A Mod for Levi.....

A very happy Easter Monday morning to everyone.  It's Pod here and you guessed it, I'm camping again.  The gang left home a little before nine yesterday morning, and arrived here about 1:30ish.  Where's here you ask?  Why Huntington Beach State Park, just south of Murrell's Inlet, SC.  We got here, checked in, found our site, and set up camp in just a short while.  Fortunately, we had about an hour's window in the rain along the coast, so we didn't get very wet. 

But this Monday morning, the clouds are gone taking the rain with them, and the sun is shining on what should be a beautiful beach day.  

Today I want to back up a bit and tell you about a mod Rob did to Levi this past week.  You see, he ran into a friend of his about a month ago, and was admiring his new 2016 King Ranch (another model of Ford Truck).  This is where he first got the idea for this particular mod.  Then he was talking with our neighbor Ed, and saw the same mod on Ed's 2015 C2500 ( yet another model of truck, but a Chevy).  So Rob did his research, placed the order, and just a few days later, a big ole heavy box arrived.

So, what is this mod I'm talking about?  Well just look at the picture below....

It's a BedStep2 by Amp Research.  Rob researched the Ford factory step retailing for about $380 delivered, or this model which he actually got to see in person thanks to his friend Ed for $244 delivered.  

So the very afternoon it arrived, thanks to the time change, and a quick supper, Rob set about assembling and installing the side step. 

Unpacking.....

All the pieces.....

All assembled......

Rob told me this part of the install wasn't bad at all.  The step is very heavy, the fastener hard wear all good quality.  It was the actual install that he said was a GRRRRRR.........  (You can ask him what that means if you want to, not me!!)

Here's a picture of the step once it was installed and tucked away underneath Levi.....

Here's a picture of the step extended for use to gain access to the front of the bed.  Rob says he likes the step and he's sure he will find it useful.

Well that's about it for now.  I think I need to go and help Rob cook breakfast.  (Yes, everyone thinks he's the cook, but if it wasn't for me toting all the food and gear, well you get the idea.....)

Until next time, stay safe out there......-Pod and the Gang

It's Easy Being Green......

Happy Saturday evening everyone.  It's Pod here and I'm back once again with the blogging duties.  What a day this has been.  It started out coolish, overcast, and with a brief shower.  But, as the day wore on, the clouds ran away, the sun came out, and it almost got hot.  But all in all it has been a good sort of day.  

Today is Rob's buddy Colton's 18th birthday.  Now Colton's favorite color in the whole wide world is green.  So to celebrate his birthday today, I had Rob turn my lights to green.  Looks good don't it?

And to carry on with the green theme, here's a few more "green" pictures from our day, just for Colton.....

I think all this yucky yellow pollen has Trisha feeling sorta "green."

A "green" sign at the camp office with a little map and a short history of the Town of Cheraw.

Here's the camp flag pole with the US and SC flags and "green" trees in the background.  Colton has helped put up the flags most every morning of school these past four years.  Thanks!!!

Also a few camping "happies" from Cousins Becky and Sharon.  Note the cute "green" book about wiener dogs and the "green" patches.

Well that about wraps it up for today.  I'll post later about what we did today, but Rob asked me to make a special post tonight just to celebrate Colton's birthday.

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

Happy Birthday Colton!!!!

Keep Calm and Camp On......

Happy Friday evening all.  It's Pod here doing the blogging duties once again.  I'm so happy, I'm back out camping.  Rob had to take his mom to the doctor's for a bit this morning, then he hitched me up to Levi and down the road we went.

This weekend we're camping at a new to us campground.  Cheraw State Park in Cheraw, SC.  It's a great little State Park.  It has a nice golf course, camping cabins, a beautiful lake, and I even have a lake side campsite.  To top it all off, about six this evening, Trisha and Jackson showed up, so we're complete for the weekend.

The weather today was beautiful, perfect camping weather.  Rob set up camp, took some pictures, took a nap, and fixed an appetizer for our supper.  You see, we're cooking with the CDO group Rob belongs too, and the group meal for this evening was appetizers.  

The weather is supposed to be not as nice tomorrow, with rain in the forecast, but it's ok, we're camping anyways.  Here's a few pictures from our day together to share with you tonight.  

Thanks for checking by today.   Looks like a lazy sort of day for us tomorrow, but you never know.  

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

Keep Calm and.....OH HECK NO!!!!!!

Happy Saturday evening all.  It's Pod here blogging again today.  I'm liking this blogging stuff, but I'm thinking the folks may catch onto my fun.  

On this beautiful early March Saturday here in my part of the world, Rob was out early giving Levi his Saturday bath, then he did a bunch of yard work.  I think he took his mom and Trisha out for lunch, then one of Kermit Pod's people came by for some Pod talk.  The best part about the Pod talk was that most of it was done with them inside of me!!  

After Kermit Pod's person (Jon, who's birthday is today!!! Happy Happy!) left, Rob got busy making my bed, sweeping me out and storing away the other clean camping linens.  You see, in two weeks the SC DOG campout kicks off my 2016 camping season and I can hardly wait.  

In case you don't know what SC DOG stands for, its the South Carolina Dutch Oven Gathering, hosted by my Aunt Sharon (SplashT@B's mom) and it will be held at Cheraw State Park, Cheraw, SC.  

Here's a picture of my bed all made-up nice and comfy and ready to go.....

Next, Rob went inside, dusted off his sewing machine and got busy working on his CDO apron.  You see, Rob has had the apron a good while.  In fact, he got the idea for the printing on the apron from his friend Mark (of furpod fame) and set about getting one made.

The reason behind the apron, is that for each camping event, challenge, or skill Rob completes in his CDO group, he can earn a badge.  Now being a former Boy Scout, Rob is all about badges, patches, and stickers.  HAHA.

And what better way to display all of his cooking awards than an apron.  Pretty neat idea isn't it?

Anyway, here's a picture of Rob's apron with his favorite patch sewn on.  Rob tried this one first, to see how it would work, and he was very happy with the results.  

About an hour later, he had sewn on all of he patches he has earned so far......

Turned out nice I think and it sure is a neat way to display Rob's achievements.   Rob said he sewed all the patches on crooked except the first one, just for fun.  

And as for the title to my blog post, well I'm tired of keeping calm, I'm ready to go camping!!!  

Thanks for checking by today and I look forward to blogging from the SC DOG real soon.

Until next time, stay safe out there......- Pod

February CDO Challenge.....

Happy Sunday afternoon everyone.  It's Pod back again today with the blogging duties.  Today, Rob decided since it was mostly warm and sunny, to complete the February CDO (Camping Dutch Oven, for those of you not in the know) cooking challenge.  The best part of this was I got to watch.

This month's challenge was to make a meal of what you had on-hand in your kitchen, pantry, freezer, etc.  So once Rob had all the cooking gear set up, he went in the house to gather the food and start preparing lunch.

Here is a picture of the ingredients he used for the CDO dishes that he cooked today.....

He told me that all of these things were items he keeps on hand normally, or in the case of the bacon and the chicken, things that had been around a little too long.

Here you can see the expiration date of the chicken he took out of the freezer.....

Next, here is a shot of the bacon he used for his Bacon Baked Beans.  He said it was still good to use because it didn't have any green fuzzy stuff growing on it.  I sure hope he was right!!

Up first, is the breaded chicken breasts.  He cut them in half, trimmed them as needed, then sprinkled them with the fajita seasoning and rolled them in the bread crumbs.  He then placed them in the foil pan and put it all in the 10" CDO.

Next, he prepared his Bacon Baked Beans.  To the can of baked beans, he added brown sugar, yellow mustard, ketchup, dried onion flakes, and topped it all with the bacon.  When I asked him how much of each item he added to the beans, he answer was, "enough." 

Of course, while Rob was looking after the food prep, I was watching charcoals get hot for him.  (We make such a good team in the kitchen or the camp!!)

Rob says the nice thing about getting me to help cook at home, is that it's kinda like we're on a camping trip.  It wasn't long either till Rob had the CDO's all stacked up and cooking.

Of course, he and I both sat down then and observed some rule called #9.  I'm not sure what that rule is all about, but Rob sure seemed to enjoy it!!  

In just a short while, he carried the CDOs in the house and well here are the results.

Rob said that everyone (Trisha, Trish's dad Arnold, and Rob's mom Von) enjoyed the CDO meal very much.  

And what does Rob get for this cooking fun, well besides a great meal, he gets a patch that looks like this.....

Picture thanks to Cousin Sharon!

Well that's about it for today.  I'm not so patiently waiting for my first camping trip in March, and I sure do hope some more CDO cooking is involved!!

Until next time, stay safe out there......-Pod

A Stabilizing Influence......

Happy Saturday everyone!! It's Pod here blogging again today.  I sure hope everyone has been doing good since my last blog post.  I'm just hangin' out in the Pod-Port waiting for the 2016 camping season to begin.

The last couple of afternoons, I've noticed that familiar big brown truck stopping by the house.  Then this morning, Rob brought two boxes down to the shop, and as he walked by me he just smiled.  

So a little later, I asked Rob what was up, and he said it would be Pod-mod time later on today.  Seems he was planning to fix a problem I've been living with ever since I came to live with Rob and Trisha.

You see, my driveway has a sharp incline at the very end, and even though the driveway is gravel, my rear stabilizers have always dragged through the gravel every time I both leave and return from a camping trip.  In fact, furpod had this same problem when they were here for the Christmas holiday.  

The last couple of trips, Rob has had to straighten my right, rear stabilizer jack after backing in the driveway.  After our last trip of the 2015 season, Rob said he had plans to fix this problem for good.  

Here you can see both of my rear stabilizers, and a close up of my mangled right, rear stabilizer.

Next, here are some pictures of the boxes Rob carried to the shop this morning.  The first picture is of my new stabilizer jacks and the special mounting plates Rob plans to use to mount them.

Below, is a picture of just the mounting plates. They are called Save-A-Jack.  They came in a set of two (for two jacks) and they allow the stabilizer jack to be quickly removed for travel.

Here's a picture of all the new hardware un-packed and checked over by Rob prior to install.  Rob said that while the new stabilizers included no mounting hardware, the Save-A-Jack plates had all the necessary hardware.

So Rob just jumped right in and started by removing my old mangled stabilizer jack.  Here's a view of my old jack removed and of the old mangled jack itself.

In the next two pictures, you can see the top half of the mounting plate attached to my frame.  Rob said this used two self-tapping screws and you have to be very careful not to over tighten them.

The second picture is of the other half of the mounting plate attached to my new stabilizer jack.  Rob said having all of the hardware included sure was nice.

In this next set of pictures, you can see the new jacks mounted, a close up of the clips that hold the jack in place when it is attached to me, a shot of both the jacks attached to my rear, and finally, a picture of the jacks extended.  They sure did feel sturdy.  I really liked them and Rob said he really did like this new set up.

Here's a picture of my jacks removed and safely stowed for travel in my storage bay.

Rob says I shouldn't have any problems with my jacks dragging now.  Rob also did one little mod to the jacks themselves.  He said the two clips which hold the mounting plates together looked liked something easy to loose.  So, he used some scrap wire to attached the clips to each jack.

Yup, I think that was a great idea too!!

Well that's about it for now.  I'm going to wrap up this post, take a nap, and  dream dreams of warm sunny days on the road.

Until next time, stay safe out there.....- Pod