“I’m too simple.”

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There are many things I could share about this first Black RAM Adventure, but it was a learning experience revealing to me just what an oddball I am. I headed to southern Indiana. I was on way to O’Bannon Woods State Park. My 1990 Black Ram Truck was fully loaded and prepared to be my micro home for next 5 days. My truck bed becomes my campsite, complete with wood burning stove, and shelter. However…

I camp primitive. I expect to camp CHEAP. Back to nature. I don’t need electricity, showers, bathroom, etc! I want to back my pickup into a spot with just a little privacy and feel like I’m in some woods! I’m not there to socialize with my neighbor. I get that at home in the big city. I left the big city to get away! But I discover, at least in Indiana, not many people want primitive anymore!

Campers today want their electricity. They want to hook up their rolling 5 star hotel to all the conveniences of home, or the big city! On way to O’Bannon Woods Park I happened to find a public access point which had a simple boat ramp into Blue River, and a nice cleared area to park vehicles. There was a winding gravel path off the road to get there, surrounded by woods the whole way. But the access point also had a large sign saying no camping or camp fires!

Okay. I’m not one to break the rules unless the rules need to be broken. I really liked the area. Blue River was the first river I was trying to find. It was peaceful, slow moving, and beautiful. No one was there! I noticed it would be so easy to back my Ram to the edge of the parking spot and let down my tailgate hanging right over woods and a scenic view of the river! Perfect!!! However…

Okay. No camping. O’Bannon State Park was just a little more driving and they had camping. I put the Ram in gear, drove back up the gravel path, headed to the park. When I arrived I find what they called primitive camping was $20.00/ night! Wow! Camping sure went up since I last went!

I drove back to check the sites and they were mainly for people with horses! Very little privacy. Right next to each other. No scenic view. No Blue River. I left. I went back to the public access point, backed into that spot, and enjoyed 2 beautiful days of woods and solitude. On the 2nd day a couple people launched canoe or fishing boats. They paddled away, didn’t bother me and I didn’t bother them. They finally came back and left.

During the day I enjoyed fixing my foods, relaxing in anti-grav chair, reading, writing, praying, listening to the woods, small walks, the Blue River, and tried my first Fly Fishing. I’m terrible at it, and it was not a good spot because the water went deep so quickly that I could not wade out without being drenched. And mornings were so cold my hands froze! Painful! But we endured, pressed through, lost a lure and learned a few things, like find a better spot.

Those first two days were a complete success as I camped bandit style in the Black Ram. My wood stove worked great, and felt so good when the nights got cold.

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After two days I headed along the Ohio River, to Tell City, and on to Evansville where I visited an incredible “Used Books Warehouse”! And road my bike, Red Pony, on a path with view of the Ohio River. It was awesome. But my goal was to get to a park called “Harmonie State Park” on the Wabash River. I finally got there, rather exhausted, maybe one hour daylight left. I pulled up to the gate and asked for primitive camping. They no longer had primitive!

It was going to be $32.10/ night! And three big RVs were already lined up behind me to get in! And don’t ask me why they needed that extra ten cents! When the man at the gate noticed my sticker shock, he said it’s getting hard to find primitive camping in these parts now days. And then stood there smiling. I told the man next summer I’m going north! I’m going into Michigan and clear to the top, cross that bridge and end up in Wisconsin! Indiana has gotten too civilized for me! (And expensive!)

I drove that night. I drove away. I slept in the cab of truck that night. I found a park called Patoka Park and it was awesome. It was my last day and I couldn’t spend the night, but I did find a place to come back to. Nice primitive spots for $12.00/night. Trails, scenic views, archery range, bike path, it is a park I can enjoy when I can’t go long and north.

But I guess I’m just too simple. I don’t want electricity when I go to woods. I’m there to get away from TV and such things. Modern campers don’t get the true benefits of the woods. Their souls are just as cluttered when they leave as when they came. I see the same thing in many modern churches. I believe in simple church. But again, I’m too simple. The simplicity of Christ.

I remember my wife’s family used to have a cottage on a big lake. When I would get up of the morning, the surface of that water was smooth like glass! Peaceful like a lily pond. Beautiful as liquid silver. But a couple hours later that water was so choppy, muddy, and noisy from speed boats and skiers that it didn’t seem like it could be the same lake. Well…people’s souls are like that. When the speed boats stopped for the night, and the water got the chance to settle, smooth out, be peaceful; it got rid of all that choppiness of the day. When morning came it was all smooth, peaceful, and beautiful again.

Going to the woods is a chance for our soul to get rid of the clutter, hear God, get peaceful and beautiful again, but not if we bring all the clutter with us. Church is the same. We soup it up. Church on steroids. Theater. All we do is pollute the beauty of what is otherwise a place to slow down and detox.

At that public access point, on the second night the sky was so clear it was filled with an abundance of stars everywhere! My view of them as I lay on my bedroll, fire burning in the stove, was through the gaps of the leaves overhanging my truck. I loved it. I only put the tarp on at night, but it’s pulled back where I can see straight up into those stars.

When I finally pulled away the next day, not a trace could be seen that anyone camped there. No burnt ring on ground. No trash, etc. Everything happened in the back of my truck. Leave no trace.

I may be too simple for our modern day, but there is a real hunger building in people for simplicity. I believe a lot of disease has roots that actually go deep into the soul. The soul is toxic, and out of that comes sickness, depression, and every form of evil. But we no longer turn to God’s Word to learn God’s ways and the detoxing of our soul. We love the complex and shallow. We don’t sit still long enough for the simple and deep. But we preach those seats under the Willow Tree. I hope that’s why you come here. Thanks for stopping in.

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