Near The Windy City

We were disappointed when we heard we were being sent back to the Chicago area.  We had been hoping to be sent to Kansas City.  We really did not enjoy our last stay here.  We stayed at a campground where the manager is extremely rude to the guests.  The latest reviews show he is still being his rude self. Mama called him the "Pigman" because soon after we arrived she saw him getting dressed in a pig suit for a pig roast they were having at the campground.  He drove a tractor around in his pig suit.  We really thought we might end up there again because the selection of campgrounds in the Chicago area is not very good.  There are just not a lot to choose from and some of them close on October 15th.  We needed a place to stay through most of November. We debated on staying at "Pigman's Park" and a place that would add more time to Dad's drive.  We decided to try the park that is further away since that is how much we dislike the Pigman.

We arrived here Wednesday afternoon. We are located in a small, historic town.  Mama says it reminds her of Union, MO, but it probably a little bigger and the houses are much older.  There is a town that is larger that is about three miles away and it has about anything you could want.

Our campground has two lakes. There are trails going around the lakes.  Scout and I have walked them both a few times already.  The owners are very nice. They said we can walk anywhere, but we are not allowed in the water or on the beach.  Mama went to the office/store last night hoping to buy some paper towels.  They didn't have any in the store, but went to their private stash and sold us a roll for $1.  Mama thought that was nice of them. We can receive mail here and that always makes Mama happy. She ordered us bully sticks today!

 The sites themselves are not pretty. We are basically in a gravel parking lot.  We knew that before we got here.  Dad decided to rent us a premium site because we would be closer to the grass and wouldn't have to walk on the gravel as much. We have a lake view which is nice, but we are not next the lake. There is a field of grass between us and the lake.  We are in full sun, but we figure that will be good when the weather turns colder.  We like our site.

Our site.  We do have a small tree on one side of us.  Our mat makes our place look nicer.

The walkway to the office.  It is very close to our site.

Our view.  Yes, the lakes is there.  We see it better in person than the picture shows.

A pond.

A swan in the lake.  We have several swans here.

 

 

 

We are definitely in farming country here.  Corn is huge here.

We are across the lake.

We really like it here so far.  Scout is even happy. She happily walked the trails yesterday. Today, she was not as excited, but Mama made her walk this morning since there weren't any bugs and it was cool out. I'm sure we will bored here after a month or so, but for now, it is a fun place to explore.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Thinks His New Place Has Interesting Smells

Giant City State Park

We spent arrived at Giant City State Park on Monday afternoon.  As soon as we arrived, the skies opened up and rained on us.  The folks got really wet because we didn't have full hook ups and Dad had to fill the water tank up. It took a while.  He went inside while it was filling, but he still got wet.  Mama got wet because she needed to direct Dad out of a tight spot with the motor home.

Our trip on Monday was a little stressful.  We couldn't get one of the jacks to come up all the way on the motor home.  It came up enough that we could drive with it, but it gave out a warning beep, beep, beep the entire trip.  It is kind of like the warning signal you get for not wearing your seat belt. Can you imagine that sound for 200 miles?  Dad said that if it didn't come down at our site and if our site was not level, we would not be able to put the sides out.  YIKES!  The jack didn't come down, but we are level enough to put the sides out.  The next day he did some research on the problem and found that a fuse might be the problem.  He replaced the fuse and the jack started working again. It seems to be working fine now.

Scout was completely miserable at Giant City.  She didn't want to go outside at all because of the horseflies.  The folks wanted to take us on a trail, but they knew Scout wouldn't be happy. I wanted to go, but I stayed behind with Scout so she wouldn't be lonely.

The folks visited the visitors center and watched two movies on the park. The guide suggested they take a trail that is one mile long and really shows why the park is called Giant City.  Mama bought a walking stick at the gift shop and she said it gave her more confidence when they had to walk on the rocks.  She is pretty clumsy.

 

This is why it is called Giant City.

There were a lot of old carvings.

Cool!

One of the places that a walk stick helps a clumsy person.

Balancing rock.

The folks decided to eat lunch at the lodge. They ate dinner there the night before and they were not impressed.  They decided to give it a second chance because they really didn't feel like going into town.

The lodge was built by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corp) in the 1930's.  The folks watched a film about the CCC  at the visitors' center which made their visit to the lodge even more interesting.

These guys are at the entrance to the lodge.

The dining area.

The lodge.

The lodge is a very popular place for the locals to eat.  Mama decided to try the chicken which is served family style if more than one person orders it.  It is all you can eat.  It is $8.99 for lunch and $10.99 for dinner.

It comes with chicken dumplings, corn, green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy, coleslaw and biscuits. 

Mama says the chicken was delicious. They forgot to bring her coleslaw and biscuits.  She said she had enough food without those anyway.

Horseshoe Sandwich - turkey covered in cheese and bacon.

Dad said his sandwich was really good. 

Water tower near the state park.

We really liked Giant City State Park, but the horseflies and mosquitoes were really bad.  We are glad we stayed there though.  I hope we go again so that I can hike some of the trails.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Bites Back At Horseflies

The Snood

Mama loves knitting on her loom. She has made dishcloths and two "scarves" for the dash of the motor home.  The "scarves" are to protect the dash from picture frames on the dash.  We have way too many dishcloths now, so she decided to make a snood.  She couldn't find a pattern for a snood using a knitting loom, so she has been experimenting.

The first snood was, well, a little tight and very long.  She apparently thinks our necks are really long.

"I can't breathe!"

"I look like an old lady."

"What the heck?" 

  This is actually the same snood, but the lighting is different so the color looks totally different.

"Why do I need a snood?  Has my neck ever been cold?"

"I would rather have cold ears than wear this thing?"

"I am not going to look happy wearing this!"

"Okay, this one fits better, but I still look like an old lady."

"Seriously, I don't think a snood is necessary."

"You know, I am never going to wear this thing out in public."

"I am not amused!"

"Turn the camera off!"

Mama really needs to find something else to knit.  We are not happy about the snood.

In other news, we have left the Memphis area.  We are now near Carbondale, IL at Giant City State Park.  We leave here tomorrow and will continue our journey north.  Any guesses on our destination?  Scout is not happy here. There are horseflies. She says she is never going outside again, but I think she will have to eventually.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Doesn't Look Manly In A Snood

I Have A Big Personality!

Mama always tells people that I am not a typical greyhound.  I have a lot of energy and I am always ready to do something.  The other night, we met a man who wanted to pet us. Scout got all excited and that got me excited and I tried to jump on the man.  The man said "He must have been a good racer!"  Mama told him that I was a stakes winner and my career ended when I broke my leg.  Mama then told him that I was not a typical greyhound.  The man said "Oh, he just has a BIG personality!"  Wow, no one has ever said that to me before.  If you meet me in person, you might say that I am aloof because while I like to be petted, I feel there are more important things to do such as walking and exploring.  I like being described as having a big personality rather than not typical. It just sounds better.

The sky had a bit of pink to it last night.

We took our long walk at 7 a.m. this morning.  We have a heat warning here, so we are limiting our time outside. Our walk this morning was two miles.  We stayed on the main road, so no surprises today.

The sunrise this morning.

This park has experienced many floods.  This building is located pretty far from the river and notice how high the water was during the last major flood.

This is the office.  It is a trailer on wheels so that it can be moved during flooding.

This park offers use of their laundry machines for FREE!  Can you believe that?  The laundry room is on wheels, too.

The entrance to our park.  We walked here this morning.  It is 2 miles round trip according to the pedometer.

The main road that we walked today.

We would like to send our condolences to Sam's Mom. His Mom's blog is Miscellanea.  He crossed to the Rainbow Bridge yesterday.  His Mom misses him so much.  We are very sad for her. 

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Thinks You Need To Get Off The Main Road To See Naked Ladies.  BOL!