Last night, just before the sky gave way to darkness, Gayla and I took a quiet walk around our camp. The forest floor was dotted with nature’s palette—Cobwebby Indian Paintbrush, Sticky Geraniums, and the ever-striking Indian Blanket Flower. There’s something grounding about ending the day among wildflowers.
Back at camp, we settled into our chairs and started watching News of the World with Tom Hanks. It was a little too late to finish, so we saved the rest for another time—something to look forward to.
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A Morning with Birds and Coffee
We were up by 5:30 AM, coffee mugs in hand as the sky slowly lit up. The Western Tanager was in full voice this morning, its melody joined by the cheerful chatter of the Northern House Wren and the rhythmic call of a Rock Wren. These mornings—quiet, cool, alive with birdsong—remind us why we come out here.
With the sun fully up, we set up our work canopy and got the day started. Gayla had a handful of Zoom meetings with clients. Thankfully, Starlink has provided excellent internet coverage in this location—one less thing to worry about.
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Simple Fixes & Small Victories
I spent a little time fixing one of our trekking poles. It hadn’t been locking into place properly, but it turned out to be an easy fix—just a plastic piece jammed too tight. Feels good to check something off the list without much hassle.
While Gayla worked, I set up my HAM radio station. It still amazes me how far a signal can go with a modest setup. I quickly hit my minimum of 10 contacts, but conditions were good and I kept rolling.
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Low Carb Lunch & A Walk with the Boys
By 11:45 AM, Gayla wrapped up her meetings and we cooked up a low-carb lunch: beef brats from the grill and scrambled eggs with Swiss cheese. Simple and delicious.
Later, we took the dogs for a short walk under half a mile, continuing to get them used to the wagon. Oscar’s a pro, but Tucker’s still unsure—baby steps.
Afterward, Gayla worked on a crocheted winter hat, and when the heat peaked, we retreated into Clifford (our rig) and turned on the air conditioner. We finished watching News of the World, enjoying the luxury of having power from solar and batteries, even while running Starlink, the A/C, and a few fans. Pretty incredible, really.
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HAM Highlights & Packing Up
After the movie, I went back outside for another round of radio. A real highlight: I made a contact with my brother Earl in Missouri. Just ten watts of power and a wire in a tree—still hard to believe sometimes.
By the end of the day, I had logged:
• 64 total contacts
• 57 unique contacts
• 3,082 spots on the 20m band
• 3,336,312.31 air miles travelled by HAM radio
We started packing up camp around 6:30 PM—rolling up the 10×15 awning, stowing HAM gear, and prepping for a morning departure. I checked under Clifford, topped off fluids, and gave the air filter a good cleaning.
With that done, we took Tucker out one more time to photograph the flowers from last night’s walk, soaking in the golden hour light before settling in for one more movie and a quiet evening.
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Miles Driven Today: 0
