks speaking Finnish up here, so you never know…

 

[AJ]

From the location of that chair I'd say you had a good view of Paradise.   

AJ

 

[jefe1037]

Your story so far is freakin' great. I have been following you so far. I totally understand the need to get outta dodge for a while. I am looking into an old family campground in Missouri. There was a fire pit and hand pump for water, an outhouse and covered slab for picnic tables. It was all set up near a rock beach on the black river. My dad grew up in Festus, but we haven't been back since I was a kid, except for funerals. I think most was washed away by the floods in the past decade, but I am willing to make the trip. Need a chainsaw, and shovel for the first trip, plus camping gear. As soon as the high water subsidies this year, maybe fall. It will be far enough to be a once in a while thing, but. good for the soul

 

[Rob_In_MO]

Jefe - that's not too far from me. If you do make it down this way, let me know.  8) 

 

[jefe1037]

Will do rob. I am worried that the bad winter will cause some flooding this spring, so I hope to find the balance of nice weather but not ankle deep in river water.

Early fall is an option, too. This may be more realistic as I will have to get my stuff together... All my camping supplies are currently spread over three states. My parents are moving sometime this summer, and maybe I will "claim" the coleman stove and kerosene lanterns. You know, to make the move easier. Not because I don't want to buy my own. That would make me a cheap @&&.

 

[Rob_In_MO]

Will do rob. I am worried that the bad winter will cause some flooding this spring, so I hope to find the balance of nice weather but not ankle deep in river water.

Yup, probably your best option would be fall.  Black River, in particular, is pretty bad about quick flooding with little notice.  BTW - I'm only about 25-miles south of Festus, for a point of reference.

And Yes, we all know you're a cheap ass.  :lol: 

 

[jefe1037]

I will definitely be in touch when I make it down there. I forgot about the really fun part: I have to find the place. My dad doesn't remember the exact location, and there might be a locked gate across the drive (assuming that hasn't been washed away as well). So my first stop is going to be in Festus to look up one of the old friends who might be able to help me out. This is going to be quite the adventure.

 

[George Kaplan]

From the location of that chair I'd say you had a good view of Paradise.   

It's like that old saying: "It may not be heaven, but you can see it from here."
Of course, at the moment that shoreline is piled up with ten feet of ice and snow, so you'd have to stand on a ladder.   

Jefe, your talk of lanterns and Coleman stoves stirs memories of family "camping" as a kid, along with the smell of bug spray and moldy canvas. I think my dad took it as a challenge to see how many amenities of home he could pack into the back of the old Pacer. In our teens, my brother and I rebelled and became ultralight backpackers. Now that my brother has a "city wife" and a little boy, he's done a complete 180. Think massive 3-room tent pitched within view of the showers at a crowded drive-in campground.
When he and his family came up last summer to visit my mom and me, I took my nephew out into the woods and showed him how to make a simple tarp shelter and ground bed. He was impressed, but too afraid of woodpeckers to stay in it overnight with me. That's right: we've got wolves and bear out here but his biggest fear is woodpeckers! Give the kid a break; he's only five and the local pilated species are pretty big.
He was more in awe of my camper setup. He was amazed that I got to sleep there every night, cook on a fire, pee in the woods, bathe in the lake every day, play with the tools at grandma's house, and sometimes go out on the big boat and not come back until it was full of fish. I figure, what the hell? If I'm living a five-year-old's notion of the Perfect Life, I must be doing pretty well.

 

[jefe1037]

Sounds like fun with the little guy. You and him are both invited on my excursion.

 

[RonA3597]

George Kaplin

the smell of bug spray and moldy canvas

This!

 

[monbla256]

From the location of that chair I'd say you had a good view of Paradise.   

It's like that old saying: "It may not be heaven, but you can see it from here."
Of course, at the moment that shoreline is piled up with ten feet of ice and snow, so you'd have to stand on a ladder.   

Jefe, your talk of lanterns and Coleman stoves stirs memories of family "camping" as a kid, along with the smell of bug spray and moldy canvas. I think my dad took it as a challenge to see how many amenities of home he could pack into the back of the old Pacer. In our teens, my brother and I rebelled and became ultralight backpackers. Now that my brother has a "city wife" and a little boy, he's done a complete 180. Think massive 3-room tent pitched within view of the showers at a crowded drive-in campground.
When he and his family came up last summer to visit my mom and me, I took my nephew out into the woods and showed him how to make a simple tarp shelter and ground bed. He was impressed, but too afraid of woodpeckers to stay in it overnight with me. That's right: we've got wolves and bear out here but his biggest fear is woodpeckers! Give the kid a break; he's only five and the local pilated species are pretty big.
He was more in awe of my camper setup. He was amazed that I got to sleep there every night, cook on a fire, pee in the woods, bathe in the lake every day, play with the tools at grandma's house, and sometimes go out on the big boat and not come back until it was full of fish. I figure, what the hell? If I'm living a five-year-old's notion of the Perfect Life, I must be doing pretty well.

George,
Whenever you fulfill a young child's concept of living in a good way, you have satisfied your "adulthood" rquirements in life ! GOOD ON YA!!    

 

[George Kaplan]

Sounds like fun with the little guy. You and him are both invited on my excursion.

As long as there's no pilated woodpeckers in Missouri...

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[Briarbabe]

Sounds fantastic, I could use a brain sabbatical myself.

 

[Natch]

 I walked about 20 miles into the nearest cedar thicket and stayed there under an Indian blanket lean-to until I had honestly lost track of which day of the week it was. When I was unsure of the month, I walked back out again, leaving the heaviest of my psychological burdens behind.

Kind of reminds me of my favorite Bev Dolittle Print: Christmas Day 18??, give or take a week.



Natch