Happy Easter from James Island......

Welcome back and Happy Easter to all!  Be sure to check out cousin Sharon's Splash T@B blog to see the awesome sight she saw as she first stepped out of Splash this morning.

We spent our day here at the campground.  Rob fixed a double batch of sausage gravy, and two dozen biscuits for Sunday brunch with the gang.  

Then it was visiting, bike riding, more visiting, relaxing, and one more short bike ride before settling in for the night.  The gang got together to eat leftovers from brunch, but we were both still stuffed!

Here's a few pictures from our day.  Tomorrow we will be out and about exploring Charleston and then going out to dinner with Trisha's family.  

This last picture Rob took last night of the inside of the r-dome.  Looks real cozy doesn't it?  This podding stuff is just too much fun!

Good night to everyone.  Thanks for checking by today.  Until next time, stay safe out there.....-R,T, but no J.

Our Saturday at James Island......

Hello there, we sure hope your Saturday was a great one.  We had an awesome day here at James Island, SC.  We both slept late (8:30ish) but were soon up and about.  Rob fixed sausage biscuits for breakfast, and we just whiled away the morning.

After getting bathed and dressed, Rob unloaded Trisha's new bicycle and she was off exploring the campground.  When she came back, we loaded up in Truck and were off to find some lock cables for our bikes, and a few groceries.

  

As luck would have it, a Wal-Mart was close by, so it didn't take long to get what we needed for the next few days. 

We then rode on down toward Folly Beach to find Crosby's Seafood. We wanted some fresh shrimp to fix for supper. A quick stop for a tank of gasoline for Truck and it was back to the campground for visiting and more bike riding.  

When we returned, we found the Easter Bunny had visited us a day early!  WOW!  We just spent the rest of our afternoon, biking on the awesome paved trails, exploring, and visiting.

Next thing we knew we were hungry.  Of course it was supper time, and we had been too busy for lunch.  So in short order the stove was fired up, and supper was under way.

The results were really yummy too!!  After cleaning up, and letting our supper settle a bit, we did a little more bike riding and visiting.  

To close out this great day, cousin Sharon and Rob rode over to the fishing pier to catch the sunset.  Isn't it just beautiful!

Thanks for stopping by today.  Be sure to stop back by tomorrow to hear all about the Sunday Brunch we are having with our camping group.  Until next time, stay safe out there......-R,T, but no J.

YIPEE!!! It's Finally Spring Break.........

A very happy Friday to everyone.  Spring Break finally arrived yesterday afternoon.  So we were off to James Island County Park in historic Charleston, SC.  

We met up with Sharon and Becky in Fort Mill, SC this morning about 9:20 am.  (An hours drive from home for both of us.) 

Then it was off to Charleston.  I wish I could report the traffic wasn't to bad, but it was.  So after dealing with heavy traffic from Fort Mill to Columbia, once we got on I-26 we jumped off the interstate and onto HWY 176.  Here we found no traffic, good two-lane roads, beautiful scenery, small towns, and a much more relaxing trip.  

The Friday afternoon traffic in Charleston was a treat, but we did finally arrive around 3:00 pm.  After checking in we were off to find our site.  It is half of a buddy site, but it will be fine for our week here.

Soon we were set-up and enjoying a late lunch of Subway we picked up way back up the road.

Later in the afternoon, we took a stroll around the campground, and checked out all our T@B buddies who are camping here this week.

After Ben and Jerry's for supper, we had a quite evening at our campsite.  Trisha watched "Shark Tank" and Rob just chilled out.

We hope you have a great Easter weekend.   Check back tomorrow to see what adventures we found to get into.  

We Just Couldn't Resist This......

Welcome on this beautiful rainy 38 degree Sunday afternoon!  At least we're not getting all that white stuff our friends to the West and North of us are getting!

When a podding friend (Thanks Carrie!) of ours in Kentucky posted this cute little solar powered camper on Facebook they saw at Lowes, we just knew we had to have one.  

So this afternoon, we headed out to find one.  Now we are blessed?? with having four Lowes within 15 miles of us.  We didn't find it at the one we normally go to.  So Rob showed the sales associate the Facebook picture and in just a few minutes we found out the Lowes  just a few more miles down the road had six in stock.  

So here you go.  Isn't this just cute????

We leave Friday for our Spring Break trip to Charleston, SC.  We just can't hardly wait.  Only four days of school left before Spring Break. YIPEE!!!

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

Oh SPRING Where Art Thou.........

Wasn't yesterday the first day of Spring?  Didn't we just go camping this past weekend and wear shorts and t-shirts?  And why is the forecast low for tonight 22 degrees?  Something is wrong here isn't it?  

Happy Thursday afternoon.  As you can guess from the opening of this post, it is going to get cold here tonight.  Rob had to re-winterize the Pod this afternoon when he got home from school.  He says it only takes a few minutes.  

Step 1.  Remove the low point drain plugs....

Step 2.  Let the water drain out of the low point drains......

Step 3.  Remove the anode rod from the hot water heater (note: Be sure to open the pressure relief valve first!), and stand back....

Step 4.  As a final safety measure, pour some of the "pink stuff" RV Anti-freeze down the drains for the grey, and black tanks.  (We don't use the fresh water tank.)

Oh well, it won't take but a few minutes next week when it warms up to reverse the process.  Until next time, stay safe (and warm) out there.....-R,T,&J.

More Power Scotty.......

That's a line I know all you Star Trek fans have heard Captain Kirk say at least once!  

We hope your Wednesday is going good.  One of the discoveries we made this weekend, was Pod's battery was pretty much done for.   Rob had wanted to install dual batteries for boon-docking (camping without electric/water hook-ups), plus purchase a Honda Generator for this camping season.  But we just weren't ready for such a major purchase.  So we decided to just replace Pod's single battery with a new one.  

The original battery had been in service nearly 39 months, so it was most likely time for it to fail.  

After a quick trip to the local parts store, Rob was able to verify the lack of life in the old battery, and purchase a new one.  The new battery just happened to be on sale for $12.00 off the original price.  

It only took a few minutes to clean the terminal connectors with a wire brush, re-connect them, and all was good again.  

If you can't tell by the last several posts, we are getting ready for our camping trip to Charleston, SC for Spring Break.  We are slowly marking things off our "to-do" list in preparation for our trip.  

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

A YETI Really is Betti(er).......

Happy Tuesday everyone!  Rob here making the blog post today.   I wanted to make a quick report on one of the new camping items we took with us this past weekend.  It is my new YETI Cooler I want to tell you about today.  

You see, I have been wanting one of these for several years.  But whenever I would be in the shop, I'd look at my collection of coolers (I won't tell you how many exactly) and I'd say, "Naw, maybe next season."  YETI coolers are somewhat pricey.  Their slogan is, "Wildly Stronger!  Keeps Ice Longer!  They have a lot of reasons why they are supposed to be better, but I will let you cruise on over to their website and decide for yourself.  They even claim to be "Certified Bear Resistant."  Not that we do a lot of camping in bear country.  

At any rate, I loaded up the YETI cooler Friday morning with six water bottles, six small sodas, and finished filling it full of ice.  We did use some of the ice over the weekend for drinks.  The ice I used was from the freezer at  home and one bag from the grocery store.  I was impressed because this was the only bag of ice I bought for the weekend.  Now I will admit the weather wasn't hot, but was sunny and pleasant.  

Today when I finished cleaning out and stowing away a few things, I took a couple of cell phone pictures of what I found when looking in the cooler this afternoon (Tuesday).  

Looks good sitting on the tailgate of Truck!

The water and sodas still in a nice ice/water slush.

A better picture of the contents of the cooler.

A fair amount of ice left after five days!!  
I can't wait to see how this cooler performs in the summer heat we camp in quite a bit.  But so far I like what I see. 



I almost forgot, but the YETI was a Birthday/Christmas present from my family out west.  Thanks again guys!!

Hope you enjoyed this equipment update.  Until next time, stay safe out there....-R,T,&J.

Splash and Pod's Excellent Adventure......

Woohoo, it's Pod here.  I took over the blogging duties today, because after all it was Cousin Splash and myself who organized this weekend's camping trip.  And let me tell you, we had a blast too!

If you read Friday's post, you heard all about my new visor, and shade shelter Rob got for me from PahaQue to kick off this year's camping season. I really like them because Rob finally had to finally fix my awning (keder) rail just right for the new visor to set-up smoothly.  

One of the best things about going camping is being outside, enjoying the fresh air, sunshine, and beautiful views.  

It was even extra special because I got to spend the weekend camping with my Cousin Splash!

On our trip home today, we did make a quick stop to take a picture of this poor old camper with a tree growing between it's back bumper and body. OUCH!  Now that can't feel good.  Maybe someone will rescue it one of these first days! 

Finally, one of the best things about this weekend's trip was when Rob decided to take the back roads home instead of the boring, high-stress, drive way-to-fast interstate.  What a great morning for an extended Sunday drive with my cousin Splash!  

On our way through Mooresville, we made a quick stop at Best Buy so Trisha could buy a charging cable for her iPhone to leave in my electronics cabinet.  I'm not sure what an iPhone is, but it seems to be pretty darn important to Trisha.  

In a little less than two weeks, we all leave again for a fun rally in Charleston, SC.  Read all about it over on my 2013 trips page.  

Thanks for checking in today.  To all my camper friends (and their people) who live where the weather isn't quite ready for camping, just hang in there, Spring is just around the corner.

Until next time, stay safe out there....-R,T,&J.

Saturday at Chester State Park.......

Happy Saturday from Chester State Park.  Today was as great of a day for camping as you could imagine.  

As the sun was rising up over the trees, Rob was out cooking sausage and bacon for a breakfast quiche.  After a great camp breakfast and all the other normal morning chores were done, the days adventures got started.

In fact, if you look closely, you can see cousin Sharon, Murphy, and Splash enjoying their breakfast too.







After we were all squared away.  Rob did a few little maintenance items on Splash and even one mod.  We are sure you can read all about it on Cousin Sharon's blog.  Then we all loaded up in Truck, and took off to sight see a bit.  

We rode over to Sumter National Forest.  It was a nice ride over and back through some nice country.  Then it was off to Subway for lunch.

But the highlight of our day was spending the afternoon outside just relaxing in the great outdoors.  The icing on the cake was Rob moved the TV outside so we could all watch the ACC Tournament.  This camping stuff is just too awesome!


All-in-all, a great day.  Thanks for checking by today.  Until next time, stay safe out there.....-R,T,&J.

A PahaQue Kind of Day......

Greetings to all from Chester State Park in Chester, SC.  Well we are finally on our first camping trip of the 2013 season, and it feels great!  

We are excited to be camping.  We are excited to be camping with Splash T@B, cousin Sharon, and Murphy.  We are really excited to be camping and getting to test our new r-Pod visor and shade shelter we ordered from PahaQue.  Many thanks to Mike and his crew at PahaQue for going the extra mile to get these items to us prior to our first trip of the season.  Hence the name of today's blog post.  Check them out......

And not to be left out, even Splash sported her visor for this short weekend trip.

Here we are hanging out under the new shelter.....

  
We were even awarded with a beautiful sunset over the lake here at the park....

And as the sun was going down, we had a wonderful dinner of grilled salmon, roasted onion, and steamed green beans.  

As the sun was going down, so was the temperature.  So we all (3 adults and 2 dogs) moved inside the pod to eat supper and watch the ACC Tournament on the Satellite TV.  Isn't this camping stuff grand!  Check it out below....

Thanks for checking by today.  We will be doing a few maintenance odds and ends to Splash tomorrow, as well as, be off in search of adventure.   Until next time,  stay safe out there.....-R,T,&J.

Just One More MOD......

Hi and happy weekend to all!  Here in the Southern Piedmont of North Carolina, we've had a great weekend.  Rob spent several hours Saturday cleaning up the yard getting it ready for fertilizer and seed.  

Then we turned our attention to R&T's Pod.  Rob re-activated the Satellite TV service, set-up the dish, and let everything sync back up for our camping trip this coming weekend.  Hop over to the 2013 Trips page to read all about it! 

We also de-winterized the pod.  The weather man doesn't really forecast any more freezing weather for us.  (At least not this week!)  For us, de-winterizing consists of putting the anode rod back in the water heater and putting the low-point  drain caps back on the drains.

Of course our weekend had to start with a quick trip to camping world Friday after school.  Now we know this is the fourth trip in four weekends, but Rob keeps getting these great coupons.  This weekend we snagged a new spare tire cover for pod ($5 bucks!).  The factory one was pretty much worn out.  Take a look below.....

In fact the weather was just so nice, we actually did a little pretend drive way camping Saturday afternoon!  Check us out.....

And then as the title of this post says, we just had to get in one more MOD.  This was another space utilization mod.  See in the forward outside storage compartment of our model of pod, there is quite a bit of wasted space.  So Rob rummaged around the shop and found an old piece of wire shelf and modified it for this mod.  Check it all out below.....

This is the storage compartment after Rob took some of the "stuff" our of it, prior to the mod.

Here's a picture of the wire shelf Rob modified to fit.

Here is a picture of the cleat Rob added to support the wire shelf on the rear wall of the storage compartment.

Here is a picture of the cleat Rob added to support the wire shelf on the forward wall of the storage compartment.

Here's a picture of the lower part of the storage compartment after Rob vacuumed it out and stowed everything back in it's place.

And here you can see the wire shelf with both bins and loose storage.  These are items we don't use often, but we carry for "just-in-case."  



Thanks for checking by today.  Be sure to enjoy the rest of your weekend!  We head out Friday on our first camping trip of 2013.  We will be meeting Splash T@B for a weekend of fun.  

Until next time, stay safe out there.....-R,T,&J.

More Wheels......

Happy Sunday everyone.  R&T's-Pod here today.  When Rob was out here yesterday, he left the netbook computer he got just for me. So I decided I would sneak and make a post with it today.  

I think Rob and Trisha are both ready to hit the road for somewhere, because they both hung out with me yesterday afternoon!  Rob is still doing a few small mods, and Trisha is just ready to go camping.  I still think Rob has something big up his sleeve for me, but he's not saying a word.  Neither is Trisha!

I do know yesterday was dreary and cold with a little bit of rain too.  I also know they went to Camping World to look at folding bicycles.  Now Trisha has been wanting a bicycle for camping for a couple of seasons now.  Rob has been wrestling with what to get, how expensive a decent bike can cost (x 2), and how to transport them.  

So yesterday they went to CW, to look at the ones there for sale.  On top of that Rob had gotten a coupon in his email for 50% off the folding 12-speed model. As luck would have it, CW had two.  With the coupon Rob had plus a $10 off coupon he reused, the final price for two folding bikes was less than the original price for just one.  Pretty neat huh?

Here's a picture of both of them......

I think they will really enjoy using them.  Rob says they seem to be well made and should be just what they needed.

Thanks for stopping by today.  It was fun sneaking Rob's little computer, but I think I see him out in the yard so I better sign off and put it away for now!

Until next time, stay safe out there......-R&T's-Pod