HOW DID PHEEBS GET HER NAME & WE ARE DOWN TO OUR LAST DAY & A HALF

MANAGED A COUPLE QUICK SHOTS OF THIS COUNTRY HOUSE AS WE WENT FLYING BY TODAY…(NO COLOR ENHANCEMENT)

Two of my favorite food items are hard to find in the States.  Natural peanut butter & creamed honey.  Zehr’s Supermarket in Goderich carries the salt & sugar free 26 ounce natural peanut butter I prefer so had dropped in a couple days ago to pick up a couple jars.  I was in one of my penny pinching moods again & balked at the $6.19 per jar price tag.  Left the store empty handed.  But what to do about my daily peanut butter fix.  I relented this morning & decided to bite the bullet & go back & pick up a couple jars anyway.  Imagine my surprise after I sullenly trudged up the aisle expecting my wallet to part with another 15 dollar bill & found my peanut butter on sale for $2.99 a jar.  I grabbed 6 of em & ran like nuts for the cashier.  Felt so good about that I splurged for a vendor’s hot dog outside the entrance of Zehr’s & split it with Pheebs who was waiting patiently in the Jeep.  We snagged a few more photos on the way home.

 

A reader asked how we arrived at the name Pheebs for the Pheebs.  The family who had her before we did named her Evelyn & we knew we wanted to change that.  We did notice they called her ‘Evie’ for short.  Took us awhile to think of a name & I mentioned to Kelly one day driving to Mitchell Ontario to see my Uncle Harry that we should try to think of a name that rhymed with Evie.  Figured it would be easier for Pheebs to learn a new & similar sounding name.  Kelly right away came up with the name Phoebe & that was it.  Pheebs official name is Phoebe but I naturally got into the habit of calling her Pheebs.  On rare occasions when I need to get her immediate  attention I will bark out a loud 'Phoebe' & she comes running right quick.  And what is my pet name for the Pheebs.......'Bugs or Bugsy':))  Our little Motormouse's real name was Cora & I called her 'Beans or Beansy'.  In fact I just remembered a few paragraphs I wrote in a post back in 2010 about my nicknames for our Bayfield Bunch dogs.  It's called, SIR FROG-A-LOG, LADY FLOP-A-LOT & LITTLE WEINERLY BEANS  The paragraphs begin about half way through my post…………..:))

PHEEBS LIKES LAYING ON OUR CARPORT’S COOL CONCRETE FLOOR WHILE SOAKING UP WARMING RAYS FROM THE SUN

I think many Snow Birds might agree that about 80 to 90% of all packing done for a long trip gets done in the last couple days before travel.  If too much is packed a month or more before hand there is a good chance it is going to be shuffled around & re-packed again & again.  I think Kelly has already taken more clothes back out of the rig than she had put in the rig this past month or so.  Clothes aren't a big thing for me & I have a tendency to wear the same half dozen clothing items I have year after year.  In some cases I could almost substitute the word years for decades.

BEEN GETTING THE RIGHT HAND SIDE OF THE RIG’S DASH TWEAKED OUT

 

PHEEBS KEEPS AN EYE ON OUR BUSY BEE ACTIVITIES TO DAY & WE PROBABLY WON’T TRAVEL WITH FULL BINS AGAIN THIS YEAR

Kelly’s been very busy in the kitchen these past couple days cooking up a big batch of food to take with us when we leave in a couple days.  We’re at the stage where we are loading food oriented pantry items now.  Having a house in Arizona means we do not have to take as much stuff with us on the road as we did when we were boondocking for long periods a few years ago.  I like the idea of being able to travel lighter.

 

Despite our gas prices spiking today here is an article which may warm the hearts of traveling RVers this Fall.  DRIVERS MAY GET A NICE HOLIDAY GIFT AT THE GAS PUMP (Thanks Jan) We haven’t totally filled up the Big EEE yet since getting it last May but I’m sure we both will be staggered in a few days when we do.  With a large 75 gallon gas tank it will be our most expensive fill up since we began Snow Bird RVing back in 06.  Oh Dear:((

In part here is an interesting comment from Ed over at the THE PEREGRINATING GRAYBEARD.  Ed says, "On 25 September 2014, a new rule proposed by the U.S. Forest Service pertaining to photography and film permits sparked internet outrage. According to circulating posts about the issue, the agency would like to charge fees of up to $1,500 before allowing "commercial filming and photography in federally designated wilderness areas." When the proposal is finalized in November 2014, reporters and other media outlets who do not obtain permits could face fines of up to $1,000.  Ed's full comment can be seen in the comment section of my Thursday post.

  

Thanks to JANNA for her cordial invitation to drop by her & Mike’s western Montana ranch on our North-West-Southerly journey but it is Eastern Montana we will be briefly slipping through on our way south from Rouleau Saskatchewan to Custer South Dakota.  From Custer we plan to follow MIKE McFALL'S route down into North-Eastern Utah.

As much as I look forward to heading for the South-West in the Fall & back home to Bayfield in the Spring I always miss things when we leave for either destination.  For me heading out in the Fall one of the greatest things I will miss is sitting right here in our cozy Sunroom where I put my daily post together each night.  With big bay windows in front & to the sides of me, relaxing stereo music, big screen monitor, easily accessible & wide keyboard, a totally comfortable chair, nice soft lighting & lots of space around me to set things like cameras, atlas’s or whatever, it is a hard place to leave behind.  Along with my cushy recliner it is one of my very much most favorite spots in the whole house.  I sure have written a lot of posts sitting here over the years.  Yep, I will miss it alright but I also know my thoughts of Bayfield will quickly be left behind with each mile traveled as my mind focuses on our travels ahead.

 

GROANER’S CORNER:(( A man is struck by a bus on a busy street in New York City. He lies dying on the sidewalk as a crowd of spectators gathers around.  "A priest. Somebody get me a priest!" the man gasps. A policeman checks the crowd ---- no priest, no minister, no man of God of any kind.  "A PRIEST, PLEASE!" the dying man says again.  Then out of the crowd steps a little old Jewish man of at least eighty years of age.  "Mr. Policeman," says the man, "I'm not a priest. I'm not even a Catholic. But for fifty years now I'm living behind St. Elizabeth's Catholic Church on First Avenue, and every night I'm listening to the Catholic litany. Maybe I can be of some comfort to this man."  The policeman agreed and brought the octogenarian over to where the dying man lay. He kneels down, leans over the injured and says in a solemn voice.  "B-4. I-19. N-38. G-54. O-72. . ."

WE HAVE FINALLY DECIDED ON OUR ROUTE & A WEE CASE OF THE JITTERBUGS

Had myself 6 months of prescriptions to pick up this morning so it was a trip to WalMart in Goderich for Pheebs & I.  Of course we made a Jeep tour of it & slowly poked our way along a bunch of scenic back roads on the way home.  Wednesday morning we did the same thing after picking up our new gas cap at the Bayfield Garage.  Dash engine light is out & the new cap appears to have solved the problem.  Say, did I tell you about this amazingly beautiful weather we are having....................:)) 

 

I SURE LIKE LOOKING AT COUNTRY PROPERTIES

I generally get myself a wee case of Jitterbugs just before any of our semi-annual cross country trips.  Not something on my mind all day but just at those moments when I'm half dozing in my recliner I am reminded.  Suddenly one of those 'what ifs' will roll through my quietly relaxing mind like a stampeding Buffalo.   Don't suppose Full-Timers get that as they are usually on the move much more often than we are.  It's when one hasn't traveled for a long period of time like a Snow Bird's 6 months that jittery thoughts can creep into one's mind.  Nothing serious but just enough to remind one of the unknowns on the open road ahead.  Thankfully there is a sure cure for the jitters & for me that comes the moment I pull the gearshift down into 'Drive', step on the gas & get the big wheels rolling.  Instantly all those Jitterbugs go flying out of my body as my mind turns to the long journey ahead. What a great feeling that moment always is.  Yes indeed:))

 

 

We finally made a decision on our route plan & we will be doing the northern route up & over Lake Superior through Manitoba, Saskatchewan, South Dakota & Utah before heading on down into Arizona.  Doing a few MapQuest mileage calculations today it looks like we will probably log about 3,300 driving miles for this years trip between Bayfield Ontario & Congress Arizona.  That’s about a thousand miles more than the usual couple of routes we take.  I have a feeling we are going to miss our Interstate CRACKER BARRELS along the way.  Only Cracker Barrel in South Dakota is Sioux Falls & we won’t be anywhere near there.  I see there is one in St. George Utah but not sure if we will get around that way.  One each in Flagstaff & Kingman Arizona & for sure we will be passing through one of those 2 places so we might just catch one after all.  Each one of those is only a couple hours from Congress.  Looks like we might roll out either Sunday or Monday afternoon with our first destination being Tobermory on the northern tip of Ontario's Bruce Peninsula.  No time lines on this trip again so we will just go at our own pace.  No specific places to be so we'll just get to Congress whenever It is we get there.

GROANER’S CORNER:(( Harold and Al were on a small chartered airplane when the pilot suddenly had a heart attack. "Don`t Panic," cried Harold heroically. "I’ll land this baby!" Seizing the controls he headed for the runway at LaGuardia Airport, and began wrestling the diving plane to the ground. Just as the wheels touched the ground, Al screamed, "Red lights!! Right in front of you!"  Immediately Harold threw the engine in reverse and jammed on the breaks, bringing the plane to a violent stop just inches from the edge of the lights.  "Brother!" he puffed, wiping his brow. "That sure was a short runway!" "Yeah," agreed Al, looking side to side, "but look how WIDE it is."

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Taxiing down the tarmac, the jetliner abruptly stopped, turned around and returned to the gate. After waiting for an hour, it finally took off.  A concerned passenger asked the flight attendant, "What was the problem?"  "The pilot was bothered by a strange noise he heard in the engine," the attendant explained. "Oh, and it took a while to fix it," said the passenger.  "Not exactly," was the reply. "It just took us awhile to find a hard of hearing pilot."

IT IS THESE ENCHANTING AUTUMN DAYS I WILL REMEMBER

As I have mentioned many times before my favorite time of year is Autumn & that time is upon us right now.  Our weather is beautiful & with today's 70 degree temperatures I felt it was our year’s best day.  Pausing momentarily on our afternoon forest walk I marvelled at the serene peacefulness that enveloped Pheebs & I.  Blue Jays in the tree tops & squirrels scurrying about the forest floor shuffling through early fallen leaves.  A constant chorus of invisible Crickets stir my restless Soul.  These are absolute wondrous weather days we are experiencing.  Autumn's magic is truly upon us & when it is all said & done some day it will be these enchanting Autumn days I will remember………………….

Mentioned a couple blogs or so ago I was reading a biography on Canadian singer/songwriter Neil Young.  A reader jogged my mind reminding me I hadn't mentioned the name of the book.  It's written by author Jimmy McDonough & is called, 'Shakey: A Neil Young Biography.  The book tops out at 786 pages so figure at my current reading pace it's gonna take me about 3 years to get myself from cover to cover.  Here's a quote about the author.  (Jimmy McDonough is the author of the acclaimed book "Shakey: A Neil Young Biography". The chronicle of writing "Shakey" turned out to be nearly as fascinating as the subject itself. Weighing in at over 700 pages, the biography -- while flawed -- is considered to be one of the most definitive rock and roll biographies ever written. McDonough spent eight years writing the book and interviewed more than 300 of Neil's associates.)

Noticed a Facebook 'Friend Request' from a fellow RV Blogger a couple days ago but didn't click on it.  Good thing I didn't or I would have been scammed for the third time.  Not the RV Blogger's fault, his account had been hacked.  So just a reminder 'again' that I do not accept Friend Requests from anyone.  Nothing personal I just do not want to be scammed again.  I also do not accept any kind of game requests.  Also I have been receiving 'Linkedin' requests & have not accepted any of those either because I don't know if it's a scam or not.  Plus I am not into social media sites anymore.  Think I may have downloaded that Linkedin program one time about10 years ago.  That was back in the days when I would download just about anything if it was free.  A hard lessen learned there & it is rare for me to download anything from anywhere any more.

I SEE A LITTLE PUPPY DOG FACE HERE IN THESE GREEN LEAVES

Sure is a lot of work getting ready to go away.  Cell telephone plans to be ramped up with home phone plans put on vacation.  Same thing with cable TV & Internet services.  Insurance plans both medical & vehicle.  Credit card companies to be advised of our travel plans, bank advisories, & the list goes on.  All done by phone & emails of course & in our case it is Kelly who looks after all that.  I would sure be in one big huge confusing mess if I had to make all these plans myself.  Kelly is the one who makes all these winter trips possible & believe me when I tell you she is the one with the most good brains in this family:))

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A job applicant was asked, "What would you consider to be your main strengths and weaknesses?"  "Well," he began, "my main weakness would definitely be my issues with reality--sometimes I have a little trouble telling what's real from what's not."  "Okay," said the interviewer. "And what are your strengths?"   "I'm Batman."

---

The elevator in our building malfunctioned one day, leaving several of us stranded. Seeing a sign that listed two emergency phone numbers, I dialled the first and explained our situation.  After what seemed to be a very long silence, the voice on the other end said, "I don't know what you expect me to do for you. I'm a psychologist."  "A psychologist?" I replied. "Your phone is listed here as an emergency number. Can't you help us?"  "Well," he finally responded in a measured tone. "How do you feel about being stuck in an elevator?"

OK OK SO I GOT PHEEBS TO TAKE A PICTURE OF ME TODAY:))

  

NICE TO SEE SOME EARLY AUTUMN COLORS

Couldn't resist the call of a big bright & blue sunny sky this morning.  Despite living under shady Pine trees I could see lovely patches of clear sky overhead when I looked up through the branches.  Only takes us about 30 seconds once we leave our driveway to be clear of our forest so without further ado Pheebs & I were off.  Kelly had gone to Goderich.  Not a big tour this morning but we did manage to snag ourselves a Hortons coffee & muffin in Clinton plus a turkey salad sandwich in Zurich.  One back road stop between a couple bean fields with one more stop atop a grassy cliff overlooking Lake Huron north of Grand Bend.  Just another one of those mighty fine mornings to be out & about conversing with Mother Nature.  We were back home shortly after noon.

 

SOME DAYS WE JUST STOP TO SMELL THE BEANS & PHEEBS HAS A BIG YAWN

  

UM,,,YOUR GETTING A LITTLE CLOSE TO THE DITCH HERE DAD

FROM THIS BEAN FIELD VIEWPOINT I COUNTED 24 WIND TURBINES ON THE DISTANT WESTERN HORIZON

A bit of puttering around the rig & that was about it for the day.  Hopefully in another week or two I will have more to write about & some changing landscapes for my camera.  Looking forward to that.  Even I get tired writing about the same old things & often taking the same old photos but it does give me something to do & keeps my days from drying up on me.

 

I HAVE MANY MEMORIES AT THIS SPOT BEGINNING BACK IN THE LATE 60’S

AT THE EDGE OF A GRASSY CLIFF TOP

 

LOOKING SOUTH ALONG THE SHORELINE TOWARDS GRAND BEND & SARNIA ONTARIO & HOW WOULD YOU LIKE A WIND TURBINE IN YOUR BACK YARD

Hadn’t occurred to me about taking a photo of my beard trim Monday.  I did however remember reader’s requests today when Pheebs & I were at the lake so I coaxed Pheebs to jump up on the Jeep’s engine hood & take a picture of me.  And no I am not going to admit to a selfie here:))

NOT A CLOUD IN THE SKY NOT A CLOUD IN MY HEAD SO LETS JUST ROLL ON & LET IT BE SAID……….WE HAD US A NICE DAY:))

Thought this afternoon, ‘aw what the heck why wait till we get west of the Mississippi before donning my big brown Tombstone cowboy hat’ so later today I grabbed that wide brimmed Mossmagator, squashed it down on my head & pulled it down over my ears.  Figure if I can sleep with it on all night it should have my head squeezed back in shape by morning.  D’ya figure I’m figurin right…………… Just in case anyone was wondering what that squashed down idea made me look like I have included a photo below which I took earlier this evening………Awwwwww yes, the Shadow Cowboy is back:))

GROANER'S CORNER:(( TO:  AN ALL USERS SUBJECT: VIRUS ALERT!
There is a very dangerous virus going around and it is propagated through the email system.  If you get an email message with the subject: "VIRUS ALERT!" do not open the mail message.  If you do, the virus scrambles the second half of every text file on your system.
VERY IMPORTANT:  If you do get this virus, the first thing dlkfjaid dfdjas nairb gfdq40wt yaj  asdfsdg  dluog av da agj asdfajpg as dflasidffnm asd difvu asdfa vgoiae  vdsofj we dasdf 9efm sd dag0 g adf as dg 0vbwe  ads gwefawe ads vewerwe dsf!

MY COMPUTER SWALLOWED ME UP FOR A FEW HOURS TODAY

Well it turned out to be one of those uninspiring days.  Cold, damp & cloudy.  One of those days one just wants to stay inside & keep warm.  Our weather forecast is calling for sunny & warmer this week so we'll be right back in the mood for readying the rig for travel.  But for today the cold & damp really seemed to stiffen my arthritic legs so am anxiously looking forward to warm & dry desert walks next month:))

I learned something from my old Buddy Jim whom I had coffee with last week in Seaforth Ontario.  Jim has one of those always neat & trimmed looking beards.  For years I have wondered how guys keep those beards looking so uniform all the time.  Any time I ever grew a beard & tried to keep it trimmed by hacking & chopping away with a scissors or electric razor I always came away looking like a character off the old TV show Fraggle Rock.  On the topic of beards last Thursday Jim told me how he keeps his beard trimmed.  Well have I ever been in the dark for the past 50 years or so.  He said he has a simple attachment for his electric razor that makes it easy to have that close cropped neat looking look.  He explained how it works & with a few hand gestures around his chin he had the table next to us in the coffee shop staring nervously.  Remembering what he said I tracked down & finally located the case my electric shaver came in a bunch of years ago.  Dusting off half an inch of dust I opened the case & sure enough there were a whole bunch of attachments & stuff inside.  Even a never used instruction manual on how to use the shaver & it's attachments for, well of all things…….trimming beards.  Fancy that eh.   Well to make a long story short I did manage to get one of the plastic comb looking things attached to my shaver.  With thoughts of totally cutting a swath through the remaining bunch of hairs on my chiny chin-chin I took a careful slow swipe at my goatee & holy smokes it worked.  All these years of teetering in front of a mirror with an electric shaver in one shaky hand while steadying myself against the counter with the other hand finally came to an abrupt end.  Whacking away with a free wheeling shaver carving large uneven chunks of long facial hair are now a thing of the past.  Oh how nice it can be learning new things sometimes.  I now have a much shorter & neater looking goatee.   I thank my Buddy Jim for that neat-o shaving tip & it reminded me of another line out of a Beatle song, 'I get by with a little help from my friends':))

An arrest has been made in the fatal shooting at the Hullett Marsh 9 days ago.  He was apprehended as he stepped off a flight at Pearson International Airport.  The suspect was brought to Goderich today where he appeared in court.  It will be interesting to see what his motive for the shooting was.

Haven't worn my big 45 gallon brown Tombstone cowboy hat since returning to Ontario early last April.  Popped it on my head the other day & I could tell right away it had lost it's fit.  Either my head swelled or the hat shrunk.  Well neither one actually & I think the hat just naturally lost it's inner head circumference.  No big deal & I'll just have to begin wearing it daily again to get it back into shape.  After wearing my smaller straw hat all summer my big 22-10 ton cowboy hat feels like I'm wearing something about the size of a large military parachute on my head.  No matter, once we get west of the Mississippi I'll feel right at home again & my cowboy hat will feel about as natural as wearing a good pair of shoes.  Say have you ever worn a good pair of shoes on your ears??  Nawww I didn't think so. 

I'm not one to play games on my computer.  Don't spend a lot of time reading things or watching You Tubes.  I write my daily posts, occasionally have look at Google Earth & look up some info on areas we may travel too.  I don't read nearly as many blogs anymore as I once did & the only newspaper I ever check is the Stratford Beacon Herald’s obituary column.  Don't spend any time on Facebook or any of the other social media sites.  But today my computer swallowed me up & this is how it happened.............Sitting quietly in a corner of our sunroom reading a biography on the life & times of singer/songwriter Neil Young I decided to check out another one of his songs mentioned in the book, 'Expecting To Fly'.  Clicked on a You Tube version.  Well that led me to a couple other songs by the Buffalo Springfield.  Noticed on the sidebar another You Tube for the 30 greatest guitar rifts of all time.  Of course that led to half a dozen groovy boogie woogie piano rifts as well & soon I was watching the last days of Buddy Holly.  Don't know how I landed on the Big Bopper's autopsy results but I was soon back to more musical You Tubes with Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash & Eric Clapton singing something about something.  John Lennon’s 'Imagine' & then it was a video of Paul McCartney & Neil Young on stage.  Think I saw some You Tube bloopers along the way & where did Ozzie & Harriet come from anyway.  Breezed through a Jeep video & read a UFO article.  Half a dozen Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young You Tubes later I was suddenly aware of a little doggy paw resting on my leg.  Looked at my watch & it was on the far side of 3 o'clock.  Pheebs was reminding me it was past our afternoon walk time.  My computer had totally swallowed me up for a couple hours.  Not too often that happens but what else was a feller to do on a cold, damp, day eh. 

Well tis the last day of summer & Autumn will officially be upon us within hours.  This is my favorite time of year.  Forecast is calling for a warm sunny week with temps in the low 70’s.  After today’s 54 we welcome that.  When my blue jeans feel cold on my legs I know it is time to head for warmer climates & that just may be the week after this:))     

GROANER'S CORNER:((  An elephant was drinking out of a river one day, when he spotted a turtle asleep on a log. So, he ambled on over and kicked it clear across the river.

"What did you do that for?" asked a passing giraffe.

"Because I recognized it as the same turtle that took a nip out of my trunk 53 years ago."

"Wow, what a memory" commented the giraffe.

"Yes," said the elephant, "turtle recall".