I Was Promised A Warm Winter

The folks told me that we would have a warm winter.  They were wrong.  They said on the news that it hasn't been this cold in two years.  Today, it didn't get above 35 and with the wind, it was in the 20's. I had to wear a coat!  Mom asked a guy that works here if they shut the water off when it gets below freezing.  He said they don't.  They just put a sign up saying to keep your faucets running.  Tonight, it will get down to 24, so we will see what happens. We have a new heated hose, so hopefully it works for us. Mom has been trying to conserve our propane, so we have just been using our fireplace and our furnace on the electric mode.  We have kept all the shades down to keep the heat inside.  Mom stresses a lot about using our propane because getting it re-filled involves driving the rig to a place to have it filled.  We know that much of the country is much colder than us and we shouldn't be complaining and we are happy that we haven't seen ice or snow yet.  We just don't like the cold.  It takes a long time just to get ready to go outside.  Gloves, coats, hats, etc. 

I knew I should have gone to Florida with Grandma.

Santa will be at Petsmart this weekend.  Mom said we might go.  She made me a new collar so that I look extra handsome when I see the big guy.  I really don't care about seeing him.  I just like going to Petsmart.  

My new snowman collar.

You know that Mom loves her air fryer.  Well, she was frustrated with the size, so she bought a bigger one.  She used her work money to buy it, so it was free in her mind.    This one is a GoWise 5.8.  Her other one is a Paula Deen 3.5.  Paula Deen just came out with a bigger one but it is sold out supposedly until spring.  There were a couple of factors that influenced Mom to buy the GoWise.  It has buttons and not dials.  Mom said that is easier for her.  She could also buy it through Amazon and use her work money on it. She hasn't fixed any meals in it unless you count lunch, but so far she is happy with it. It arrived on Monday. She will fix wings next week and that will be a good test.  She used to have to do wings in batches and she thinks she will be able to do them all at once with the new fryer.  She may try to make Red Lobster biscuits in it tonight to go with our Chicken Marsala that has been cooking all day in our slow cooker.

Old and new

The new one is quite a bit bigger.  It is more powerful too.

Mom and I have been hunting squirrels every day except today. They were not out today.  I searched and searched and couldn't find them.  Mom said they are probably in bed. :::rolls eyes:::

Joey,

The Greyhound Who Is Glad That Nice Weather Is Returning This Weekend

I Went Squirrel Hunting

We moved to our new campground on Sunday.  It wasn't without some drama though.  We were ready to go and then one of our slide toppers decided not to roll up properly.  Dad tried it several times.  He then looked up information on the Internet.  Then, the tools and ladder came out.  Mom didn't think he would be able to fix it.  It was really cold as the wind was really gusty.  Dad unscrewed a few screws and then came inside and pushed the slide button.  A big BANG occurred which made Mom scream.  Dad went back outside and looked at the slide topper and declared it fixed.  He thinks the screws needed to be loosened so that it could fix itself.

We finally got on the road.  I rode with Mom.  It was a long drive due to construction.  It took us about an hour and a half.  We finally arrived at the campground.  Mom was disappointed to learn that we didn't get the site that she was told was ours.  We ended up in a site next to a very messy neighbor.

The last time we were here, corporate was here and the managers were nervous.  I guess some changes have been made. There used to be blue tarps on many of the campers.  They must have said no blue tarps because now they have gray ones.  Some of the messy neighbors that were here are gone, but new ones have moved in.  There is a wait list to get in and Dad said they could easily clean out the messy people and fill the place up with new people.  They could enforce the rules, but they just don't do it.  Mom gets so aggravated when rules are not enforced.  However, she is violating the rules herself.  She put our lawn chairs, garden flag and wind chime out on our site.  Those items are against the rules.  She is not worried since most people have those things plus junk and no one seems to care. We haven't complained because we don't want to make enemies.  Management definitely knows they are messy and allows it.

Breaking the rules.

Why do we stay?  Well, the location is great.  Dad's drive is much better. The campground has a really nice dog park for me and there are SQUIRRELS!

Mom took me squirrel hunting today.

This guy was a lot of fun.

A couple people cheered me on while I was hunting.  I followed this guy around for quite a while.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Loves Squirrels

Hawk Vs. Jeep

It is pretty quiet around this place.  There is a lady and her dog that Mom and I walk with some mornings.  She thinks it is strange that I pee a lot.  I think it is stranger that her dog eats poop. BOL!

We have seen a number of people walking their dogs who don't stop long enough for their dogs to do their business.  The dogs have to do it on the run.  The people don't stop to clean up after their dogs either.  There is a trail of their poo across our site.  Grrrr!

Just me being handsome.

...and silly.

The folks went to Win Star World Casino for Thanksgiving.  They have a buffet that Mom wanted to check out.  Last year, they ate at a steak place on Thanksgiving, but had the turkey dinner.  Mom said she would not make that mistake again.  It definitely didn't feel like Thanksgiving. There were no "seconds".  Mom said she wasn't even going to eat turkey this year.  However, this place was so packed that she got stuck in the turkey line.  She ended up eating Thanksgiving food and it was good.  She also had Mexican and Chinese.  She couldn't decide if she wanted pumpkin pie or pecan pie and discovered they had her favorite dessert, Tres Leches (three milk cake).  She had that and it was delicious.

The folks decided to play the penny slots.  Mom put a dollar in and she won the first two spins.  Dad told her to bet it all and she ended up winning $18.  She said that was enough and she cashed in her winnings.  No, she is not a gambler.  BOL!

The casino.

On the way home, the folks had quite the surprise.  A hawk crashed into their windshield.  The speed limit was 75, but they were probably doing 65.  Mom saw the hawk coming at them and she closed her eyes.  She then heard "BAM".  She opened her eyes to see that the windshield was broke.

It really was hard getting a good picture of the windshield.  This was Mom's side.  Dad's side also had a crack going across it.  They checked online and were able to get an appointment at Safelite to have the windshield replaced on Friday.

All fixed

On the way home from Safelite, they stopped for lunch at Razzoo's Cajun Cafe.  It has been a while since we have posted any food porn, so here you go:

Fried pickles - excellent

Cheeseburger, fries and hush puppies - very good.  Mom wanted alligator, but they didn't have it.

Catfish, rice and beans

Mom and I are just hanging out today while Dad is at work.  We are moving to a new campground tomorrow!!!  We are not looking forward to the drive or getting parked there as it is hard to get into the campground, but once we are there, we will be happy.  Mom has a plan to help Dad get into the campground.  Dad needs to be in the far lane so that he can swing the rig wide to get into the campground. Mom is going to stay in the other lane with the Jeep and block the traffic.  I haven't decided who I am going to ride with yet.

This is the entrance to our current campground.  Have you ever seen such a wide street for a campground?  It is because there is a RV dealership here.

Cacti here.

We hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving!

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Didn't Get Any Thanksgiving Goodies This Year

Our Repairs Are Done

Boy, it has been a crazy three weeks!  We left Lancaster, PA and drove to Elkhart, IN to get our hail damage fixed.  We had some mechanical issues on that trip and our tow bar broke, too. Dad had it rebuilt for $350 instead of buying a new one for $800.  We stayed in a hotel for ten days.  I experienced elevators, stairs and other strange things.  Then, we drove to Entegra in Middlebury, IN for more repairs.  Mom thought it was going to be terrible, but once she found out that I could go into the lounge, it wasn't bad at all.  No one actually said it was okay for me to be in the lounge, but no one told me to leave either.  The folks are very pleased with all the work that was done.  53 items were repaired or explained to us.  That is a lot for four and a half days. We left Elkhart around 11 a.m. on Friday.

We are now in our new location.  Any guesses where we are?

We passed through St. Louis.

We experienced a freezing morning on Sunday.  Our waterlines froze. No showers for the folks.

This rest area in Missouri is interesting.  It looks like a little town.

We stayed at a campground in Oklahoma City that we stayed at a few years ago.  It was demolished by a tornado and has been re-built.  Mom said it was eerie to be there knowing a tornado had destroyed it.

Okay, this is a big clue.  BOL!

We have been to this area before but the last time we stayed at the campground with the alpacas.  We are about an hour from Dad's work, so we are trying to get a place closer.  We are on wait lists because everything is booked up.  This is not really a winter destination, but there are a lot of claim adjusters dealing with storm damage from earlier this year.  We were in this area when we had our hail damage.

Our driveway is long.  Most are not level. 

Mom and I enjoyed the warm weather this morning.

I even enjoyed the sun for a while.

The campground is okay.  It is a pretty basic place.  No cable.  😞  We have our satellite but Mom likes to watch cable in the bedroom while Dad watches his violent movies.  There is a fenced dog area that is the perfect size for me.  The fishing pond is nice.  Mom will not be riding Buddy because there are not any side roads for her to take.  She would have to get on the feeder road and the speed limit is 55.  Buddy only goes 45 mph unless he is going downhill and then he goes faster.  We are about 10 miles away from shopping.  It seems like a very quiet place.  We were told they had one spot left, but there are quite a few empty spaces.  Hopefully, we will be able to move closer to Dad's work soon.

It is nice to be parked for a while.  It looks like we will all be together for the holidays and winter this year.  😄

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Happy To Be Parked Again

Just Lounging Around

We have been at Entegra since Friday night.  The sign on the door said I wasn't allowed, but another customer said I should just walk in and lay down.  That is what I did.  We have a rep that schedules all our work and keeps track of the progress. She came out and met me and didn't say anything about me being in the lounge.  On Tuesday, they held a class in the lounge and since it was a rainy day, I went to class. Donuts were served.  Yum!  There has been a lab here, so I am not the only dog violating the rules. The head of customer service used to have a greyhound and she has said "Hi" to me each day, so I guess it is not an issue since I am so good.  I get talked to by most of the customers. They are amazed that I am so quiet.

We sat outside for a while on Monday since it was nice out.

 Each morning, we have to be ready for the tech.  We have to have all the slides in and ready for him to drive it away at 6:30 a.m.  That means that each morning we put everything away and at night, we put everything back out.  The days are long, but it has been fun being in the lounge.  It is not as boring as you would think since most of the customers are here for a week and we just sit around and talk and watch TV.  We go to lunch each day.  I really like this type of living.

The parking lot looks sad with all the motor homes gone.

 We have been very happy with everything that has been fixed.  Our Samsung microwave/convection oven has had problems since almost the beginning.  It had trouble heating up. So, they gave us a new Whirlpool microwave/convection oven.  We had thirty things on our list that needed to be fixed.  I can't remember them all, but I will try to list what has been fixed.  The screen door, the front door now will stay open when we want it to do so, radio antenna (didn't know it was broke), three new windows were installed (we didn't know they were a problem), shower trim replaced, washing machine fixed, cabinets sanded and touched up, new windshield wipers and arms, cracked floor tiles replaced, aqua hot pump replaced (we now have heat!), big slide was adjusted, outside lights replaced, shade motors replaced and shades adjusted so they are even when up and some other mechanical things that Mom and I don't understand.  I know there are other things that have been fixed but I can't remember.  Today, they are working on our toilet, bedroom slide, our couch. The couch is "L" shaped and when we travel, the "L" part has to be pushed in. The lock broke, so it doesn't stay in.  Our chairs are getting new fabric.  We were taught how to use our remote for the slides and our auto door lock is being programmed for us.

The rigs are brought back to their sites after 3 p.m. each day. Sometimes it is after 4 p.m. We usually talk to our tech to see what has been accomplished.  Our rep meets with us in the morning to go over what is scheduled for the day.  It is very organized.

Our new microwave.

Tuesday, listening to the class.

I moved off the rug.

Back on the rug.

The customer lounge is really nice.

There I am. See me?

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Likes Living At Entegra