Our Dog History

We were married in 1983, and the first thing each of us wanted to do was have a dog.  Neither of our parents would "let" us as we were growing up, and it was a goal when we got married.

We wanted a Basset Hound, just because of the looks.  Upon return from our honeymoon, we saw "free puppies" and went to take a look.  Mom was a full blooded basset, Dad was a full blooded English Setter.  (Today, that would be a 'designer breed' of some sort.)  Our love of RV'ing and camping was born about the same time as Rambi, who lived to be 10, through all of our towns we lived in.

When Rambi passed in 1993, it took us exactly one day to realize how much a dog moving about was a factor in making a house a home.  Two days later, and a trip to the Ashtabula Protective League with our then 2nd grade daughter, we got Jobu.  We thought we had gotten a black lab and, to this day, we're still not sure what breed she was.  She was high strung, very agile, and great to have on your side.

Two years later, along came Brutus, our first male.  We had been kicking around the idea of being a two dog family as our daughter was growing, and we were gone with work.  We thought a second dog would keep JoBu company.  Brutus was from a student who couldn't keep him and supposed to be a chocolate lab, but grew to be a beagle/shepherd mix.  He was a terrific dog with a tremendously loud bark.  Brutus was really, really laid back, a perfect ying to Jobu's yang.

As these two were getting on in years, and we knew we'd be full timing, we started deciding on getting a breed that we'd know what we had.  We were between a Boxer (always having large dogs) and a Boston Terrier.  Tragically, within 6 weeks of each other, first JoBu, then Brutus passed away -- they were 14 and 12 respectively. During that 6 week period, we got Sloopy, our first Boston, from a breeder.  She's funny, makes us walk and exercise and a great dog for an RV.

Having been a one dog family for four years, we were kicking around the idea of having a playmate for Sloopy.  It would definitely be a Boston Terrier.  As we were shopping next door to Two Rivers Campground, we struck up a conversation with one of the employees who had seen us walking Sloopy through the lot.  She had Bostons, in fact, had just had a litter and couldn't find anyone to take the 9th one.  If you believe in fate, just earlier that morning we had corresponded with someone from Corpus Christi (where we'll be for the winter) about getting a Boston puppy.

So, welcome to our family:  Carmen.

Winding Down in Nashville

They closed the pool this morning at the Two Rivers Campground, a sure sign of things cooling down.  Evenings have been getting cool, now they're predicted to get down right cold.

We took time out the other day to visit the complex at Gaylord Opryland.  Wow, what a facility.  Divided into a few different sections, most all covered with an atrium roof, balconies that looked into garden spots -- tremendous place.  If you're going to go, you might want to have a beer at the Scoreboard Bar & Grill, then take the 10 minute walk over to Opryland -- at $2.75/beer, it sure beats the $18 to park your car.

The 'Dawgs Are In Town

SEC College Football fans are some of the best at following their teams.  And, with Vanderbilt being the perennial whipping boy for the conference, why wouldn't you want to come to Nashville, enjoy the weather and watch your team thrash the Commodores?  We used to do the same thing at Ohio State with Northwestern -- but then they started getting good, the weather in Chicago started seeming colder.  You get the picture.

So the Georgia Bulldog fans started arriving last night and there's about 5-6 rigs here at Two Rivers Campground ready for Saturday's game against Vandy.

Weekend Recap

 

After a 'solid' four hours of work for Sims Family Tours & Travel in the morning on Friday, we decided to check out the golf at Two Rivers Golf Course which is about a mile or so from the Two Rivers Campground where we're staying here in Nashville.  The greens had been aerated earlier in the week, so it wasn't the best experience, but we both thought it was a nice layout.

Saturday was a great day, with a rally down the street to "Stand With Gibson" which featured good entertainment and some good speakers.

Finally, while we were college football watching, our neighbor "Peggy" (the mayor of Hell's Half Acre) made some terrific chili that would have fed the whole campground I think. 

Rafting on the Cumberland River

Had the pleasure of taking advantage of the beautiful (mid-80's and sunny) October weather here in Nashville by rafting to downtown on the Cumberland River.  We loosely used the charts on the Corps of Engineer's site, mainly to make sure we didn't end up like we did in Oklahoma City where we put in, travelled about a mile and came upon a lock that was only able to be accessed by the tour boat that came by it.

It took us about an hour to travel to downtown and another hour back.  Our ramp was close to the Port of Opryland where two paddle wheelers do day cruises and dinner cruises.

  It would be a beautiful ride when the leaves are turning.  So hard to believe this river could get out of its banks and produce the kind of flooding it did in 2010.

We only saw three pleasure boats (one was being hauled out) along the ride, but did see the General Jackson Paddle Wheeler steaming along from Opryland to downtown.

As we approached downtown, we could see the "Batman Tower" in the distance. Then the full skyline appeared at the bend behind the bridges.  There is a beautiful ampitheatre along the West Bank of the River, with the Tennessee Titans' LP Stadium on the East side.  We were a little disappointed there wasn't any public docking or restaurants that catered to boaters.

After getting close to the ramp at Old Lock and Dam Number Two Park, we went "Tom Sawyer" and just floated.  The current we didn't realize until we turned the power off was amazing.  And.....the silence.

Surge of Scooter Expenses

We have a Eurojet 150CC Chinese Scooter that we love to tool on.  At 72 MPG, she's terrific for beer runs, short runs to the store, Home Depot -- anything that's small that you would normally take the truck for, she's going instead.  We've probably got over 3500 miles on it (the speedometer and odometer gave out around the 2300 mark), maybe closer to 4k.  I just ran the Quicken report that including everything (initial cost, equipment, maintenance, fuel, insurance, licenses and license plates, etc.) she's cost us less than $3k total.

As we were leaving Ashtabula, the battery started going down pretty often on her, so when we got here to Nashville we took her in for her first ever maintenance visit to Red Dog Scooters.

There was a drain that couldn't be helped (longer story), so we have to keep her on a tender when not riding and it cost us a new battery.  Then, on a run to the grocery the next day, she has a back flat tire.  While trying to put in air, the valve stem just rips up.  Another trip to Tommy and Red Dog Scooters.  He's a great guy, and runs a great business.  But I've seen him three times in a week!

Happy to say the total bill has been less than $100, but we're ready to start saving again with her instead of spending on her!

Tailgating

We love tailgating.  Next best thing to tailgating in the lot is tailgating at your RV site.  As Life Members of the Ohio State Alumni Club, there are times that we will seek out the local club viewing party and go there.  

But for the most part, we enjoy decorating our rig, getting out the Ohio State University Marching Band tunes and having our own party at our site.  Not something most of the people at Two Rivers Campground were used to experiencing yesterday.