#campillustrated

The first trip to the woods of the year had us putting chains on Allie’s honda without my AWD Subaru, renting snowshoes and a Curry Village tent because the snow forecast was so heavy! It was good to see Yosemite in this way since the last year was so dry. 

Sketching at the campsite in the hills of Big Sur. 

A dream of the past 6 or so years was realized when I decided to purchase a 25 year old VW Vanagon this February. It’s turned out to be a good home and camp mobile - but it sure expensive. Up top is my van after doing some major kook slams in the water nearby. And below is Ryan’s van hanging out at some of the van families property on the coast of CA. 

My type of camping fun with a great crew on the east side of Nacimiento Fergusson road.

On a trip with Bedrock Sandals to Hendy Redwoods. 

A quick overnight trip with Adam to the Diving Board near Half Dome. Giving the new Bedrock Cairn Sandals a good test on the angular granite boulders. 

Hanging out next to the 3000 foot drop off and cowboy camping nonetheless. 

A three day adventure on a crowded, and not-so-lost coast. Building shelters, brain-freezing swims, and dreaming of better backpacking food are what it’s all about. 

In the latter years of high school I took a trip out to Colorado for a week of backpacking, mountain biking, and hanging out around campfires. It was a formative week and the first time I learned of Subaru Outbacks and Foresters - “The Colorado Car.” I got excited about the capabilities of AWD, roof racks, and maybe enough room to stretch out and sleep. Five years later I purchased one of the only used ones for sale in Oklahoma and hit the road West on my first solo trip across the country. 

I spent several weeks camping out of the wagon on forest service roads and empty ski lots in Colorado before the incessant overheating began. 

With the diagnosis being a blown head gasket, I drove the 10 hours back to Oklahoma without A/C and sometimes heat to keep the engine satisfied. Luckily Joe had the patience and skill to drop a new (used) engine in it to get me back on the road to California. 

Camping on the coast just south of Big Sur, CA. 

First time in the snow - Mt. Shasta, CA. 

Mobile Art Studio shot by Adam. 

What can’t this adventuremobile accommodate? One day a bike, the next camping gear and friends, another day surfboards and wetsuits. 

One of the first nights of my extended 3.5 month trip throughout the Pacific Northwest - seen here at Crater Lake after a gnarly rain storm. 

Camping among new friends in Olympic Peninsula, WA. 

Home is where you park it - with the Ocean’s. 

I slept, created art, and made my meals around the subbie nearly every day and night from July-mid October 2015.  

The Subaru kicking hard down Montana backroads with 205k on the odometer. 

Rearranging house at Logan’s Pass. 

Before getting a little sleep at the highest spot a car can drive in the state of Washington. 

One of those spots you don’t want to leave. 

Portrait of me by Karen in Seattle. 

Mt. Rainier at sunrise! 

Parked at Laurie’s New Mexico condo on the way back home for the holidays. My forever pitstop between California and Oklahoma. 

Emergency shelter for the night in a McDonald’s parking lot when a blizzard started on my way back out to California in 2016. Unfortunately it was the last night for me to cram in the back of the wagon to find rest. Less than 12 hours after taking this shot a charter bus rear ended me, knocking me out, and sending me flying across oncoming traffic and 200 feet into desert before I came to, wondering what just happened. Thankfully I came out walking and talking. Unthankfully, the subbie was totaled.  l’ll miss this adventuremobile. I share my sentiment through favorite pictures not because objects like this car are what matters in life, as they can be replaced, but because this one became more than a possession to me. It was a freedom vessel that allowed me to actualize so many dreams. It was my home on the road more often than not. It took me to places I had only seen in pictures and most importantly connected me to people that have enriched my life. The jingle is true: “Love it’s what makes a Subaru a Subaru.”

Before I thought up Camp Illustrated and started used watercolors, I sketched a lot of cabins in the woods and before I could afford fancy art pens I ditched pencils for freebie ballpoint pens. In this drawing I combined all of those mediums into one - starting with ballpoint pen and adding the rest. 

Just ballpoint pen with a watercolor wash. 

I didn’t see any waterfalls on my first stint in Oregon, three months earlier. This visit I did a hike in the Columbia River Gorge and at this spot, somewhere near Mt. Hood. 

E-mail time.

Bagby Hotsprings after a few days in Portland. 

Camp spot at Smith Rock State Park. 

I altered the perspective a little bit to get the river in. This involved moving my makeshift art studio back and forth several times. 

Stoked on this place.