Preparing To Leave Ohio

Our plan is to leave Ohio tomorrow morning.  We are hoping that we are not driving in rain all day and we really hope we do not have any wind.  We have been very lucky on all our travel days so far.  We have three days to get to Chicago, but waiting a day is not going to help us since the rain is coming through Chicago and into Ohio.

As you all know, we have really enjoyed our time here.  The people who all said "Ewww" when we said we were headed to Cleveland had not been here and they should see a place for themselves before they pass judgment.  There is so much to see and do and the people we encountered have been very friendly except for the campground owners. They are definitely not like Fred and Verna from Houston.  We think these people are in the wrong business because they seem to hide from customers and let their kids run the campground. It is very interesting around here since some of the kids behind the counter are still in elementary school.  Mama went into the office this morning and told the person behind the counter that we are leaving a few days early.  She does not know how to check us out since it is early.  :-O  Our electric meter doesn't work, so we are waiting to see how they figure out our electric bill.  It should be very interesting. 

We promised you one more restaurant review from here. Sunday night, the folks decided they wanted Italian for dinner. Mama didn't have much time to research it.  She likes to look at the reviews and the menus. She found the reviews for D'Angelo's Ristorante, but not a menu.  The reviews were good, so off they went.  The restaurant is located in a strip mall.  When you enter the restaurant, there are black and white wedding photos on the walls.  They are very old photos. Mama thinks it is the founder and his wife. They went through another door that lead to the dining room.  Mama said she felt undressed in jeans and a greyhound t-shirt, but she noticed other people wearing shorts and t-shirts.  The tables are covered with white table cloths with candles. The walls are painted dark brown and there are more black and white wedding photos on the wall.  In the center of the wall is the family tree.  She thought that was pretty unique.

Mama looked at the menu and was not happy with the prices.  She knows that Italian restaurants can be a little pricy and she felt this one was.  She decided to order the Chicken Marsala. She ordered pasta with creamy garlic sauce as her side.  She did not order a salad because that was $4.95 extra. Yes, Mama is cheap at times.  LOL

Chicken Marsala $16.95

Pasta with creamy garlic sauce and mushrooms

 Mama was delighted that this meal was so good.  The chicken marasala was not what she had expected.  It was breaded.  It was really good!   She loved the pasta with the creamy garlic sauce and mushrooms.  She is still talking about how good it was.  She had leftovers of the chicken marasala and had it for lunch the next day.

Dad ordered Veal Shrimp Luigi with roasted potatoes as his side.

Veal Shrimp Luigi $18.99

Roasted Potatoes

Dad really liked his meal, too. He had a dinner salad and liked it. 

Bread is served with an oil dipping sauce. At first, Mama wasn't sure she liked it, but the more she ate, the more she became addicted to it.

The restaurant is a little pricy for Mama, but she liked the food so much that she was happy they had eaten there.  She would love to eat here again.  The food was excellent and the service was very good.

We hope we like our new campground. We have enjoyed the fenced area here. Scout and I check out the pee mail twice a day. We tried out some of the agility equipment.  Scout is pretty good at jumping over the bars.  I just knock them over. Scout laughs at me because they are only 2" off the ground.

We have enjoyed our long walks around the park.

Lake when you enter the park.

Scout resting again in her favorite spot.  The grass was wet and she didn't care.  People keep asking us if she is okay.

I am still on alert for loose pigs.

Scout excited about something.  Mama says she looks young here.

Me being serious because I a still on alert.

Lori of  What Remains Now asked if Mama posts her restaurant reviews to Urbanspoon. Yes, she does. She normally writes a quick review on their site and then they take her reviews from this blog and puts it on their site. There is not any compensation though.  It's just for fun.  We are really surprised that they use our reviews because it's me writing about Mama's experience. Next year, Mama wants to start a restaurant review blog. She doesn't want to do it now since our HUGE adventure will be ending soon and she doesn't want the blog to just sit for five months.

We will blog again when we reach our next campground which is the last on this years' HUGE adventure.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Ready For The Windy City

A Christmas Story - Tour Of The House

Yesterday, the folks set out on sightseeing and boy, did they spend money.  They visited the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame which was a little pricey to visit.  Mama said we will talk about that tomorrow.   She wants to tell you about a place that she was excited to see and she knows her BFF is anxious to see hear the full report.  She teased her with a couple of phone photos yesterday.

We are not sure how many of you are familiar with A Christmas Story.  It is a movie that came out  in 1983.  It was a flop at the theater, but then TBS (TV station) bought it and started showing it at Christmas time.  It is now shown 24 hours on Christmas.  It is now a hit. It is about a little boy, Ralphie, who wants a BB gun for Christmas.  Everyone tells him he will shoot his eye out, even Santa.  The movie is set in the 1940's.  The first time Mama saw the movie, she didn't like it, but now she thinks it is cute and funny.  I even watched it last year with her.  When Mama found out that the house was in Cleveland and they offered tours, she said she had to see it.

The house was bought by a man who became a fan of the movie after his parents sent him a lamp that they made that looked like the famous lamp in the movie.  He started making the lamps and selling them. He found out the house was for sale on Ebay and wanted to be sure he got it, so he offered $150,000.  He lived in California and had never been to Cleveland. When he actually saw the house in person, he realized he overpaid.  It is located in a neighborhood that is run down.  He fixed the house up though and watched the movie frame by frame to make sure it was as authentic as possible.  He didn't plan on charging admission, but maybe items from the gift shop didn't sell as well as he had hoped or maybe he realized people would pay to visit because the admission is $10 a person.

Mama didn't know if the tour would be worth the price of admission, but she wanted to take a chance. She was not disappointed.  You know how when you visit most places, you are told not to touch?  Well, you are encouraged to touch here.  You can try on the hats the kids wore, sit on the furniture, play with the BB gun, sit in the kitchen cabinet (if you know the movie, you know about the kitchen cabinet).   It is a fun place to visit if you are a fan of the movie. Mama said that everyone on the tour seemed to love the movie as much as she does.  Dad even thought the house was a fun visit.

Ralphie's House!

Looking into the kitchen.

Box with the lamp sitting next to it.

Hats the kids wore.

Photos of the family.

Famous kitchen cabinet.

Kitchen

Turkey, Christmas dinner - which was eaten by the neighbors' dogs in the movie.

Phone that Mother used in the movie.

Notice soap on the sink - Ralphie was punished with soap in his mouth.

Little Orphan Annie Comic  and decorder ring

Pink Bunny Suit in Ralphie's Room - Visitors can try it on.

The famous lamp

The BB Gun

Radio that Ralphie heard Little Orphan Annie on.

Notice the bowling ball under the tree?

Numerous electric cords that were seen in the movie.

I told you people were encouraged to get in the cabinet.

Backyard where Ralphie almost shot his eye out.

The car from the movie.

The movie is based on a true story.  The man who narrates the story is the real "Ralphie". He actually appears in the movie.  When Ralphie gets in line to see Santa the man tells him "the line ends here, it starts over there." that is the real Ralphie.

Across the street from the house is a museum which has items from the movie.

Clothes the kids wore.

The mother's clothes.

Clothes the waiters from the Chinese restaurant wore.

Ralphies coat

There were a lot more items, but we have probably overloaded you with photos today.  Mama is anxious to see the movie again after visiting the house.  They accidentally passed by the store that was in the movie where Ralphie saw Santa.  If they have time, she would like to visit downtown Cleveland to see the other filming sights.  They were not planning on visiting the house yesterday, but when she realized it was just a few miles from the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame, they decided to see it.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Thinking of Christmas For Some Reason

Weather Is Great In Ohio!

We have our windows and door open today!  The high  is expected to be 79.  The low tonight will be around 59. We may need to turn the heat on.  LOL  The hottest day this week will be 84 according to the weather people.

I told you we were in the woods!

Mama put our Greyhound flag out and also put the tablecloth on the picnic table. She said it makes it look more homey.

That tree with the ribbon is the tree that gave us so much trouble getting int our site.

I'm just chilling with the door open today.

We have our hummingbird feeder out, but so far no visitors.  Mama thought about getting some bird feeders but the raccoons would probably raid them.  She still may do it to give her something to worry about.

The only real downside to our site is that it is really far from the laundry room.  It is too far to walk and even if Mama got the cart that she wants for the laundry, it will be hard to push along the gravel road. She will have to do it at night when she has a car. She is concerned that the machines will be all tied up, so she may just go to town to do it.  They only have the laundry room open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. here. 

We didn't have storms here after all.  We were walking with Mama yesterday and she felt a drop of rain and told us we needed to head back.  We wanted to sniff more and within a minute, we were under a big downpour. We were drenched!  Mama looked really funny with here hair so wet. She said "I was having a good hair day, too!"  She doesn't have many good hair days these days, so it was pretty sad.

Grandma sent us a photo to show us that a tree in our yard at home was hit by a storm on Saturday night.  Poor tree!  Grandpa is going to cut the limb out for us.  I bet the tree is going to look pretty bare when the limb is removed.

A tree at our house.  Our grass looks pretty dead.  They are having a drought there.

Grandma and Grandpa are coming to visit us here in Ohio!  Mama said that she and Daddy are checking out all the restaurants so that they know where to take them. Both places they ate this weekend were good.  Mama will tell you more about the restaurants later.

The beach at the campground. No dogs allowed!

Me waiting for Dad to get us checked in.

Fire engine rides take place on Saturday nights.

Another view of the lake.

This is the fishing lake.

Scout walking by the lake this morning.  She is not sure about Ohio yet.  She hasn't wanted to walk much here.

Another view of the fishing lake.

The park is nice and most sites are not wooded like ours.  We really like being in the shade although it is so shaded that it is dark inside the motor home.  Scout says it is great for sleeping.

There is a fenced area here for it. It has agility stuff in it though, so it's not good for running.  Mama says she might try to get us to try out the agility equipment. She can try, but we are not interested.

We will tell you more about DC tomorrow. We are so behind on our blogging.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Enjoying The Cooler Temperatures