A HARROWING MOTORHOME DRIVE OVER MINGUS MOUNTAIN IN NOVEMBER OF 2007

A WINDY STORM TOSSED LAKE HURON ALONG BAYFIELD ONTARIO’S SHORELINE

RV NET is our favorite website for keeping tabs on the pulse of the traveling RV public & it's the place to go with all your RV questions, curiosities, & comments regarding the lifestyle.  Many topics in the forums & any RV problems you have can be answered here by fellow RV folks.  Always people ready to lend a helping hand.  There is no cost to join the site, just register & away you go.  We've been members since 2002. 

ALL THESE BAYFIELD HARBOR BOATS WILL SOON HAVE TO COME OUT OF THE WATER FOR THE WINTER

It was while I was perusing through some of the topics yesterday morning that I came across a post from some folks thinking of buying their first RV. They were trying to decide on what length of an RV to buy.  The fellow mentioned that he didn't want an RV that was too long or it might limit them to certain parks & he didn't want to get into towns or places that were too small to get his RV out of.  He mentioned the MINGUS MOUNTAIN  town of Jerome, Arizona as an example & that immediately reminded me of an accidental wrong turn & harrowing ride we had over Mingus Mountain right smack dab into the narrowed streets of Jerome on November 26th of 2007 with our 33 foot motorhome.  Our blog for that day is HERE & the photos I took while trying to squeeze through the streets of Jerome & still leave some paint on the rig are HERE.  Additional pictures of Jerome, Arizona are HERE.

SQUEEZING THE MOTORHOME THROUGH THE STREETS OF JEROME, ARIZONA

When we think of Autumn we generally thing of falling Autuman leaves, & that's a common thought.........unless you live in a pine forest!!  Before moving here we never thought of pine trees dropping their needles in the fall.  Not all of them of course, but a lot of them.  Always a big huge pine needle clean-up in the sping.  It is windy here to-day & it almost looks like a lite snowfall with all the pine needles falling from the trees.

THE YELLOW PINE NEEDLE  ROAD IN FRONT OF OUR HOUSE

Had a few questions about yesterday's Ikea blog & the furniture we bought there for the motorhome.  A resounding 'yes' to the question about whether the furniture has worked out well & do we still like it. 

POANG CHAIR….2008	VERY HAPPY WITH EVERYTHING
THE PAINTING BEGINS	BORREGO SPRINGS 09

ONE PICTURE SHOWS MAX RESTING ON A BIG CHAIR IN THE CORNER….THAT CHAIR FOLDS OUT INTO THE  COMFORTABLE SINGLE BED LITTLE CORA IS SITTING ON

While boondocking east of Sierra Vista last winter we met a fellow on RV Net who worked on the army base at Fort Huachuca.  We called him Sergeant John.   The ‘Sarge’  & his wife Jackie live in the little town of Elfrida.  They are an RV couple & the Sarge’s hobby is his 2 Hudson Hornet cars.  They have traveled to many car rallies over the years & I think John may have been President of the Hudson Hornet Car Club at one time.  The photo album below shows the Sarge’s cars in storage at his home.

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It has turned out to be a very windy & gray rainy day but I did manage to slip over to the lake earlier & grab a few photos before the rains returned.

THE FISHING BOATS EVEN STAYED IN HARBOR TO-DAY

A VIEWPOINT AT BAYFIELD’S PIONEER PARK OVERLOOKING LAKE HURON & THE BEACH BELOW

GROANER’S CORNER:((  The nicest thing about the future is that it always starts tomorrow.

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS  http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.

2008-SOLD OUR RIG’S FURNITURE & HEADED FOR THE IKEA STORE

CLICK THE PHOTOS TO ENLARGE & HOVER YOUR MOUSE OVER THEM FOR THE CAPTIONS

By January of 2008 our minds were finally made up.  We were totally fed up with the cheap uncomfortable furniture in our motorhome.  The tub chair was too small & had a comfort level of about 20 seconds.  Couch was the same & the pull out bed must have been made in a hot place somewhere underground.  The cushions for the dinette were obviously designed by a worker who attended Weight Watchers because you couldn't comfortably sit on the them long enough to finish you supper, let along dessert!!

But, here we were boondocking out in the desert & how could we get rid of & replace this stuff.

WE HAVE SINCE ADDED AN AMERICAN FLAG OVER TOP THE CANADIAN FLAG….PROTOCOL:))

Getting rid of the stuff turned out to be easier than we thought because we were in Quartzite, Arizona & it was January!!  Quartzite in January is the buy, sell, & trade Mecca for RV'ers all across America.  It didn't take Kelly long to get into town & do some wheelin & dealin & before we knew it I had my screwdriver out taking our dinette apart……because she had sold everything!!  When your not using power tools it seems the number of screws to be removed triples & by the time I had the million plus screws out of that thing I practically had to let my sore wrist soak in a pale of hot flaming water for the whole rest of the day.

As I'm typing this I seem to recall blogging about this Quartzite furniture story before.  (my apologies if I did) I took apart the dinette & we piled it outside.  Next came the tub chair which was securely bolted to the floor.  Had to get under the motorhome to loosen the bolts with nothing more than a pair of vice grips but finally it was done & out went the chair!! 

Took Kelly a couple trips into Quartzite to 'The Gamblers' new & used trading post where she had struck up a deal to sell our motorhome furniture.  We were able to get the  dis-assembled dinette & tub chair into the Santa Fe alright but the couch was another matter so decided to leave that until we left the Q (Quartzite) a few days later.  I wasn't looking forward to having to try & get that couch out by myself so on our way through town later we stopped at the Gambler's & the boys there came out & hauled the couch out of the rig.  Kelly told people inside the Gambler's new & used store that we were selling our furniture for gas money to get back to Canada.  I had to pull my hat down even further over my face to conceal my embarrassment!! 

Within half an hour we had left Quartzite in the dust & were heading furnitureless for an RV Park in Casa Grande that we had stayed the year before for a couple days.  Sure seemed weird not having any furniture in the rig & the furry guys were in bewilderment as to where they were all going to sleep that night....as was I.  Stopped at an RV Park in Tonopah on the way that night & it was so cold our water froze up outside & an alarm went off warning us of a propane leak.  Turns out there was no leak but the cold had somehow set off that alarm or something.  Had to wait until around 10 in the morning before we could get our hose unthawed from the outside water tap & head off to  Casa Grande.

Arrived in Casa Grande OK & readied ourselves for our shopping sojourn the next day.  Kelly, being the experienced shopper she is, had been in Ikea stores before over the years.  Me, not being a shopper, had no more interest in getting dragged through another dumb store than I had of trying on dresses at a Seven Eleven convenience store so it was with much grumpiness on my part that we headed off in the car towards Phoenix early the next morning.

It was the size of the parking lot that first caught my attention as we approached Ikea.  Looked like enough room to land a Jumbo Jet if it wasn't for all the stately palm trees.  After grubbing it in the desert for the past few weeks I thought we had entered the twilight zone.  The store front was very big & impressive as we walked across the manicured & well landscaped parking lot to the front entrance.  Best part so far was the total lack of cars & people because we were actually there before the store was even open.   Hmmmmm, this was turning out unusually good for me & I was impressed.  Front door was open & Kelly explained Ikea has their own restaurant that actually opens before the store did.  Wow, I could feel some excitement coming to-gether already.  But wait, how could it be possible for Al to feel a twinge of excitement about.......shopping!!  Well, I was about to find out.

 As soon as we walked through Ikea's front door I knew there was something different going on here about this store.  Our blog for that day is HERE & the photos of our Ikea store experience are HERE.

GROANER'S CORNER:((  111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321

And here’s the best part.  Sold the RV furniture for $450 & our total Ikea bill was…..$400 so we came out of the whole deal $50 up.  That Kelly is quite a wheeler dealer:))

BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS  http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.

JUST KIND OF A NOTHING DAY………….

ROD'S mention of Sirius satellite radio in his blog this morning gave me the idea it was time to move our radio from the van back into the motorhome again for our trip south in about a month.  A big personal thanks to the folks who invented the satellite radio system because it sure saved me from having to listen to commercial radio any longer!!

We made the decision awhile back not to take the bicycles this year so to-day I took the bicycle carrier mossmagaitus off the hitch assembly.  One less thing to worry about back there now.  Takes a few pounds out of the weight factor as well.

Picked up a load of Tim Horton coffee & President's Choice natural peanut butter this morning & squirreled it away in the rig because once we cross the border that's about it for those items until we come back again in the spring.  I figure one month from to-day we should be somewhere west of Memphis with our nose into the wind & our eyeballs on our cheeks.

Marty Robbins kept me entertained for awhile this afternoon as I puttered around in the rig with the satellite radio, battery checks, & some bin re-arranging,   Other than that it was a dull, overcast & drizzly kind of boring day……10-4

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Life is waaaaaay too short to spend it all in one place!!

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS  http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.

OUR FIRST COMPUTER…..AND WE DIDN’T EVEN KNOW HOW TO TURN IT OFF:((

TO-DAY’S PHOTOS ARE FROM THURSDAY’S MOTORCYCLE RIDE.  CLICK TO ENLARGE & HOVER OVER THE PICTURES TO READ CAPTIONS

Sometimes Kelly & are called upon by friends to help with minor computer problems they are having.  The emphasis is on the word minor.  We are not computer geeks by any stretch of the imagination but we are familiar with a few areas of computing that we repeatedly use ourselves.  We are both on the computer every day & it is this constant repetition that keeps us in the loop.  At this age & stage of the game I find that daily repetition is the key to staying on top of the computer game.  Slack off for even a day or two & those memory cells begin to drift off into space again.  Learning can quickly become....re-learning!!

It was probably about the mid 90's when the word 'computer' slowly began showing up in my world.  A few things on the news, maybe a magazine article here & there, & sometimes actually meeting someone who had one of these things at home.  It all started to take on some meaning for me while driving passenger vans back & forth to the Toronto airport.  Some of the people I was transporting were local businessmen from various companies & industries in Stratford, Ontario.  I would sometimes strike up a 'computer' conversation with them & pick up bits of info regarding their computer knowledge.  I remember leaving the airport late one night with a fellow sitting two seats behind me.  His luggage was in the back of the van but he had carried on a small black rectangular looking case.  We were somewhere well west of Toronto when I happened to glance in the rear view mirror & in the total darkness was startled to see what I thought looked like a glowing Martian face.  This man wore very thick glasses & his face was bathed in a pale green glow that seemed to be emanating from somewhere below his head.  Remember as a kid sticking a flashlight under your chin in the darkness, then running around scaring everybody.  Well, same effect & just as scary too!!   This was my first introduction to some kind of computer machine that sat on a persons lap or something.

That man's name was Jim Young & as it turned out he was a computer programmer for a large company based in Stratford.  Over the next while we became friends & Jim would ride up front in the van on his way to & from the airport on his many trips all over the world.  He was the fellow I was asking the most questions, like, what exactly is a computer & what does it do, what is this thing called email, does the keyboard have a back-space bar, how does something go from a keyboard in seconds to the far corner's of the earth in a single keystroke, do you use white-out on the screen if you make a typing error, what is an internet & is it something like a fishing net, & what has 95 Windows got to do with anything, & a flopping disk....what is that?  It was hard for me to get an overall concept of how all this magic worked but I was intrigued & determined to find out. 

Jim Young was very patient with my country bumpkin questions & always seemed to enjoy explaining the wonders of cyberspace.  My imagination grew as I gradually began to realize that this computer age could be something very beneficial that we just might be able to use at home.  Wasn't exactly sure why but just had a feeling it was somehow going to be a good thing.  The writing was finally on the wall..........I wanted a computer!!!!

It didn't take any convincing for Kelly to get on board with the puter idea because her interest was peeked just as much as mine so with that in mind we headed into Stratford one day & dropped into a local computer shop. We had seen their sale flyer advertised in the local newspaper.   Chipon Computers was located on Erie street & it was our first real time seeing actual computers, printers, monitors, & all kinds of other magical looking & sounding things.  We sure felt like a couple of local yokels who had just fallen off a hay wagon going by.  But wow, talk about excitement for both of us.  Mixed with a healthy dose of apprehension I might quickly add.  We picked out one of 4 advertised computer packages, signed on the dotted line, & headed home wondering what we had just done.

It was a couple days before the fellows at the computer shop were able to bring the computer out to our old rented farm house & set everything up.  I wasn't home because it was late on a Friday afternoon & in those days I did the mid afternoon Airport run from Stratford to Toronto so it was usually well after 10 o'clock at night before I got home. The fellow setting the computer up had given Kelly a quick lesson on how to turn it on & that was about it.  When I finally got home that night, there it was. This wondrous looking thing sitting on the table with lights blinking, whirring sounds, & a big colorful something bounding around on a thing that looked like a small television screen.  I would later come to know that bouncing ball was a screen saver.  I remember both of us standing in front of this space age contraption saying, "now what do we do."  We didn't even know how to turn it off.  We knew absolutely nothing & our faithful 6 week old puppy, Max, knew even less.  This was day one of a love/hate computer relationship lifestyle that continues to this very day.

And who could have imagined that the scary green appearance of a Martian looking face in the back of a darkened van late one night on an 8 lane highway would someday tie to-gether my love of computers, photography, writing, & traveling, & one day lead to something as weird sounding as.......a blog!!

In a future post.........Al buys a book for 'Dummies!!'

In last night's post I mentioned about a quiet ride on the motorcycle yesterday.  Some of you may wonder how is it possible to have a ‘quiet’ ride on a motorcycle!!  Very simple.....I ride a Honda, not a Harley:))

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Five days a week my body is a temple.  The other two it's an amusement park.

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS  http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now....AL.

A QUIET MOTORCYCLE RIDE IN THE COUNTRY

For any of you folks with an interest in Microsoft's Live Writer be sure to hop over to RICK'S blog to-day & check out his explanation of those confusing tags & label thingys.

Nice weather day so took my cameras & went for a long quiet motorcycle ride……………..

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GROANER'S CORNER:((  The older you get, the tougher it is to lose weight, because by then your body and your fat have gotten to be really good friends.

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS  http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.

GHOST TOWNS OF FAIRBANK & PEARCE, ARIZONA…..DEAD OR ALIVE!!

REMEMBER TO CLICK THE PHOTOS TO ENLARGE THEM & HOVER YOUR MOUSE OVER EACH ONE TO READ THE CAPTION

The old tumbling down Adobe walls along the San Pedro river in the heavy Mesquite underbrush of Charleston Arizona marks the spot of a long dead ghost town.  A few miles up the road is the bustling main street of a town very much alive.....Tombstone.  And in the same general area are two other little western towns in various states of.....dead or alive.

FAIRBANK, Arizona was once a bee hive of activity along the banks of the San Pedro river complete with a busy 3 line railway stop, post office, saloon, general store, a school, & all the other buildings & business's that once made for a rootin tootin lively little western town.  The people are long gone now, the school has been restored, the remains of the old saloon, post office & store are fenced off for safety purposes & an old sign hangs on a sun drenched withered wooden building telling you to.....beware of rattlesnakes!!  We walked around the remains of Fairbank & it's old forgotten cemetery half a mile away on a craggy rock strewn hill back in March of 08 & you can read our blog of that day HERE & see our photos, HERE.

 

PEARCE, Arizona was another typical tough little  western mining town back in it's day & a few of it's buildings are still somewhat alive.  You can drive right into the town.  Gold was discovered nearby in the 1800's which resulted in a stampede of people from Tombstone.  Pearce's old mining remains are still very visible high atop a rocky outcrop southeast of town.  The lady in Pearce's OLD PEARCE POTTERY STORE on the southeast side of the intersection is very knowledgeable about the town's history.  My blog for our visit to Pearce is HERE & my photos of the town & cemetery are HERE. 

We will be returning to this ghost town area of Cochise county late next month when we head back to, 'The Ranch.'  We will once again be ranch sitting for RV friends Jeanie & Ray while they head off on a 3 week cruise with friends Rosanna & her Mother, Carol from the Paws & Hooves Ranch which we visited last March.  I will blog about & post some photos about our 7 week ranch sitting job & the Paws & Hooves gang earlier this year in a later blog.  And I will get Sergeant John & his Hudson Hornets in there too:))

 Picasa 3 has just released it's 3.5 version & I downloaded it last night.  Biggest advance is in the 'face recognition department.'  For you folks who take a lot of people photos this is probably a good thing.  You can read about & download it here.  PICASA 3.5 

Last night's video is only the 3rd video I've ever put in the blog in the past 2 years so just want to assure our 'air card' readers that it is not something I make a habit of.  We use an air card while traveling as well so know the frustration involved in watching those precious Gigabytes been chewed.  A Verizon store manager in Casa Grande, Arizona last winter told us he figured because of the evolving technology that Verizon would be taking the cap off the 5 Gigglebyte limit sometime this winter but I'm a little skeptical of that!!

Loaded up Max & Checkers this morning & we took the big wheels for drive up to Wal-Mart in Goderich & back.  I was lucky enough to get myself smartened up this time & stay with the rig while the engine was running.  Three weeks ago I started it up in the driveway, forgot about it & left it running for nearly 5 hours.  In my world, some days just aren't quite as forgetful as others....sometimes:((

GROANER’S CORNER:))  To-day I have an original groaner written by myself.  But, not to worry.  I won’t make this a habit. SANDRA over at the Nightly News had mentioned seeing spider webs a few days ago on her walk & that reminded me of something.   I wrote this following piece back in 1969 & it is called:

                INCIDENT IN A FOREST

The spider spun his silken vines

Back and forth in magical lines.

First he went up then he went down

Then he came back and went all around.

Soon it was done and paused in the breeze

Enchantingly silent among the still trees.

The night passed on and gave way to the sun

But the spiders work wasn't quite done

For a passing fly in all innocence flew

Straight into the web & mornings still dew.

The spider advanced with caution and stealth

To claim his victim of bountiful wealth.

The fly in desperation struggled but knew

That for him this was his final adieu.

A struggle ensued in the morning light

A struggle that lasted on into the night.

First they went up then they went down,

Then they came back and went all around

Finally it was done and they paused in the breeze

Locked in death among the still trees.

Al Bossence 1969

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So there ya go……..told ya it was a GROANER!!

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS  http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.

AL’S FOOD VIDEO CONTRIBUTION….SOUNDS YUKKY – TASTES YUMMY:))

(Hover your mouse over the photos for the captions)

Neighbor Hank finished up the painting on our kitchen & bathroom cupboard doors yesterday so dropped them off last night.  This morning I have been busy putting cupboard doors back on.  Kelly really likes them so that makes the whole kitchen cupboard painting ordeal a success.  When I look at them I just see white colorless cupboards.  Seems like they should have some big bright orange & fuscia colored dinosaurs painted on them or something. It was October of last year when I was checking out some things on the motorhome prior to our trip to the southwest when I managed to embarrass myself pretty good again.   You can read my blog for that day at….NOT THE BRIGHTEST CRAYON IN THE BOX.

I’m going to keep the blog short to-day because the video at the end of this blog may eat up some air cards out there & I know what that is like because we too use a Verizon card for our internet while on the road.  Videos & musically animated websites use  up those limited Gigabytes pretty fast.

I've noticed in the past a lot of RV blogger folks are really into the food thing.  Not high on my list of favorite topics but I do have a contribution to throw in the pot so to speak.  Maybe I’ll even get myself up in the ranks of Foodie Friday, Sautéed Sundays, Sumptuous Saturdays, Mushmelon Monday, Tootsweet Tuesday, Wet Yer Whistle Wednesday & Soupy Surprise Thursdays. I have blogged about & posted an article several times called, Sounds Yukky - Tastes Yummy.  It has to do with my daily morning breakfast concoction I have been mixing up for about 10 years now.   Tuesday I took that written blog a step further & made myself a Video of my Yummy-Yukky morning ritual.  It’s my way of getting my daily dose of veggies in a palatable way instead of having to gnaw on the darn things like Bugs Bunny .  Haven’t had a cold or the flu for the last decade & I attribute that to my morning Soy shake.  The blog version is HERE & the video version is below.  Try it….you might like it:)) I couldn’t get the video below loaded from my files so had to come around & slip in the back door  through You Tube.  I don’t think that is the right way to insert a video but at least it appears to be working.

Was able to get my Picasa Plug-In installed on the laptop OK but the desktop doesn’t show the plug-in as being installed in Live Writer.  It won’t download it either & keeps coming up with a ‘repair’ menu.  Not sure if I like the way the ‘Tags’ feature works.  What are all those advertising sites anyway??

GROANER’S CORNER:((  And did you know that the the easiest way to find something lost around the house is to buy a replacement.

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS  http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.