AND HERE’S A BIT OF DISCONCERTING NEWS FOR BOONDOCKERS REGARDING OUR BELOVED FREE BLM LANDS……….:((

I don't know where my Monday morning energy went but by the time I woke up Tuesday morning it had definitely got up & went without me.  Walked around outside for a bit waiting for an inspiration.  None came.  Temperatures had come up overnight & it was muggy.  Thought of going back to bed but haven't done that since my teen-age years.  No point in starting that up again.  Didn't like doing that then & would dislike doing that even more now so no option there.  Kelly headed off to Goderich for some blood tests so Pheebs & I headed over to Clinton to pick up a coffee & carrot muffin on our way to the HULLETT MARSH.

WE ARE SO FORTUNATE TO HAVE THESE WETLANDS OF THE HULLETT MARSH SO CLOSE TO US
My mood seemed to match the cloudy overcast skies.  Luckily we had a cooling breeze or I wouldn't even have considered getting out of the Jeep.  Had noticed on the Hullett-Marsh website a few weeks they had opened up a new trail this summer so we stopped to check it out.  Called the 'Orange Trail' it was actually an old trail I remembered from about 25 years ago.  It has been refurbished, the areas trees have grown & I remembered driving a motorcycle in there one summer’s day parking on a high point of ground & just sitting there in the grass for a long time gazing out across the marshlands. 

EASY TO SEE WHY THEY CALL IT THE ORANGE TRAIL:))

Thanks to a thick overnight cloud cover the trails long grass had been sheltered from a soaking wet heavy dew.  I think purple has to be one of my favorite colors because it always takes me back to my early childhood school days.  Walking along this morning surrounded by Purple Asters, Chicory, Canada Thistle & Goldenrod it was the multitude of unseen Crickets that pulled me out of the doldrums.  Blue Jays in the air & a host of busy bees buzzing about in fields of waving Goldenrod lifted my mood putting me back on a sunshine footing.  I like pausing by clumps of Asters & remembering those old school days, those old golden rule days.  I can still remember many of the faces & names of my classmates.  My favorite day was always in June when our teacher would take the whole class on a forest walk near the school.  Those days were my favs…………………….. 

By the time Pheebs & I traveled ourselves back home the morning's cloud cover began breaking up sporadically bathing us in patterns of uplifting sun splashes.  Sunshine is one mighty magic elixir for many of us. 

 

 
And here is something of interest to all RV Boondockers & I must say this is very disconcerting news about our beloved free BLM lands………………

ESCAPEES RV CLUB News Bulletin
by Jim Koca, Advocacy Director

As some Escapees are aware, a bill has been introduced in the United States Congress, HB 5204, entitled The Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Modernization Act of 2014, which will allow fees to be collected for most of the "public land" that is controlled by the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. If the bill passes, it would allow the Federal Government to charge fees for any activity on land that we presently have access to for free. Fees could include a permit fee, day use fee, or a special use fee. There is the possibility that the bill could be attached to an appropriation bill, which would allow the bill to pass without public comment or debate.
It is time now to get involved and contact your congressman and senators where you have your domicile and let them know that HB 5204 should be defeated. In the past, public lands have been turned over to concessionaires that allowed them to charge fees or to refuse to give discounts for entering the federal lands. This bill may not pass, but don't take a chance and let the other members contact their congressman or senators. It only takes a few minutes to let the representatives that we elected know how we feel.
To find your congressman, you can go to http://www.house.gov, and for senators, you can go to http://www.senate.gov.
If you would like to review the bill yourself:
https://beta.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/5204/text

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A man walks into a shoe store and tries on a pair of shoes.  "How do they feel?" asks the sales clerk.  "Well ...they feel a bit tight," replies the man.  The assistant promptly bends down and has a look at the shoes and the mans feet. "Try pulling the tongue out," offers the clerk.  Theyth sthill feelth a bith tighth," he replied.

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Another guy walks into a shoe store and asks for a pair of shoes, size 8.  The obviously well trained salesman says, "But sir, you take an 11 or eleven-and-a-half."  "Just bring me a size eight!" the man replies.  The sales guy brings them and the man stuffs his feet into them and stands up in obvious pain. He turns to the salesman and says, "I've lost my house because of foreclosure, I live with my mother-in-law, my daughter ran off with my best friend, and my business has filed Chapter 7. The only pleasure I have left in life is to come home at night and take my shoes off."

HAD THE RIG OUT FOR A SPIN, PUT THE TOW BAR ON THE JEEP & I GOT A MEDICAL ‘GREEN LIGHT’ TODAY

Yes it felt a little chilly this morning at 45F but that's Okay I'm comfortable wearing my long sleeve flannel shirts again.  They make me feel warm & fuzzy all over.  Now we don't want it too much chillier than that or I'll be getting myself into a frigid dither.
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Figured while I had some extra energy going this morning I had better follow through with it.  Pheebs & I loaded up a big pile of pine needles & hauled them off to our Park's recycle area.  Kelly drove a neighbor to Goderich while I stored some things in our carport.  Fired up the Big EEE & took it for a spin around a couple big country blocks.  Pheebs held down the Navigator's seat.  The rig ran like a finely tuned sewing machine.  Fired up the Genny upon our return & it to ran just fine as well.  Took Pheebs platform bed out of the Jeep & put the rear seat back in to take South with us.  A bit early but I put the tow bar on the Jeep anyway.  Had a beautiful sunny cool weather morning going on so figured I'd better take advantage of that to get some of these things done now.  Don’t like doing anything outside in cold rainy weather.   Slipped into Bayfield & filled up a gas can & grabbed a roasted chicken Sub at Subway for Pheebs & I.  Topped up the motorcycle's gas tank & put it into storage for the winter.  That was after I used the leaf blower to blow out the carport.  Leaves have a habit of blowing in there.  I put a walloping total of 274 miles on the bike this summer. Year before it was 350 miles.  Yep I’m quite a hard core hard riding biker guy I are.  Maybe I should be thinking of a Scooter with training wheels for next summer.  Jeep needed more muffin bits vacuumed out of it so did that as well.  All & all a productive morning & I like when that happens………………..:))

Perhaps I should have chosen my words better & made myself a tad clearer when I said in Sunday's post,   "If there is any hint of nasty weather along our proposed route through North-Western Ontario, southern Manitoba & Saskatchewan as well as the northern States of the Dakotas & Montana we will switch our route back to Sarnia/Port Huron through Chicago & out onto the Plains from there."  What I meant & should have said was 'if there is any hint of ICE & SNOW!!  Rain doesn't count as nasty weather for me.  Kelly had read a prediction for an early winter calling for snow & below freezing temperatures in the northern latitudes.  Saw in tonight's news Calgary has already had snow.  Ice & snow is a no-no for us.  I spent well over 40 years driving on icy roads in snow storms of all kinds & I don't plan on voluntarily subjecting our Motorhome or us to any of that kind of nonsense anymore.  And yes ED depending on weather you might be about half right in your comment predicting a speedy trip south for the Bayfield Bunch.  If so we will not be going through Indianapolis.  We will take the Chicago route.
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Had myself an appointment with my Nurse Practitioner at Goderich's Maitland Medical Center at 3.  All systems are go & I'm greenlighted for another winter's travel adventure.  She had all the info from recent blood tests etc & it seems I'm in better shape than I thought I was so guess I’d better button up on my darn complainin some…………………

I LOVES YA DAD…I LOVES YOU TOO PHEEBS:))

GROANER’S CORNER:(( A tourist parked his car in downtown Washington, D.C. He said to a man standing near the curb, "Listen, I'm going to be only a couple of minutes. Would you watch my car while I run into this store?"  "What?" the man huffed. "Do you realize that I am a member of the United States Congress?" "Well no," the tourist said, "I didn't realize that. But it's all right. I'll trust you anyway."

BEGINNING TO MONITOR LONG RANGE WEATHER FORECASTS ALONG OUR PROPOSED ROUTE IN 3 WEEKS

Oh how I love stretching out in my recliner.  It is one of my very much  most favorite places of ever to be & especially after being on my feet for a bunch of hours outside doing stuff around the house.  I think next to the invention of the wheel recliners have to come in a close second.  Of all my body parts it is my legs which consistently give me the most grief.  To come inside, sit down & tip back in my cushy recliner bringing the weight off my tired & achy legs is just about as good as it gets for me.  Sometimes when I sit down in my chair I think to myself, 'well that's it, I'm never ever getting out of this chair again.  Don't want to go anywhere, don't want to do anything, just want to lazily recline & let my mind wander off to La-La land somewhere.  Asteroid about to hit the earth.....I don't care.  House on fire......I don't care.  A big bulldozer about to doze the house down.....I don't care.  Just make the world go away & leave me alone in my recliner because when I'm in my chair I’m a very much most happy reclinerized guy:))

  

 

 

 

A little bit on the cool side for Kelly this morning but I am just loving it.  No bug swatting on our morning walk.  Clear sunny skies so I took Pheebs for a drive in the Jeep.  Sunday mornings are always just the best.  No traffic anywhere & not even any farm machines on the gravel back roads.  Just the best time to be in the rural countryside.  Our wanderings took us through the tiny towns of Hensall, Seaforth & Clinton.  I was surprised at the amount of water in the fields east of Hensall & many of the creeks & rivers we saw were overflowing their banks.  It was all from this past Friday nights storm & big deluge of rain.  We were back home again before noon.

 
We have heard some disconcerting long range weather predictions for the coming months here in our Northern latitudes.  One prediction is for an early winter with bad weather rolling in a month ahead of schedule.  If there is any hint of nasty weather along our proposed route through North-Western Ontario, southern Manitoba & Saskatchewan as well as the northern States of the Dakotas & Montana we will switch our route back to Sarnia/Port Huron through Chicago & out onto the Plains from there.  We will for sure be keeping a very close eye on all the weather patterns in the coming 3 weeks.  And it will be the weather which in the end will determine our departure date as well.  It is one of the nice advantages of traveling with no hard & fast commitments or reservations.  We are free to travel with the wind wherever whenever…………….

DRIVING THROUGH SEAFORTH ONTARIO i SAW THESE FOLKS HAVING A FINE LAWN BOWLING MORNING

  

THE FIRST DOZEN OR SO YEARS OF MY LIFE WAS SPENT LIVING CLOSE TO THE LAWN BOWLING CLUB IN TAVISTOCK ONTARIO & MY GRANDFATHER & UNCLE HARRY WERE AVID LAWN BOWLERS FOR YEARS…IT IS A GAME I AM FAMILIAR WITH

 

WASN’T UNTIL I CROPPED THESE PHOTOS TONIGHT THAT I SAW A FAMILIAR FACE AMONG THE LAWN BOWLERS…IN PHOTO ABOVE THE LADY IN THE BURGUNDY TOP JUST ABOVE CENTER IS NONE OTHER THAN OUR CORNER BACKYARD NEIGHBOR MAUREEN:))  (WELL AT LEAST I THINK IT IS)
Couple more things into the rig today.  Couple more outdoor chores taken care of.  We're slowly gearing up.  The last couple of days have reminded me of Arizona winters.  Dress warmly early in the morning until it begins to warm up moderately around 10.  Keep the warmer clothes handy because about 4 in the afternoon the temperatures drop again & the cold desert nights soon descend across the land.

ALWAYS AMAZES ME HOW ROBINS CAN BUILD THESE PERFECTLY SOLID ROUND NESTS…THIS ONE WAS IN OUR CARPORT

And of course IVAN is still having himself a great summer out there in the wilds of North-Western Alberta….if he doesn’t starve first that is.  Luckily he does have an extra bag of cat food with him at the remote location he & Hailey were helicoptered into recently.  Another helicopter came in later but didn’t bring any food.  But it did make off with his lawn mower……..well he can tell ya all about it.  Oh, & as usual he’s got some great photos there as well.

  

BEANS BEANS THE MUSICAL FRUIT THE MORE YOU EAT THE MORE YOU HOOT - THE MORE YOU HOOT THE BETTER YOU FEEL SO BE LIKE AN AN OWL & EAT BEANS AT EVERY MEAL:))
And has the real identity of England's 'Jack The Ripper' finally been confirmed with DNA testing?  You can read about that here at…………..RIPPER.

AND REMEMBER THE DAYS WHEN GAS STATIONS OFFERED ‘SERVICE WITH A SMILE’… WELL THEY ARE STILL DOING THAT IN SEAFORTH ONTARIO…THIS GIRL CLEANING THE WINDSHIELD IS ACTUALLY SMILING BECAUSE PHEEBS WAS MAKING FACES AT HER THROUGH THE WINDSHIELD…THOSE FACES WORKED BECAUSE PHEEBS THEN GOT HERSELF A DOUBLE DOGGY TREAT:))
GROANER'S CORNER:(( A Simple Explanation Of Baseball:: 
This is a game played by two teams, one out the other in. The one that's in, sends players out one at a time, to see if they can get in before they get out. If they get out before they get in, they come in, but it doesn't count. If they get in before they get out it does count.
When the ones out get three outs from the ones in before they get in without being out, the team that's out comes in and the team in goes out to get those going in out before they get in without being out.
When both teams have been in and out nine times the game is over. The team with the most in without being out before coming in wins unless the ones in are equal. In which case, the last ones in go out to get the ones in out before they get in without being out.
The game will end when each team has the same number of ins out but one team has more in without being out before coming in

ENERGIZED BY COOLER TEMPERATURES & WHERE IS THE FINAL RESTING PLACE OF THAT ARMY SHELL I DRAGGED HOME 50 YEARS AGO…………….

We woke up to dead calm air this morning.  Not a leaf was stirring not even a house.  Rains subsided in the night leaving us with soggy surroundings.  Our power flickered off & on twice during Friday's supper hour storm & we came away much luckier than inhabitants further inland where power outages were wider spread & lengthy.  Downed trees & an unconfirmed tornado in the Orillia area.  That storm front chased all our humidity right out of Dodge replacing it with refreshing cooler temperatures today.  Ahhhhhhhh:))  Weather stations said Friday was the 'hottest feeling' day of the year.  When they figured in the humidity factor with the temperature it felt like 42 Celsius.  In Fahrenheit terms that would add up to 114 degrees.  Hard to believe but that's what they said.
  

IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD WE ALWAYS HAVE TO BE VIGILANTE WITH SO MANY LOCAL FOLKS CROSSING OUR ROADS

In Friday night's post I was in a hurry to get the storm pics into my post & published just in case we lost our power.  In one of the photos the storm clouds were over the Bayfield Village Inn but the Inn was hard to see.  Today I took a minute to work on that photo a bit & make the Village Inn more visible.

Energized by our mornings cooler air I didn't waste any time getting started on some outside projects first thing.  Five heaping wheelbarrow loads of Pine needles to pick up after DEER PARK Rob swept them all off our roof Friday afternoon.  Dumped them in a pile & will pick up with the utility trailer later.  Dug up & moved some Hostas, Hollyhocks & several clumps of tall yellow flowers.  Cleaned out the eaves troughs & just worked my down a list of yardy things to do.  I ran out of gas about noon & coasted for the rest of the day.  Some full-timers get rid of their houses for some of the same reasons I am thankful we have a house.  I know yard work isn't for everyone but luckily for me I enjoy it & it does give me a working outlet for my restlessness & the added exercise is always beneficial.

Amazingly enough tonight I have have remembered a couple reader questions.  John from RV LIFE ON WHEELS asked about that piece of artillery ordnance (Thursday's post) I brought back from CAMP IPPERWASH many years ago & put in my Mothers barn for 25 years.  In the mid 80's I drove that thing out of Tavistock one day & tossed it into a local creek.  Far as I know it's been buried in the mud there for the past 25 years or so. Tom from TOM_KATHY_RETIRED left a comment about that shell we found & said,  “In the USA blue means inert/practice when used on ordnance”.   I am inclined to agree with Tom & think he is right about it being a ‘inert practice round’.  That rocket head or whatever it was was definitely blue.  Robins Egg blue if I remember correctly.   May have been some small white lettering on it as well & after thinking about it today I do have another theory on how I got that thing back to Tavistock.  I bought my first Volkswagen Beetle in the Fall of 1963 & I did take it up to 'the Cottage’ a couple times in early 64.  Jim, John & either Gary or Craig will well remember the day we were all back in the army camp driving along in that Volkswagen Bug when the darn thing suddenly stopped running.  Took us about an hour to push that Beetle back to the beach.  Can't remember how we got it started but I'm guessing we were able to push it a bit faster on the hard packed sand (cars regularly drove on Ipperwash beach in those days) & I jumped in with the ignition on, pulled it into second gear & popped the clutch.  That was & probably still is a common way of starting a standard transmission vehicle with a dead battery.  Anyway I have a feeling the day we found that blue rocket head or whatever it was I may very well have had my Volkswagen there & put it in my car.  Not likely I/we could have snuck that thing past Gary.  Memories do get a little mushy after 50 years or so.........Second question from Kristine Barr asked, What is a solar streamer? I had used that term to describe the sun's rays shining through some holes in the clouds.  Solar pertaining to sunlight streaming through the clouds if you will.

After writing the above paragraph something occurred to me I had not thought of before & the creek I tossed that blue rocket head into actually ties in with my 'ME & QUEEN ELIZABETH post I originally wrote back in 2008. The last paragraph in that post tells of the last time I saw Queen Elizabeth & the route her entourage took from Stratford to Woodstock Ontario one warm summer day. (I have included that paragraph in tonight’s post underneath Groaner’s Corner)  Now it's a good thing England's Secret Intelligence Service M16 wasn't on to me.  Here I was on that nice summer day in 1998 parked just off highway 59 sitting on my motorcycle waiting for the Queen Of England to go by.  It was just about a dozen years before that I had tossed that army shell off a bridge just southwest of Tavistock on………. highway 59.  The very highway used by the Queens entourage & security team to drive her from Stratford to Woodstock.  When the Queen of England's car passed over that bridge that day in 98 she was probably only 20 feet or so from where I had chucked that ordnance.  From the time she crossed that bridge & the speed her security convoy was traveling she would have passed me & my motorcycle location about 2 minutes later.  Hmmmmm, hope the British Tabloids don't get a hold of this because they would for sure tie this all together as some sort of Canadian bomb plot on the Queen of England.   I can just see it now....BOMBER ON MOTORCYCLE WAITS FOR QUEENS CAR TO CROSS BRIDGE BEFORE DETONATING PREVIOUSLY PLACED BOMB!! (a dozen years before)  Well, I write this all in jest of course but you do know what these tabloid magazines are like these days.  Oh, & which side of the bridge do you suppose the bomber placed the said device??..............Hmmmmm, I have it on good authority it was the East side of the bridge just about right in the middle of the creek:)) 

On CBC radio a few days ago Kelly heard an interesting interview.  That interview of a deceased lady’s husband & son led Kelly to look up & read this lady’s blog & last post dated August 14, 2014.  It’s a subject not often talked about but I think it’s a subject that should be talked about & discussed.  And especially now in this day & age.  You may find this ladies blog & final posting very interesting.  It is called GOODBYE & GOOD LUCK....DEAD AT NOON by Gillian Bennett.

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Veteran Pillsbury spokesman, Pop N. Fresh, died yesterday of a severe yeast infection. He was 71. Known to friends as "Brown-n-Serve," Fresh was an avid gardener and tennis player.  Fresh was buried in one of the largest funeral ceremonies in recent years. Dozens of celebrities turned out including Mrs. Butterworth, the California Raisins, Hungry Jack, Aunt Jemima, Betty Crocker, the Hostess Twinkies, and Skippy.  The graveside was piled high with flours as longtime friend, Aunt Jemima, delivered the eulogy, describing Fresh as a man who "never knew how much he was kneaded."  Fresh rose quickly in show business, but his later life was filled with many turnovers. He was not considered a very smart cookie, wasting much of his dough on half-baked schemes -- conned by those who buttered him up.  Still, even as a crusty old man, he was a roll model for millions. He enjoyed being prodded by his many friends who invariably poked fun at him.  Fresh is survived by his second wife. They have two children and another bun in the oven.  The funeral was held at 3:50 for about 20 minutes.

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Oh yes before I forget…………….. about me & Queen Elizabeth & our second meeting. I think it might have been in the summer of 1998. The Queen was in Stratford again & I heard she would be heading off to Woodstock, Ontario in early afternoon. Only one highway heading from Stratford to Woodstock so I knew her route.  Figured I may never see her again so I hopped on my motorcycle & headed over to a spot out in the country along highway 59 just a few miles north of Hickson Ontario. Nice open spot & no throngs of people this time. Finally, the normal traffic going by ended. No cars at all for awhile. Waited & waited & then one car went by moving very fast.  A few minutes another one followed & a minute later another car. This went on for about 5 minutes. Had I missed her?? Then I saw the convoy of cars coming fast. First one, two or three & then there she was & she was sitting by the back window on my side of the road. Light blue outfit with a matching powder blue hat. I was standing beside my motorcycle as I waved. No mistaking it this time, she looked right at me, but alas, there was no recognition in her eyes from 45 years before. Whoooooooosh, the car was by in seconds & she was gone..................... And that was my little story of, Me & Queen Elizabeth:))