We Are Still On Vacation

Last week, we were at home visiting the doctor, vet and family.  We had to take our rig into the repair shop in downtown St. Louis because the engine light came on and the siren went off.  Well, maybe siren is the wrong word, but it was ear piercing.

The shop was nice and had recliners and a big TV. They said I could come inside.

They said our rig's computer was not up to date and that was the problem. Dad was hoping it was something where they replaced a part because he would have felt more confident that it was fixed.  However, we have since driven about 470 miles and it is still off, so maybe that was the problem.

I went to the doctor on Monday for a blood test so that I could have my teeth cleaned on Friday.  Mom asked the vet if I would be able to travel about 10 hours on Sunday if I had extractions.  She said no.  Actually, we think she got nervous when she read up on greyhounds, dentals and bleeding.  They do not have the drug Amicar on hand and she didn't seem to want to get it. Basically, she said she would not do my dental.  The folks are glad she was honest with them and they will find a vet who is more confident in dealing with greyhound dentals.  I was able to get my Heartguard for a year, so I am set on that.  Next year, I need my rabies vaccine.

The folks took me to Robertsville State Park on Tuesday.  I haven't been there for a few years.  It looks the same.

The folks visited their doctor on Thursday. 

We are now at an Entegra Rally.  What is that?  Entegra is the company that makes our RV. 

Me and Dad at the entrance to the rally.  Don't we look happy?

I will tell you more about the rally next time. 

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Likes Rallies

Bennett Springs State Park

We are on vacation!  We traveled to Big Cabin, OK last week for an oil change on the RV.  The place that did the oil change has a small campground.  It was actually really nice.  However, the place that did the oil change is not pet friendly.  They said I was not allowed inside their building.  That could have been an issue if it was raining or hot outside or if the repair took all day.  Mom got my old bed out of the Jeep and I just laid there while the rig was getting serviced.  I actually enjoyed spending time outside, so it was okay.

Our view from the campground.

Us

After the oil change, we drove to Bennett Springs State Park.  This was my third trip there.  It is one of my favorite places. Why?  There is so much room to walk.  I didn't get to fish since Dad was concerned that I might pick up a hook in my foot.  Mom and I did our walking while Dad was fishing.  We walked two miles one day and one and a half another.  We used to walk that far and even farther all the time, but we have gotten out of shape due to the places we have been staying.  It was nice to stretch my legs again.

Spring is just beginning here. 

Mom always likes seeing this scene.

Our stay at Bennett Springs was fun.  However, the water has not been turned on at the campground yet.  We had to fill up our tank which was quite an adventure as it was tight getting our rig into that area.  They were also doing road construction at the campground entrance/exit which presented more challenges for our 45' rig.  We will not be able to drink water from our rig for a while unless Dad sanitizes it since we had to put water in the tank.  Normally, a hose is just connected to the rig and that is safe to drink from. When you turn the pump on, it contaminates your system and it is not safe to drink until you sanitize it or wait about a week after you stop using the pump.  It is a pain because even to brush their teeth, the folks have to use bottled water.  I get to drink bottled water too. 

We left Bennett Springs yesterday.  We had just a short trip to our next destination.  Our engine light came on which caused us to pull over to the shoulder. Not only did the light come home but it made this terrible tone to get our attention.  Dad called the manufacturer of our rig who then called the people who made our engine.  Dad told them the error codes and we were told we could keep driving since it wasn't too far.  They are supposed to call us tomorrow to set up a repair time.  That was not part of our vacation schedule and I bet it will take all day at the repair shop.  He hopes they will come to us, but I bet they don't.  It is still under warranty, so it shouldn't cost us anything but time. 

I am scheduled to have a dental on Friday.  Mom is worried about it, of course.  I am not worried, but I would rather not do it.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Doesn't Think A Dental Should Be Part Of A Vacation

My Dad Is Home!

My Dad has been in Hawaii for the past month.  Mom and I have been on our own.  We did fine except the hail storm caused damaged to our rig, but that wasn't our fault.  The only good part of Dad being away is that we don't worry about cleaning. That means that the vacuum doesn't come out every day.  On Friday, we really had to clean.  Mom polished all the wood, mopped, vacuumed and just basically got in my way.  Dad came home yesterday!  All is right in my world.

Dad brought Mom a necklace. It is really pretty. His co-workers gave him him a bag full of goodies; nuts, candies and coffee.  He also brought home two weeks worth of dirty clothes.  I didn't get squat.  Oh wait, I did get a french fry from their lunch yesterday.

Tomorrow, we are hitting the road.  Dad is on vacation for three weeks.  Our first stop is to get the RV inspected.  After that we are heading to Oklahoma and we will get the oil changed.  We are then headed to Missouri to do some trout fishing.  We are hoping to get the rig fixed in Indiana, but they may not be able to get us in during our vacation.  We are still hoping to go there for a get together of people that own the same brand of RV that we own.  It is kind of like a rally.  We made reservations yesterday, but we haven't received the confirmation that there is room for us.

I will miss the dog park here.  It is great!  Some of the people said they will miss seeing me.  They think my boot that I wear is pretty cool. They also like to watch me run at the dog park.  I will miss the squirrels. I could spend hours watching them.  One almost fell from a tree the other day.  The limb he jump on broke. That was exciting.  There are a couple of dogs that stay outside on cables (against the rules) and I will miss seeing them run to try and get me and then see them snap back because they run out of their cable.  Silly dogs.

Mom likes the staff here. They are very friendly.  We are on a monthly rate and our month ended yesterday.  They are prorating the rest of our stay which comes out to just $18 a day and not charging us for electricity.  That is cheap!  They said they do that for good customers.  The worse part of this place is that some people have a lot of junk at their sites There are also lots of tarps on the roofs.  Yes, we just had a hail storm, but the tarps were here when we arrived in February. Mom calls it "Tarpville".  We just wish they would enforce the rules here.  Corporate has been here the last few days and before their arrival, they tried to get people to clean things up.  It didn't happen.  There was talk that the managers might be fired, but since we are leaving, we won't know if that happened.

I will try and update the blog more since I will actually be having some adventures.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Trading In His Cowboy Hat For A Fishing Pole

The Kindness Of Strangers

Last Thursday morning our area had a hail storm.  It was a little scary because it was so loud inside.  It would have been much louder in our old RV though.

I wasn't too scared.

Mom noticed a crack in our skylight in the shower.  She is scared to get on the roof, so she did not check for other damage.  She told Dad and they decided to turn in a claim just in case there was more damage.  We noticed that the Jeep had hail damage.  Mom said that since it is 12 years old she is not going to get it fixed.  I hope if I need repairs at age 12, she will decide I am worth it.


Later in the day, we saw a lot of people on their roofs repairing some of their damage. Mom asked one man if he had damage.  He said he did not.  He offered to check out our roof.  He didn't see any damage.  He didn't even see the crack in the skylight.  He put a plastic bag over it anyway.  After he left, Mom checked out his work from the shower and noticed the crack was not covered at all.  Darn!  She didn't want to go back to him and ask him to come back since it is a pain climbing on a roof.  However, several of our neighbors were outside looking at their rigs and Mom started talking with them.  She told our neighbor, Jack, about our issue. He offered to put glue and tape on the crack.  He also told Mom there was more hail damage on our roof than just the skylight.  Mom said she is really thankful for the kindness of strangers.

Here is the crack with tape and glue on it.  It is a really long crack. The crack is on the left.  The tape makes it looks worse than it is.

On Monday of this week, the claim adjuster came by.  We have more damage than we expected.  He said the skylight, the trim on the roof and our slide toppers all need to be replaced.  Also, the covers on the AC units also have damage.  He estimated that the repairs will take 10 days in a shop because the trim will have to be painted to match the rig.  We will need to stay in a motel during that time.   We have a $1,500 RV Emergency Expense that will cover some or all of that depending on how expensive our motel ends up being.  We are going to have to wait until we get to our next destination to get the repairs done and we do not know where that will be yet.  I have never stayed in a motel.  It sounds like an excellent adventure!

It seems like just about everyone suffered damage.  Many of the people had hail crash through their skylights.  That would have been really scary.  

We sure will be glad when Dad gets home.  Mom told me today that we have about ten more days. 

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Going To Stay In A Motel

My Surprise

In my last post, I mentioned that Mom gave me a present - a surprise.

What is it?

Oh, it is a new bed that stinks!

We added my blanket to it to get the store stink out of it.

I think my other bed was better.

I guess I will get used to it.

This bed is a lot like my old bed.  Mom says it is better because the cover comes off and can be washed.  It also had a lot more filling, but Mom can also add more if she wanted to do so.   Mom says the old bed really smells and it is too big to put in a regular washing machine and she hasn't found a laundromat yet that allows you to wash dog beds.  We are keeping the old bed for sitting outside and going for rides in the Jeep.

The rain finally stopped on Saturday.  Mom and I were getting really down with the constant rain.  We now have sun!

The campground is crowded with people this week.  Lots of people on vacation.  I bet they were not happy when a jackhammer started at 8 a.m.  They are doing a remodel on the pool.  Not only is the jackhammer going, but they are draining the pool into the street.  Yeah, that is a mess.  The owner is also getting ready to put in more cabins, so today he is moving sod from one spot and will put it in another spot once he takes the gravel from that spot and put it where the sod was and put the sod where the gravel is.  Yeah, that is a lot of work.  Mom told him the Wi-Fi is out again.  It has been out for over a week, so I doubt she is the first one to tell him.  He acted surprise though.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Popular Among The Vacationers