Showing posts with label Darby Wells. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Darby Wells. Show all posts

Saturday, December 03, 2011

MOVING DAY….. DARBY WELLS NORTH TO DARBY WELLS SOUTH:))

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LEAVING OUR DARBY WELLS CAMPSITE UNDER STORMY SKIES THIS MORNING
In the above photo you can see a clump of large round brown rocks on the left.  We were camped just across the road from these large rock formations.  They appear in a lot of my photos and Pheebs and I climbed to the top of the center one.  The locals call these rocks the ‘Cow Plops.’  Story goes that Paul Bunyon once traveled through these parts with his big blue ox, Babe.  Seems Babe left a few deposits along the way but here’s my question to the locals.  Babe wasn’t a Cow.  Babe was an Ox.  Should not these large deposits be called…..Ox plops.  I rest my case……
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A COUPLE RIGS PARKED NEAR THE ‘COW PLOPS’…OR ARE THEY REALLY OX PLOPS!!
Our travel plans have changed yet again.  Don’t ya just love it.  Because of the higher altitude & ongoing bad weather in the Patagonia area we have decided to forego that region until another time.  Decided to stay right where we are in the warmer weather here on Darby Wells Road. But, a different site.  I think it is just great that we have the freedom to change our location whenever we want.
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SOME FOLKS OUT SCRAMBLING UP COW PLOP ROCK THIS MORNING
After our morning walk we hopped in the Jeep and headed south down Darby Wells road scouting for a new and better location.  Wanted to be further away from the main road, wanted to be further south for a better Verizon signal and we were looking for a bit of altitude so we wouldn’t have to put our Mifi on the roof.  Found a location that fit all three requirements and headed back to the rig.
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WE FOUND US A NEW SPOT
Packed up a few more things, took the satellite dish down and by 10:20 we pulled out of our old site under increasingly stormy looking skies.  I am always sad to leave a spot that has given us so many memories in just 10 short days but it was time to change things up a bit.  Kelly followed in the Jeep.
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ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL MORNING WALK
Reached the area of our new site and Kelly parked the Jeep off the road.  She jumped in the rig and we headed the 11 miles south to Why Arizona to dump our tanks and take on fresh water at the COYOTE HOWLS CAMPGROUND AND RV PARK which happens to be right next door to Hickiwan Trails.
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COYOTE HOWLS CAMPGROUND AND RV PARK…LOTS OF ROOM HERE
By now there was a light rain falling so we didn’t waste any time taking care of business.  Must admit I am a little gun shy now dumping the black tank after my little incident a couple weeks ago but I made sure the connection was secure and all went well.  Ten dollars to dump by the way.
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PHEEBS WATCHING FOR KELLY TO RETURN FROM THE COYOTE HOWLS OFFICE
We had no more than left Coyote Howls when the dark foreboding clouds opened up and we got a mixture of rain and sleet.  Lasted about half way back to Ajo and began to clear.  Storms are like that in the desert.  They can come and go quickly.
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COLD RAIN AND SLEET ON OUR WAY BACK TO DARBY WELLS ROAD
Stopped and picked up the Jeep.  Kelly followed me as I slowly made my way with the Motor Home over the rough and narrow desert Jeep road to our new digs.  Picked up some new desert pin striping and scrambled a few cupboards.  Raining lightly as we reached our spot.  Did a little wiggling around with the rig to get things reasonably level, put some boards under the passenger side tires and we were all set settled in.  We were home for another week or so.
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The rain picked up for about an hour and we ended up having to fire up our Legacy Blue Flame Heater to get warmed up.  By 3 o’clock the sky began clearing and by 4 we were once again bathed in a big warming Arizona sun. 
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CLEARING SKIES FIND US IN OUR NEW SPOT
We took Pheebs & Motor for a late afternoon walk and met our closest neighbor from maybe a quarter mile away.  Nice fellow out walking his dog, Lady.  Well, Lady and the Pheebs just hit it off right away and the game was on.  They just ran, frolicked, wrestled and bounded non stop for nearly half an hour.  So nice to see 2 dogs having so much fun playing together.
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PHEEBS AND NEW PAL LADY HAVING A BLAST THIS AFTERNOON
Because we are higher up now we have a totally scenic 360 degree panoramic view all around us.  We have TV channels with just the rig’s aerial and we now have a stronger Verizon signal.  No cell phone, but who cares eh:))
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OUR NEW FRONT YARD
And, a reminder to folks that if you see a colored word or words in my posts with capital letters, it is a clickable link.  For example, if you click on TIOGA GEORGE it will take you to his site.  KEN ROCKWELL PHOTOGRAPHY will take you to my favorite helpful photo site and ONE MINUTE ASTRONOMER will take you to an easy to understand daily night sky Astronomy site.
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I liked GYPSY'S post awhile back about how she decided to try on the RV lifestyle as a lone RV’er and how a few years later had to reverse that decision.
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There was a time when I might have been able to go it alone as a solo RV’er but I’m not so sure I could or would want to do it that way anymore. From a technical point alone it would be a major challenge for me. Kelly handles all that TV set up confusion, internet and cell phone stuff not to mention all the paper work and dozens of phone calls regarding insurances etc. She is also much better than I am at trouble shooting technical problems. Not easy for a feller to have to admit all that but reality being what it is I have to face the fact that my mind is just not quite as sharp as it once was.
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OUR NEW NEIGHBORHOOD
In Gypsy’s post she talked about the feelings of loneliness on the road and I think that would be one of my main problems as well. One of the greatest things about RVing is having someone to share all the adventures with. The highs and the lows. The joint decisions and the like minded interests. I do like my alone times but to be alone 24/7 would probably not work for me now at this age and stage. I never feel a need to be around a bunch of people but I do have a need to be with someone close and someone special. And of course that includes the furry guys too.
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(Am hoping I never posted the following two paragraphs before because I wrote them a couple weeks ago and don’t think I included them in my posts)
Made myself a ‘no-no’ purchase in Wal-Mart awhile back. It was something I have not had for years and something I like so much I just have to stay away from because it is so very fattening. It was a spur of the moment decision that saw me pick up a whole quart of this stuff for myself. I know of no drink anywhere on this planet that tastes better than……Pumpkin Spice Eggnog:))
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YEP, WE LIKE OUR NEW DARBY WELLS DIGS:))
Our change in travel plans again is a good example of why we prefer to travel the way we do. With no obligations, commitments, reservations or restrictive travel plans we are able to stay flexible and footloose. We both prefer to stay on the move seeing new things. As Snow Birds we sit in one spot for 6 and 7 months of the year and our rig never leaves home. Neither one of us has any interest in driving all the way south for the winter and ending up sitting in one spot for another 6 months. We know we are the exception to the rule but it’s just our way……..10-4:))
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GROANER’S CORNER:((  Brenda's 6 year old was explaining to the other kids what "extinct" meant:
"Well," she said in all seriousness, "it means that the dinosaurs are all dead and have been dead so long they don't stink anymore, that's why they call them exstinkt."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Tourists see the world, travelers  experience it.
-Until one has loved an Animal, their  soul remains un-awakened.
BAYFIELD BUNCH PHOTO ALBUMS https://picasaweb.google.com/117858411710794543295
The only thing better than right now  will someday be the memories of
right  now...AL.

THE BAYFIELD BUNCH MEETS TIOGA GEORGE:))

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When I stepped out of the rig this morning with Pheebs and Motor I could see stars from horizon to horizon and that could only mean one thing.  Our previous day’s heavy cloud cover had dissipated.  With sunrise only an hour or so away I knew we were going to be in for a sunny start to the day.  The weather people had been calling for clouds and rain.
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WE FIND TIOGA AND GEORGE TUCKED QUIETLY AWAY NEAR DOWNTOWN AJO
We were on a mission this morning because Kelly had noticed someone well known and well respected to the RV Blogging community had rolled quietly into Ajo the night before on his way to Mexico.
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I BORROWED THIS PHOTO FROM GEORGE’S BLOG
I think Kelly’s words in Facebook today sum up our meeting with TIOGA GEORGE.  She said, “He is just what I expected. A quiet, gentle, genuine nice person.”  I couldn’t agree more with Kelly as we sat in Miss Tioga chatting with George for about half an hour this morning.  A very personable fellow indeed and if you look carefully he is one of those fellas with a quiet twinkle in his eye and a warming smile to make you feel welcome:))
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A REAL GENUINE PERSONABLE FELLOW
With over 6 million hits on his Sitemeter you can see George has been around for awhile and a very popular RV Blogger.  We probably started following his site as far back as 2005.  Tioga George is a true pioneer here in Blog Land and has been the inspiration for countless Bloggers who have followed in his footsteps.  George was blogging about his RVing adventures when many of us were still wondering what RV meant.  We considered it a true honor this morning to meet the fellow who may well be considered the Granddaddy of the RV Blog world.
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I WAS SO BUSY TAKING PICTURES I FORGOT TO HAVE MY OWN PICTURE TAKEN WITH GEORGE
Better get to my almost daily now, ‘corrections segment’.  In Thursday’s post I said the A-10 Thunderbolt (Warthogs) pilots were based out of Yuma but Emjay quickly corrected me saying no, those Warthogs are based at the Davis Monthan Air Base in Tucson.  I have been to the Museum section of that air base.  Second correction comes when I said Kelly was on Skype talking to Verizon.  Yes, it was Skype she was using but it was the TV satellite people at Shaw Direct she was talking too.  I have since corrected those two things.
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There is a bit of confusion about my posts publishing dates.  I normally publish my blogs on the day I write them but due to our weak Verizon connection my posts can sometimes take hours to publish and that puts them into the next day.  So a post I write on the 12th may take a couple hours and publish and show up as the 13th.  I do not type in the dates….they go in automatically.
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OUR RIG SITS COZILY AMONG THE TALL GREEN OCOTILLOS
Had some questions about Coyotes and Snakes while boondocking.  Coyotes are always a main concern and we are ever vigilante for them.  When choosing a boondocking spot we try to have an area of clearance and unrestrictive viewing around us so it is harder for something to sneak up close without being seen.  We never let the dogs out by themselves and if they have to go out in the night I go right out with them carrying a powerful flashlight.  While they are doing their business I am scanning the area with the light looking for any sign of two bright green eyes staring back.  We have never encountered an active snake in the 5 years here in the Southwest.  Most of them are underground in a hibernation state at this time of year but they are never far from my mind while hiking.
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AFTERNOON WALK ON ONE OF THE JEEP ROADS
Wandering Willy sent us a link for a device called a Wilson Sleek.  This antennae oriented device is used for boosting a Verizon Mifi signal.  We will look into that.
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PHEEBS ASLEEP ON KELLY’S LAP BESIDE THE CAMPFIRE THIS AFTERNOON
Had a comment question last night about the Border Patrol and security in this area.  Anywhere in the Southwestern States of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona or California there are a lot of Border Patrol personnel and vehicles and seeing them is commonplace.  The Border Patrol is everywhere.  You may encounter them at checkpoints on the highway, at the local grocery store, parked along lonely stretches of desert highway, having lunch at a popular restaurant or heading out into the desert on horseback, ATV, or pickup trucks.  We have been buzzed by Border Patrol helicopters while walking out in the desert near Hickiwan Trails.  The Border Patrol is a part of the community with a job to do and in many cases an integral part of a communities economy.
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PARKING LOT OF OLSEN’S IGA IN AJO, ARIZONA
As far as safety goes we have never felt or been threatened at any time in our travels by any illegals moving through the area.  The last thing people coming up from Mexico want, is attention.  They will go out of their way to avoid you spotting them.  Likewise, the drug smugglers do not want to draw attention to themselves either.  I feel much safer out here in the seemingly middle of nowhere than I would in the downtown of any large city.
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IT’S A SLEEPY CREW WE HAVE HERE SOME DAYS
The American Air Force was busy this morning and we had many unseen fighter jets in the sky high overhead all morning.  At 10:25 a.m. I was outside and Kelly was at the computer.  Suddenly, without warning 2 of the loudest simultaneous explosions occurred somewhere over our heads.  Those explosions were followed milliseconds later by the sounds of the original explosions echoing back from all directions as the sound waves rebounded back into the valley off the surrounding mountains.  I could hear the roar continue down the valley to the south.
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OUR SIDE YARD…JUST ONE OF THE MANY GREAT PLEASURABLE ADVANTAGES OF BOONDOCKING
I’ve heard the loud crack of exploding fireworks and this was like that but a whole lot louder.  I immediately looked to the sky expecting to see a couple puffs of smoke but there was nothing.  I then scanned all around us expecting to see some smoke or dust somewhere but nothing.  I was convinced the double bang was explosives but then it occurred to me…could one of those jets high above have broken the sound barrier and what we heard was a double sonic boom.  The sound we heard was more of a crack than a boom though. 
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Hearing the distant ‘pa-rump’ of heavy explosives over in the Barry M. Goldwater Range about 10 or 15 north of us is commonplace here but whatever this was, occurred much, much closer than that.  Seemed to be right overhead.  Anyway, I don’t suppose we’ll ever know but 20 minutes later a second loud bang occurred somewhere in the sky nearby.  And then the planes were gone from the sky and all was quiet once again until mid afternoon when 7 A-10 Thunderbolts (Warthogs) flew overhead heading for the Goldwater range.  Oh, and then there was the low and fast flying white helicopter that flew directly over us. 
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THAT’S OUR RIG HIDING OUT ON THE LEFT AS THE CHOPPER FLY’S LOW OVERHEAD
Two new Blog Followers to day.  Welcome aboard to BSG and STEVE KEITHLEY.  Thanks for stopping by folks.
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MANY SMALL WESTERN TOWNS HAVE A WHITE CROSS ON A NEARBY MOUNTAIN TOP, JUST LIKE AJO
Our black tank is ready to be dumped so we’ll be rolling out of Darby Wells in the morning.  Our intention was to head on down to the Patagonia area south of Tucson….until we checked the weather report.  That area of Tucson is known as the high desert and is over the 4000 foot elevation level.  They are getting rain and SNOW there right now so that put the ky-bosh on our plans real quick!!  We will dump our tanks at Coyote Howls in Why tomorrow & then probably slide a couple miles down the road to the 2 mile marker BLM land for a few days until the weather straightens out in Patagonia.  Well, that’s the plan for now anyway.
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IF YOU LOOK CLOSELY YOU CAN SEE THE HALF MOON IN TODAY’S LATE AFTERNOON SKY
Our morning was spent packing up the rig, putting outside mats and tables away, etc.  Turned out to be a quiet afternoon with a couple leisurely walks in the desert.  Soaked up some warming Arizona sunshine and relaxed to the haunting guitar sounds of my favorite guitarist of all time, WILLIAM ACKERMAN
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And, would you believe we had 1,124 hits on our Sitemeter today.  And why so many?  Tioga George, that’s why:))  Just goes to show what a popular and wide read fellow he is.  A good percentage of those hits on our site are a direct result of George mentioning us in his blog this morning.  Thanks for the boost George….you’re a neat-o guy:))
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GROANER’S CORNER:((
A self-righteous man went to the doctor for a check-up. He said, "I feel terrible. Please examine me and tell me what is wrong."
"Let's begin with a few questions," said the doctor, "Do you drink much?"
"Alcohol?" said the man. "I'm a teetotaler. Never touch a drop."
"How about smoking?" asked the doctor. "Never," replied the man. "Tobacco is bad, and I have strong principles against it."
"Well, uh." asked the doctor, "do you have much of a sex life?"
"Oh, no," said the man. "Sex is sin. I'm in bed by 10:30 every night and I always have been."
The doctor paused, looked at the man hard, and asked, "Well, do you have pains in your head?"
"Yes," said the man. "I have terrible pains in my head."
"O.K.," said the doctor. "That's your trouble. Your halo is on too tight!!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Tourists see the world, travelers  experience it.
-Until one has loved an Animal, their  soul remains un-awakened.
BAYFIELD BUNCH PHOTO ALBUMS https://picasaweb.google.com/117858411710794543295
The only thing better than right now  will someday be the memories of
right  now...AL.

Thursday, December 01, 2011

JEEPIN WITH THE PHEEBS TODAY

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IT’S A BIRD, IT’S A PLANE, NO….IT’S SUPER PHEEBS:))
It was a hat, winter jacket and hands in your pockets kind of morning walk with a slight breeze bringing cooler temperatures to the area.  Could be in for some cold and cloudy days now until next week sometime.
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OUR THURSDAY MORNING SUNRISE
Wind gusts always sound way worse than they really are when your in an RV. Seems every little nook and cranny on the outside of the rig sets up it’s own howling and whooshing. The winds weren’t that bad in the night but of course they had me up at 1 a.m. sitting in my chair with the computer on my lap. Yep, still having my usual sleeping problems:((
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IT WAS A COLD ‘HANDS IN YOUR POCKETS’ KIND OF MORNING
The Pheebs has taken to this desert living like a fish to water and loves racing up and down the washes through the Mesquite trees and Saguaros.  Only one pesky sticker so far and she seems to have learned quickly to avoid them.  With the rocky surface here her paws are toughening up right quick.  She is just the happiest little girl bounding over hill and dale.
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PHEEBS LOOKS BACK IN THE DIRECTION OF OUR MOTOR HOME TOP LEFT
The skies were alive with roaring thunder this morning as the A-10 Warthog fly boys out of the Davis Monthan Air Base in Tuscon criss crossed our area in low level passes.  They had their deadly air to ground twin turbine jets just a whining.  I love watching these guys in their aerial ballets.  Unseen and much higher in the sky were the F-16’s, F-18’s and probably the new F-22 Raptor fighter jets.  They could be heard pulling their roaring and erratic high speed G turns in mock combat with each other.  Rare for them to ever come down to the deck where they can be seen but I did see one pulling a high speed low level turn near Hickiwan Trails a few years ago.  Got a picture of him too.  This whole southern end of Arizona is a huge aerial training ground for the American Air Force.  Being an airplane kind of guy I don’t mind the roaring thunder in the skies and I especially like watching their aerial combat maneuvers at night as their blinking lights dart among the stars. 
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SOMETIMES THE LITTLE MOTORMOUSE RUNS OUT OF GAS ON OUR MORNING WALKS
Our Verizon signal has been better since putting the modem on the roof and we are not having the problems we first did when arriving here. Our speeds are a bit better.  I would say for anyone new to boondocking, this Darby Wells area is a great place to get your feet wet because it’s a short drive into Ajo for supplies and you will be hard pressed to find a more scenic example of the Sonoran desert in a natural peace and quiet setting.  Nearest major shopping centers are either Casa Grande or Buckeye with Casa Grande being 103 miles and Buckeye being 77 miles.  Buckeye is the easier drive straight north up through Gila Bend.  Ajo to Gila Bend is 43 miles with another 118 miles to Yuma.  And, that’s our little geography lesson for today:))
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LOTS OF NICE JEEP ROADS IN THE DARBY WELLS AREA
We did fight with the satellite stuff again this morning and re-instituted our new receiver.  Kelly spent a lot of time on Skype again talking to the Shaw Direct satellite TV people.  Ever since beginning our RV days back in 06 I wished we had a dollar for every minute we have spent on this satellite stuff because for sure we could probably go out and buy us a brand spanking new snappity-doo 40’ Diesel banger:))  We did manage to finally achieve TV satellite success around noon today.  About time too because I was about ready to just load the whole thing up, drive it into Ajo and throw the whole kitnkabootle into a dumpster!!
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THIS IS NOT MY IDEA OF A SECURE OR EASY TO USE SATELLITE DISH SET-UP
Mike from MIKE AND PAT'S TRAVELS  sent us a link to the place where he bought a logical leg adjusting tripod a few years back and after checking the tri-pod out on line we are going to order the medium heavy duty pod.  Don, from Manitoba also sent us the same site so that confirms the quality of the adjustable leg tripod.  Our previous tri-pod was leg adjusting and if your out boon docking in places like we are where the ground can be very un-level or rocky it is important to be able to adjust the legs.  Flat based tripods are fine for flat ground in RV Parks but not so good out here in the boonies.
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By 11 a.m. the cloud cover overhead was solid and the temps had dropped to 59F.  At 1:25 it began to rain.  Not nice!! Couldn’t get myself warm no how for the whole day.  Due to a small problem I’m having with my left leg I stayed in my Poang chair most of the day under a warm blanket.
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STAYED INSIDE TODAY KEEPING WARM
The Bayfield Bunch welcomes new blog follower Johnna today.  Don’t know where you are Johnna but could you send us a little warm air over here to southern Arizona.  Thanks for dropping by.

Close call for our Verizon modem this afternoon.  We had put it on the roof of the rig a few days ago in an attempt to improve our weak signal.  Remember me mentioning earlier about it raining today…..yep we forgot the modem was up on the roof.  About 6 tonight we were rather suddenly and totally ‘off line’.  Kelly remembered the modem and I scrambled up on the roof, unplugged it and brought it in.  The two lights on it appeared normal so Kelly plugged it in and we were once again back on line…..barely.  Climbed back up on the roof, flashlight in hand this time, plugged the modem back in and put a plastic container over the modem.  And a rock on the container to keep it from blowing away.   Kelly hollered up that we were on line again so it looks like we dodged a nasty modem melt down.  Oh these forgetful Senior moments.
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OUR INDOOR VERIZON MODEM…..OUTSIDE ON THE ROOF
I have been taking the Pheebs out for a walk before supper most nights but with today’s rainy drizzle Kelly suggested Pheebs and I go Jeeping instead.  Great idea. 
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HI-HO HI-HO IT’S OFF A JEEPIN WE GO
There are some great Jeep roads running through the Darby Wells area so Pheebs and I headed out in full four wheel drive mode to see what trouble we could get ourselves into.  Pretty hard to get into trouble with the sure footedness of a Jeep though.  We had a great time, mainly in first gear, making our way slowly over the ruts, boulders, dry washes and rugged ridges.  Picked up some cool new desert pin striping as well. 
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PHEEBS HELD HER PAW ON THE BRAKE WHILE I HOPPED OUT TO TAKE THIS PHOTO
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We were bouncing around so much inside the Jeep that sometimes Pheebs was in the driver’s seat and I was upside down in the back.  But, we made it and had ourselves a great time covering maybe 5 miles way back in the middle of nowhere.DSC_0011 
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Pheebs loved the ride but by the time we got back I think Pheebs was a little ‘green’ from all the rocking and rolling.  DSC_0018
PHEEBS WAS FEELING A LITTLE ‘GREEN’ BY THE TIME WE GOT BACK TO THE RIG
I did just delete a comment from Mr. Anonymous again regarding my Wednesday post.  Somebody obviously still has a very big chip on their shoulder.  Thank you Rick and Elaine for your response to Mr. Anonymous before I deleted it.
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SUNSET AT OUR HOUSE
GROANER’S CORNER:((  A police officer stops a woman for speeding and asks her very nicely if he could see her license.
She replied in a huff, "I wish you guys would get your act together. Just yesterday you take away my license and then today you expect me to show it to you."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Tourists see the world, travelers  experience it.
-Until one has loved an Animal, their  soul remains un-awakened.
BAYFIELD BUNCH PHOTO ALBUMS https://picasaweb.google.com/117858411710794543295
The only thing better than right now  will someday be the memories of
right  now...AL.