Rats!

Mom had mixed feelings about leaving here.  She LOVES the area  She loves Pennsylvania.  I think if their winters were a little better, this is where she would want to live.  She doesn't love this campground however.  We have a great site, but the office workers and owner are not friendly at all.  We only have to deal with them every two weeks.  We have to go in and pay our electric bill every two weeks because we are "WORKERS".  They say it in such a negative way.  We are not workers for them, but we are not here for leisure so we are called WORKERS.

Monday night, Dad had to go to Washington DC for a dinner.  It was a two hour drive each way.  He didn't get home until after midnight.  Mom and I went for a walk and our neighbors stopped us.  They told us that they saw a RAT walk on our sewer line and it climbed into our compartment that has the sewer connection.  YIKES!  The neighbor asked Mom if she wanted him to see if he was still there and she said yes.  He opened the compartment and looked inside, but didn't see him.  We checked it out and didn't see a way for him to get inside our RV, but they are good at squeezing into small areas.

Here I am waiting and watching for Dad to come home.

We talked to our neighbors for quite a while.  The rat has been under their BBQ cover. The neighbor accidentally discovered him.  They are going to put traps out since they are going to be here until November.  We think the rat probably lives under the porch of the people behind us.  They have a very messy place.  We are surprised they are not told to clean it up.  Yeah, rats, mice and other things could definitely be living in that mess.  Mom thought about telling the owner, but we would probably be the ones banned from here and not the messy people.  She does things like that. We may need to come back here, so we need to be careful.

Mom asked Dad if the rat could get inside.  He said it wouldn't be easy, but yes, he could.  She couldn't sleep Monday night.  She was scared to turn the lights off thinking that the rat would appear and crawl all over her while she was sleeping.  Tuesday morning, Dad said he didn't say that about the rat.  We don't know what to believe now.  We think we saw the rat under the RV Tuesday evening, but we are not sure.  Mom got down on her knees and didn't see him.  Then she had trouble getting back up.  It's a good thing he wasn't there because she would have fallen on her butt.  BOL!

Mom is no longer sad about leaving thanks to the rat.  She and Dad actually starting putting our outdoor things away last night because it is supposed to rain the rest of the week.  We just have to hope the rat has not chewed on any wires.  That could be bad.

Remember our big mushroom?

It was so pretty last week.

This is how it looks today.

We may be making a change to our vacation plans.  Dad wanted to stop at an RV place in Michigan but they do not have any appointments available.  That gives us about five extra days.  I think we are going to go to Boston to see the JFK Library.  We should call this our Presidential Library vacation because we will see three.  The only one we will have left after this trip is Clinton's.  Yes, we have not seen Clinton's even though we are from Missouri and it is in Arkansas.  BOL!

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Smelled The Rat

I Went To A Concert!

Concert

 Elvis came to our campground on July 3rd.  Since our site was across from the "concert", I was able to attend.  Last year, Mom and I got kicked out of the concert.  We were told "NO DOGS ARE ALLOWED!"  We thought that was really rude since Elvis likes Hound Dogs.  This year they couldn't kick me out because I was in my own site.  Ha!

Elvis did a warm-up act.  Mom got a couple of pictures of him.  He looks different than the photos I have seen.  A few years ago, I was at Graceland!  I sniffed the gate. That was a fun time.  Mom and I like Elvis, but Dad is not a fan.

Rehearsal

This was our view from our site.

There was a band that appeared before Elvis and Dad liked them. They sang songs from the 70's and 80's.    We watched Elvis before he went on stage.  He was really nervous.

Finally, it was time for Elvis to start singing. He did a good job.

Chillin' during the concert.

Elvis dancing with a fan.  Notice they are dancing on the pad that is for dancing only.  It finally got some use.

People seemed to enjoy the show.  They turned their golf carts headlights on and off to show they liked the show.  I went to bed at 9 p.m., but the show continued well past my bedtime.

UNSHRINKING CLOTHES

Mom recently shrunk a brand new shirt.  She was not happy. It was the second new shirt that she has shrunk.  She decided to do some research and found a way to unshrink her clothes.  She did it and it worked!  However, she just discovered that she put one of those shirts in the dryer and she shrunk it again. She is now going through the process of fixing it.  Here is the link if you are interested.  How To Unshrink Clothes

 

Still Working

 Mom is still doing her online job.  It keeps her quiet during the day which means I can nap.  

 

She received her Amazon order.  It was delivered to the UPS store. She is happy with her new skillet and shoes.  Actually, she hasn't used the new skillet yet because she has fallen in love with her cast iron skillet.  She signed up for a free class online and found the cast iron is really easy to clean. The instructor said to use soap and water to clean it.  Mom has done that in the past, but thought she needed to re-season it after using soap and water.  You do not have to do that.  You just need to dry it really well. 

 

Getting Ready To Move On

We will be leaving this area on Saturday.  Dad starts a three week vacation.  We will be headed to New York to see FDR's museum and home. We will then head to Vermont to buy some maple syrup and to attend the Escapade!  Escapade is Escapees rally.  After that, we are headed to Grand Rapids to tour President Ford's museum.

Remembering Scout

Mom has had a hard time being here.  This is where we were when Scout died.  Mom hates walking past the site that we were in last year.  Scout was only here for nine days, so it shouldn't bother Mom, but it does.  This Friday, July 15th, is the anniversary of Scout's death.  We have no plans to do a special blog post about her because it upsets Mom too much, but that doesn't mean that we will not be thinking of her and remembering.

 We miss you Scout!!!

 

Joey, 

The Greyhound Who Is Ready To Hit The Road 

Weekenders Are Out In Full Force

Our park is already busy with weekenders. We have seen a steady stream of campers buzz past our site since Wednesday.  It seems that many people are getting a jump on the holiday weekend. 

A Leak

I think the folks are going to be close to home this weekend.  Dad has to work on a water leak we have.  We had a heavy rain this week and all at once Mom started feeling rain on her while she was sitting in the recliner.  She looked up and saw water coming through the spot where our antenna is connected.  Mom put a bucket under it because holding a towel up to it was not working.

See the drop. It was a steady stream.

Water Issues

 We didn't have water Tuesday night into Wednesday.  They have been having well issues here.  The folks had to take cold showers on Wednesday because the hot water didn't have any pressure at all.  Dad thought it might be a problem of ours since we had cold water but not hot. He thought our lines might be clogged.  He planned on flushing them out this weekend, but then the water was back to normal by Wednesday afternoon. The folks are very happy that it is fixed.

The Jeep

Dad took the Jeep in on Monday because the transmission is acting up.  We had it replaced last year in California and it is downshifting hard.  There is also a knocking noise coming from the engine.  Dad had to rent a car.  He ended up with an Expedition.  That thing was huge!  Dad got irritated with the repair shop because they never called to tell him anything.  He called them on Wednesday and didn't get a response.  He called yesterday and they said there was nothing wrong with it.  He was pretty upset and Dad doesn't get angry. He told them he was going to drive it and he would be back in an hour to show them what it does.  He thought maybe it needed to get warm for it to happen.  He drove it for two hours and it didn't do it.  It did do it on his way home from work though and when they went grocery shopping last night.  BOL!  He said the people were never ever nice even when he dropped it off.  They changed the oil. Our total bill was $18 which was shocking.  They said oil prices were half off this week.  We doubt they put high mileage oil in it like we do.  They also washed it and I have to say that I never seen it look so nice.  We can see every hail ding in it now.  We were surprised they didn't charge us for looking at it.  The rental car was $200.  Mom was anxious about the rental car because it was $400 a week.  We are not going to go back because we are only here for two more weeks and they probably wouldn't get it fixed before we left.

 Our Site

This is growing in our site.

Last week.

Yesterday

It looks like coral.  Dad looked it up and it is okay to eat.  Mom said that you can't believe everything that you read on the Internet.  She said we will just admire it and not eat it.

Job

Mom is still really enjoying her "job".  She has almost made double what her goal was for this week.  She calls it her "fun money" because she spends it on fun stuff.  It looks like she will be buying an attachment for the central vac system because she broke her vacuum this week. She lifted up on the canister and the lid broke off.  Dad said he will look at it, but it is probably best if she just uses the central vac.  The other vacuum takes up space in Dad's closet and he is not happy about that.  (Mom doesn't have a closet, just saying. BOL)  Mom doesn't like the central vac because it doesn't have a good attachment for the rugs, so that is what she will be buying.  It hurts her back to use it.  She doesn't consider that a fun buy because she hates cleaning.  I hate the vacuum and I am not fond of the central vac either. One time Mom was using the central vac and it disconnected from the wall and shot straight up to the front of the RV.  :-O

Amazon Order

Mom placed an order with Amazon last weekend with her "fun money".  She ordered a new pair of Skechers and a T-fal skillet that works with the induction cook top. She had it shipped to the UPS store because we can't have anything shipped to us here.  Well, Amazon shipped it via FedEx.  Mom contacted Amazon and asked them if FedEx would deliver it to the UPS store because she thought they would only deliver if it was shipped by UPS. The lady checked and said that it wouldn't be a problem.  We have it in writing, so we will see.  It will not arrive until late next week.  Mom thought about having it re-routed to a FedEx store, but didn't want to tamper with it since Amazon said it will be fine.

Elvis

Elvis will be here on Sunday night performing from 7:30 pm to 10:30 pm.  He will be right across from our site.  I am sure we will hear him from inside the RV.  He will have us up past our bedtime.  It will be fun though.

Holiday Weekend

Hope you all have a nice and safe holiday weekend.  I am just going to chill with my folks. 

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Needs A Shirt Saying He Is Not A Whippet

A Weekend Of Shopping, Eating And History

The folks were gone for a good part of this weekend.  The weather was nice and our time here is coming to an end, so they are trying to get things done that they have wanted to see or do.

Now, we thought about how to tell you where they went on Saturday. It was nothing bad, but Dad thought the name might cause us to get a lot of unwanted attention.  Mom told him that she turned off the comment and contact section several weeks ago due to some issues, so we should be fine.  They went to this place called Kitchen Kettle Village in INTERCOURSE, PA.  BOL!   They promote it as being in Lancaster County, not the city it is in. I wonder why?  Mom said they had a great time.  The village is made up of little shops.  They have a meat and cheese store, jams and jellies store and olive oil store among many other shops.  There are numerous samples at the stores and it sounds like the folks ate their way around all the stores.  Mom said all the food was great, but they did not buy anything.  They couldn't decide what they wanted.  Mom loved the salsas and pickles and the spreads were good too.  The meat and cheeses were pricey and since they had another stop to make, they didn't want those getting hot in the car, so they didn't buy a thing. 

The jam and jelly store.

Mom's chicken sandwich with coleslaw that she had for lunch. This was at Kling House.

The village.

Entertainment

Pennsylvania is written on this shirt. It is just really small.  I don't get it. 

They then went to the outlet mall and Mom bought clothes at her favorite store, CJ Banks. 

They came home and walked me and spent some quality time with me and left again.  They had dinner at this small cafe in a town near us.  They claim their broasted chicken is the best in town.  It is probably the only place in town that makes it since it is a small town.  Broasted chicken is popular in this area.  Mom tried it.  It was good, but she has had better.  I tried it and didn't complain.

Broasted Chicken

 They then went to a yogurt shop.  It is the kind where you add all the toppings your want for $.49 an ounce.

Mom said it was good, but I didn't get any of it.

Today, they went to Tudor Hall.  Tudor Hall is the boyhood home of John Wilkes Booth.  He is the guy who killed President Lincoln. 

The house is not decorated.  It is being turned into a museum, so it is mainly just pictures.

The tour does not focus on John Wilkes Booth, but more of his family and namely his father.  His father was an actor in England.  He had a wife and two children, but his daughter died.  He also had a mistress.  He told his wife that he was coming to America to act.  She did not know about the mistress who was pregnant.  They married, but it wasn't legal since he had another wife. They came to the US and he had ten more children with here.  Four of the children died.  He was a successful actor and sent money home to his other family.  His wife did not find about his second family for 28 years.  Apparently, he did visit his wife in England.  His first wife sent their son to America to find him and his father kept the second family a secret for three years but then the son found out the truth and told his Mom.  The first wife came over and told everyone she could about her husband and the other woman. She was not kind when it came to the second wife.  It is thought that the second wife didn't know about the first family until this time.  He finally divorced the first wife and then he married the second wife for real. 

Notice the balcony?  The children did perform on the balcony as acting was big in the family.

The grounds

John Wilkes Booth

Family photos

John and his youngest brother.

The father, Junius Brutus Booth, never actually lived in this house because it was under construction when he died.  He did live in a log cabin on the property with his second wife, 10 children, his sister (who blackmailed him concerning keeping quiet about his two wives),  her husband and their eight kids and a few slaves that he leased.  He did not believe in owning slaves and he granted their freedom when they worked for him for five years.  He also did not believe in killing animals, but sent them elsewhere to be slaughtered.  He only burned trees if they were dead.  In the winter time, the family lived in Baltimore city because it was warmer and then came back to Bel Air in the summer.

 The folks said the tour was interesting.  There was a guide who told the history of the family.  The tour lasted 45 minutes and it was $5 a person.  As usual, Mom left with many questions and will probably do more research.

The folks ate lunch at a place called the Lodge Restaurant and Bar. 

Look at the size of the teas!

 

Some of the chairs are like sky lift chairs.  Mom was rocking in hers.

A picture of the sky lift chairs. Hard to see in the photo.

Mozzarella kabobs

 Mom had a burger. She hasn't had red meat in a week and she needed it.  It was a burger with a fried mushroom on top. She liked it, but didn't take any photos.  I hd a bite of it minus the mushroom.  It was good!

The restaurant is nice but you have to walk through the outside bar area which gets really rowdy so that probably discourages inside diners.  The outside area had a dress code and the things listed on it makes Mom think they have had some problems. 

I guess that pretty much wraps up our weekend.  Hope yours was good!  I hope there are not too many typos.  I need to take a walk.  My legs are crossed.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Has Been Enjoying Some Nice Weather

Harley Davidson Tour

 

 
The folks have been wanting to tour the Harley Davidson factory for a long time.  Unfortunately, the tours are during the week.  A few Saturdays out of the year, they let people in for tours.  This past Saturday was one of those days.  Most of the factory was shutdown, but there were some workers making fenders and testing bikes.

When you arrive at the factory, you are asked to fill out an information sheet and are given a tour time.  You are then free to look at and sit on bikes that are on display.

The tour begins with a video about the history of Harley Davidson.  Guests are then given protective glasses to wear and an audio pack so that they can hear the tour guide.  Two employees are on the tour.  One is the guide and the other is making sure all the guests follow the rules.  No cameras are allowed and you must stay in the yellow lines while walking on the tour.  Mom said she has never seen a place that is so strict on following the rules.  Even though there was not much going on, the employee made sure that everyone stayed within the yellow lines.  They were told that if they were caught taking photos, they would be removed immediately.  Mom says she is sure they would follow through on that.

The tour was pretty interesting.  A bike can be made in three hours.  That does not include the time it takes to paint it though.  The painting is done ahead of time and the assembly takes three hours.

They ate lunch at Aroogas. 

Lots of TVs at Arroogas.

Mom had a hot dog wrapped in a pretzel and onion rings.

Dad had a mac and cheeseburger and fries.

After the folks got home, we sat outside.  There was a truck and tractor show across from our site.

Hayride

Old tractor.  It made lots of noise.

The mechanical bull was busy bucking people off of him.

I am a cute as ever.  BOL!

On Father's Day, Dad's Dad was in town.  The folks were gone all day!  I don't know what they did, but I got some chicken from their day out.  It was good.  Mom knows better than to come home empty handed after being gone all day.

Mom has been busy making a little pocket change taking surveys and doing other small jobs on the Internet.  She said it is fun to do.  She had another job posting on forums, but the most she could make was $1.40 a day and she had a boss and commitments.  She said that wasn't worth it for the low pay.  She likes what she is doing better now.  She just does it when she wants to which seems to be a lot.  She is not bothering me, so I am happy.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Likes Broasted Chicken