NICE WEATHER DAY IN BAYFIELD AND A LOOK BACK TO SOME OF OUR ADVENTURES IN SOUTH-EASTERN ARIZONA A FEW YEARS AGO

ON THE STREETS OF TOMBSTONE ARIZONA
One of the big advantages full time RV’ers have over Snow Birders is the simple fact they live in and use their rig’s systems on a regular basis therefore always being familiar about the working of things. 

THERE ARE 2 OLD IRON BRIDGES IN THE HULLETT MARSH AND THIS IS THE ONE AT THE END OF SANCTUARY LINE….THE OTHER BRIDGE IS AT THE END OF CONSERVATION ROAD

A BIG ‘SHADOW COWBOY’ WAVE FROM THE SANCTUARY LINE BRIDGE THIS MORNING
It started out innocently enough today when I thought I would simply sanitize our fresh water tank.  Key joke word there being ‘simply’'.’ Not being full timers it’s not something we are accustomed to doing on any kind of a regular basis.  I think the last time we did it was a year ago about this time and therein awaited the problem.  My brain wouldn’t even give me the slightest clue where to start and I had to ask Kelly where the instructions were on how to do it.  Seems to me I had to do the very same thing last year as well.  I wasn’t off to a good start and it went down hill from there.  A job that would take a seasoned Full-timer about 15 minutes cost this aging Snow Bird a good hour and a half this afternoon:((

I BETTER GET GOING HERE, TRAINS A COMING
I won’t bog you down with my frustrations today because I am still pretty upset with myself but I can tell you that what transpired was not the fault of the Motorhome.  All me and with my poor memory having more holes in it than a Swiss cheese and my ever increasing impatience with anything even remotely mechanical I caused myself a lot of stress.  I don’t know when it was my problematic impatience began but I don’t remember it being this bad years ago but here’s the bottom line, ’we’ did finally manage to successfully complete the fresh water tank project and everything is fine and honky-dory now.  Everything that is except me and me will not be Okay until me has a good night’s sleep and starts Tuesday morning off on the right foot again.  Well that’s what me hopes anyway……..
I AM STILL CATCHING FRONT YARD POND FROGS AND TRANSPORTING THEM TO THE BIGGER PARK’S POND……17 TRANSPORTATIONS SO FAR INCLUDING THE FROGS IN THESE PHOTOS TODAY

ONE FROG IS REAL AND ONE ISN’T

A TAD OUT OF FOCUS BUT I’VE INCLUDED THIS FELLA ANYWAY


HE’S KEEPING A REAR VIEW EYE ON ME
Desert USA is an on-line South-western magazine we have been receiving now for a number of years and I often like the articles because we have been to a lot of places featured in it.  The latest edition was no exception when I read the title, Ghost Towns In Southern Arizona.  We have been to nine of the 13 ghost towns mentioned.  We’ve been to Superstition Mountain, Fort Bowie, Pearce, Courtland, Gleeson, Tombstone, Fairbank, Millville and the ever so hard for us to find, Charleston.  Through the Apache Pass to Historic Fort Bowie.  I wrote daily posts about all those places along with many photos and have included a few links such as Tombstone and  The Ghost Town of Gleeson Arizona.  We have walked the streets of Tombstone half a dozen times, found Johnny Ringo’s grave at the western foot of the Chiricahua Mountains as well as Wyatt Earp’s brother’s grave in Wilcox.  Johnny Ringo's Grave and Warren Earp's Grave in Wilcox Arizona.  I took some rare photos through a broken door of the crumbling Gleeson Saloon, we have walked among the old graves of Fairfield, hiked the long way in and out of Fort Bowie along trails Cochise once walked.  Cochise's Council Rocks  Had to take our shoes and socks off to wade across the San Pedro River to find Charleston after walking through the remaining ruins of Millville.  Today We Found The Ruins of Charleston Arizona. We have walked in the footsteps of Geronimo and his Apache warriors.   We’ve been to and through Pearce Arizona half a dozen times even twice spending time partaking in their ‘Pearce Heritage Days’ celebrations.  The old general store there is only open 1 day a year and we were lucky enough to be there on one of those days.  As we walked through the store I’m sure we had old ghosts walking along beside us.   Here’s a look inside that store….Old Pearce Heritage Days.  Made our way through what is left of Courtland with it’s few crumbling brick walls and old jail cell still intact.  Courtland Arizona  That South-eastern area of Arizona is such a fascinating place and we were so fortunate to spend many months Ranch Sitting there over a period of 4 years.  My links to Old Fort Rucker and Our Search for Cochise's Council Rocks.  Oh the memories and oh the thousands of photos I took.  Even now I still get excited thinking back to that marvelous era and that whole historically fascinating area.  The links above are only but a few of my many blog posts and photos of our memorable adventures in the great American Southwest and hopefully this winter we will be back once again on the dusty desert trails of many more great memories:))
THE HISTORIC RUINS OF FORT BOWIE

 
KELLY SITS LOOKING DOWN ON THE RUINS OF OLD FORT BOWIE

SOUTH-EASTERN ARIZONA IS ONE OF OUR ALL TIME FAVORITE PLACES

TOMBSTONE ARIZONA



THE OLD CEMETERY IN FAIRBANK ARIZONA

GHOST TOWN RUINS OF COURTLAND ARIZONA

JOHNNY RINGO’S GRAVE

THIS OLD SALOON IN GLEESON ARIZONA IS WHERE JOHNNY RINGO WAS LAST SEEN DRINKING AT THE BAR

GLEESON ARIZONA CEMETERY

THE COCHISE STRONGHOLD IN ARIZONA’S DRAGOON MOUNTAINS



A RUGGED AREA OF THE DRAGOON MOUNTAINS

THIS INDIAN FELLOW  WE MET AT COUNCIL ROCKS TOLD ME HE WAS A DESCENDENT OF GERONIMO


IS IT ANY WONDER WHY WE KEEP RETURNING TO THE GREAT AMERICAN SOUTH WEST YEAR AFTER YEAR AFTER YEAR
GROANER’S CORNER:((  A guy walking along the beach finds a bottle and picks it up.  A genie pops out and says, "Thanks for letting me out. For your kindness I will grant you one wish."  The guys says, "I've always wanted to go to Hawaii, but I can't because I'm afraid to fly and ships make me deathly sick. My wish is for you to build a road from here to Hawaii."  The genie says, "I'm sorry, but I don't think I can do that. Just think of all the work involved. Think of the huge pilings we'd need to hold up that highway and how deep they would have to be to reach the bottom of the ocean. And think of all the cement that would be needed. Plus, since it's such a long span, there would have to be gas stations and rest stops along the way. No, that's just too much to ask. Impossible."  The guy says, "Well, there is one thing I've always wanted to know. I'd like to be able to understand women...what makes them laugh and cry...you know, what makes them tick."  The genie thinks a second, then asks, "You want two lanes or four with that highway?'
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Kids can sometimes ask the toughest questions.
Son: Father, Can I ask you a question?
Father: Ok ask. Son: When a doctor doctors a doctor, does the doctor doing the doctoring doctor as the doctor being doctored wants to be doctored or does the doctor doing the doctoring doctor as he wants to doctor. --------------------- - How is it one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire? - Why does a slight tax increase cost you two hundred dollars and a substantial tax cut saves you thirty cents? - Health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die - The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth. - There are two kinds of pedestrians: the quick and the dead. - I used to eat a lot of natural foods until I learned that most people die of natural causes.

THINK I MAY HAVE HAMMERED OUT A ROUTE BETWEEN SPENCERPORT NY AND SARASOTA FL

A FEW SPLASHES OF AUTUMN COLOR HERE AND THERE BUT OVERALL OUR FORESTS ARE STILL VERY GREEN
A mixture of Sun and cloud on a mild Sunday morning found Pheebs and I poking along a few area rural roads again.  The thought occurred to me that one month from this morning we will be on the road in the Motorhome and it will be day one of this years southern winter travels.  As usual my excitement is tempered by my usual apprehension and that apprehension will not dissipate until the very morning we get the big wheels rolling and on our way.  From that moment on the adventure becomes real and the mind kicks in and focuses clearly on the travels ahead.

HORSES WATCH ATTENTIVELY AS THIS YOUNG  BOY PLAYFULLY RACES ACROSS A FARM YARD

SPOTTED THIS MOTHER DEER AND YOUNG ONE CROSSING THE ROAD AHEAD OF ME

 
THEY QUICKLY BOUNDED OFF AND HID IN AN ADJOINING BEAN FIELD

REALIZING I COULD STILL SEE THEM THEY QUICKLY HEADED FOR THE FOREST

Couldn’t seem to quite get myself into the swing of things this morning so we didn’t go too far.  But far enough to snag us a Burrito and carrot muffin with a coffee to go in Goderich as we passed through one end of the town and out the other.

NO SIGNS OF AUTUMN ALONG THIS FORESTED ROAD YET

I’M GUESSING THIS IS A FIELD OF RECENTLY PLANTED ‘WINTER WHEAT’

A SLIGHT SPLASH OF COLOR AMIDST TREES OF GREEN
Spent an enjoyable few hours in my recliner this afternoon with my Rand-McNally Atlas and laptop computer on my lap.  Oh, and a magnifying glass to see all the small print, roads and routes on each page. 

 A VERY RELAXING RURAL FARM PROPERTY
I am certainly becoming increasingly familiar with the Eastern side of the United States as I bounce around from page to page in my Atlas and screen to screen with Google’s computer maps.  It is the area between Spencerport New York and Sarasota Florida I am concentrating on.  Between a lot of back and forth and extensive use of my magnifying glass I think I have finally hammered out a basic route which may or may not include Harrisburg Pennsylvania, Asheville North Carolina, Augusta Georgia, and Ocala Florida.

Although very much looking forward to seeing new scenery along the way and getting a feel for possible future RV travels in the area this won't be a leisurely wander for us.  We want to get down to Sarasota and see Aunt Jean as soon as we can and that will be priority for that Spencerport/Sarasota stretch of the trip.  Aunt Jean's health has been slipping. 
LUCKILY PHEEBS AND I WERE ABLE TO HELP THIS LITTLE PAINTED TURTLE ACROSS THE ROAD BEFORE IT GOT RUN OVER
 
HERE’S PHEEBS NOSE TO NOSE WITH THE LITTLE TURTLE AND IT LOOKS LIKE ‘YOU KNOW WHO’ IS GETTING A BIT SLEEPY

YEP, IT’S TIME TO HEAD HOME NOW:))
When we leave Sarasota it will be straight to Congress Arizona for us probably slipping up through Texarkana to Wichita Falls joining I-40 at Amarillo east of Tucumcari and Albuquerque New Mexico.  If we take that route it will bring us to Congress Arizona via our northern route through Flagstaff, Williams, the Chino Valley, Prescott, Iron Springs Road, and Yarnell.  If the house sells chances are we may not use this memorable route again and I would like to drive it just one more time.  The drive from Ash Fork to Congress is one of my fav's just like the one from Tucson to Why Arizona.  Actually I have many favorite drives in the Southwest with those being just two of them:))

GROANER’S CORNER:)) A lawyer walks into a bar and sits down next to a drunk who is closely examining something held in his fingers. The lawyer watches the drunk for a while till he finally gets curious enough to ask what it is.  "Well," said the drunk, "it looks like plastic and feels like rubber."  "Let me have it," said the lawyer. Taking it, he began to roll it between his thumb and forefinger, examining it closely. "Yes," he finally said, "it does look like plastic and feel like rubber, but i don't know what it is. Where did you get it?"  "From my nose," the drunk replied.
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What's round and bad tempered? A vicious circle.
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Driving to work, a gentleman had to swerve to avoid a box that fell out of the truck in front of him. Seconds later, a policeman pulled him over for reckless driving. Fortunately, another office had seen the carton in the road. The policemen stopped traffic and recovered the box. It was found to contain large upholstery tacks.  "I'm sorry, Sir," the first trooper told the driver, "but I am still going to have to write you a ticket." Amazed, the driver demanded to know the reason.  The trooper replied . . . "Tacks evasion."