Welcome to Breakfast in America

I’m a Brit who unexpectedly emigrated to the USA in 2008, and this is my photo journal.

It’s an eclectic mix of things; there’s no guiding theme or topic. It is whatever catches my attention, what I’ve been thinking, doing, or piques my interest. Currently that’s mainly backpacking and clearing some of the backlog on my ‘honey-do’ list.

My favorite pictures and posts

Some selected favorites from all my favorite pictures and posts.

When did I grow old?

When did I grow old? It feels like I blinked, and suddenly I’ve aged — I was writing in my journal when I noticed how old my hands looked. I don’t feel older, but I now have my grandparents’ hands: the loose flesh, thin skin, age spots, and prominent veins. 2
A self portrait photograph of Gary Allman keeping warm in his hammock while winter camping. December 2022.

Keeping warm in my hammock

Keeping warm in my hammock — The low was 23°F (-5°C), well within the 10°F rating of my quilts. I was nice and cozy. A forecast of 20°F is my lower limit, I do this for funsies, not to prove anything.
Orange colored seventies style table lamp on a blue dresser, with hat and shotgun.

Cottage Still Life

Cottage Still Life – This photo started life as a joke picture for the girls, and then it took on a life of its own requiring a second ‘shoot’ just to put right a few of the details.

Plectranthus ‘Mona Lavender’

The soft light on a dull rainy day on these flowers Ginger picked and placed on the kitchen table caught my eye, and prompted a discovery. 2

Through the veil

Through the veil – It’s taken me a while to see the potential in this picture. I like this alternate treatment of the image.

Enjoying the view

Enjoying the view – between interludes of journaling and swimming. I even completed some camp chores.

Clouds

Clouds – I was hoping for a nice, as in flaming oranges and yellows, sunset. It didn’t happen, but this cloud formation and an otter made up for it.
Photograph of Gary Allman with his morning tea in a hammock on the Berryman Trail, Missouri.

Morning Tea

Morning Tea. Berryman Trail – Day Two, December 2020.

Frosty Morning

Frosty Morning – The predicted overnight temperatures were 30°F. It dropped to 21°F. Fortunately, I’d anticipated this and I was nice and warm in my hammock.

Grandpa

Grandpa – Grandpa and Stanley. 3

Recent Posts

  • Table Rock Lake was the highest I’ve seen it

    Table Rock Lake was the highest I’ve seen it — At 928.5 ft. It was 18 ft higher than when I was last here in September 2024. Piney Creek Wilderness, June 2025. Copyright © 2025 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
  • Making a cup of tea

    Making a cup of tea. Piney Creek Wilderness, June 2025. Copyright © 2025 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
  • View from my hammock, Piney Creek Wilderness, June 2025

    View from my hammock. Piney Creek Wilderness, June 2025. Copyright © 2025 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
    View from my hammock. Piney Creek Wilderness, June 2025. Copyright © 2025 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
  • Camped by Table Rock Lake at Piney Creek Wilderness

    Camped by Table Rock Lake at Piney Creek Wilderness. The lake was a lot nearer to my campsite than usual. Piney Creek Wilderness, June 2025. Copyright © 2025 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
  • Camped by Table Rock Lake at Piney Creek Wilderness, June 2025

    Camped by Table Rock Lake at Piney Creek Wilderness. June 2025. Copyright © 2025 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
    Camped by Table Rock Lake at Piney Creek Wilderness. June 2025. Copyright © 2025 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
  • Piney Creek Wilderness, Table Rock Lake. Looking west towards Buck Hollow and Piney Creek

    Piney Creek Wilderness, Table Rock Lake. Looking west towards Buck Hollow and Piney Creek. Piney Creek Wilderness, June 2025. Copyright © 2025 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    I took a short hike further east along the lakeshore to find a spot where I could see out across the lake. Where I am camped the lake is up past the trees that line the shore, making taking pictures of the view impossible.

  • Packing for four days by the lake

    Packing for four days by the lake — Piney Creek Wilderness, June 2025. Copyright © 2025 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    I’m off to spend four days sitting watching the Lake at my favorite Piney Creek Wilderness camping spot. The lake is high (928.5 ft.), and the trail will be deep underwater. A lot of off-trail bushwhacking is going to be required to get to the campsite.

  • Sunday check, clean, and oil

    Sunday check, clean, and oil. Copyright © 2025 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    My Sig P938 got very wet while backpacking in the rain at Hercules Glades a while back. Today, I decided to give it a good cleaning and thorough inspection.

    The screws on the handgrips were secured with blue Loctite, making them tough—but not impossible—to undo. I wanted to remove the grips to check if any water had seeped in behind them, and to inspect the mainspring without having to disassemble the entire fire control mechanism.

    I also removed the safety detent to check for rust. There was none. It’s a fiddly bugger to refit, with the strong spring twice launching it into space before I succeeded in refitting it.

  • Camped on ‘Ant Hill’

    Camped on ‘Ant Hill’. Hercules Glades Wilderness, May 2025. Copyright © 2025 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    Another day, another campsite… I’ve camped on ‘Ant Hill‘ before, but this time, I had to shift to a nearby location to avoid a dicey-looking dead tree.

  • Concrete Spring box in ‘Twin Falls Hollow’

    Concrete Spring box in ‘Twin Falls Hollow’. Hercules Glades Wilderness, May 2025. Copyright © 2025 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    I was glad to see that the twin falls were running when I arrived and took advantage of them for an au naturel shower. The plunge pool was also quite full, but I decided that a shower was enough!

    Getting down to the creek wasn’t easy, so after my shower, rather than struggling to climb back up, I decided to hike downstream along the creek. On my way, I passed the old concrete spring box, which you can see to the right in the picture. There used to be a pipe feeding water from the spring to the spring box. It’s still there—just broken and no longer connected.

Scroll to Top