Woodpecker ?? and Arthur gets a new toy

We had some heavy rain yesterday morning.  The weatherperson had predicted it to go on all day, but they were wrong.  This is one time I was so glad they were.  It only rained for about a couple hours then stopped.  The day never got nice, overcast all day, but warm and no more rain.  So that was just fine with us.  When you have 2 big dogs that want out all the time rain is not a good thing.  It appeared that the whole park was taking advantage of the weather to hole up in their rigs.  Didn’t see too many out and about,  just the occasional person with a dog who ‘had a need’.  Guess people were catching up on e-mail, bill paying, blogging and surfing along with some TV and probably some much need housework.

Today dawned sunny and clear albeit a tad chilly.  There’s a lovely breeze just the right kind to dry clothes on the line.  So that is just what I did, popped a load in the washer and hung it outside. 

We took off to pick up a few odds and sods and some more dog food.  When we got home I could here this tap tap tapping.  Thought it was the work guys doing some kind of repair, but it appeared to be right overhead.  I looked up and saw (I think) a woodpecker.  Very small, but doing woodpecker things, like tapping on the truck of this palm tree.  I didn’t have time to change my lens so quickly zoomed in as best I could and took a picture.
That’s him right in the middle.

While we were shopping I picked up a scrunchy tunnel for Arthur.  He’s always looking for things to play with, I have a laser light which he loves.  He was a bit wary of it at first, then got a little braver until he went in head first and scared himself.  He then got in a huff,  walked away and climbed into his bed without a backward glance.  It was quite funny.

He’d had enough!!

Until later..take care.

Not Much of Anything

And that just about describes what we’ve been up too.

First I want to welcome (although a little late) Chuck and Anneke and Kate.  Welcome aboard.

We really haven’t been doing much, after all it is a vacation and we are retired.  Right?  We had some nasty rain showers the other night.  It came down in torrents.  It would seem to lessen then build up again.  I’m always so concerned about leaks, which I’m sure anyone who has a motorhome of some kind is.  But the rest of the days have been sunny and bright although a tad chilly.  One night I turned off the water and put the lamps in the bins, but according to my weather ‘Oscar’ it didn’t get cold long enough to freeze.  So I’ve just been watching the temps in the bins and outside.  I bought several of those small inside/outside temperature monitors at Wal-Mart for $9 each and installed 1 in each of the bins where water resides.  Also put one in the fridge just to check the temp in there too.  Once the weather gets warmer and I don’t have to worry about freezing I can remove then from the bins. 

The campground had a BBQ on Saturday to thank people for being for understanding about their water problem.  (think it was mentioned in a previous blog) It really wasn’t a problem far as I could see, just fill up your tank.  Anyhow, it was a very nice gesture and it was really good.  They had ‘dog’ and hamburgers, salads, beans, what no grits?  They serve grits with everything down here.  To me they taste like Cream of Wheat without any brown sugar or milk.

Checked out THE mall here.  I guess it’s the biggest mall around.  Nothing spectacular, didn’t buy a thing.  I’m surprised that there are no outlet malls here or at least I haven’t found any.  Must Google and see what I find.

Has anyone out there ever tried a product called ‘Baconaise’?  My daughter asked me to try and get some when we were in the Southwest a few months ago, but I couldn’t find it anyway.  Finally went to their site to see where it is sold.  Apparently only Winn-Dixie and Publix carry it.  Anyhow I found some the other day and bought her a jar of it.  It’s supposed to replace the bacon part of a say, bacon and tomato sandwich.  It’s bacon flavoured mayonnaise.  Just wondered if anyone tried it and what they thought of it.  I told her the thought of it grosses me out for some reason.  I prefer a slice of the real stuff, thank you very much.  I didn’t buy myself a jar.

I am enjoying this new site location so much.  We get the sun and it’s wonderful.  How dreary it is when the sun doesn’t shine down on you.  And it just warms things up so much especially here in the motorhome.

Ken got the bikes out yesterday and was filling up the tires.  We will be using them very soon, but unfortunately there really isn’t too many places to ride them.  We will just have to go round and round the campground.  It’s not a big place and the roads outside of the campground are too busy to ride them there.   It’s just been too darn cold to even think about riding them.  Kind of spoils the fun when you have to don a winter jacket just to ride your bike. 

Well another day has dawn bright and sunny, not a cloud in the sky.  I think rain is on the forecast for tomorrow though.

Sorry no pictures today.

Until later..take care.

It’s a Zoo out there !!!

The new heading picture is our new site at the CG.   This is a picture looking up the street from our site.

Today dawned sunny, warm and beautiful.  Right now it’s 64 degrees F out there, clean blue sky.  Wonderful. 
I have never seen so many dogs in one RV park as this one.  99% of them are little, what I call ‘pocket dogs’.  There are a couple other big hulking goofs like ours.  Ken takes them over to the fenced in dog park and they have a ball.  Especially, Jackson if there is another dog in there.  There are 2 other big dogs here, a standard poodle, Cooper and a Labradoodle, Lady, and Jackson and them tear around like mad men.  He comes home and flops.  So good for him. 
Today we decided to visit the zoo that’s directly behind us.  It’s very small, probably set on only a couple acres.  Had to see for myself this lion that was making all the noise before.  It’s 2 female lions, apparently they lost their male last year, he was old.  These girls are getting on in years too.  They have a small petting zoo there with some goats, chickens (our 5 AM alarm), mule, pony, pot bellied pig, camel, giraffe.  We walked through the enclosure but didn’t feed them.   They appear to take very good care of the animals, but can’t help feeling that they should be running free in their native wild lands.
  
This guy would wave bye bye                   Anyone for Thanksgiving Dinner

                                                                   A white peacock??

Ok Joyce, don’t look…..

                                                               
I was actually able to hang some of my laundry outside today.  I have a clothesline that sits on the ladder on the back of the rig.  First time I’ve been able to do that. 
They are doing some major construction here at the park, they are adding another huge pond, tennis courts and I don’t know what else.  Consequently, the water down at this end of the park has been shut off periodically.  When we switched sites, we were told the water would be off until end of the work day.  So before we left the other site I just made sure I filled up the onboard water tank.  It was off again yesterday for about 2 hours.  And will be off tomorrow for a few hours.  It’s not a big deal, if you have water in your tank.  But because of the inconvenience to their patrons, they gave each of us a $25 gift certificate for Wal-Mart.  That works for me!!  Then today they came around and said they will be having a BBQ, on them, on Saturday, just bring your chairs and yourselves.  That works for me too.  Nice people and this place is so clean.  I love having concrete sites and the road is concrete also.  So even when it rains there is no mud.  Dogs get wet feet but that’s it.    What a bonus that is especially with having 2 big dogs.

Until later..take care

I’m Still Here

Sorry haven’t blogged for several days.  Hasn’t really been alot to blog about and didn’t want to bore you. 

The weather has taken a turn for the warmer side.  We did have a rainy day and today is overcast, but I can see patches of blue.  That’s promising.

We changed our site.  Since we got here, I have not been pleased with our original site.  It was totally surrounded by trees, short ones and some very tall ones.  When the sun came out, it could not penetrate to our site so we sat in shade.  Great, if it’s 90 degrees outside which of course it’s not.  It was dismal, and most depressing.  I had been hounding the manager here since we arrived for another site but he said they were all spoken for.  So I started checking out other campgrounds.  Didn’t really want to move as we really like this place but I couldn’t see sitting in the shade for 2 months.  We were on our way to check out another campground but decided to give it one more short on the way out yesterday morning, I whined alot, said how depressing it was, you get the picture.   We had driven around the park prior to this to see what sites we would like to be on and that were empty.  The manager said let me check, so he got on his computer and started checking, and I gave him my list.  Well one of the ones on my list wasn’t really available, he said he was holding it for someone.  Well maybe that ‘someone’ wasn’t staying as long as us as he said we could have it.  Asked us when we wanted to move and we said RIGHT NOW.  Must admit it was somewhat of a PITA to disconnect everything, shove everything inside to one place so we could bring in the slides.  But it’s worth it.  And we were able to fill up our propane tank while we were at it.  This site is much longer and much, much brighter.  We actually do get the sun.  Yeah.

There is a tall ship in the harbour here today so we are going down to check it out a bit later and also make a trip to the pet store to get our guys their raw food diet.

So will continue later, hopefully with some pictures.

We went down to the harbour and indeed there was a tall ship moored there.  She’s called Peacemaker. 

You could just board her and give yourself a tour.  I would have loved to see below decks, the quarters etc.  but they were off limits.

It was very foggy over the harbour and it was just starting to burn off when we left.  The sun was trying to come out but I think it’s given up.  But it is warmer so I’ll just have to be happy with that.

Until later then..take care.

Hibernating

First, a warm welcome to RV Life is Good and The MoHo and other Travelling Tales.  Welcome and thanks for joining.  I don’t blog everyday, but I try at least 3 or 4 times a week when we’re on the road.

Hibernating.  Yes, that’s what we’ve basically been doing.  Crawled into our ‘cave’ and stayed there.  Well that’s not 100% true.  We did venture out yesterday long enough to pick up some food at Wal-Mart, go to a RV store to order a new ceramic cartridge for our water filter (could have sworn I had a spare) and check out a pet store that sells raw food for dogs.  Today we are going out for dinner and this afternoon we are going to hit Ripley’s Believe it or Not museum. 

Even the pool has a blanket on it..
 

We tried to get a new campsite as this one gets zippo sun and believe me in this weather you need every drop you can get.  But they are booked up or will be in a few weeks, and it’s not worth moving for a few weeks then have to move back again.  Those of you with rigs know what a pain it is to pack up and steady everything down for transport.  The one good thing about this site (actually 2) is there is no one behind us except Leo roaring all day, not a problem, and we are really protected from any wind.  Hopefully once it gets warmer we won’t miss having the sun on us all day.

Last night was probably the coldest, at least down here, that we’ve had so far.  We had colder on the trip down.  The bins stayed very warm at 47 F and 57F.  We had disconnected the water hose and ran off of onboard water.  This morning when we went to connect, the tap at the post was slightly frozen, Ken had to warm it up with the lighter.  Can you imagine the trouble we would have had if we hadn’t of disconnected the hose?  This cold is expected to stay around for a couple more days.  Good thing because I am sick to death of it.  Don’t mind cool, but this is ridiculous!

Outside Ripley’s                       Made of matchsticks

Clicking on pictures enlarges them.

  Check out those lips !!!

Ken just got back from taking the dogs to the dog park and they had a good run so now they have crashed.  Jackson, particularly, needs a good run as he is a young, energetic dog.  Maggie, being an old girl and having bad legs, not so much.  But every so often she gives it a go, pays the price later with soreness though.  Hey, I can really relate to that!!

I must say they take very good care of this campground.  They have a large grounds crew that always seem to be out and about clearing leaves, grass and raking up.  They collect the garbage all day until 3 PM.  Just set it out at your curb.  I haven’t checked out the bathhouses and I really should just to see how they are so I can report.  Not having to use them I forget to check them out but I know that it is important to some people so I will soon.  If the rest of the place is any indication then I’m sure they’re spotless.

I’ll finish this up after we get back from Ripley’s.

Ripley’s was very interesting.  But didn’t think $15.99 each was a fair price.  But we paid anyway and enjoyed it.  Weird stuff that’s for sure.

And here’s Mr. Cool Cat..

Until later .. take care

Where’s the Warm Weather???

It is certainly warmer than back home, but it’s not the warm weather we were expecting.  Today it didn’t get past 45.  And windy again.  Last night it poured, but stopped after about a couple hours.  No sign today of the sun.  Tomorrow they predict 57, we’ll see.  But they are calling for quite nippy weather at night so it means I’ll be sticking the utility lights back in the bins where there’s water.

Yesterday we did a few more setup things.  Popped over to Wal-Mart again to pick up a few more things.  Today we drove around just to check out things.  Lots of fast food places, t-shirt places, and surf shops.  You can have your choice of any kind accommodation you like, hotel, condo, cottages, houses, the list is endless.  The beach looks beautiful, but it was far too cold today to even consider taking a walk on it.  The water was very rough and there was a warning out about rip tides.  We were very disappointed that all the beaches here say .. no dogs.  That’s a real bummer.  But there is a little lake here at the campground and they welcome the dogs to have a swim.  Right now it’s so darn chilly that they have no interest in doing so, but they will at some point when it warms up.

There’s a Ripley’s Believe It or Not museum in town and it’s shaped like a big boat.  Then there’s another building where you can do interactive things and it looks like a building that’s been tossed upside down.  Quite interesting and we’re going to check out both of them soon.  Notice the palm trees upside down (they’re not real).

We feed our dogs a mostly raw diet.  Of course, we couldn’t bring enough of their raw food for 3 months, so I had looked up some places here that sell it.  Found one, but couldn’t find it, even using the GPS.  We will try again tomorrow to find it. 

This has become Arthur’s favourite place in the rig.

Sure hoping the sun comes out tomorrow, even if it’s chilly, it makes all the difference in the world if the sun is out. 

Figured I’d take advantage of being stuck in the rig and did a couple loads of laundry.  A pizza sounds really good for supper right now, haven’t decided yet.

Until later..take care.

The Eagle has landed

We arrived yesterday around 4PM.  The drive took us 7 hours.  It was only 335 miles, but about 250 miles of it was on secondary highway and we had many lights, many small towns and many slow downs.  The roads were excellent just lots of stops.  We are on Central time here so we lost an hour.  And the ride seemed especially long because Jackson for some reason couldn’t settle.  He was panting like crazy and drooling .  He doesn’t travel well so we always give him a couple Gravol before we leave but for some reason it didn’t appear to work yesterday.  Fortunately he wasn’t sick.  I gave him some Pepto Bismol and that seemed to help him a lot.  When we got here Ken took him over to the pet park and he ran a few laps so there was evidently no lasting effects.

It was a lot warmer here than the place we left.  Still not summer weather, but so much warmer, the furnace never came on all night, just had our little ceramic heater going.

We are very pleased with the park.  People here are so very friendly.  It’s very pet friendly and that’s #1 in my books.  On weekends they do breakfast so this morning we headed over and had breakfast.  It was good and the best part was I didn’t have to cook it.  There is a zoo behind us, a small zoo where they keep rescued wild animals.  This morning we woke to a rooster crowing and a peacock calling.  And later a lion roaring.  But it doesn’t bother us at all.  Now if it were kids screaming ??? !!!!! that’s a whole different ball game.  Actually so far the place appears to be all snowbirds just like us.  There’s lots of palm trees and other greenery around and we like that.  Not ‘naked’ like some places.  Level, concrete pads, full hook-ups, cable TV, and free excellent internet.  They only charged us $3.00 to wash the rig.  For the filth that was on it, it should have been double.  There’s a heated pool, hot tub and games room.  We’re happy.

Today we made a quick trip over to Wal-Mart, picked up a couple things.  We tackled the rig and car this afternoon.  Took us about 4 hours to clean both with both of us working at it.  What a job!  But it was absolutely necessary.  I can actually see out the windows now.  All that’s left is to Windex the windows.  We’ll get to it.  Also did a load of laundry, but as I have a washer/dryer combo it’s no big deal.

Today I think I am just going to veg.  That sounds like a great plan to me.

All nice and clean.

Until later..take care.

Cullman, Alabama

Very short one tonight.  Great drive today, the sun was shining all day, the roads were mostly pothole free.  We got here pretty early.  Around 3 PM.  It was about a 300 mile day. 

This campground is way out in the boonies.  Very nice scenery around here.  We have a site with full hook-ups, heated taps, and absolutely screaming wifi.  Price is right too $21 for the night.  We have left the water off as it is supposed to get down to around freezing tonight.  It’s not the weather I was hoping for, but it sure is warmer than it was a couple days ago and warmer than up north. 

So until later..

I’m sorry, I forgot to mention and welcome a new follower, welcome Rene and Jeanette Genereux.

Sorry for such a short, boring blog, but I’m dead tired today and heading for my pillow.  Night.

Shepherdsville, Kentucky

First let me welcome The Bayfield Bunch.  I have been following Al & Kelly’s blog for some time and really enjoy his posts.  Thanks Al.

It sure was a cold night, but we were all warm and toasty in the rig.  Furnaces ran, space heaters cranked up and electric blanket turned on.  Both dogs went to bed with blankets on and left them on.  There was ice on the inside of the front window this morning. 

We arrived in Shepherdsville, Kentucky about 3:30 today.  We decided to fill up the water tank and run from that.  We had brought several jugs of water, but it such a pain having no water at the taps.  It’s such a nuisance  to flush all the anti freeze out of the lines, and I always find that there is so much air in the lines that I really have to run water from the main water supply first, before running from the pump.  Lot’s of frothy water going on for awhile.  I put a utility light in the pump bay cause it is supposed to go down to 28 F here tonight. 

It was a good drive here.  It was very sunny, the roads were clear and the traffic was AOK. 

I think that we are the only travellers in the campground.  There are several, what look like, permanent RV’s or are here for storage for the winter.  We had choice of any spot we liked.  But we still couldn’t get a signal on our ExpressVu box.  There are lots of trees overhead even if they are missing leaves.  So I’m hoping that is the problem.  But there are oodles of channels that we are picking up on the the regular old antenna.

Tomorrow’s destination is Cullman, Alabama.  I sure hope the weather starts to really warm up. 

Take care….really tired tonight…

Monroe, Michigan

First I would like to welcome 3 new followers.  Susan, Freely Living Life and Through Gates of Grace.

Was up bright and early this morning anticipating an early start.  Looked out and window, and what to my wondering eyes should appear..about 1 inch of snow on the ground.  Turned on the TV to catch the local weather and traffic situation.  They were saying that the roads were slippery and several cars had spun out.  Great !! just Great!!  We talked about what to do.  Didn’t really want to postpone for a day.  We decided to just postpone our departure by and hour or so.  Wait until the sun was up and to ensure all the salters and sanders had been out.  By the time we got the car hooked and on the road it was 8:30 and traffic wasn’t too bad.  A little slow but I think that was mainly due to it being the kids first day back to school and maybe some people too who had taken Christmas holidays.  Then after a couple hours we ran into an accident that was miles up the road, and we wasted 45 minutes trying to get through that.  Roads were fine, a little wet in spots, it was a very, very dirty drive.  Our poor rig and car look terrible.  We got here around 4 PM.  Got settled, even though the water here is in a heated enclosure we decided not to hook up.  It’s very cold here.  I don’t need to worry about frozen pipes.  And it’s very windy too.

First order of business when we parked and put out the slides, get poor Arthur fed.  Poor little guy had been in his crate all day.  I tried to let him out but he got scared and ran back in.  He’s fine now, stretched out on the bench at the table.  After that was to get the furnace and our 2 ceramic heaters going.  Place warmed up nicely.  I’ve turned on the electric blanket so that bed will be nice and toasty when we go to bed.  I really hate this cold weather %$#*%.

We’re staying at a campground here called Harbortown RV Resort.  We’ve stayed here before.  It was also winter last time we were here so I can’t really comment on any of their amenities, but we like it.  It’s easy in and easy out, nice long sites so we don’t need to unhook the car. 

Tomorrow’s goal is Shepherdsville, KY.  There’s a KOA there we’re heading for.

I was going to take a picture of the site but it’s just too darn cold and windy out there so I’m staying inside, thank you very much.

Hope we’ll all nice an toasty night in here, with the wind, it’s very bitter.

Until later..take care.