travel

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The Beauty of Rustic

For the past several years I have developed an interest in how to reclaim and repurpose wood that, by all appearances, should be tossed on a burn pile. I like wood that is weathered and worn, scarred from use and abuse — wood that looks sad at best. So, I am always on the lookout for wood waiting to be reclaimed and repurposed.

One of my friends recently replaced a fence for a widow. He told me that the pickets had rested on a 12-inch rot board. My ears perked up. “The rot board looks pretty bad,” he said. I had to see it.


When I finally saw the rot board I knew immediately that it was perfect for my next project at our guest cabin in Big Bend — a small countertop in front of the large window with a view to Red Bluff. I could not wait to repurpose these 12-inch boards and started drawing out my plans.

As for the legs for the countertop, these came a few days later when I helped my friend take apart another fence blown over by a storm. I culled out the 4 x 4 posts and set them aside. These posts were more than sufficiently weathered and matched the character of the rot boards.

With all of our reclaimed wood in the bed of my Tundra, Cheryl and I headed to our cabin on Monday. We made one stop at McCoy’s in Alpine to pick up a few more things we would need for this week’s projects and then drove the last hour down Highway 118 to the cabin.


The countertop build took several hours. Fortunately, I had already lightly sanded the rot boards before coming to the cabin. I sanded just enough to knock off the rough edges and splinters but not so much as to ruin the patina of the wood. The patina, after all, is the character that gives old wood its rustic charm.

Because the edges of the boards were so uneven, I chose not to run them through my jointer or to use biscuits to join the pieces. Instead, I made my own version of flat bar to join and level them from beneath.


The next step was to apply several coats of clear Polycrylic to seal the boards. This added lots of smoothness to the boards. I was pleased with the results.

Next, I added a ledger board that would serve to hold up one side of the countertop beneath the large window. Once I had the height of the countertop, I cut the 4 x 4 posts to measure to make the legs.


I did a dry fit of the legs against the bottom of the countertop and then scribed a cut line to make the legs fit tight against the weathered wood. Once the countertop was level and the legs plumb, I used Timberlock screws to fasten everything together.


I then made a second smaller counter to serve as a place to set a 5-gallon water jug and temporary plastic sink for a hand-washing station. I may modify this later whenever we pressurize the water to this cabin — but in the meantime this will serve the purpose.


I also finished the open closest area between the bunk beds. This is intended as a place for guests to stow gear and hang clothes. Once again, I used reclaimed rot boards to make the shelf. I then affixed hooks to another piece of rot board and screwed that in to the back wall of the closet.


To finish the bunk beds, I added a grab bar to make it easier to get into the top bunks and also added a safety rail to each top bunk. The bunk beds are strong and the black iron ladder and grab bars should be able to handle lots of use.


My neighbor Joe, the jack-of-all-off-grid-skills, stopped by to finish the install of the mini-split. He wired things so that we can run the mini-split off a generator while we wait to set up our solar panels. Wow! The mini-split did a great job of quickly cooling the well-insulated space in spite of the triple digit temps.


I finally got around to making a set of temporary steps into the cabin. We will replace these when we add the front deck that will span the length of the cabin and be shaded by a solar panel awning.


As a final project, I reorganized our wood storage rack and painted it black. I added a couple of shelves to the rack to keep the smaller stuff on top and the heavier logs on the bottom section. This should make it easier for us to access what we need.

So, it’s been a great week completing projects at the cabin that add rustic charm. It’s always fun to dream about, plan, and complete projects that get us closer to completion of the guest cabin and make our place a bit more organized.


We did get lots of rain and a little hail this week. We love the magnificent storms in the desert. As soon as the thunder and lightning started, we sat on the front porch to watch the display until the rain drove us inside the cabin. We make it a point every time one of these storms rolls in to listen to John Denver’s “Annie’s Song” — “You fill up my senses, like a storm in the desert.”


Cheryl and I are headed into Study Butte in a few minutes to get a few more items for tonight’s cookout with our neighbors. We love hosting our desert version of a block party every time we visit our cabin. We will head back to the suburbs on Saturday. As always, thanks for following our adventure.

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A Tin Ceiling and Wood Bunk Beds

Mark Twain once observed that the secret to making progress is to get started. If there is one thing I have learned about progress since starting our off-grid adventure in Big Bend it is that slow progress is better than no progress. And making any progress means making decisions and then taking a step, no matter how small, to get started.

Taking small steps is definitely paying off for us at our off-grid property. Because we can only visit for short periods every few weeks, we have to make the most of every visit. That means careful planning, making lists and checking them twice, purchasing materials, and then working the plan.


I keep a little black notebook where I draw sketches of upcoming projects, make lists of materials, keep important measurements I need as I dream and plan, and make general notes about this and that. The cool thing is that as I leaf through the pages, I can see a record of all of the progress we have made since 2018.

Cheryl and I spent the past week at the cabin. Our hope for the week was to make a little more progress toward the completion of the guest cabin built by my Band of Fathers group that I meet with every Wednesday.


Project One was to run the electrical wiring and refrigerant lines for the mini-split. That’s where my neighbor Joe Pound comes in. He is an off-grid guru who knows just about everything about off-grid survival. Joe stopped by to do the work on the mini-split while I finished wiring electrical outlets and switches.


With the electrical and refrigerant lines in place, I was able to add the final pieces of insulation and paneling to complete the walls. It was a good feeling to have all of the walls in the main room completed.

Project Number Two was to finish insulating the ceiling and then adding the corrugated tin panels. I know that there are other ceiling options, but we like the rustic look of the corrugated tin. Hanging tin, however, is definitely a two-man job. My neighbor Chris Smith stopped by to help me finish all of the ceiling work. Once again, it was such a good feeling to look up and know that I could now check the ceiling work off of my project list.


Project Number Three was to build the bunk beds. Cheryl and I drove to McCoy’s in Alpine, with black notebook in hand, to purchase the lumber for the bunk bed build. With the lumber secured in the bed of my truck, we stopped by the Dairy Queen next door to McCoy’s for a quick Texas gourmet lunch before heading back to the cabin.


A couple of months ago Cheryl and I took our granddaughters to IKEA. While there Cheryl noticed that their bunk bed mattresses were on sale so we purchased the mattresses right away. One more thing off the list.


The bunk bed build was a fun project. We were able to build both sets of bunks beds. I decided to use black iron pipe and flanges to make the ladder to the top bunks. On our next trip I will install a grab bar and add a safety bar to the top bunks, all using black iron. The final step will be to build an open storage closet between the bunk beds so guests can have a place to stow gear and hang clothes.

As we do on every visit, we invited our neighbors over for a cookout on Saturday evening. This is always a fun time to reconnect with one another and to enjoy conversation around the campfire. Especially enjoyed meeting a new neighbor who is making a go of off-grid living not far from us.

On Sunday we enjoyed worship at Terlingua Ranch Community Church where we have attended since starting our off-grid adventure in 2018. Love this little church in the desert.

Before we headed home on Monday, we sat outside to watch the solar eclipse. Although it did not get completely dark at the cabin, it did feel a little like dusk. This is the second eclipse we have watched from the cabin.


We returned home by way of Uvalde where we spent the night with our nephew Ryan and his sweet family. Highway 90 is a fun alternate route home for us. Even stopped at the world’s smallest Buc-ee’s east of Marathon.


Cheryl and I are happy to have made a little more progress on our guest cabin and, best of all, grateful for the time spent with our friends and neighbors in the Chihuahuan Desert.

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An Adventure Deep in the Heart of Texas

In November 2022, Big Bend National Park topped National Geographic’s Best of the World Travel List. Located in the vast Chihuahuan Desert, Big Bend also boasts the darkest night skies in the nation. It’s one of the places that affirms “the stars at night are big and bright, deep in the heart of Texas.”

In 2018, my wife Cheryl and I purchased the first of our off-grid tracts deep in the heart of Texas. Beckoned by the wide open spaces, distant mesas, deafening silence, and endless skies, we established Dos Arbolitos, our off-grid base camp for solitude and adventure in the Big Bend Valley section of the vast Terlingua Ranch.

One of our dreams for Dos Arbolitos was to host adventures for boys and dads and also for boys without dads. That dream came true three years ago when we hosted our first Big Bend Adventure for boys from fatherless homes in partnership with The Hangar, a Christian nonprofit situated in Brookshire.


The Brookshire community, located west of Houston, has the highest percentage of fatherless homes in the greater Houston area. The Hangar, a ministry of Eyes on Me, exists to mentor, disciple, and serve at-risk youth and their families.


This week, we hosted the third annual Big Bend Adventure for boys (and their mentors) from Brookshire. This is one of my favorite weeks of the year. The adventure is designed to provide opportunities for good conversations between the boys and mentors around the campfire and on the trails.

One of the key things we focus on is teaching the boys that it is better to do life in community with others because alone is dangerous. We teach them the importance of watching out for one another on the trails. And, the work projects we plan can only be accomplished by cooperating and working well with others.


The boys arrived at Dos Arbolitos on Sunday afternoon. The first order of business was pitching tents and setting up their respective campsites. For many of the first-timers, this was the first time they had set up a tent. It was nice to see the older boys teaching the younger boys how it’s done.


James Meredith returned for the third time to serve as camp chef. I don’t know of a better guy to cook for a campout than James. He is a master at cooking on grills, griddles, Dutch ovens, and campfires — and usually uses all of these to prepare a single delicious meal. James is, understandably, a very popular guy on the campout.

On the first night of the adventure, we sat around the campfire and presented the boys with their hiking gear. We gave each boy their own hydration backpack, first aid kit, headlamp and flashlight, survival blanket, whistle, compass, and more. We explained each item and why they are necessary for the adventure — and then used each item as a metaphor to talk about an aspect of their walk with Christ.


After giving the boys their gear, one of the youngest guys on the team sat wide-eyed at all that he had received. He looked at one of the mentors and asked, “Do I have to give all of this back after the hike?” He was blown away to hear that this was now his own personal gear and that he dId not have to return it after the adventure. I don’t think he took off his backpack the whole time we were together.


I invited my friend Joseph Bear, known as Yogi to locals, to do a star party for the boys. Yogi and my Big Bend neighbors Chris and Ken were kind enough to set up one of his large telescopes. Yogi told stories about the night sky. The boys enjoyed looking the moon, planets, and stars. My neighbor Chris took a great pic of the moon through lens of the telescope.


As in previous years, the boys spent two days on day-hikes in Big Bend National Park. This is always an eye-opening, jaw-dropping experience for these boys who live in tough urban settings. The hikes are also an opportunity for mentors to talk about outdoor preparedness and safety and why adventuring alone can be dangerous.


We also set aside one day to do tasks around the property — jobs that can only be done by communicating and cooperating well with others. These included clearing fence line, bracing corner posts for a new section of fencing, addressing some erosion, and adding t-posts for future fencing.


These tasks are hard and require attention to detail and looking out for the guys working beside you. After working on a section of fencing, one boy shared his thoughts around the campfire. “This was one of the hardest things I have ever done,” he said. “And now I know that I can do hard things.” Wow! That is a valuable take-away for a young man.


One of the boys worked beside Ian, one of the mentors. As they cleared brush for a future fence, Ian shared the story of Jesus with Gavin. After a long conversation, Gavin placed his faith in Christ for salvation and was later baptized in the Rio Grande River along with four other boys.


My favorite night was our final night around the campfire. On that night Dennis, the executive director of Eyes On Me, the non-profit that directs the outreach to at-risk homes in Brookshire, asked the boys to affirm one another. The boys then took turns speaking words of encouragement and affirmation to one another. The words spoken were better than food for many of these boys who seldom receive such affirmation.


This Third Annual Big Bend Adventure was so much fun and a huge success. The boys were so appreciative of the opportunity to participate in the adventure and returned home tired but encouraged by their time under the vast Big Bend skies, deep in the heart of Texas.