SLEEPING ON A DECISION & AUNT JEAN’S LAST DAY WITH US

Same temperature in Bayfield Ontario today as in Congress Arizona. Nice. Wonder how the sheep are doing at keeping the grass trimmed at our digs on Ghost Town Road.

JIM, AUNT JEAN & COUSIN NORMA…I’M THE BIG PALOOKA ON THE LEFT
 
SOME SERIOUS MENU CONCENTRATION GOING ON HERE…KELLY’S SHANGHAI STIR FRY ON THE RIGHT
 
JIM’S LIVER & ONIONS ON LEFT & MY DOPEY BURGER ON RIGHT…YEP, THAT’S WHAT IT WAS CALLED ALRIGHT…FIRST TIME EVER I FIGURED MY FOOD  KINDA MATCHED MY PERSONALITY:((  NORMA & AUNT JEAN HAD FISH & CHIPS
No movement on the Winnebago deal so I'm guessing it isn't going to fly. We may or may not counter offer or we just may move on to our next option. We'll sleep on it tonight & see what we come up with in the morning.

STEPPING OUT OF THE ALBION
 
‘HEY’, JEAN SAYS, ‘DON’T KNOCK OVER MY HARLEY
Kelly had her echo cardiogram at the Goderich Hospital this morning & should have the results from that early next week some time. My hip X-rays have been sent to St. Joe's hospital in London Ontario so we'll see what happens.

KELLY LEADS THE WAY DOWN BAYFIELD’S MAIN STREET TO THE ICE CREAM PARLOUR
 
A LITTLE GUIDED TOUR ALONG THE WAY & RELAX JIM THAT PIECE OF ART IS ONLY $5,500
Aunt Jean's stay is rapidly coming to an end. My first cousin (Jean's niece Norma) & husband Jim came over from Waterloo this afternoon to say good-bye. We all ended up in Bayfield's Albion Hotel for a late supper so I am later getting to the computer tonight. Just not going to be able to get a lot of blabberness out of myself before I fall asleep at the switch.

  
BY THE TIME WE FINALLY MADE IT TO THE ICE CREAM SHOP……IT WAS CLOSED:((
In the morning Aunt Jean has to have her rental car back in Stratford by noon. We will see her briefly before she leaves. Going to be a sad day at our house tomorrow. She will stay at cousin Mary Ann's in Tavistock Friday night. Early Saturday morning Mary Ann & brother David will drive Jean to the London Ontario where she will catch a shuttle bus for the airport in Detroit Michigan. By the end of the day Jean will be back home in Sarasota Florida comfortably relaxing in her big cushy recliner after a long day's journey. Think she changes planes & has a 2 hour wait in Baltimore or somewhere so she will be making up for a whole bunch of lost snooze time when she gets home.

HAVING A LOOK AT NORMA & JIM’S RECENT CRUISE PICTURES FROM HAWAII

YEP, SEEMS THERE IS ALWAYS A FURRY CRITTER AT OUR HOUSE STEALING THE SHOW…..:))
GROANER'S CORNER:(( A lady on her first visit to Yellowstone National Park said to her guide, "Look at all those big rocks. Wherever did they come from?" "The glaciers brought them down," said the guide. "But where are the glaciers?" The lady asked. "The glaciers," said the guide in a weary voice, "have gone back for more rocks."
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-------------------------------------------------------------
- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- "If having a soul means being able to feel
love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals
are better off than a lot of humans."
(James Herriot)
- The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails -William Arthur Ward
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.

TEST DROVE THE WINNEBAGO THIS MORNING, BUT…….

A PAIR OF MALLARD DUCKS SILHOUETTED AGAINST AN OLD  BARN SILO WITH A RED DUMPSTER BESIDE IT THIS AFTERNOON

Once again how nice to be out the door going somewhere earlier this morning.  Turned out to be the nicest weather day of the year so far. Great to finally see trees alongside farm fields beginning to green up as Kelly & I Jeeped our way over to the east end of London Ontario. Fortunately I know the paved back roads all the way & we were able to totally avoid all the city traffic nonsense. Our destination was FOREST CITY MOTORHOMES.

ALONG THE FOREST TRAIL TODAY
Had ourselves another thorough look at the Winnebago Access. Surprised to see it comes with a Macerator pump for the black tank. We have never had a Macerator Mossmagator pump in any of our rigs before. Lots of room on the Fiberglass roof for solar panels. It's hard not to make comparisons between the Chev & Ford Chassis. Always pros & cons & each manufacturer has their inherent weak & strong points. I am not a Ford man or a Chevy guy so my opinions are totally unbiased. I don't think either one is better or worse than the other. You can throw the Chrysler/Dodge guys in that mix as well. So, here are a few comparisons I noticed between the Ford & the Chev.
 
CHECKING HITCH HEIGHTS BETWEEN THE TWO VEHICLES

Starting at the front. I like the beefier looking Ford front ends. Like the light package better than the Chev as well & I get the feeling there is more crash protection in the Ford. Noticed the Ford has sturdier rear view mirror arms with bigger wider vision mirrors. Wider running boards on the Ford & much easier access into the cab for me. I had complained a couple months ago about the poor closing doors on the Chevy chassis. The Ford doors are solid & close the way a vehicle door should!! Definitely like the Chevy Sunseeker dash better than the Ford though. I liked the computer Speedometer/Odometer/Fuel calculation etc package on our Damon Motorhome & the Sunseeker. No computer package on this 2011 Ford:(( Like the Chevy instrument cluster better as well but the Ford seemed a bit more visible. 

TO ME THIS FORD HAS ONE WEIRD LOOKING DASH BUT I DON’T MIND THE ENGINE COVER (DOGHOUSE) BELOW AND I WOULD MUCH PREFER GRAY SEATS…I LIKED THE LONG SWEEPING LINES OF FORD’S PREVIOUS DASH DESIGN MUCH BETTER

I’m not too crazy about that weird wood grain boom box dash look in the Ford but I think I might like the engine cover doghouse better.   Like the darker tanned seats in the Chevy but at least the Ford’s seats swivel backwards.  Not so in the Chevy Sunseeker.  Like the Ford’s grab handles & convenient dome lights & I prefer darker colored interiors as opposed to light colors. Just me:)) Tomorrow I will make some coach comparisons. Well, if the deal goes through that is. At the moment we still don't know.

EVEN THE BROWN COLORS SORTA KINDA MATCH A BIT
I knew before we took the longer, heavier, Ford Winnebago for a drive that it was not going to handle like the shorter. lighter, & very nimble Chevy Sunseeker. I was prepared for the Winnebago to drive like a bigger slower Motorhome & not a sports car. I knew that little Chevy had spoiled me & I was right. But, like I said, nothing is perfect when it comes to RV's & one has to decide where one's priorities lie. If we do end up buying the Winny I will definitely miss the superb driving  capabilities & versatilities of the much peppier & smaller RV but I will so much appreciate the better creature comforts that come with a slightly larger coach.

  

KELLY MAKES DOUBLY DARN SURE THE COUCH IS COMFORTABLE…… & IT IS:))
We spent a couple hours at the dealership going over & driving the rig but we did not arrive at a deal. That will be decided Thursday sometime when the senior dealership owner returns from a large RV show in Las Vegas. He is the fellow who makes the decisions on the unit sales & will decide tomorrow if we have a deal or not. I will not be surprised if we cannot reach an agreement.  If not we will just keep looking. No big rush.  Hey, it was just nice to get out for a couple days in a row to go & do something different for a change.  I like that:))

With a stop at McDonald's & another stop at an area Mennonite Market for some meat & butter tarts we were home again shortly after 1 o'clock.  Even saw some folks cutting grass on the way.  Now if that isn’t a sign of Spring nothing is.

  

MY FAVORITE PIE HERE IS THE APPLE SCHNITZ BOTTOM CENTER & WHO DOESN’T LOVE MAPLE SYRUP:))

 

AND WHO KNEW…………..MENNONITES MAKING WHOOPEE PIES & AL’S MENNONITE BACKGROUND…AUNT JEAN REMINDED ME TODAY OF OUR DISTANT MENNONITE BACKGROUND  ON HER MOTHER’S (MY GRANDMOTHER) SIDE…MY GRANDMOTHER WAS FROM THE GASCHO CLAN IN THIS AREA NEAR ZURICH ONTARIO

About 4 o'clock this afternoon Aunt Jean, Pheebs & I were off for a walk on our Pine bush trail. Jean has been reading my blog for a few years now & has seen the many photos I have taken along that trail on our morning walks. She has always dreamed of walking that trail some day with us. A week ago Kelly, Pheebs, Aunt Jean, & I struck out for that walk but I had to turn back because of my painful hip. Kelly, Pheebs & Aunt Jean continued on. My hip has been pain free for 6 days in a row now so Jean, Pheebs, & I headed out for a warm afternoon walk. What a lovely 70 plus day with a light warm breeze & how nice to walk the trail with Jean. Spring wild flowers carpeted some sections of the forest floor, maple tree buds are opening, Trilliums will be in flower shortly & Spring is finally springing out all over. Turtles & Gold Fish in the big pond swimming along with a Muskrat & Papa Goose. A pair of Mallard Ducks made a short touch down on the pond before becoming airborne again. Pheebs chased a couple bunnies into the woods. The sun felt good & all was well. How fortunate to get out for a pleasant afternoon walk in the woods with Aunt Jean & the Pheebs:)).

AUNT JEAN CAREFULLY MAKES HER WAY ALONG THE PINE FOREST TRAIL…NO, SHE’S NOT ON A CELL PHONE:((

 

CHECKING OUT SOME WILDFLOWERS & WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT FLORIDA JEAN WOULD HAVE BEEN WARM ENOUGH IN THIS HERE CANADIAN SPRING AIR TO TAKE HER SWEATER OFF

BECAUSE OF THE UNEVEN GROUND JEAN HAS TO KEEP AN EYE ON WHERE SHE STEPS

GROANER'S CORNER:((  A young priest was sent to a very small church in the backwoods of Alaska. After a couple of years the Bishop decided to pay the priest a visit to see how he was doing. The priest said that it was a really lonely job and that he didn't think that he could have made it without his Rosary and two martinis each day. With that the priest asked the Bishop, "Would you like to have a martini with me?" The Bishop said, "Yes, that would be nice." The priest turned around and hollered toward the kitchen, "Rosary, would you fix us two martinis please?"

And always remember……. ‘Truth has only to change hands a few times to become fiction’.

-------------------------------------------------------------
- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- "If having a soul means being able to feel
love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals
are better off than a lot of humans."
(James Herriot)
- The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails -William Arthur Ward
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.

CLEANING UP THE SUNSEEKER….& BACK TO LONDON

By the time we returned from London Monday afternoon the Sunseeker was quite a mess. Roads had been wet & the rig was covered in road grime. Luckily with the warmer temps & sunshine first thing this morning I was energized enough to spend time washing the rig. Emptied & cleaned all the bins as well. Interior was needing some spiffing up too. Whether we sell it outright or trade it in I was wanting to make sure it was all sparkled up & ready to go.

Kelly made a few phone calls this morning & talked with a couple knowledgeable RV friends who are well versed in the art of buying & selling RV's. With advice & direction from these folks Kelly in turn phoned the London dealership about the 2011 26' Winnebago Access Premier 26QP we had looked at Monday morning.  As of today we are currently in negotiations on the Winnebago. We plan on Jeeping ourselves to London in the morning to have a closer look at it & take the rig out for a road test. We'll see how things go. Depending on the number crunching we may or may not come up with a deal. This Winnebago is a top of the line rig with only 11,000 miles. A one owner Class C that has been stored inside & is like new. It comes from Stratford Ontario & was traded in last month on a new Class B Itaska Navion………………………….

My creative thought processes just aren’t coming together for me again tonight so it’s another short post………………………………..

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A 3-year-old went with his dad to see a litter of kittens. On returning home, he breathlessly informed his mother that there were two boy kittens and two girl kittens. "How did you know?" his mother asked. "Daddy picked them up and looked underneath," he replied. "I think it's printed on the bottom."

-------------------------------------------------------------
- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- "If having a soul means being able to feel
love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals
are better off than a lot of humans."
(James Herriot)
- The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails -William Arthur Ward
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.

WE HAD OURSELVES AN RV MISSION THIS MORNING

SHARING THE COUCH
Despite a drizzly dreary fog shrouded start to the day we had ourselves a mission this morning. Yaaaaaay:)) Gotta love any kind of mission with an enjoyable purpose.

NOT SHARING THE COUCH
When we bought the Sunseeker a few months ago in Quartzsite Arizona we knew that if it didn't work out for us we could always re-sell it in Canada, re-coup our money & probably make a few dollars to boot. Want to emphasize that we did not buy it with the sole purpose of re-selling it though. We're just not into buying & selling things. Our 2 day quick shake down cruise to Borrego Springs last February told us we were going to have to make some major changes to the rig if it was going to be comfortable for us. Our trip home earlier this month verified that so we've been sitting on a few decisions these past number of weeks. We had also held off having a solar system installed as well before leaving Congress. Wanted to be absolutely sure we were going to keep the rig.

 
26’ WINNEBAGO ACCESS…WE LIKED THIS ONE WITH THE ROOF MOUNTED SATELLITE DOME
A reader had inquired awhile back if we had started any renovations yet & of course we had not because we were still not totally convinced this was the right RV for us. With all the pluses the Sunseeker has we just couldn't get around a few of the negatives. The dinette we could have had removed & replaced with a couple recliners etc but the tiny bathroom was not changeable. And it's the first rig we've had with the bathroom sink outside the bathroom & we decided that is not something we like. Sleeping in the upper bunk is fine for me but with the recent problems I have been having my right hip & possible hip surgery in the future, climbing in & out of an upper bunk was probably going to be a problem. The corner bed is a bit difficult getting into & out of plus nearly impossible to make so that has been another concern. Other than those problems we love the Sunseeker. It's a dream to drive with it's quick & nimble handling. Lots of pep & fits into any gas island with ease. Great storage, nice upgrades, etc. But in the end after much thought & discussion we find it's 23' is just a tad inconveniently small for us. We have decided to look for a 26 footer & that's where we were today.

  
 
 (3 of these pics are not mine)
Kelly had spotted on-line a 2011 26' Class C 'Winnebago Access' at an RV Dealership in London Ontario so our mission this morning was to head over & have a look at it. We were curious about the floor plan etc. Aunt Jean, Kelly & I had the Sunseeker rolling for London through a drizzly fog about 9:30. We took the Sunseeker because we wanted to get an outside idea of what kind of a trade in value they had to offer. As expected the salesman grossly low balled us which indeed did reaffirm our best option is to sell the Sunseeker privately.  (NOTE:  No, we are not planning on buying this Class C.....just looking)

 
We did like the 26' Winnebago Access we looked at though. The rig had one slide & we liked the idea of both the driver & passenger seats being able to swivel rearward. Bathroom size was acceptable & nice to see the sink inside. Kelly especially liked the walk around bed. Couch folded out into a blow up air bed & we were surprised at the kitchen counter space. Not too crazy about a blow up air bed though. This rig had a nice surround sound system as well plus in roof satellite. Sitting on a Ford Chassis with a V-10 engine I liked the beefy front end look of the cab. Also liked the large storage area at the rear of the rig. The floor plan & 26' length convinced us this is the type of vehicle we will be keeping an eye out for now. We did look at an older Kodiak Class B but it was just simply too old & too dated. We don't mind going back to maybe a 2011 if we find the right one but do not want anything older than that. If we do not find the absolute best deal we will just keep our perky little driver friendly Sunseeker:))

HERE’S A CLEVER IDEA…STORAGE SPACE FLOOR LIFTS UP TO REVEAL IT IS ACTUALLY A TABLE FOR SETTING THE BBQ OR WHATEVER ON

DOUBLE PANE WINDOWS & ESPECIALLY LIKED THESE MD SOLAR SHADES
 
NICE COUNTER SPACE & WALK AROUND BED

Weather smartened up a bit on the way home & we stopped at a Tim Horton's for lunch in Lucan Ontario. Couldn't dally too long though because Kelly had a Doctor's appointment mid afternoon. Chest pains had returned. That appointment has led to her having to go for an echo cardiogram. We'll wait & see what the results of that test determine.
 
SOUPIN IT UP AT TIM HORTONS
I was really surprised at how easy the motorcycle fired up Sunday with the new battery installed. I barely hit the starter switch & the bike was running. How nice compared to last summer when I had to crank & crank & crank it. And I don't know how many times I had to pull the battery out to recharge it. How nice to roll out of the Park & head the bike down the road for the first ride of the season. The big wind driven grin usually spreads across my face right about the time I hit the top end of second gear popping it into third & feeling that power punch grab hold. Nice:))

STOPPED FOR GAS ON THE WAY HOME AT A PETRO GAS STATION ONLY TO SEE THIS SIGN ON THE PUMP…NOW WHAT THE HECK DO DEW WORMS HAVE TO DO WITH GASOLINE??  THERE WASN’T EVEN A LAKE NEARBY……..
GROANER'S CORNER:(( In California's Sonoma Valley, where vineyards cater to wine snobbery, a woman phoned the classified ad department of a newspaper. She offered for sale what sounded like "well-aged Caumeneur." The ad-taker was unfamiliar with that particular, wine, but was used to the infusion of French words into the local vocabulary. "Could you please spell that?" she asked.
"You know," said the woman impatiently, "C-o-w M-a-n-u-r-e."
-------------------------------------------------------------
- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- "If having a soul means being able to feel
love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals
are better off than a lot of humans."
(James Herriot)
- The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails -William Arthur Ward
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.

MAYBE TOMORROW….OR MAYBE THE NEXT DAY

Well, the most exciting thing I can come up with today is to say I put the new battery in the bike, fired it up & went for a short ride. Maybe tomorrow I will get to see a UFO or something..........
GROANER'S CORNER:(( When you feel terrific, notify your face...........
-------------------------------------------------------------
- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- "If having a soul means being able to feel
love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals
are better off than a lot of humans."
(James Herriot)
- The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails -William Arthur Ward
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.