Finding Gold

 If you squint a little, maybe stick out your tongue and tip your head to the left, you will see there is a little gold in the bottom of that pan. A very little gold... This was found in a previous prospecting trip from a few years back.(the horrible picture is from then too). 

There are some really great things about gold prospecting as a hobby that fits very well with the VanTramping lifestyle! 

1) It is peaceful and entertaining. - Sitting beside a bubbling creek, slowly swirling away the layers of lighter material until you can see if the glimmer of gold shows up in the bottom of your pan.

2) Gold often is found in some of the most beautiful areas and that just happens to fit with our preferred surroundings!

3) You can make a little income from it. - You need a bit more than what I have above, and you likely won't get wealthy from it, but the price of gold is up there(about $1700 a troy ounce now) and it shows no signs of going down.

4) You don't need much equipment. - A good gold pan, small shovel,  and a snuffer bottle is enough to get started.

There are many prospecting clubs out there to join which gives you access to their gold claims which many can be parked on or near, overnight. A couple good examples are:

http://www.washingtonprospectors.org 

and of course

http://www.goldprospectors.org

Over the years, I have hunted gold with various methods including metal detectors, highbankers, gas powered dredges and more. They all work well, but I am finally settled down to just using a small 2' sluice box and basic panning gear. I really enjoy the more relaxed, simple and quiet way it works out. 

Right now, we have our gear packed neatly in Taj's storage areas, but in the near future, I would like to get a small framed backpack and configure it all so it can be grabbed quickly. 

Prospecting is definitely a fun hobby! I am always curious how many of our friends on the road enjoy it too!

Personal defense and more.

The subject of personal defense and firearms tends to be a very  "hot button" topic these days, but it is a subject that we take very seriously and we would like to share how it affects our VanTramping lifestyle. I hope it is of some value to you, our friends. 

For Heidi and I, the decision to buy and carry firearms was based on a couple basic concepts. We never walk in fear, but from personal experience over the years as well as being aware of current trends in crime, being more able to protect each other is a solid reason. The fact that we enjoy shooting and feel like guns are a pretty safe investment also helped us decide. 

We both have our CPLs and now carry the above Beretta PX4s pretty regularly. Heidi's is the 9MM on top, mine is chambered in .40 S&W. We recently joined the local indoor range and took a class to improve our shooting, both were good decisions. 

Carrying concealed from state to state is one aspect that many consider complicated. Figuring out which states have reciprocity with Washington was not difficult. See here: Reciprocity maps  If you know your route or have an idea, it is easy to figure out how to handle each state and their laws for dealing with carry or transport of firearms & ammo. 

The 12 Gauge Mossberg is setup for home defense in it's current form, but is soon to gain an extra barrel with more length so it can optionally be used for hunting nummy tasting grouse and other game birds. 

The air rifle, made by Beeman, is more for plinking and target shooting for now. It is capable of use for small game, but so far, unless there is some extreme need, that won't happen. I like furry little critters too much. All of our firearms fit easily in Taj and have their own specific locations. 

To end this post, I will say that one of the things that we value most in this VanTramping lifestyle involves the pursuit of self sufficiency. Having the tools to defend yourself, without relying on Law Enforcement, (who likely won't be in the area when you most need them),  is just one more step toward that goal. 

Do I have to leave? Really?

Okay, I was kidding about the title, sorta :) This pic is the view I had from my hospital bed. That is the bay here in Port Angeles. You can see the Coast Guard station out on the end of the "spit" to the right. It was pretty cool watching the CG choppers fly in and out for drills. 

I am glad to be out of there and feeling tons better! Thank You to everyone for all the sweet comments! I didn't bring my computer in the room with me, but Heidi had hers and let me know about them as they came in. Having that kind of support is really encouraging! 

The Olympic Medical Center here in PA is really a nice hospital. Very kind and thorough staff as well. My first room in the place last Tuesday didn't have the same spectacular view but was still very comfortable. The doctor, who was incredibly nice, said "Hey, I think we can do better than this" and had the staff move me! Don't find that kind of treatment very often! Easily the best hospital experience I have had ever! The food was even pretty decent, ordered from a menu, room service style. 

As nice as it was, I am extremely happy to be out and back to having fun! Stay well friends, I will try to do the same! 

Where's Mike!

Just a quick note to let you all know that Michael is in the hospital.... and doing well.  For those of you waiting on a return email from him, he'll be getting back to you when he gets out.  He thanks you for your patience.

~Heidi

"Here fishy fishy"

For the past few months especially, Heidi and I have been a lot less active online for fun reasons. We have been focusing more of our time on our hobbies, especially those that are more seasonal. I feel quite guilty that I haven't been sharing that with you all! So without further delay....

I confess! We have been fishing! Well at least that is some of what we have been up to. Notice, however, that I didn't say "we have been catching". 

Yeah, those illusive fishies are still swimming around in the beautiful streams of the Olympic Peninsula without much reel(pun intended) danger from us. 

I should speak for myself I guess. They were not in danger of me catching them. My focus really has been on finally learning to use my fly fishing gear that I have been hauling around for a few years now. 

I grew up up using more familiar open face reels and weighted lures but something about fly fishing seems more interesting to me these days. Maybe I just watched "A River Runs Through It" a few too many times! Whatever it is, I really have been enjoying learning it so far. 

Heidi, for now at least, is still using an open face reel and actually catching some little fish. Very ambitious little fish considering they have been very close in size to the lures she has been using! She has had a lot of fun too. 

The fish will find their way onto our grill eventually! Until that happens, it's a good thing we enjoy pizza!

3 Little Things

A guitar stand, a nebulizer and a flashlight, three things that have pretty much nothing to do with each other, but are perfect examples of ideal items for Vantramping. 

Starting with the flashlight; Compared to our 2D LED Maglite that has always been with us up to now, this little Fenix TK15 is a fraction of the size and weight, yet is much more effective and multi-purpose. The Maglite is heavy enough to maybe clobber someone with and has a claimed output of 114 Lumens. 

The little Fenix is not so heavy, but is very solid and equipped with scalloped bezels on both ends which could be used for self defense purposes. At 337 Lumens, you won't need to hit someone with it to defend yourself though! This thing is bright! It has 4 levels of brightness as well as a quite debilitating strobe function. It is well suited for self defense, search and rescue or perhaps signaling when needed and even functions well as a tactical light for firearms use. 

The guitar stand isn't so multi-function, but is much nicer than most stands available and folds to a small enough size that it will fit right inside many guitar cases. I love this stand! It was included in this post because of how much more convenient it has proven to be compared to a regular folding stand.  It is made by Cooperstand

The nebulizer, an Omron Microair, has been one of the best purchases yet for our life in the van. For me, with my CF, there is no getting around the fact that I need to have a nebulizer available always.

The old machine that this little gem replaced was a far different animal! It was basically a filtered 110V air compressor that fed pulsed air through plastic tubing connected to a nebulizer cup which vaporized the medicine (Albuterol in my case). It was a loud, cumbersome rig which did a swell job of fogging up the van with wasted meds,  and at least once, getting the cops called at a park because "That crazy hippie in the van was smoking a bong!!" LOL! I suppose to some it probably looked that way... 

The Microair is an amazing device. It will run for months on two standard AA batteries, is dead silent and has a momentary switch function that only fogs the medicine when you want it too (during inhale) so none is wasted coating everything else. It doesn't require any other cups or hoses and cleaning is much easier and faster than the old rig. The Microair is smaller than a can of pop which makes it extremely easy to store as well as carry along outside the van as needed. 

3 little things, yep, they are! 3 wonderful little examples that show how a bit of research and careful shopping can improve your Vantramping life! 

Lyre River Campground - Free Camping at it's best!

I hesitate to publish this post for fear I may be chased out of this wonderful state! We like to tell people that "Washington is closed" or the more common, "it always rains here and is miserable at best"....I doubt either of those methods ever work, but I am always pleasantly surprised by the serenity that can be found here and that it remains far from crowded.

The Lyre River Campground is one of the many DNR campgrounds here that can be used by anyone with the new Discover Pass. Before this month, there was no such requirement. This is a new thing that the state has come up with to help with the budget. I don't mind it at all! There are rangers in the parks & campgrounds a few hours every day getting things in order and keeping them nice. Seems like a very small price to pay! 

Can you spot Taj in the pic above? No, you aren't seeing double :) Of course Taj is on the right and "Glorie B", the trusty vanhome of Kris(Bittermoon), is at left. Kris has been in the area with her cute pup Lexi for a little while now and we have been lucky enough to share much of that time with her. 

That strange green bucket with a stick protruding from it is actually a very cool rocket stove we purchased from Stovetec. Perhaps not easy to tell, but this is an action shot where it is doing an excellent job of cooking our nummy black-eye-pea and ham dinner(with Heidi's help of course)! 

These are all shots taken while standing in our campsite. Sleeping with the river rambling so close is an easy thing to do! Such a soothing sound! We had a really great weekend hanging out, enjoying the peaceful beauty of the area! 

We hope you find your way here too at some point, but just remember to make sure everyone knows how miserable and rainy it is :) I kinda suck at keeping secrets!