Silverware vs. plastic utensils when you’re in an RV or camper

Hello! Thank you for coming to my blog today. As you probably already know this post has something to do with spoons, forks, and knives as they relate to camping or RVing. I’ve been camping this year; So far only in Florida because it’s winter and who wants to go north where it’s cold and annoying? Not me! For entertaining camping stories and my favorite photos from the road, check out my Camping Stories page.

OK, the silverware. Not too long ago I was living in an awesome brick house in Nashville. I spent 11 years in that house but then kind of went through a purge phase after I decided to live in a van. Long story short, I DON’T live in a van, I live in a fantastic travel trailer built by Gulf Stream. Living and traveling with a trailer, weight becomes a concern– from the water in the tanks to the food in the fridge, everything weighs something so it’s important to keep things lighter when possible. Forks and spoons aren’t heavy on their own, but together, they’re heavier than you might think. I’ve wanted to swap out my metal silverware for plastic and the other day, I finally found the perfect utensils!

Today, I’m going to weigh both types of silverware so we can see, with accuracy, how much difference there is in the overall weight. First up are the metal utensils.

Total weight of 3 spoons, 2 forks, and 2 knives is 9.8 ounces.

Now on to the plastic ones. Some of these are from Ikea and others, who knows? I picked them all up at a thrift store so they were very inexpensive. I’d highly recommend checking second-hand stores before buying new, even if you’re getting metal utensils.

Total weight of 3 spoons, 2 forks, and 2 knives is 2.5 ounces.

That’s a difference of 7.3 ounces. I know this isn’t much but it all adds up, you know. I also understand I might be seriously overanalyzing things, but it’s rainy and I needed a project.

Thanks for dropping in…

-Out of the Wilderness

I still haven’t seen an alligator, an update

A few days ago I wrote about not having seen an alligator since I picked up my things and came down to Florida. Hi, I’m Ben.

It’s not like I have a strange obsession with dangerous creatures. I don’t want to cuddle with alligators. I don’t want to put a leash on on a lion and walk it around the park. But it would just be nice to see a gator, since, ya know, they’re all over Florida and stuff. But noOOooOOooOOoo I just can’t seem to come across one and you’d think I would since I’ve been here and here and here.

Bu then….

All of the sudden and out of the blue and blindsiding me and speak of the devil and look what the cat drug in… there it was.

In a little neighborhood was this behemoth of a creature. Ok, it was only about 6 feet but THIS GIGANTIC DINOSAUR OF AN ALLIGATOR CHASED ME AND I TRIPPED OVER A FALLEN TREE — ok, I’m getting carried away. It didn’t chase me and there was no fallen tree. But there WAS an alligator. Here it is again.

And to what do my wandering eyes see but ANOTHER wild creature sitting nearby. Check out this pictorial breakdown below.

Yep, a fox sitting by an alligator. Just chilling out a few dozen feet from A CREATURE FROM A BYGONE ERA THAT WOULD EAT ME IF IT COULD—- dang, there I go again. Can you imagine seeing a cute little fox and a scaly alligator in this close proximity? I could hardly believe it.

They really were doing this. I’m not sure why. I can’t quite figure out what their relationship status is but I’d say at best it’s rocky. I mean, they live such different lifestyles and one is just so low to the ground. Can they even hold hands?

I don’t know how it would ever work.

It was a crazy day. But now I can say that along with the few moccasins I’ve seen, also deadly mind you, a snapping turtle, slider turtles, box turtles, eagles, hawks, ospreys, dolphins, and deer, I can confidently say I’ve seen an alligator and I am 100% sure I want to see it again because I guess I kinda do have a strange obsession with creatures, even if they’re dangerous.

-Out of the Wilderness

Samsung “Epic” Galaxy Ads – The Actor, The Music, and Professional Wrestling!

Samsung covers all hours of the day with a series of ads promoting their Galaxy phones. Whether you’re trying to watch something during the bright daylight or filming a video at night, it’s all going to be OK! Take a look at the three ads below then scroll down for more info…

“Make Mornings Epic”

“Make Daylight Epic”

“Make Nights Epic”

The Music. The soundtrack for all the ads is “Land of 1000 Dances” by Wilson Pickett. His version was released in 1966 while the original by Chris Kenner came out in 1963. Here is Mr. Pickett’s performance…

The Actor. Starring in all three ads is Cameron Wong. He’s an aspiring actor in California and has a few projects in the works, so be on the lookout and if you’re into following people on Instagram, find Cameron here: @CamWong1 I’m sure he’d appreciate a follow!

The former WWF version. I have NO IDEA why they did this, might be a post for another day but here are the stars of the WWF (wrestling the 80s and 90s) doing their version of the song. So many legendary wrestlers in this video, including my favorite Iron Sheik.

I’ll leave you with the original version of “Land of 1000 Dances,” by Chris Kenner, with a nice gospel intro. Thanks for dropping in…

-Out of the Wilderness

Is love blind?

I don’t really know the answer to that question but this post is going to be short because I am OBSESSED with Love Is Blind on Netflix. I can’t stop watching the episodes. I don’t binge watch many shows just for the fact that that takes hours, but yesterday evening my nieces and I watched 5 episodes of season 2 and all I can say is… hear a time to be alive.

The best. show. ever.

-Out of the Wilderness

icky and slimy politicians

I’m going to try hard to not narrow this down to just Republicans or just Democrats because everyone knows both parties have politicians who only care about popularity, power, fortune, and fame. Some are more obvious than others. Anyone who watched the State of the Union MUST be wondering what in the crap was going on with Nancy Pelosi. If she isn’t the worst of us, I don’t know who is.

Happy Democratic Party GIF by The Democrats - Find & Share on GIPHY

But to keep this post right down the middle, I think both major parties would agree that it’s sickening to see politicians get rich while they’re so out of touch with what the rest of us deal with every day.

I still have a sliver of faith that some men and women get into politics for noble reasons, it’s just the icky ones we see on TV every day. So maybe there’s hope yet. At least for a couple more years.

Whether you liked him as President or not, Donald Trump was right that it’s time, PAST time, to drain the swamp. Slimy people are still in power and if we’re not careful, the ones we dislike the most are going to run for President sooner rather than later.

-Out of the Wilderness