Survival!

In the spirit of adventure, and in preparation for this trip, a couple of weekends ago Nadine and I attended a survival class in Ozark, MO.  While the class Ryan and I did the week before covered wilderness first aid, this class was focused on surviving. 

It was cold and rainy, probably the best weather for practicing these skills because it would be harder than ideal conditions.

We learned how to build a shelter, catch rodents and fish, start a fire and forage.  Class consisted of a morning classroom presentation in Springfield by an accomplished mountaineer (can't remember his name or company) and then an afternoon in the Busiek State Forest where we could practice our practicals with experienced supervision...

 Looking for dry wood... like a badass:

Starting a fire using a fero rod.  I broke the one we brought enough times that it was unusable.  One of the local guides let me use his and gave us some better techniques to use to great success.  

Then we used bandannas and things we found around the site to filter water:

And built a Paiute Deadfall.  Look out, rodents!

Took the dogs on a nice walk in the park:

 Naturally, losing Bruno for a while in the process:

And, finally, what is a trip to the Ozarks without a stop at Lambert's Cafe:

And my order of pork jowl, which turned out to be about two pounds of bacon on a plate: