Just Call Me Mr. December 2022

 

That's right, I am Mr. December in the Celebrating Greyhounds 2022 Calendar.  All of the folks' greyhounds have been in the calendar but I am the first to have a big picture.  Scout and I were both in the desktop version which is a nice size photo but Jack and Joey only had small pictures in the wall calendar.  This has been Mom's goal for something like 12 years.  She was really surprised when she received the calendar because she thought once again that my picture would be small.  So, Mom can cross this off her bucket list. 😀

We haven't been doing much because Omicron is really bad here.  Our numbers are much worst than Delta ever was and we thought that was bad.  We did go camping over New Year's.  That is actually safer for us than staying home.  We live in a high rise, so we run into a lot of people.  We went camping to avoid the loud fireworks that occur on the beach.  The temperatures were in the 80's, so it was nice but warm. We went on a few hikes and ate hamburgers and steak.  It was fun.

Supervising from our campsite.

We added a screen to the door.

Looking through the screen from the inside.

Dad wants to take a longer trip next month.  Time will tell on that one.

Jaxson,

The Greyhound Who Is A Big Deal To His Mom 😁

The New Recliners Have Arrived!

 Mom has been stalking the delivery of our two recliners for the past week.  They both shipped from North Carolina on the same day but when they made a stop over in Georgia, only one went on to Texas.  A few days later the second chair left Georgia and made its way to Texas. Mom was a little nervous but she was happy when they both ended up at the Houston facility.

Mom had planned on donating our old chairs to a thrift store here that also does pick up of items.  Unfortuntely, they were not able to pick up the old chairs this week.  She checked around but all the places that pick up items for a fee were too expensive.  She did not want to pay $375 for the pick up of the chairs, so she went to Plan C which was for her and Dad to take the chairs to Goodwill.

Yesterday, Dad decided that they should go ahead and try to get the chairs out of the unit since rain was predicted for today.  He was concerned that they might have trouble getting the chairs out in one piece.  Recliners easily come apart but ours had slip covers over them and Dad had them tied on good and he really didn't want to have to remove the covers and take the chairs apart.  In the end, the folks were able to get the chairs out our door without too much trouble.  They then put the first chair on the back of the van and took it to Goodwill. They made two trips to Goodwill and the twin chairs confused the workers but it all worked out and was much easier than Mom expected.

The recliner being strapped down by Dad.  My bed is at the top of the recliner  It is being used to keep the recliner from scratching the van.

This morning, Mom washed our rugs. We have Ruggables which are nice because they can be washed in a regular washing machine. She then used a steam mop to clean our floors.  She was really busy and sweaty.  

Our chairs arrived around 10 a.m.  Mom really likes the color of the chairs.  They are a little stiff right now, but she said they will be better in a few days.  She is working on breaking hers in right now. She is tired from moving chairs and cleaning.

Our new Ashley Recliners and our freshly laundried Ruggables rug.

Mom is very happy with how easy it was to get the new chairs from Amazon.  She chose a delivery time when she placed her order and it never changed.  It was a good experience.

Jaxson,

The Greyhound Who Is Tired After All The Activity With Chairs

The Challenges Of Buying Furniture During A Pandemic

 We live in a very small place.  We only have two recliners, a desk chair, a bed and two chairs that live on the balcony.  When the pandemic started, Mom told Dad that their recliners were going to be worn out before it ended.  It hasn't ended but the chairs are pretty worn out. Dad has a pillow that he puts under his butt for comfort.  Last week, Mom was sitting in her recliner and we heard a loud noise that we thought was in the kitchen, but it was her chair!  It sounded like something exploded!  It turns out it was a spring that came off the chair.  We only found part of it. It must have been connected to the foot rest because now it just pops open when she sits down. She says it is less work.  😂

Mom has been searching for new recliners on and off for about a year.  She found some she liked at Sam's Club a few years ago and she hoped she could buy them, but the store doesn't have them and she was scared to buy a chair that she hadn't sat in. She thinks she found the chairs on their website but the reviews are terrible.  She looked at the local furniture store several months ago, but she didn't like anything.  

If you have shopped for furniture, you know that most places do not have anything in stock.  We have been told the wait is about eight weeks.  Grandma said she was told six months. 😦

Last week, Mom started looking again.  She decided to look at Amazon.  She really didn't think she would find anything she liked and she really didn't want to buy a chair that she hadn't tried out.  She was surprised to find a chair that she liked and it was an Ashley Furniture chair.  Mom checked the Ashley Furniture website and they showed the same chair.  Mom called the store and asked if they had it on display and they said they did.  The folks left the Island and drove the 1/2 hour to the store.  There was a line of salesmen waiting at the door.  Mom showed them the chair on her phone that she wanted to see.  The salesman looked it up and then escorted the folks to the chair. The chair was not the same color and it included a massager and a heater but the man said it was the same chair.  The folks both sat it in and they liked it.  The salesman said they could order it in our color and it would take about eight weeks.  It was $150 more than Amazon.  The folks said they needed to think about it.

The folks decided to order the chairs from Amazon.  Easy, right?  WRONG!  Mom put the two recliners in her cart and when she tired to check out, it said they couldn't deliver to us.  Mom tried it several times.  She put Grandma's address in and it said the same thing so it wasn't that they wouldn't deliver to the Island. Grandma lives a few states away from us. Mom then tried the same chair in a different color and there were no problems with that chair.  Mom didn't want that color though.  She decided to see if the problem would fix itself, but four days later, she still couldn't order it.  She then decided to chat with Amazon.  She thought that would be an ordeal but the representative said he showed they could deliver to us.  He told her to clear her cache and cookies and try again.  It still didn't work.  He said it must be a glitch in their system.  Mom figured at that point she could just call and place and order but decided to wait. She started having second thoughts.  She was also aggravated that clearing all the cookies and caches also cleared her passwords and she had to figure those out again. Four days later and she is still finding issues.

Throughout the week, Mom kept watching the recliners on Amazon and the number of available kept going down so she knew that people were ordering them, but we still could not.  Last night, it said they were down to six, so Mom decided to try it again and guess what? She was able to place the order!  Our new recliners are scheduled to be here next Thursday.  They have already shipped.  

I sure hope they like the new recliners. They can be returned but we really don't want to go through all of that.  We also have to get rid of our current chairs.  We can't do that until the new ones arrive and then we have to do it immediately because we don't have room for four chairs.  It will all work out.

I will post a photo once the new chairs arrive.

Jaxson,

The Greyhound Who Is Enjoying Cool Weather Today

Petroglyph National Monument

 We decided to make one more stop at a national monument on our trip.  This one is called Petroglyph National Monument.  This was another one that I was allowed to walk with the folks.  Mom really enjoyed it until Dad told her that we needed to get a move on because we had to be at our campground before sunset and it was further away than he thought.  We didn't get to walk the entire trail.  We walked about half and it was an easy walk.

The rest of the day was spent driving.  We arrived at Leasburg Dam State Park about 5 p.m.  I did not like this place at all.  Gravel, gravel, gravel.  I had to walk across gravel to get to a trail that was a cactus garden trail.  Mom kept an eye out for cactus and rattlesnakes while we walked it.  There was some dried out grass at the end of it but no matter how long Mom tried to get me to poo, I refused.  She was really worried I would get her up in the middle of the night but I am no fool, I didn't want to walk out there again. 

Our site at Leasburg Dam State Park

We left the next morning early because it was another long day of driving but Mom said we would be back in Texas. We crossed the state line early in the day, but I didn't see grass for quite a while.  We found some fake grass at a gas station and I was happy with that.  We arrived at South Llano State Park around 4 p.m.  There really wasn't grass, but there was dirt and weeds and that was fine with me. We forgot to take pictures here. Out site was nice and it was close to the restrooms.  Mom showered here but didn't like it because of the spiders.  They were large.

The next day we hit the road around 8 a.m. and we pulled into the parking lot of our condo at 3 p.m.  It was so nice to be home.  I was so excited when I walked into the condo that I jumped on the folks' bed and ran in circles.  

It has been nice being home. Everyone knows my name here and they all asked how my trip was and they said they missed me.

We were gone for seven weeks!  I missed my beach and my friends, but I am ready to go again.  Mom said we are going away for a few days around New Year's, so I guess I have that to look forward to.

Petrified Forest National Park

 Our next stop on our way home was Petrified Forest National Park.  This turned out to be one of Mom's favorite National Parks.  They actually allow dogs to walk on the trails, but it was so cold and windy that I only did one.  We actually broke out the winter coats while we were there.

The wood feels smooth, like glass.  

Route 66 is right there in the park.

Mom has been getting her National Park Passport Book stamped since 2012.  She has wanted to get the collector editions book but no one had it until this park. She was so excited and it was priced below what she saw it for online at the National Park's store before it sold out.  The employee told her they were increasing the price at the end of the week. She plans on copying her old stamps and putting them in this one.

The new book vs. the old one.

The first stamp in the new book.

We planned to stay in a Walmart parking lot, but the temperature was supposed to be 21 degrees, so once again we had to scramble for a campground.  Mom called several until we came up with one.  It was actually called Route 66 Casino RV Park in Albuquerque, NM. This was a nice park and it had two dog parks.  The dog parks had grass! We didn't know for sure if they would accept us because we are in a van and they are more upscale.  They had one site left and they gave it to us.

This dog park had some gravel and sand but it had grass!

Another stop on Route 66 before we stopped for the night.

Jaxson,

The Greyhound Who Was Not Allowed To Pee on The Petrified Wood