one more from camp

This sketch is an composite of two different views near our campsite. I especially liked the strange sculpture-look of those oak burls. Another tree full of them is in the second photo.

my “forest” Demi Palette

I like to collect Pocket Palettes in different colors, then fill them with special mixes of paints. (Easy to identify each one at a glance!) 

Art Toolkit is offering two sizes of limited edition GREEN palettes this Christmas season — I just had to get one for camping in local forests! Small enough to clip to any sketchbook with my favorite green pigments plus other basic colors to paint foreground, background, trees, grasses, lakes, and rocks! Maybe even an alligator?

Cancer treatment interrupted our camping this year but we are finally going for a few days next week to one of our favorite campgrounds in Sam Houston National Forest. I hope sketching the forest doesn’t intimidate me after all this time.

Traveler’s Company USA is again offering their collaboration limited edition green Pocket Palette but the quote on it includes “good coffee” in the phrase — and I hate the taste of coffee! So I never got that particular palette. 😂

autumn leaf color!

Davy Crockett National Forest is a bit further north than we usually camp. The autumn leaves are still not as colorful as we had in Kansas, but we found some color here which I painted in my journal.

We bought this Apex camper used. The slide-out contains a couch but the original table was missing. So Bill built one with folding metal legs the same long narrow dimensions as the original. It’s beautiful, made with vintage cedar — that’s the table my sketchbook is laying on in the photo.

But while providing more work space for the kitchenette, it seemed to get in the way of sitting easily, turning the couch into a diner booth you had to slide into. So we now use that table outside and Bill designed a new one for inside. This one can be used two ways: as a divider between seats — great for sharing a movie on my laptop! — or with another set of long legs, it becomes a free-standing table to be moved wherever we want it.

yesterday rain, this morning sun rays

Yesterday we had rain off and on here in the forest. So I sketched what I saw from the bench seat inside our camper: our wee teapot and Bill’s French press coffee pot.

This morning, though a bit foggy at first, brought glorious sunshine — as seen from Bill’s camera phone. As much as I love my iPhone, I must admit that his Samsung takes the best photos!

walking in the woods

While walking around the woods here at Stephen F. Austin State Park, we found wild blackberries and several white tailed deer. We hadn’t seen any deer in the piney woods forests we have camped in previously, not even the smaller mule deer. This doe calmly nursed her fawn while keeping a wary eye out for the silly humans with camera phones.

The RV / travel trailer camp sites are drive-through (no backing into the space!) and set far enough from each other that each site feels private. The grass is kept mown in a semi-circle at each site (there are venomous snakes here) but left to grow tall between sites under the trees. Gives a feeling of being all by ourselves as we relax under the awning looking off into the forest. And watching lightning bugs! We haven’t seen them since leaving Kansas.

unknown vines

This week we are camping in the Stephen F. Austin State Park along the Brazos River, on a section of the original land grant where Austin made his home. Several of the trees near our campsite have these thick vines climbing around the trunks. Not sure what they are.

Spotty, weak internet — I may or may not be able to post this!

more from camp

During the weekdays, several cheeky squirrels kept approaching us as we relaxed outside. As I was sitting on the camper’s upper step, this squirrel was flirting with Bill, trying to steal one of his in-shell peanuts. Suddenly I felt a ticklish touch on my back — another squirrel was behind me on the step, ready to climb up my back!

Our kids had planned on coming up on Friday to take over the camper for the weekend as we drove home. But problems at home kept them from coming so our stay was extended over the weekend. On the way to H-E-B in Huntsville for additional supplies, we passed these whimsical cowboy houses. Hand-crafted by artist-builder Dan Phillips, they are 2 of over 20 small houses built for artists and low-income people.

After dark on Friday, more and more people arrived — we woke up on Saturday to find ourselves surrounded by a village of RVs, campers, tents, 3 or more large family reunions, kids, dogs, bicycles, skateboards . . . The birds, waterfowl, alligators, and squirrels vanished.

There is a Good Reason we normally camp only on weekdays!

from Lake Raven

This week we are camping in Huntsville State Park, in a section of the Sam Houston National Forest. Though our reservation goes through Sunday, we had originally planned on leaving today with our daughter and son-in-law taking over the camper through the weekend. But an unforeseen problem at home meant they are not coming and our stay has been extended through the weekend.

Our first evening here, my old alligator friend showed up to greet us at the fishing pier — and hasn’t returned since. When we were here in November, he hung around all day long but the water was calm then. This week’s winds are strong enough to cause a burn ban (no campfire cooking, darn it!) and there are more people. He did hang around long enough to chase a much younger, smaller ‘gator away from his territory though.

I haven’t seen a sunset with much coral in it; I had been wanting to try out a new tube of quinacridone coral. But I snuck a tiny bit into this sketch anyway.

walking a line

This drawing is from several days ago; I just forgot to post it. First I drew our travel trailer’s keys in one continuous ink line using my dependable Lamy Safari. Then I added a bit of text. The page still looked a bit bare so I drew a randomly silly border in another continuous line.

my wee camping teapot

Just a tiny sketch today as we spend time with kids and grandsons. This teapot lives in our camper just for me; Bill brings along his French-press to make his coffee each morning.

Carrie brought a ginormous campfire coffee pot for when the two of them really wish to indulge in a cup of coffee.

Bill made the cutting board to cover the stove top when we need more counter space.

our temporary home

We are camping again this week, this time at Huntsville State Park on the north finger of Lake Raven. Nearly every campsite in this immediate area is set on an incline, so leveling the camper is challenging. And here there be alligators, year round.

But the views are extraordinary and I can hear water birds calling across the water.

into the woods . . . again

 

We spent this past week camping in our travel trailer again — this time in part of the Sam Houston National Forest on the northeast corner of Lake Conroe. I sketched a bit on-site and took photos to sketch from later. Mostly I just wanted to enjoy being there, taking several walks on the nature trails and enjoying the peaceful quiet.

As Bill leveled the trailer and hooked up the utilities, I wandered around our camp site and found this plastic dinosaur and Velcro uniform patch. Somewhere out there is a Marine with a very sad child who lost 2 dinosaurs — Bill later found another one. This one’s name is Henry.

Our truck is actually a brighter red but I had my muted watercolor set with me.

last sketches from Ratcliff

One last journal entry from our time at Ratcliff Lake Recreation Area in Davy Crockett National Forest — I took my time deciding if I would add watercolor or not and if so, how much. Finally I decided to leave this mostly ink sketches.

This cool old log shelter was built by the C.C.C. in 1936 and is a very popular rental area for family gatherings. Sadly, our camp host told us that it will be torn down. The forestry department simply doesn’t have the necessary funds for repair and maintenance on it.

Next month, we’re heading out with our travel trailer to a western finger of Sam Houston National Forest on the northeast edge of Lake Conroe.

through the trees

 This is one of my views, looking up above our heads. I love these tall trees❣️

I shouldn’t have . . .

 I loved how the sketch in yesterday’s post turned out, with minimal watercolor added to the ink sketch. But I decided to add full color to this sketch of our travel trailer’s interior — and then wished I’d left it as an ink-only sketch. 🙁

Still, this page will remind me (hopefully) in the future that sometimes a drawing is better without watercolor.

(My perspective was certainly Wonky as I drew this sitting on the bed in the camper!)

recent shopping and revisiting a lightfast test

 We are still working on outfitting our new-to-us travel trailer, deciding on what modifications to make (especially to maximize storage) and adding items that make it fully livable. This recent package contained adhesive towel and toilet paper hooks, soft-sided cubicles to fit a narrow storage cubby, a short spatula and a laundry bag. An earlier purchase included small spice racks with hooks to hang cooking utensils and mugs — utensils have to measure under 10” to fit.

Bill has been testing all the systems on the 10-year old Coachman Apex. Everything appears to be working like new . . . except the refrigerator. It chills very well on shore-power (electricity) but does not work on propane. After trying several possible fixes, we made an appointment for the dealer to check it out. 

Back in January I bought a set of Derwent Graphitint paints and painted out these swatches to make my own lightfast test. The upper card has been taped in a sunny south window for over 5 months — no visible fading! The penciled-in numbers next to each color on the lower card shows the manufacturer’s ratings on a scale from 1 to 8. Port and Juniper had the lowest ratings yet showed minimal fading in my test. The sun in Texas is intense so I was very pleasantly surprised!

seasoning blends

 

With limited space in our travel trailer, we are stocking just the basics: salt, pepper, garlic, a steak seasoning, and these two blends. I added sticker labels to empty spice jars and filled them with my own mixes — several of the herbs were grown in my little container garden.

And so ends this A6 Etchr Sketchbook. The white fabric cover is a bit dingy but it’s been a fun little book to fill. Really nice 100% cotton coldpress paper! 

some wonky dishes . . . and friend

 

It’s dark and cloudy this morning making it a bit dark inside so I went out to the patio to snap a photo of this sketch. One of our many wee snails decided to join in.

Yesterday I had a beastly headache that would not respond to meds, hot tea, or darkening the room. As a distraction, I drew the pile of dishes waiting to be carried out to the travel trailer in a slow continuous line.

Our daughter Kristen and granddaughter Mikala were shopping to stock a college dorm when they found these plates, bowls, and glasses - 50 cents each! So they got some for both dorm and camper. Kristen also found a collapsible bowl and colander, easy to store in the camper’s limited space. I added a couple of ceramic mugs — hope the vintage one can go in the microwave!

Lately I’ve gone back to using my old Lamy Joy fountain pen with a medium nib and black ink. I had forgotten how very reliable Lamy pens have always been for me.

the one we bought

 

Bill has been looking at travel trailers online regularly since we decided to get one, but we had pretty much decided not to actually buy one until autumn when used ones might be more available at lower prices. Then as we drove north towards Kansas he received a phone call from Desi at Toppers RV’s in Waller, TX — a used one in extremely good condition had just come in and he thought it might be just what we were looking for.

So after returning home, we went to look at the 2011 Coachmen Apex. Other than the bed not having walk space on each side (we’d prefer not having to crawl over each other to get up) and not having larger windows, it did fit what we had in mind. Not as cute as Casitas or Vintage styles, but a great buy. 

The short-queen mattress has been replaced with a real queen mattress. The free-standing table that originally came with it was missing but Bill can build one. Topper’s was already replacing the awning and the tires are nearly brand new. So Bill and son-in-law Michael decided we would buy it.

Topper’s is a great dealer to work with! They went over the trailer in great detail — tightening, replacing, checking for irregularities, then added new propane tanks and battery. A week later, we drove it home where Bill is now testing all the systems out while Kristen and I are gathering supplies to make it livable (bedding, kitchen stuff, etc.) Now — where shall we travel to?

another option

 

This used travel trailer, a Gulf Stream Vintage Cruiser, was actually for sale at an affordable price, located near us. So we took a drive to Conroe to look it over. It had already sold but we were still able to go inside and check it out.

We LOVED the retro feel! This one had sea foam green trim inside and out, including a huge refrigerator/freezer in the same color. It also comes with teal or red trim, or an old-fashioned “woody” look. But this one’s floor plan included a queen-size bed plus bunk beds — sleeping a total of 6. More than we need . . . I found other floor plans on line and drew one we thought we’d prefer.

We are not seriously ready to buy at this time, but I’m jotting down what we find and like in my sketchbook to refer to later.