One Month Alone in the Woods

A log, four maple legs and hand tools

Thanks for checking back here with The Voodoo Hill Explorer Club.

Today’s video post on YouTube is about building a campsite bench using a log cut in half, four maple branches for legs, and hand tools to do most all of the work.

Maycee, my Great Pyrenees, and I have now been in Upper Michigan for a month now, doing some exciting tent camping, minus the noise of big-city life, any hint of network news, and Nature in abundance.

The photo above was taken Thursday morning at sunrise not far from where we’re camping.

Living in the cities, we forget the awesomeness of Nature, from her powers to her beauty. Through this adventure, Maycee and I are learning to connect—me again for the first time in more than 40 years, and Maycee, for the first time in the eight years of her life.

In the month we’ve been here now, she’s barked one time, and it was her agitated bark. The one where someone or something has intruded into her space and she perceives it as a danger to me. This is in stark contrast to how she was back in Mesquite, Texas near Dallas.

By the end of a typical day, I was often frustrated with her barking so much.

But much has changed.

We’re figuring out this modern-day Henry David Thoreau Walden-like experiment.

I talked a lot before we left about selling all I owned and heading for the woods of the Upper Peninsula.

My writing and thinking are improving. The air is not near as hot as it is in DFW.

We’ve now endured five significant rain storms, most all of them at night, when we’re trying to sleep in our tent.

Support and advice

I do not in any way have this all figured out.

The best lessons I’m learning are based on mistakes. Aren’t they always?

Kind souls from around the globe have offered support for “provisions.” The latest is the Kasper family in California. Thank you kindly!

How to support us further:

I am studying the benefits of using solar power, wind, and because of a new camping site I have in mind on our property, perhaps even hydropower.

I maintain a running list of needs associated with the project. Most have chosen to provide cash through PayPal.me/donaldjclaxton or Venmo using @donaldjclaxton. All forms of support are honored by recognition here, on Medium.com, and videos on my YouTube channel.

A list of needed items also is posted on Amazon.

At this writing, Maycee and I are most in need of the ROCKPALS SP003 100W Foldable Solar Panel for Solar Generator and USB Devices, Compatible with Jackery/EF/Bluetti/Anker/Goal Zero Power Station, Portable Solar Panel Charger for Outdoor Camping Travel.

To make that work requires a portable power station.

I have sleep apnea and sleeping without my CPAP machine is impacting my health.

Because not every day in the UP is sunny, wind power is probably the best form of power generation, us only being miles from the shores of Lake Superior.

The system that’s recommended is the 2022 micro wind turbine.

Mid-October and Beyond

We are planning to stay until the first snows of the season. At present, we do not have a permanent structure to use to get us through the harsh and long winters here in the UP.

That’s how it is for the time-being.

More on that later.

But we are in this for a long haul.

How well can a mid-50s male with leg and back disabilities survive tent camping with his dog in the wild woods of the UP?

The answer for now is I do not know.

People have let us know how much they support this project. Others have made their disgust, anger, and frustration known as well.

Oct. 15, 2022 is the present goal. If the first snows have not happened by then, we’ll keep riding the bucking bull.

Maycee and I are having fun, most days. The storms are something we’ve grown accustomed to, especially when they come at night.

We’d love to have your support for the project.

And if you want to purchase the needed equipment, leave me a message and I will provide a mailing address!

Until next time….

Donny and Maycee Grace