Some of our favorite friends (human and canine) gathered here on a fall weekend a few years ago to learn how to master some basic outdoor skills.Among other things, instructors taught campers how to :Clean a trout Shoot skeet Hurl a hatchet Split wood Master a crossbow Learn differences in bourbon Cook over open flame We want to host another one of these next fall (and are gauging interest for it first). We aim to offer more great social distancing in the great outdoors. (But we do have a very long liability waiver to sign, though – these activities are not for the meek).Photos by Daniel Davis Sponsored by @basilhaydens @llbean @defybags
Who has ever tried to cook dinner on an open fire? Weve been hosting some chefs, foodies and photographer friends the past few days who have been trying it out. (And theyre a helluva lot better at it than we are.)@mindysegal made a huge crock of her famous hot chocolate to share with guests (and also to test out our new FAV little project together) *deets coming soon.@nathanmichael @julia_and_child @thefoodiest cooking up a storm at the campfire and in the #wandawegahillhouse (All shots here were snagged from their behind-the-scenes, texts theyve been sharing and Insta stories )If you are a foodie- these talented folks are definitely worth a follow
The ten Wisco fall weekend road trips everybody should take in their lifetime. (And if you live in the chicago area- youre in luck).This issue makes us want to go soak up all the color drives, apple picking, antique barn salesIn the next two weeks (while we still have all this autumn loveliness).Seeing our old girl on the cover here – is making us think that maybe its a sign that we need to fill up the thermoses with hot cider and take our old mascot Travelall on a road trip.Cause Its been too long.The days are getting shorter.The leaves seem to be falling faster this year. October Issue cover photo by @bobcoscarelli feature story photos guests and friends of camp.
MEET THE NEWEST MEMBER OF OUR FAMILY (We still need a name for our sign painter to letter her- ideas welcome)Last month my little brother texts me at the crack of dawn:SAM: You awake? I got you guys something.ME (thinking- oh shit. the last time, it was that bucket truck. And then the rusty ambulance. And then a firetruck.)SAM: Dont worry, I got it for free as a partial trade for a tree cutting job. Its a 46 Ford 2N. Shes not pretty, but runs great – Ill get er fixed up. And you need a machine up there, youve got too much work to not have a workhorse.(2nd picture top is what he texted me as the before.)I was legit scared- trying to picture where to hide it, and whos gonna keep a 75 year old tractor running. Fast forward 6 weeks. Sam managed to get her an overhaul, stripped the whole thing down for a paint job. Then loaded her up with our buddy Jack and hauled her 500 miles round trip to deliver her. (On his birthday).Goes to show that we shouldnt be so quick to judge anything thats showing its age. Underneath an old patina , there can be a workhorse that wont quit. (They may just need a spitshine & someone to believe in them).We put Wanda (new name TBD?) through her paces this past weekend hauling trees, wagons & kids. She will make her debut at camp this Halloween, pulling the camp wagon we that we just outfitted for the kids.Thanks, for the present, Sam.(Its funny how you always seem to find a way of doing things for other people when this day comes around).
Who wants one? The newest addition from the (very) unofficial Camp Wandawega Infirmary. DISCLAIMER: THIS ISNT GONNA SAVE YOUR LIFE…..But it could make it slightly more tolerable, should you suffer rope burns on the tire swing, need to bandage a bluegill bitten nipple or any number of other minor camp-inflicted ailments. Introducing : The Wandawega First Aid Kit.Its a 41-piece-emergency-set in a backpack-sized metal travel case.Its honestly unremarkable, other than its the only set whos helvetica wrapped bandage packaging made us – and you wont find this anywhere in the world other than our campstore. We held out for years buying every vintage kit that we could get our paws on (7th shot)…. until we found one that has the rounded metal corners like the original 1950s Red Cross Kits. Be still our little OCD design loving hearts Shout out below if you want us to mail you one – (and tag a friend, well ship them one, too) . Picking four people at random cause the only thing that we love more than making these little historic throwbacks is giving them away to fellow design nerds.Picking a few folks tomorrow night to give them new homes – well wrap up in our little swag bag care packages to ship out to good homes.Cause nothing says camp more than coming home with battlescar stories dressed up in bandaids.Love,CampWandawega.com/campstore
Omg!! WHAT DO WE DO – he looks like a young one. And scared and trapped and has a bleeding leg-we have been trying to coax him out with marshmallows but he just freaks out and shakes and is barking at us. The local@animal rescue we called wont take him (they said they dont do raccoons) Anybody know who to call?He cant be more than a few months old and it looks like a coyote may have gotten him by the looks of his leg.Hes hiding in our boat shed and just shaking UPDATE: thank you everyone for all of your helpful advice! We came back to check on him with a have a heart trap and he (she?) was gone… assuming back to the woods to find mom. Hopefully fine
Once upon a time, we hosted a little fall dinner party in our backwoods. We did crafts, played games drank hot spiked cider (and then we ate all the decorations & the tablescape).If youre hosting a fall get together & in search of weird art that you can eat, here are some of our favs from this TB:.(Zoom in )These mushrooms are actually marshmallows with apples hats. These pine cones are really a block of creme cheese crammed with almonds. These acorns are Hershey kisses with vanilla wafer hats and butterscotch chip tips. These stems on the caramel apples are just tree branches shoved into the cores Feeling the social distancing blues these days – miss styling dinner parties for friends here. (There will never be enough time for dressing up with friends and dressing up tables and dressing up the camp taxidermy in tiny hats to take a seat at the table). *See if you can spot the five different stuffed creatures hidden in these scenes.Wishing that this Wisconsin peak fall season could stretch out farther. Miss these friends & fall models : @alliesnail @naimanaito @minimalist.ish , Olen Photos: Tillie Barbosa
The rustic camping cluster is our favorite place to be in the fall. Its tucked away in the hilltop overlooking the lake where you get the best view of the changing colors . … we are coming to the end of the first season of breaking in our new tipi. With its bigger size, rebuilt deck, zip down screens, its the nicest wind-and critter-tight, rain-free, version weve ever had here. And we finally got the custom mural graphics painted on it that weve wanted to do forever. … given that this is the 6th one weve tried in a dozen years- its about time that we got it right.Fully furnished with rugs, chairs, trunks, side tables, lanterns, two twin proper bed + mattresses, extra blankets and portable power pack, makes this thing down right luxe compared to our old school earlier versions.But that still may be a stretch- Its still camping. You still have to head to the woodshed to make your own coffee in the morning over the open campfire (but well get you started with the gear)#camperswelcome Photos: @katebe_ @theobergoasis @rbamericana
Sadly, last night a group was forced to cancel their camp stay this coming weekend due to COVID. (Sending them good vibes )…Which also means that we have last minute rare openings for both levels of our bunkhouse at peak fall season for THIS weekend. Since this is happening last minute, were gonna do a first-come-first-serve for 30% off. These are open to anyone as few as one person or up to 12.- (youll just also get extra empty rooms to bounce around in, since we are only able to rent via multiple rooms in blocks here). This is for a 2 day min for either the top/mid bunkhouse or rustic camping cluster. Its DIY booking by going to wandawega.com/visit.social distancing is our first priority, so even though we are on 24 private and remote acres here, we have shut off some of our cabins entirely for the season, so we can host fewer, smaller, separate groups for “self-guided” camp stays. To get the discount hit contact host button on the Airbnb listing and in the message ask for the 30% off reduced rate, well then custom set the price for whoever the first takers are. Love, Camp W .Photos :@bobcoscarelli @aimeemazzenga @nelsoncash
A few years ago, we gathered some renowned outdoors experts to help us host a weekend of skeet shooting, trout cleaning, crossbow hunting, tree felling & more. It was an epic series of workshops with our favorite outdoor friends, style gurus, chefs and sponsors. And now were thinking of doing round II… and opening it up to even more folks. #staytuned !Thank you to our sponsors @llbean @basilhaydens @defybags For this event, we of course hosted women, men, gay, straight, bi- everybody was welcome. (The Invite just had sportsmans in its name as a historical tribute to the old school sportsmans clubs of Wandawegas heyday of the 1920s.) Every man should master was meant to reference humankind, not to be taken literally as only man or offend anybody who doesnt like being told they have to master a skill, (or to throw shade if youre a person who cant bow hunt or clean a trout). For our future event like this, well write a new invitation line that is more overtly inclusive- cause we love & welcome everyone equally here.Peace, Love & CampPhotos : Daniel Davis
