Road Trip! Greyhound Event in Abilene, KS

Last week, I went on my very first road trip.  I really didn't know what it was all about.  The folks put their clothes in a bag and then they put some of my things in a bag. They also put my food in a different container and then everything went in the car.  Mom and I got up at 3:30 a.m.  It reminded me of my kennel days.  We hit the road at 5 a.m. It was a long drive to Abilene, KS - 13 hours.

Oh boy!  Here we go!

My first rest stop.

On the road again!

This is fun!

I am tired!

 I am not very good at getting in the car by myself.  Mom helps me.  I did fine on a test run before we left, but once we actually hit the road, I couldn't do it.  One time, I jumped in the car and I didn't jump far enough and I landed on the ground on my butt and my back legs went under the car.  It was embarrassing.  I ended up with a cut on my butt.  Mom didn't make me do that again.

We stayed at a Super 8 Motel.  I was surprised by all the other greyhounds that were there.  I think we took over that place.  They didn't have an elevator.  Can you believe that?  I had to take the steps, but I have experience and I even showed another grey how to do it.

I had fun at the motel.  We even ordered pizza.  It was my first time.  It was good!  The next day, we headed out to the greyhound event.  There was a lot of sitting around. There are also loud noises.  One time I was sound a sleep and all of a sudden this really loud music came on.  I didn't like that.

Here I am at the event just watching things.

 We visited the Greyhound Hall of Fame.  Mom did some shopping, but I just looked around and met other greys.

My favorite part of the trip was the motel room.  I played with my ball.  I had a lot of room to run in the room.

I'm on the bed in the motel room.

Abilene welcomed us.

We walked down to Pizza Hut one morning just for fun.

Here I am outside a deli having lunch.

Sign outside our venue.

This nice man, Steve, took my photo.

Another photo by Steve.

 The folks stopped by President Eisenhower's library and they picked up the paperweight that they earned by visiting all the Presidential libraries.  The people there took our photo and put in on their Facebook page.

The paperweight is in the middle along with a book, pin, gift bag and the passport they completed.

I won a trophy for being the youngest greyhound at the event.  Scout won Senior Queen in 2014.

Me and Mom and my trophy.

The event lasted three days and I was glad when it was over.  It was fun but it was very tiring.  We left Abilene on Sunday and drove the long 13 hours back home. We were in rain most of the time.

We had nasty weather through Kansas and Oklahoma.

I slept most of the way home.

We stopped here for lunch.  Buc-ees is a huge gas station that also has a huge store and food service.

More nasty weather about 2 hours from home.

Almost home!

Sorting through my gift bag from the event.

Happy to be home again!

I am more than ready for another trip.  I keep taking Mom out to our car but so far she is not getting the message.  I guess I will just have to enjoy the beach.

Jaxson,
AKA Island Boy

George Bush Presidential Library and Musuem

Our temps are in the 80's.  It has been raining a little each day and the skies are overcast, but that is okay.  We are able to leave our blinds open when the sun is not shining and I can see out. Scout is even happy with the cooler temps.  She is very happy walking these days.  We are supposed to be having this type of weather all week!

Mama surprised us with a new toy.  We were surprised because we are way over our dog budget with everything I have needed lately like my boot, supplements and my vet visit.  I will have to take some photos of it later.

Stay tuned for Mama's report on what they did this weekend.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Happy That It is Monday And He Can Rest

We visited the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum on Saturday.  As I mentioned last week, we visited the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum a few years ago and really enjoyed it.   I was excited about visiting the George Bush Museum because I lived through his presidency.

I was excited during the drive because we were off the interstate. I actually saw open spaces again.  There were cows and horses.  Jeff commented that people say if you visit Houston or Dallas you are not seeing the real Texas.  I have to agree.  I could live in Texas if I was outside of Houston.  Houston is way too big for me and it is so congested.

The museum is located on the campus of Texas A&M University. 

George Bush Presidential Library and Museum

We had to go through security and then we were greeted by a friendly man.  He told us that we would not actually see the library and we could not check out books.  The library is open to scholars.  We knew that from our visit to the Eisenhower Museum.  We were then told a movie was starting in five minutes and we didn't want to miss it. We hurried and bought our tickets which were just $7 a person and that was for the entire visit.

The movie was shown in a very presidential looking theatre.  I should have taken photos.  The seats were a blue velvet.  It was very pretty.  The hostess told us the Bushs' actually have an apartment across from the library and they visit often.

I am not positive, but the Bush apartment may be on the top floor of this building.  Mrs. Bush is often seen walking her dogs according to the hostess.

George and Barbara are actually going to be buried on the grounds.  Their daughter, Robin, who died when she was three, has been moved to their cemetery on the grounds. We were told we could visit her grave site, but when we arrived there was a gate saying renovations were being made and it was closed.

The bridge to the grave site.

 The movie showed the life of President Bush. It was really interesting. He spoke through much of it. He is quite funny.  I felt as though the story of George and Barbara was a love story.  I really enjoyed the movie.

After the movie, we then entered the museum.  The museum takes you through the entire life of President Bush.

Presidential Limo

The Seal

President Bush

Mrs. Bush

Various family photos

Items that belonged to Mrs. Bush's mother

Replica of Mrs. Bush's wedding gown.  Their wedding photo is in the background.

Their first car.  A gift from Mr. Bush's father.

Mrs. Bush does needlepoint.  Items she made early on in Mr. Bush's career.

Close up of the needlepoint purse.

Statue of Mr. Bush.

A display of elephants (Republican party symbol).  I had to take this photo for my Blogsville Ladies Crochet Society.

Replica of the Oval Office.  Supposedly, this is how it was decorated when Mr. Bush was in office.

Another view of the Oval Office.

Replica of the office at Camp David.

Camp David Office

Dog treats in Camp David office.  Scout would love to have this.  She could get her own treats.

Actual piece of the Berlin Wall.

Replica of the Situation Room

Kuwait Door - this was a gift from the Kuwait people.

The door is engraved with the names of all the US soldiers that died in Kuwait.

Saying goodbye to Washington.

The two Bush Presidents

Statue outside of museum.  It was inspired by the Berlin Wall coming down.  The horses symbolize the human spirit being set free.

We really enjoyed our visit here.  There was much more than I took pictures of, but this gives you a glimpse of what the museum has to offer.

There are currently 12 Presidential museums with a 13th coming next year for President George W. Bush.  We have now seen two of them and we would like to visit all of them.  Who has Presidential museums?  Hoover, Nixon, Franklin D. Roosevelet, Ford, Truman, Carter, Eisenhower, Reagan, Kennedy, Bush, Johnson and Clinton.  We should have visited Truman's when we had the chance.

After our visit to the museum, we ate at a restaurant featured on Diner's, Drive-Ins and Dives.  I will write about that tomorrow.  It was different and fun!

Patty