Friday, August 10, 2012

What Makes A Slick Floor In The RV?

We keep forgetting to tell you about the slick floor incident. Mama worked really hard cleaning Goldie before we left Houston. She mopped the floor the day before we left. However, the floor became very slick. She couldn't figure out why it was so slick.  She used the same cleaner she always used. When Dad came home she told him about the floor. He said he thought it felt gritty to him.  Mama then remembered that Dad had used the mop to clean Goldie's outside. She said "You didn't use wax on this mop, did you?"   Dad said "No, but I used a seal on it. I planned on throwing the mop away after I used it."  He, of course, didn't throw it away but just left it sitting outside, so Mama brought it in thinking he only used it with soap and water.  The gritty feel was probably just the dirt sealed into our floor.  Mama got down on her hands and knees and scrubbed the floor to try and get the seal off.  It got a little better but it was still slick.  It eventually wore off.  Mom threw the mop away.

Guess what?  The grumpy guy here actually waved to us as we walked by.  I guess he has decided we aren't so bad after all.

Last night, Mama fixed a really good Emeal dinner.  We have been bad about not telling you about our Emeals since we left Houston.

White BBQ Chicken
(3 T mayo, 2 t salt, 2 t pepper, 1 T sugar, 1½ T
vinegar, cooking spray)
⅛ c milk
2-3 boneless chicken breasts, pounded
1 lb red potatoes, washed & cut in 8ths
(¼ c olive oil, sea salt, cooking spray, foil)
½ small bunch asparagus

In a bowl, combine mayo, salt, pepper, sugar, vinegar and milk. Pour sauce over each piece of chicken in a
greased baking dish. Cover and bake at 350° for 45 min or grill. Toss potatoes in olive oil. Spread on sprayed cookie sheet and sprinkle with salt. Cover and bake along with chicken at 350° for 1 hour. Top with sauce from chicken. Sauté asparagus in olive oil until tender, 5-10 min.
White BBQ Chicken
 Mama especially thought the roasted potatoes were delicious.  She is not thrilled when she has recipes that take so long in the oven since our oven runs on propane and she is worried we will run out. It would hard to get it filled here.  Dad keeps telling her not to worry.


It's a rainy day here.  It's very dark in Goldie since we are in the woods.
We were left a nice comment yesterday about a greyhound get together next weekend. Thank you for telling us about it, but we cannot attend because that is the weekend that our "Grandparents" are coming to visit us.

The folks are going to the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame tomorrow. I think they may be planning on a trip to Camping World on Sunday. We need to replace our "house" batteries.  The house batteries run your lights and pull up your jacks and bring in your slides or maybe they put your slides out.  Regardless, they are all but drained. Mama is having trouble seeing to fix dinner at night.  Dad said they are about $150 and we need to buy something that goes with them that is $200.  Mama and I can't remember what that is, but we need a new one.  LOL   Dad has been putting off buying them, but he has stretched them as far as possible.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Bored And Whining For A Walk

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Another Cool And Rainy Day

Yesterday, we took several walks. We sometimes drop Scout off when she gets tired and she missed out meeting an older couple that gave me treats. They live here in the summer and then they go to Florida for the rest of the year. They are really nice. Everyone but that man that glares at us because his dogs have a barking problem have been nice to us. We met another man this morning that talked to us for a long time. We got bored with him since we were on a mission to walk before the rain returned.  Mama mentioned how much we like the cool weather and he said it was hot.  Dad said someone said to the same thing to him yesterday.  Hot?  Seriously, it is in the 70's and 80's.  I guess it depends on what you get used to.  It is 71 in the RV this morning.  We have the windows opened.  Mama had to close the front door though because someone below us has a fire going and the smoke gives her migraines.  Yes, we camp and Mama can't be around campfires.  LOL   It hasn't been an issue until we got here. 

Mama wanted to mention that if you ever go to Washington DC, she recommends going to Ford's Theater. That is where Lincoln was shot. She was there several years ago and the man who gave the tour was really good. His talk was very vivid and Mama felt like she was really there when it all happened. She then went across the street where Lincoln was taken after he was shot and saw the bed that he died in. She has also been to Springfield, IL and toured all the Lincoln things there. She also recommends seeing the Holocaust Museum. It is very sad to see, but should be so that we don't forget what happened.  Washington DC has so much to see and do.  We definitely didn't have enough time there.

Here's a view coming into our campground.

Another view of the road in the campground.
Some of the campers in the main camping area. They are not in the woods like us.
There is a national park near us, Cuyahoga Valley National Park. It is only 10 miles from us. We visited there on Sunday.  We only saw a small part of it.  We hope to go back and do some hiking.
Scout and I walking at Cuyahoga Valley Naitonal Park

Train Depot


Train that visitors can take in the park.  The folks are going to go back and ride it.

Creek in park
Saturday night, the folks ate at Rocknes.  It is an upbeat, fun type of restaurant.  Mama ordered a Mini Max Hamburger.  Basically, it looks like McDonald's Big Mac, but comes with a steak knife in it to hold it together.  It has a secret sauce on it.   It is bigger than a Big Mac.  Mama said it was good.  Guess what?  She was so excited about eating it that she forgot to take a photo.  She said she will have to go back and eat there again so she can take a photo.  Dad had a cheeseburger.  He liked it too.

Rockne's Pub on Urbanspoon
 Mama make a Hawaiian Pizza last night, but once again forgot to take photos.  We are going to have to tape the camera to her, I think.   She said the pizza was good.  It had BBQ sauce, bacon bits, ham, pineapple and cheese.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Needs To Learn To Use A Camera Since Mama Keeps Forgetting

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Ohio Is Cool!

The weather here is so nice.  It is like it is fall, but it's not.  We are supposed to get rain from Thursday thru Sunday thought.  That is new.  It was supposed to be a nice weekend with temps in the 70's. It is still going to be in the 70's but with rain.

Dad says his commute is an easy one.  The traffic isn't bad and it's a straight shot from here to there.  I think it still takes him like 40 minutes thought.

Mama went to Wal-Mart last night to get their prescriptions re-filled and she said it was easy.  It was a challenge in Florida and Texas because English was not the first language of the people she dealt with there. She normally just orders her prescriptions on the Internet but since she is changing states, it is not allowed on their website. It seems silly.  She had two big pet peeves about the Wal-Mart in Texas. The first was the lines were always long. The cashiers moved very slowly and did not care.  No one in line seemed to care either.  It was like silent waiting in the lines.  They didn't play music in that store.  Maybe music would have made people move faster?  The second thing was people didn't not return their carts to the corral areas.  They just left them in the parking spots. Carts were all over the parking lots. It was a mess and irritated Mama every time she went there. The people she met outside of the RV park were not very nice and sometimes downright rude. The people here seem much friendlier.  Mama likes driving around here.  It is a lot like home.  Life seems to move at a slower pace here and we are taking it all in.

The dogs here are kept on leashes, but boy do they like to bark.  One man gives us dirty looks every time we walk past his site because his dogs bark at us. Is that our fault?  It is not like we go out of our way to walk past him. He is on the main street. He is a long term person, but maybe this is just his summer home and maybe he will be leaving soon. We have found that there are a lot of people that have homes here, but don't stay here all the time.  We found out that there is a lady who has three greyhounds who comes here, but she is not here right now.  We hope she comes while we are still here.  It is rare for us to see other greyhounds camping.

Another photo of me in DC.
This guy was on the front porch of the store at the campground.  He scared me at first.  I wanted to pee on him, but Mama said no.
We saw the pot belly pig that lives here last night. Scout was very interested in him. Mama didn't have her camera or she would have taken a lot of photos. Scout's eyes got big and she just starred at him. Dad told us that is where bacon comes from and Scout licked her lips.   Hmmm.....bacon!

We are behind on our restaurant reviews.  We will try to catch you up on that tomorrow as well as the sightseeing we did last Sunday.

Best Bully Sticks is having a 10% of sale.  We just got the email.  Use code AUG10. You can click the link below to get there. We are not ordering this time since we still have some and Mama needs to check with the campground to be sure it is okay for us to get mail here.
125x75
Joey,
The Greyhound Who Thinks It Is Exciting When Dogs Bark At Him

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Thinking Back To Our Time In Washington DC

We are behind in our blogging, so even though we are now in Ohio, we are going to tell you about what we did the last few days in College Park, MD.

After Dad finished his meetings on Thursday night, they went out to dinner.  There was a coupon on the campground map and Dad thought the place looked good. Mama told him that the tour guide had said it was her favorite restaurant in College Park.  When they arrived, Daddy said "I think we might be too YOUNG to eat here."  LOL   Mama said they were definitely the youngest people there. The tour guide is a senior citizen, so I guess she fit right in.  The name of the place is TJ's of Calverton.  Mama ordered a chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and cole slaw.
Tj's of Calverton on Urbanspoon
It was good and yes, we did get a bite of it.
Dad's meal - Shrimp Alfredo with Garlic Bread
The cost of the meal after the coupon was $30, so not a cheap meal.   Mama said it was good, but she would try other places before going back.

The next day, they took the metro train into Washington DC.  They visited the National Museum of American History.   They had visited it the last time they were there and Mama said it seemed smaller.  It was very crowded and Mama doesn't like crowds.

Dumbo from Disneyland ride

Hat that Lincoln was wearing the night he was shot.

Flag that was flown on Lincoln's funeral train.

Kermit!

Muhammad Ali's boxing gloves

Archie Bunker's (All In The Family) Chair

Old computer - this is what they had when I was in high school.

George Washington's Uniform

This was written by someone who was passing through Villa Ridge, MO in 1950.  What is great about this?  Mama grew up in Villa Ridge, MO.  It is a very small town.  It is just amazing to see something from her hometown in the museum.


Travel trailer

Cars and train in automotive part of museum

Greyhound bus


More automobiles


Mama said she felt old because she heard kids asking; "Who is Muhammad Ali?" Who is Archie Bunker?" "What are records?"  The saddest question she heard was from an 11 year old.  He asked "Was George Washington our first President?" and he was serious. What is he learning in school?

The first time she was there, they were cleaning the first flag.  It is now complete and restored, but no photos are allowed. There were a lot of other things that they saw, but she didn't take photos of such as dresses that the First Ladies have worn and things like that.  It is a very interesting museum.

Unfortunately, they did not eat dinner in DC.  They ended up leaving DC around 3 p.m.  Mama thought they would see another museum, but Dad was ready to leave. They ate dinner at a Chinese buffet near the campground.   Mama said the food was really good.  She was a little scared because the floors were sticky and so was the soy sauce jar, but she didn't get sick after eating there.  There was a sign that said if you wasted food, you would be charged a surcharge.  If you wanted a knife, you had to ask for it.  We are not sure what is up with the lack of knives.  Mama said it was the best Chinese buffet that they have had since being on the road.  She can't remember the name of the place though.

I think I still have more photos from the campground to show you, but we will save that for another day.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Finds It Confusing To Blog About DC When He Is In Ohio

Monday, August 6, 2012

Weather Is Great In Ohio!

We have our windows and door open today!  The high  is expected to be 79.  The low tonight will be around 59. We may need to turn the heat on.  LOL  The hottest day this week will be 84 according to the weather people.
I told you we were in the woods!
Mama put our Greyhound flag out and also put the tablecloth on the picnic table. She said it makes it look more homey.

That tree with the ribbon is the tree that gave us so much trouble getting int our site.

I'm just chilling with the door open today.
We have our hummingbird feeder out, but so far no visitors.  Mama thought about getting some bird feeders but the raccoons would probably raid them.  She still may do it to give her something to worry about.

The only real downside to our site is that it is really far from the laundry room.  It is too far to walk and even if Mama got the cart that she wants for the laundry, it will be hard to push along the gravel road. She will have to do it at night when she has a car. She is concerned that the machines will be all tied up, so she may just go to town to do it.  They only have the laundry room open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. here. 

We didn't have storms here after all.  We were walking with Mama yesterday and she felt a drop of rain and told us we needed to head back.  We wanted to sniff more and within a minute, we were under a big downpour. We were drenched!  Mama looked really funny with here hair so wet. She said "I was having a good hair day, too!"  She doesn't have many good hair days these days, so it was pretty sad.

Grandma sent us a photo to show us that a tree in our yard at home was hit by a storm on Saturday night.  Poor tree!  Grandpa is going to cut the limb out for us.  I bet the tree is going to look pretty bare when the limb is removed.
A tree at our house.  Our grass looks pretty dead.  They are having a drought there.
Grandma and Grandpa are coming to visit us here in Ohio!  Mama said that she and Daddy are checking out all the restaurants so that they know where to take them. Both places they ate this weekend were good.  Mama will tell you more about the restaurants later.

The beach at the campground. No dogs allowed!

Me waiting for Dad to get us checked in.

Fire engine rides take place on Saturday nights.

Another view of the lake.

This is the fishing lake.

Scout walking by the lake this morning.  She is not sure about Ohio yet.  She hasn't wanted to walk much here.

Another view of the fishing lake.
The park is nice and most sites are not wooded like ours.  We really like being in the shade although it is so shaded that it is dark inside the motor home.  Scout says it is great for sleeping.

There is a fenced area here for it. It has agility stuff in it though, so it's not good for running.  Mama says she might try to get us to try out the agility equipment. She can try, but we are not interested.

We will tell you more about DC tomorrow. We are so behind on our blogging.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Enjoying The Cooler Temperatures

Saturday, August 4, 2012

We Are In Ohio!

We got behind on our blog this week.  Mama was feeling drained and didn't want to help me type.  Then, she was gone most of yesterday.  Today, we left DC and now we are in Streetsboro, OH which is near Cleveland.  We will be here for a month.

I will have to go back and update you on the DC things later this week.  Mama said she is too tired to do her restaurant reviews tonight.  The drive here was fine.  We left at 7 a.m. and arrived at 3 p.m.  We were a little concerned about driving through Pennsylvania because of some of the steep grades in the road.  We haven't really had to worry about that yet.  We avoided going through the Smokey Mountains for that reason. The Smokey Mountains are much worse than what we did today. We had to pay tows on the PA Turnpike and the Ohio Turnpike. Pennsylvania was $26.95 and Ohio was $8.75.  Yikes!

We arrived at the KOA here at 3 p.m.  We did not get setup at camp until 5:30 p.m.  Why? Well, the site we had reserved had been given to someone else. We unhooked the Jeep from the RV and looked at the available sites. We chose one and Dad had a rough time getting the RV into it. Mama told him there is no way he was going to be able to level it. Our step wouldn't come out all the way because it was hitting the patio.  It was a mess. Dad realized our electric cord wouldn't stretch as far as it needed to go, so off we went to find another site.  We looked at several. Finally, Dad found one in the woods that he really liked.  We were not sure he was going to get the RV in because of some trees.  It took a while, but he did it. A neighbor came by to say that her and her husband couldn't believe he was able to get it in there. Then, a guy and his wife came by and told us that it was their site.  WHAT!   He explained that he has been here a while and has been waiting for that site to become available.  He found out the other people were moving out today, so he called the office last night and they said he could have it.  Well, they told us that we could have it, too.  He and his wife were very nice and we said we would move.  Dad then had to get the RV out of the site and moved into the one next to it.  It wasn't easy and Mama is worried about getting it out when it comes time to leave, but I guess we got it in and we will get it out.   We are really in the woods here. It is very shady, so that will keep the camper cooler and help with our electric bill.  The other sites are more what you would expect in a private park. Our site is like what you see at Missouri State Parks.  Mama says we may be bored here because we won't have any people to watch. As far as the other couple goes, they wanted the site because it has a paved patio. None of the other sites have that. They have a baby and they wanted her to have it for her walker, high chair, etc. It looks like they spend a lot of time outside. We don't think they have air conditioning in the trailer.  It wasn't really a big deal to move. It was just aggravating after spending so much time getting moved into it.

On Saturday nights, they have a fire engine that takes the kids on rides. It has driven by our place like six times already. I guess the long term people are not  happy about it because of all the dust it creates.

There is someone who has a pot-bellied pig. We will try and get a photo tomorrow.

This place is nice, but it doesn't compare to our last place. We think that one is going to be hard to beat.  The folks went to town tonight and ate dinner. Mama will talk more about that tomorrow. The town is nice and easy to get around. Mama is happy to be in a smaller place than Houston.

Speaking of Houston, a tropical storm/hurricane might be headed towards them. We are supposed to have severe storms here tomorrow, but Mama says she will take that over a tropical storm. Hopefully, it is not bad here tomorrow.  We are under a lot of trees.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Now In Ohio

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Still Kickiing Up My Paws In DC

Scout and I are still exploring the campground here. Dad is attending his conference now, so we are not seeing much of him.  He got home around 10:30 last night and we expect the same tonight.  Today is his birthday and he has to attend meetings all day.  Dad was actually born in Maryland.  His Dad was in the Army. It's strange that he is back in his birthplace on his birthday considering he only lived here for a very short time.

The folks ate at a place called Hard Times Cafe the other night.  It is a place that is just down the road from our campground.  They are known for their chili.  They brought out a sampler of their chili before the folks ordered.

Texas Chili: Coarse ground beef cooed in its own juice, using an authentic turn of the century family spice blend and recipe.
Cincinnati Chili: Introduced in 1922 by Greek immigrants, it is a fine grind of beef with a tomato base and sweeter spices including cinnamon.
Terlingua Red: A tribute to the Texas ghost town that hosted the first Chili cook-off. A redder color and spicy kick of championship chilies.
Vegetarian Chili: Soy flakes cooked in a tomato base with fresh mushrooms, onions, green peppers, jalapenos & peanuts.

Mama decided to order their Five Way Chili Mac which is spaghetti, chili, cheese, onions & beans.  She chose the Texas chili.  She decided that she should have mixed it with the Terlingua Red since the Texas Chili is a little greasy.  The portion size was huge though and she brought some home and had it for lunch the next day.
Five Way Chili Mac
Dad ordered the Polish Cowboy: Grilled Kielbasa topped with BBQ sauce, Cincy Chili, fresh-cut fries and coleslaw. Serve with a side of onion rings.
Polish Cowboy
 Dad liked it. The onions rings were really good and Mama said the dipping sauce was zesty.
Hard Times Cafe on Urbanspoon
Yesterday, Mama ate at the cafe here.  She said the burger was really good. She will probably go back tonight. She bought a cup from them because they give unlimited refills for your entire stay and if you come back at any time in the future, they say you can get free refills.  Mama says that is a good deal because she loves her Diet Pepsi.  She has already had like four refills and we are here for a few more days. Mama gets excited over the silliest things.

Last night and this morning, we walked on the nature trail.  We still haven't completed the whole thing. We just hop on and off.
This is the Bus Depot at our park.  We watch the buses come and go all day.
Here we go through the woods.


There is a bridge up ahead.

Another bridge

We had been searching for this pond for a few days.


Pretty flowers in front of one of the many bath houses.

Our site.
 We have been visiting the dog park each night.  There are only a few dogs here.  They actually have a dog walker in the park that can be hired. Mama said she would be scared that we would get away from her.  Actually, she is scared that I would get away.  Scout would probably just tell the dog walker to skip the walk and pet her.

Oh, we were asked what is up with all the turtles. We don't know, but we found where they have some in storage. LOL

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Still Finding New Places To Explore Here

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...