Why a campfire reboot? For one, it solved a problem. Everybody was staring at their phones and nobody was coming out to the campfire talks at Campfire Park. Cowboy gets it: Campfire Park is remote, You have to drive through a stream, there's a puzzling fork in the road, the list goes on. But that doesn't mean the campfire tradition doesn't carry on. That's when Cowboy had the bright idea to drop a campfire kit of logs and kindling to peoples driveways at dusk, just like they do with the newspaper in the morning. After thinking it over more around the campfire, Cowboy had the idea of delivering the campfire talks directly by phone. And thus was born the "campfire reboot."
The great thing about the reboot, it's just not Cowboy. He has a whole team of hosts, or sometimes its just him, or other times a stranger stops by.
The Centennial Campfire Trilogy: (1) The Legend of Campfire Charlie, (2) Last Stand at Boulder Ridge, and (3) Final Campfire.
More specifically, I recommend the Legend of Campfire Charlie. Why? For one, it’s what we call an immersive read. It allows you to escape deep into space and time. And not just any space — but the sanctuary of one of the nation’s over 400 national parks. Even better yet: It allows you to walk in the shoes (or shall we say boots) of a park service ranger. And maybe best of all: It’s part of a trilogy, so the end isn’t so much the end as it is a welcome mat to the continuing adventures of Ranger Rusty. Most of all I recommend the book because I wrote it myself, or rather “co-wrote.”
It’s a new dawn with Candidate Burt Silver, but only because he stayed up all night to see it
But sometimes people can love nature too much. Too many people in one spot can start to leave impacts. Such was the case at Scenic Lake when an unexpected visitor arrived: A Muscovy Duck. Just as quickly the visitors cleared out. (Let’s just say it isn’t the most majestic of creatures). Departure of the duck eventually led to a return of the visitors and the tell-tale impacts of over use they left behind. The solution? The Lake was aptly renamed Scenic Muscovy Lake. It was that inspired naming convention that led to just the right balance of preservation and visitation.
Try not to overthink a song. Go with what pops in your head, run with it, and don’t stop until you cross the finish line.
In Cowboy’s opinion, it’s also misunderstood. Sure, you don’t want to spit into the wind so it won’t blow back in your face, and you hear that said all the time. But what about the wind? Doesn’t it deserve to be expectorant free? In this campfire short (sometimes called a chat), the Cowboy at the Campfire puts a good word in for the wind and why it deserves the very best.
Well howdy folks, and I’m completely freaked out. And you know why. The fringe middle. The silent majority. Why are they so quiet?
Well, really there’s no telling. Sometimes you just stare at the crackle and think to yourself, or about nothing at all. Other times you might whittle some wood, or as was the case on this evening, tune into an AM radio show. Why AM and not FM? Let’s just say for Cowboy the extra crackle (i.e. static) of the AM side of the dial helps him feel a little more at home. In the case of AM Radio Host Buck Buckner, home is his bunker located in an undisclosed location in Campfire Park. In this 15-minute campfire, Cowboy provides commentary during the commercial breaks of Buck Buckner’s show.
I don’t know much, but I’m inclined to spill whatever I do out at the campfire
At Campfire Park, the answer is yes. But that doesn’t mean you can show up at every campfire uninvited and expect good results. In this episode of Firelight Radio, singer/songwriter Bobby Angel shows up unexpectedly at a campfire. Will the welcome him around the fiery orb with open arms? Or will campfire sentinels keep him at bay. Knowing Bobby Angel, he’ll find a way to not just sneak in, but also thoroughly entertain his gracious hosts. Or does another fate await the folk star. Listen to this podcast discover the stunning result
Remember the Rule of the Ninja: Never fear, never doubt, and never over think.
Welcome to Book 3 and what critics are raving “the stunning conclusion” to the Centennial Campfire Trilogy. At the end of the first two books of the trilogy — The Legend of Campfire Charlie and Last Stand at Boulder Ridge — our fearless protagonist, Ranger Rusty, finds himself simultaneously trying to man the Sweetwater Visitor Center in the heart of the Big Cypress Swamp while also slipping back in time to distant childhood memories of an old backcountry camp and deeper still to a first-hand historical account of adventures at a Seminole War era fort and a haunted archeological dig for dinosaur bones as he tries to conjure the energy to hold court at a campfire talk in a remote campground at the end of a very (emphasis on very) long day. As exquisite an ending you’ll ever find in a “large canvas” epic work, Final Campfire is a full-body experience that no respectable book reader, plumber or campfire enthusiast (including the inner s’mores roaster in all of us) will want to miss.
Welcome to Book 2 of the Centennial Campfire Trilogy. The saga continues! This time Ranger Rusty and his cohorts are off on a new adventure that leads them back and forth seamlessly in time and space to faraway places that include a Seminole War fort, the sands of the Middle East, the mountains of the Great Southwest, an archaeological expedition on the Mighty Joola River and airboat rides across the Everglades. Or is it all unfolding around the campfire glow in a remote nature reserve? We’ll let you be the judge.
Where the campfire is always crackling and visitors are always welcome, Cowboy is the pioneer behind the campfire reboot. | 
