Zion National Park

 We arrived at Zion Canyon Campground on a Tuesday.  We drove through a good part of Zion on our way to the campground.  There is a tunnel that you must drive through and if you are too big you must pay a fee and then they shutdown the two way traffic so that the oversized vehicles can fit through.   We closed in our rearview mirrors to make us smaller but it wasn't necessary because there was a bigger vehicle in front of us.  He had to pay the $15 permit fee and we and many others after him were able to travel through for free.  We lucked out.  We left on a Saturday and we again lucked out because the park was so crowded that they just took turns letting groups of cars go though the tunnel for free.

The campground was better than Mom and I expected.  It had a paved road and the sites were a red sand.  There were a few places with grass.  

Our campsite.

The Virgin River that runs behind the campground.

We have seen a lot of tents on top of trucks but never on top of a camper.

The first night we were there, we decided to walk into town for an ice cream.  We were actually in town, but the ice cream place we wanted to go to was about a 1/2 mile away. It was a really fun walk.  

The second day, the folks decided to just stay home with me because there was a threat of rain.  I am not scared of rain, but the campground had two flash floods this year and Mom didn't want to leave me alone.  The first flash flood was on July 2nd and it destroyed the hotel and office.  Our site was just down from the office, so it was a little scary to think we could have been there.  It ended up not raining after all. We did take a very long hike on a trail that dogs are allowed on.  The folks thought it was 3.5 miles roundtrip, but now we think it was seven miles roundtrip.  We turned around at about mile three, we think. We may have walked six miles.  We don't know for sure. We were definitely tired.

I'm tired!

I ended up getting pretty sick the second night. I had the Big D and I was sick all night long.  I had it the day before we arrived at Zion, but it was not that bad.  This time no one got any sleep. Mom was preparing to take me to the vet when I finally calmed down and went to sleep.  The folks stayed home with me all day again.  

Finally, on the third day, the folks were able to go into Zion again.  Mom had not been excited about Zion because you have to take a shuttle.  She doesn't like to be on someone else's schedule and with Covid, she really didn't want to be on a shuttle bus with people.  Masks are required at the national parks and also on the shuttles, so she felt a little better.  The folks planned on taking the town shuttle into Zion and then taking the Zion shuttle.  The town shuttle which had a pick up right outside our park was packed, so they ended up walking almost the entire way into Zion which really wasn't that far.  However, the shuttle stopped at the last stop before the park and picked them up.  They then got on the Zion shuttle.  The folks ended up taking a two mile hike.  They took the trail that leads to The Narrows.  The Narrows is a hike that you do through the water.  They only did the hike to the water.  

People preparing to hike The Narrows.

We really don't know why people love Zion such much and why it is so popular.  I guess it is because of the hikes such as The Narrows and Angels Landing but if you are not into hiking, then to us, it wasn't that great.   Have you heard of Angeles Landing?  If not, check it out on YouTube.  It is a really scary hike where you use chains to climb up the mountain.  There is no way my Mom would ever do it. She has found that she really does not like hiking that much especially where she can fall off a mountain or a cliff.  She gets really scared.

I am feeling much better.

$13.99 for a 12 pack of Pepsi near Zion.  Mom said NO!

We left on a Saturday and made our way to Kanab, UT where the big greyhound event is happening and grocery prices are better.

Jaxson,

The Greyhound Who Is Feeling Much Better

Today Is A Special Day

Seven years ago today, a very special greyhound was born.  Any guesses who?

IT WAS ME!!!!  Was there any doubt?  BOL!

Since it is my day, I am going to show you pictures of me. I am a hound that is full of personality as I think you will see from my photos.

I am cool.

Adventurous.  Heading out on our HUGE adventure.

Pitiful - after my surgery.

Silly

Coy

Brave - my corn is being removed in front of a crowd. :::GULP:::

Nervous - looking for bears in Montana

Demanding - Scout taught me this.  BOL!

Determined - just look at the tongue action.

Funny - I have a great sense of humor.

Entertainer - working the crowd in Abilene, KS

Dapper - Yep, I look darn good in a top hat!

Who wouldn't love me?  BOL!

Mom did have a talk with me and told me I was now an adult and I have to behave better on walks.  You see, I don't like turning around.  I walk great on going, but I don't like coming back.  I drag as much as I can.  It really aggravates Mom.  People in the neighborhood have noticed and have commented and laughed.  Mom doesn't think it is funny.  :::shrugs shoulders:::

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Seven Today!

Kansas City, One More Time

We are back in the Kansas City area.  We are staying at a county park.  They do not take reservations.  We arrived around 2:30 pm on Memorial Day.  We figured the check out time would be around 2 and we wouldn't have a problem getting a site.  It turns out that they do not have check out until 5 p.m. on holidays.  The gate keeper said she couldn't take payment until 5 p.m.  Dad asked where we could wait and she said the dump station. Well, the dump station was full of people dumping.  We deciding to drive around. We found an empty site and took it.  We didn't want to totally set up in case there was a problem with us taking the site.  At 5 p.m. the folks went to pay.  Well, it turned out that there was a line of people waiting for sites.  They had to take a number and wait in line.  Mama was nervous that they might give our site to someone else.  She talked to one of the volunteers and told him that we had already taken a site.  He said that is not the procedure.  He then started talking to them and it turns out that he is an Escapees member too and they are "virtual neighbors" in the Escapees mail system.  He became nice after that and said it was fine that we took the site, but don't do it again.  They waited in line for a half hour and finally paid for the site.  Their system definitely needs work.  They may start taking reservations later this year.

Our site is nice.  We have a big front yard.

Our front yard.

The backyard faces the street.

There are lakes.

I like this place!

 Mama and I have been exploring in the mornings. Scout has decided it is too hot to walk, so she stays behind.  She doesn't like sitting outside much either, so it's just me and Mama.

Staying here is kind of an experiment for us.  We only have 30 amps and no sewer.  We are doing okay with the 30 amps.  We dumped with a portable tank Wednesday night.  It took almost an hour as the dump is not that close.  Dad said he will take "Navy showers" from now on and we will see how long we can go without dumping.  Mama hoped she could use Buddy to transport the portable tank but there is not way.  It is too heavy.  Mama did laundry in the washing machine that the park has, but she is not sure she wants to go back. There is only one washing machine in each building. The first washing machine had several water bugs in it.  The sink was full of them.  She went to the next building and only found one water bug in the machine and he was dead. She got him out and then tested the water to make sure it was clear and not brown.  BOL!  The sink there was also full of water bugs. She said she was scared to look in the dryer, so she brought the clothes home and hung them up here and dried what she had to in our machine.  She used Buddy to carry the laundry and that was pretty easy.  She also used Buddy to transport our trash yesterday.  Scout and I hate when we are the "trash dogs".  That is what we call it when we have to walk with Mama when she is carrying trash.

This place is really quiet and feels more like camping than in a private park.  We like it so far.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is A Happy Camper

Our Year In Review - Part 1

We were listening to Christmas music the other day and Mama started talking about the places we have visited this year.  It seems like each place has touched us in some way either with the people we have met or just the places we have visited. We decided to do a brief year in review.

 We ended 2012 and started 2013 right here in Houston in this same campground.  While we were here, we sold our house and purchased our motor home.  We officially became full-timers and, yes, Texans!  When we arrived back here this month, we walked the campground to see who was still here that we knew from our previous visit.  We were really hoping to find the nice couple who brought Mama a Subway sandwich for lunch one day.  They noticed that she was alone during the day and thought she might like a sandwich.  Mama asked if they would be back this year and the lady said she didn't know.  She said they were getting older and she was not sure if they would make the trip again. They had been doing it for a few years.  Unfortunately, they are not here and we hope they are okay.   There was also a couple with a German Shepherd that we hoped to see again.  He was working really hard to train his dog and we would see him running with the German Shepherd a lot.  He is from Canada and we were told they went back home, but they will be returning.  They are not here yet.  Sadly, we have learned of a few people who have died.  We are located near the medical center and there are many patients that stay here while receiving treatment.  Do you remember the Weimaraner who used to use the dash of his motor home as a bed?  Well, his Dad got sick and died.  :-(  The Weimaraner is now living with his family in Florida.  We hope he has a nice yard there.

Us in the dog area in our park.

Our old place.

We left Houston and arrived in Denver on April 1st.  Denver is where the nice lady gave us bags of groceries as she was leaving the campground.  She said they stay in Vail, CO each year during the winter, so they are probably there now.  Denver is also where I made my "great escape" during blizzard conditions.  Yeah, we probably shouldn't talk about that too much.  Denver was not Mama's favorite place. We received 22" of snow in three weeks.  We had to keep the slides in quite a bit and it was cold.  It was there that Mama decided she was not good at winter camping.

Scout enjoyed laying on the beach at the lake in Denver.

Lookout Mountain

The log cabin which we walked to almost every day.

May found us heading to Dallas which was our next destination, but we stopped in Amarillo for a few days first.  We had a lot of fun there even though it was really windy.  We had a site where we had our own dog run.  We also went to Cadillac Ranch and did some painting.

The folks visited the RV museum.  This bus was in the movie RV.

They ate at the Big Texan Restaurant and really enjoyed it.

 Out next stop was Arlington which is near Dallas.  We met Miss Woe there.  Miss Woe is a greyhound that lives in the RV park with her folks.  We were really thinking of her when they had that ice storm recently. The campground posted photos of the ice storm and we were very thankful that we were not there.

Our site in Arlington.

I really liked this campground because of all the squirrels.  We sat outside a lot there.  We had a pretty good size yard.

Memorial Day 2013

The folks visited the Sixth Floor Museum which is also known as the Book Depository.  That is where Lee Harvey Oswald fired the shoots that killed President Kennedy.  Mama said she learned a lot.

Since we are only to the end of May, we will continue this on another day so that no one falls asleep on us.  BOL!

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Really Lucky To Have The Entire Country As His Backyard