Books From The Road

Hey y'all . . . I cannot believe I snitched the computer twice in just a few days! Momma Sharon has been busy working on some details of the Coastal Caravan II and the 2016 Blue Ridge Rally.  She sure does love all this rally stuff, but it's an awful lot of notes and memos and lists to keep up with!

A week after we both got back from hanging out in The Holler with The Ritchies, she got a great Shutterfly coupon in the mail featuring 40% off and free shipping!  Besides making those cool Smilebox collages, she really likes to make books from her road trips.  And that's just what she did.  She pulled all the best photos she took of me and the mountains and Dutch oven cooking and created this book for us . . .

On Thursday I told you that a great way to capture all the fun moments of your camping trips was with a Smilebox collage, but an even funner way is with a Shutterfly book.  No I don't get paid for doing endorsements, it's just neat to pull one of my books off the shelf and relive the adventure.

Until the next time I have a Story to tell you, always remember . . .

"Peace, Love & Camping Books From The Road"

Camping Smiles

Mornin' to all my camping friends!  I wanted to share a Short Story with you this morning featuring me and my Camper Mom at our recent outing in The Holler where we camped with The Cousins.  If you've been reading my Stories for a while, then you know that Momma Sharon always makes a collage of our trip.  This morning she created our July in the Holler Collage and I am dying to show you our Smilebox creation . . . 

I am gearing up for my next outing in Maryland where we will be cooking up a Dutch oven storm. Until then, always remember . . . 

"Peace, Love & Camping Smiles"

Camping In The Holler

Mornin' camper friends!  It's Friday and that means that many of you will be out in a campground having the time of your lives.  That was me a couple of weeks ago and it will be me in a couple of weeks from now!

I've had a good time this week sharing Stories with you from The Holler.  Since Momma Sharon is feeling better, she will be snatching the computer back from me any time now.  So let me share a few more photos and wrap up this fun week with one last Story.

My last 5 vintage pennants got hung this week

We love to wake up with the sun, windows open, shades up

Look at those temps!  Flatlanders, eat your hearts out!! 

Ain't it the truth . . . especially in a campground

Still diggin' the tablecloth that Aunt Becky gave me

What a way to start my day . . . waking up in The Holler

That's my Cousin Pod right next door

Stylin' and profilin' with my blue window awning on Tuesday

Momma flipped it over on Wednesday for a new look

Check out Dutch Oven Central out back 

You gotta take Pod's advice and "JUST GO"

Love, love, love Pod's tablescape 

Raccoon Holler is a home away from home

Site 123, a great site up on the hill . . . I'll be back next summer!

Thanks for dropping by each day this week.  I will see ya at the end of August as Momma Sharon, Aunt Becky, and I hit the road for Cunningham Falls State Park in Maryland.  Until then, always remember . . . 

"Peace, Love, and Camping In The Holler"

Cheapo Camping Fun

Mornin' campers!  Splash here again with a little Story for your Thursday morning.  My Camper Mom doesn't make it a habit of going to dollar & discount stores on a weekly basis like lots of folks do, but from time to time she does frequent places like Dollar Tree to pick up plastic albums for her Dutch oven cookbooks or to look for seasonal picnic items.  

A couple years ago she scored a beach umbrella and stand at Family Dollar.  It was the end of the summer season and they were on sale for $5.00.  Yep, five bucks!  That bargain has been tucked away in storage just waiting for the perfect camping trip.  Out it came a couple weeks ago when we were headed to The Holler with Pod!

It might have been cheap, but it's pretty and it compliments my splashy blues and greens.  When I look at our photos from the trip, it's obvious that Momma Sharon changed its location several times during the week.  The reason was that our site had a slope to it and we had a tough time finding a place to sit it that was level.

She filled the base with water and that's what anchored it for us. When it was time to pack up, all we had to do was dump the water.  Pretty smart, huh?!

The only disappointing thing about our cheapo umbrella is that while it did provide shade, it still let the heat through, so it was actually kinda hot to sit under.  For five bucks, you get what you get.

Several years ago, my Camper Mom scored another cool Family Dollar camping item . . . a little metal stool for $5.00.  She has used it over and over and over and it ALWAYS goes with us.  I don't know that she will always pack the FD umbrella, but I like it and that's all that counts!!

The weekend is almost here, so maybe you should check out your local Family Dollar to see if they have any coolio camping items that might make your trip more fun!  Until then, always remember . . . 

"Peace, Love, and Cheapo Camping Fun"

Splashy Bucket Light

Back in The Holler during the 2014 Blue Ridge Rally, one of Mom's friends gifted her with a bucket light.  Dwane and Margaret had their bucket light hanging way up in one of the pine trees and it provided a soft light to their whole campsite (and beyond).  They used a rope to hoist it up high, then ran a long extension cord to it for power.  If you look up above their T@B, you will see it hanging way up high during the daylight hours . . . 

Back in June at the ERU with Pod, I saw a set of bucket lights hanging outside of Travis and Carrie's Pod.  Every night during the rally across the road from me, those little white buckets put on the most amazing multi-color LED light show.  I made Momma Sharon go over and find out the secret from MoosePod's parents.  You see, my bucket light has just one color . . . white.

The little gizmo that Miss Carrie is holding provides the magic.  Well, come to find out, I wasn't the only curious one in the campground, Uncle Rob was gathering info too.  In fact, he told me that if we brought our little white bucket to The Holler, he would make it do magical things too!

And that's just what we did.  On Monday after we all got settled in for our camping week, he installed the magic LED bulb and handed the control to Momma Sharon.  Every single night we went to sleep with a rainbow of colors falling on us.

On Momma Sharon's to-do list is to find something to hang it from rather than put it on the picnic table. If she can't find just what she's looking for, we will just put it on our Dutch oven cooking platform like we did after the first night.

Thanks for coming by tonight to see if I had a Bedtime Story to tell.  I appreciate that and until it's Story Time again, always remember . . . 

"Peace, Love, & Colorful Camping"

We Love Sara!!

Today there was a little package in the mailbox that I knew was mine! Momma Sharon and I have a long-distance T@Bbing-artist-friend named Sara Mordecai.  She lives all the way out in California, but we actually got to meet her in person during the Tearstock Gathering up in Ohio a couple summers ago. She walked over to our site on Friday morning and gave us the cutest little painting of ME!!

Since then, she and Mom have kept in touch via Facebook.  Last year, we both wanted a very special logo for our Blue Ridge Rally and there was only one person we considered for the job . . . Sara!  She was tickled to death when we asked her to design our official logo and when we received it, we were blown away.  Of course I love it because it looks kinda like me sitting here in the mountains.  And you know what?  Sara gifted us with the logo and we used it on t-shirts, decals, for our Facebook cover photo, and everything that represented the BRR.

Guess what?  Sara is busy creating a new logo for the 2016 Blue Ridge Rally with all new colors and a whole new design.  We are trying to stay calm and wait patiently, but it's hard!

Now back to that package that arrived today.  Sara is a designer for a fabric company right here in NC called Spoonflower.  They have design competitions and invite artists to submit entries.  Sara has designed a whole line of fabrics featuring T@Bs!  A couple weeks ago, Mom ordered a yard of fabric to make a couple special pillows for me.  When I saw the fabric, I immediately thought that Sara must have had me in mind during its creation.  See if you think there's a resemblance.

Now you know why we love Sara.  She's the Momma to a T@B like me, she's an incredibly gifted artist that has lots of fun with her talents, and she's our FRIEND!!  We wish there was a way she could come to the Blue Ridge to join in all the fun!  If you'd like to see all the cool T@B fabrics on Spoonflower, then click on their logo and I'll beam you over there.

Just as soon as we get our new 2016 BRR logo, I'll tell you the Story behind it.  Until then, always remember . . . 

"Peace, Love, and Artistic Friends"

The Splash Effect

Hey everyone . . . I'm back for a little Story, photo-style.  I had an outstanding time camping at Raccoon Holler with Pod and his People and of course, Momma Sharon.  One of the cool things I did was to pose for the camera one evening while my Camper Mom tried out some of the settings on her new camera.  There's a little button on the dial called "Effects" and here's what I look like with a few of them applied . . . .

This one is "HDR Painting" and I think it's far out!

Here's a soft "Color Sketch" effect that is nice too

This one stole all the color out and is called "Night Vision"

I'm not sure exactly what this does, but it's called "Low Key"

In "Toy Effect", I have a dreamy kinda look 

This last one is the original, with no fancy effects, just me

Since Momma Sharon is still a bit under the weather (she picked up a bug in The Holler), I might just snitch the computer for a few days and send you some Stories.  It's been a long time since we got together, just you and me, and I need to catch you up on some stuff.

Until tomorrow, always remember . . . 

"Peace, Love, & Groovy Camping Photos"