My wonderful Kodiak Canvas Tent

Ever since I used the following photo as my header picture, I have been getting a lot of e-mails regarding what I consider to be the best little tent in the world.

I do not think I have researched something as much as I researched finding the perfect tent for my annual trip to the Chili Cook-off in Terlingua, Texas.

It was important to me to be able to find a tent that was sturdy, held up to gale force winds, have room for me to stand up in but most importantly that I would be able to set it up by myself as I pride myself in being a self-sufficient person.

My research took me to the Burningman website http://burningman.org/.  If you are not familiar Burningman, it is an event that takes place annually in the Nevada desert during the Labor Day weekend.  They have to deal with hurricane force winds, white-outs and extreme heat and/or cold conditions.

It is here that I found how highly regarded Kodiak Canvas tents were.  I have back issues and can not carry heavy loads or the initial weight of the tent would have probably kept me from ordering one. However, if you separate the tent from the tent poles and heavy stakes, it was a doable weight for me and fit very nicely in my car since I no longer had Terlita (my camping van).

My tent is 8 ft x 9 ft the smallest they carried at the time.  I would have loved to have ordered the 10 ft x 10 ft tent but did not know how a few more feet would have affected its set-up.

This tent has steel poles both on the top as well as on the two sides poles.  It does not require guy lines but there are like 15 tent stakes to pound into the ground.  While that would not be a problem in the beach or your backyard, you need to take that into account if you plan to camp in a rocky location like in Terlingua, Texas.  The first time it took me almost five hours to set-up camp by myself.

This tent is rain proof and you need to set it up in your back yard and spray it with a lot of water to season it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP7FFOIKgYU

I bought mine from Competitive Edge Products whom at the time had the best price and at last check continue to have it http://www.competitiveedgeproducts.com/Kodiak-Canvas-Tents-6098-9-x-8-ft-Flex-bow_p_17.html

If you have any other questions please leave a comment or you can e-mail me at terlinguadreams@outlook.com

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Bikers

Got an e-mail saying how much they enjoyed the different header pictures that I feature in my blog specially of the bikers, as they themselves would like to attend and ride their motorcycles to the cook-off.

They wanted to know if a lot of bikers attend the Chili cook-off.  There are usually a fair number of them. Some set up camp as you come into CASI on the right side beneath the hill.  But one can camp wherever one pleases as there are no designated “biker camping” areas.

As far as availability of supplies in the area is concerned…it is very limited and expensive. I presume most bikers that attend have a supply vehicle that carries their camping gear, ice chests, food and most importantly their beer much like the guys I featured.  Here is a link to local area amenities. http://www.chili.org/documents/Services%20Available%20on%20Site%20at%20Rancho%20CASI%20de%20los%20C.pdf

Hope that answers your questions, if not feel free to e-mail me or leave me a comment on the blog.  Don’t be shy, I don’t bite.

Just wanted to let the readers know how special the folks that attend this event are.  My friends with the new toy hauler (to the right of my tent) ride bikes.  Before they had the toy hauler he would ride his bike from Austin and she would follow in their truck and pull a trailer. What I am getting at is that they both know how exhausting it can be and then to arrive, set up camp and have to cook a meal.

Wanda and Jeff's new Toy Hauler

Saturday morning at the adjacent camp

When the bikers from San Antonio showed up he took them under his wing and to our other friend’s camp (the ones across from my tent).  The guys had cooked a lot of food and they shared it with them.  Some were shy at first but he got them all to eat.  I think the guys from San Antonio were a bit incredulous at their generosity.  Likewise next morning after we ate breakfast we had a lot of leftover tamales and they invited the guys to help themselves.

Note the silver pickup on the left.  That was their supply vehicle.

Our new friends, the bikers from San Antonio, Texas.

Much has been written about the gifting culture of people that attend Burning Man and while neither my friends nor I have ever been to Burning Man I can certainly attest that Chili Cook-off attendees are just as generous and genuinely give of themselves and what we have with no strings attached.

Jeff (the host) his wife Wanda and Toni who brought the tamales, menudo and  mouth watering steaks. Thank you guys, you all are great.

These are the "A" Brothers and their friends who are some of the nicest people you will ever have the privilege to meet. They unselfishly shared their food with our new San Antonio friends as well as old timers but specially "virgins".

My friends and I are partial to “virgins” and go out of our way to show them the ropes and make sure that their first experience is as memorable as each of ours was when we attended our first cook-off.

If you are considering attending, stop considering and start making plans.  I promise you, you will not be disappointed and you might just make some new friends for life.  http://www.krazyflats.com/

Wanted to welcome Joe Baker to the blog.  Thanks you for your readership.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Burning Man 2011

A couple of years ago I was researching how to make my ice chest more efficient in extreme temperatures.  I came upon a thread from the Burning Man website which had some excellent tips.  I became intrigued by the name of this event and set out to research it further.  I was blown away by all the preparation, effort, imagination and expense that people go through just to be able to participate in this weeklong festivity.

It is an event of grand magnitude that takes place in Black Rock City, Nevada in the middle of the desert.  It is located on an old ancient lakebed, which is commonly referred to as the playa (it means beach in Spanish).   People not just from the United States but  from all over the world attend this annual gathering.

This is not for everyone.  The environment is harsh from extreme high temperatures (it is the desert after all) to extreme nighttime drops; hurricane strength windstorms that cause white outs.  This is also a leave no trace event, which means you, take everything you brought with you including your trash and gray water.  Only amenity provided is port-a-potties.

If you are still reading this you are probably wondering, who would want to go there?  I sure would!!!  But due to circumstances beyond my control I am not able to do so at this time.  However it will go in my list of things I would like to do before I die.  Forgot to mention that it is a clothing optional event, and NO if I ever go I don’t plan on getting naked :D

Burning Man 2011 begins tonight at 12:01 a.m. and concludes on Labor Day.  Here is a link to their web page:

http://burningman.com/

Here is a link to pictures of past Burning Mans – if you are offended by nudity then perhaps you might not want to look at the various albums on this link.

http://www.burningman.com/blackrockcity_yearround/image_gallery/photography.php