Monday, April 15, 2013

Chatfield State Park

We had a very busy weekend.  We had planned on moving on Sunday to our new campground, but we didn't have reservations for Sunday because they couldn't be made online.  Mama thought that was the only way to make them.  She was able to make them after Sunday because winter camping ends on April 15th.  The plan was for us to take our chances on Sunday and hope we could find a spot.  Well, Mama found a number for the campground and called them. They told her they were sold out.  That presented a problem since Dad had to work on Monday.  He said he would come home and move us and then go back.  Mama was able to keep our spot at the current campground for Sunday.  Yesterday, the folks decided to visit the new park so that they knew the best route to take the motor home.  They arrived and found the place almost empty and our spot was empty. (The man Mama had spoken to on the phone was confused with the reservations system and he probably thought they were sold out.)  It was at 3 p.m., but the folks decided to rush home and pack up and move to the new park.   We arrived at our new campground around 5 p.m.  

Can you see the hills in the background?

The campground is very spacious. 
 We do not have neighbors on any side of us.  We are right across from the bath house and laundry.  Mama said that might be good because we are getting more snow and cold temperatures this week.   We will have to pull our slides in tonight. :-(   We had water problems this morning.  Dad took his shower, but there was no water when Mama was ready for her shower.  She went outside to check out the problem.  The hosts were outside and told Mama that the water was on.  They checked our site and found that the water froze in their pipe.  They were able to get it running and Mama filled up our water tank.  Dad figured out a way to get our heated hose to work, but if their pipe freezes, then it probably won't work for us.  Another man came by and said he didn't have water either.  It is supposed to get up to 40 today, but the next two days will not be so nice.   The hosts are very nice and have checked on us a few times this morning.  They told Mama if we need anything to just let them know.

 We took a walk this morning, in the snow.  We discovered a log cabin.  We don't know the history because the information sign was blank.  A wagon is out front.





 I stick my tongue out in the cold.

 Cacti grows on the roof of the cabin.  Very interesting to Mama, not so much to us.
 



While we were walking this morning, we saw some sort of animal legs coming towards us from the woods.  Mama thought it was a wolf or a coyote.  She got scared.  It turned out it was two dogs and they were both on leashes.  Mama is so paranoid.  BOL!  I bet she gets the bear bell out that she bought before we leave this place.  The only wildlife we have seen are bunnies and there are a lot of them.

The folks visited Dinosaur Ridge on Saturday.  We will tell you about that tomorrow since this post is getting long.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Getting Tired Of The Snow And Cold

Friday, April 12, 2013

Kindness Of Neighbors

We took a nice long walk on the beach and we were going to focus our post on that today, but we just had to mention the surprise we received from our neighbors when we returned from our walk.   Our neighbors are leaving today and when we walked past their fifth wheel, the lady asked if we were going to be here for a while. Mama said we are here until Sunday and then we move to another park.  She said that they are putting their fifth wheel in storage and headed to Canada for the next ten months.  She said that she had a lot of food left over and she wondered if we wanted it.  Her mother was supposed to stay in the fifth wheel with the kids this week while she and her husband attended a meeting elsewhere.  Her mother was scared to stay here during the snow, so she and the kids stayed elsewhere and that is why they have so much food left.  Mama kept asking her if she was sure and she said she was going to have to trash it since they are flying today.   Mama told her to bring it over and we were shocked by how much they brought us and the funny thing was that it kept coming after the first batch, so not everything is in the photo.  It was hard to get a decent photo of the food with all our junk on the counter, but here it is.

There is a bag of apples, a bag of potatoes, bread, pizza crusts, a pizza, eggs, turkey bacon, yogurt, bags of frozen peaches, frozen pineapples and frozen raspberries, big bag of cheese, tomatoes, peppers, hummus, avocados and poppy seed grapefruit dressing.  The little girl was very proud to tell us that the dressing came from Maryland.

Wasn't that nice of them?  Mama only talked to them once the other day.  They were having trouble with their water.  She said they have been full-timers for six years.  They have four kids and they home school them.  They spend their winters in Breckenridge, CO with other home schooling families.  Her husband is working in Canada for ten months, so they are putting their RV in storage and living in an apartment there.  Mama is stilling smiling about the kindness of these people and will have to re-adjust her grocery list now that we were given so much food.

Okay, so back to our walk.  It was full of deer, squirrels and sand.

There is a herd of deer that live in the park.  Mama counted 18 one day.

 
Squirrel!

We are on full alert.  See him by the tree?



 
Admiring the scenery.


See, I am always on alert.


Another squirrel
 
Scout needed a power nap.  She fell asleep like this.



I almost feel asleep waiting for Scout.

Another power nap.

We thought we might have to leave her there and bring the wagon back to get her.  BOL!
It has been a great day so far.  We have our water hooked up again.  We had a very long walk and we met some very nice people.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Thinks RVing People Are Great!

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Red Rocks Park

Things are improving here.  We have the slides back out and we have so much room. Scout was so excited that she rode the slide.  That's what we call it when we lay on the couch while the slide goes in or out.  Scout used to be scared of riding the slide when we first started camping.

We were so excited when Mama brought our bed in from the Jeep.  We stored the bed in the Jeep because we didn't have room for it in here.  We thought we could put it on our dinette bed, but we didn't have enough room to make the "jump" for it there.

The bed was a hot commodity last night.  We both wanted it.  Mama surprised us this morning by bringing the other bed in from the Jeep.  It has been out there for almost two months.

Oh, boy, two beds!!!  We are going to put one on the dinette bed when Dad gets home.

Oops!  Maybe the beds are not that great now that we each have one.
The snow basically melted yesterday and it was only 25 degrees.  It is all gone now.

We still do not have fresh water coming into the motor home.  The temperatures are still too cold at night for that.  Mama wanted to do laundry today but found out the sewer hose has ice in it.  She went to the laundromat here and did it.  She is now trying to thaw out the line so that she can dump the tanks because they are getting full.  She drained the water hose when she put it away, but didn't think about the sewer line getting ice in it.  Dad said he didn't think about it either.

Saturday afternoon, the folks drove around after leaving Buffalo Bill's Lookout Mountain.  They came across Red Rocks Park. It is a very pretty place where they hold concerts.  A wedding was taking place while they were there so they couldn't tour everything that is inside.
 

 


This is where they hold concerts.  Can you imagine how the sound must be here?



The folks would have liked to have stayed longer, but it was getting late and they needed to get back to us.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Very Happy That His Motor Home Is No Longer A Single Wide

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Lookout Mountain

All is calm here today.  BOL!   I slept for almost eight hours after "my great escape".  We went out for a walk after I woke up.  It was still very cold, like -8 with the wind.  Scout ended up stepping on a cacti.  Mama didn't know it until we came inside.  She thought Scout was just being stubborn and walking slow.  Poor Scoutie!  Mama pulled two thorns or whatever they are called out of her foot.  Scout was ticked at Mama for letting it happen to her.  We took a final walk at 9 p.m. and it was -11 with the wind.  Scout was very picky about where she did her business and it took her a half hour to find that perfect spot.  I thought it was fun walking in the snow, but the folks were not as happy about as me.  I am surprised Dad walked that long in the cold, but we all knew if Scout didn't find the perfect spot, she would be waking Mama up in the middle of the night to go out. 

Today, the weather is much nicer.  It is 18, but feels like 39.  It is warm inside, so the heaters are taking a break.  We hope Dad tells us we can put the slides back out tonight. It will be nice to have room again.

The folks took a trip to Lookout Mountain on Saturday.  This is where Buffalo Bill is buried.  Buffalo Bill was a performer.  He started his career in 1872 and died in 1917. He traveled the world with his wild west show.  The show included famous people such as Sitting Bull and Annie Oakley.  Buffalo Bill treated Indians and women with great respect. He was an interesting man. 

The drive to Lookout Mountain was very long. Mama wondered if anyone attended his funeral because it would be hard for people to get up that mountain especially in 1917. She found out that 20,000 people attended and there are pictures in the museum showing all the cars making the climb up the mountain.

The folks were surprised by the number of people riding bikes up the mountain.  There is no way they could do that.

Views from the mountain:








Buffalo Bill's grave.

Pretty mountains

Buffalo along the road.

 Mama said it was interesting learning about Buffalo Bill, but the drive up the mountain and back down was a little scary for her. Dad thought it was fun.

Joey,
The Greyhound Whose Mama Calls The Wild Child




Tuesday, April 9, 2013

My Great Escape

We published this earlier today, but then took it down and wrote another post about the weather. We are ready for the world to hear about "My Great Escape" now.

It sure is cold here.  Last night, we decided to bring the slides in for a number of reasons.  The wind was very high and it was making us rock and with the slides in, we don't move as much.  We were concerned that the slide awnings might rip or be damaged by the heavy snow that was predicted.  We also felt having the slides in would make it easier to keep the motor home warm.   The heavy snow really didn't come.  We have a few inches and they are saying we may get 4.5" when it is all over with tonight.  However, it is very cold with the wind. It will not get above 20 today and that is without the windchill.  It is -8 with the wind. Brrrr! 


This is how crowded it is with the slides in.  It is messy, but no cleaning today because there is no room to clean.

This morning, Mama dressed in her boots, hat, winter coat and gloves.  I was surprised when she put me in a coat.  She said I needed to wear it because it was so cold.  It sure was cold.  I refused to do all my business which Mama wasn't happy about because I didn't do it last night either.  She thought for sure I would get her up in the middle of the night, but I didn't.  We came back to the motor home and then Scout had to get dressed for her walk.  Yes, even Scout wore a coat. You know it is cold when Scout puts a coat on.

Okay, so now we come to my great escape. Mama said I shouldn't tell everyone because it makes her look like a bad Mama. Anyone who owns a greyhound knows that we have to be watched because we can bolt. Yes, we like to run and we can reach 45 mph in just four strides or at least that is what we have been told.  Mama is always very careful because she knows if we bolt, we may not come back.  She is especially careful with me because I am a wild child.   Okay, so while she was slowly taking Scout down the steps because they were slick, I ran down the steps and I was FREE. Mama had the car keys in her hands because she was going to start the car for Dad.  She tossed them while she was trying to catch me.  Dad later found them ten feet away.  Great toss, Mama.  BOL!   I ran and ran.  I heard Mama screaming for me.  I bet she woke everyone up.  Dad has just gotten out of the shower so even though Mama was screaming, he couldn't help.  Scout refused to go back inside the motor home because she was watching my great escape.  Mama said she lost track of me.  She thought I was gone for good.  I then zoomed back around and played a game of tag with Mama. Mama did everything wrong when it comes to an escaped greyhound.  She yelled and chased.  I finally ran to her and she put me back in the motor home. She said she is shocked that I came back.  Heck, it was cold out there.  I just wanted to have a good run.  Mama took Scout for her walk and then came back to find blood every where.  I cut myself on brush.  I have cuts on my feet and leg.  She cleaned me up and put medicine on me that is supposed to prevent an infection.  I didn't get yelled out because she was so happy I was okay.   It was fun, but I wish I wouldn't have gotten cut up.  I plan on spending most of the day inside where it is warm.  I have a feeling that Mama is not going to let me get near a door unless she has me leashed and the leash wrapped around her hand.

See, I am fine.  I am resting after my big run.
Joey,
The Greyhound Who Went On His Own Adventure

Home Again - Part 3

 Well, we just realized that we didn't finish telling you about the rest of our trip home.  I don't know if we even remember the res...