Another Step Towards Divemaster
Photo by Indy Dive Center
This past weekend, I took another big step in my Dive Master training — and what better place than the no-so clear spring-fed waters of France Park Quarry in Logansport, Indiana. Surrounded by limestone cliffs and Indiana’s wild green canopy, it was a perfect backdrop for a weekend full of hands-on training, team building, and underwater exploration.
We had a great group in the water, working through skills and scenarios with solid focus and high spirits. There’s something special about being part of a community that’s always pushing each other to grow — whether it’s helping someone fine-tune their buoyancy or learning how to manage groups and emergencies. These are the kinds of dives that remind you why you started this journey in the first place.
If you’re considering going pro or just want to be a more capable diver, Dive Master training is an unforgettable challenge — and places like France Park make it that much more rewarding.
Stay tuned. More dives, more training, and more adventure ahead.
#DiveMasterInTraining #FrancePark #ScubaLife #DYTRYN
Fasting. Training. Rebuilding.
Blog Title: Resetting the System: My Health Journey in Progress
Subtitle: From pain and exhaustion to discipline and momentum — one fast, one supplement, and one decision at a time.
The past few years, my weight had been creeping up — and I felt every pound of it. At my heaviest, I hit 305 lbs. My knees felt like they were on fire most days. My back ached. I felt like I was being smothered in my own body.
I was tired of being fat.
Tired of feeling stuck.
Tired of pretending that “later” was a plan.
I’d been researching health issues for a while, but knowing something needs to change isn’t the same as knowing what to change. Then, at the end of February, I got a full panel of blood work done: Vitamin D, Testosterone, A1C, PSA, and more.
The results hit me like a freight train:
- Vitamin D: 13.4 (normal is 30–100) — completely in the toilet.
- A1C: Basically diabetic.
- Testosterone: 290 — low.
It wasn’t just numbers. It was a mirror. I finally had the clarity to act — and I did.
🧭 What I Changed
I started fasting 2–3 times a week, going 36 hours without food after dinner. At first, it was rough — especially the hunger and how cold I’d get during the fasts. Most days I’d just crawl into bed after work to stay warm and make it through. But I stuck with it.
When the hunger hit hard, I’d drink water — sometimes with a Jocko GO or Jocko Hydrate. Yes, it’s a few calories, but in my opinion, if that’s what gets you through, it’s worth it. Every fast can be different — and perfect isn’t required.
I also started supplementing:
- D3 (10,000 IU daily)
- Onnit’s “Total Human”
- Jocko Fuel Stack: “Combat Tested,” “Joint Warfare,” “Jocko Burner”
I hadn’t even ramped up physical activity much yet — just trying to walk a little more. And still, I dropped 20 pounds in 6 weeks, right before heading off on a cruise.
Sure, I added a couple pounds back during the trip — but when I returned and went back to clean eating without fasting, I got back down to 284 lbs. That’s over 20 pounds lost total — and now it’s time to build on that.
🏃♂️ What’s Next: Time to Train
I’m officially signed up for Disney’s Wine & Dine Run Weekend at the end of October. I’ll be running the 5K, 10K, and half marathon — back to back. That’s the new target.
Between continued fasting and consistent training, I plan to drop many more pounds — and show up leaner, stronger, and sharper than I’ve been in years.
🔬 The Bigger Lesson: Learn Your Body
One of the biggest things I’ve taken away from this journey?
👉 Know your body.
👉 Get labs done regularly.
👉 Understand what the numbers mean.
I even wore a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) for a few weeks just to study how my body responds to food. I learned that orange juice sends my glucose through the roof — and I never would’ve known without tracking it myself.
Doctors can be helpful, but don’t rely on them blindly. Ask questions. Verify what they tell you. Don’t just camouflage symptoms with medications. I’m not anti-med — but I am against lazy fixes. Search for the root cause, not just a prescription to patch the surface.
Final Thoughts:
I didn’t start this journey with a polished plan — I started with pain. But that pain lit the fuse. And from there, one change at a time, I started building momentum.
If you’re in a place where your body feels like a prison, if you’re tired of being tired — you’re not stuck. You’re just one decision away from turning it around.
A Year of Adventure: Relaxing, Diving, and Growing
If I had to sum up this past year in one word, it would be “growth.” Not just the kind you can measure — like miles traveled or milestones reached — but the kind that happens quietly, when you step outside your comfort zone, try new things, and learn to slow down and appreciate the moment.
This past year has been filled with milestones — from unforgettable adventures with my daughter Camryn to new travel experiences and personal challenges. It wasn’t always easy, but it was real — and looking back, I’m proud of how far I’ve come.
Here’s a little snapshot of the moments that shaped my past year.
Diving Adventures with Camryn
This year was packed with dive memories! Over the summer, Camryn got her scuba certification at Gilboa Quarry, and we made it a full experience by camping there. Spending the weekends outdoors, diving by day, and sitting by the campfire at night made for some of my favorite moments of the year.
We went back for another weekend of camping and diving — and it was just as magical the second time. One of the best moments was capturing video of Camryn feeding the fish underwater. Watching her excitement and confidence grow has been one of the proudest parts of my year.
Volunteering at the IT-100 Trail Race
Another unforgettable experience with Camryn came in October when we volunteered at the IT-100 Trail Race at Chain O’ Lakes State Park. We worked a ham radio checkpoint, helping to manage race communications and support the athletes out on the trail.
Spending the day outdoors, doing something different, and seeing the determination of the runners was inspiring. Plus, it was just another great adventure shared with Camryn — and another reminder of how much I enjoy being out in the action.
A Spontaneous Walt Disney World Adventure
One of the most fun and unexpected moments of the year happened almost by accident.
It was a regular Friday afternoon when I asked Nicole a simple question:
“What do you want to do this weekend?”
By 4:00 PM, we were tossing around ideas.
By 8:00 PM, we were on a plane to Walt Disney World for a long weekend getaway!
No big plan. No months of reservations. Just a bag, a flight, and the freedom to dive into the magic of WDW — rides, sunshine, good food, and memories that will stick with us forever.
It was the perfect reminder that sometimes the best adventures are the ones you don’t plan for.
Christmas Overlanding and Diving
At Christmas, we loaded up the Jeep and overlanded down to Panama City, Florida for a dive trip adventure. There’s something freeing about packing up, hitting the open road, and having everything you need right in the Jeep.
The weather wasn’t perfect — it was chilly and gray — but we made the best of it. We dove beautiful spots in Panama City, explored Vortex Spring, and even stumbled across a hole-in-the-wall seafood place where we had the most amazing crab legs.
It wasn’t a traditional Christmas — it was better. A little cold, a little messy, but full of freedom, family, and memories.
My First Cruise: Porta Plata, Dominican Republic and CocoCay
Capping off the past year was a huge first for me: my first cruise with Royal Caribbean!
At first, I wasn’t sure if cruising was my thing. I felt restless — stuck on a ship without much to “do.” But as the week went on, I realized something important: the cruise was forcing me to relax — to slow down, unplug, and breathe. And once I embraced it, I ended up enjoying the experience.
Voyager of the Sea, our ship
In Puerta Plata, Dominican Republic, we went on a thrilling side-by-side excursion through the countryside. Kicking up dust, riding trails, visiting a small local farm — it was the perfect mix of adrenaline and culture. Afterward, we relaxed at the beach, soaking up the warm Caribbean sun.
Private beach at Puerto Plata, Dominion Republic
Another stop was Royal Caribbean’s private island, CocoCay, where Nicole and I spent the day snorkeling, swimming, and simply enjoying the sunshine.
Coco Cay, Bahamas
It was the perfect way to end a year of adventure — slowing down, appreciating the simple things, and realizing how important it is to just be sometimes.
Looking Ahead
This past year has taught me a lot — about patience, resilience, and being open to experiences even when they feel uncomfortable at first. I also begin to taking my health seriously — a journey that I’ll share more about in an upcoming post. Thanks for following along here at Dytryn. Here’s to even more adventures, growth, and unforgettable moments in the year ahead!
Back in the water!
So as you may or may not know I love scuba diving. I was originally certified in 1988. I was a member of the local county dive team for a number of years until it disbanded. As life happens, I stepped away from diving to focus on raising my family and work. Now that my kids are grown and getting ready to leave the nest, one has already flown, I'm going to get back to something that I have always loved. In doing this I've gotten my kids certified, and my daughter is going to do her checkout dives this weekend. I dove with my son when he got his certification and being “fair” I want to dive with my daughter as she finishes her certification.
The Great Smokey Mountain Jeep Invasion
Once again, Nicole and I made the trek to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee for the Great Smokey Mountain Jeep Invasion. This is our third year attending. The attendance this year was over 50,000 people and over 20,000 Jeeps. There was nearly 300 vendors and parties by local businesses and trail rides including Invade the Cove. We chose to stay at a nice little Air b-n-b cabin in the mountains this year. Last year I camped in the roof top tent, this year I wanted to sleep in comfort of air conditioning. The first day we went to the the show and had to wait forever to get inside. The weather was hot and humid. By the time we got to the door I was drenched in sweat.
Once inside the building we made our way down the isles. The LeConte Center was packed. The vendors had quite the displays and products. I saw some familiar faces from different YouTube channels, or from being at the Invasion from prior years.
I have been looking for repalcement seats for my Jeep, so I was paying particular attention to those booths. I found the PRP booth and tried most of their seats they had. After sitting in them for a period of time I found the set I wanted. They actually had them in stock. I made the purchase along with some 4 pt harnesses and we trucked them out the door to my JKU.
Once we got them shoe horned into the jeep, it isn’t easy when your jeep has drawers and a fridge mounted inside we headed back to the cabin. Once I got there it took me about 45mins per seat but I had them swapped out fairly quick.
The following day we headed to Cades Cove. We stopped at the Cades Cove Jeep Outpost. It is a nice little touristy store with shirts and hats and of course some Jeep parts. We then headed to Cades Cove in the Smokey Mountain National Park. There is a 11 mile loop road the proceeds through the valley. We turned off the loop road and followed a trail. The trail had many stream crossings and some steep hills and some washouts. There was actually a minivan that tried to make it down the trail, then had to retreat because the minivan didn’t have the required clearance. This trail eventually dumped us on to the famous “Tail of the Dragon” at Deals Gap. The dragon has 318 curves in 11 miles of road and is a motorcycle and sports car destination. The Jeep, not so much, although the scenery is beautiful.
The following day, Sunday, we packed up or belongings and headed for home. With a stop at Buc-ees of course.
4th of July Weekend Trip
So with the workload soon to be increasing at my real business my wife, Nicole and I decided to get away for a few days. Nicole wanted to go to Missouri Star Quilt Shops again in Hamilton, MO. I voted against taking the Jeep and the roof top since the weather was predicted to be in the mid to upper 90’s. As much as I love camping, I don’t want to spend my night sweating in canvas while trying to sleep.
So with the holiday weekend we scheduled what shops would be open and closed. With this trip it would be to states that I’ve never been to and I found it to be a great oppretunity to get some geocaches in states that I’ve yet to visit.
We departed on Thursday night. We were ultimately headed to Liberty, MO. We stopped for the night outside of St. Louis. Friday morning, after finding a geocache and getting the sourvnier for Illinois, we headed towards Liberty to visit Quilting is My Therapy. It is quaint little quilt shop in the downtown of Liberty. I love the simple brick buildings, wood floors and exposed ducting. While there, I mentioned to Nicole that, Pawhuska, OK, the home of Pioneer Woman is only 4 hours away. We decided to head that direction. I reserved us a hotel for Saturday night in Pawhuska.
Inside Quilting is My Therapy
As we were driving south we entered into Kanas. We over nighted at a hotel on Coffey, KS. Saturday morning we woke, ate the hotel continental breakfast and hit the road. We found a quick PNG, (Park and Grab) for you “muggles” to get the Kansas souvniour. As we drove on through southern Kansas into Northern Oklahoma the landscape was amazing. To see wide open grassland, and big blue sky was mesmerizing. We arrived in Pawhuska mid day. We went to Pioneer Woman's Mercantile. There they have many souvenir items such as shirts, and hats. There are also a lot of kitchen wares. On the second floor is where the Pioneer Woman’s Bakery is located. There is a sweet treat for most anyone. While at the ‘Merc we also elected to take the drive out to Pioneer Woman’s Lodge. This is where she films her show. It was interesting to see the set of her show and the additional kitchen where much of the cooking is done.
After we left the Lodge we drove back to town and checked into the Frontier Hotel. This is a beautifully restored building that has been converted to a hotel. The building is in a triangle shape in the heart of Pawhuska. Our room was clean and spacious. We decided to go to P-Town Pizza for dinner. Here we had some “not knots” and we had a Steakhouse and a Marghe-Ree-Ta pizza. The food was very good and we took the left overs back to the our room.
After a restful night at the Frontier Hotel, we were on our way north. We left Oklahoma and entered Kansas. Our plan was to go north in the Nebraska and get a geocache then proceed back into Missouri and get closer to Missouri Star, located in Hamilton, Missouri. We motored into Nebraska and found a geocache in Falls City then we headed to St. Joseph, MO. We relaxed and did some more geocaching. After finding a few and spending the night we headed to Hamilton, Missouri. Hamilton is a quiet little town brought back to life Missouri Start Quilt Company. There are numerous quilt shops, current count of 14, that span the entire downtown. This is also the place where the first JC Penny store was located. I found the history of this small town to be quite interesting.
From Hamilton, we headed north into Iowa and found a cache to obtain the Iowa souvenir. Then we got on Interstate 80 and headed back east to home. In all we were in 7 states, about 1900 miles in 5 days. It was a lot of driving but some of the wide open country is absolutely amazing to see first hand. The old architecture, the restored buildings, the variety of food made this a very memorial trip.
New HF Radio
From my past blog posts, you can probably tell I love Jeeps, camping and the outdoors. Well another one of my hobbies that I enjoy is playing with ham radios. I have a new Xiegu X6100 ordered that should be here in a couple of days.
I’ve always been interest in ham radio and communication in general. I remember being in shop class in high school and my teacher had a station set up in the room and would occasionally get on the radio while we were in class. Then as a teenage / young adult, interest kinda faded as cell phone became more popular.
Just forward. 20+ years and as the geopolitical atmosphere became increasingly more turbulent and as I went down the rabbit hole of becoming more self sufficient, ham radio creeped back into the radar. I think ham radio will be crucial when SHTF. So in 2021 I attended the Elkhart Ham Fest and took the technician license and passed
Once you pass the first test, then you can learn by doing. I purchased a cheap Baofeng UV5R. These are cheap little Chinese radios. With this I learned about programing and started to learn about antennas. I joined the local ham radio club and got involved with ARES. I’ve learned about 2m and 70cm which is where I spend most of my time. I’ve learned about using hotspots and getting on DMR talk groups. There are so many different aspects of amateur radio, there really is something for everyone.
As a tech level there is a limited amount of high frequency bands that are available for a tech level to operate on. I will soon be testing for my general license. What I want to do is activate “Parks on the Air”. I love camping and while sitting around the fire I think it would be a enjoyable time to make contacts around the world.
KD9TFY
Manistee National Forest with Michiana Jeep Club
Camryn and I head north to Baldwin, Michigan with the Michiana Jeep Club to explore Manistee National Forest
The past weekend Michiana Overlanders Facebook group I’m a part of, was invited by the Michiana Jeep Club for a weekend trip to the Manistee NF area. I have driven through the area before but have never taken the time to explore.
My daughter, Camryn and I, took our time getting to the campground on Friday. Along the way we drove through many small towns along the Lake Michigan coast. We saw the beautiful downtown of Holland, the swing bridge in Grand Haven pasted through Muskegon and found some trails in the Manistee NF. We were looking for potential campsites and just general exploring the forest. From there we heading on up route 37 to Coolwater Campground
Trails in Manistee NF
Two of us from Michiana Overlanders made the trip north. Bryan, his family and my daughter and I, shared a campsite at Coolwater Campground. The campground was nice and well maintained. There is a hiking trail that leads to the river and ponds for kayaking or fishing. On this trail there is also some nice overlooks of the river.
Saturday morning we left the campground and headed to Dublin General Store located in Dublin, Michigan. There they have a huge selection of jerky, along with a hardware / grocery store. Camryn and I decided against the alligator or the rabbit and just stick to the “Original”. I can see why the place is known for their jerky. It was delicious.
Storefront of Dublin General Store
Photo from https://www.dublinstore.com
After many of the Jeeps filled their tanks we hit the trails. We found our way to Hodenpyl Dam. We drive the trails south west along the Manistee River stopping for lunch at Government Landing. Government landing has a boat ramp along with a few campsites at the edge of the Manistee river.
After chatting with the members of the Jeep club we mounted up and continued down the trails. We were headed to a couple of small waterfalls. After a couple of missed turns we finally found the trail head for the short hike to the water falls. The falls were small but pretty. It is always nice to hear water falling. It has to be one of the best sounds nature has to offer.
After some time of driving the trails we ended up at a BP gas station in Mesick. A few of the Jeeps topped off with gas. Camryn and I elected to get some ice cream, since we had plenty of gas. We then headed north east of Mesick to the Pere Marquette State Forest. There we followed the two track trail though the woods catching occasional views of the Manistee river. There were a couple of logs that needed cleared from the trail. With the help from the other Jeeps we made short work of it and we were quickly proceeding down the trail. It was starting to get later in the day, and some of the Jeeps peeled off and headed back to camp. We were leading the group down the trail and made the decision to head back towards camp. Camryn was navigating, so I had her find us a route back to camp. We arrived back at camp about 7:00 after being on the trail for nearly 10 hours and going for nearly 144 miles
We made ourselves some supper consisting of “Fugi Pies” This is what we call using the pie irons and making “pizza pockets”. We layer in cheese, sauce and pepperoni on a couple of slices of buttered bread in a cast iron sandwich maker to make a wonderful supper.
Afterwards we walked down to the Michiana Jeep Club group camp site and talked about the days trails. It seemed to be a good day by all.
Sunday morning we slept in til mid morning. With the temperatures in the mid 40’s at night it made for great sleeping weather. We proceeded to pack up the roof top tent, have a little for breakfast and head for home.
We pulled out of the campsite about 10:30am. We stopped at an Orvis Flyfishing shop. I didn’t realize how popular fishing is around Baldwin. The Pere Marquette River is very good trout fishery. Camryn and I proceeded to head south avoiding interstates. We explored more trails. We winched a log out of the way. Found some dead end trails and had to turn around. We stopped at Walkup Lake Campground NF campground for lunch. It was a nice quiet place with a few campers still there. We were sure to mark the location Gaia GPS for a possible future site to camp.
Camryn and I had a good trip. We met some very nice families and saw more of God’s beautiful country. I know for certain that will be spending more time in the Baldwin / Caddallic area in the future. From camping, to off roading, from fishing, to hiking, there is a host of things to do in the area.
Memorial Day Weekend Trip
Something I’ve always wanted to do is to drive completely around Lake Michigan. I don’t know why just thought it would be neat to do. So I asked my wife, Nicole if she wanted to take an overloading trip around Lake Michigan. She agreed as long as we could go to a quilt shop in Wisconsin. We also decided to take our dog Baily. She is a Pit bull / Mountain Cur mix. She is just over a year old.
After checking what the hours of the quilt shop were, I decided to leave on Thursday night and visit the quilt shop on Friday. The quilt shop she wanted to go to is called Primitive Gatherings. My wife tells me they also hold some quilting retreats there.
So we headed out of the home base about 16:00 on Thursday evening. Bailey thinks she is my navigator. We arrived at Kettle Moraine State Forest - Pike Lake Unit for a single night stay. We arrived at dark, made some quick tacos with some precooked chicken then crawled into the tent. Friday morning we ate a quick breakfast of a cheese danish, healthy I know, then headed to Primitive Gatherings, a quilt shop located in Larsen, Wisconsin. It was a quaint little shop in a beautiful building.
From there we headed north and east through Green Bay, stopping for fuel and lunch then proceeded to Hiawatha NF. We were searching for a campsite for the night and stumbled upon Little Bay De Noc Campground. We set up camp at a beautiful site campsite on Little Bay De Doc of Lake Michigan. We made some dinner and watched an amazing sunset.
Saturday morning we woke up to a cold 37 degrees. It did warm up quickly as I made breakfast burritos. We had camp broke down about 9:30 and was on the road. We had a plan to head to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Munising, Michigan. It was about a 75 min drive to get there. We purchased a national park pass and proceeded to hike to Munising Falls. The falls were nice and it was nice to stretch our legs from the driving. We also checked out Sand Point. I walked into the water and I think my feet were numb in about 15 seconds. Lake Superior is very cold. Bailey wasn’t too keen on it either
We then headed to Miners Castle. We had a quick sandwich and some fruit then took the short hike to the Miners Castle Overlook. Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is a very pretty place. The water looks amazing and it is so blue. The rock formations along the lake were beautiful. We didn’t hike very much as many areas are closed to dogs on the trails. I have spoke with others that have been there and they have said the boat tours and kayak tours provide great views of the shore but since we had our K-9 Bailey we elected not to do the boat tours.
We were hoping to dispersed camp along Lake Superior for the night. As we were driving east along we were searching for a place to camp. We check a few spots in Hiawatha NF and many places were closed or didn’t allow camping. The places in the forest we did consider were so infested with mosquitoes, that we would have to stake the Jeep down to keep from being carried away. The mosquitos were huge and hungry. Bailey’s belly was bumps all over her where she was battling the little buzzards. Instead, Nicole found Straits State Park, in St. Ignace had a cancelation We were about 45 mins away and would head there for the night.
The park was full, as to be expected on a holiday weekend. Straits State Park is a great park to have spectacular views of the Mackinaw Bridge. We had “Fugi Pies” for dinner. Fugi pies are simply “pies” made in the sandwich makers or pie irons. For this evening we made our with bread, pizza sauce, pepperoni, sausage, and mozzarella cheese. After dinner I spent some time down on the beach gazing at the huge bridge. It really is a site to see.
We had a lazy day on Sunday waking up. We weren’t in any real hurry since we had no where to go. Those really are the best trips when God sets the schedule. I knew I wanted to get some fudge before leaving town. We packed up camp and crossed the “Big Mack” and pulled off on an exit in Mackinaw City. We browsed through one of the many shops, purchased fudge and started the drive south. I also wanted to drive through Wolverine. My grandparents spent many days camping there in the spring when they would hunt for morels. I spend a long weekend camping with them when I was kid and wanted to see if I could find where we camped and some of the paths we took when I hunted with them. I remembered some of the details my grandfather told be to find “Weber Lake Campground”. It was reminiscent to think back spending the weekend camping with my grand parents.
From the Weber Lake Campground we drove back roads and trails in the direction of Traverse City. I have never been through Traverse City and wanted to see it. Traverse City has as gorgeous down town. Those involved in the night life scene it looks to be pretty active with all the bars, pubs, and restaurants. We kept heading south. We stopped for lunch and knowing it was Memorial Day weekend and the way the bugs were we weren’t to keep on dispersed camping in the NF. We considered that if we did camp we would just throw up the tent and crawl in the tent to avoid the mosquitoes, midges, and black flies. That wouldn’t be very fun to just sit in the tent. We made the call to just drive it on home.
Overall it was a good trip. We logged 1250 miles, we saw a lot go God’s beautiful country, we had some very good meals and I checked another item off the bucket list.
Jeep Organization
How I ended up building my own organization for my overlanding Jeep
If you are like my family there never seems to be enough space for equipment and gear when preparing for a camping trip. For years we have used a small enclosed cargo trailer to haul our gear instead of cramming it into the main vehicle. We have pulled that little trailer all over the eastern United States. We always tent camped with it. We actually have a very large dome tent that sleeps 8+ people. We also took a large screen room. Taking the extra large tents wasn’t a big deal since we just loaded up the trailer. It worked well to give a secure place to put things instead of loading your gear back in the car or truck each time you wanted to leave. Then as the trailer progressed I started to use Milwaukee Packout to organize gear in the trailer. I found that a Coleman Dual Fuel stove will fit nearly perfect in a rolling packout with room to spare for cast iron skillets and other accessories. Add some padding to a middle sized box and it is a perfect fit for two Coleman gas laterns. The parts organizer work well for tableware and other spare parts.
Then I learned what overlanding is, I remember seeing the awesome setups that many have for their “kitchens” I’ve always loved to cook while at camp and this seemed like an ideal fit.
As I started to investigate some of these kitchen builds, I found the cost to be extremely high for what they are. I did learn early that I wanted a fridge. And to put the fridge in the Jeep really requires a slider in order to access it. So for my first prototype was using some PVC project panels from Lowes. I thought PVC would be good since it is basically weather proof. I used some aluminum channel to attached them and to make the PVC more rigid. I’m also a fan of Milwaukee PackOut system. So I used one of the plates and attached it to the PVC panel as well. I thought this would be good as I could change my storage as my needs changed. This worked very well for over a year. The larges issue was that items would fall into the fridge area and prevent the fridge from being able to slid back in. So while this worked well, I knew I could do much better.
So now my son as since moved out and gotten married. So I really didn’t need a 4th seat. So after looking at some of the other manufactures, I decided to delete the 60% of the rear seats. While building a platform for the removed seat, my wife has a great idea to in make the platform on a hinge so that loading or retrieving gear is much more accessible. This turned out to be a terrific idea.
So after many sheets of the PVC and pieces of aluminum, it didn’t turn out too bad. The PVC surprisingly easy to work with. I used a track saw for most of the cutting. I used stainless screws to assemble everything. The draw slides are some from Lowes. I do need to figure out some latches for the drawers. And I got it done in time for the maiden voyage on Memorial Day weekend.
About the Blog
I’m Mark. For as long as I can remember I’ve loved the outdoors. I can remember as a kid waking up and getting outside to play “GI Joe” or build forts in the woods. I grew up in northern Indiana. Growing up my brother and I were afforded many opportunities. We rode 4 wheelers and dirt bikes, we camped out most of the summer, we swam in the pool all day long. We enjoyed living.
I believe and love God. Without God I wouldn’t be here. Without God our world wouldn’t exist. Without God all of things I love doing wouldn’t be possible. Second, I love my wife and family and love spending time with them. God has blessed me with a wife whom I’m crazy about and kids that can drive me crazy.
As I’ve aged, I’ve found that I have lost much of the living part. It has always been in my heart but with being married, having and raising kids, starting, and operating a small business many of the things I have loved growing up have drifted away. Don’t misunderstand I wouldn’t change that season of my life, but now is the time for the next season to begin. I want to get back to adventures. I want to see places others choose not to go. I want to try things others may not try.
The past season in my life I have succeed in may aspects. Been married for over 22 years, raised two driven children, started and grown a successful contracting business. With those success have some at some cost. I’m overweight, out of shape, and could be in much better health. With this blog I want to focus on living with purpose. Trying new adventures, seeing new places, sampling different food. God has given us such an immense world to explore and so many of us get caught up in the daily grind.
This blog will be the beginning of my journey to reclaim what God has so graciously given to me, life. As a part of living I want to get back to many of the things I once did, scuba diving, mountain biking, hiking, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, among others. I want to travel to places I’ve never been, to do things I may have never done.
And if I DYTRYN, at least I know I was living.