Chuck Box

I finally spent the time this spring to build a chuck box for our little Gnometown pop up camper.

We always stored our kitchen wares in a deep plastic tote in the camper and it was a pain to dig through to locate the specific thing I happened to be looking for at the time.

Our Suwannee festivarian buddy, Wayne had a chuck box for his camp kitchen, and I always envied it.
After much procrastination I decided to tackle the job, and I think the end result is worthy of Gnometown.

Everything fits in it's place. I added a couple of plastic drawers on the left side to store small and/or loose items.

I originally designed it for legs, but it was a bit tricky to set up. I went back to the drawing board and bought two poly-type folding saw horses from Lowes to use as legs in camp. (Different saw horses shown in these pics).

Black Betty used her superior skills with a brush to stain and urethane.

Side view shows chest handles.

• There are lots of sources online to find various construction ideas. Many are from Boy Scout sites. 
• I literally took a look at what I wanted to put in it and designed the dimensions of the box and the shelving from that. 
• I checked and double checked to make sure it would stow away in the pop up, and fit through the door.
• I used 5/8 sanded plywood and pre-drilled, glued, and screwed every thing together.
• As you guessed by now, this thing is heavy. It will take two of us to set it up on the saw horses in camp.

Mooney Falls at Standing Indian, Nantahala Forest

Frank Lee and Allie Burbrink

Frank Lee and Allie Burbrink of The Freight Hoppers played at The Lazy Hiker Brewing Co. in Franklin last night. It's always a treat to hear Frank Lee play from his catalog of hard-driving, old time ballads, from the 1920's and 1930's. Here's a couple of videos I was able to shoot, in spite of the din of the crowd.

Please support live music and hear more from Frank and Allie  @  http://www.frankleeandallieburbrink.com/

Hometown Hiker // Siler Bald Hike

Hot Buttered Rum

We were downright giddy about seeing Hot Buttered Rum back at the Grey Eagle in Asheville last Friday night, after a 5 or 6 year absence. They did not disappoint! Here they are covering a Dr Ralph Stanley tune, enjoy!

Georgia Mountain String Band

The Georgia Mountain String Band performed at Currahee Brewing Company's grand opening celebration this weekend in Franklin. It was our first listen to this Decatur, Georgia bluegrass band and we liked what we heard. We'll certainly keep them on our music radar and hope to see them again soon.

https://m.facebook.com/georgiamountainstringband

Tsali Camping

We finally got out camping this summer for three nights at Tsali campground on Fontana Lake in the Nantahalas. We've had a lot on our plate this summer and didn't get a summer vacation, so we were ready for some woods time. 

I had designed and built a new awning for the camper earlier in the spring and this was my first chance to deploy it. Although it is by no means quick to assemble, it will work well if we're in camp for a few days. We did get some rain while we were out and it seemed to work flawlessly.

Little Gnometown camper set up with new awning configuration.

 We were joined by our grandkids for a night and had lots of fun swimming in the lake, fishing, riding bikes, and sharing campfire stories. Oh yeah, we ate smores too!