Richard, I hope you are off too. Talk with the boss ??? Mike
This may be a stupid question, but is there any ground to pitch a tent on ( especially, if it rains)?
carson
Hello Carson, They have plenty of grassy areas and a quite large indoor area if we get soaked.The showers are very clean and newer. Last year I went to the hotel about 20 minutes away, but this year I am camping out.(No wife). Hope to see you there. (Actually I am still hoping to see me there.) MikeyB
The only negative thing that I recall is the occasional train that goes by. I used the showers there more than at the hotel. They were a God send in the heat last year but I would think the temps would be more ânormalâ this year. I plan to sleep in the back of my truck so only a radical storm would make me move to the shed or the shower building which is a block building. Itâs tornado time that time of year ⌠The larger building is a typical pole shed but if it winds up being really wet there is plenty of room to set tents inside. Meshke just slept on the floor in there on Sunday night and had the huge building to himself. There were thunderstorms all night and it cooled off. The ground drained well even with 2 inches of rain but the portable fire pit was full of water. I tried to spread the âbio charâ around the place a bit as we were the last ones on the site and we pitched most of the garbage. I think we split a pound of butter that was still in the refrigerator before we unplugged it. Mike L
Iâm renting a 30 foot motor home this time around because I remember how tired I was driving 15 miles to the hotel at night. This way I can literally drag my way into the sack after all that string music.
I remember driving into the campground last year in a plain car, and not knowing whether it would be an open field with porta potties and fire pits. Not a chance. Argos is 1st class and can shelter any of us, even if itâs raining during the event.
Mike L, Iâll be studying your trailer setup pretty well, since youâre going off the reservation with daily experience on that setup.
I made a day trip out of it last year but plan on staying in a tent this year. I canât wait.
T-shirts or hats for Argos? Anyone doing anything like that?
Maybe some one has connections with a print shop?
I would buy in if any are offered.
Just thinking
Wes
Iâd go for a couple of D-O-W hats.
Only if cotton though.
And only if in BLACK.
Woodgas clothing really does need to be black. Or at the lightest, in a dark charcoal grey.
Regards
Steve Unruh
I think I would be in favor of the hats also.
Black. . . . . . black, black, black.
Hi Ron, Last year after Argos, I started thinking of some words to âRing of fireâ too. Feel free to use them if you think they fit. I am not a musician and will gladly give them to anyone who can put it to music and entertain us.
Chorus
I Use a torch to light a burning ring of fire; turn on the fan and the fire gets higher; it burns burns burns, that ring of fire, that ring of fire.
Fire, that gives off heat turns wood to gas, now ainât that neat.
Wood gas, is a motor fuel made from wood, that is renewed
Chours
Air and rain and sun, makes the fuel, on which I run.
Power thatâs made from trees, uses no oil from overseas.
Chours
Burn now baby burn, cause down the road Iâll take a turn.
Past the station, in the neighborhood, wonât buy no gas, I drive on wood.
Chours
Clap, clap, clap!!!
Weâre workinâ on your version, Gary- maybe we can have a printed version with the chords by Argosâso other musicians can play along !!
I wish I could make it out to Argos to meet yaâall. Too far, too soon to fit it in the spring routine.
If someone could shoot a few videos and/or pics of the daily goings on and post them in the evenings, it would make my day!
I think the evenings of music and stories will be the highlights!
SWEM, all the way to Argos yaâall. Tim J
Rick Bates sends this reminder:
"If you are planning to stay in a motel for the woodgas gathering next month I would book a room soon. Yesterday I figured Iâd at least check into motels near Argos for the gathering next month and found that all the reasonable motels in Plymouth were fully booked for that weekend (May 17 - 19). I did not check the Red Rock Inn because I was warned against it by a local gas station last year. I ended up booking a room in the Rochester Motel, in Rochester, a little farther from Argos. They still had a few rooms open that weekend and are reasonably priced.
Hope to see you all in Argos next month,
Rick"
Iâve been brainstorming a little bit of a schedule for Argos. Just as a very rough draft, I want to toss this out there and get some feedback.
What do you want to see happen? Anything on here youâre NOT interested in? Feedback please⌠like I said this is very loose and we wonât be sticklers about anything. But a little structure might help us get more out of the time available.
Mealtimes may shift a bit, as I hear details from Ron.
Basically I tried to think of various different activities, settings, and formats. Add a little of each. Then sorted more or less by what we did last year. A few points to remember:
- Saturday is the big day, we have all day long.
- Afternoons will have more semi-public or day trip folks. So truck rides will happen around then, and lots of woodgas explaining.
- Conversely the mornings are all ours. So more in depth discussion and demos happen then?
- Evenings best for flaring etc. Also weâll have a campfire both nights.
- Friday doesnât start until 12pm because folks are still arriving. Also Sunday is mostly just to pack up and leave, but hang out if you can.
- Some of this stuff depends on bringing tools etc. So plan now and bring whatâs needed.
You may notice the âwhiteboard sessionsâ. This is a simple idea to schedule on the fly discussions or demos depending on interest. We leave a whiteboard up, someone writes a topic they want to talk about, others write names by the ones they want to attend, and boom, new activity. No interest, no problem - just doesnât happen, no-one is committed until thereâs interest. Very simple yet effective in some circumstances. Worth a shot, I think.
Not trying to pack the schedule or anything. These are all tentative, just ideas to get you thinking. You guys come up with some other fun stuff and weâll hash this thing out.
I will probably pick out my camping spot and leave my truck there or unhitch the trailer by the buildings. I have to remember to bring the flareoff pipe and a double rotor hearth. CHOO CHOO âŚ
I donât play that flareoff game well and I donât plan to go anywhere so will walk to town if I need to go there⌠The trailer is self contained. Pray for nice weather !!! Mike
A big ol bummer, I gotta miss the Argos meet. I am moving, and I expect to have posession of my new place by Argos weekend. My kids are all driving down 400 miles from Minnesota to help me move. No way I can bail out on the move, so I gotta bail on the meet.
Dang I hate that.
I am going to convert my 98 Dodge Ram to dual gas/methanol, using an Imbert type gasiifier on board the truck. Sure be nice to see how other folks did it.
larry hagedon
Keosauqua Iowa
[email protected]
Hey Guys!!
We are having to send our apologies , and HUGE regretsâŚ
We spent three weeks building a really nice teardrop camperâreally looking forward to bringing it to Argos this yearâgot the truck in tip top shape (well, not running on wood yet), checked the calender- AND THATâS WHERE THE TWILIGHT ZONE BEGAN!! We had both cleared the calender,making sure we had time off --THE WEEKEND OF MAY, 24-25 !! Iâm not sure how this could have happenedâwas there some discussion about that date for Argos early in the planning stage?? Anyway, no problem until we looked at the correct weekend, and realized we have to play at a crawfish boil for 300 people- a great paying gig-and it would be economic suicide for us to cancel this close to the date.
We have been reading the DOW posts daily, and we feel like we know all of yaâll personally, we are sorry we canât make it -BUT- maybe â we can get the dates right for the Arkansas Woodgas Meet, and Argos next year? I will work hard this summer to get my little welding shop set up , run 220 to it, get a plasma cutter, and start working on my WK build (We have a '95 Dakota w/ 318)âŚ
Hope everyone takes lots of pictures and videos for us less fortunate onesâŚBBB
Hello Ron,
WOW what a bummer, I was looking forward to meeting you. Maybe this fall or next year.
I just learned I will be missing sonâs football game and I had rather eat barbed wire as miss it!