Greetings Fellow Stovies, and Stovettes! Our California Stove Gathering, #12, was held in the Mojave Preserve, at Mid Hills Campground, March 30-April 5. Though we had quite a bit of interest in this event, as it turned out, due to everything from a shoulder surgery, to work schedule changes, etc., we had a small, but mighty group! Besides Sweet Bride and me, @snwcmpr , and his Mrs, joined us, as did @ArchMc , and his Mrs, and also @Daryl . Sweet Bride and I brought two tents: one was brand new, and one was just in case the new tent didn't work as well as we had hoped! We arrived first, and he is our camp for the first night. Our tried and true MSR Hubba Hubba did great, and we were glad to have brought it. Ken and his Bride showed up on that first day, too, and had their new truck and camper setup with them! WOW! That was a fantastic setup! As they also owned the same tent we had just purchased, a Springbar Outfitter, with storm fly, they helped us setup ours the next day. How many Stovies does it take to setup a new tent? All of 'em! We soon had the new tent setup, and ready to move into, thanks to their help! We also had our pop-up dining fly up as well. We had cool, to cold weather, and that made us happy to have setup the dining fly, as well as the new tent. Sweet Bride did a great job of keep us fed on this Gathering. We had planned to eat, mostly, dehydrated food, and that turned out to be a great plan. After dinner, and a glass of wine, we got into our sleeping bags, enjoyed the warmth of the new tent. Nice and snug, and we are very happy, overall, with the new Springbar tent. One problem did crop up, but more on that later. Here, Sweet Bride, warm and happy in her bag did a little knitting before going to sleep! Here are a few shots of the area where we camped> Just to the right of center, you can see our new tent, and the top of the dining fly, peeking out behind the trees. This is a beautiful shot of the clouds, and skyline. Just beyond those low-lying hills in the background, the glow from the lights in Las Vegas can oft nights be seen. The next day, Mac and Mrs Mac arrived, as did Daryl. And, so, here is our Merry Band of Stove Pyros. Ol' Doc, doing his best imitation from Fantasy Island: "Boss, Boss, it's the plane"! How's about seeing a few stoves, eh?! Okie-Dokie! Note Daryl's use of an old license plate for a windscreen, and also his home-made pot stand for the stove! Very cool! Oops! Can you say, "Conflagration"?! Here's a sight every single Stovie has seen at some time in their lives! YIKES! Here's one of my early Coleman M400 stoves. It's brown, even though it looks black in the photos. Here's Mrs Arch warms her hands on an MSR Whisperlite Universal. Some Old Timers may remember this stove. It used to belong to our dear, and sadly departed friend BajaBum aka Steve. Arch is it's caretaker, now, and he's still working on getting it up and running. Mac and his Lady enjoy some Ramen, with the MSR Universal beside them. Ken showed his Mini Borde, and the excellent home-made windscreen he made for it! This is one I've never found, and I admired this little guy quite a bit! Sweet Bride enjoying some Mandarin orange slices. Ummm, very tasty! Stay tuned for Part 2.
Part Two: Daryl created a tasty looking Ramen-like meal, some of the ingredients having been grown in his garden, if memory serves. Doc, Daryl, and Mrs Arch enjoying the volcano-like heat put out by my MSR Reactor stove! Since Sweet Bride and I were eating dehydrated foods, mostly, and Reactor was the perfect choice for heating our water. You can also see our Speedster stove, which we used, as well. What a small, and very lightweight kit that is! Once you light is Reactor, you had better not leave it unattended, as it boils water like seven hells! Can you tell it's a bit nippy outside?! Yes, it was, indeed. So, we bundled up accordingly! After dinner, Sweet Bride and I once again enjoyed an after dinner cup of wine, before bed. Actually, these cups, gifted by my good friend, Anders and his wife Tiina, are called "Kuksa" cups. Here's is engraved "Sweet Bride", and mine is, of course, engraved, "Doc Mark". Though my cup is upside down, you can still read it. Thanks, guys for these wonderful little cups. We use them often! Another shot of Sweet Bride. She is knitting me another very warm cap, and does a wonderful job of it, too! Sadly, Mr and Mrs Arch had to take their leave a bit early, as did Daryl. Thank you both for joining us for this Gathering. We are already looking forward to the next one! Ken and his lovely Lady stayed until the last day, when they packed up and left, as did we. You guys are real troopers, making the long trip back this way for the Gathering, and we truly appreciate you having done so. It's always great to see you both, and even though our attendance for this Gathering was smaller, we still have a grand time, and felt like our family melded together very well, indeed! Glad you made it home, safe and sound! Here are some sunset photos taken on various nights at this campground: As an aside, we loved our new tent. It did have a small problem with some super high winds that we encountered one night, and the storm fly had one tie down ripped off. The company will take care of that, I am certain, and the next time we set up the tent, we will do it a bit differently, to keep that from happening again. Here is a fun shot of Sweet Bride, inside our new tent, as darkness falls. Before we left, Sweet Bride and I scattered my little brother's ashes on a ridge near our campsite. We, three, used to camp a lot together, and the last time I talked to him on the phone, the day before he died, I told him to get better, so we could go camping again. He replied, "I'll never camp again". Well, since we had him with us on this trip, he did, indeed, camp with us again! And, now we call the ridge on which we chose to lay him to rest, "Barry's Ridge". He has a great view down into the desert, and at night he can see the glow from the lights of Las Vegas. And, here, I am offering a prayer of peace for Barry in his final resting place. Every time we camp here, Barry will be with us, and we will have some bacon and eggs, in his honor, which he loved to have for breakfast when camping! And, last, here are two shots of a massive edifice we saw on our way out. The very sharp-eyed amongst you, "might" see something on top. For the rest of us, here is a closer shot. Sweet Bride and I thank Ken, and his Lady, Mac, and his Lady, and also Daryl, for joining us on our CASG #12! We loved sharing it with you and already look forward to the next time we can all get together! Cheers, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc Mark and Sweet Bride
Howdy, @z1ulike , Ben, we had lots of high winds, and one night of hard rain! Only a few warm days, and the rest were colder than a well digger's brass monkey! We were all glad we brought warm clothing, that's for sure! - Doc
