a family visitor
[Ken 12/20/2018] Robby squeezed his Mini Cooper between the live oaks, around the barn, and parked adjacent to our little woods at Base Camp. He was neatly tucked-in by the clearing next to the only fire pit in Texas (that we know of) shared by an actual, illuminated, outdoor Christmas tree. It took Robby only five minutes to formally claim the campsite by raising his roof-mounted tent. It would be home for a few days.
Robby is the first of our kids to come visit Deb and me at Base Camp. We were pretty excited. And he was, too. He pushed hard to make the 1000-mile drive in just one day. His stay would be short, but we made sure there was time to catch up on life; we even went out for a Cajun meal one night (Base Camp may be in the state of Texas, but a lot of the food here is pure Louisiana!). His busy visit even included one of those famous Texas campfires, complete with an evening's glass of wine.
| | We had heard that Robby was thinking about building a camp kitchen that would fit in the back of his car. He is an adventurer and a kitchen that would follow him on his camping/hiking/climbing trips made a lot of sense. He has always been pretty skilled in the wood shop -- from skills learned in a class he took in High School, and in the old shop we had in Evergreen. So we offered him what we had at Base Camp -- it was kinduva cool Christmas gift for him, we thought! |
Turns out that Deb and I had on-hand just about all of the material that he would need, so it did not take Robby very long to get started. A page of quick measurements later, a plan was conceived. Unfortunately, the inside of the back of his Mini was far from being square, so the camp kitchen was going to need to be quite custom.
Even though Robby's project may have been a bit ambitious for such a short visit as this (his plans included angled side walls, angled base, a stove mounted in a drawer, another drawer for storage, an L-shaped pantry with door, a small sink, and a cavity reserved for the future purchase of a 12-volt refrigerator), he proved that he knew his way around a shop. He is creative, practical, and has a steady, accurate hand (and he is not afraid of a challenge). It really did not take him long before it was built, fully sanded, and installed in his Mini. He will paint it when he returns to Colorado, he says.
Unfortunately, four days passed quickly and Robby was too-soon back on the road to Denver. I have to admit that, as I was cleaning up sawdust and putting away all of the tools, I shed a little tear. It sure was fun to do a project with him again -- it brought back memories of times in the work shop together when he was just a kid. So much fun. So many memories.
But next time, Robby, please bring a BIGGER project!
Even though Robby's project may have been a bit ambitious for such a short visit as this (his plans included angled side walls, angled base, a stove mounted in a drawer, another drawer for storage, an L-shaped pantry with door, a small sink, and a cavity reserved for the future purchase of a 12-volt refrigerator), he proved that he knew his way around a shop. He is creative, practical, and has a steady, accurate hand (and he is not afraid of a challenge). It really did not take him long before it was built, fully sanded, and installed in his Mini. He will paint it when he returns to Colorado, he says.
Unfortunately, four days passed quickly and Robby was too-soon back on the road to Denver. I have to admit that, as I was cleaning up sawdust and putting away all of the tools, I shed a little tear. It sure was fun to do a project with him again -- it brought back memories of times in the work shop together when he was just a kid. So much fun. So many memories.
But next time, Robby, please bring a BIGGER project!
