I Kissed A Horse And I Liked It

Wow, a week ago today we were moving into our new home.  The week definitely went fast and we covered some miles.  We are now in Chino, CA and Dad is back at work.  Today, Mom started getting things organized in our new home.  There is still a lot to do.

 

Organizing is exhausting!

After we left the dealership, we stopped at an RV park in Abilene, TX.  The park was filled with oil field workers.  It was a very basic park.  The problem was that it was muddy.  The mud was bad, but then add little rocks to it and that is some nasty stuff.  Scout and I had trouble walking with the rocks being stuck to our paws.  Mom had to rinse off our feet every time we went outside.  We only went out a few times due to that.  It was not fun. We were glad to get out of there.

The next day, we headed to Pecos, TX.  We spent the night at an Escapees park.  We knew the reviews were bad for this park and we had heard it was the worst park in the Escapees system, but we wanted to see for ourselves.  Yep, it was bad.  It is not full of retirees.  It is full of oil field workers. We don't have a problem with that, but we do have a problem with the condition of the park.  It looks very run down.  It is basically just a parking lot with trailers on it.  Escapees should be embarrassed to have their name on this park.  The park manager spoke to us and told us that no one wants to work there.  He and his wife have a deal where they work for nine months and get three off.

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Dad and Scout walking through the park.

 

Bed of a truck and tarp over the roof.  This was our view.

Sites are close together.

We were able to walk to a nearby park.  There was mud, but grass, so we were good.  The next morning, we walked up to some horses.  The horses were very curious and followed me around as I walked outside their fence.  One of the horses leaned down and I kissed her nose.  She was sweet!

We finally left Texas on Wednesday.  We saw some pretty scenery as we left Texas and drove through New Mexico and Arizona.

 

Parked at a rest area.

Scout looks pretty happy at this rest area.

We arrived at an Escapees park in Benson, AZ on Thursday. We stayed there for two nights. Our stay was free thanks to our friends, Val and Lee.  They had won a free stay there, but couldn't use it, so they gave it to us.

Our site was quite large.

See, we have lots of room.

We were not allowed to sniff the landscaping.

We walked through the desert and got lost.  Yep, we did.  It was getting dark and we thought we had stayed on the main path. We turned around to come home and we were lost.  Mom got scared. She was worried about wildlife and cacti. We found our way home just as it got really dark.

This is the large dog park.  Just gravel. :-(

Another scene heading into the desert.

 

The sun is setting.

Is Scout happy or concerned?

This is the club house.  There is an exercise room, library, etc.

People lease the lots and they really take pride in their homes.

There is a train track going through this yard.

This is where people dry camp (camp without any hook-ups).

Pretty views.

This park is very nice. Dad asked Mom if she would want to stay there in the winter. She told him no.  She said it was not a good park for us because of all the cacti and no grass.  We also had to be on the lookout for rattlesnakes.  They do come into the park.  We were told so by one of the residents.  The people there were very nice.  One man gave Dad a tour of his home. A welcome wagon even came by while the folks were gone.  They left them a packet of information.

Scout is enjoying the new rig.

The folks visited Tombstone, AZ while we were at this park. We will tell you about that next time.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Happy To Have The Tires Stop For A While

We Have A New Home!

Monday was a very long day for us.  Scout and I were not happy.  We rode in the RV with Dad to the dealer's lot and then we had to wait while the folks closed on the new rig.  The problem was that we had to stay inside with all the slides in which is not fun.  We had no room to move around.  Our closing was supposed to start at 11 a.m.  Mom was not happy that our salesman wanted us to close and then they would come out and inspect our RV to make sure it was worth the trade amount.  She told them to inspect it first.  They came out around noon with Dad and we rode along on the inspection. Everything was fine, so Dad went back inside for the closing.  He came back out at 1:30 p.m. and drove us to the spot next to our new rig. Scout and I then had to wait while the folks went through the new rig with a tech.  He told them all about the new gadgets and he made a list of things that were not working.  The dealership claims they do a 200 point inspection, but the folks found several things that were not working such as the back-up camera.  Seriously, shouldn't that have been caught during the inspection?  Finally, at around 3:30 p.m, Mom came and got us and took us for a walk.  Oh, we forgot to mention that it was a rainy day, a very rainy day.  Our old and new rigs were parked under a covered area, but we had to walk in the rain.  The water was rushing down the street.  It took us a long time to find grass and that grass was nothing but mud.  Yeah, it was not fun at all.  It rained all day and night. We were supposed to have a nice covered site with grass, but that didn't happen.  The dealership is huge and I wish we would have taken photos to show you all the rigs that were being prepared for new owners.  There were 17 closings on Monday alone and over the weekend it was even worse.  Anyway, it would have been nice for them to park us in a nicer site, but I'm sure they don't even think about who has pets and who doesn't. They just park the rig in an open site.   Finally, we were able to get in the new rig.  We were a little nervous at first, but Mom brought our beds in right away.  The folks spent the rest of the night moving in. They stopped at 10 p.m. and still were not finished.  Mom tried to put things away in an orderly fashion, but towards the end of the evening, she was just throwing things in cabinets and said she will sort through them when we are parked for a while. The folks can lock the rig from bed, but that puts the alarm on. Well, the alarm went off and they didn't know how to turn it off.  It finally went stopped, but the next morning when Mom opened the door to take us out, it went off again. We haven't used it since, but apparently whenever we use the electronic lock the alarm will be on.  That is a problem for us because it detects motion in the rig and if Scout and I happen to walk around the alarm will go off.  We were told there is not a way to change that.  The folks will research it.  The next morning, the folks continued moving in. The tech had to come back and fix a few more things that we discovered had problems. We were finally ready to leave after 11 a.m.  The tech took us to the propane area and filled up our tank.  Dad checked the tires and found them all to be low.  He told the tech and he said he would fill them up. However, the tech didn't know  what he was doing and it was almost 1 p.m. when we were ready to hit the round.  Dad was getting miffed.  He ended up doing it himself.  Our salesman came by about that time and asked what was going on.  Mom told him.  He wasn't happy that we were having issues.  The folks were not happy either.  Finally, we were able to hit the road.

The folks found the process of buying our rig very frustrating.  The main problem was the weather.  We arrived on a Thursday evening.  The folks looked at the rigs, but it was getting late and they said they would come back the next day. The next day, it snowed.  The folks made it back to the lot in the afternoon.  They picked out the rig they wanted, but Dad wanted to test drive it.  They wouldn't let him because the roads were wet.  The next day, the weather was bad again. The folks went back to the dealership in the afternoon.  They were given some bad news about the interest rate.  They have great credit, but since we are full-timers the interest rate for us is higher.  They decided to go ahead and fill out the credit app.  On Monday, there was no news from the finance company.  On Tuesday, they found out that the finance company was charging them an even higher rate than expected.  The dealership started making deals with them then.  They bought a half a point off of the interest rate and upped the trade-in value of the rig.  The folks decided to go for it.  They put money down on the rig.  About five minutes after they did that, another salesman came in the room and said that another couple wanted our rig. He said he told them it was sold.  The folks were told we could not pick up the new rig until Monday.  What?  That meant we had to cancel our plans for the RV rally in AZ.  The folks were really disappointed.  On Wednesday, nothing happened.  On Thursday, we had a snow/ice storm.  On Friday, the roads were dry enough for Dad to take the rig out for a test drive.  Saturday, the folks went to Fort Worth for sightseeing and on Sunday, we cleaned the rig. 

Now, you are probably wanting to see photos of our new rig.  Well, we haven't taken very many because since we have moved in, we have been on the road.  Mom planned on posting a few, but now we can't find the camera.  BOL!  We had it last night, but where is it now?  We haven't a clue.

Our new home.  45' with 4 slides.

We have lots to tell you about our new home and where we have been since we lift the dealership, but we will save that for next time.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Living In Luxury

We Are Camping With A Bear

Did I get your attention?  BOL!  We are camping with Yogi Bear.  :::snicker:::

Scout actually got hugged by Yogi, but Mom's camera didn't take photos for some reason.  Scout says "good, no evidence."  I was too busy watching the squirrels.  The squirrels are nuts here.  They are not scared of me.  I almost caught one. 

This campground is pretty nice.  It is designed for kids, of course. There is a waterpark, paintball, blow-up slides and jumpy houses.  There is fishing as well as inside games.  Last night, they had fire engine rides as well as a hayride that turned into a parade with people with their golf carts.  We have been told that in the summer, this place is sold out all the time.  It is crazy enough on the weekends. We cannot imagine how it is in the summer.  I like it because there are cats and squirrels all over.

Sculptures are all over.

Yogi by the lake.

The are a lot of cabins and they are full on weekends.

Yesterday, the folks returned to Fort Worth for some sightseeing. 

Rodeos and other events are held here.

Stock Yards Museum

Well, tomorrow is the big day.  We are moving into our new home, unless something unexpected happens.  Scout and I haven't seen it in person yet.  Mom said we are probably not going to be thrilled.  It only has one couch and we won't have our dinette bed anymore. We will each have our own dog bed, so at least we have that.  :-(  The folks will have a king sized Sleep Number bed.  Scout will have to find out what her number is as I am sure she will make use of it. 

We hope it is not bad luck to show you a sneak preview of our new home.  It is a little fancier than us, but we figure it won't look so fancy with our hair all over it.  BOL!

 

 

The wood is a cherry.  At first, Mom wanted a lighter wood, but she loved the shine of this wood.  Dad really wanted the dark couch.  This is the combination that Dad wanted and I think Mom surprised him by saying she liked it. She says it looks prettier in person.  Yep, that is a fireplace and guess what?  The floors are heated.  Mom and I will like that.

Mom is very excited about this fridge. It also has a large pantry.

The cabinets have pull-out trays. Items should stay put better when Dad hits a curb.  :::snicker:::

Stackable washer and dryer.

It has a bath and a half.  This is the full bath.

It has a TV that we can watch outside.  Mom and I needed that in Alabama.   We will tell you all about the other options after we move in.  Keep your fingers crossed that it all goes smoothly. 

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Hopes He Likes His New Home

Austin - Lots Of Traffic

We ended up spending more time in Austin than we planned. Our plan was for Dad to take his test and for the folks to visit LBJ Museum. We wanted to then head to Dallas, but the snowy weather there kept us in Austin. The folks were able to visit the LBJ Ranch which they totally enjoyed.

The campground we stayed in was convenient as it was right off the highway, but the traffic was terrible.  Houston, Dallas and Austin all have heavy traffic.  Mom still doesn't like the feeder roads in Texas.  An example is this campground.  You have to double back on a feeder road to get to it.  All the sites were pull-thrus.  It looks like it used to be a KOA. 

One of the couples that works in the office at this campground loves greyhounds.  They invited us into the office to get some loving.

Here are some photos of the campground:

Our site.

The dog park.

 

Here we are leaving Austin.  The traffic is heavy.  Mom said it was worse on Sunday night.  They had a heck of a time just getting out of the campground.

Our trip to Dallas was uneventful until we stopped to get gas.  We normally go to the truck area, but there was a long line.  We decided to use the RV fuel lines.  We were waiting behind an RV that was trying to get propone. The RV discovered they needed to turn around to get their propane filled.  While they were turning around, a tractor trailer decided he was going to get in front of us.  It took him forever to fill up because the RV pumps do not fill fast like the truck pumps do.  So, we had to wait.  Well, in the meantime, the RV wanting to fill up couldn't get to the propane because of the tractor trailer.  We all had to wait.  The attendant asked us to back up.  Dad told him we couldn't with the car attached. When the tractor trailer finished, Dad went through the lane to get out of the way of the RV because he needed to get to the propane tank which is where we were and our rig would block him if we got gas.  Well, the RV couldn't make the turn with his car attached, so he ended up having to unhook his car.  He was not happy.  Mom decided to run across to Burger King and get us some lunch while this was going on.  Finally, the RV got out of our way and we filled our tank.  Luckily, we were not in a hurry because this stop took us 45 minutes.

This truck full of cattle were in front of us at the gas station. They started backing up and Dad had to blow our air horns to let them know we were there. 

As we pulled out of the gas station, Dad ran up on the curb.  Our kitchen cabinet flew open and our plates and bowls spilled out.  Our printer flew off the cabinet in the bedroom.  It was a mess.

We finally arrived in Dallas.  Actually, we are to the South of Fort Worth.  We have had terrible weather since we arrived last Thursday.  We have had ice, snow, cold, wind, heavy rain and another bout of snow last night. Mom has been sick with a cold. We have not had fun while here.  Our plan was to buy a new RV, but the weather has played havoc on our plans.  We should be in it right now, but the darn weather delayed things.  As it stands right now, we are going to miss Escapade in AZ.  Yep, all of our plans have changed.  Anyway, we are supposed to move in on Monday.  Will it happen?  Stay tuned!

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Not Sure About This New RV