Grizzly Adams Wannabes

I believe the 1974 movie "The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams" (and subsequent TV series) had a profound effect on my life and that of my family.  When I was in the second grade my mom and step-dad sold just about everything we had, which wasn't much, and purchased a red and white 4x4 Ford pickup truck with a matching camper shell over the bed.

The plan was to move to Colorado and live the mountain life.  Maybe not to the extent that was portrayed in the movie or TV show, but my step-dad pretty much looked like Grizzly Adams, so you never know.

Side Note: He had been playing semi-professional football for the San Antonio Toros and even played 1 game with the San Antonio Wings (WFL).  At some point in his football career he tried out for the Oakland Raiders and Washington Redskins.  His playing time with those organizations is not well documented.  Out of college he had been drafted by the Houston Astros (MLB) and the Oakland Raiders (NFL). He played minor league baseball in the Astros' farm league and later decided to pursue the professional football path.  Most of that was behind him when he came into our lives. He passed away March 15, 2023.

We were living in in San Antonio, TX, at the time and jobs were in short supply.  For some reason they thought there might be jobs in Denver, CO, so much like the Beverley Hillbillies, we loaded up the truck...

My parents were smart.  They put a piece of plywood in the back of the truck and covered it with quilts and installed a little intercom system between the truck cab and the camper shell.  My brother and I rode in the back of the truck the whole way.  I'll never forget it.  We didn't have any electronics to keep us occupied like kids have today so I'm sure we would have driven them crazy.  We slept on the ground at campsites along the way.  I remember waking up one morning and there were a bunch of hippies sitting at the picnic table in our camp.  It was an adventure.

Our journey to find a job and live the Grizzly Adam's life took us from San Antonio, TX, to Denver, CO, to Lincoln, NE, to Des Moines, IA, to Minneapolis, MN, and finally to Orr, MN:

I don't know for sure, but it took a week or two.  It was quite the journey and the place we found to live offered even more adventure.

My parents found a fishing resort on Pelican Lake that had real log cabins and a couple of mobile homes on it and we lived in one of the mobile homes.  I'm not sure why Mr. & Mrs. Grizzly Adams didn't choose a log cabin.  They were cool.

From what I can tell by looking online, they don't exist any longer and have been replaced by Oveson's Pelican Lake Resort & Inn.

There was a saw mill nearby that appeared to be abandoned and we helped ourselves to wood regularly and made tree forts.  Here's a picture of my brother and me in one that some other boys had started and that we all added to regularly until it reached 7 levels:

It was awesome!

This picture was taken on my brother's birthday because he is wearing what was arguably the coolest backpack thing ever, the Ready Ranger Mobile Field Backpack.  I remember him getting it for his birthday.  He wasn't even in school yet and I was in the 2nd grade.  Orr, MN, had a population of about 300 people.  We were new to the area and didn't know many people so his party was small.  Just the two of us, but Momma made it great.  I love everything about this picture:  my brother, our hair, his backpack, my bell bottom jeans, his hands on his hips, my arms crossed, the trees, the boards we hacked, and the greatest sense of adventure ever!  I live for adventure...

In these pictures, I am wearing the cowboy hat and my brother is in the red shirt.  The other boys were 2 of 3 whose mother owned the fishing resort we were living at.  The gentleman that owned the saw mill was so kind. He told our mother that we had been taking some of his "best wood" and came with a big load of what I thought was even better wood!  Real plywood and 2x4s!  I don't know his name, but he made a huge impact in our lives with his understanding and generosity. We built this new tree house with that wood and nailed small saplings to make it look like a log cabin.

This picnic table was between that tree house and the mobile home trailer we lived in.  There must have been some other families that came to the resort because I don't recognize some of these kids.  We were obviously "cool" as indicated by all the "thumbs ups!"  I'm the one making the face between the trees.

This was the waterfront, not far from our trailer.  I'm standing and my brother is looking back over his shoulder.  You had to watch out for the leeches!

Orr, MN, is a pretty remote area and we had to take our garbage to the dump.  There was a sign at the entrance to the dump that read:

ORR

VILLAGE DUMP

NO FIRE ARMS

BEAR PROTECTED

NO CAR BODYS

DUMP IN DESIGNATED AREAS  

I wish this picture was more clear.  Too many of my mom's photos from this time turned out this way.

Boy, they weren't kidding about the bears!  We saw them every time we went.  It was cool, even if the bears did chase my Momma around the truck when she was 9 months pregnant.  She outran two bears chasing her around that red and white truck!  Before there was Forrest Gump, there was our Momma... my brother and I were yelling, "Run Momma Run!"  My precious Momma, would always warns me about the dangers of bears when I'm out riding my bike here in the Carolinas.

Now that I have plans to go to Alaska this summer for a mission trip, I'm sure she's beside herself with this image racing through her mind:

I'm really excited about going on mission, especially in Alaska.  It holds as much allure as Africa to me, and that's a lot.  I grew up watching Johnny Weissmuller play Tarzan on TV and as a result Africa has always been on my list of places to go.  I've read all of Wilbur Smith's fictional novels set in Africa and highly recommend most of them as he does a great job of telling the history of Africa and painting word pictures of the dark continent.

Well before ever dreaming of going on a mission trip to Alaska I began watching a growing number of TV programs: Alaska: The Last Frontier, Buying Alaska, Alaskan Bush People, Life Below Zero, Mountain Men, Yukon Men, and Gold Rush.  (I've yet to catch Ultimate Survival Alaska.)

These shows about life in Alaska and its natural beauty along with books like Phil Robertson's "Happy, Happy, Happy: My Life and Legacy as Duck Commander" and others from the Duck Commander clan as well as their TV show Duck Dynasty have stoked a fire inside of me to enjoy God's creation and share the love of Jesus with others more.

I really liked the Grizzly Adams show in the '70's and and I'm excited they are planning something new.  But, more than anything, I'm excited to go on mission, an adventure with God, and I'm super excited that my son will be joining me for the adventure.

P.S. Manly beards are back in fashion if you haven't noticed.

Note: This post was updated in March 2023 with the passing of my step-dad on March 15th.

In July 2023 I plan to make my 6th mission trip to Alaska in 9 years.