Boot Camp - 2 Days Down

We arrived at boot camp on Friday.  We arrived at a good time and only had to wait a few minutes to get parked.  We are in a spot where we are kind of stuck until after the event ends.  We are facing a fence and there is an RV blocking us in. We wanted to get our rig weighed while here, but since we are stuck in our spot, it may not happen.  We will have to see if we can do it next weekend before we leave.

Can you see the rigs lined up to get in?

The sites are larger than we expected.  We are in a field with full hook-ups. 

The folks have been gone a lot since they have classes all day.  Friday, they were in class from 12:30 to 7 pm.  Today, they were in class from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.  They were served breakfast and dinner.  Mama was surprised by both meals.  She expected danishes for breakfast, but they had an egg dish, bacon and hash browns.  Dinner was grilled chicken breasts, green beans, potatoes, salad and bread.  The food has been good. Mama had a two hour break for lunch today.  She came home and did dishes, laundry and walked us.  Tomorrow will be a shorter day.  They start at 7 a.m. and get out at 3 p.m.

So, have they learned anything?  Mama said she has learned less than she expected.  The stuff she has learned is pretty scary.  She has learned that diesel class A's are the most dangerous for fires.  It is what we have.  She has learned that even though our refrigerator had the recall done on it, it still catches on fire. She has learned that the window that is our escape route out in a fire, is a break out window so can't be used unless you want to break it out. There is no practicing with it. You have 20 seconds to get out if your RV is on fire.  Yeah, that is not very long to get out and pushing a greyhound out a window that is not on ground level will not be easy.  We will just have to take every precaution we can to stay safe.

Everyone was pretty scared after yesterday's class concerning fires and many of the people were practicing coming out of windows last night.  It was kind of funny to see.

Today, they had a three hour class on fire safety.  The guy who teaches it is really "in your face" because he wants to get your attention. They practiced using fire extinguishers today.  It is not Mama in the photos.

Scout and I have just been hanging out in the RV.  We are enjoying walking around and seeing all the other dogs when Mama is not in class.  There is a pet parade on Friday that we think we will participate in. Scout says she will only walk if it is not hot.  

I am having fun here because there are lots of dogs, but wish the folks were around more.  Mama said next week will be busy with more classes and at night they have entertainment.  I am not sure I like this type of vacation.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Will Be Happy When Boot Camp Is Over

So Much To Do Here

The folks left early on Thursday to shop at some RV surplus stores.  Mama was hoping to find an oven rack.  She did find one, but it doesn't fit.  She is bummed.  It was only $5, so not a terrible waste of money.  Dad said he may be able to get it to work.

They also visited the MENNO-HOF, Amish & Mennonite Story.  Mama has read a lot of books about the Amish, so she knew some things, but wanted to learn more.  It was quite interesting.  She has been amazed by the number of buggies she has seen.  It is almost non-stop along our street.  She finds their lifestyle interesting.  She is amazed to see the older women ride their bikes to town because she sees them miles from town and they ride at a good pace.

The folks then visited a meat and cheese store where they purchased bacon, cheese, pork chops, hamburger, popcorn and beef jerky.  The bacon is supposed to be the best in the world. She baked it tonight and determined it was good, but not the best in the world.   They also stopped at a donut shop that Dad wanted to try and I think they found the best donuts in the world.  BOL!  Yes, this trip seems to involve even more eating than normal.

Well, that about wraps things up for now.  The folks will be in boot camp until Sunday night, so we probably will not be blogging for a few days.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Wishes He Could Attend Boot Camp

Sightseeing In Indiana

We are enjoying our time here in Indiana.  Our campground has some nice views.  We have horses to watch. 

 Yesterday, the folks visited the RV Museum.  They said it was nice, but since they visited the one in Amarillo, TX, they were not overly impressed.

Oldest travel trailer in the world!

Narrow entrance.

View from 2nd floor.

They then toured the Newmar factory.  Newmar makes motor homes.  Remember when we were buying our "new" motor home?  We were buying a Newmar, but it was involved in an accident during the test drive.  BOL!   The tour was different than Mama expected.  It was very up close and personal.   The folks were able to really examine each part of the assembly.  There was a couple on the tour whose motor home is being built and they were allowed to take pictures of it.  They are following the progress of it and I guess they are taking tours each day to watch it being built. It will take a week to complete it.  No one else was allowed to take any photos.

The folks met a really nice couple on the tour.  They discovered after they got home that the couple is staying a few sites away from us.  

The folks ate at an Amish place for dinner. It is the Blue Gate Restaurant.

Liver and Onions

Fried chicken

The fried chicken was good.  I had some!  Mama bought a bottle of their peanut butter spread because it was so good.  Scout and I had a taste of it tonight.  Yes, it is good!

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Enjoying His Vacation In Indiana

Vacation Interrupted

We left our nice little campground in North Liberty, IA Monday afternoon and drove 30 miles and stayed here.

Nice view, don't you think?   Let's take a closer look at where we stayed.

Yep, that's us on the end.  What are we doing here?  Well, grab a cup of coffee or a snack and I will tell you the story.  BOL!

We were all ready to leave Iowa on Monday morning.  We went for our last walk as Dad got everything ready. We loaded into the RV and waited to "ride the slide" as we call it.  Ride the slide is when Dad brings the slides in and we lay on the couch and ride it.  BOL!  He brought in the bedroom slide and then brought in the kitchen slide and silence.  The slide quit working.  YIKES!  That has never happened before.  He checked out fuses, etc.  Mama got out the manual and checked online for a solution.  Dad determined it was the motor of the slide.  The slides can manually be brought in, but the kitchen slide has to be pushed in. The manual said to call a tow truck and have them push it in with their vehicle.  Dad said no to that and he said that he didn't think anyone would do that even if he wanted to do it, which he did not. The other slide had to be manually cranked in.  Dad asked the park manager if she knew a mobile tech that could come out and she said there was one in the area.  He called him and was told Thursday was the earliest he could come. Thursday?  We would miss boot camp provided he could even help us.  Dad then called Good Sam's.   It took about a half hour, but they found someone who could come out.  The man arrived about an hour later.  He also determined it was the motor.  He told us that we were lucky because the factory that makes the motor we need was just 30 miles down the road.  He said he works there part-time and he could get us in. He called and sure enough he got us an appointment for 7 a.m. on Tuesday.  The next step was to get the slides in.  Mama and Dad had tried to push in the one slide and didn't make much progress, but luckily, it was almost in.  The repairman and Dad manually cranked in the other slide.  That took at least 30 minutes.  It was a lot of work.  Finally, it was in and we put things away to leave. (Dad had set us up again because we thought we would be stuck there for a while.)  Mama followed us in the car and kept an eye on the slides to make sure they didn't open while we drove.  She said the one that was out a little did seem to open when we took the first turn out of the campground, but it stayed in place for the rest of the drive. We arrived at the factory and plugged in so that we would have electric. Unfortunately, Dad forgot to fill our tank with water, so we didn't have water for showers or washing dishes.  We had bottled water for drinking.

I saw a mouse while we were walking.  Yep, Mama thinks she might have stepped on part of it.  She felt something squishy and then this mouse took off across the parking lot.  BOL! 

Tuesday morning, Mama and us pups said in the customer lounge while Dad watched them work on our RV.  We all think that he had more fun than us.  We had a heck of a time getting into the lounge.  There were steps and the door opened out which meant we had to back down the steps to get in the door.  Scout refused to go up the steps, so I had to back down and Mama had to push her up.  It was quite the event.  We had to go out a few times and Scout did the steps like a pro after the first time.

Finally, our RV was fixed.  Dad had a few other things he wanted them to fix, but the major one they couldn't because it is not a part they make, so that will have to be fixed at another time.  We set out for Indiana at 10 a.m. 

See, we made it!

Carriages are every where.

The signs are quite graphic.  BOL!

Our new campground

We have a few days before boot camp begins, so the folks have a lot of things to do.  We are disappointed that we lost a vacation day, but it could have been a lot worse.   

Friday morning, we move to the place where the rally is being held.  That is when we think it will be crazy!  BOL!

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Wonders Who Cleans Up The Horse Poo That They Leave On The Road

A Whirlwind Tour Of Iowa - Part 2

The folks visited the Amana Colonies on Sunday.  The Amana Colonies are a group of settlements of German Pietists in Iowa, comprising seven villages.  For eighty years they maintained an almost completely self-sufficient local economy, importing very little. The Amanians were able to achieve this independence and life style by adhering to the specialized handcrafts and farming occupations which they had brought with them from Germany.

The folks began their visit by eating at Ronneburg Restaurant. Mama expected the lines to be long because Maifest was being celebrated at the Amana Colonies, but they only had to wait about 15 minutes.

Music was played for diners.

Mama ordered Weiner Schnitzel which is veal and it was served with Spaetzle, a German type of noodle.

Dad ordered the sausage platter which had a variety.

The food is served family style. They had coleslaw, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cottage cheese, pickled beets, sauerkraut, stuffing, vegetables and bread.

 The folks said the food was really good. This was Mama's third time having German food.  Her Great Grandparents came from Germany, but she did not eat in a German restaurant until last year. She even liked the stuffing and normally she hates stuffing.  I cannot tell you how the food tasted because leftovers were not brought home!

After the folks ate lunch, they shopped at some of the stores.  They bought bacon, German mustard and popcorn.  I will give you a full report on the bacon later this week after I try some.  BOL!

There were carriage rides.

The leather shop?  Mama can't remember now.

There were dancers.

 Mama said she enjoyed visiting the Amana Colonies, but it was very crowded due to Maifest.  The stores were all crowded, so it was hard to shop.  They have cheese shops, wine shops, general stores, meat store, coffee house, various gift shops, etc. and that was just in the small section they visited.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Anxious To Try The Amana Bacon