THIS POST IS COMING TO YOU FROM SOMEWHERE NEAR SEDONA ARIZONA

SEDONA ARIZONA’S RED ROCKS AT SUNSET

It was already well into the 70’s before 9 this morning so we  we weren’t long in heading ourselves out the driveway heading for higher & cooler elevations.  With Winnie’s A/C on we made a quick stop at the Congress Post Office.  Nuts!! No Jammies yet:((  Threw some gas in Winnie’s tank & with the Jeep tied on behind we headed up the Yarnell Hill.  The rig handled the hill just fine.

 

WINNIE CHASED THIS CLASS A ALL THE WAY UP YARNELL HILL

Quick stop at the Cornerstone Bakery in Yarnell & we were on our way.  Destination Sedona Arizona.  Well not so much Sedona proper as the area somewhere around Sedona.  We had a couple hot tips on a few quiet boondocking areas.

<<< COMING OUT OF YARNELL’S CORNERSTONE BAKERY WITH SOME GOODIES

It was a familiar drive for us up through Peeples & Skull Valley.  Wound our way along Iron Springs Road into Prescott & picked up the Pioneer Parkway which took us in a North-Easterly direction around Prescott.  Broad sweeping vistas as far as the eye could see.  Long golden Valleys stretched to distant mountain topped horizons.  And lots of Evergreen trees & forests around Prescott.  I figure if I was forced to live in a city in these here parts I would choose Prescott just based on scenery alone.

GLAD WE DIDN’T HAVE TO WAIT FOR THIS LONG TRAIN IN KIRKLAND JUNCTION

 

THE GENERAL STORE IS NOW CLOSED & KELLY CHECKS OUR GARMIN

SWINGING WAY AROUND PRESCOTT

Topped a rise north of Prescott & I could see the snow covered SAN FRANCISCO PEAKS just north of Flagstaff maybe about 75 miles away as the Crow flies to the North-East.  Made our way to a place called Dewey & headed North from there.  Traffic had been lite until we hit #17 coming up from Phoenix.  From there the traffic just got heavier & heavier.  Cottonwood was a manic mosh of metal monsters.  Kelly & I had stayed at DEAD HORSE RANCH STATE PARK back in late 07 but neither of us remembered this much heavy traffic around Cottonwood then.  So glad to get out of that traffic mess & onto highway 89 heading for Sedona.  We were back out in our comfortable countryside again & darned well planned to stay there!!

FROM PRESCOTT WE CAN SEE THE FAR AWAY SAN FRANCISCO PEAKS NORTH OF FLAGSTAFF

BEGINNING TO SEE SEDONA’S RED ROCKS ACROSS ARIZONA’S SWEEPING VERDE VALLEY

We did find the area several fellow RV Boondockers had recommended but we immediately ran into an unexpected problem.  Headed up a dusty road & pulled over into a flat spot to unhook the Jeep.  As soon as Pheebs got out she had 4 flat tires.  The whole area was covered in those dreaded Goathead prickly stickers.  They are the most miserable things of ever.  Got the stickers out of Pheebs paws but we had them stuck to the bottom of our shoes too.  We knew that particular area was not going to work for us.  With the Jeep we scouted another couple roads but they were too rough for the rig.  We knew of one other place across the highway so off we went.

We knew Annie was tucked away on that side of the road somewhere so we cruised along the gravel road slow until we spotted her RV through the trees.  Found us a spot to pull in & walked over to Annie’s place. 

ANNIE’S TUCKED AWAY IN THE TREES

We had never met her before but we have been following THE GOOD LUCK DUCK long enough to know about Roxie & Annie.  Annie was home & soon her dog Jake & Pheebs were making fast friends.  Nice to finally meet Annie, a nice easy going Gal.  She knew of a couple camping spots within walking distance of her so we all walked over & checked them out.  Could tell right away it was not going to be an easy campsite.  There wasn’t a spot of ground flat enough anywhere to land a fly let alone a 26’ Class C rig with no levelers. 

 

THAT’S MINGUS MOUNTAIN ON THE HORIZON

We did manage to wiggle into a spot on the sloping hillside & with the aide of some plastic Camping World levelers we did manage to square things up a bit but nowhere close to level from side to side.  Not much we could do about it though because we didn’t know where else to go.  On the plus side we do have a great view out over the Verde Valley & we can see the twinkling lights of mile high Jerome way across the valley on the side of Mingus Mountain.  A cluster of lights on the valley floor below I’m guessing belong to Clarkdale & Cottonwood.

JEROME IS ACROSS THE VALLEY ON THE MOUNTAINSIDE DIRECTLY ABOVE WINNIE’S HOOD

Don’t know if we’ll stay in this spot or search us out a new location in the morning.  Kelly suggested we hit a Home Depot & get them to saw us up some sturdy 2’ sections of board to use as levelers.  We just might do that as they are always handy to have along for un-level situations like the one we are in.  In our Damon Class A I always carried a ready to use lumber yard with us.

  

No idea where we will go or what we will do over the next few days here but I’m sure we’ll think of something.  We just wanted to take advantage of this warmer weather in an area that is not normally known for warm weather this time of year.  Temperature in the rig this afternoon was 83F.  I’m wilting, I’m wilting……………..

Been awhile since I have stood out under a big Moon in short sleeves but it is warm enough tonight to do just that.  Jerome is just a tight cluster of shimmering diamonds nestled into the darkened side of Mingus Mountain across the valley. Our nocturnal landscape lay before us bathed in an ethereal hue of tumbling Moonbeams………………

GROANER’S CORNER:((  Jim had a terrible day fishing on the lake, sitting in the blazing sun all day without catching a single fish.  On his way home, he stopped at the Fish Store and ordered four rainbow trout.  He told the fishmonger, 'Pick four large ones out and throw them at me, will you?'  'Why do you want me to throw them at you?' Asked the clerk?'  So that I am able to tell my wife Sandie, in all honesty, that I caught them.'

The fisherman's golden rule: The one that got away is always bigger than the one you gotta weigh.

COULD THERE BE TRAVEL PLANS AFOOT…………Hmmmmmmm

It was already warming up before 9 a.m. so we didn’t figure we had better go anywhere too far.  Coolest place is always in the house.  Had thought of checking out the Wickenburg Massacre site but with temperatures ramping up fast we have to be aware of snakes now.  There will be Rattlers out & about so we do not want to be clambering around rocks anywhere.  We met a couple on the trail a few mornings ago & they were telling us about the Mojave Rattlesnakes in this part of Arizona.  It’s an aggressive Rattler & it is the deadliest of Rattlesnakes.  While this warmer weather is upon us we will have to get out for our morning desert walks earlier when it is cooler & the snakes are still in their dens…………..

 <<< GILA WOODPECKER IN OUR FRONT YARD THIS MORNING 

It is day 3 with our new Millenicom set-up & what a change there has been since the first day.  Millenicom seemed to stumble it’s way through the first 24 hours.  It was slow & spotty & at times & refusing to connect.  Seemed like we had made a mistake as we both thought maybe it was not as good as Verizon.  And then Monday night it seemed to find itself, grab the lead & run with it.  Now we did move the small antennae around quite a bit Monday trying to find the best location.  I even had the JetPack on the roof of the rig at one point.  Walked all around the house inside & out trying to get the JetPack’s indicator up from one bar.  I re-positioned the small antennae on our metal paint can lid & that helped.  Also found a spot in our end bedroom with a window facing southwest that boosted the signal.  We are sitting at 3 out of 4 bars now & Millenicom is cooking right along.  What a pleasant change.  So far 2 thumbs of for Millenicom.  Of course I’ve probably gone & jinxed it now by writing about it……………..

AFTER STOPPING AT THE ORANGE THIS GILAPECKER HEADS FOR THE SUET FEEDER

 

DEFINITELY NEST BUILDING TIME HERE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD

Received this email from reader Jim today.  He said, “Hi Al, Just looking at your place on Google earth (slow day here at work). New imagery shows the Winni Wagon in the driveway. Pretty cool”.  Well I had to have a look for myself & sure enough it shows Winnie parked out in front of the house on December 2nd 2013.  Must have been unloading it from our Borrego Springs trip before parking it in it’s spot at the end of the house.

AND THE RIG IS SITTING ABOUT IN THE SAME PLACE AGAIN TONIGHT ONLY FACING THE OTHER WAY

For folks traveling together for long periods of time stress levels can play an important role in their daily lives.  If everything is going fine those traveling stress levels remain in check just contentedly bubbling along under the surface somewhere.  But add a problem here or a glitch there & stress levels can soon come bubbling to & through the surface.  How about a stuck leveler on the Motorhome or maybe an old aging battery refusing to start the coach.  Or what if both things happen at the same time & both parties have different solutions to both problems.  Oh, & throw in an A/C that quits.  Well you can see where I’m going with us but I’ll let Sherry over at IN THE DIRECTION OF OUR DREAMS tell you how they are handling things:))

ABOUT THE ONLY THINGS WE SAW ON OUR MORNING WALK WERE A HELICOPTER & A DEADLY ARIZONA GREEN GARDEN HOSE SNAKE

Below is a couple images from Grand Bend back home in South-Western Ontario.  ‘The Bend’ is only a 20 minute drive south of Bayfield.  Camera is located in a lighthouse replica building overlooking the Grand Bend Yacht Club.  Pictures were taken this morning.  One image shows some buildings & a frozen river.  Second image shows Lake Huron frozen out for as far as the eye can see.  Although very pretty I sure am glad we are not there this winter again.

 

Had ourselves a very slow day.  Pheebs & Kelly went to the Library & Post Office.   That was about the extent of any activity for us.  Couldn’t even get myself into ‘paint mode’ to finish the shed doors.  However all is not lost.  Could there be some travel plans a brewin….hmmmmm.

 

GROANER’S CORNER:(( A priest goes into a barber's shop sits down, gets a good haircut, thanks the barber, and asks how much he owes him.  The barber says, 'Father, you're a holy man, a man of the cloth there is no charge you.'  The priest blesses the barber and says, 'Thank you very much' and goes about his business. The next day, 10 gold coins magically appear on the barber's doorstep.

A few days later, a Buddhist monk goes in for a shave and a shine, and when the time comes to pay the barber says, 'No money, please, you're a spiritual leader, a man of the people, it's on the house.' The next day, magically appearing on the doorstep are 10 magnificent rubies.

The following week a rabbi comes in, gets a haircut, goes to pay and the barber says, 'No, Rabbi, you are a learned man, a wise man, I can't take any money from you, go in peace.' Next day the barber opens his shop to find……… 10 more Rabbis waiting for a haircut!!

DONNA ASKS, ‘DO YOU HAVE MORE THAN ONE CAMERA’?

JUST A FEW FILE PHOTOS TONIGHT…LAZY W RANCH NEAR ELFRIDA AZ

Figured I had better get me a little painting done before it gets too hot so with a can of paint & brush in hand I painted most of our new shed doors this morning.  Might finish them up Wednesday.  Still trying to decide on a color for our front door.  So many suggestions, so many neat color combinations & I think any one of them would work.

About 3 years ago I picked up a gallon of something at the ‘Big Tent’ in Quartzsite called, ‘The Solution’.  A waterless wash product.  I tried it a few times but wasn’t that knocked out by the results.  I brought half a gallon of it to Congress a year ago & this morning I remembered it was here.  Used it to remove more chlorine infested water spots on the rig’s chrome today.  It worked well for that.  Also had a brainiac idea that if I had two step ladders & a sturdy plank I could rig a kind of scaffold over the hood of the truck cab to stand on to clean Winnie’s front cap & upper windshield area.  I do have 2 aluminum step ladders back in Bayfield so I’ll rig that up when we get home in a few months. 

There are perfect weather days & there are perfect weather days.  Today was one of them for me.  I’m guessing low to mid 70’s with a gentle warm breeze.  Maybe too warm for some & too cool for others but for me the day was perfect.  Kelly headed off to Wickenburg for groceries while Pheebs & I basked in the day’s sunny warm finery.

 

FRONT YARD VIEW OF THE SWISSHELM MOUNTAINS FROM THE THE LAZY W RANCH

Donna from the CAVE DWELLINGS had a comment question in which she asked, “Do you have more than one camera..one set for "fast action" and one for landscape”?   The answer to that question is ‘yes’.  I decided early on when I switched from 35mm film to digital I would do so using 2 cameras.  Knowing the type of photography I was interested in I did not want to be continually changing lenses.  Lot of dust in the air out here in the South-West & every time there is a lens change there is a good chance of dust entering the camera.  Especially on those often windy days.  And wildlife doesn’t often wait around while a person fumbles about changes lenses.  Lens changes would also mean constantly altering camera settings & I knew I did not have a chance of remembering to do that each time.  Yes it is more cumbersome to carry 2 heavy DSLR’s but it is the way I much prefer to do things.  (DSLR means Digital Single Lens Reflex)

I change camera & lens combinations around from time to time & right now my 55-300mm telephoto lens is attached to my Nikon D-40.  It’s my oldest & most favorite camera.  This is the camera I do all my bird & wildlife photos with.  And this is the set-up my recently posted about BlackRapid camera strap is on as well.  My Nikon D-90 carries my 18-55mm lens & this the one I use for most of my photos which include landscapes.  My newer D-3100 right now is my back-up camera sporting a 200mm lens.

Donna is right when she also said, “  It would take me so long to change my camera setting for "birds in flight" that they would all have flown the coop by the time I was ready for the picture”.   Donna is right of course.  Because I have the advantage of a DSLR camera I pre-focus my auto-focus lens for distance & I will sometimes set the shutter to rapid fire .  I have my D-40 set for ‘center focus’ & ‘center metering’ as well which means it focuses & meters only on a small area in the center of my screen because that is where my subject will hopefully be.  

And remember, wildlife is not going to sit still & wait for you to get your camera out of your camera case so leave that camera bag at home or in the car.  Get that DSLR around your neck with the lens cap off & in your pocket.  Have your camera turned on & pre-focused out about a hundred feet or so.  Now if a Quail or a Deer suddenly pops out of the bushes you are all pre-configured to get a fast few shots off at your subject.  Remember to pre-set your ISO number as well.  I generally have my D-40 with 300mm lens at either 800 or 1600 ISO.  My D-90 is usually set at ISO 200 or 400. 

And for best results you really need to have a DSLR with a viewfinder if you want to get yourself some reasonably nice flying bird photos.  And heavy emphasis on ‘viewfinder’.  If a bird is flying overhead you have to be able to pan with & track along with that bird.  You have to get your eye into the camera’s viewfinder & onto that moving bird target.  

I’m not really up on the technical end or finer points of cameras & photography but I do enjoy sharing the little bit of practical knowledge I do have about a most enjoyable hobby which has been with me now for many years……………

Ever wonder what a PLB was & more importantly, do you have one.  Could save your life as it has already done for many people.  Chinle over at SPOTTED DOG RANCH has one but is hoping she will never have to use it.  This device makes a whole lot of good sense & especially for outdoors people.  Click on the Spotted Dog Ranch link & Chinle will tell you why a PLB is important.

NORTH OF DOUGLAS ARIZONA

A year ago now Aunt Jean from Sarasota Florida was here.  Of course we had promised Jean sunny Arizona days & warm weather.  The temperatures plummeted & it snowed less than 24 hours after she arrived:((

 

   

OF COURSE THIS YEAR THE TEMPERATURES ARE PREDICTED TO BE IN THE LOW 80’S BY THE END OF THE WEEK……….

GROANER’S CORNER:((  A Catholic, a Protestant, a Muslim and a Jew were discussing business during a dinner.

Catholic: "I have a large fortune... I am going to buy GOOGLE!"
Protestant: "I am very wealthy and will buy GENERAL MOTORS!"
Muslim: "I am a fabulously rich Prince... I intend to purchase WALMART & MICROSOFT!"

They then all wait for the Jewish fellow to speak...
He stirs his coffee, places the spoon neatly on the table, takes a sip of his coffee, looks at them and casually says: "I'M NOT SELLING!"

THERE CAN BE A GOOD SIDE TO TELEVISION…IT’S NOT ALL BAD

A GAMBLE’S QUAIL TAKES FLIGHT FROM ONE OF OUR BIRD FEEDERS THIS AFTERNOON

As any Class C RV owner knows it is just about impossible to get up & clean that front cab & windshield area.  Just cannot conveniently reach them.  Despite previously owning 2 Class C’s how soon I forgot that.  There I was this morning wiggling & wobbling atop a ladder trying to re-wash that front cap & upper windshield.  It just wasn’t happening.  Discouraging!!  Also discouraging is our hard water here.  I was reminded of that when looking at all the tough to remove white spots on Winnie’s chrome, etc.  Made a mental note to self……do not wash the RV again here at our Congress house no matter how dirty it gets.  I figure those white chlorine & other chemicalated spots are probably more harmful to the rig’s finish than good old dirt.  Problem is that we also have the same type of chlorine infested hard water back in Bayfield.  If push comes to shove Winnie just may end up being known as ‘Winnie the Mud Puppy’.

By 10 o’clock this morning temps were really coming up & dare I mention the ‘hot’ word by noon.  Kelly busied herself cleaning the rig’s interior before it got too bad.  Winnie is pretty well all spiffed up now & ready to head back out onto the highways & desert roads to get herself dirty all over again………………Me too:))

So how are we doing on our first day with Millenicom.  Well it’s much the same as Verizon.  Our 4G speeds are slow & spotty & that is simply because we are in a very slow & spotty 3G area.  Not Millenicom’s fault.  People a quarter mile up Ghost Town Road from us have no internet signal whatsoever.  We have a feeling our older 3G Sleek antennae may not be helping boost the signal on our newer 4G Jetpack Millenicom.  We have no choice here at our house location but to wait until tower signals are boosted some day for a stronger signal.  At least our internet has improved from when we first bought the house back in March of 2012.  We even had to walk out to the road to use a cell phone back then.   

CACTUS WREN  

Gaelyn from GEOGYPSY just had her computer stolen.  And that includes all the photos from her current trek through South Africa.  And stolen from a locked truck too.  Can only imagine how disheartening this must be for her.

 

Sarge (John) dropped over this afternoon with a magazine article he thought I might be interested in.  It was an Escapees magazine dated July/August 2011.  Article by Terry ?? was entitled, ‘No Place To Hide’.  A humorus look at ‘Confessions of an Introvert.’  Well I sure could relate to that article all right.  Could have written it myself only not nearly as well asTerry wrote it.  I sure agree with this fellow’s thoughts.  Definitely not easy being a daily blog writing Introvert in an RVing society mainly consisting of very sociably minded Extroverts.  Terry, whoever or wherever you are out here, know that you have a soul mate & can sign me up for your ‘Shy Guys’ club anytime.  We’ll never likely meet of course but that’s quite all right. Just go ahead & sign me up anyway & you know I will truly be there by my absence……:)) 

While Sarge was here he came up with a solution to my broken hot water tap in the bathroom & now I have a turnable hot water knob on my sink again.  Well it’s actually the cold water knob Sarge switched over but hey I’d sooner have hot water anyway.  Also while here Sarge noticed a growth in one of our Mesquite trees called Mistletoe.  No not the kissing kind but the ‘killing the tree’ kind.  He had a heavy duty pruner with him & lopped off some branches while I was able to use his Swede saw & saw the Mistletoe infected branch off.  Thanks Sarge, you are one handy guy & I’ve been playing with my now working hot water tap all afternoon:))

Yes ED we knew we could buy PJ’s on-line but sometimes one just likes to have an eye to eye with a PJ purchase first.  We were going to be in the city anyway a few days ago so thought we’d drop in & eye up some Jammies.  I want the one’s with Gummy Bears & not Dinosaurs & Dragons to chase me through my dreams every night.  My old PJ’s still have a mile or two left in them but you will be happy to know I do have 2 new pair of warm flannel PJ’s on the way thanks to Amazon.com & Kelly.  And they had darn well better have Bears on them too!! 

  

Watching the 50th Anniversary Beatle Tribute Sunday night I was again reminded TV is not all bad.  Had we not had TV or a network satellite feed we would have missed that great show.  I know I rail on sometimes about TV’s crappy programing & it is true, there is a lot of really crappy programming on.  However there is a positive side to television as is there are with most things.  If one is selective & if one’s interests are in areas other than mainstream schlock there is much to be learned from television besides just being entertained by television.  Same thing can be said of computers.  I would never want to be without the option of a TV in the house or rig just as I would not like to be without the option of a computer.   Selective & quality TV watching can be a very useful educational & information gathering tool.  Again, same as a computer.  However, I do find watching television consistently can soon become boring but then again I find most repetitive things boring after a short while.  Anyway, as much as I bash television sometimes one just has to open their mind to find, understand, & accept the good in it.  And it’s there…………………….

I know I may sound repetitive when I say this but there are some things that do need repeating.  Just a short note again to say Thank-you to all you Blog readers out there who have taken the time to respond to our Blog over the years whether publicly or privately through emails.  Thank you all so much…………..AL:))  

GROANER’S CORNER:((  Nurse: 'Doctor, Doctor the man you've just treated collapsed on the front step. What should I do?'  Doctor: 'Turn him around so it looks like he was just arriving!'

--

A mother complained to her Doctor about her daughter's strange eating habits. 'All day long she lies in bed and eats yeast and car wax. What will happen to her?'  'Eventually,' said the Doctor, 'she will rise and shine.'

--

When I was born the Doctor took one look at my face .... turned me over and said. Look ... Twins!

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Amy to X-ray technician after swallowing some money:
'Do you see any change in me?'

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