Monday, March 18, 2013

Rodeo Is Over!

The rodeo ended last night.  Mama never did go.  It was too crowded for her.  Last night, there were 80,000 people there.  People parked far away and paid $20 to do so.  It was crazy.  The folks could have taken a shuttle from here for $15 a person, but Mama was worried that they might have trouble catching the shuttle to come home.  Dad says there will be a rodeo in Colorado, so maybe they will go then. 

We are expecting a lot of people to leave our resort today since the rodeo is over. Many of the people worked at the rodeo, so they are moving on to other work.  It looks like a few of our neighbors are packing up now.

We had a nice family weekend.  Dad wanted to learn more about our new home, so the folks stayed home except for just a few hours. Dad learned about the engine and things like that.  This rig is a diesel and he has never had one before. There is a lot to learn. We will all feel better after we get to Denver because then we will have our first trip under our belts in this motor home.  Dad says it is much easier to drive than the old one.

Today, it is going to be 90 degrees here.  We are going to stay in as much as possible.  Well, Scout is going to stay in for sure.  Mama and I will venture out later today.

Scout and Dad on the couch.

I like this couch!

I was sleeping until Mama started taking pictures of me.
 The folks decided to eat at a restaurant that just opened here.  They had to sit in rodeo traffic to get there.  Mama can't remember the name, but it is _____American Restaurant.  The _____is a family name that is not American.  BOL   It used to be a New Orleans themed restaurant.  The place was basically empty.
Water feature.

Mama decided to order a ribeye.  Dad told her it wouldn't be very good for $10.95.  She had a choice of a 6 oz for $7.95 or a 12 oz for $10.95.  She choice the 12 oz. 

This is the 12 oz ribeye.  It is two 6 oz steaks.  BOL!   They put gravy on top with mushrooms.  There are mashed potatoes under it.  In the background is a potato pattie that Dad ordered.

This is a fish and shrimp meal that Dad ordered.  He said it was really good.

Coleslaw
Mama said the food was good.  She probably wouldn't go back even if we were staying longer just because there are better places.  The prices were very good though.

We survived the weekend without our bed on the floor.  Last night, Mama put the bed back on the floor.  Scout took it immediately.  I slept in for a while this morning, but now we are both on couches, so Mama moved it from the floor.  She said she will put in on the floor at night for us.  


Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Happy The Rodeo Is Over

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Happy St. Patty's Day

Mama tried to take some photos of us with our St. Pat's Day collars, but we didn't cooperate.  She envisioned a nice close up of us smiling.  This is what she got:






 
It's a hot day here. Tomorrow will be close to 90.  Scout says she is not going out unless it is necessary.  Scout is not happy when it is over 65.

Mama has been wanting to buy a toaster.  She kept saying that she wanted a black one to match the coffeemaker and the blender.  She came home today with this:

Yep, it is purple!  BOL!  Mama said she decided to throw tradition out the window and be a little crazy.    She said she laughed when she realized she was wearing a purple shirt today.  The people at the store probably think she is a purple nut!   She asked Dad how he feels about a purple toaster.  He laughed and said if it makes you happy, then it's fine.  BOL!  We tested it out with some cinnamon toast and it works great.   We are going to get some frozen waffles to try next weekend.  It defrosts, so it should work great for that.

Joey,
The Greyhound Whose Mama Gets A Little Wild At Times

Saturday, March 16, 2013

It Happened!

Dad came home last night.  This morning, this happened.

 That is right, the bed is gone!   Scout is forced to lay on the floor without a bed. :-O

Mama moved the bed to the dinette bed. She has tried it before and we wouldn't touch it. Miss Patty from our greyhound group, suggested it the other day and Mama thought she would give it another try.   She was surprised to find me in it when she got out of her shower.



Yes, folks, it appears we have lost this round of the bed battle.  However, it is pretty comfy on top of the dinette which is pretty comfy on its' own.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Luke Warm About Dad Being Home

Friday, March 15, 2013

Guess Who Comes Home Tonight?

Yep, Dad comes home tonight, but it will be late. His flight is supposed to get in at 9 p.m. but he could be delayed. His flight goes from Denver to Minneapolis and then to Houston. Isn't that nuts?   His flight going to Denver went from Houston to Atlanta and then to Denver. He said the direct flights were too much money for his budget.

Yesterday, we had a visitor. We had to clean, of course. The visitor was a repairman. Last week, Mama found out that our refrigerator had a recall on it. She was very nervous because without the recall being handled, our refrigerator could catch on FIRE.  She called the company that issued the recall and they told her that ours had not been fixed.  Mama explained that we needed someone to come to us and they tried to find someone, but no one wanted to come. She spent two hours on the phone and used all her minutes and no one would help us.  All the repairmen said 'NO'.  Mama cried.  She then called the refrigerator company back and told them that no one would come here.  They said they would keep trying.  She then emailed the place we bought the motor home from and she said they would handle it for us since it should have been handled before we bought it.  Mama was still nervous.  She unplugged the refrigerator whenever she left us alone.  Ten days later and all is well!  The refrigerator has the new heat shield on it and if the refrigerator gets too hot, it will turn off before a fire starts or at least that is what we were told.  Basically, we were told that repairmen don't like doing recall work because it takes a long time to get paid.  All I know is that they made my Mama cry and she is not a big crier.

A couple people asked if the bed was empty when Scout was doing this.

No, it was not.
I look thrilled, don't you think?  Yes, protecting this bed is exhausting work.

 Mama forgot to add a few things to what she loves about the motor home.

13) Digital TVs - converter boxes are no longer needed.

14) Automatic awning - She thinks she is going to love this feature. She hasn't used it yet since there is shade on the side of the motor home with the awning.

You know what Mama would really love? A keyboard that doesn't stick.  I think it is from her eating while using the laptop.  I say that because there are crumbs under some of the keys. 

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Will Be A Really Happy Greyhound When His Dad Comes Home Tonight!
 

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Mama Loves Our New Home

Mama  has been wanting me to write about what she loves about our new home. There isn't much that she doesn't love, so maybe we should start there.  The kitchen sink is big on one side and small on the other.  She doesn't like that.  The sink is deep though and she likes that part of it.

Mama can't figure out what you do with the small side - rinse maybe?

She is not sure she likes the wood floors.  We have bought rugs to cover them because: 1) I took a tumble the first day and 2) Mama says the wood floors are cold.
 
We have two of these in the kitchen and one in the bedroom.  We have a matching rug that is 5x7 in the living room.  Mama loves the colors, but they show a lot of hair and lint.  Since the place is basically just beige, she wanted color.
 Okay, so what does she like?

1) She loves the shower. The water heater is larger so she can take long showers. She used to have to get wet, turn the water off and soap up and then turn the water on to rinse.  Mama said she would freeze while the water was off.  Her showers were short, but now Mama says she can take a long, hot shower and loves it. She noticed that Dad was running late in the mornings since we moved in here and she asked him why.  He said it was because he could take a normal shower.  Yes, he likes the shower, too.  There is a light in the shower which is different.  The shower head has several settings and that is nice.

Dispenser in the bathroom that the folks installed to hold Mama's shampoo, conditioner and body wash.

2) She really likes the microwave/convection oven, but she is surprised by the amount of heat that it produces.  She prefers it to using the propane oven.  The downside is that if you use the convection oven and then want to use the microwave, you have to allow the oven to cool off first.  It is an all in one appliance.

3) She loves her washer/dryer. It is true that the loads have to be small, but it hasn't been a problem yet. It takes about two to three hours to wash and dry a load, but it does it automatically.  The spinning does vibrate the place and Scout hates that, but it only lasts a few seconds.  Mama says it is so nice to have her own machine again.

4)  The kitchen - the kitchen counter is beautiful and has more space than the old place.  She can cook the way she wants to again.

5) We have a four door refrigerator, so we can buy a lot of food.  It has an ice maker.

6) The bedroom is bigger and the bed is really comfy.  Scout knows about the bed.   I like the bed because there is a raised floor by the bed and I can walk up the step and check on Dad when he is sleeping.  I can stand over him.  BOL!

7) The bathroom has two medicine cabinets, so there is a his and hers.  Mama loves having her own space.  She can keep everything in there and doesn't have to go back and forth between the bathroom and bedroom to get things such as her make-up.

8) The furniture is so comfortable.  Mama always sighs when she sits on Dad's sofa.  Yes, they have his and hers. BOL!

9) The windows are darken so it keeps the sun out and prying eyes from seeing us.  BOL!  The only downside is that it does get pretty dark in here on a cloudy day.

10)  The lighting fixtures are pretty. We even have aisle lights.  They are near the floor and we put them on at night so that we can see where we are walking.  It is really nice in the bedroom so that Dad doesn't trip on that step he has to go up to get in his side of the bed.

See the light on the step.  These are the steps that lead up to Dad's side of the bed.   Why are there steps?  It must have something to do with a diesel engine because they all had this.

11) We have a keyless entry.  Mama just clicks a button to lock up the place and a button to unlock it. There is also buttons to lock and unlock the cargo areas (areas on the outside that hold the BBQ chair, lawn chairs, etc.)

12) We now have 50 amp service over 30 amp service. This means that the coffee maker, hair dryer and space heater can all be on at the same time.  We used to have choose which one we wanted to use.  Mama was really tickled the first time that she was able to iron and run the air conditioner at the same time. It's those little things that you take from granted when you leave in a house, but when you are camping you have to make choices.  She has tripped a breaker in this one, but I think she was running the coffee maker, microwave, electric skillet and space heater. It was one too many things.

Mama has purchased a few things that she loves.

She found this at Hobby Lobby.  It looks like it has liquid in the glass.  We have it "glued" to the counter.  We use a special adhesive that keeps all our breakables in place while we are going down the road.  It can be moved it we want to move it though.  Mama liked the pink color.

What is this?

It is a strainer.  It doesn't take up much space when it is collapsed.

And this?

It is a dish drainer.  It goes in the cabinet when not in use.

This is a Memory Foam Rug from Kohl's.  Mama says it feels good on her feet.  It is in the bathroom.
Croft & Barrow Quick Dry Towel
Mama found the towels at Kohl's.  They are thin which is what Dad prefers over bulky ones.  Mama says they really absorb water nicely.  The color is actually a lighter color, but showed up dark here.

Next week, we are going to have some screens installed on the outside of our rig.  It will cover our windshield as well as our tires.  People will not be able to see in, but we can see them.  BOL!  It will help block out the sun which is a big issue.  We have drapes, but the sun still heats up the place through the windshield. The tires will be covered to protect them from the sun when we are parked. Several of the motor homes that the folks looked at had that feature, but this one did not, so they are having it installed.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Was Your Tour Guide Today

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...