WE ARE ON TRACK TO ROLL OUT FOR HOME FRIDAY MORNING………….

PRICKLY PEAR CACTUS BLOSSOMS

Well it happened again & now I have a tummy ache.  Kelly spent the morning cooking up food to take with us on the road in a few days.  Of course that cooking was also interspersed with baking.  And yes, that meant more cookies.  Chocolate Chip cookies this time to be exact.  And right on Q no sooner were those cookies out of the oven & stacked on the counter Kelly & Pheebs were off to the Library again.  I don’t have to tell you what happened!!

Getting a few things squared away in the Winnie Wagon this morning I was momentarily distracted by my own thoughts.  Happens sometimes.  Only 15,000 miles on our 3 year old rig.  Tires are all Michelin & like new.  Really good sound system plus it’s 26’ length handles just fine in & out of small spaces.  Looking at the loveseat we put in I couldn’t help but ask myself, what if we had put in a couple recliners instead.  Recliners would have been better but a small space is still a small space.  Ya, sometimes I do get distracted by my own thoughts alright.

We dropped down to 46F last night, dark clouds moved in this afternoon & all day we had wind gusts holding the temps down.  Feels downright cold but sunny skies Thursday with 70F predicted.  Radar currently showing rain around us.  This morning was nice for working outside but I just couldn’t drum up enough interest in anything exciting enough to motivate me.  And after overloading myself with chocolate chip cookies late this morning I didn’t feel well most of the afternoon anyway.  You would think I should know better wouldn’t ya:((

THIS LITTLE FELLOW HAD THE LOVELIEST SWEET SINGING VOICE THIS MORNING

Our friend Paula from our Ranch sitting & Bisbee days a few years ago dropped in on her Spring trek from Bisbee to Portland Oregon this afternoon.  It was almost a year to the day since we last saw Paula on her last Northbound journey.  Thanks for dropping in & safe travels:))

   

Finally got myself Kindleized today.  Kelly had downloaded my asked for UFO/UAP book last week & this morning I tried my hand at reading a Kindle for the very first time.  Well, I liked it right off the bat.  Much easier for me to read than anything printed on paper that’s for sure.  I found the Kindle easier to hold than a book.  No unbalanced left or right problems.  Liked the compactness of it.  Easy to turn pages after only a few practice thumb swipes.  Pages are always uniformly flat & if I set it down without a bookmark it doesn’t close up & lose my page.  And I like how it only shows me the page I’m reading.  I no longer have a left & right page, just the one I am reading.  I like that because I do not feel overwhelmed by two full pages of small difficult to read print.  I’ve just started out but right off the bat I give the Kindle two thumbs up.  And two thumbs up for the book I have just started reading as well….UFO'S: GENERALS, PILOTS, & GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS GO ON THE RECORD. How nice to have my thoughts reaffirmed in such a positive, reassuring, & practical way.  A no nonsense approach to Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon….UAP.

 

The T-Mobile cell phone we are waiting for arrived in Phoenix today & UPS is on track to deliver it to the Congress Post Office Thursday.  That will put us on track to have ourselves on the road for home Friday morning.  Weather is looking good so far from here to Eastern New Mexico but we will have to be vigilante about the winds which are blowing hard in parts of the South-West at the moment.

And it was one year ago April 3rd my Uncle Harry died.   I had a bit of a rocky childhood but my Uncle Harry was always in my corner. I will forever remember him for that & all he did for Kelly & I in the last bunch of years of his life.  Uncle Harry was 96.

GROANER’S CORNER:((  You know you are addicted to coffee if .……….. You grind your coffee beans in your mouth. You sleep with your eyes open. You have to watch videos in fast-forward. The only time you're standing still is during an earthquake. You can take a picture of yourself from ten feet away without using the timer. You've worn out your third pair of tennis shoes this week. Your eyes stay open when you sneeze. You chew on other people's fingernails. The nurse needs a scientific calculator to take your pulse. You're so jittery that people use your hands to blend their margaritas. You can type sixty words per minute with your feet. You can jump-start your car without cables. You don't sweat, you percolate. You walk twenty miles on your treadmill before you realize it's not plugged in. You forget to unwrap candy bars before eating them. You've built a miniature city out of little plastic stirrers. People get dizzy just watching you. Instant coffee takes too long. You channel surf faster without a remote. You have a picture of your coffee mug on your coffee mug. You can outlast the Energizer bunny. You short out motion detectors. You don't even wait for the water to boil anymore. Your nervous twitch registers on the Richter scale. You help your dog chase its tail. You soak your dentures in coffee overnight. Your first-aid kit contains two pints of coffee with an I.V. hookup. You ski uphill. You get a speeding ticket even when you're parked. You answer the door before people knock. You haven't blinked since the last lunar eclipse.

COULDN’T THINK OF A TITLE SO I’LL JUST CALL IT…….TUESDAY’S POST

TONIGHT’S PHOTOS ARE FROM OUR MARCH 2011 TRAVELS TO CANYON DE CHELLY  IN NORTH-EASTERN ARIZONA The name of Canyon de Chelly was derived from the misspelling and mispronunciation of the Navajo word for the canyon. The Navajos call the canyon "Tseyi" which is pronounced 'say-ee.' Eventually the word became "de Chelly" which is pronounced as 'de-shay'

Well here it is April Fool’s day already.  Always reminds me of my Uncle Fred who lived with us when I was growing up.  Uncle Fred & I were usually the first ones up in the morning & we would always be trying to trick each other with a little April Fool’s day joke.  You know the kind, ‘oh look you’ve got some ketchup on your shirt’.  “April Fools:))”

 

Kelly headed off on one last trip to Wickenburg for the season.  A little banking to care of, a few groceries for the road, & I’m thinking probably a couple Thrift stores along the way as well.  Managed to get myself into cleaning mode around the house for a bit, did a couple loads of laundry, plus puttered around with some additional bits of rig loading.

 

Another one of our favorite RV couples dropped around about mid afternoon to say goodbye before we pull out in a few days.  Always good to see JANNA, MIKE, & LITTLE EMMI.  We always have a lot in common to talk about.  I’m the wannabe Cowboy & Mike’s the real Cowboy.

 

Oooops, looks like I misplaced Raton again for the second time.  Raton New Mexico is obviously not in Colorado.  Maybe I’ve been confusing it with Trinidad just up the road……in Colorado.  Thanks Pat way down there near that Sierra Vista place:))

  

And an update/correction on TIOGA GEORGE.  The link I originally put in was incorrect.  The link above is now current & up to date.  I have since fixed the incorrect link. Tioga George underwent open heart surgery on Tuesday March 18th following his accident on March 15th.  No updates that I am aware of since his latest post.

  

DO YOU SEE THE OLD INDIANS EYES IN THIS PHOTO?

Encouraging email for our neighbors back home in Bayfield saying snow is rapidly melting.  Grass showing in places.  Checking the Grand Bend Yacht Club web cam this morning I see the river is open & lots of open water out on Lake Huron where before only ice & snow was visible.  And seeing people finally out walking on the pier is always a sure sign of Spring back home.

Anybody out here with a COAST TO COAST membership might want to sit up right quick & take notice of Ray’s post entitled, FRUSTRATION.  Sounds like some shenanigans going on with that Coast to Coast company.

  

Thanks to a recent email from RV SUE we hope to check out the NATIONAL NAVAJO MONUMENT which happens to be right on our route home through North-Eastern Arizona in a few days.  Should be a good opportunity for me to find me some new photos.  Cameras have been gathering a bit of dust lately……………

GROANER’S CORNER:((  And a few thoughts on safety::::  Dad's a safety-first kind of guy. But while vacationing with some buddies, he was talked into going parasailing.  He was on the back of the boat getting hooked into the parachute when he nervously asked the pilot, "How often do you replace the rope?"
The pilot replied. "Every time it breaks."

------

Safety is a major concern at the manufacturing company where I work. So I'm constantly preaching caution to the workers I supervise.
"Does anyone know," I asked a few guys, "what the speed limit is in our parking lot?"
The long silence that followed was interrupted when one of them piped up. "That depends. Do you mean coming to work or leaving?"

POSSIBLY OUR MOST VISITING DAY OF EVER:))

STOPPING TO SMELL A ‘BIRD OF PARADISE’ PLANT ON OUR WALK THIS MORNING

Filled the rig’s fresh water tank this morning.  Doesn’t take long because it is on the small side.  More stuff loaded up & more outside stuff put away. Sunny & warm.  Ten day weather forecast looks good for our South-West checkpoints along the way as far as Raton Colorado.  A warm front is moving in across the West beginning this week-end.

We slipped over to see John & Jackie this morning.  Jackie was vacuuming & John was underneath the house tracking down a minor water leak.  Sure is one mighty nice place those folks have.  John & Jackie were very helpful to us last winter when I was having a lot of trouble with my right hip.  We will see them again in October when we return to Congress.  And this afternoon we headed on over to Pat & Mike McFalls place for their 4 p.m. Happy Hour.  There is often a number of folks there but tonight Kelly & I were the only ones & how nice it was for us to just sit on down & talk with Mike & Pat their very selves:))  I think this actually turned out to be a record breaking visiting day for the Bayfield Bunch when Bev & Jim popped in after supper.  They knew we were leaving soon & wanted to say good-bye before we left.  Jim & Bev are the couple who have put together all our great Jeep tours the past couple winters. 

Not sure why but I have been having some kind of problem leaving comments on a few fellow Bloggers blogs.  I’m suspecting a Google problem of some kind but I’m not sure.  Tried 3 separate times to leave a comment on Nan & Johns SOLAR post but no go.  Tried again on their todays post but nada again.  Wonder if anyone else is having the same problem.

I may have confused a few folks about our Saguaro Cactus in Sunday’s post.  In a comment on my Saturday night post Craig asked in part…….. “In your post tonight, I don't understand, if you have 2 saguaros big enough to be worth more than the house, how can they be small enough to move? Are they in pots? Are you allowed to sell them and get rich”?……..Ok Craig I’ll try & clear up what I said…..Yes, we have two big 15 foot Saguaros out front of the house.   Saguaros can fetch up to about $2,500.00 a foot, at least that is what we heard.  We actually have a third 10 foot Saguaro as well.  Doing the math & allowing for that $2500.00 figure to be over the top I think it might be safe to say we might have in access of $50,000 worth of Saguaros here.  First off we would never consider selling them & second it is totally illegal for people to do so unless they go through all the channels to apply for a permit to either sell or re-locate a Saguaro.  Arizona is very strict about the removal of Saguaro Cacti. Very strict.  I think the confusion came in when I wrote, “It became windy enough this afternoon to move our 2 large Saguaros out front”.  I did follow that line with, “From my bedroom computer chair I could see them swaying slightly with each wind gust”.  The key words there were ‘swaying slightly’.  Anyway I am the guy writing this stuff so the onus is on me to say what I have to say….clearly. 

TIOGA GEORGE has been in an accident.  Mr. Ed from the FLIP FLOP RESORT INN left a comment on my Sunday post.  It’s written by Tioga George & says……………..

Accident
MsTioga runs off the Interstate
On Saturday, March 15th, close to noon, MsTioga and I were driving on Interstate #5, a bit south of Bakersfield, California. Suddenly we were in a field to the right of the Interstate. I had no clue how I had arrived stopped in that field!
I saw a man running up the shoulder of the Interstate. He climbed over the field's fence and came to my aid where I was sitting in MsTioga's driver's seat. To his questions, I told him that I was OK, just a bit dizzy. "What happened to me?", I asked.
The man told me that he had been following me. Suddenly, MsTioga began fishtailing, then headed off the Interstate to the field where she was now sitting.
Ambulance to the hospital
Soon an ambulance arrived, and put me into a gurney. Then carried me across the field to the Interstate and put me into the ambulance. We drove to the Emergency Room of San Joaquin Community Hospital in Bakersfield.
Soon it was discovered that I had an irregular heart beat. While the top half of my heart beat at about 60 beats/minute, the bottom chamber beat in the 30 beats/minute range. The doctor told me that the irregular heart beat likely caused me to pass out.
Posted by Tioga George at 3/15/2014 11:30:00 AM UPDATE:: GEORGE HAD OPEN HEART SURGERY TUESDAY MARCH 18TH.

GROANER’S CORNER:((  The elderly priest, speaking to the younger priest, said, "It was a good idea to replace the first four pews with plush bucket theater seats. It worked like a charm. The front of the church always fills first now."
The young priest nodded, and the old priest continued, "And you told me adding a little more beat to the music would bring young people back to church, so I supported you when you brought in that rock'n'roll gospel choir. Now our services are consistently packed to the balcony."
"Thank you, Father," answered the young priest. "I am pleased that you are open to the new ideas of youth."
"All of these ideas have been well and good," said the elderly priest, "but I'm afraid you've gone too far with the drive-thru confessional."
"But, Father," protested the young priest, "my confessions and the donations have nearly doubled since I began that!"
"Yes," replied the elderly priest, "and I appreciate that.
But the flashing neon sign, 'Toot 'n Tell or Go to Hell' cannot stay on the church roof.

WE MAY MOVE OUR DEPARTURE DATE UP

Had ourselves a cooler cloudy morning & I was thankful for that.  Energized me enough to get rid of some brush & dig out a bunch of nasty weeds last week’s spraying didn’t kill.  Cooler air meant we felt comfortable enough about the snakes to walk the desert road behind us.  We keep Pheebs on the road & do not let her race off chasing rabbits.  A single loud command from me will pretty much stop her in her tracks.

FRONT YARD SAGUARO CACTUS ARMS

We also decided while on our morning walk to move up our departure date.  At the moment we are waiting for a new T-Mobile cell phone to arrive & after that there is nothing holding us here.  It’s not just me who’s ready to roll, it’s Kelly too.  We always reach a point somewhere in mid to late March when we both feel it’s time to go.  Has happened every year we have been here in the South-West.  So with that thought in mind we had ourselves a busy morning.

THIS IS THE TYPE OF NOPALEA CACTUS I HAVE BEEN PLANTING ON OUR PROPERTY

I’ve heard some of the Blogger Gals talking about ‘deep cleaning’ a few times over the years.  Well this morning we were into ‘deep packing.’  We are loading everything in the rig we possibly can except for the last minute stuff.  Don’t know when we will go but could be by the end of this coming week.  Looks like some hot 85+ weather headed this way soon & we do not want to just be sitting here twiddling our thumbs in the heat.  Organized our shed & put away the garden tools, hoses, wheelbarrow, tables, lawn chairs, & all the birdfeeders except for one.  Kelly moved a lot of her stuff into the rig & I concentrated on packing bins.  We’re just about at the starting gate……………………….

KIND OF A LAZY DAY AROUND OUR HOUSE THIS AFTERNOON

Figure we might take a month wandering through North-East Arizona & another month moseying across Northern New Mexico.  Figure after leaving New Mexico it will take us about 25 minutes to get home to Bayfield Ontario.  Now if taking all that time to get through Arizona & New Mexico sounds like a big exaggeration, it probably is.  But by golly that 25 minute trip home from the New Mexico/Kansas border sounds like it just might work:))

It became windy enough this afternoon to move our 2 large Saguaros out front.  From my bedroom computer chair I could see them swaying slightly with each wind gust.  When we bought the house in 2012 the Realtor told us those 2 Saguaros were worth more than our house.  No doubt he was right.  Kelly had a full load of laundry on the umbrella clothesline I had moved last week & I figured for sure it would blow over.  Nope, blew the empty laundry basket across the yard but my recently dug in laundry pole held fast.  No clean laundry tumbling into the dirt.  Close call for me I’d say. 

Pat in a comment on my Saturday post said, “The difference between the cold of the North and the heat of the Southwest is, when the Sun goes down, the cold gets colder, but the heat gets cooler. We may sit in the house much of the day, but the nights are wonderful and the night sky spectacular”.  Pat’s right about that spectacular night sky.  Cooler colder air is stable air & much better for night viewing.  In Ontario our summer air is often heavy with humidity making night air unstable giving a shimmer & a haze to the stars.  Still mighty nice but not as crisp & clear as Arizona night skies.  Many more stars visible here.

THERE ARE BABY GILA WOODPECKERS IN THAT HOLE IN OUR SAGUARO

Noticed Cheryl Ann from DEEP CANYON responded to my Saturday post on UFO thoughts with a post of her own.  Reminded me of something I saw about 5 years ago one night at Hickiwan Trails in Why Arizona.  I am quite often outside at night.  I saw a string of unusual lights in the night sky moving very slowly from East to West.  I am familiar with the night sky & generally know where major stars & constellations are as well as the Planets.  I’m quick to notice if something doesn’t look the way it should & that is what brought my attention to the lights.  There should not have been points of light where I was looking.  Seconds later I determined the lights were moving.  I ruled out aircraft lights right away because of the configuration.  I’ve watched planes in the night sky & this did not look like that.  I was getting excited.  Then I made an assumption.  There was no sound to the approaching lights therefore I assumed they were not jet engines.  Also figured the lights were moving too slow for aircraft.  You can see where my ‘assuming’ was taking me.  Now I was getting real excited but fortunately something else was going on in my mind.  Aside from the obvious excitement & assumptions my mind went into overdrive.  There just had to be a logical explanation for what I was seeing but it was getting a little unnerving.  I’m just like that, if I see or hear things that does not make sense to me my mind will immediately go to work at trying to make two & two add up to four out of what I am seeing or hearing.  I’ve seen myself standing at length looking at odd marks on the ground trying to figure out how those marks got there & why.  Kind of a Detective type mind trying to tie things together to form a logical conclusion.

WAS FINALLY ABLE TO GET A PIC OF A FAST MOVING BACKYARD CHIPMUNK SQUIRREL

One thing was certain.  I was definitely observing a UFO.  But a UFO in the literal sense of what those 3 letters mean.  ‘Unidentified Flying Object’.  I could not logically identify the object moving across the night sky therefore what I was seeing was a technically correct ‘unidentified flying object’. 

NEEDING A LITTLE HELP WITH A STICKER THIS MORNING

The lights in the sky were just about above me now & just as I was about to believe I was indeed seeing an Alien Spacecraft of sorts I heard & saw something familiar.   A very faint but growing low sound.  A jet engine.  Then several lights pulsing at regular intervals.  Aircraft identification & warning lights.  Things were quickly beginning to fall into place.  But what about the staggered pattern of unfamiliar lights & why so slow.  What was going on up there??  Finally my mind kicked in with the much sought after answer it had so been frantically searching for in those 3 or 4 minutes.  First, the sound told me it was a jet aircraft & the pulsing lights confirmed that.  Because of the slowness of the staggered lights moving steadily in one direction I concluded I was watching an air to air refueling operation.  I had seen this a couple times before in daylight.  A tanker refueling several jets at the same time.  (could have been A-10 Warthogs) At least it appeared that way from the ground.  That explained the staggered lights of both the tanker & several trailing jets.  Didn’t figure they would be refueling at a high speed & that explained the slowness they were moving at.  Also explained the quieter engine noise trailing far out behind the planes before it reached my ears.  Sound compared to light is a very slow mover so my being miles ahead of the approaching lights also explained ‘no noise’. 

PLANTED THIS NORTH RANCH CACTUS IN MARCH 2012 & SO GLAD TO SEE IT GROWING WELL

But it just goes to show how quickly one’s mind can wrongly jump to conclusions & assume things.  Magicians rely on people’s minds doing just that all the time.  The better the mind is fooled, the better the Magician.  When I said in my Saturday post I had never seen a UFO I should have added that I actually had seen an Unidentified Flying Object one time for about 4 minutes…..until I was able to identify it as an IFO.  (Identifiable Flying Object)  And there you have it.  My very own little UFO/IFO story.  Would I like to see a real Alien Spacecraft or a true UFO??  Ya darn right I would:))

Did you know today was Kelly’s Birthday?  Yup, it was.  We generally do not have a lot of fanfare here at the Bunch for Birthdays & Anniversaries.  The days just quietly come & even more quietly go as we ease ourselves through another one of our annual aging memories.  Guess you could say we are not big celebratory people & of course you would be right……it’s just the way we are.

 

HEDGE HOG CACTUS IN BLOOM

GROANER’S CORNER:((  "I used to dread getting older, because I thought I would not be able to do all the things I wanted to do, but now that I am older, I find that I don't want to do them."  Well ain’t that the truth!!  How about the man who woke up in a hospital after a serious accident. He shouted, 'Doctor, doctor, I can't feel my legs !' The doctor replied, 'I know you can't - I've cut off your arms !'  And did you know laughter doesn't require teeth……………..