I Met A Real Crab!

 You never know what you will find on the beach.  I tried to be friends, but he was a little crabby. 😆

He was covered in sand.

This is a crab we met last year.  He had more personality.

Jaxson, 

The Greyhound Who Thinks Crabs Are Interesting

Two Week Vacation - Part 3

 We left Bennett Springs State Park on Wednesday morning around 10 a.m.  Our next stop was about 2.5 hours away, GRANDMA'S HOUSE!  I had never been to Grandma's House but I was excited to see it.  Let me tell you, her house is HUGE!  I am used to living small.  I live in a tiny condo and now I am traveling in a tiny van.  Grandma's house has an upstairs and a downstairs.  We stayed in her basement because it had more room for me.  We didn't take pictures, but you should have seen our king sized bed.  It was the most comfortable bed.  

We spent nine days at Grandma's house.  We seemed to always be doing something. They have a SUV and I fit just fine in the back with my bed.  We drove all over the countryside.  I saw where Mom and Dad lived with Jack, Scout and Joey.  We ate a lot of good food.  I didn't get much rest because I had to keep an eye on my folks and also Grandma and Grandpa.  Those people just didn't sit still for long.

Getting ready to go somewhere.

Resting in a sunbeam.

Taking a much needed nap.

Another nap.

Earning my kibble by delivering the paper to Grandma.

There are some scary noises at Grandma's house.  The first night we were there I saw a red truck making a noise.  It was a mosquito sprayer.  It scared me good.  On the last night there, Mom and I were out walking and we saw the mosquito sprayer coming down the street.  We tried to run but Mom is slow.  It was chasing us!  We made it to the house just before it got us though.  It was close. Another scary thing was Grandma's blinds. They go up and down on their own.  Spooky!

I met several nice people on my walks.  There is a beagle who lives next door.  She was nice. We went to a neat trail and we also went to a park.  

Walking around the park.  There were ducks and geese.

I went to my "uncle's house" and met his dog which I guess is my cousin.  His name is Jake and he is a golden.  He is a country boy.  He let me use his bed while I was visiting, so that was nice.  He loves to play frisbee.

I went to a winery with the folks but I had to stay in the van with the AC running as no dogs were allowed.  I am fine staying in the van on my own.  It is the only time I can get peace and quiet and I know that Mom is watching me on the pet cam, so no worries.  It was a big get together with Dad's Mom, stepdad, Dad, brother and sister. They haven't all been together since 2017. Mom took lots of photos there.

We left on Friday, the 25th, to head back to Galveston.  We were sad to leave but Mom said we will be back soon.  

Jaxson,

The Greyhound Who Loves Grandma's House

Two Week Vacation - Part 2

 The second day of our vacation began in Washington, Arkansas at Coulter Farmstead. We had spent the previous night there.  We left around 8 a.m. and made our way through Arkansas and into Missouri.  We drove for about 6.5 hours.  We made our way to Bennett Springs State Park.  This is a park that Jack, Scout and Joey loved to visit.  It is one of my folks' favorite places to stay.  I have to say that I agree that is a great place to stay.  I had a wonderful time.

Let's Go Mom!

Where are the waves?

Mom loves this spot of the park.

That's my Dad fishing.

When we arrived at the park, we went to our site.  It was in a wooded section because we couldn't get the section that Mom wanted.  It wasn't bad but it was way too far for us to walk to the areas that Mom wanted to walk plus ticks were an issue.  Dad had brought his electric bike and planned on riding it to the fishing spots.  However, he forgot the key, so he couldn't use the battery on the bike.  We were located at the top of a hill and there was no way he could ride it up the hill.  Mom said she would drive him to the fishing spots. This was fine except that she was nervous about backing up the van into our spot each time.  If you have ever camped, you know that everyone likes to watch each other.  😁We were the entertainment for the night as Mom practiced backing into the spot.  There was only one tree that she needed to avoid and she did that but she still had trouble getting into the spot.  I thought we would never get done practicing.  The next morning, we took Dad to his fishing spot and we headed home.  She avoided hitting the tree and was able to get into the spot in two tries. 😀 We then picked Dad up and she backed in perfectly.😅  She was happy but she still wanted to move to the loop that was closer to fishing.  She found out that there was an opening, so off we went to claim it.  The new site was nice but not shaded at all.  It was a very hot stay but our AC kept us cool.  Mom and I still chauvered Dad around but our site was a pull-thru so very easy for Mom.  Mom and I were able to walk to all her favorite spots and I was excited to get up at 5:30 a.m. and start the day.  Can you believe that?  I normally don't get up until 8 a.m. at home.

We drove into Lebanon on Tuesday.  The folks visited the Russell Stovers Outlet. Mom says it is a tradition. They bought chocolates to take to Grandma's house.  They also ate at Bandana's.  We do not have locations here and Mom loves their garlic bread as well as their BBQ.  I stayed in the van with the generator running the AC.  The folks have installed a pet cam, so they were able to watch me while they ate. We drove back to the campground after lunch and Dad fished again in the evening.

We were sad to leave on Wednesday morning.  It was so much fun.  The folks promised we would return soon. More to come in Part 3.

Jaxson,

The Greyhound Who Loves Camping

Two Week Vacation - Part 1

We left for our two week vacation on June 12th.  I planned to update you along the way, but that didn't work out.

We left Galveston at 8 a.m. and stopped around 3:30 p.m. for our first night.  We only had once incident where Dad missed a turn that Mom and Google told him to take and he didn't and then refused to make the U-turn that Mom and Google told him to take.  We ended up in Louisiana which was not part of our plan. 😀 Dad blamed Google but Mom blamed him for not making the U-turn.  We don't think it really added too much time to the trip.  Mom said we are getting a GPS that Dad can control because she is tired of hearing him complain about Google. 😂

We joined a program called Harvest Hosts. It allows campers to stay at wineries, farms, breweries, museums and attractions that participate in the program.  We decided to stay at Coulter Farmstead for our first night.  It is located in Washington, Arkansas.  The farm is beautiful and they are also a bed and breakfast.  They have goats and pigs.  I was fascinated by both.  There are also a few cats running around.  I was beyond excited even though it was really hot the night we stayed.  I think the feels like temperature was over 100.  When you use Harvest Hosts you are basically boondocking which means that you do not have electric.  Our host said it was okay to use our generator, so we were able to have AC. It is a pretty isolated place and our TV could not get TV stations and we did not have cell phone service. 

This is the old mercantile store. Mom bought jam and pecan brittle.

Cute log cabin that can be rented.

Our parking spot for the night.

I really liked this goat.

More goats.

Goats are interesting.

The top floor of the barn is available to spend the night.

One more of me watching the goats.

Another picture of the mercantile.

The owner's house.

The silly goat.

Our first stay at a Harvest Host was really nice and we plan to stay at more locations. We left the next morning around 8 a.m. and drove another 6.5 hours. We drove through a lot of hills.  We don't have hills where I live.  Part 2 of our vacation in the next post.

Jaxson,

The Greyhound Who Met Goats and Pigs

I'm Stylin' In My New Hawaiian Collars

 We live in a high rise building and we have employees. They work the front desk, do housekeeping and maintenance.  Recently, they were allowed to pick out new uniforms.  They chose Hawaiian shirts. I decided I wanted to fit in since I have a job too.  I am a mail and package carrier so Mom decided to make me Hawaiian collars.

Mom found the fabric for my collars on ETSY.  She would have preferred to shop in person, but the nearest Joann's Fabrics is about 45 minutes away and she is still not really shopping at many stores.  She looked at their fabric online and couldn't really find anything she liked, plus she would have had to order 2 yards of material and she only needs like a 1/4 of  a yard to make a collar for me.  The ETSY fabric was 18" x 30" and it came in five different styles, so it was a good option.

Mom has a love-hate relationship with making collars. She loves when they are finished but she hates making them.  The last step in the process is usually when she starts cussing.  She has to sew around the hardware and it is a very hard to get the fabric in the position she wants because it is so small and in an awkward position. There just has to be a better way but Mom started making collars in 2006 or 2007 and still hasn't figured it out. 

The collar making process went fairly well this time.  She didn't break any needles and she only had to re-thread the machine a few times.  I don't think I heard her cuss.  It was a success!  I ended up with three new collars.  Mom calls it my "beachwear".

Here I am with the first collar.

I refused to try on the other two, so Mom just put them on top of me.

We put away my red and black collar which Mom calls my "lumberjax" collar aka my winter collar.  Mom says I look so handsome in it, but the warm weather is here so I need to wear something that reflects that.  I am also supporting a turquoise name collar because it looks nicer with the new collar. It is not in the photo though.  Mom is all about trying to color coordinate me. 😛

Jaxson,

The Greyhound Who Is Sporting A Hawaiian Collar 

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