No More Dumb Phones Here

Life is a matter of perspective.  For a worm, digging is a lot more fun than going fishing - Clyde Abel

Mama has been wanting a smart phone for a very long time.  The thing that held her back was the cost of the data plan.  She really couldn't justify it.  She kept coming up with "good reasons" for getting one though.  1) the GPS is not always correct and the folks end up at places that are no longer there. She used to carry her tablet with her, but that was kind of a pain because she needed the Mi-Fi too while in the car.  2) We have been staying at campgrounds without free Wi-Fi and our new Mi-Fi is 4G and really seems to use a lot more data. Mama can use a smart phone as a hot spot. 3) Mama really wants to be able to download coupons on it and not have to print them out. Just think of the paper and time she will save.  BOL!  She debated if she wanted to leave AT&T.  She wanted to stay with a no contract plan.  The folks do not like contracts. She thought about switching to Verizon or Straight Talk.  Straight Talk was tricky because some of their phones use Sprint and some use Verizon.  She wanted a phone with Verizon because their coverage is better, but no phones were available that she wanted that used Verizon towers.  She has been researching all of this for months.  BOL!  Dad bought his smart phone at Thanksgiving, but Mama held out. Finally, the price of the data plan came down enough that Mama could justify it, so she started looking for the phone she wanted. Dad has a Windows phone and Mama considered it, but she couldn't get all the apps that she wanted with it. Finally, AT&T's Pay As You Go (which is what she has used since it came out) came out with a new Android phone that she liked.  It has a 4" screen.  She bought it on Saturday at the AT&T store here.  She was surprised that there was a 15 minute wait to get help there.  The sales guy told her that they almost always have a wait at their store.  She was amazed by that.

Mama really likes her phone so far. It is super easy to use.  She downloaded the Emeals app today and it looks like it will be fun to use.  It gives you your shopping list and you delete any meals that you don't want and they disappear from your list.  She will take her paper list with her for a few weeks just to make sure it works correctly.   She downloaded a larger keyboard because she has "fat" fingers.  She downloaded a flashlight which she loves.  Dad said his phone doesn't have a flash, so the flashlight app doesn't work for him.  :-(

The campground was pretty full this weekend.  It was fun watching all the weekenders.  The folks dumped the tanks on Saturday night.  Mama did laundry yesterday and someone had cleaned up all the bugs.  She was really happy about that.  We paid for another week to stay here. 

We had rain last night.  This morning, it was cool enough that Scout went with us on a long walk. 

Me trying to get Mama and Scout to walk faster. Mama says I am being bad here.

Another view of the lake.

The winding path that we walked.  There are 27 miles of trails here.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Needs To Walk More If He Is Going To Complete All 27 Miles

Spring brings....

....grass!  Mama says we are like cows. She doesn't like us to eat it because well, you know what dogs do when they eat grass.  Yesterday, we took turns getting her attention so that the other one could eat it.  Mama was busy talking to another lady at the dog park and the lady told her that we were eating grass. Darn lady!  She is from New Mexico and she said her dogs are used to just dirt and rocks. They haven't discovered grass yet.  They will love it when they do.  BOL!

The park is filling up with weekend guests.  We like the weekenders. They are normally very friendly and fun.  There are a lot of cabins here that people rent as well as rooms that are called "suites".  I think they are like motel rooms. There are also a few houses that they rent.  It is usually busy here on weekends.

A house that sits on the lake and is available for families to rent.

Another pretty bush here.

What's Cooking In Mama's Kitchen

The folks have had another good week of meals thanks to Emeals.  The meal last night was Italian Beef Florentine and Fire Roasted Tomato-Cheese Tortellini.  Mama found it a little challenging only because of the limited space in the kitchen.  She took ground beef and formed it into patties. She then dredged it in flour, then dipped it into egg and then dredged it in panko breadcrumbs.  She then fried it.  After it was fried, she placed it in the oven to keep warm because she needed the skillet for the tortellini.  (She wished she had a rack to put it on because Rachael Ray said that keeps breaded items crisp. It is on her wish list.) She only has the electric skillet which she is going to throw it out very soon since everything is sticking to it and replace it with a regular skillet. She is tired of wasting her money on electric skillets.  Anyway, she put the tortellini in the skillet with oil and then added chicken broth, diced fire-roasted tomatoes and roasted garlic tomato sauce.  Meanwhile, she heated garlic Alfredo sauce and spinach together.  The sauce went over the burgers.  It was quite a production, but it was worth it.  The folks both really liked it. 

Tonight's meal is Grilled Teriyaki Chicken, Fried Rice and Stir-Fried Vegetables.  Mama just looked at the recipe.  It will be another juggling act with just an electric skillet, but she can do it. 

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Loves To Graze On Grass

Varoom, Varoom

It seems like we are hearing a lot of varoom, varoom lately.   Mama has been venturing out more and more.  Tuesday, she reached her goal which was going to Target.  She had to travel a four lane road in traffic and with traffic lights.  She thought she would be smart and take a side street and avoid some of the traffic.  However, the side street turned into a four lane street and the speed limit was 45 mph.  Mama's top speed up to that time was 30 mph. She reached 35 mph but that was as fast as she wanted to go.  She said even with her visor on, the wind was making her eyes water.  Mama got a little scared because she kind of got lost. She knew she could turn around, but she really didn't want to have to go back that way.  She ended up making some turns and eventually she ended up back at the street she had left.  She took the way she knew back home.  She has decided she prefers riding in traffic rather than going fast.

Today, she headed out again and went to Petco, Walmart and Kohl's.  The trip is about 13 miles round trip.  It is the next town.  She said she needed socks. It sounds like an excuse to me. She wanted to buy shoes, but she doesn't have enough storage space yet to carry them.  She will have to wait until next week for that.  No, she didn't buy us anything at Petco, but I know she went there looking for a Mr. Bill toy for me.  I really want one.  I think that is what I am getting for my birthday in November.

We have not told you about our Emeals in a long time.  Last week, we had some really good meals. The pictures don't do the food justice since the food is on paper plates and/or foil.

Mexican Pizza - the tortillas are fried in oil and then topped with ground beef, refried beans. The second layer had picante sauce, green onions, tomatoes and cheese.

Mama said it was really good and Dad agreed.

Tilapia with Lemon Caper Sauce

 The folks had this a few years ago at a friend's house and Mama was delighted to make it herself.  The tilapia is breaded and then fried and the lemon caper sauce is put on top.  Mama added noodles as a side item.

Fantastic Banana French Toast with hash browns and sausage

Mama fixed this for breakfast instead of dinner.  The french toast is actually croissants.  Pecans and bananas are heated in the syrup which is maple syrup, corn syrup and brown sugar.

We have been using the Emeals program for two years and still love it.  We have had a few repeat meals lately.  Dad said "We did?"  I guess it is a lot less than if Mama was planning the menu on her own.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Likes When Mama Brings Him Lunch

....And Then The Rains Came

The rain as seen from our window.

Friday morning started out sunny, but by noon the rains came.  It rained hard and it lasted into the evening.  Our satellite was knocked out.  Mama didn't get nervous until the weather radio started going off saying there was flash flooding.  We went outside when there was a break in the rain and we noticed part of the campground was flooding.  Mama, of course, got nervous.  Our area was fine, but the entrance was flooded.  The field turned into a lake.  The ditch along the side flooded.  The people near us had a lot of standing water under their motor home.  We ended up with over six inches of rain here.  Dad worked in Miami on Friday and they ended up with 13.94"total.  Mama called him and told him to avoid the side streets and Hwy 1 because those areas were flooded.  He called and said he was going 2-3 mph, so he decided to get off the highway and onto the side streets.  Mama was not happy with him. Later, she called him and he said he was getting on Hwy 1, she was really upset with him at that point.   He ended up getting on I-95.  It took him 3.5 hours to get home.  He got home about 8:45 p.m.

Two cats hid under our motor home during the rains.  Do you think that drove me crazy?  Yes, it did!  I checked on them every time we went outside.

Scout sleeps well on rainy days.

Yesterday, the folks set out to find the Super Target.  It wasn't there.  GPS said "you have arrived", but there was no Target.  Mama decided they would just shop at Publix which is a grocery store.  The one nearest to us is old and small, but they decided to try it next week.  After they got back home, Mama looked at the Target website and found another location that was only five miles away.  They went there on their way to dinner and found it!  The street it is on has several restaurants and even a Walmart.  They decided to try the Super Target next week since the lines seem to be shorter there than Walmart.  Mama changed her Emeals to Super Target.  She has been using her Walmart plan at Target, but decided to just switch to Target and see what the menus look like.

There is a lot of road construction around here and that causes our GPS to get confused.  Mama and Dad have ended up on the toll road by accident four times.  They are basically just circling around.  The GPS is a source of a lot of arguments.  Dad thinks he knows more than her (GPS) and Mama defends her.

Our mail didn't arrive on Friday.  Well, it arrived after the office closed, so it couldn't be delivered.  They tried to deliver it yesterday, but the office was closed.  Mama rescheduled it for a Monday delivery.  We hope it makes it.

We are back to four of us living in this section of the park. We had five yesterday, but one couple left.  A camper is supposed to arrive sometime this weekend according to an envelop taped to the office window but they haven't made it yet.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is On Cat Patrol At All Times

Cough, Cough, Cough

That's our Mama, "cough, cough, cough".  She has been doing that since New Year's Day.  She heard on the news that it can last up to three weeks.  It is getting better, so maybe it will be gone next week.

Mama talked to the title company yesterday and they are sending us our closing papers on the house today. They are going to email them to us.  We will print them and take them to a notary tomorrow and then we will send them back to the title company.  As of last night, everything was on track for the buyers to close on January 23rd.  The title company forgot that we would not be there in person for the closing.  It's a good thing Mama called them to make sure everything was okay.  

We had some new neighbors move in on Saturday.  We could see they had a lab when they opened the door, but we never saw him outside.  Poop bags would appear outside their door, but no dog was seen.  Mama started to really wonder about them.  Yesterday, we actually saw him outside.  He ran outside, did his business and ran right back in. It was less than a minute.  We are glad he is doing his business outside, but feel sorry for him.  He is not getting walked and he is fat.  Poor guy.  Dad said it would be nice if we were trained like that on rainy days. 

Scout looks like Jack in this photo.

Have you tried these?  Dad bought these and Mama tried them.  She was shocked at how much horseradish is in them.  They will burn your tongue!  At first, Mama didn't like them, but now she does.  She can't eat many at one time and we haven't been allowed to sample any.  She said she is going to see what other flavors they have at Target tonight. 

Our Emeals dinner last night was Shepherd's Pie.  Mama really liked it.  Dad wasn't thrilled with it.  Mama didn't tell him that she changed the recipe.  It was supposed to have chicken.  She put in ground beef and made her own gravy.

The folks are going to look at motor homes this weekend and they may put in an offer on one.  They found one last week that they liked, but three more came in this week that they are interested in.  One of them actually has a bath and a half.  They would love that, but gaining the half bath causes a loss of closet space.  They will have to decide if it is worth it.  That one also has a king sized bed and a stackable washer and dryer. Most of the motor homes have a combination washer/dryer.  Mama would prefer stackables.  She did some research this week and most people said they loved their combination washer and dryers.  They said they were definitely better than going to the laundromat.  That made her feel better.  She may have to do a load or two every day since the washer is small, but at least she doesn't have to go to the laundromat to do it.

The folks are really excited about getting a new motor home.  We have heard rumors that we may no longer have a bed like we have now.  We may actually have to get dog beds and we may be on the floor.  I am not sure how a new motor home is an upgrade for us if the rumors are true.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Wonders If A New Motor Home Is a Good Thing

Where Is Everyone Going?

At least four campers have left this morning before 9 a.m.  Do they know something we don't?  Actually, three of the four were people from Missouri.  They were parked all around us and people probably thought we knew them.  Mama was excited when they arrived, but they turned out to be really rude.  Last week, she walked into the laundry room and the mother-in-law (MIL) and daughter-in-law (DIL) were there.  As soon as they saw Mama, the DIL yelled to the MIL "GRAB THOSE MACHINES BEFORE SHE GETS THEM.  HURRY, SHE IS GOING TO GET THEM?"  Seriously, is it necessary to scream that?  It's not like Mama was going to tackle them for a machine. Then, they each grabbed carts and literally held onto them so no one else could use them.  Mama said that people normally share them.  Mama didn't realize who they were until she was finished with her laundry and they walked out together. (Yes, even with them grabbing machines and Mama having to wait, they finished at the same time.) They tried to play nice then.  It's possible they realized who Mama was at that same time she recognized them.  Mama was happy to see them leave today.  BOL!

It is another rainy day.  It was a cold, wet walk this morning.  We are not thrilled to be hit with cold rain first thing in the morning.

"I'm sick of the rain!"

"I'm happy no matter what."

Last night, the Emeals dinner was Chicken Fettuccine.

Chicken Fettuccine

The fettuccine was good, but it needed mushrooms according to Mama.

Mama has added a few new reviews to her restaurant blog.  She is still behind though.

The folks looked at motor homes last weekend and found one they really liked. We can't wait to get our new "home", but we have to wait until our house closes.  It is taking forever or at least that is how it feels to us.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Likes The Chicken In Chicken Fettuccine

It's Mail Day!

Mama is excited because our mail is coming today. If you don't know, we use a mail forwarding service. It just so happens that it is in Texas.  Our real address is a Texas address.   All our mail is sent to this company and whenever we want, we request it to be sent to us. Since we have been on the road for a month, we have only requested our mail twice - every two weeks.  The last time, we really didn't get much.  This time, however, we think there will be magazines and Christmas cards.  Mama is really hoping that her Celebrating Greyhounds magazine is there. The postage was more this time, so there has to be more than the last time. Mama is excited.  We are very happy with the company so far.  It is part of the Escapees Club that we belong to and they offer very personal service.  Mama says they are very friendly.

Yesterday, Mama discovered apps to her favorite radio stations from home.  She put them on her tablet and now she can listen to things from back home. She has been listening to the app that has the police scanner from back home and she enjoys that.  It is not as good as her real police scanner, but it's a taste of home just the same.  She has set up her police scanner for here, but she doesn't find it to be quite as interesting.

It is a rainy day here.  If we didn't know better, it looks like it could snow.  We just got back from our walk. It really bothers us when dogs walk behind us.  Does it bother anyone else?  We have to keep turning around to see what they are up to. This morning, we just pulled off to the side to let the dog pass us.

Me chewing on a bully stick this morning.

Scout pouting because she wants the bully stick.

Mama started on a scarf yesterday.  She is making good progress. She decided that she needed one when the windchill was in the teens the other morning.  She wore her winter coat and gloves, but didn't have a scarf.  It is almost like we are living in the old days, isn't it?  Mama is waiting on our mail to be delivered and making a scarf to survive the winter.  LOL

The yarn is from our stay in Indiana.  It is blue, brown and cream.  Mama says it is so easy to use and very soft.

This is our toy box.  We broke out our bag of toys last week.  Mama thought I was bored, but I really just needed to pee.

The Emeals dinner last night was really good according to the folks.

Beef and Wild Rice Bake

It is made with ground beef, a box of wild rice, tomato soup and cheese.  Mama added more cheese on top, just because.  Dad said it would make a good burrito. 

Tonight is grocery shopping night.  The folks are going to try the Super Target.  Tomorrow, they will look at motor homes again. 

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Sleeps Good On Rainy Days

It's Windy!

It is so windy here today.  The motor home is rocking.  Our walk this morning was interesting.  We saw one awning that was ripped in half.  A child's playground slide slid into the street after we passed by.  We saw two Christmas trees that had fallen over. Our Christmas garden flag was about ready to take flight, but we caught it in time and took it inside.  We didn't make it through the whole resort this morning. It was just too hard to walk. The wind gusts are up to 60 mph.  It's a good thing we are big dogs. Can you imagine if we were small?  We would be tossed around.  We are back in the motor home staying warm with our heater. Mama is wishing she would have bought that Starbuck's hot chocolate mix that she saw a few weeks ago.  It is hot chocolate with salted caramel.  She said it is a little pricey, but I bet she buys it tomorrow. 

Mama has been trying to get pictures of the wild parrots that we see from time to time.  She finally got a few shots. Normally, there are several together, but this one was by himself.   She wishes she had a better camera.  Santa, are you listening?   She tried to adjust the color to show how green he was.

Saturday, we were talking to the lady who gave Mama that Subway sandwich when we first moved in.  She mentioned seeing these birds and hoped to get pictures, too.  We asked if they liked living by the lake.  The lady said "Oh, yes!"  The husband said "My daughter told us it was the same price. Same price, yeah right!  It is $118 more a month!  She arranged to have us move and she is paying for it, but it's not worth it."  Mama had thought about moving to have a lake view, but when she heard the price, she said we would stay put.  The couple is really nice.  They are from New Mexico and will be going further south once they are finished with doctor visits.

Here we are walking yesterday.  We have our Christmas collars on.

A sad reminder of the CT killings - the Texas flag is lowered.

The dog that lays on the dash.

He barks at us.

Mama fixed lasagna Emeals style the other night.  She liked it and had leftovers for lunch yesterday.  It had wide noodles instead of lasagna noodles.

Lasagna

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Glad His Sister Is Big Boned Because She Is Helping Weigh Down The Motor Home During The High Winds.  BOL!

Making New Friends Everyday

We take at least three walks around the entire resort each day.  We seem to meet someone new each day.  Yesterday, we met a lady and her child.  They are from Salt Lake City.  We have a man who sits outside his camper quite a bit and Scout thinks he is there just for her.  Today, we met a man who is here for medical treatment.  He was really nice to us.  There are always new dogs that we encounter.  The small dogs try to get at us.  Mama says I am being good because I am not whining as much when I see them.  There are a few that push my buttons though and I get excited and hop around when they come at me.  The larger dogs seem to be more laid back like us when we walk. There are at least three German Shepherds that are here.  There are a few terriers and they are all feisty.

The Weimaraner who sits on the dash.  He is barking at the neighbor.  He is standing on the dash in this photo.  I would get in trouble for that.

It has been a busy day here.  Mama did laundry this morning.  She was gone longer than normal because she was talking to her friend who works there.  She came home and put the clothes away and then she dumped the tanks.  She still needs to clean, but that takes less than 15 minutes. 

I chilled in the sunbeam yesterday.  Yes, I am naked.  Mama took my collar off of me for a few minutes and gave me a good neck rub.

Last night, our Emeals meal was Beef Stroganoff.  Dad asked her how she made it because he said it was really good. 

Beef Stroganoff.  It is not supposed to be all mixed together, but Dad came home late and we didn't want the noodles to still be warm.

Tonight's meal is lasagna.  I bet is going to make a big mess in the kitchen.

Mama's latest review is on Maggie Rita's Modern Mexican.

Have a nice day everyone, I need to take a nap before my afternoon patrol of the resort.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Just Naturally Makes People Smile

A Life Lesson

Yesterday, I had a life lesson. I thought at the age of five that I knew it all, but I was wrong.  Are you ready for my life lesson?

Not everything is soft like a stuffie.  

A very soft stuffie.

A vacuum is very hard, not soft.

It hurts to bite a vacuum.   I hate that vacuum and yesterday I had enough.  Mama was using it and I bit it hard.  OUCH!  I thought I broke my teeth.  Mama checked and said I was okay, but I was stunned.  I just laid down and thought about the lesson I learned.

 It has been really warm here until this week.  We were at 80 on Sunday and then our high yesterday was in the 50's. It was near freezing last night.  We know that is not that cold, but our motor home is very drafty. The good thing is that we will be using our air conditioners by the end of the week.

We either need to go further south or buy a better insulated motor home.

It is really nice when the sun is out because it warms up our motor home fast.

Scout liked the sun for a little while, but then got hot.  She prefers cold weather.

The flowers are still very pretty.

Isn't this cute?  Santa is in the tent and the reindeer are roasting marshmallows.  At night, the fire lights up.

Last night, our Emeals was a Mexican pizza.  Mama loved it!  It made a pretty big mess in the kitchen though.  She fried the tortillas, so that took a skillet. She browned the ground beef in the electric skillet.  She added refried beans to the ground beef.  She then layered each tortilla with ground beef and beans, salsa, black olives, green onions, tomatoes and cheese.  She stacked two of those on each other and baked for about ten minutes.  Mmmmm!!!!

Mexican Pizza

Mama has a new review on her restaurant blog. It is on Little Pappasito's Cantina.

Rumor has it that we will have a package delivered today full of bully sticks and other chew things!

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Has Learned That You Are Never Too Old To Learn Life Lessons

Tigers?

There is a man here who loves Louisiana State University.  How do we know? Well, he has LSU license plates and he has this:

Tiger on dash of motor home.

 The first time we saw the tiger, we did a double take.  Mama told us it was fake.

This morning, we saw this:

They look like two normal poodles, right?  Wrong!  They have a haircut that says "LSU" on one and "TIGERS" on the other.  Mama wishes she could have gotten a better photo of them.  The letters are not shaved into them, but rather their hair is cut around the letters.  The hair on the letters is longer than the rest of their hair.  Yes, they belong to the same man.  We just saw them leave the park with their motor home, so we will not have another chance to see them up close.  :-(

We have a few more things to show you that we have here.

Outdoor kitchen

Firepit

We have two or three of the outdoor kitchens and firepits.  We are not excited about them because we are not allowed in them.  They are near the forbidden lake.

Last night's Emeals meal was Polynesian Chicken.  This was super easy.  It is all done in the crock pot (slow cooker).  She placed chicken thighs in the crock pot for four hours on low.  She then added crushed pineapple, apricot preserves and soy sauce and that cooked for another hour.  That is all there is to it.  It was good!  Mama fixed buttered noodles as a side as well as a salad.

Paper plates are not flattering, are they?  BOL  This is Polynesian Chicken and Buttered Noodles

Things are looking hopeful on the house selling front.  There was an agent's open house on Tuesday.  We had 20-25 agents who came through.  Twenty of the agents left comments.  We have had three showings since then.  Actually, one showing is taking place as we write this. Two of the showings were interested, but have not made an offer yet.  We really think we will get an offer soon.  There are only two homes for sale in our town in our price range and we are one of them.  Our agent says people are buying again.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Glad Is Hair Is Not Long Enough To Have Things Written On It

Laundry Day!

Today was laundry day.  Mama decided to wash all the sheets, so she had a full load today.   She used her new wagon.  She said it was much easier than carrying it.

The laundry wagon.

While doing laundry, Mama talked to a lady that she met last week.  They have been here for a year.  Mama asked her the best places to shop.  It sounds like we need to go in the opposite direction from where we have been going.  Mama suspected that and planned on going that way this weekend. 

Today is a much cooler day. We had rain yesterday.  It definitely doesn't feel or look like it is December.  The flowers are still going strong here.

This morning while we were walking Mama said "Joey, where is your boot?  Did we put it on you?"  I couldn't remember.  Scout couldn't remember either but said "It didn't seem like it took so long to get out the door.  It takes forever since we have to put a harness on Joey, then a collar and his boot."  We started retracing our steps and a few times Mama thought she saw the boot, but it was a sprinkler head.  We made it back to the RV and I refused to go back inside.  Mama looked in the door and saw my boot there.  Thank goodness!  She put it on me and off we went again. 

Last night our Emeals dinner was skillet burritos.  They are made of black beans, cheddar cheese, salsa and cooked rice.  You place the ingredients on a tortilla and fold it into a burrito and then place it in a skillet and brown it.  Mama said it was good even though it didn't have meat in it.

Good news!  The management has put new dog bags in our dog run. Mama says they have the best bags.  They are large and thick.   Later in the day, someone cleaned up the mess in there.  However, someone has already messed it up this morning.  Grrrr!

There was an agent open house at our house yesterday. 20 agents filled out comment cards.  The comments were all good.  There were a few comments about our purple kitchen.  One agent said she had a potential buyer. We had a showing on Sunday, but those people said no to it. They didn't like the road.  The road (old highway) is one of the things that Mama really liked about it.  We are thinking maybe they had small children.  The neighbors are still thinking on it.  They may be thinking they can get a better deal on it the longer it stays on the market.

Mama ordered us bully sticks today as well as a few other items.  Yum!

Mama's restaurant review today is on China Border.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Not Sure About Those Big Blow Up Christmas Decorations