Wintercount Gathering 2014

The Wintercount gathering is always a welcomed relief from the rain for us Northwesterners.  A long drive, for sure, but well worth it. George was there with the newly sided "Snail" so we formed a linear version of a circle of wagons. It was good to visit with old friends.

 

This was the first trip with the new kitchen box. A humble attempt at organization, it stows under the ledge for travel, and hooks onto the side of the wagon for use. The door folds down for a table. The primus stove (of which I'm a huge fan) sits on its own table away from the wagon for safety reasons. We always had a Primus stove camping when I was growing up. Even when we went on a car trip the folks would pull off along the side of the road, fire up the primus, and make a cup of tea somewhere around the half-way point. We were not unique in this regard.

I made a folding wind shield for the stove out of copper left over from the wagon bay window roof. These stoves don't like to start if there's even a slight breeze. The kitchen is fairly minimal as I don't do a lot of cooking as such while camping. I'll usually bake some biscuits in the Dutch oven to serve with soups and chili, etc., prepared ahead of time and canned.

Early morning.

The gizmo in front of the wagon in this picture is the new and latest obsession, a foot powered lathe. There is a new blog in the works for this project.

 

 George playing one of his hand made banjos.

The interior is starting to shape up.

Ron Myhre's Vardo

Back over Thanksgiving I spent a weekend with my family at Port Townsend, center of wood boat building and vardos, among other things, here in the Northwest. This is where Jim Tolpin lives. After visiting the wooden boat center we went for a browse around the town and stumbled upon the eclectic Curator's Eye, a tiny store down in the basement of the Bishop Hotel. Here I met  Ron Myhre, a very warm and outgoing person. He had some beautiful ornate wood carving in progress that caught my eye which, he explained, was to eventually go over the doorway of the vardo that he was building. Wow! An energetic conversation quickly erupted culminating in an invitation to his workshop.

The next day he called, right on time, and we followed him over to his shop. When he opened the door there stood the truly most spectacular piece of craftsmanship I have ever come across. The attention to detail and the care of its execution will stay with me always. Every angle and corner, every piece of hardware, the stained glass, the  mollycroft roof with its ceiling mural, the copper and iron work, and the carvings, were done, either by him, or his artist friends, to the highest standard of craftsmanship. Many of the details and doo-dads were chosen to reflect his Nordic origins (dragons and the like).

We spent two hours at his shop discussing all things wagon, tools, sharpening, and even Primus stoves, of which I'm a huge fan. We finished the morning following him to the Blue Moose restaurant, a local favorite down on the wharf.

Ron Myhre

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

Putting a blog of the construction and details together is on Ron's to-do list. I felt reluctant to take too many pictures (don't want to steal any thunder here, that's for sure). What a great trip. Thanks Ron.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wagons I have known, Part 2

I came upon this beat up old carcass of a sheepherders wagon back in 2008 while on a trip to Southeast Utah. This was one of the encounters that got me to thinking about building. I liked the simplicity of it and the fact that it was made almost entirely of backyard junk. Although Basque sheepherders were once commonly employed in this region, my guess is that this wagon come to its final resting place at a cattle ranch line camp. The metal roofing was attached using drywall corner bead and the end walls were made of plywood. The interior is sparsely furnished with makeshift cabinet and bed, now home to packrats and no-doubt rattlesnakes; hence the absence of interior photos.