Day 2 - Exploring Oak Mountain State Park

We are staying at Oak Mountain State Park.  It is located in Pelham, AL which is outside of Birmingham.  It's a nice park.  There are a lot of trails, a petting farm, beaches, golf, fishing and a rehab center for animals.  We walked on the trail that led to the birds that are being rehabbed.  Scout didn't want to go.  She was upset when the Jeep stopped and we got out.  The whole time we were on the trail, she wanted to turn around and go back to the Jeep.  Daddy tricked her though and we went on a boardwalk that went in a circle.  She was quite confused that we ended up where we started.  She even did steps to get off the trail.  Daddy said she will just have to stay in the motor home if she doesn't want to participate on our walks.  It's only Day 2 and she is already not wanting to participate.  Mama says she is just tired because she didn't sleep at all on the ten hour drive.  I didn't either, but I like doing things more than Scout does.  She is fine.  She just likes her bed better than exercise. 

Scout not wanting to participate on our walk this morning.

Albino Turkey Vulture in the rehab area of the park.  There were also owls and hawks.

 

A view from the top of the mountain.

One of the lakes.

 

Just the view as we drove through the park.

We ate lunch at Whataburger.  We don't have those in our area, so Mama wanted to try it.  She said it was good.  Daddy said it was better than the $14 hamburger he had at the airport.  They both said they would eat it again. We didn't have any of the burgers, but we did try a couple of the fries.  We had no complaints.

Here we are waiting for our food at Whataburger.

Mama plans on rating the campgrounds that we stay in.  Last night, she gave this campground a 2 out of 5, but decided that might be too harsh.  We have only stayed at Missouri State parks and a few privately owned campgrounds. This is our first state park outside of Missouri, so maybe we need to see a few more to properly rate it.  Daddy said we should give it a 3 out of 5.  The sites are small.  They have full hook-ups which are water, sewer and electric next to sites that have no hook-ups.  That seems strange to us. Our site is a pull thru.  However, it is a very strange pull thru.  We could pull thru if we didn't need to hook up to electric, water and sewer.  We had to pull in and then back up to reach those.  The Jeep is actually in the pull thru.  It may be hard to tell in the photo, but it is a strange site.

There is grass and a picnic table behind the motor home.  The pull thrus we are used to allow you to actually pull thru and not have to back in to reach utilities.

There are a lot of bird houses around the campsite and that's nice.  There is a bluebird house on our site with birds living in it.   There is also poison ivy or maybe it's poison oak on the ground.  We have to be careful where we walk.  The sites are gravel and the roads are gravel.  It's not a bad place, but not as nice as our state parks. 

Mama and Daddy are going to leave us later today to do things that do not allow dogs.  That doesn't seem fair.  I guess I will have to update you tomorrow on what they did.

We leave tomorrow for Florida. We are still figuring out where we are going to stop.  We thought it might be Sarasota, but it maybe a longer drive than we want to do in one day.  

That's all for now.  It's nap time!

Joey

The Greyhound Who Likes Alabama

Our HUGE Adventure Has Begun!

Day 1

We left the house at 6:45 a.m.

We were pretty excited at first.  However, it really wasn't much fun until we stopped at our first rest area.  We got to sniff around a lot. We were too busy sniffing to really get photos.

 We went through a few states on our way here.

 
We drove by my old work place, Southland Greyhound Park.  Mama didn't get a good picture of it though because she didn't know we were passing it until it was almost too late.  You have to look past Daddy to see it.

Then we passed through a few more states.

Mama said I did really good traveling.  I stopped whining after about a half hour.  However, both Scout and I got in trouble for pulling at our second stop.  Mama was not happy with us at all.  She said it looked like we had never been on leashes before.  She was very disappointed in us since she had been working so hard on getting us to walk without pulling her.  We were so excited that we forgot all our training.

Daddy put a divider in our bed and we each have our own area.  Scout doesn't like to be touched, so it keeps the peace. Our bed already looks a mess, doesn't it?

Hopefully, tomorrow we will be a little more fun to read about.  We are very tired and are going to turn in early tonight.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Living The Dream

One More Day!

It's just one more day until our big HUGE adventure begins!  There is so much to do, so I can't talk long.

Yesterday, the folks were gone most of the day.  Scout and were not happy about that.  They had a lot of errands to run. They came home for about two hours and left again.  They had a good-bye dinner with the family.  After they got home, Daddy worked on getting our portable satellite system going.  He had trouble finding a clear spot for it since we have a lot of trees.  It took him about three hours, but we now we have TV again. Our cable service ended yesterday. We are using our hotspot for Internet service. Mama says this is our new life, so we have to get used to it.  Mama is sad that she won't be able to watch the Blues play tonight because we don't have the channel they play on.

We are leaving early in the AM tomorrow morning. We will be driving about ten hours. We will put a map on the blog so you can follow our travels.  We hope you come along on our adventure!

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Ready For The Huge Adventure To Begin

He's Home!

Daddy finally made it home last night. He didn't get home until around 11 p.m. It seemed like the day stretched on forever. Mama along with Grandpa and Grandma left our house at 7:30 p.m. to pick him up. The airport is about an hour away. They stopped at Wendy's on the way home since he was hungry. I guess it didn't matter to them that we were waiting for him.

Mama took a video of us. The color is not great since the lighting was bad, but you can see us. I was excited, but this is how I act when I'm excited. I run from room to room and I eat my food. I always do that when Dad comes home from work. After I calmed down, I got hugs from Daddy. I had to check on Daddy a few times last night to be sure he was still in bed. I can't believe he is finally home. 

Did you notice my fancy foot work?  See, my leg is doing good even with my fun run this week.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Happy To Have His Family All Together Again

A Plane Crashed By Our House

Yesterday, Mama was on the phone and she said "Joey, there is a plane flying low in the field across from our house."  After she got off the phone, she said she was going to see if he landed in the field.  Just as she was getting her camera, we heard a boom and our power went out.  She looked out the window and said "Oh, no!  The plane has crashed in the road!"  She went out to the front porch and took a few photos.  She didn't want to get closer.  There were people gathered around quickly and they had cell phones, so she knew the police had been called.

He clipped the power lines and then it fell to the ground. The pilot was able to walk home which is amazing.  Apparently, he lives by the goats and horses that we visit.  They towed the plane to his yard.  It was his first flight with the plane. We heard one report that he built the plane himself.  He said he was just trying to get home, but couldn't get enough height.  He really didn't make it very far.  He must have flown over our backyard since the neighbor said he flew over her house.

Two news channels wanted Mama to go on camera, but she refused.  She said she didn't see it happen and since the pilot survived, it was pretty much a non-story.  One of the photographers thought I was a cool dog and he rubbed my ears.  Mama almost told him the story of my life, but she decided against it.  She can be pretty chatty at times. 

It definitely made our last day without Daddy rather exciting. Oh and I almost forgot to tell you about the bee.  A bee got in our house and I tried to catch it. Mama said "NO, JOEY, DON'T!"   She killed it, but it took her quite a while.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Had A Very Strange Day

I'm Fine

Joey here to tell you that my fun run didn't cause any real damage to my leg/foot. I do have a cut between my toes and I am sore, but I'm fine.  I was grounded from the big yard for a day.  Mama let me walk around the big yard this morning after our walk.  I got in trouble on my walk because I was pulling really hard.  There were bunnies all over. They were running down the road and two almost got hit by cars.  How could I not be excited?  Mama got aggravated with both me and Scout.  She said that I am a speed boat and Scout is an anchor. After we got back to the house, she took me back outside without Scout and we worked on me walking without pulling. I did really good and I got lots of praise.  I was allowed to go in the big backyard as my reward. 

Mama bought me a new hedgehog on Monday before my fun run.  I love hedgehogs.  This one really has a good grunt to it.  I think it got on Scout's nerves with the grunting.  I'm taking at least two hedgehogs on our HUGE adventure because I love them so much.  I take them outside and that makes Mama laugh. I just like to have them with me.

Mama and I were relaxing on the deck last night and we heard a strange noise in the house. She thought Scout fell or something.  It was Scout playing with the hedgehog. Mama said that Scout never really played with toys before I came along.  I think Scout wanted us in the house with her.  She doesn't really like being outside.

Last night, a fly got in the house.  I hate when flies get in the house.  They drive me crazy!

Well folks, tomorrow is the big day!  Daddy will be home, but not until late.  Mama hopes to take a video of our reaction.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is No Longer Grounded

We'll Have Fun, Fun, Fun Until ......

.....Mama takes our yard away and locks us in the house!

Scout reporting to you today because Joey is grounded.   Last night, Mama decided to cut the grass in the backyard.  She told us we could watch her from the deck.  We had access to our little yard, but not the big yard where she was cutting.  Joey and I decided that while Mama was occupied cutting the yard, we would play.  We starting running up and down the ramp and then we played in the little yard.  We have never played before because of Joey's restrictions.  Mama still didn't want us to play, so that's why we had to do it while she couldn't get to us fast.  She saw us and told us to be careful.  The next thing I knew, Joey had escaped from the little yard into the big yard with Mama. Now, don't panic.  The big yard is all fenced.  Joey started doing zoomies in the yard.  He ran past Mama. She turned off the lawnmower and told him to stop.  He didn't, of course.  He finally got tired and he laid in the yard.  I just stood in the little yard with my mouth open.  Finally, Mama said I could come in the big yard, but no running. Well, I had to do a little running.  Mama held onto Joey so he wouldn't chase me.  I then laid in the yard.  The grass felt so good.  Joey and I had never laid in the grass together before.  It was fun!

After we rested, Mama said she needed to get the grass cut.  She took us back into the little yard and asked Joey how he had escaped, but Joey played dumb.  Mama closed the gate she made for the little yard and went back to cutting the grass.  The next thing she knew, Joey was running all over the big yard.  He ran and ran and ran.  He dug a hole and ran some more. Mama was angry.  She took me inside the house and she was mumbling all sorts of things, but mainly saying that he was going to get hurt and we are leaving in a few days.  She got his leash and went back outside and brought him in.  He wasn't limping which surprised both of us. Mama locked us inside the house and she went back to cutting the grass.  When she came in, Joey was limping.  Mama looked over his leg and noticed he cut himself between the toes and it's on his bad foot.  She gave him some medicine and he seemed better.  He is still sleeping this morning, so I don't know how he is, but we expect him to be a little sore.  Mama made more changes to the gate and she doesn't think he will be able to get out again.  If he does, he will not be allowed to go into the small yard by himself anymore.  We had fun while it lasted.  Honestly, if he didn't hurt his leg last night, it's probably going to be okay.  He gave it a good workout.

Scout,
The Greyhound Whose Brother Is Not As Clueless As He Looks

I'm Not A Morning Dog

I'm not a morning dog. I like to slowly wake up in the morning. Sometimes I sleep all night in the kitchen and sometimes it is the living room.  Mama always comes in and says good morning to me and gives me an ear rub.  I chatter a little and then she asks if I want to go outside.  Sometimes I will go out and stand on the deck and survey my kingdom, but I rarely do my business until later.  Sometimes I just stay in bed and save checking out the yard for later.  If Mama has opened the curtains, I cover my eyes or I go to the office to sleep because it's very dark in there.  It takes me about an hour to wake up and begin my day.  Mama thinks it's funny that it takes me so long to get going in the morning.  She is a morning person and when she gets up, she is ready to start the day.  I like to linger in bed. 

Are the rest of you morning dogs or evening dogs?

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Likes To Wake Up Slowly

Horses, Cows and a Fox - YIKES!

Next week at this time, we will be on our HUGE adventure.  Mama says we have a lot of work to do today.  We need to get serious about packing.  I thought we were getting serious.  She said we will feel better when we have more things out in the motor home.  I feel fine, but I think she will feel better.

We took our morning walk this morning.  We walked down the road with the goats, cows and horses.  The horses were out this morning, so we stopped by and said "howdy" to them.

 

Yes, you are seeing tractor trailers and boats in the background.  The goats and horses live in a storage yard.  It's kind of sad.

After we visited the horses, goats and cows, we headed back home.  We were looking at our backyard when we heard a rustling sound.  Mama thought it might be a rabbit or a squirrel.  It was a FOX!   Mama said "AAAAAAA!"  The fox looked at us and looked at Mama and took off running.  Sorry, there is no photo. Mama was too busy screaming.  He was a cute little guy.  He was about five feet from us when the screaming occurred.  The neighbors chickens better be careful with that fox around. 

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Had A Close Encounter With A Fox

Bunnies, Squirrels, Cows, And Goats, Oh My!

This morning on our walk, we saw bunnies, squirrels, cows and goats. The bunnies and squirrels were fun to watch, of course.  The goats were very interesting. 

Mama didn't let us get too close because their Mama was giving us a nasty look. There was another goat that may have been their Dad and he was really watching us.  Sorry the picture isn't better.   Mama took it on her phone and it didn't turn out too good.

After we got home, Mama left us.  She went to yard sales. She's been doing that since Daddy has been gone.  She loads up her Tom Tom with the addresses and off she goes.  She says it's a fun time.

She came home and I got to play in the big yard.  Can you see me?

 What about now?

 Now?  I'm that white speck by the bushes near the shed. Really, I am there.

I love being on my own in the yard.  Mama is still not letting me and Scout in the big yard together.  Scout has to watch me from the deck.

After I played in the yard, Scout played in the yard.  She did two laps and smiled at us as she ran by.  I then took my turn and just did a trot around the yard, but I zoomed past Mama and ran up the ramp which caused her to say "JOEY, PLEASE BE CAREFUL!"  

Mama started loading up the motor home today.  She made four or five trips and declared that she was tired.  She then sprayed the weeds in the driveway.  She finally sat down and turned on the computer and here I am writing to you about today's events. 

Oh, Mama made us new collars yesterday.

See, they have the states on them.  Very cool for traveling.  Scout needs to switch out her purple ID collar for a blue one because the purple clashes.  I have a blue one too.  Mama needs to wash my black ID collar.  I better add that to the list of things we need to do.

Five more days until you know who gets home!

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Has Had A Busy Saturday

Downhill Slide

Are you watching the countdown banner? It's only six days until Daddy comes home!  Mama says we have a lot to do because we are leaving two days after he gets home. Yesterday, Mama figured out what clothes she wants to take.  She went to the store and bought a few more things.  Last night, she went through the cupboards and purged food that we are not going to be taking because there is just not room in the motor home.  It was food that was already opened, so it couldn't be donated.  Some of it was expired.  Yikes!   She still needs to figure out how the best way to pack the spices and seasonings so that they fit in the motor home pantry.  A trip to the dollar store is definitely planned before they have containers and other things that Mama buys for the motor home.

Mama wants to make us each a new collar this weekend.  It's not like we need them, but she found this material that has the state shapes on it and it seems perfect for traveling.

I heard Mama tell Daddy that I am being such a good boy. She told him that I am walking so much better on my leash.  I'm not whining as much and I'm just being her buddy.  She says it's like I'm a different dog. What?  Was I bad before?  Nah, I'm just happy that I'm off of restrictions and as long as my routine is followed everything is good.

It's a rainy day here.  Mama says we need to walk ourselves, but I think she needs to walk us.  I'm whining this morning because she is not following my routine.  She's going to have to walk us in the rain when we are traveling, so why can't she today?

Mama has been working hard to keep us from being bored.  We took a ride in the car Tuesday night.  We just drove down the old highway.   It was fun even though we didn't get out of the car.  It was nice to get out of the house for a little while.  Scout hadn't been out since Daddy left.

One night, we listened to dogs barking on the computer.

If we are really bored Mama plays hide and seek with us. 

Playing with toys and chewing on bully sticks is always a nice way to spend an evening.

Daddy is more than ready to come home.  He is taking a tour of St. John's Island today.  I think that is what it is called.  He is off on Fridays and Saturdays, but he hasn't had a full day off yet.  It seems like he works later and later each day.  He used to call us around 4:30 p.m., but now it is closer to 9:30 p.m. There is just so much to do there.

Joey,
The Greyhound Whose Daddy Will Be Home In Less Than A Week

Bunnies Are Everywhere!

We were on a walk this morning and we had to stop and watch the bunnies.  They shook their furry white tails at us.  I think they were laughing at us because they saw we were on leashes and couldn't get to them.
(I look taller than Scout, but it's just the angle of the camera or something.)

Yesterday, Mama saw a baby bunny run into our shed. We knew those bunnies were up to something in that shed.

I'm happy to say that I am not limping from my run yesterday. Mama said that I cannot run again for a few days.  She is so worried that I will get hurt before our HUGE adventure starts.   Oh, I forgot to tell you that after I ran the two laps, I play bowed to Mama.  I have never done that before. Mama says I am being a very good boy while Daddy is gone.  I'm being her buddy.  I follow her wherever she goes. Scout just sleeps.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Ready To Teach Those Bunnies A Lesson

I Ran!

Remember Mama saying that she was not going to let me run for a while?  Well, I had other ideas.  Today, she decided to cut the grass in the backyard.  As usual, I laid on the deck and watched her. She took several breaks because the backyard is really just a big hill.  While she was taking a break, she said "Joey, would like to sit in the backyard while I take a break?"  As soon as she opened the gate so that I could reach her in the big backyard, I took off running.  It was like a start gate opening.  I know she was scared, but UCME Bubbasparks was once again running. I ran two laps. Scout came out and watched me from the deck.  She cried because she wanted to run with me. Mama said no.  She said it was bad enough that I was running before she thought I was ready.  After I did my laps, I laid in the grass.  It was pure bliss!   Mama is happy that I am not limping.  She said "Well, it looks like your leg held together okay."  

I haven't had a run since I broke my leg in August 2010.  Let me tell you, it feels good to run again.  I have a feeling that Mama will still try to smother me for a little bit longer, but today was fun.

So after I did my run and Mama calmed down, she started cutting the grass in the area that Scout and I use.  It's pretty muddy and Mama slipped and landed on her butt.  She said "Joey, I am not even going to check to see if that is mud or something else on my pants."  Yep, it was better she didn't check.  She finished cutting the grass and immediately put her clothes in the washing machine.  Thank goodness for washing machines.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Very Happy Today

My First Meet & Greet

I am home from my first Meet and Greet!  It was fun!  Mama was nervous that I might do something wrong, but I don't think I did.  We had lots of rain this morning and Mama said we might need to go late because she didn't want to try and get me in the store if it was pouring down rain.  We watched the radar and we had a break in the rain, so we took off.  We told Scout I was going to see the vet and she needed to stay home. She was not happy, but she had a Frosty Treat to help her feel better.

I have never been in a store except if you count seeing Santa.  I don't count that because it wasn't a big store like the store I went to today.  Now I know where Mama buys our treats and food. The smells were wonderful.

There was just me and a cute little girl who is up for adoption.  She only weighs 55 pounds.  Can you imagine?  She was really playful.  She wanted me to play, but I was trying to be on my best behavior.  A family came by today who is interested in adopting her.  We hope they do because it looks like a really good match.  She would have three kids to play with and they seemed to like her.  She watched them as they walked out the store, so I think she liked them, too.

I walked around the store a little bit and Miss Lisa worked with me on the proper way to walk on a leash.  She said I was smart.  Mama said "Really?"   Sheesh, Mom!  It's not like I haven't learned things while living here.  I don't know tricks, but I'm well-behaved.  I whine, but that's because you are not following my routine. Miss Jane reminded Mama that all I have known is going to the vet and haven't really gotten out that much. I came here from the farm.  That's so true, there is a whole world out there that I have not experienced.  I'm off of restrictions now, so watch out world, Joey E is out and about.

Here I am at the meet and greet.

The toys are not new toys from the store. (Didn't want you to think we were playing with store toys.)  We donated them to the foster dogs in our group and the foster girl who was there was deciding which one she wanted.  I was supposed to buy a new toy for Scout, but I forgot all about it until now.

Scout was so happy to see us.  She sniffed me and asked me where I had been.  I told her that I saw a girl greyhound that was not big-boned like her.  She was not impressed.

I really liked the meet and greet. Everyone was so nice to me.  Mama said that we will be doing those whenever we are in town, so that's exciting.

I'm tired now though.  I think I will sleep good tonight.

Scout is tired, too, but I don't know why.  It makes me wonder what she was doing while we were gone.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Likes Meeting and Greeting

It's My First Restriction-Free Day!!!!

It's finally here!  I am restriction-free. We do not know why my name is messed up on the banner.  Mama is still going to limit my running.  She says I need to work into it.   I can now ride in the Jeep since I can get in and out on my own. I'm not sure if we are going anywhere today.  It's a rainy day.  Blah!

Remember this?  Poor me!

Thank goodness that is over with. I now look like this:

I'm more mature looking now, don't you think?   Mama says looks can be deceiving. 

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Now Restriction-Free!!!!