Gettin' Ready.......

Happy Saturday everyone!  We've been busy getting ready for the 2013 camping season to start.  The weather  here the last two days has been very rainy and cold.  

Don't tell anyone but we had camping reservations for this weekend.  You see, a few weeks ago, South Carolina State Parks posted a weekend deal on Facebook for six of their state park campgrounds for this weekend.  Two nights for the price of none!  That's right two nights of camping for free.  We just had to pay a reservation charge and tax.  A measly $3.48.  But the weather went south, so we didn't!

Instead, we did some shopping today, and scored some pretty good buys on camping items for this coming season.  First stop was Best Buy to buy something called AppleTV.  This was for Trisha.  Rob says it is a little black box that sucked away two hours of his life setting up!

Next stop was Gander Mtn.  We had never been there before, but we do plan to go back.  Rob needed some Coleman Liquid Fuel for his Coleman Stove.  Not too many places carry this item any more, but thankfully Gander Mtn. does.

We have a Coleman Dual Fuel Powerhouse stove Rob bought about 30 years ago.  Rob says he grew up camping with Coleman Liquid Fuel stoves, and they are his favorite to cook on.  This gallon of fuel is a little pricey at $14.99 plus tax!  A gallon generally lasts an entire camping season.  Sometimes into the next season.  So that's not too bad expensive.


While at Gander Mtn., we got to looking at camp chairs.  We have been looking since the beginning of last season.  
We just haven't found any we really liked very much.  Well today we found them.  They were on sale for $49.99 each.  This included a matching footstool.  We had to hunt around the store to find two footstools, because according to the Store Manager, Gander Mtn. does not do rainchecks.  

Rob picked out a camo motif with matching footstool.  Trisha wasn't feeling the love for camo, so she picked the boring green chair with matching footstool.  

The original price for the two chairs and footstools was $180, but the sale price today was $100.00 plus tax.  Not too bad.

After leaving Gander Mtn., we drove over to Camping World.  (This is the third trip in as many weekends!)  Rob had gotten an e-mail coupon for a camping mat.

The coupon was for a 9ft x12ft floral vine pattern mat for 29.99.  Rob had also gotten a $10.00 off coupon for any purchase via email this week also.   

So this mat followed us home for $19.99 plus tax.  Not too bad.

After our Camping World stop, we drove to Longhorn Steak House, where thanks to a gift card from one of Rob's students, we had a great lunch for $5.36 plus tip!  Not too bad again!

The last item is technology related.  Rob has been wanting a small computer just for the pod, so he doesn't have to un-hook and pack up his from his office.  While the iPad we bought for Christmas works great for web browsing, etc.  It didn't do too good for Rob's blogging needs.  

Rob came across a good deal on a used netbook (free), the previous owner being Trisha who paid (zero) for it.

 Rob had also been researching wireless internet repeaters/signal amplifiers.  He found this one which had good user reviews, wasn't too expensive (under $70 for unit and accessories), worked with the latest generation of wireless protocols, and claims to have a range of 1000 yards.  

Now Rob says he doesn't claim to understand half of what he read about it, but he decided to order it and give it a shot.  It came Friday, and he had it all set up and working in no time.  Here is a picture of the netbook and repeater all set up in the Pod this afternoon.  He says it works great, and he will be reporting on it more after our first camping trip or two.   

He did note that there are at least 10 wireless internet connections the computer can now pick up in our neighborhood alone.  Formally our computers could only pick up our two signals.  Four of the eight new connections are not secured with a password (BAD!). 

Also this week, Truck had it 61,000 mile service which included oil/filter change, new front brakes, and cooling system flush.  We are really, really ready for camping season to start!

Thanks for checking by today.  Only three more weeks until our first camping trip of 2013.  Yipee!  So until next time, stay safe out there...-R,T,&J.