Fourth of July Was Not Fun

 I am really late in posting this.  4th of July is the worst holiday ever!  I hate fireworks!  People were shooting off illegal fireworks on our beach and they were so loud.  Mom said next year we will not be at our condo.  She said we will go to a state park that is in a rural area and the fireworks will not be as scary for me.  Dad said the AC in the van is loud enough to block out the noise.  The illegal fireworks people left a mess on the beach.  Rude people!

There was a dog on the beach the other day and he had a frisbee in his mouth.  He was really showing off.  Well, I found a frisbee buried in the sand and mine was a lot bigger.  I think I showed him whose frisbee was better. 😀

Jaxson,

The Greyhound Who Hates Fireworks

I Met A Real Crab!

 You never know what you will find on the beach.  I tried to be friends, but he was a little crabby. 😆

He was covered in sand.

This is a crab we met last year.  He had more personality.

Jaxson, 

The Greyhound Who Thinks Crabs Are Interesting

A Tour of Our Van

 Mom realized that we didn't give you a tour of our van.  Dad bought our van back in September.  It is a cargo van.

The van getting ready to become our camper van.

Mom's bed is on the right, I am in the middle (my bed extends) and Dad's is on the left. Mom's clothes are in the bins at the end of the bed.

We put our food above the chairs. The chairs swivel around so the folks can watch TV when we are parked.

We still haven't figured out this space yet. The microwave is on the bottom.  Dad's clothes are on the shelf above it. The pet cam can see the temperature in the van. The door next to the microwave pulls out and that is my bed extender.  

Our sink pulls out.

The sink is under the mirror.  Our fridge/refigerator is in the cooler under the sink.

One side is a fridge and the other is a freezer.  It works quite well.

The fridge runs on a battery when we are not plugged in.

This is the bathroom.  It is quite small.  The shower curtain pulls around it.  There is a shower in it. You can see the pet cam on the wall. We hang back packs above Mom's bed when we are traveling. They contain my items as well as Mom's items for showering.

That is basically the tour.  It is quite small especially when all three of us are in it at the same time. Most people have the beds pushed together and facing to the right instead of back to front.  Dad didn't want to have to crawl over Mom to get out of bed, so that is why he made it the way he did.  The carpet and paint are from our condo.  My bed is made from our old comforter.  It looks like home to me and I really like sleeping in it.  We have a butane stove that Mom can use inside.  We can grill outside, of course. Mom does find cooking in the van to be a real challenge, so she is concerned about the long trip we are planning for the fall. 

We may eventually get a bigger van but Mom wanted something that we could park anywhere and we can definitely do that with this van. 

Jaxson,

The Greyhound Who Likes Van Life

Two Week Vacation - Part 4

 We left Grandma's house around 8 a.m. on Friday morning.  It was a rainy morning.  We thought we were going to be able to avoid it, but the system kept moving down on us.  We were finally out of the rain when we reached Lebanon, MO.  We drove through the Ozark Mountains and through Arkanas again. The views are nice but the roads are very hilly and there are not any rest areas. It was a pretty uneventful day, but it was a long day.  We didn't reach our campground at Atlanta State Park in Atlanta, TX until 7 p.m.  Oh, one funny thing did happen.  We were just a few miles from our campground when Mom decided to follow Google's shortcut.  We ended up on some back roads that were almost too small for the van.  Mom thought it was funny.  Dad did not.  

The Atlanta State Park is nice with a big lake. The campground loop we stayed in was very small and the sites were not very spacious.  We were really only there to sleep and the folks took showers.  Mom said every time she went into the bath house, there were more bugs. It was hot outside, but the van was nice and cool.

Our site at Altanta State Park

We left the park around 9 a.m.  The drive home was uneventful.  We made a few stops for gas and one for lunch.  We finally arrived home around 3:30 p.m. due to traffic slowdowns.

It is nice to be home, but we are all a little bored now.  We have a bigger trip planned in the fall.  We are attending two greyhound events and visiting several national parks on that trip. 

Jaxson,

The Greyhound Who Misses Grandma's House

Two Week Vacation - Part 3

 We left Bennett Springs State Park on Wednesday morning around 10 a.m.  Our next stop was about 2.5 hours away, GRANDMA'S HOUSE!  I had never been to Grandma's House but I was excited to see it.  Let me tell you, her house is HUGE!  I am used to living small.  I live in a tiny condo and now I am traveling in a tiny van.  Grandma's house has an upstairs and a downstairs.  We stayed in her basement because it had more room for me.  We didn't take pictures, but you should have seen our king sized bed.  It was the most comfortable bed.  

We spent nine days at Grandma's house.  We seemed to always be doing something. They have a SUV and I fit just fine in the back with my bed.  We drove all over the countryside.  I saw where Mom and Dad lived with Jack, Scout and Joey.  We ate a lot of good food.  I didn't get much rest because I had to keep an eye on my folks and also Grandma and Grandpa.  Those people just didn't sit still for long.

Getting ready to go somewhere.

Resting in a sunbeam.

Taking a much needed nap.

Another nap.

Earning my kibble by delivering the paper to Grandma.

There are some scary noises at Grandma's house.  The first night we were there I saw a red truck making a noise.  It was a mosquito sprayer.  It scared me good.  On the last night there, Mom and I were out walking and we saw the mosquito sprayer coming down the street.  We tried to run but Mom is slow.  It was chasing us!  We made it to the house just before it got us though.  It was close. Another scary thing was Grandma's blinds. They go up and down on their own.  Spooky!

I met several nice people on my walks.  There is a beagle who lives next door.  She was nice. We went to a neat trail and we also went to a park.  

Walking around the park.  There were ducks and geese.

I went to my "uncle's house" and met his dog which I guess is my cousin.  His name is Jake and he is a golden.  He is a country boy.  He let me use his bed while I was visiting, so that was nice.  He loves to play frisbee.

I went to a winery with the folks but I had to stay in the van with the AC running as no dogs were allowed.  I am fine staying in the van on my own.  It is the only time I can get peace and quiet and I know that Mom is watching me on the pet cam, so no worries.  It was a big get together with Dad's Mom, stepdad, Dad, brother and sister. They haven't all been together since 2017. Mom took lots of photos there.

We left on Friday, the 25th, to head back to Galveston.  We were sad to leave but Mom said we will be back soon.  

Jaxson,

The Greyhound Who Loves Grandma's House