Good Things are Happening.......

Happy Friday evening everyone!!  It's Pod back blogging tonight.  Rob, Trisha, and Jackson said to tell everyone hello.  Rob and Trisha are down to one day of school left before the Holiday Break, and Jackson is keeping busy, keeping his cat posse under control!!

While I'm out in my pod-port all decorated for Christmas, some good things are happening, I just know it.  

First of all, Rob turned on my fridge yesterday afternoon.  That can only mean one thing.....a camping trip is coming up soon!!

Second, the other day I saw the big brown truck stop by and drop off a package.  Turns out part of the package was a present for me!! 

Seems the West Coast part of the family sent Rob a neat indoor/outdoor weather station just for me.  Today Rob found a place inside to mount the control panel and he also mounted the remote sensor to my spare tire mount out back.

Many thanks to the West Coast bunch for this neat Christmas present!!

Next, one of Trisha's teacher friends made this awesome picture just for me.  (Trisha said it was for her, but everyone knows I'm the star of this show!)

Isn't this just grand!! I sure do love it.  Rob had to move my tissue box holder, which was no problem, to have the perfect place to mount my new picture.

Well I 'd better wrap this us.  I think my people have a busy weekend planned.  Be sure to check by later to find out what all they get up to.

Thanks for checking by today.  

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

Yup, Thanksgiving is the BEST......

That's what Rob says about Thanksgiving.  He says it's his favorite holiday by far.  All I have to say is I'm tucked away all comfy in my Pod-Port waiting until my next trip!

Evening everyone, it's Pod blogging this evening.  I think all my people are in something called a food coma.  Rob told me early this morning the menu was Ham, Turkey, candied yams, green bean casserole, 7-layer salad, Parker house rolls, cornbread dressing.  Oh wow!  And dessert was coconut-cream cheese pound cake, Derby Pie, and Pumpkin Pie.  No wonder everyone in the house is napping!!

The Holiday kicked-off Tuesday afternoon with the South Rowan Christmas Parade.  It comes right by our house.  Here's Jackson checking out the action.....

Then they all spent Wednesday running errands, cleaning, and cooking....

Wednesday evening, Rob's nephew Pat arrived for the weekend.  He's stationed at the Naval Training Facility at Charleston, SC.  

Then today, Trisha's mom and dad joined in for the Thanksgiving feast!!

So you can see, all my people have had a great Thanksgiving so far.  I'd better be getting off of here, I think I hear someone making something called a turkey sandwich.

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

Grand Theft Blog......

Happy Wednesday before Thanksgiving everyone.  Rob says Thanksgiving is his favorite holiday!!  It's has been almost a month since our last blog post.  Wow!  Where on Earth did November go?

Now there really hasn't been all that much to blog about anyway.  But today, the table is set, the salads and desserts made, and the real cooking is set to start at four a.m. Thursday morning.  

We wanted to send out a pre-Turkey Day post, and after reading Cousin's Sharon's Postcards blog today, Rob decided to just flat out steal her idea and artwork!!  Thanks Cuz!!!!  Yes, we too have been in a blogging lull.

Well here it is, our kick off camping trip is scheduled for the season.  Thanks to SC State Parks, we're getting a 50% off Black Friday Deal.  Check it out.....

So if your in the neighborhood (or not) and think you might like to join us, by all means do so!!

We want to finish by wishing all our family and friends a most happy Thanksgiving Day with food, fellowship, family, and friends.  Also, take just a moment to reflect and give thanks for all we have.  

Until next time, stay safe out there.....-R,T,& J and all the rest of Team R&T!!!

Thinking about Camping......

Happy Saturday afternoon everyone.  We sure hope everyone is having a great weekend so far.  Here in our part of North Carolina, its a grey, dreary, cold, wet day.  UGH!!  At least it isn't snowing like up in the mountains where we were this past weekend.

Since we aren't camping, we can at least dream about camping a little bit.   

In fact, if your not camping, scoot on over to Cousin Sharon's Postcard Blog and read about the fun she's been having on her Coastal Caravan this past week or so.

You can also check out our 2015 Trips page.  We've already got 20 nights of camping reserved so far for 2015.  This doesn't even count the 2015 ERU or 2015 F.R.O.G., neither of which we can make reservations for yet.

We've got one more trip scheduled for this camping season.  That's Hunting Island State Park for the Christmas Holiday.  

So here's one picture for you of trips past......

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.  

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

Pod Gets to Post.....

Happy Sunday Evening everyone.  It's Pod here this evening making this blog post.  I told Rob it had been forever since I had made a post so he said, "Go for it!!"

Now Rob and Trisha went to the mountains camping this weekend to enjoy the fall scenery.  But I think with all the great pics Rob took of me, it was just to hang out with me!!

Here's a few examples of the pictures Rob took of me (good thing I'm so photogenic).....

Now Rob tells me he and Trisha had a great time out and about Saturday, and that the scenery was breathtaking, but I really think I know better.

They also told me they had a great dinner of homemade pizza and craft beer Saturday evening......

 I still think what they enjoyed the best was hanging with me at the campground.....

Heck, even Trisha graded some school work while enjoying the afternoon at the campsite.....

I will admit though, we did see some pretty amazing scenery this weekend along the Blue Ridge Parkway, and here is a picture or two.....

Well I guess I'd better wrap it up here this evening.  It's been a blast blogging for everyone this evening.  I hope to get blog again soon.

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

A Mountain Saturday......

Happy weekend everyone.  We hope all of our readers are enjoying the same beautiful weather we're enjoying this weekend!!

We are back in the North Carolina High Country camping this weekend.  Rob had same pretty painful oral surgery this week, so he took Friday off to recover.  He's still taking ibuprofen on a regular schedule and slowly feeling better.  

As soon as Trisha got home Friday we were off, arriving about 5:30 with just enough daylight left to set up camp and then we hopped back in truck to a favorite Mexican Restaurant for supper.  

We sat out by the Little Red Campfire to enjoy the evening and were off to bed about 10 p.m.  

Today we managed a breakfast buffet, a quick stop by Wal-Mart, a quick stop by The Soap Shed to say hello and chat a bit, a stop by an outfitters, then it was back north on the Blue Ridge Parkway to view the sights.  Followed by a stop by Linville Falls Winery to sample and even buy some wine.  Then back to campground to just relax and for Trisha to grade some papers.  

Here are just a few pictures of our day so far......

Thanks for checking by today!!  

Until next time, stay safe out there.....-R & T (J is grandma sitting this weekend)

Gathering Supplies......

Happy Sunday morning everyone.  We never did finish telling about our camping trip this past weekend.  There simply wasn't very much to tell. 

We slept in till about 8 a.m. Sunday, dressed, ate breakfast, broke camp (the temperature was about 33 degrees when we got up so we weren't in such a big hurry) and pulled out of the campground about 10 a.m.  

We could have drove straight home, but there's no fun in that, and since the morning dawned bright and clear, we chose to make about a 30 mile detour north along the Blue Ridge Parkway just to see the fall color.  The views were spectacular as always, and even more so on this crisp clear morning.  

That wraps up the last camping trip, so onto the topic of today's post.   If you remember, the purpose of this weekend's camping trip was so that Rob could attend a class on the art and science of soap making.  Rob thoroughly enjoyed the class, and has been busy gathering supplies, and building some items for his foray into soap making for himself.

But first, a soap update.  Here's the very first batch of Castile soap Rob made in his class, moments after it was poured into the mold....

And here it is, seven days later when Rob popped it out of the mold so it could breathe better for another seven days....

In another week, Rob will cut it into bars and then it will dry another few weeks before being ready for use.  So far, so good with this first batch of soap.

As we said earlier, Rob has spent the week ordering and gathering supplies.  From the dollar store, Lowes, Amazon, other online companies, Rob has ordered a scale, base oils, Lye, fragrance oils, essential oils, and a few other odds and ends.  

This weekend he has spent building two pound wood molds to pour the soap mixtures into.....

He has even built a wire hand cutter to cut the soap, and a mitre box to help keep the cuts straight.  

He's even pressed into soap making service a couple of old stainless steel cooking pots to mix the lye solution in, and now he's on the lookout for old crockpots.  

That's about it for today.  It's a cool, rainy, dreary day here in our part of the world.  A perfect day to just stay inside and read a good book.

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