The Lost Sea wagon, pulled over for the night in Kansas. This night, we just camped on the side of the road. The wagon served as the film and recording studio for the Lost Sea Expedition TV series (Outside Tribune, Kansas)
Hey, I figured you’d enjoy a peek in to the Lost Sea wagon. It was tiny. Just 21-square feet. That’s as much skin as the average human is covered in. Yeah, creepy….
From a distance, the wagon looks pretty small. Up close, well, as you’re about to see, it’s not much bigger. (outside Dickinson, ND)
The Lost Sea wagon was my mule drawn recording studio and home on the road for over a year. I built it myself. Starting with a Pioneer one-ton chassis, I added a light steel frame and covered it with door skins and foam.
Call it a claustrophobe’s nightmare. It’s barely 30 inches wide. My friends refer to it as the “MRI Wagon”.
I built such a small wagon so that, even loaded with recording gear and provisions, my mule Polly could pull it alone. Here are some pics. They’re mostly from Southern Pines, where I built the wagon.
The wagon’s frame is built of light steel. The floor, walls and roof were fitted later. Here, the front wall is in place. Where the door is going to go is outlined in white. I built the rig in Mel Wyatt’s garage. Mel is my most patient friend and an extraordinary horse woman.Hallelujah! It took me 2 weeks to get this far in the wagon build. I was so happy. Hell, this was easy. Fantastic! It took me 5 and a half more months to finish the project….This is how the wagon looked when it was new inside. What the hell was I thinking with those colors? Purple, yellow, John Deere green, and skin tone? Oh well, the paint was free. The tidy look didn’t last long. Soon after, a coyote skin, among other things, found its way aboard.A visitor takes a peek in to the Lost Sea wagon. This is how it looked like by South Dakota, a few months in to our trip. The fold down desk is where I wrote my journal and recorded my field notes. The red box above the door stored recording gear.
I still use the wagon. I’ve driven it hundreds of more miles since I returned to North Carolina. I plan to take it to Benson mule days (September 23-25 – Benson, NC) Sometimes, just for old times sake, I crawl inside for a nap. Cozy!
