Preparedness

While planning my trip, I slowly became aware that I was planning for a trip that at the earliest, would be one year away. I will be on the road for six months and am planning on spending a considerable sum of money on preparations for that ride. Again, this will only last six months. As I perused different sites and looked for food that I could prep the dry ingredients of, adding water as necessary to consume it, yet not have to carry the weight; I realized I was not planning for the direction our economy is taking.

I have always been conscience of our government and the subsequent economy de jour of our supposed leaders. Focusing on the trip, which looks like it will now be two years before I can go, due to some upcoming projects that will be in full swing in a year, has allowed me an escape I guess. I used to maintain stores in the house in the event that electricity went out in a winter storm (I have dealt with that twice in the last four years, with up to 5 days at a time without electricity/heat/cooking ability). These stores included canned goods, dry goods, propane stove, sleeping bag, etc. I still have the sleeping bag, stove (sans fuel), and some foodstuff; however, the stove does no good without fuel, and while I have more than a week's worth of food, I do not enough for extended family for that. I must take care of my mother and the grandparents. Actually, my grandparents, having grown up in the depression, have enough food for the extended family for several weeks, if not several months.

I am not sure where I was going with this post. We will just call it brainstorming, and kicking myself in the ass, for letting my planning lapse...especially while being the sole provider for my child.

In the last week I have put in wooden posts for my pasture for Shalako. I have not put in this many posts in probably 25 years, and I am a bit sore. Today I mounted all of the insulators on the poles for the electric tape and rope I will put around the pasture, and installed the mounts for hanging the gate. I need to purchase another bag of insulators tomorrow, hang the gate, move the water trough, finish an additional 60 feet of connecting fence, clean up some of the fence row where trees have fallen across the old fencing, hang the electric fencing wire, mount my solar fence charger, and finally move Shalako. It shouldn't take more than 15 minutes to do all of that...I wish.

After Shalako gets moved, it will be time for the garden. I need to do some weed-eating around the house and put in some garden beds (instead of flower beds) around the house. It will be nice to walk onto the front porch and pick tomatoes without stepping to the ground. Simple life can be simply good...although it takes some work.

My meandering is over for the evening I believe.

Find some happiness.

-GW

Looking for a campfire grill

I do not know what it is, but finding quality seems to be so hard to do nowadays. I wanted to find a simple grill that went over a campfire. I have been thinking about it and never seem to be near a place when it comes to mind, until today.

The first stop on my journey was Wally World. I really dislike that place. It used to be that their advertisement chided all of the Made in the USA things that they had. Now, you cannot find anything that is. They are the reason that Levis are no longer made here. The only thing they had was a nickel plated cheap thing, made in China of course. This being the case I decided that I would check out a place that I remembered about 15 miles away.

15 miles down the road...nope, wrong memory. It is another 20 miles to the outdoors store. That store caters to hunters and fishermen and while they have camping things, it is the convenient camping. They had Coleman stoves, but nothing for “roughing it”. One of the managers told me of a place about 30 minutes further out.

1 hour and 15 minutes later (yep, longer than 30 minutes) I am in Columbus at an honest to goodness camping store (it said so right on the sign). Inside was day packs (no real backpacks), river sandals, one style of tent, and LOTS of Columbia Sportswear type clothing. You couldn’t really go camping, but you could look like you do. The nice kid at the checkout counter said to check out Ranger Joe’s outside of Fort Benning, and another 11 miles.

Going to Ranger Joe’s, I past Commando’s….there seems to be a pattern here...a military conspiracy perhaps. I went into Commando’s and they have lots of Army stuff, and some of it is way cooler than what I had access to during my tenure as a soldier, but alas, no camping gear. Continue to Ranger Joe’s.

Ranger Joe’s had less than Commando’s. I remember Ranger Joe’s from my training time at Ft. Benning. I remember them having lots more stuff then. I did get a cool single person stove that fit into the pocket on my large rucksack, and they don't even carry something like that anymore.

236 miles later, I am back at home. All I managed to get was 5 sweet potatoes and about 2 pounds of Irish potatoes, from a truck farmer on the side of the road. The food costs $6.00 and the fuel used was almost 3/4 of a tank (about $60). Man, I hope those taters are really good.

I did get out of the house for a while though.

When I returned to the house I did a little fence work, taking down some totally useless fence that the previous occupants had put up, and staked out where I want the new fence to go. A friend of mine is supposed to bring his skid steer to the house with a post driver to set the posts I have onsite. I am moving my stallion to my new location so we can spend more time training. He is currently about 16 miles away (one way) and it is not in my line of travel, so it is considerably out of the way. This will let me feel better about his welfare and then I can ride him everyday.

I still don’t know what I am going to do about a grill for my campfire. I guess I will find one online. What are the chances it is made in America?

Still being happy pursuing freedom.

-GW

Testing with Picture

I am looking at a lightweight saddle to obtain for my travel; however, I also want it functional for ranch type needs.  While I no longer do any regular roping, I would still like to have the option.  The saddle above, or below depending upon how this email posts, weighs only 22 pounds, which is amazing with a bullhide tree.  As you can see it is a minimalist saddle and is a reproduction of the 1850's Hope style Texas saddle.  I want one like this; however, the saddle skirts need to be rounded instead of squared.

This posting was mainly to check how a picture attachment to the email posting will look on my blog.  I have been looking at this type of saddle for a couple of months now.

-GW

New Website

I have posted my redesigned personal website.  I think I like this one better than the last. It is definitely easier to update that the other one.

Please check out the site and let me know what you think.

www.guywood.net

Personal Website

I have just finished working on my personal website, and I think it will be much better than the current one.  It will at least be lighter and have more current information.  I hope to be posting it by this weekend.

Speaking of this weekend, my daughter and I will be taking a ride on our horses.  I have also talked to a friend of the family and she and her boyfriend have been going camping on horseback.  She knows of my trip and she will be contacting me about their next trip.  They are busy the rest of this month, but should be ready to do some traveling come May.

I wanted to put down my feelings about this election fiasco that we are in the middle of; however, I am just too tired, and there is enough being said about it already.

Be happy.

-GW

A Contact

I contacted a saddlemaker, who lives in Montana. He used to live where I am currently planning on ending, in Three Forks, MT. We discussed some saddle issues and riding in the backcountry, as well as grizzlies.

I am going to recon my route in the fall and will be stopping by to see him on the trip. This guy has been a cowboy out there as well as doing some packing, so I am sure he will be a wealth of information for the Rocky Mountain leg of my trip.

Continuing my pursuit.

-GW

Bannock Again

I cooked a good dinner last night for my daughter, her girlfriend and myself.

We had fried chicken, goulash, carrots cooked with honey, squash from our garden, and bannock. I tried a different recipe this time and my daughter liked it better than the last. Of course, I left out the blueberries also.

I had purchased 4 packages of blueberries which Dakotah and Charla seem to like pretty well by themselves. I am sure I will need to buy more when I get ready to make the pemmican.

The latest recipe for bannock is listed below, based on what I cooked last night.

2 cups flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar (or less, if you prefer your bannock less sweet)
2 pinches salt
water, at room temperature

1. Mix flour, baking powder, sugar and salt together.
2. Mix with enough water so that the mixture becomes a dough.
3. Form into 4-6 large, thick patties.
4. Fry on lightly oiled frying pan, turning when the bottom is golden.
5. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes on 350. Check the center with a toothpick, like checking a cake.

If desired, spread with honey, jam, butter, or peanut butter.

This freezes well. Freeze, already baked, in a labeled ziploc bag with the air squeezed out as much as possible. To serve, bring to room temperature by removing from the bag and letting rest on the counter for a few hours. SPeed up the process, by baking or microwaving until the desired temperature is reached.

The Nutrition Facts are below for this recipe.

Serving Size 1 (75g)
Recipe makes 4 servings

Calories 255
Calories from Fat 5 (2%)
Amount Per Serving %DV
Total Fat 0.6g 0%
Saturated Fat 0.1g 0%
Monounsaturated Fat 0.1g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.3g
Trans Fat 0.0g
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 623mg 25%
Potassium 67mg 1%
Total Carbohydrate 55.7g 18%
Dietary Fiber 1.7g 6%
Sugars 6.5g
Protein 6.5g 12%
Vitamin A 0mcg 0%
Vitamin B6 0.0mg 1%
Vitamin B12 0.0mcg 0%
Vitamin C 0mg 0%
Vitamin E 0mcg 0%
Calcium 517mg 51%
Iron 3mg 20%

This is very simple and it is really hard to go wrong. Give this to your kids as a snack with honey, or just butter. I have tried it with peanut butter, but I did not like the added thickness, since the bannock is also a little dense. Jelly is probably good, but I have not tried that.

Live happy and free...or die trying.

-GW

Travel Food Quest

I have been looking at foods that I can take on my adventure, with certain restrictions:
-lightweight
-no liquid required until needed to cook
-no preservation required for extended periods
-must be palatable

There are certainly many pasta dishes made for backpackers, campers, survivalists and for use as emergency rations. I wanted to find something that was more natural. By "natural", I mean MINIMAL or NO MAJOR GOVERNMENT-SPONSORED PROCESSING. I really believe that not eating natural food products has created many of the problems today with health. Need proof? Look back before the government started mandating processing to "protect us" and see how many diabetics there were, or how much tooth decay, or heart attacks. The answer to this is not "it was not studied then", because it is studied now, and indigenous peoples in remote locations in the world, who eat high fat, heavy meat, nut and fruit diets, are very healthy and disease free. The information is there, although you may have to step away from the TV and read to find it.

So far I have found two items that fit the criteria above; bannock and pemmican. Bannock was used by the Native Peoples of Turtle Island, in various mixtures. Pemmican was used by the People as a lightweight, high energy food, which would take years to go bad.

I decided to make Bannock tonight to see how it tasted. I purchased a couple of items to make it last night at the grocery store. The recipe follows.

-1 cup of whole wheat flour
-1 teaspoon of baking powder
-1/4 teaspoon of salt (could also just use 2 pinches)
-3 tablespoons of butter
-2 tablespoons of milk powder

-Mix all the ingredients well, making sure the butter is evenly distributed. I melted the butter and poured over the dry ingredients after mixing them. Slowly add water while mixing, until a dough ball is formed. I used about 1/2+ cup of water, but just add what you need.

-Cooking it in a pan: I put a skillet on at slightly above medium, and added butter to the pan (I never use margarine). You can either make 2-3" balls and press them flat and fry like pancakes, or do like I did and use two tablespoons and drop them in like drop biscuits and kind of press them flat with a spoon. Mine were different shapes due to me wanting to utilize most of the bottom of the skillet. I was interested in cooking them, not entering them into a beauty contest.

-Oven: Prepare the same, and make 1/2" thick cakes out of them, 3-4" in diameter. Place in the over at 350 degrees, until golden brown. I haven't cooked them like this so I cannot suggest a time. It would depend on the size you make.

-Outdoors (the original way): Make the Bannock dough into a cigar shape and wrap it around a green stick. Try to keep the thickness of the dough about 1/2". Slowly roast the Bannock over a hot fire, rotating occassionally until it turns a golden brown. I have not tried this either, but since I have found a good recipe it will be tried very soon.

I had read a couple of recipes which mentioned using currants, raisins, blueberries, etc., in the mix. I did this the first time, using blueberries. My daughter is a very finicky eater and she loves blueberries. I assumed it would be the best bet to get her to try them. I was wrong. She loves the Bannock, but does not like the blueberries in them. They were fresh berries, so I may have needed to try them dried first; however, I will not be using berries again, of any type. I like it better without.

You can cook them and store in the freezer or refrigerator, and eat in the mornings with coffee, take for a snack, etc. They are very good for you and have no added sugar. Honestly they do not need any sugar. They have a sweetness without them. You can add honey (very good) over them, peanut butter (good), jelly, etc.

If you are going camping, you can premix the dry ingredients and add the water on the trail, or in the campsite. I am very impressed with the texture and taste of this very simple staple.

As for pemmican, I will be trying different recipes and will post my findings when I have a chance to experiment and taste.

Be happy folks.

-GW

Weapon Change

The Magnum Research, Inc., BFR 45-70 pistol uses a very long rifle cartridge. The 45-70 saddle carbine only holds 4 rounds for this same reason. With this in mind, I decided to see if I could find a more appropriate cartridge, for use with a pistol and rifle, with the ballistics necessary to take down a grizzly in an emergency situation.

For the specifications listed above, the pistol shown at the top of this post fit the bill. It is a Ruger Alaskan. It will shoot the .454 Casull catridge. It will also handle .45 LC rounds for practice and general personal protection purposes against much smaller critters.

For the saddle carbine I am going for the Puma .454 SS Casull. This saddle carbine will carry 8 rounds in the tube, doubling my firepower. I like the stainless steel aspect of the weapon as well. Since it will fire .45 LC rounds as well, I can use it for hunting without the wallop provided by the .454 rounds.

More to come.

What is your freedom puruit?

-GW