North American Sojourner Build and Photography

And some video. I'm obsessed with the Fire Watch Towers and we have a bunch in Missouri.
Zim
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COtP751KHfo

 

I've been busy getting around the State (Missouri) since I finished the topper/camper. These are shot with my older Nikon. Most are from State Parks, some National Forest but all within Missouri.
Zim


I am obsessed with the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) of the 30/40's. The shelter below was built around 35-38 and is at the Mark Twain Lake. The stonework of these buildings are amazing.



Washington State Park, Missouri.

 

A few months ago I upgraded the Nikon to a Sony 6600 and never looked back. I've shot with Nikon and Canon all my life but the Sony and their optics are unreal. Also went with a 16mm Sigma for landscape.
Zim

 

The photography side of this was the big reason to jump into the overlanding arena. I wanted a rig that would support several days out in the forest and lakes which meant a good charging capacity for all the electronic crap. I'm upgrading the battery situation soon to two (2) 100AH AGM's. One will not handle the load I have found out.
Zim
A few more for today.

 

So have not done alot of work on the truck lately. Busy out and about with photography, videography. Learning alot and having a great time. Truck is almost perfect for what I like to do. Looking forward to better weather and more camping. Here's some more stuff I've shot or recorded in the last several weeks. Thanks for watching.
Zim
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JEz8U-KdBI

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VedmAI64LGk

 

And some more pics. Enjoy.
Zim

 

Some more pics of the truck. I'm glad I have 8 charging ports in the cap now. I needed all of them a few times.
Zim

 

I climbed that tower a couple years ago. Cool area.

 

I'm a little old for that now. I send up the drone, and drink coffee....ahahahahahha
Thanks for watching.
Zim

 

Nice shots Dave! I really like the last one of the moss on the roof.

 

Funny it was this little pump house for the cabins. The CCC built all those in the early 30's. Amazing skills with stone.
Zim

 

I absolutely love you topper you made. Some really good work there. Was definitely a lot of work, but looking at it gives you that fuzzy feeling knowing that you built it I'm sure. Some nice photos. We got a lot of CCC stuff here in the Smokies. I'll try and take some pictures when I'm around them again.

 

Thank you. I'm a bit obsessed with the CCC thing. It was a great program to but tens of thousands of folks to work, and improve our parks and National Monuments. The craftsmanship was amazing. I grew up in the Smokies and backpacked from North of the PA line through Maryland, Virginia and into North Carolina on the AT. A great time of my life and what a beautiful range of mountains.
I've been fortunate to have some good mentors in welding and fabrication. I enjoy building things and right now doing a "ARB" lookalike bumper for the F250. It's been a challenge because I bought the brush guard (Westin. I can't bend tube and don't want to buy a bender) and incorporating the bumper into it is nuts. LMAO
Thanks again Andrew.
Zim

 

Well it is looking good, bender or not. I am not even an amateur in metal work. I have seen people DIY a brake for sheet metal, is there a DIY tube bender you can build? Yeah CCC was awesome. Would love to see something like that come back. I love seeing old CCC stuff in the park here.

I have a starter DSL. I need to start using it more for pictures. Watch some training vids or something to learn. Looks like such a fun hobby. You pics are really nice.

 

There are some benders out there but it's just too much trouble for a few bends. I did build the sheet metal brake. That was easy. A tube or pipe bender is not. Ahahahahaha. Photography is awesome. The equipment is getting so good it almost takes the "art" away from the person behind the lens. If I could use real film, I would but it's very expensive now. Get out there and take some pictures. It's fun.
Zim

 

Hey are you still around. Miss your beautiful rig.
Zim