RECOGNIZED IN YUMA AS WE HIT A COUPLE FLEA MARKETS/SWAP MEETS

NOPE NOT THE REAL McCOY……JUST BOTTOM HALF MANNEQUINS

Kelly had it on her mind for us to head off into Yuma this morning.  Couple Flea Market/Swap Meet places to go plus a Walmart stop.  With Pheebs staying home holding the fort Kelly & I headed off into the southwest Arizona city just a short 20 minute easy drive away. 

HAVEN’T HAD A BIRD PHOTO FOR A COUPLE WEEKS SO HERE’S A FEW GUYS SQUABBLING OVER HALF A TOMATO ONE OF THEM PILFERED FROM A NEARBY MEXICAN VENDOR…RED WING BLACKBIRD ON LEFT IS JUST LANDING

Yuma is an easy city to get around in.  Interstate 8 runs right through it easy as pie.  We’ve never had any problems finding our way around & this morning was no exception.  We had punched the Mexican Swap Meet location into our Garmin Gertie GPS & she led us right to it.  Now keep in mind here this is just my opinion which follows but we did not care for the old Yuma Mexican Flea Market at the Fairgrounds.  Just not our kind of merchandise there.  Many food vendors & fresh vegetable stalls along with reams & reams of Mexican clothing booths.  A lot of ticky tacky trinkety kind of stuff with much of it being repetitive.  Yes it’s a festive atmosphere alright with about every 4th booth ‘booooooming’ out that Mexican oompa-oompa accordion & horns kinda music.  Fine if you don’t mind being accosted by that kind of noise but it’s just not my cup of tea.  We just kinda walked through it quickly & the only thing we saw which remotely interested us was something we actually ended up buying.  Two hot dogs & boy did I make a mess out of myself with all the toppings on my big dog.  By the time I was finished I looked like I had been dive bombed by a whole herd of Gringo birds carrying payloads of ‘Montezuma’s Revenge.’  Told Kelly I’d probably need a garden hose to clean myself up.  We should have sat down at a table to eat our hot dogs but the tables were in the shade & it was still cold enough for me to see my breath so we stood in a sunny area to keep the sun on us.  I think we were back to the Jeep & out of there in less than half an hour.

KELLY ASKED THIS GUY WHAT HE WAS STIRRING UP & HE SAID IT WAS PORK MEAT & PORK STOMACH…IT’S NO WONDER I DO NOT CARE FOR MEXICAN FOOD!!!!

 

HERE’S MY HOT DOG WITH ONE HEFTY BITE OUT OF THE OTHER END…ABOUT A THIRD OF ALL THAT STUFF MISSED MY MOUTH & ENDED UP ON THE REST OF ME & MY CAMERA

METICULOUS KELLY NEVER EVEN DROPPED SO MUCH AS A CHILE PEPPER

Kelly punched into our GPS the location of Yuma’s second Flea Market about a dozen blocks away called the Arizona Market Place & off we went.  Temperatures were coming up making for a nice sunny day.   This second place was well organized with aisles of vendors having lots of useful RV oriented merchandise.  Reminded me right away of Quartzsite but without all the desert dust blowing around.  Kind of like in the ‘Big Tent’.  We walked all the aisles stopping here & there & making a few purchases.  A water saving shower head, some LED bulbs for the coach & half a dozen other things I have forgotten already.  I would definitely recommend this place if you’re a needin some RV stuff.  Lots of goodies in the Tool Barn.  Clean washrooms, a guy singing country & western tunes in the large food court & by golly somebody selling Tim Horton’s coffee.  Well that’s what the label on the heated carafe said but it certainly was not Tim Hortons coffee.  It was Okay but it was not Timmies!!  While browsing through one of the booths we heard, “are you the Bayfield Bunch?”  A couple had spotted our Jeep in the parking lot & were familiar with my blog.  They had read about us buying our Triple E.  A brief chat & they were on their way.  I think they might have been from Wyoming or Montana.  The fella did tell me, but…… 

 

YEP SURE REMINDS ME OF QUARTZSITE ALRIGHT

My legs do not do well when in browse/aimless shopping mode.  Walking & dragging along slow looking at stuff is a whole lot harder on my legs than hiking Ghost Mountain or running up & down Coyote Mountain.  Had to sit on a wooden Geezer bench for a bit while Kelly carried on through a few more booths.  Needless to say I was mighty glad to get back to our soft seats in the Jeep!! 

A WATER MASSAGER & YOU DON’T EVEN GET WET INSIDE

 

NOPE,  DIDN’T TASTE LIKE OUR SWEET CANADIAN TIMMIES TO ME

Our third stop was an in-town familiar Walmart.  Familiar because we have been there several times before years ago.  There is a McDonalds inside which is memorable to me because that is where we first met at the time fellow RV Bloggers JoAnn & the late Doug Dubrouillet.  Sitting in the far corner booth that morning it was JoAnn & Doug who approached us with the idea of ranch sitting for friends of theirs in McNeil Arizona.  JoAnn asked, “is that something you would be interested in??  Darn tootin we would & the rest of course is Bayfield Bunch history.

IT WAS IN THE BOOTH UNDER THE FAR LIGHT  WE FIRST MET DOUG & JOANN:))

From Walmart it was right back out into the desert to our rig & the fabulous Pheebs.  We never have to worry about her but we do anyway so we’re always anxious to get home after we have been away for a few hours.  Warm enough this afternoon to sit out for awhile & being able to be comfortably outside is always icing on the cake for anyone down south dodging northern winters.  We should be around 70 soon & for me personally that is my favorite temperature.  Below 65 & anything over 80 just does not work for me & especially if it has any kind of humidity with it.

THE OLD YUMA MEXICAN SWAP MEET FLEA MARKET

  

SOME TIGHT FITTING LADIES CLOTHES AND…………… MEXICAN MUSLIMS??

Between the Arizona Market Place & Walmart is the large Yuma United States Marine Corps Airbase so I swung the Jeep down past the base in hopes of seeing some active aircraft but no luck.  Couldn’t even so much as see a runway.  We did see a sign further on for a place called The Peanut Patch about a mile east of the airbase so we drove ourselves on down there to see if I could find myself some real peanut butter.  I much prefer natural peanut butter instead of the salty supermarket stuff.  I was in luck & got me a 2 pound tub of the good stuff:))

MAIN GATE TO THE BASE IS JUST TO THE RIGHT OF THESE DISPLAY AIRCRAFT

 

GROANER’S CORNER:((  Test your IQ with this situation:
There is a mute who wants to buy a toothbrush.
By imitating the action of brushing one's teeth he successfully expresses himself to the shopkeeper and the purchase is done.  Now if there is a blind man who wishes to buy a pair of sunglasses, how should he express himself?  Think, and then scroll down for the answer.
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He just has to open his mouth and ask…………so simple.
If you got this wrong, please --  just go dig a hole and hide for awhile.

A MORNING VISITOR & A COUCH POTATO AFTERNOON

When I parted Big EEE’s windshield curtain this morning I saw a slight line of moisture along the bottom of the window.  It was not frost just moisture but it was enough to remind me of my early school days when from our Canadian grade 6 readers ‘All Sails Set’ we would read this following poem by E.J. Pratt entitled: ‘Frost’

The frost moved up the window-pane
Against the sun’s advance,
In line and pattern weaving there
Rich scenes of old romance–
It spun a web more magical,
Each moment creeping higher,
For marble cities crowned the hills
With turret, fane and spire,
Till when it struck the flaming sash,
The Kremlin was on fire.

Funny how some things from so long ago stick with me & are so easily accessible by just a glance at some moisture on a window.  I like when things like that happen.  And oh the dreams I had last night again of flying & meeting so many old friends from days gone by.  Some days nights are best.

I’m always happy to make it through another Christmas/New Years eve time slot & get on with a new year.  Always find myself towards the end of each year looking back in reflection but as soon as January 1 pops up I’m all for looking ahead to the new year & all it’s unknowns & challenging opportunities that do crop up from time to time.  For me by the end of each year it feels like I have been sitting in the same spot for a long time & with the coming of a new year I feel the excitement of newness & change.  A psychological thought process of course but kind of like a hitch-itch fix only on a much larger scale.

‘OMG’ I THOUGHT I WAS WALKING ALONG WITH A-HAB THE A-RAB THIS MORNING BUT IT WAS REALLY KELLY WITH HER SCARF WRAPPED ROUND HER HEAD TO KEEP HERSELF WARM FROM A STEADY COLD NORTH WIND

Our warming sun was in stiff competition with a chilly wind coming out of the north this morning making for another short walk.  But if back in Canada right now it’s not likely we would even get out of the house so despite cool southwest temperatures at the moment we are way further ahead of the game being just right where we are.  We know warmer weather is only days away:))

Doug from Miss Adventure Travels camped somewhere around the Imperial Dam area northeast of Yuma drove over to say Hello this morning.  We first met Doug & Dolly last winter when they dropped into our Congress digs.  Doug has been a long time blog reader.  Dolly decided to stay back in Illinois this winter keeping the home fires burning while Doug has ventured out here to the southwest in his Class C on his own.  He’s having a great time Jeeping here, exploring there, & learning some new cooking skills to boot.  Nice to see Doug this morning.  A laid back easy going fella with a love for the southwest.  I sure know how he feels.

 

GOOD TO SEE YA DOUG:))

Had ourselves a rather lazy afternoon & must say we haven’t been to ambitious about anything since we got here but that’s Okay cause we’re kinda liking it that way.  I think as the temperatures come up a bit more we may actually begin to stir but for today it was just nice to stay in the sun warmed rig out of the wind, lay on the couch & watch some TV for a change……………………. 

GROANER’S CORNER:(( "Now this is the verbal part of your employment test," said the interviewer.
"Can you tell me what gross aggrandized annuity means?"  "Certainly," replied the applicant.
"It means I don't get the job."

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There was a nervous man whose imagination afflicted him with all kinds of ills which never seemed to materialize.
One afternoon he staggered into the house. He was bent forward, and tottering to a chair, and still curled into a half-moon shape, dropped into it.  "Honey," he gasped, "it's come at last. There was no warning. All of a sudden I found that I couldn't straighten up and couldn't lift my head."  When the doctor arrived and looked over the patient, the wife inquired, "Is there any hope?"
"Well," the doctor said, "it will help a good deal if he can unhitch the third buttonhole of his vest from the top button of his trousers."

TEMPS ARE COMING UP, WINDS ARE GOING DOWN, & WE BE GETTING WARMER NOW:)))))))

SUNRISE OVER THE CARGO MUCHACHO MOUNTAINS

It is too far beyond my memory capabilities to think of the last time we ever made it to midnight on a New Year’s Eve.  Just something we kinda grew out of over the years I guess.  Just as well, had too many of those raucous nights years ago anyway & I sure don’t need or want any more of those wild & crazy times.

YOU KNOW IT’S COLD WHEN AL WEARS HIS WINTER TOQUE & POLAR SUNGLASSES >>>

Our friends Dianne & Harry owners of Bayfield’s Stormrunner RV Sales & Service back home are spending a few winter months with their dog Sport & kitty cat Izzy in Yuma this winter.   They dropped out to see us earlier today & thanks to our improving weather conditions we were all able to sit outside.  Pheebs was happy to see Sport again & Sport was able to give Pheebs a few pointers on catching a Frisbee.  Harry’s an avid gun collector & is spending time traveling to all the major gun shows in the southwest this year.  Not a hunter or a shooter himself he just enjoys collecting, buying & selling older antique guns & probably owns more classic Winchester Rifles than most Calvary troops had available to them back in the late 1800’s.  It was a good opportunity to catch up on all the back home Bayfield news this morning:))

 

SPORTS MAKING SOME FAST TRACKS TO CATCH HIS FRISBEE…HE SURE REMINDS OF US OF OUR DEAR CHECKERS YEARS AGO

 

AND BY GOLLY PHEEBS HAS A FRISBEE TOO (AKA SOFT RUBBER WATER DISH)

My bed is always warm every night when I crawl into it & I have the Pheebs to thank for that.  She faithfully lays in my spot until I’m ready for bed then politely gives up her place & moves across & curls up on our tub chair where she remains for most of the night.  Soon as she detects it is waking up time for me she bounds onto my bed & with her cold little nose tries to turf me out of bed.  Her exciting day is already well under way while my groggy day is still a grumpy blur.  But oh how I love starting my days with a happy little doggy face nuzzling me out of my sleep.

TWO COWBOY HATS TALKING IN THE DESERT….Photo by Kelly

I’m thinking this may be the longest we have been out docking since back early in 2012.  We did make it to the Kofa Mountains twice last winter & up to the Sedona area earlier this year but I’m thinking it may have only been for a week at a time.  Two winters ago we spent most of our days working on our Congress House & only briefly made it over to Borrego Springs for a couple days.  Much better this year with the bigger rig.  We did regret downsizing twice to a couple smaller Class C’s but we have no regrets in upsizing to our current Class A 37 feet.  Technically it’s 36’11’’ but we just refer to it as 37 feet.  We are much more comfortable & at this age & stage of the game & that is a priority for us.  Only reason I personally would ever downsize again is if for some reason I was traveling solo.  So far our 37 foot length plus Jeep on the back has not been a hindrance to us at all & we’ve been able to slip into & out of the same types of spots we previously went & that has included a few McDonalds along the way.  We are totally satisfied with our Big EEE:))

THIS LITTLE MOUNTAIN OASIS JUST WEST OF YUMA IS CALLED ‘PILOT KNOB’ & IS A POPULAR SPOT WITH MANY RV’ERS CAMPING NEARBY RIGHT ALONG INTERSTATE 8…THIS IS THE ONLY AREA WE VERY NEARLY GOT OURSELVES STUCK IN SAND ONE TIME WITH OUR CLASS A DAMON

No idea when we’ll head back to Congress yet but we do see the temps are getting into the high 60’s & low 70’s around the beginning of next week so we will keep that in mind.  And this late correction to my co-ordinates for finding the Great Stone Snake on Coyote Mountain beside the Clark Dry Lake Bed in Borrego Springs.  Fellow RV Blogger Dave from Going RV Way writes in a comment: Al, those new glasses are letting you down...the coords (co-ordinates) are really 33 18'02.23" N 116 17'35.12" W (you have 114, not 116 in the "W" portion....in your Google picture I barely made out the real coords and they worked just fine) Happy New Year to you both. --Dave (GoingRvWay.com)  Thanks Dave for that correction & I have since fixed the wrong number.  Boy I don’t know how I get things screwed up so much sometimes…………………Oh & Dave may not know this but it is my old glasses I am wearing.  My new glasses with a corrected lens are now back in Wickenburg & I’ll pick them up after we get home.  Maybe I wouldn’t have made that mistake had I been wearing my new glasses.  Nawww, I don’t think so……………….

SUNSET OVER THE IMPERIAL SAND DUNES

GROANER’S CORNER:(( "Insofar as manifestations of functional deficiencies are agreed by any and all concerned parties to be imperceptible and are so stipulated, it is incumbent upon said heretofore mentioned parties to exercise the deferment of otherwise pertinent maintenance procedures."
In other words, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

SAW THE MOVIE ‘UNBROKEN’ TODAY & ALL THE BEST TO EVERYONE IN THE NEW YEAR:))

Think it was around 8 Tuesday night when desert winds came howling around our eaves & awnings.   We heard our first patters of rain around 9.  Winds & light rains continued through a blackened night occasionally rocking the coach.  Not our worst wind’s of ever but enough to flutter a vent flap above our range hood again making me aware of it’s presence all night.  Winds eased up a bit around sunrise & we awoke to partially overcast skies with our first sun splash around 7:30.  But it didn’t last & we ended up with a heavy cloud cover & strong biting cold winds for the rest of the day.  It was a very short morning walk.

A SMATTERING OF PHOTOS FROM TUESDAY


Having just completed the book ‘Unbroken’ last month I noticed this morning Angelina Jolie’s movie version was playing in a Yuma Palms Mall theater today.  We’ve been to this big mall several times before & they do have some nice stores there.  Kelly wanted to stop at Pet Smart & Home Hardware anyway.  Our California watches are one hour different from Arizona’s movie theater time so we missed the early 9:30 a.m. show but caught the 11:45 one.  Before the movie we did manage to hit our 2 targeted stores & also grab a bite to eat at a place called Kneaders.  Being the small town country Bumpkins we are I am always somewhat be-dazzled when on occasion we sometimes find ourselves in big box stores other than Walmart for a change.  This morning it was Yuma’s Home Hardware store where walking down the aisles I felt like a little kid trekking along between narrow canyon walls filled with all kinds of delightfully colored things of all shapes & sizes.  I could probably just play in the aisles of these stores for hours exploring all the treasures along the canyon walls.

WOW LOOK AT ALL THE NEAT-O GROOVY STUFF:))
 
A COUPLE LITTLE GUYS GETTING ALL SPIFFED UP FOR NEW YEAR’S EVE AT PET SMART & KNEADERS EATERY

THIS IS MY AMERICAN OMELET WHICH WAS VERY GOOD & THAT GREEN STUFF IN IT IS BROCCOLI
Been awhile since we’ve been to a movie & I couldn’t believe the number of commercials we had to sit through before movie time.  Then they showed previews for 5 upcoming movies & would you believe every single one of those movies involved graphic violence upon graphic violence.  And people wonder what is wrong with our society!!

NICE MALL WALKWAY NEAR THE MOVIE THEATER
I thought the movie ‘Unbroken’ was great.  Stuck right with the book all the way.  Only difference is there’s a lot more to the Louis Zamperini story than is in the movie.  His struggles after the war are another whole story in itself worth reading but I do understand how difficult it would be to fit it all into a movie format.  The book of course is much more detailed but no matter I think they did a fine job telling his story in the time allotted space they had in making it.  Might not have been a dry eye in the house at times.  I counted approximately 70 people in the theater this morning & without a doubt Kelly & I were the youngest one’s there.  I’m a firm believer in seeing movies in movie theater’s where they are designed to be seen best in their entirety.  No distractions, big screen big sound, & it made the opening aerial combat scene very realistic.  You don’t feel the impact of scenes like that on wonky TV or computer screens.  Tickets were only $5 apiece & I figure that was money well spent for today’s moving & emotional movie experience.

I LIKE THE WAY SOME MOVIE THEATERS STILL HAVE A BIT OF CHARM TO THEM
I paid particular attention this morning to just where the Colorado River crosses I-8 west of Yuma & realized I had made a geographical error in my Tuesday night post about just where the Colorado River is located.  Thankfully ED pointed out my mistake.  I in part said: " It is the Colorado River which divides the city of Yuma with the majority of Yuma being on Arizona’s side of the river."  Ed in part said: You must have a different map than I do. I also do not remember the Colorado running through Yuma. There is a small town on the California side of the river but that is Winterhaven, CA and not part of Yuma.  I agree with Ed & stand corrected.  The Colorado River does not divide Yuma as I had remembered it & all of Yuma is in Arizona.  Thanks Ed:))

Think we were home sometime after 2 & hustled ourselves right out of that cold wind into our snugly Motorhome.  Noticed some fellow Bloggers & Facebookers had pictures of snow in Congress.  Glad we weren’t there & it sounded like it was a cold & wet one in Borrego Springs as well with snow on the mountains.  Also glad we weren’t there either.  We never ventured out the door for the rest of the day.

ALWAYS INTERESTING TO SEE ALL THE OLDER BUS CONVERSIONS

JEAN & SKIP ARE SET UP JUST DOWN THE WAY FROM US A BIT
Last week in Borrego Springs I hadn’t thought of using Google Earth to have a look at the Great Stone Snake from the air.  Our friend Pat from near that Sierra Vista town in southeastern Arizona sent a link about that but I wasn’t able to figure it out so hopped into my Google Earth plane, flew back to Borrego Springs & was easily able to find the snakes location.  This aerial photo was taken August 28th of 2014 from an altitude of 842 feet. The Google Earth coordinates for the snakes location are…. 33*18’02.37”N by 116*17’35.12”W

LOOK CLOSELY TO FIND THE GREAT STONE DESERT SNAKE
Well here we are at the end of another year.  I don’t really have a wrap up or a look back over the past 12 months except to say we’ve had our high & low points with lots of stops in between.  Instead I would once again like to thank readers of my daily posts for giving me the opportunity to channel some creative energy into a few of my most enjoyable hobbies.  Again it is I who thank you for giving me the drive, the energy, & the motivation each day to put my posts together.  Without readers there would be no purpose for my blog so I am humbly grateful to each & everyone of you who have managed to stick with me through thick & thin over these past years & I have always greatly appreciated your support.  Been a few bumps along the way but I have no plans to give things up anytime soon so with a bit of luck, a wee bit of encouragement now & again along with my sometimes stubborn determination I’ll still be at my keyboard a year from tonight writing another heart felt thank you to all our faithful Bayfield Bunch readers…………………  Love you guys:))

GROANER’S CORNER:(( Minister: Do you know what's in the Bible?  Little Girl: Yes. I think I know everything that's in it.  Minister: You do? Tell me.  Little Girl: OK. There's a picture of my brother's girlfriend, a ticket from the dry cleaners, one of my curls, and a Pizza Hut coupon.
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A psychiatrist's secretary walked into his office and said, "There's a gentleman in the waiting room asking to see you. Claims he's invisible."  The psychiatrist responded, "Tell him I can't see him."