Ham Radio Venture Overland
Home DMR 31655 / AllStar Bridge 42282 / 54897, P25 TG 31655, Wires-X 46720 / xlx-042
My 02’ Ranger
I miss this truck….. had many mods and did real well off-road. It was just too small for the family. These pics were from a video a friend of mine took when we were out running power line roads in SW Washington.
John Day River near Rufus Oregon
Just back from the John Day River in Oregon for some bass fishing. Good time, good food, good friends.
My son Dylan’s jeep
Larch Mt in SW Washington
Dutch Oven Recipes?
Anyone have any simple Dutch oven recipes? I’ll get it started with a desert my family likes that is super simple.
Ingredients:
2-cans peach halves (in syrup)
1-box yellow cake mix
1-stick of butter
1-powdered cinnamon
Oil or grease your Dutch oven.
Pour the contents of two cans of peaches into the pot syrup and all.
Sprinkle the cake mix as even as possible over the top. Do not mix.
Slice the butter into 1/4 to 1/2” pads and place evenly over the cake mix
Sprinkle with cinnamon powder
Put lid on oven and place 20 coals on top and 10 coals on the bottom.
Should take about 45 minutes.
My tow and adventure rig is road worthy again.
Lost the engine in my 06′ Ram 4 X 4 (181,000 miles) and decided the best option was to replace it. The total spent to date for the engine replacement, front differential repair, and now exhaust and front suspension components is close to $11,000. A new truck is about $55,000. I just couldn’t pull the trigger on that as we already bought my wife a new car last year and have four more years of payments to endure.
I hope it was a good decision but I’m feeling the weight of the new debt on a truck I paid off years ago.
Bottom line is that I need a truck and I like this one. We’ve been on many adventures together pulling the boat to Central Oregon fishing with the truck-camper and exploring ALL of the high-Cascade lakes to the Mountains of NW Oregon and SW Washington State. We’ve adventured off across the desert roads to find a spot to camp away from everybody. We’ve hauled building materials and tools to build and maintain our place on Lake Merwin, Wa.
Now we have a 19′ travel trailer (so my wife will go too) with a bucket list of exploring places like Yellowstone National Park, Banff AB, the ghost town of Bodie, California and a few others we are researching.
Seems like stuff doesn’t hold up as well as it used to and I’m likely not done. As great as it would be to have something ‘new’, I’m pretty attached to this one as it has pretty reliably carried me many miles away from the grind of city life and work. The truck deserved the repairs after what I have put it through. We’ll role-the-dice and keep on truckin.
Grandson stalking a doe
Be very quiet…..
Fire ban? Propane fire rings can save the weekend camping experience.
Made it to Lake Merwin, Wa. about 8pm last night. My son, Alex, and grandson Brantleigh are here. We were looking forward to sitting by the fire. Fortunately, a fire ban in our area still allows “propane appliances” and includes propane fire rings.
Summer end near….. Mostly work with little play…..
Well….. It’s already getting darker earlier and earlier. Warm days are being mixed in with the brisk mornings here in Washington state. Don’t feel like I got as many weekend trips in as last year. Did a bunch of work at my place on Lake Merwin. Got the big stuff finished like fixing dry-rot in the old trailer, re-roofing the a-frame building that protects the old 1977 Ideal 35 footer. Installed new flooring and a new shower (that leaked and caused the dry-rot issue). But it came at a price other than just monetary. It meant fewer Kokanee trips on the lake. Usually by this time of year I have a freezer full and start canning. Read More
Making it impossible to work.
This little guy makes working at my desk impossible sometimes.
Post Your Adventure Here!
What’s everyone up to? Use this form to introduce yourself, post a story, a question, pictures of your latest (or past) camping trip, overland, or trekking trip.