Cabin Trip...With Stoves! (Photo Heavy)

We headed to my little cabin Friday morning, for the first time since mid January. Was nice to get away for a few days. I thought the weeds would be waist high, but this is all the taller the weeds were in the yard, looking off the cabin porch:



The driveway weeds were minimal as well:



My new wheels:



The view from my porch:


Brought a few stoves with me. You always have to bring wasp spray. Believe me, it's needed:


Optimus 45:


Along with the Optimus 00:




Temp around 86°:


Had to hang my bag out to dry, after the wife washed it. I didn't have the burner tightened down enough to the fount, and it leaked a bit on the way there:


Blurry photo, but that's a skink to the right of center. Lizards are all over the place there:


Got a fire going to cook on:


Looking back to the cabin from the fire pit, give you an idea of what my little cabin in the hills looks like:



Build it up some to get some coals:



Little tin I keep my cigars in while traveling. A friend form Colorado sent me the sticker:



Cheapo strawberry Phillies cigars:


Yet another skink on the porch support:




Definitely warm out, but it was a beautiful day though. The view from the fire pit. I've always liked how the cedar trees contrasted with the other trees:



Didn't really wait long enough for some good coals, but, good enough:


Priming the 45:



Most of our pots look like this, as sometimes we use them over the fire:



Milk with a little butter:


One of those cheese pasta dishes added:





Meanwhile, I threw some bourbon marinated pork steaks on the fire:



Looking back to the cabin. You can see the stoves on the table we normally cook from:


Just liked this shot:



Getting close:




Pork steak, cheese pasta, and some cinnamon apple sauce to eat. For you knife guys, that's a KA-BAR Becker BK62 knife I used to cut the steak with:




My favorite bourbon:



Cheers:



Fired up the 00 to heat some water for dishes:






Again, just liked this shot with the sun behind it:


The wife wanted some tea, so again I fired the 00 up:








Vintage tea kettle I got for her:


Barely sits on there, haha:



Got it to a boil:


She set it on the 45 to steep:




Kind of a unique kettle. The tea basket is on a chain. You can see the stem on the chain by the basket, that has a ball on it. You can also see the clamp inside the lid:


You simply lift up on the chain, and the basket clamps into the clips, to let it drip when done:


You can see how it is now attached to the lid:


Day 2, Saturday morning. I always make coffee for the wife while there, and normally get a fire going:




Perking away:



The morning fire:





My "breakfast" consisted of a Pepsi, and some breakfast cookies:


Shortly thereafter, we took a stroll down to the river:








That point is a small island, the water runs around:






The wife picked some flowers while down there, so I took this shot for the ladies:


Time for the real breakfast. Bacon on the 45:








Then used the 00 to fry up some potatoes in the bacon grease:









Gonna call that done:







We again took a stroll, and I took a few photos. Dandelion:


Dandelion with a few workers:


Ever get the feeling you're being watched?


Back up top. A Blue Belly, aka Fence Lizard:




Saturday's high was supposed to be 83°, but as you can see, it's getting warmer than that:



A buzzard circling overhead. I think he was trying to tell my old butt something, haha:



Another shot from the pit:


This weekend was my first time for actually using my stoves, and I learned a few things. For one, bring more alcohol for priming, as you use more outdoors than you do indoors, haha. I broke out our usual propane stove. A cheap K-Mart brand, but have probably had it for 20 years, and it has cooked many meals without it ever letting me down, besides, of course, in the winter where propane doesn't work so good:




Temp hitting 90° in the shade. Definitely hot out:


Flame shot:


Fried rice cakes:




Got the fire ready again, to cook some burgers in the basket:







Broccoli:



Liquid running clear, burgers done:


Onion, bacon, and cheese:


Good stuff:


The eagerly awaited sundown. Just going behind the valley, but no more direct sunlight. It was so hot out:


Music, whisky, and a cigar by the fire:



Obligatory fire shot:




As you can imagine, although hot out, we had a blast, as we normally do when we go down there.

A few other things. One, like I said, I need to bring more primer with me next time. Also, it took a bit of getting used to, cooking on a taller stove, compared to being used to a short, flat platform. Somewhere in the middle of all that cooking, I believe on Friday, I had to let the 45 cool down, as it had a flame coming out of the side of the burner. Apparently I didn't tighten it down enough after adding the gaskets. And when I put the 00 together, I didn't tighten it down enough to the fount. Fuel leaked out, and I had what you might call a flare up, haha. I'm always afraid of over tightening, and ruining the lead washer. Anywhos, it was a blast using the stoves, and a good learning experience.

Thanks for looking.

 

You’re making me envious! What a great weekend. Did you refill the stoves? Or was one tank all it took for all that cooking?

 

Thanks man, we love it there. I filled both tanks about 3/4 full, plus took a fuel bottle with me. I didn't check how much was left, but the stoves were both still fairly heavy with fuel.

 

Oh yeah looks like a good time! Nice looking spot you got there.

Alex

 

Thanks my friend, appreciate it. Have had the place for about 6 years now. Just paid it off a few months ago. It's only about a 3 hour drive from home too. The wife and I usually pack on Thursday night, leave Friday night after at work, get there around 9pm, then return Sunday afternoon. Works out very well. There's lots of cool sites in the area. My cabin is literally right next to the Mark Twain National Forest, and we're in the Ozark Mountains.

 

One of the best pictorials here ever. Fantastic photography.

Spring in the hardwood forest; terrific. And hot enough already to bring the lizards out in force.

Perfect excursion!

 

Very nice indeed... Thanks for having us along...

 

@Ed Winskill

So kind of you to say so. I am a photo taking fool, haha. One of these days, I'm going to get a nice camera. I just use a little Sony instamatic.

@Haggis

Thank you sir, appreciate it.

 

A few videos of the 00 in action. That thing is a beast, haha:

 

Wow what great pics. you have a great little cabin what a nice place to escape to. Thanks for sharing

 

Thanks man, appreciate it. I took nearly 400 photos, and narrowed it down to this 100. I take duplicates of nearly every photo I take, to make sure at least one of them is not blurry. I also take the same photo with flash, and without flash.

 

I like someone who is prepared , Makers Mark , Check . Hot Shot , check . If the Hot Shot doesn't work on the Meat Bees you won't mind the sting as much after a bit of the other . Nice getaway .Good shots of the Digs . WR

 

Thanks man. The red wasps never bothered us at all, for years. We were on the porch all the time with them, and they never gave us a hard time. Then once I did a weekender alone, and got stung several times. As a matter of fact, I got stung 11 times the same day, and decided to drive home, in case I got sick from it. I never, thank God. I looked up, on a bug forum no less, about red wasps. This thread kept going on about how docile they were, then at the end there was an update, stating that for some reason they have been attacking humans. Not sure why. I love nature, and try to be at peace with it, but we kill all the reds we can while there.

 

Thanks for sharing
Lovely.

 

Thanks man.

 

Great weekend! Thanks for taking us along.

 

Thank you sir, it was a blast. A good learning experience with the stoves, no doubt.

 

Close up, of the center of the first dandelion photo. Click to resize:

 

Cracking trip and excellent write up. Thank you for taking the time to do it. Your camera is fine.

 

Wow! Real nice pictures! Helps me get "in the mood" for the summer.

Skauvill