An RC vacation, sort of.

This year has carried with it some trials, significant enough that most of my vacation time was used up in dealing with it, unfortunately.  I'm off work, this week, taking my first real week of vacation time, staying up at my in law's, who live in the foothills of North Cascade Mountains.
Of course, I brought my SCX10 Deadbolt, because I've wanted to go trailing & crawling in the woods behind their house.  I even have a small crawling course, here, which I began working on, last spring, in preparation for this occasion.

The course is fun, as well as challenging, but I'm learning more about myself, regarding what I like and dislike about trailing & crawling. Specifically, I don't enjoy driving around the same area, over and over, because I tire of it, quickly.  I believe that what brings me the greater enjoyment is a constantly changing landscape, and diverse terrain, or I quickly lose interest. Hence, I must get out on the mountain trails, which go for several miles, climbing several thousand feet in elevation.

With that being said, I do have plans to do, while I'm up here, what might be, the last big hike and RC trailing expedition of 2014, as we're getting close to winter, when the snow level will descend, closing access to most mountain trails.

The trail I'm planning to hike is called Yellow Aster Butte, which is in the Mt. Baker National Forest. I hiked part of the trail, back in 2006, but forked off, to a point called Gold Run Pass, which itself offered an incredible view. However, I've always desired to return, and continue on, to Yellow Aster Butte, which, from pictures I've seen, has a great scale truck terrain, being that I'm now into that hobby.

The plan is to replace my stock tire foams, with my new Crawler Innovations Li'l Nova foams, some time, later today, along with getting all my batteries charged.  Then, tomorrow morning, after coffee and a quick breakfast, I'll head out to the trailhead, God willing. I was hoping to have my Jeep Rubicon body painted and all built, for this trip, but I'll be content to have a scale truck, at all.

Last, but not least, I still need to get a little more food for my daypack, and relearn the directions to reach the trailhead!

Poem - Fails on the Trails

Fails on the Trails  

                            ~inspired by @RC_Dan (on Instagram)

It's not only me, with fails on the trails,
My scalin' brethren will see,
For even large trains will skip off their rails,
Though we'll not cheer for such tragedy,
Every stream has its mud,
Every wheel has its fall,
But this moral remains to be,
That the persevering scaler will always be the one,
Who trails on indomitably.
                                  ~The RC Dabbler

Credit for the pic and poem title (and first line) go to RC Dan, who inspired me with his rhyming remarks, on a recent IG post of mine.  Thanks, much! I haven't spouted free verse in a lonnng time.  Dig it, Daddio!

Who Is The RC Dabbler And What Is He Doing?

I'm the kind of person who likes to write about the things he enjoys and how he feels about them. That is who I am. Did I pick my name well? Judging by my involvement in the hobby, so far, I would say no, since a dabbler, by definition, is someone who engages in an activity without serious intentions and who pretends to have knowledge. Neither of those attributes fit me, as I quickly took serious interest in the RC hobby, and will only share knowledge or skills that I have legitimately gained.

What is the RC Dabbler doing? I am currently in a dream state, having most of my creative energy exhausted by a hyperactive 2 year old. Now, while that may seem funny, it's actually a bit grievous, because what I sincerely desire, is to build a scale crawler, go have some spectacular scale RC adventures, then come back and share them with the RC community.

Unfortunately, I have other important matters to attend to, first, so that I may better enjoy the time when I'm finally able to start building. For those who follow me on Instagram, or Facebook, who are mostly interested in scale/crawler RC pics...stick around, for I will not let you down, unless I found myself in circumstances out of my control. However, God-willing, I will have a scale truck built before summer's end, and will be posting quality pics of my scale adventures. May this passion of mine prevail!