Thinking about purchasing a travel trailer?

I've been thinking about purchasing a travel trailer to roam around the country and to visit more lakes. My current vehicle does not have the tow capacity to tow a nice size travel trailer. In fact, back in December of last year I bought a new vehicle that would fit the bill. I evaluated whether to purchase a pick-up truck or a full size SUV. I finally settled on a full size SUV because it is a bit smaller than a pick-up truck and easier for my wife to drive. Now, which SUV should I buy? For some reason, I was drawn to the Nissan Armada. It was like a moth to a flame, sort of.  Anyway, I purchased the Armada and love it.

After having it for a few months, I started wondering why I was drawn to it so strongly?  Was it because this vehicle met my needs and looked nice or was something else pushing me toward this SUV? Then I realized something, my new Armada reminded me of my father's old fishing vehicle, an old beloved 1957 Chevrolet Station Wagon. Little did I know, but I was really looking for a comfort vehicle. 

See it? Doesn't the 1957 look a little like the 2017 Armada? Now remember that the difference between these two vehicles are 60 years apart, but you can still see some similarities. Here's what I mean.   

It's red, it's wagon like, it has lots of chrome, both have a seven in the date, it has a fin, yes a fin...... See it now, sort of? This proves it to me, deep down I wanted a comfort vehicle. What is a comfort vehicle? I define just like comfort food, its any vehicle that provides consolation or a feeling of well being, typically any vehicle associated with fond feeling during childhood. No doubt about it, I had strong feelings for the 1957 Chevy and I guess this new vehicle called them up. They say, as you get older, you go back to your childhood, looks like I have.  Oh yeah, my daughter named the Armada. We call it "Abe" because the color so close to a new shiny penny.

Oh Yeah, I paint beautiful lake, river and bay decor maps. Paddle over to my website, LeoLakes.com. Folks are discovering that these decor maps are wonderfully unique gifts that become family heirlooms. Oh yeah, I hide things in the lake waters, such as a tiny mermaid/fish. Folks love to search for them. I call my maps, treasured maps because most folks have that special body of water that they treasure. My treasured maps make a great gifts for the fisherman, lake lover, or Lake house. 

As you can see, my maps make a great gift.   Click here www.LeoLakes.com for more information.

Just remember: "Life is short, get away from the big screen and get on a big stream".

My special lure.....

When I was a young fisherman about 9 or 10 years old, I had a lucky lure that bordered on magic. When nothing was biting, it was my go to lure because it would always produce a fish, not necessarily a big fish or a prized fish, but a fish every time. This made a kid feel good and feel like a wizard fisherman.

You just don't know how lucky this lure is. Think about this, most kids end up losing their lures to trees, underwater logs or rocks, but not this lure. I still have this lure after 50 years. Do you still have a lure after 50 years? Now that's a special lure! In fact, it's such a lucky lure that I had to paint it in one of my fishing art pictures. 

Little did I realized it when I painted this picture, but I painted it as being lost, as shown by it being all tangled up on a stick. I guess the humor in my painting is the loss of my "special lure", which is not really lost, but is now my most beloved, "lucky lure". 

Oh yeah, I do beautiful canvas lake maps of beloved lake LeoLakes.com. I've been doing lake, river and bay maps for approximately seven years.Over the years, I have experimented with different elements of map art in order to provide the best and most unique map on the market. Most folks add a star to a special place on the lake such as a lake house or where they caught that big fish.  

Folks will be drawn to the map like a crackling fire on a cold winter night.  I try very hard to make my maps special by adding interest to the maps. LeoLakes.com

Also, each framed map or map over 16x32, comes with a certificate of authenticity, lake poem, and interesting facts abut the map. 

I have hundreds of maps on my website that can be purchased right from the site, or I can do custom and personalized vintage style lake maps, too. Lake maps will add beauty to your Lake House Decor! Find out more interesting facts about my treasured maps by going to LeoLakes.com. 

My mostly new fishing cartoons......

My new fishing cartoons. I try to be original and funny, but it doesn't always work. I hope you enjoy and remember, "Life is short, get away from the big screen and get on a big stream!"  

Something else, I do beautiful lake maps. Paddle on over to my website to see some great maps of your favorite lake, river, or bay...LeoLakes.com makes great gifts for the Lake Lover, Lake House, or Fishermen.

Camping in the sixties

Have you seen those cool looking 1960's vintage-style travel trailers

traveling down the highways? 

I have! They bring back memories for me. I remember in the 60's, when I was about 8 or 9 years old, my dad decided to purchase a travel trailer. One weekend, we ended up at Bob's Trailers. Bob sold trailers from a little white block building surrounded by a gravel lot that was loaded with 12 to 16 ft recreational trailers. We looked around and found a 13 ft trailer that was called "The Plaything", yep "The Plaything".

It was white with a blue strip down the side and had all the typical accessories  such as, dining table, three fold up beds, sink, stove and closet. It's weird, but I remember my dad paying Bob $350.00 cash. Luckily, they delivered, because my dad didn't have a trailer hitch on our car.

The camper, as we called it, arrived home and it was beautiful. We couldn't wait to get this baby on the road, but first my dad had to get a hitch on our 1965 Mustang. After two weeks, the yellow Mustang was ready, the camper was loaded and we headed to a state park called "Cedars of Lebanon", about 45 miles away. We started on our way and I noticed that you could feel the weight of the camper on the back of the mustang. It would struggle up a hill. When braking, it would slowly come to a stop, kind of like a one-hundred car freight train coming to a stop, slooooowly. It was obvious, anticipation was the key to safety. Just wondering, do you see a problem here?  Not me, I'm a kid and it's not my job to worry about such things. My thoughts were on my new knife that had a spoon and fork with some kind of curly screw thing on it. I couldn't wait to try it on my dinner..... 

Everything was going great and I was looking forward to sleeping in an actual bed tonight, rather than on a blow-up mattress in a canvas tent that smelled like burnt candle. No I wasn't, again I'm a kid and I was looking forward to an adventure at the campsite with my new spoon and fork knife.

Anyway, we were about at the halfway point and all of a sudden, My dad said the car is overheating. I could see little wisps of white steam coming from the front of the Mustang. Luckily, there was a pull-over spot on the side of the road. You know, the old 1960s roadside rest areas that had the white, concrete picnic tables and no bathroom or water fountain. We pulled over, while steam was rolling out of the engine compartment. 

He said " Well, I knew this could happen. We will just have to wait and let it cool down". Fortunately, there was a creek near by where we got water and filled the radiator up after it had cooled. After a while, we started on our way. My dad was very nervous for the remaining part of the trip, but we made it! Man, I had fun camping for the first time in the camper, but mostly I loved using my spoon and fork knife to eat each meal. Going back home was uneventful. You know why? It was mostly downhill, but braking was a little nightmarish.   

Looking back, I have come to the conclusion that we could have died. Yeap, in a massive wreck by not yielding the right-of-way. I've done a little research and determined that it was totally unsafe for a 1965 Mustang to tow a 13 ft camper. The best that I can find from my internet research, a 1965 Mustang is rated at around 1,500 lbs. tow capacity.  The camper was approximately 2,500 lbs and had no trailer brakes, plus we had 500-600 lbs of baggage. It's likely that the Mustang was towing over 3,000 lbs. Bottom line, the Mustang was well over the it's towing capacity and was unsafe to drive with this trailer attached, but man it was fun! In fact, we went on many other trips with the "Mustang and The Plaything". This is how the 60's almost killed me. 

Oh yeah, as I got older, I finally figured out what that curly screw thing was on my spoon and fork knife, corkscrew! Lastly, my dad finally got tired of the mustang and bought a 1972 Ford F-150. Believe it or not, the mustang remained parked in the driveway for a number of years, leaking oil, transmission fluid, rear differential fluid.....etc.  

Paddle over to my website, LeoLakes.com. I paint beautiful lake, river and bay decor maps. Folks are discovering that these decor maps are wonderfully unique gifts that become family heirlooms. Oh yeah, I hide things in the lake waters, such as a tiny mermaid/fish. Folks love to search for them. I call my maps, treasured maps because most folks have that special body of water that they treasure. My treasured maps make a great gifts for the fisherman, lake lover, or Lake house. 

As you can see, my maps make a great gift.   Click here www.LeoLakes.com for more information.

Just remember: "Life is short, get away from the big screen and get on a big stream".