We have electric power to our campground FordMan, but not water. To hook up to the Parish water system we would have to put in an expensive waste treatment plant. So we capture rain water for general washing and showers. I use the elevated barrel seen in the picture for running potable water into my hooch. When it runs low I go to a nearby farm and fill a plastic drum in the bed of my truck with drinkable water, then pump it into my tower.

The hooch is only 8' by 8'. It has a regular twin bed along the left hand wall and an eight foot counter along the right hand wall, with a three foot aisle between the two. There's an apartment fridge under the counter, a small bar sink in the center of the counter, a microwave and coffee maker on the far left end of the counter, and a two burner electric hotplate on the far right. There's a little AC unit mounted on the rear wall and an electric oil heater between the foot of the bed and the front wall. The 17" flat screen TV is mounted over the door and is easily viewed from the bed or a folding lawn chair placed in the aisle. Yes, it is sweet. And it's amazing how little space one needs to get along quite comfortably.

That rusty tin box you see to the right of the hooch was a shower. I've since upgraded it to a nicer plywood box with a gravity flow system. It has a 55 gallon water barrel on top that's used to fill a five gallon auxillary tank. The water in the small tank is heated by a regular 110 volt water heater coil mounted inside, with the power cord hanging outside. You just plug it in when you're ready for a shower, and unplug it when the thermometer on the five gallon tank hits around 105 degrees. Life is good when you have a hot shower after cleaning a deer.

We've had this lease for 15 years now. It's 900 acres of pine tree plantation. There are ten guys in the club. Each has his own place, either a small structure like mine or a camping trailer.