OUR RV LIFESTYLE CONTINUES TO EVOLVE

WINTER MEMORIES NEAR DESERT CENTER, CALIFORNIA…FEB. 14TH 2012
It was a warm summer’s morn in May we had going for us today when Pheebs & I headed for Mitchell Ontario.  Kelly had to work all day & it was my Uncle Harry’s 96th Birthday.  Harry likes those solar light Butterflies that glow & change color in the night.  He had some outside his care facility window but they didn’t winter well so Pheebs & I took him some new ones today for his Birthday.  His voice sounded weaker but he had the biggest smile on  his face I have ever seen when he saw the Pheebs beside his chair.  In the last few years, Harry, with help from a friend, was able to make it up to our place for his Birthday but just not quite enough strength this year.  Maybe next year.

<<< WAITING IN THE HALL FOR UNCLE HARRY TO BRUSH HIS TEETH THIS MORNING
It was Janna’s thoughts at TIN TEEPEE/LOG CABIN this morning that gave me the idea for today’s blog. As stated in her post, their priorities are changing & their RVing lifestyle is evolving. We have always kept track of Mike & Janna because we are kind of like minded folks in many ways.

We found the first 3 years or so of our RV travels to be the most exciting because everything was so new to us. Nothing seems to compare with that ‘first time’ excitement of seeing & doing something totally new & wonderfully different. We loved all the places we went & have enjoyed returning to many of those places in these following years. But, after awhile the newness & excitement wears off a bit & it’s not quite the same as those first few discovery times somewhere. We were both becoming aware of that in our last couple years of Snow Bird travel.

OUR GREENING COUNTRYSIDE
Borrego Springs California is a perfect example of the change in our RVing lifestyle. One of our all time favorite places to go & hang out for awhile, we have been there every winter for the past 5 years. First 3 years were great but noticed the last couple of years the newness was wearing off & it didn’t quite hold the same charming excitement for us the first 3 years did. Borrego Springs wasn’t changing….we were.

PHEEBS & HER PAL, BRONSON, TAKE A SHORT BREAK BETWEEN A RAMBUNCTIOUS FROLIC THIS MORNING
I think it was round about the time we came across the Lazy W Ranch near Elfrida Arizona two winters ago that we began to see a slightly different RVing future shaping up for ourselves. I well remember my excitement at the thoughts of all the creative work projects I could involve myself in on this picturesque little Ranch in the shadow of the Swiss Helm mountains tucked away in the southeast corner of the State. We also began to realize the advantages of having some kind of home base somewhere in the southwest. That little 40 acre Ranch that I loved so much was financially way over our heads, but it caused us to think ahead, & the seeds of change were planted.
 
 
LAZY W RANCH NEAR ELFRIDA, ARIZONA FEB 17TH 2011
Whenever we traveled to a new area one of the first things Kelly always did was to get on the computer & check out the local Real Estate listings & prices for house’s & properties. In the last couple years we found ourselves talking more & more about our RVing priorities & found ourselves driving around looking at more & more listings for sale. With the current housing market in the States we couldn’t believe how cheaply Real Estate was selling for, and this of course had a big influence on our planning & decision making.  When we came across the deal in Congress, we knew we just couldn’t pass this one up.
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CLARK DRY LAKE BED NEAR BORREGO SPRINGS……..FEBRUARY 8/2012
Ideally, we had been looking for a small one story Ranch house style place, with some out buildings on about 5 acres of land with no signs of any visible neighbors. That is not quite what we ended up with but we had to be realistically practical & not get ourselves into a financial situation way over our heads. We had to make a few concessions.  In the end, we simply bought a little house on 1 acre of land that we could afford. We do have neighbors & as much as I don’t care for that, there are some common sense advantages to having people close by. But, that’s a topic for another post.

OUR CONGRESS ARIZONA DIGS…..COMPLETE WITH 3 SAGUAROS:))  (photo compliments of Gerrit)
A few years ago I was gung-ho on selling our place in Bayfield & hitting the road full time. Had we done so I’m sure we would have adapted well & would still be out there somewhere thoroughly enjoying the lifestyle. But, knowing ourselves as well as I do, I also know, that by now our minds would be once again evolving towards ‘something different. Not being a creature of ‘same old, same old’ it’s just the way I am & it’s just the way we are:))

OUR HOUSE BEFORE WE HAD THE ADOBE PUT ON JUST DAYS BEFORE OUR ARIZONA DEPARTURE IN MARCH 
Shortly, in a future post, I will talk about the logistic side of things & how we are now facing planning decisions on how we are going to best spend our winters mixing our south western sticks & bricks with our ongoing future travel plans.  Do we really need the large Motorhome?  Are some different vehicles & modes of travel in our future?  What about turning around & selling our ‘new to us’ Congress house & making a couple dollars?  (yes, that has come up in some conversations) Have we thought any more about selling our place here in Bayfield?  And, why did we chose Arizona & that area of Arizona to buy a house?  All food for thought & all questions I will be posting thoughts & opinions about soon.  Stay tuned:))

WINTER SUNSET AT THE LAZY W RANCH, ARIZONA
GROANER'S CORNER:((   I know I'm pushing the envelope on this one a bit but I did think it was kinda cute.............
Already the father of two rambunctious boys, the husband was thrilled when the doctor announced they were going to have twins this time. He told his wife that she should start thinking of names.
"Well, let's see." she said. "We already have Adolph and Rudolph. How about Getoff and Stayoff!!"
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- Tourists see the world, travelers  experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right  now...AL.
stargeezerguy@gmail.com

A SUCCESSFUL MISSION TO TOWN FOR ME & THE PHEEBS

SUN UMBRELLAS AWAIT THE ARRIVAL OF GUESTS TODAY AT BAYFIELD’S DEER PARK LODGE

Weather is shaping up mighty fine for our long week-end.  A touch cool by beach standards but great for anyone working outside in their garden.  Not quite enough heat in the air to bring out all the flying insects & buggy-boos but warm enough to be in short sleeves.  Very low humidity, & that’s the best:))

SURE DO HAVE SOME NICE CLEAR WATER FOR SWIMMERS ALONG THE SHORES OF LAKE HURON

Pheebs & I flew another successful Jeep mission into & out of Goderich this morning without being shot down by another greasy McDonald’s breakfast.  We got in, got our errands done & got out of town before anyone knew we were even there.  Stopped at DEER PARK LODGE on the way back because I had a few cottage interiors to photograph.  I’ll include a few of those in tonight’s blog plus Pheebs & I hit the beach for a few additional photos.

 

WEEK-END GUESTS WILL SOON BE ARRIVING

Kelly brought a blog to my attention this morning that she knew I would definitely be interested in.  And, I was.   This fellow’s COCOONED post certainly did catch my attention.  It is not often I read a post by someone who so closely mirrors my own thoughts about our particular style of RVing.  I put this couple’s blog on our sidebar because I like their way of RV thinking.  You can find them at BOX CANYON BLOG.COM.

CAMPFIRES ON THE BEACH ARE ALWAYS A BIG HIT AT DEER PARK

Neither Kelly or I have ever been big on anniversary or birthday stuff so it’s not something I usually mention in my posts.  But, I will make an exception because today we have been married 10 years.  No big number to fluff ourselves up about, but considering our very independently different pasts, it is a wonder our paths ever crossed in the first place. But, once those paths did finally cross, it was clear right from the beginning we were two people destined to be together.  Our thoughts were alike, our thinking the same.  We had both individually embarked on similar paths at different times, searching for the same ‘out of the box’ answers.   Didn’t take long after sharing our ideas, ideals, & dreams, that we knew we were in harmony with each other.  Kelly has been the one with patience, understanding, fortitude, courage & strength.  And, I have been the one with peanut butter sandwiches……………  Oh, & where did we meet?  A coffee shop of course:))

 

I am getting an increased number of ‘Anonymous’ spam in my comments section & am wondering if other Bloggers are being plagued by this as well.  My filters are not blocking some of this latest stuff & the spam ends up appearing as a comment.  I have to keep checking my Blogger Dashboard in order to delete this garbage.  I certainly do not want to go back to those ridiculous Google anti-spam letters people are forced to figure out before leaving a comment.  Wondered if anybody had any ideas about this………………..

 

DEER PARK HAS ONE OF THE LARGEST & BEST PRIVATE SANDY BEACHES ALONG THE LAKE

GROANER’S CORNER:((  Did you know a Man who runs in front of a car gets tired, while a man who runs behind a car gets exhausted.  And did you know the old Egyptian archaeologist was upset because his job was in ruins.  By the way, what do you call a Ghost with a broken leg??  A Hoblin Goblin of course.  And, I bet you didn’t know why the Indians were here first……they had reservations:))

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- Tourists see the world, travelers  experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right  now...AL.

stargeezerguy@gmail.com

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER DARN HOSPITAL!!

OUR MOTORHOME JUST SEEMS TO GROW BIGGER & BIGGER EVERY YEAR

I was up, out the door, & headed for Stratford by 7:15 this morning.  As expected, a beautiful early morning drive through our picturesque & pastoral countryside.  Our rural landscape has really greened up with acres & acres of ploughed farmland bordered by forests of Spring foliage.  Farmers were already up & on the land with tractors, seeders, fertilizers & manure spreaders.  A few pockets of air along the way were a little intense.

A NEWLY SEEDED FIELD STILL BEARS TRACTOR TIRE MARKS
Not too much to tell you about my pre-admit appointment at the Hospital.  Registered, went over some paper work & instructions for the surgery day & headed up to the 5th floor Lab.  The usual little bottle sample, more blood work & an EKG.  Total time in the Hospital was about 1 hour & I was soon back out of the city into my comforting countryside.  Dawdled my way back to Bayfield stopping for a few photos along the way.

STRATFORD GENERAL HOSPITAL MAIN ENTRANCE
Sunny day, but still on the cool side.  Been tossing around some ideas for a small decorative privacy piece for one end of our house so I may, or may not pick up a few pieces of lumber for the project.  I really do need some kind of creative project to get my mind focused on.  I well remember the great month of March I had at our Arizona house.  Cleaning inside, painting kitchen cabinets, cleaning up the yard, planting cactus & just generally being excited about having half a dozen little creative projects on the go.

OUR LILACS ARE IN BLOOM

I like jobs I can do totally by myself.  Just as I am not good as a passenger in a car, I am not good at being a helper.  Either I drive the car or I do the project all by myself.  Same as riding a motorcycle or driving an ATV.  If I'm not in control of handling the machine....I'm not on it!!  By the same token, standing around handing someone a hammer or holding a board here & there doesn't work for me.  I've never been a 'team member' kind of guy.

IT’S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN IN OUR CARPORT

We are on the verge of our big May 24th week-end in Canada.  This is the biggy of the year & the one that officially kicks off the summer.  It's a big booze party week-end for a lot of kids so always a good week-end to stay off the highways & away from the beach party hot spots.  Grand Bend, just a few miles south of us has always been party central for teen-agers for as long as I can remember.  (According to Wikipedia, Grand Bend's year-round population of 2,000 people swells to about 50,000 in the summer months on holiday weekends.)  A rowdy place at times & I remember the days many years ago when I was a part of that rowdiness.  Never did get myself into any kind of serious trouble but did spend a night in the Grand Bend drunk tank & a couple days in the Sarnia County Jail one time for some kind of alcohol related offence. Can't remember what it was anymore.  Because of the number of teen-agers, the Police don't fool around in Grand Bend.  You break the law....you go to jail right quick.  They have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to alcohol, or at least they did 45 years ago.  Every May 24th I think about those bad old zany crazy days way back when.

SAILBOATS AWAITING THEIR SUMMER IN THE WATER

I recall being asked by a commenter awhile back if I take photos for the DEER PARK LODGE website.  Answer to that is yes, I do take ‘some’ of them.  Most of the cottage interior shots are mine, as well as some of the outside ones.  A few of my photos are in the slideshow at the top of their home page.

SUNDOWN AT DEER PARK LODGE

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Prosecutor: Did you kill the victim?
Defendant: No, I did not.
Prosecutor: Do you know what the penalties are for perjury?
Defendant: Yes, I do. And they're a hell of a lot better than the penalty for murder.
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- Tourists see the world, travelers  experience it.

- Home is where your pet is:))

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

stargeezerguy@gmail.com

NOT SURE WHAT HAPPENED…BUT, I HAVE A THEORY

Happy to say I was feeling much better this morning than I was last night when I went to bed.  Thanks to everyone for your concerned comments.  Not exactly sure what happened Monday afternoon but I have a feeling now it may have had something to do with either the new Crestor cholesterol drug I just started or the Nortriptyline drug I just came off.  The Nortrip med was prescribed for my leg pains several weeks ago & I was on it for 2 weeks.  This drug is also known to have some mental affecting properties as well.  Although I felt no different taking these pills for a couple of weeks I am wondering if my abruptly stopping them Sunday night knocked me for a loop.  Monday about noon it was if someone opened a big flood valve in the bottom of my foot & all my energy immediately drained right out of me.  Spent most of the afternoon & evening in a both mentally & physically lethargic state in my chair.  No physical energy to get out of the chair & no mental energy to even want to get out of the chair.

Got a call from the Goderich Hospital yesterday setting me up an appointment to meet with a Dr. Annan.  He is the same surgeon who removed a lesion on my left temple a few years back.  He’ll have a look at what I now have on my right temple on May 23rd.  Counting my blood work stops I am now over a dozen medical appointments & procedures for the month of May alone.  But, that’s all Ok because I want to get as much of everything done as soon as possible so that nothing is left standing in the way of our departure for the Southwest in October.

CAN YOU TURN THAT CAMERA FLASH OFF DAD

 

LAP DOG EXTRAORDINAIRE

Headed for the Clinton Hospital this morning because I had an Ultra-Sound scheduled for 9:30 regarding my Kidney Stone locations.  I kind of like those Ultra-Sound procedures.  Very relaxing.  Once again laid on my left side/right side in a darkened room.  The operator & her young trainee sat beside the bed at a computer.  She places some kind of a small scanner in a pool of ‘cold’ jelly on my abdomen & slowly moves it from one location to another with her hand, all the time watching her computer monitor & speaking lowly to the trainee.  I felt like a Mouse Pad & someone was scrolling a Mouse around on me.  Like I said, very relaxing & maybe even bordering on soothing.  Who wouldn’t like a nice warm computer mouse slowly rolled around on their tummy eh.  The scan only lasted about 15 minutes which was less than half the time my Ultra-Sound in Tucson took last December.  And, unlike the Tucson operator, this lady had nothing to say after the scan.  I’m still wondering why the Tucson tech told me I was….’a special case.’

‘ANOTHER’ WAITING ROOM….DR. PHIL WAS ON THE TELEVISION BUT I CHOSE TO SPEND MY TIME MORE CONSTRUCTIVELY, PLAYING WITH THE KID’S COLORFUL TOY IN THE FOREGROUND.

Tuesday morning, before I had my energy collapse, I did manage to get a little cleaning done on the Motor Home.  Remembered the big shiny wheels hadn't been scrubbed up since getting home back at the beginning of April so with a bit of soap & water I turned those big chrome wheels from dirty gray to shiny chrome.  Also tackled the front of the coach with some wax.  Although more labor intensive I still do prefer the shine & finish wax leaves on the fiberglass rig as opposed to, ‘The Solution’.  I do like the Solution for cleaning the motorcycle though & I've used it a few times on the Jeep.  Kelly was very impressed with it when she did her Santa Fe a few weeks ago.

Today’s much cooler & grayer day had me trying to catch up on some lost sleep again.  Guess I just must be some kind of a Night Owl or something.  Did a bunch of weed whacking & Pheebs took me for an afternoon walk around the forest trail.

 

MY YEARS OF CARRYING A CLIPPERS ON OUR MORNING WALK HAS SLOWLY TRANSFORMED OUR MORNING TRAIL INTO A GREEN TUNNEL THROUGH THE FOREST…& KELLY TAKES ANOTHER WORK CALL THIS MORNING

And, a few thoughts on prescription drugs & holistic medicines etc. etc.  Somewhere between the extremes of poo pooing holistic drugs at one end & prescription drugs at the other end lies a common sense path through the maze of thoughts & opinions.  Of paramount importance is the understanding that not everyone is the same & what works for one person may very well not work for another.  Body tolerances & chemistry vary from individual to individual.  Ignoring a Doctor's advice is just about as risky as believing everything you read on the internet.  And, by the way, I have made both those mistakes.  I believe my cholesterol problem to be genetic.  I have tried many ways to get my cholesterol under control over the years without success.  Losing weight, changing eating habits, cholesterol fighting supplements, etc.  Nothing ever worked & my numbers have remained high for many years.  I just chose to ignore those numbers.

 
<<< BESIDE OUR FRONT YARD POND

Over the years & against Doctor's recommendations I have avoided all cholesterol medications because I have this 'thing' about taking pills & medications.  Might be kind of a guy's thing.  Well, sometimes some of us more stubborn critters just have to get ourselves smartened up a bit & make some changes whether we like it or not.  Heart attacks & strokes are the common result of cholesterol build up in the arteries & it is 'having a stroke' that scares me the most.  The thoughts of being incapacitated & hanging out of a wheel chair in a nursing home totally dependent on people to feed me etc is just too scary a thought for me to comprehend.  Not to mention the burden it would put on family.  So, I guess what I am saying is that one has to be open minded in one's own treatment.  First, we have to accept the aging process & admit that we do have related problems occurring.  Second, we have to be open minded enough to understand the pros & cons of treatment, whatever side of the coin recommendations & advice come from.  Somewhere through the maze of 'treatments' lies everyone's individual path & it is up to each person to be open minded enough to make the correct decisions & find their own wellness way through the maze of opinions.  And, speaking of opinions.....Ok, I won't speak of opinions:))

FROG POT

Believe it or not but early tomorrow morning I have to be at the Stratford Hospital in Stratford Ontario for something they call a ‘pre-op.  Not sure what that one is all about but I suspect it is going to result in me losing some blood to one of them darn needle things again.  Who knows what else I’ll have to give them.  Best part of that appointment is going to be the nice country drive to & from Stratford which is about an hour east of us.

GROANER’S CORNER:((     A man visits the doctor for a check-up, and after some tests, the doctor comes in with a grave look on his face.
Doctor: Well, I have some bad news and some really bad news.
Man: Well, give me the really bad news first.
Doctor: You have cancer, and only 6 months to live.
Man: And the bad news?
Doctor: You have Alzheimer's disease.
Man: That's great. I was afraid I had cancer!

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- Tourists see the world, travelers  experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right  now...AL.

stargeezerguy@gmail.com

NOT QUITE UP TO PAR

TREE TRUNKS IN A SWAMP                          (BAYFIELD BUNCH FILE PHOTO)

Just not feeling up to putting a post together tonight.

               

AWWW NUTS, JUST BORING MEDICAL STUFF TODAY:((

JUST OUTSIDE OUR SUN ROOM

A fine Spring morning saw me on my way to Goderich for my 9 a.m. Nurse Practitioner appointment.  Surprised at very few people in the Medical Center waiting room.  Last time there it was packed full of folks.

 
OH NO, NOT THE DREADED EXAMINATION TABLE AGAIN…SAY IT ISN’T SO, SAY IT ISN’T SO:((
All my test results were back & I was in for some changes.  Overall, things were looking not too bad.  Blood work showed most things were in good shape but after dodging high cholesterol levels for years, today was the day of reckoning.  I could no longer talk my way around the obvious & beginning this morning I am now on a drug called Crestor to do for me what I obviously have not been able to do for myself.  Bugs me like nuts to be dependant on pills but there is no way of getting around this aging nonsense.

X-rays & Ultra-Sound of my legs did not show anything abnormal & she was encouraged by the fact my legs have been pain free for two weeks.  She said to stop the Nortriptyline meds & see how the legs do.  I had no side effects from that drug at all but I'm glad to be off it, simply because it's a drug that is not necessary in my system.  Blood pressure has been coming in on the high side the last few appointments so that may become a concern at some point in the future.  Always had perfect blood pressure years ago.  Nuts!!  And, I was OK'd for the Kidney Stone surgery at the end of the month.

OUR BACKYARD FERNS ARE DOING WELL
However, I now have another dark horse standing on the sidelines.  I have a small lesion on my right temple. Just discovered it in my hairline a couple weeks ago.  That, plus another one on my chest are suspect, so arrangements are underway for me to see another specialist.  I had a similar lesion surgically removed from my left temple 3 or 4 years ago so I suspect this will go the same route.  Gotta watch out for those 'dark horses' standing in the wings alright.

KELLY HANDLES AN EARLY MORNING DEER PARK LODGE CALL WHILE ON OUR MORNING WALK
My next medical appointment is early Wednesday morning when I will undergo another Ultra-Sound on my abdomen regarding just where all those Kidney Stones are hiding out.  First Ultra-Sound I had was in Tucson last December.  Doc Robot needs to know what challenges lay ahead of him in a couple weeks.  I already know what challenges lay ahead for me.  I gotta dump some of this excess weight I have been carrying around for way too long now.  Oh how I wanted to stop at McDonald's for a sausage & egg McMuffin this morning, followed by a carrot muffin.  It was quite a tussle I had with myself as I wrestled my way right on by the big golden arches.

IN OUR FRONT YARD BUT CANNOT REMEMBER IT’S NAME

Sorry to turn this whole post into a boring medical report but if it wasn't for that I really wouldn't have had much to say for today.  Other than Pheebs & I doing a second walk around the trail this afternoon it has been a quiet day.  Sat down in my recliner about 11:55 to have a quick peak at the noon news & woke up at 2:30.  Never did see the news but that's alright because it was probably just another bunch of Bobble heads jabbering & giggling back & forth anyway.

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Q: I’ve heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life. Is this true?
A: Your heart is only good for so many beats, and that’s it… don’t waste them on exercise. Everything wears out eventually. Speeding up your heart will not make you live longer; that’s like saying you can extend the life of your car by driving it faster. Want to live longer? Take a nap:))

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Tourists see the world, travelers  experience it.

- Home is where your pet is:))

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

stargeezerguy@gmail.com