Photos

March 2021, First Steps!

During this first set of photos, no decisions had been firmly made. We knew we *wanted* a tipi, but didn't really know what size, which manufacturer, where poles would come from, etc. So instead we started prepping an area to put one in hopes that it would turn out. I had an old fire pit area that I was never really that happy with, but it had a lot of the materials we needed to get started.

On March 8, the US Congress passed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. This firmly planted the Taxpayer's Tipi into existence.

Also during this time, I tried out some ideas I had re: poles. Since it would cost ~$1200 for poles and it took away from the awesomeness of a good canvas, I thought I'd try to save the money. Long story short, I wore my body down trying to find some in the woods behind my house and decided it would be too difficult to accomplish. Then we did it anyway.

The original fire pit. The blocks are 10 inches thick and it was filled with 3/4 red stone.

Alternate view of the old fire pit.

Yet another alternate view so that you definitely know how it looked.

Whether or not I put up a tipi at this point, I wanted to make a bigger fire pit space so that we weren't so crowded on a 12x12 platform. More than one person tripped on it or had the back of their chair fall off, so JJ and I began spreading it out.

Until it looked like this.

This is where I started to "see" it.

Really starting to visualize it with a fire pit.

I spent a little time playing around with some temporary ideas. The tipi was taking too long. I mean, we hadn't ordered anything yet but it was still taking too long.

We needed more rocks.

Nice level surface to walk around on.

Here's where Bobby started getting involved. I came up with the idea to use tree stakes that we combined together. Bobby helped me streamline that process.

This was the result of Bobby's influence in making a routing table with a hand router I owned. It worked very well for this purpose.

Eventually a third pole would be made.

The OG tripod.

First couple of trees I felled to make poles out of.

Nice stream in the woods behind my house. The woods belong to a hunting group, one day I might tell them.

That's Bobby "inside" the tipi. Or at least a facsimile of the first tipi. This first mock up still had my tree poles in there, which are now trash. Some of these poles are trash, others need to be peeled. More on that later.

This is the background image of my phone. I got a good picture of my feet, the fire, and the tipi.

Just another cool picture of me hanging out "inside" the tipi.

The hunt for good poles began, I found these in the same general area and waited for someone to come help me drag them to my house.

The work to peel the poles began! I could have used a draw knife, but I'm lazy so I used an angle grinder with wood cutting attachments. Thanks for the tip Adam!

There was a mishap with an angle grinder. I don't want to talk about it.

All of this was a lot of work, I was tired.

More peeling!

April 2021. The search has (mostly) ended. We have poles.

We really started to come together and make things happen at this point. The first set of poles peeled, we could construct "the bones" of the tipi. There are 15 poles in the making of a 20 foot tipi, and we had all of them. An additional two smaller poles are necessary to hold the smoke flaps open at the top, but were unnecessary at this point. Some of the poles were more bent than I liked, too skinny, etc. But I had the tipi in sight now, and that was an amazing view to me.

After foraging for more poles, Bobby got some really good shots of the peeling process (credits given). Head on over to our videos to see it happen in slow-mo.

We also came up with a new thing: The Tarpi! I had several tarps in the shed and decided that $35 wasn't too much to spend on a 16x36 tarp to cover the back. It was kind of awesome staying in the tarpi, Piper joined me on a couple of nights, JJ and Bobby on another, and my grandson seemed to really enjoy it too.

The first 15! A 20 foot tipi is constructed with 15 poles, some of these will be replaced with better ones. But this is a great representation. You may notice from this angle the Sioux style front, which slopes more downward toward the front. This allows for straighter walls in the back.

This is the view from my back deck, it will allow some privacy for anyone who wants to camp out in my backyard (which I will encourage!).

Had to let the poles dry for at least 3-4 weeks. Why not stack 'em?

Hehe... poles.

As of April 7, 2021 this is what I have. Again, you can really see the Sioux style slant. This is the image I am going with for this website for now, but just wait.

This is quite possibly my favorite picture ever taken of me.

Photo Credit: Robert Fischer

I really wish Fischer could have taken the picture with him in it because this is a good one.

Photo Credit: Robert Fischer

I didn't really know he was taking pictures. They turned out phenomenal though so who cares?

Photo Credit: Robert Fischer

This is what carrying tipi poles on your shoulder does. Worth it!

The tarpi cometh!

Marshmallows are delicious, and kinda messy.

Adding more tarps makes for more coverage from wind and retention of heat.

Why not have a few friends over?

I'm so proud of my daughter.

Piper actually stayed 2 nights in the tarpi.

May 2021, The journey continues! With a pit stop or two.

The Taxpayer's Tipi doesn't yet exist. But we still wanted to experience the tipi life, so we made the tarpi (Thanks Adam Royce, great name). Bobby, JJ and myself also visited another tipi in Karthaus, PA. Tucked Away Tipi was an awesome insight into all the things we didn't yet know. They had a few trails on their property that made for a good time sight seeing and as usual, we made some fantastic food. Bobby's chili was the definite highlight.

Not knowing when the tipi would arrive, exactly, progress kind of slowed while I let the poles dry out before sanding. Then it started to get hot and I realized I better hurry up before I die sanding poles in 100 degrees or something. In the mean time, we had some fun in the tarpi with family and friends. See if you can spot an anomalous photo in the bunch. Hint: It's the first one.

Okay, okay, okay... it's not what it looks like. It's just a couple of dudes getting things ready.

The tarpi could honestly serve as the real thing, but we got better stuff coming.

Look, I'm not a photographer okay?

Honestly, this is livable.

I don't think you'd even know it was a tarpi if I didn't tell you.

The tarpi was no joke, 50 degrees outside and 76 inside. Honestly, it was too hot.

Piper chillin' with her phone.

The ma-in-law came for a visit. What else were we going to do?

The tarpi was cozy. It was fun, but alas it was time to get moving on the real deal.

Tucked Away Tipi in Karthaus, PA May 14-17