Something New......

Happy Thursday everyone.  Today finds us in a strange situation.  The truck is at the Ford place getting it's 56,000 mile check-up and service.  The old blue Honda Accord has decided to only start when it wants too.  So this morning we are sharing the CR-V.  Once the truck is back home, old blue will get to visit the Honda place.  


I have always enjoyed the picture collages my cousin Sharon does.  This past week camping, she told me about the web service she uses to do them.  So this morning, with only one working vehicle at home, plus it's already hot, I decided to check it out.    


Here are a couple collages I did for everyone to enjoy......

Thanks for checking by today.  Until next time, stay safe out there....-R,T,&J.

Fairy Stone State Park.......

Happy Friday!!!  If you've not been camping this week (like us) then we hope you are on your way to a campground right now!  We started  our Thursday at Fairy Stone State Park by fixing a great sausage, egg, and bagel breakfast.  Then we just relaxed enjoying the morning.  About 11:00 am, we headed out to sight-see, get gasoline, a few supplies, and of course to hunt for fairy stones.  


I'll be sure to make a post telling you all about fairy stones some time in the future.  We spent a long, hot, sweaty, hour looking for fairy stones.  We found a few, and once we got back to the State Park we stopped by the display at the park and discovered what it was we were actually looking for.


Just as we got back to the campground, the bottom fell out of the sky and we had quite a storm.  After this was over, we all ate lunch and enjoying the cooler temperatures the rain had brought. 


Later in the afternoon, Trisha and Jackson went inside the pod for a nap.  Sharon and Rob went back to hunt for fairy stones once more.  They made quite a haul.  Now they have another project cleaning and polishing the stones.


Here are a few pictures from around the campground......

This last picture is from the Blue Ridge Parkway at The Saddle overlook......

Thanks for checking by today.  I'll be taking a few days off as the "Left" coast part of the family have flown over to the "Right" coast for a few days.  We are excited to see them, and we'll be back here next week.  Until then, stay safe out there....-R,T,&J

A Ground Hog, Water Mill, and Music.......

Hello on Wednesday from Fairy Stone State Park in Stuart, VA.  Now you may be wondering about the title to this post,  well it has something to do with all the things we did today.

We ate lunch at Groundhog Mountain picnic area.  We toured the Blue Ridge Parkway's Folk Art Center.  And we stopped at Mabry Mill in Virgina to see all the exhibits there.

We had another great day of driving and sight-seeing.  The weather was somewhat warmer, but we didn't melt.  We travelled close to 100 miles again on the BRP.  We exited at MP160, and arrived at here about 3:00 pm.  We were soon all set-up, got chased inside by the threat of a storm, but all seems to be good now.  Later it will be fajitas for supper fixed on our trusty Coleman stove.  Tomorrow we plan on doing a little exploring and digging for fairy stones.   Maybe we will be able to post some pictures of them for you tomorrow.

Here's some more pictures for you to enjoy today......

Thanks for checking by today, until next time, stay safe out there....-R,T,&T

Another Day Along the Parkway........

What a great day we've had today on our trip.  We left Spruce Pine Campground about 9:00 am, hopped on the Blue Ridge Parkway, and headed north.  We stopped at Linville Falls, and hiked to the upper falls.  We stopped for photo opportunities.  We even stopped for a great picnic lunch underneath the shade trees.  Once again we only drove about 100 miles along the BRP.

After we left the BRP, we headed to West Jefferson, NC for a grocery store stop, fuel and ice stop, then it was onto New River State Park for the night.  Since we didn't plan on going anywhere else today, we didn't even bother to unhook.  Just plugged in, put down the back stabilizers, set-up the EZ-up, and hung out for the afternoon.  It was warm (well ok hot) but none of us melted. 

My cousin Sharon did get some bad news regarding a camping friend, so you'll have to check her Postcards blog to find out. 

We grilled onions, and salmon.  Fixed a salad and nuked some veggies for dinner.  It was all very yummie. 

Here are a few pictures for you to see of our day.......

Tomorrow, we will hop back on the BRP, and go as far as Mabry Mill on the BRP.  From there we will head over toward Stuart, VA to spend two nights at Fairy Stone State Park. 

Thanks for checking in today and until next time, stay safe out there.....-R,T,&J.

Along the Blue Ridge Parkway.....

Hey there everyone, R&T's-Pod here, and I am making tonight's blog post.  Rob and Trish are off relaxing so I thought I'd help them out this evening. 

We got all hooked up and pulled out of Moonshine Creek Campground about 9:30 this morning.  About 3 miles from the campground, we hopped on the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP) and had a grand old time.  

Here are a couple of pictures for you......

While we only drove on about 100 miles of the BRP today, we made lots of stops for pictures, sight-seeing and such.  We plan on covering about 100 more miles tomorrow.  But there is even more news.

We we pulled into Spruce Pine Campground this afternoon about 2:30, there sitting in the site next to ours was one of my best camping buddies Splash T@B.  Some how or another, Rob and Trisha kept it a secret we would be camping with Splash and her person Sharon (Rob's cousin) the rest of the week. I was so excited!!  So after getting me all set up, I sent all the people to Wal-Mart, (really wasn't that hard to do) and Splash and I caught up on old times. 

Here's a picture of my campsite.....

Here's a picture of my friend Splash and I camping together.....

And here is a picture of the view from our campsites.....

After all our people came back from Wal-Mart, they fixed some supper and said it was very "yummie."  They they just hung out around the campsite and enjoyed the evening. 

That's all for today.  I have enjoyed bringing you this blog, and until next time, stay safe out there.....-R&T's-Pod (blogging for -R,T,&J)





Greetings from the Creek......

Moonshine Creek Campground in Sylva, NC that is.  We left home about 11:30am Saturday morning, and arrived about 2:30 pm that afternoon.  It was a struggle just to get our trip started, because just as Rob was coming into take a shower after hooking up the pod, he got stung by a yellow-jacket on the big toe of his right foot.  That was no fun at all!!

Then moments after backing in the site and starting to get un-hooked from the pod, Trisha fell.  We are both o.k. now, but Saturday afternoon/evening we were both a bit bruised and battered.

Here are a few pictures from around the campground.  We will spend the night here Sunday night, and then hit the Blue Ridge Parkway ending up in Spruce Pine, NC Monday afternoon.

This is a great little campground "shoe-horned" along the side of a clear running mountain stream.  Some sites are tight, some are not.  Ours is really nice.  The only thing really different about this campground is when we leave, we have to hitch up and back down out of our section past about 5 or so sites to where we can turn around.  For the most part, the only noise you hear is the rushing of the creek.  That is a good thing for sure!!

Check back tomorrow for another update, until then, stay safe out there...-R,T,&J. 

(p.s. Scooter Brown is safely back home with his family.)

Junkin, Mods, and Camping World.....OH MY!!!!

Happy Tuesday everyone.  Here in our part of the world, we had a big storm about 4:00 am this morning, and the heat has broken.  It's just a normal hot, humid, lazy July day in North Carolina here.  Not the awful triple digit heat monster it has been for the past week or so.  


This past Friday, we went junkin with our cousins Becky and Sharon.  You can read all about it over on Sharon's Postcards blog or even her Coffee Cup blog (see the links to the left).  


Trisha found a neat picture frame......

Bet you can't guess who's picture will go in that frame!


Rob found this wall-mounted tissue box holder.  It was only six bucks. He had been pricing them on-line and the prices were unreal!  Now Rob's not a particular fan of rhinestones and such so he's gonna go all artsy on it for sure.

Here's a picture of the tissue holder with all sanded and ready to paint....

And here is a picture of the tissue holder all painted, artsified, and mounted in the pod.....

Next is a light mod Rob did over the bed on the pod.....

The light was on clearance at Lowes, he added a switch and tied it into the power feed for the outlet in the cabinet above.  


The last item was our trip to Camping world Tuesday morning.  Since Saturday, Scooter Brown has been staying with us while his family has been off to Myrtle Beach, SC for vacation. 


Here is a picture of Scooter all worn out from playing.....

He is eight weeks old.  His mother was abandoned at the house of a friend of the Browns.  While his mother is definitely Daschund, we're not sure of the father.  


Here's a picture of the boys riding in the backseat of Trisha's car.....

And here's a picture of them in the buggy at Camping World.....

Finally, here's a picture of our Camping World purchases....

Not very glamorous huh?  Two sewer hose items and a door step mat.  


Well that's it for today.  We are beginning to get ready to leave out on our next trip on Saturday morning.  Check our Upcoming Trips page to read all about it.  Thanks for stopping by today and until next time, stay safe out there.....-R,T,&J (& Scooter too!!!)

Pod Waxing.......

Hey everyone.  We hope everyone had a great Fourth of July holiday.  Trisha had to get up at 0-dark-thirty Thursday morning to take her dad to Charlotte for eye surgery.  So Rob got up at daylight and spent the morning waxing the pod.  He had washed the pod one  morning earlier in the week.  After washing it, he went to Lowes to get a small polisher he wanted to try.  Rob said he really did like the polisher, and it only took him three hours to get the entire pod waxed.

Here's a picture of the supplies he used:

And here is a picture when he had stopped to eat some breakfast.  At this point the rear, the curb side, part of the front, and the rear section of the street side had been done.

It's impossible to capture in a picture how shiny the pod is now with it's new wax job, or how slick the feel of the freshly waxed surface is.  This isn't a fun job, but it sure helps keep the pod clean.

Everyone have a great weekend.  Until next time, stay safe out there.....-R,T,&J.

Happy Independence Day 2012........

We just wanted to take a minute to thank everyone who takes time to read our blog.  We have a blast doing this.  More importantly, we also want to wish everyone a safe and happy Independence Day.  Where ever you go, whatever you do, have loads of fun and please stay safe.  


Here are a few pictures from the web for you to enjoy.  

Be sure to check out our Upcoming Trips page for our next adventure and until next time, stay safe out there....-R,T,&J.