We're Ready, (We Hope).....

Happy Thursday evening everyone.  We think we're all ready for an early blast off in the morning.  Everything is packed, serviced, arranged, and even washed.  

Unfortunately, heavy rain is in the weather forecast for later tonight, but ending by in the morning.  So Rob went ahead and hooked up Pod to Truck while Trisha finished loading her stuff in Pod.

In the morning all we'll have to do is disconnect the electric from Pod and switch over the refrigerator to 12 volt.  

Of course, P. Nutty had to check everything out....

Be sure to check back by often as we'll be blogging about our all our F.R.O.G.ging activities.

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

A Porthole in an r-Pod......

Hey there everybody, it's P. Nutty doing the blogging today.  I had so much fun with my first blog post the other day, Mr. R (who is taking a break today from blogging) told me to have at it.  

First thing I want to show you is I got to set beside a campfire our last night camping at Toe River Campground.  What a fun thing to do.....

Although Mr. R said this wasn't a real campfire because we were burning propane instead of wood.  But I like it better because I have lots and lots of cousins who live in trees, you know, where fire wood comes from.  

Today had been a really special day for me.  I got to help Mr. R do some maintenance type work to Pod and then I helped to do a Pod Mod.  Those are really something special.  

But before we start, I just want you to know this isn't a pool float for me.....

It seems Mr. R keeps Pod in tip-top shape.  He washed Pod yesterday when we got home from the mountains. Today he replaced the electric element in the water heater.  He though it had gone bad at Toe River, but turns out the switch wasn't flipped all the way on.  But he said it was ok, because now there is a new one installed and we have the old one as a spare.  He also fixed a tiny water leak  in the outdoor shower port he told me that he had installed several weeks ago.  Then he lubricated the stabilizer jacks.  After that Mr. R and Mrs. T made the bed with clean bed linens.  I guess Pod is just about ready for the big trip Goshen. 

But back to today's Pod Mod.  Seems that before Mr. R left for Toe River, he ordered a round porthole window for the door.  He told me that another Pod (furpod) had just gotten one recently installed by it's people.  Mr. R thought it really looked good, so that's what we installed on Pod today.

The first item was to look everything over, read the pretty basic instructions and figure out what when where....

Next, we marked the center of the window to help with getting it lined up where it needed to go.....

Next we measured and found the center of the spot on the door where the window would go.....

Then we marked the door and outlined the circle in tape to protect the door's finish.....

Then Mr. R drilled a pilot hole for the saw...

Then in just a few minutes, there was a big hole in Pod's door....

Then it was just a matter of caulking the window casement, and then installing the window.  Mr. R also caulked the window once more after it was in position and tightened.

I think it looks pretty sharp....

Here's another view....

And another view from a different angle.....

So whatcha think?  Not too bad for my first official Pod Mod.  I think I'm gonna really like this podding thing.  

Well Mr. R told me to thank everyone for checking by today.  We all hope y'all have a great weekend!!

Until next time, stay safe out there.....-P. Nutty

Back Home and Getting Ready to Go Again......

Happy Friday evening everyone.  We're back home from our mountain trip with cousin Sharon.  We had a grand old time, and are already looking forward  to another mountain trip next year.  More about that at a later time.

At this point we're home, laundry is nearly done, Truck and Pod are washed, and even one maintenance item on Pod has been completed.  We've taking Rob's mom out to eat, and then we've completed a couple of errands.

Now we have the task of getting everything ready to roll out bright and early this coming Friday morning for our trip to the International F.R.O.G. Rally in Goshen, IN.  We are so excited about this trip.  We'll be staying with our good Podding Friends Mark and Susie for two nights on the way there.  We're sure both Pod and P-Nutty will be blogging once or twice along the way.

P-Nutty pretty much told you about our day yesterday.  So we'll just post a few pictures from our day of fun Thursday.  

Thanks for checking by today.  We'll take the weekend off from blogging, but check back next week to see what we're up to.

Until next time, stay safe out there.....-R,T and back home with J!!

P-Nutty's First Adventure.....

Happy evening everyone!  My name's P-Nutty.  I was living at the gift store at the top of Grandfather Mountain, when Mr. R asked if I'd like to join Team R&T.  He told me I'd have all sorts of fun adventures.  In fact he said in about two weeks, I'd be going to a place called Goshen, IN to a F.R.O.G. rally.  I said sure, and as they say, "the rest is history!"

I really think I'm gonna like hanging with Mr. R and Mrs. T.  Heck, Mr. R even let me do this evenings blog post.....

He even said if I was good at it, he'd think about letting me have my own blog!   So everyone has to tell him what they think of my blogging.

We started out our day in a drizzly sort of rain.  I jump right up on the dash of Truck and checked out the GPS....

Then it was off to Black Mountain NFS Campground to check it out.  Mr. R and his cousin Ms. S just fell in love with the place and have already planned a trip for next July.  It will be without hookups, but the campground has hot showers.  They said they could figure out the rest.  I told them I was game for the adventure...

The we were off to Mt. Mitchell.  We drove on a Forest Service road for about five miles and saw some beautiful scenery.  Mr. R took bunches of pictures and he said he'd blog them in the next day or so.

The Forest Service Road dumped us out on the Blue Ridge Parkway (Mr. R's favorite by-way from what I've been told my Mrs. T and Ms. S).  From there it was a short trip to Mt. Mitchell State Park.  We drove all the way to the top, where we took a few pictures, checked out the gift store, and read all about the history of the area in the museum.

Wow!  I was way up in the air!!  Here's a picture of Mr. R, Mrs. T, and myself....

We then rode back down the mountain a ways, stopping at the restaurant to look around and to let the humans have a comfort stop.  I got my picture taken a couple more times....

By now it was a little past lunchtime, so we all hopped back in Truck and headed back down to the Parkway and further south to the Craggy Gardens Picnic area.  That was sure fun having a picnic using Truck's tailgate as a table....

I gotta say I really did enjoy riding in Truck today.  In fact Mr. R gave me what I think is the best seat in Truck...

Although, Mr. R said I'd have to move when he was drinking a coke or a bottle of water.  I told him, "no problem!"

After lunch, we rode the Parkway all the way back to the Toe River Campground exit, stopping for gas for Truck along the way.  
Once back at the campground, we all just rested, talked about today's adventures, and Mr. R and Ms. S upload and compared pictures.  Wow, they sure do take a lot of pictures.  

One thing Mr. R has done this week is buy several stickers for his sticker collection.  I was checking out the stickers on the back of Pod....

That sure is a lot of stickers, and that's not all of them by a long shot.  I really, really think I'm gonna enjoy traveling with Mr. R and Mrs. T!  I suspect it's even more fun when Ms. S is along on their adventures.

Well I've had a big day, and I know I'm going to sleep good tonight.  In the morning we pack-up and head home.  Just imagine, a real home of my very own, and not some dumb old gift store.  I'm so excited just thinking about it.  Mr. R said to thank everyone for  checking by today.

Until next time, stay safe out there.....- P-Nutty.

Oh WOW!! What a Wednesday.....

Happy Wednesday evening everyone.  Like the title says, what a Wednesday this was.  We drove on the Blue Ridge Parkway (Rob's favorite by-way), we visited Grandfather mountain were Rob and Sharon walked across the Mile-High Swinging Bridge, we had a picnic lunch, we stopped at The Old Hampton Store and Grist Mill, and finally a stop at The Donkey's Nest.  Don't ask us to explain the name of that last stop.  

We chatted, visited, talked about places we'd been, listened to tunes on the iPod, stopped to see the sights, took way too many pictures.  (Seems both Sharon and Rob need new memory cards for their cameras.)  In general just had a good old time.  

To follow-up from last night's blog, Sharon's Toe River Asian Beef and Noodles were yummy.  The trip to Grandfather Mountain was just great.  Finally, the Fly Exclusion Devices seemed to work great.  If you really want to know about them, you're gonna  have to ask.  Hehe!!

Rob decided to make a couple of collages of his favorite pictures from our exploring today.  Enjoy.....

And one last item before we finish todays' post.  We'd like to welcome P-Nutty to the crew.  You see, we asked him to come on-board because for some very strange reasons.....we needed a squirrel to attend the International F.R.O.G. Rally at Goshen week after next.....

Thanks for checking by today.  Rest assured we've got another grand adventure planned for tomorrow, but you'll just have to check back tomorrow evening to read all about it.  

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

Tuesday at Toe Mountain Campground.....

Happy Tuesday everyone!!  Our day has been a great one here.  The morning started off cool and cloudy.  Rob fixed a breakfast casserole and grinder bread toast.  It was certainly yummy, and there is enough left over for in the morning. Yipee!!

After we were all fed and dressed for our day.  We sat under the dome a bit to create a plan and figure out how to get where we want to go.

Our first stop was in the little village of Micaville, NC.  We stopped at this neat craft store, right in the middle of the village....

Then it was on to Spruce Pine to visit a "tourist trap" for Rob because he was looking for something special, and to a soap making business for Trisha and Sharon.  Along the way we also got gasoline for Truck.  The soap store was a fun stop. Here are a few pictures....

The gardens at "The Soap Store" were on the funky, fun side.  Rob really enjoyed walking through them and taking some pictures.....

Then it was off on a short trip up the Blue Ridge Parkway to visit Rob's cousin and Sharon's niece Jessie who is a summer camp counselor at a horseback riding camp.  You'll have to scoot over to Sharon's Postcards blog to read more about the visit.  

During our short drive up the BRP, we made several photo stops.  Here's a quick picture of Cousin Sharon admiring the view at one of these stops....

Sharon liked this picture so much, she and Rob traded cameras and recreated the picture for her.  Then it was onto Springmaid Mountain Resort for our surprise visit.  We saw this old train caboose on the way and just had to stop.....

We visited with Jessie for a bit, then checked out the campground at Springmaid Mountain Resort (a bit "rustic"), checked messages and returned a few phone calls, then it was back to Toe River for the afternoon.  

We ate lunch, walked around a bit, worked on the computer some, took a nap, just all sorts of lazy fun afternoon things.

Cousin Sharon is cooking supper this evening, and we're looking forward to enjoying our evening meal with her.  

Be sure to check back tomorrow to find out about:

     1.  Our field trials of an old fashioned "fly exclusion device"

     2.  Read about the yummy supper Cousin Sharon fixed...

     3.  Hear all about our trip over to and picnic at Grandfather Mountain....

    4.  And any other neat, fun thing we may do.....

Thanks for checking by today.  The cell service has held out long enough to write this blog entry a little early today.  

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