THE DAY A HOT AIR BALLOON ALMOST LANDED RIGHT ON TOP OF OUR JEEP WRANGLER

Needed some blood work done for my next PSA check-up at the cancer Clinic in London later this month.  After stopping into the Maitland Valley Clinic's blood center twice this morning and finding the small waiting room stacked to the rafters with people both times I said the heck with it.  Pheebs and went down to the harbor and noticed the U.S. USCGC Hollyhock tied up alongside the south pier.  First time I had seen the U.S. Coast Guard in the Port of Goderich.  Also noticed the absence of heavy equipment machines in the area of the Beach Street Station so I'm 'assuming' shoreline restoration work is completed along that stretch and the machines have moved further south down Rotary Cove Road.  They may even be working on the shore erosion around the dog walking area now. 

HEADING DOWN TO THE HARBOR I SPOTTED A VESSEL I HADN'T SEEN BEFORE

BY GOLLY IT'S THE UNITED STATES COAST GUARD CUTTER HOLLYHOCK

ALL HEAVY MACHINERY HAS LEFT THIS AREA SO AM 'ASSUMING' THE SHORELINE IS COMPLETED ALONG HERE NOW

Reading Ivan's latest post Birds and the Bees I came across a few photos he had posted about something odd he had come across in the desert north of the Cargo Muchacho Mountains west of Yuma on the California side.  Said it was north of the old Tumco townsite and wondered if anyone might know what it could be.  A little light came on in the far reaches of my mind somewhere when he said 'north of the Tumco townsite'.  Said it was on Indian Pass Road.  The light got brighter.  I had a hunch so it was off to Google Maps I went.  Yep, Kelly and I were on Indian Pass road one time back in 2008.  With a bit of digging through my blog Archives I was able to locate the day, time, month, and year that we too came across something odd in the desert there.  I soon located my photos of what we saw then and compared them to Ivan's photos 12 years later.  'Walla'.....nailed it!!  Read Ivan's post first to see what he has to say about what he found and check his photos.  Next go to my post dated Sunday December 21rst 2008...…Moving Day....But Not Too Far
Here is my photo album for what we found that day....Sundance.  There was a movement around at the time with a group of people calling themselves 'New Agers' or something like that and we think this site might have had something to do with that.  It was kind of a 'controversial' spiritual motivation type thing.  Maybe even referred to as a cult.  We did see at this site what appeared to be a 'sweat lodge' as well as some strange willowy structures in a large circle with a single tree in the center.  Kind of like something where ceremonies would be performed.  May have been people living here, maybe none, or maybe only one because there was some moldy stew in a pot.   Okay so where am I going with this??  Well where I am going is waaaaaay out on a limb and wondering if there is any kind of a connection to what happened in Sedona Arizona on October 8th 2009 when three people died in a 'sweatlodge' incident at the Angel Valley Retreat Center.  Here's what was reported at the time.....Three Deaths At A Spiritual Sweat Lodge.  Coincidentally, while boondocked on Angel Valley Road on the outskirts of Sedona Arizona in February 2014 Kelly and I stumbled across the Angel Valley Retreat Center on one of our exploratory drives around the area.  I seem to recall reaching a bridge or something and had we crossed the bridge we would have been into the Retreat Center.  Not wanting to do that we turned around and headed back up the road we had driven in on.  I quickly snapped one poor quality photo from our Jeep as we exited the area and that photo is below.

ONLY THE ROOFS OF THE RETREAT CAN BE SEEN AND I BELIEVE THOSE SNOW CAPPED PEAKS IN THE DISTANCE ARE MOUNT HUMPHREYS AND THE SAN FRANCISCO PEAKS NORTH OF FLAGSTAFF ARIZONA.

On our cloudy afternoon walk Pheebs and I came across a Snowperson.  And do you know that since Pheebs came into our lives back in early August of 2011 her and I have been together in each others lives every single day for the past 3,208 days:))))

YUP IT'S A SNOWPERSON ALRIGHT BUT WITH THOSE FLASHY EYELASHES I THINK IT'S SAFE TO SAY IT IS A SNOWLADY

::Memory Lane::  It was Monday February 17th 2014 when we had a hot air balloon full of people in it's large basket almost land right on top of our Jeep Wrangler.  It was so close it actually bumped the tall whip aerial on our Jeep's rear bumper.  We were boondocked just off Loy Butte Road west of Sedona Arizona.  Hadn't at first realized it was a popular area for early morning hot air balloons to land after earlier lifting off in or near Sedona.  My post for that day is here at Hot Air Balloon Nearly Lands on Jeep.  My photo album for the day is here at Sedona Arizona Balloon Album.  Some people have seen hot air balloons lifting into the sky, more have seen them high in the air and a few people have seen them touch down.  But have you seen what they do with the balloon after it lands.  Be sure to go all the way through the photo album and watch for the one photo where the basket of the big hot air balloon just misses the tip of our Jeep's tall bumper aerial by inches.

BALLOON IS MOVING FROM RIGHT TO LEFT BUT THE GROUND CREW DIDN'T SEEM TO BE TOO CONCERNED ABOUT HOW CLOSE IT WAS TO OUR JEEP SO I TRIED NOT TO BE TOO CONCERNED EITHER....YA RIGHT!!  BUT IF YOU LOOK CLOSE YOU CAN SEE IT HAS ALREADY BUMPED THE JEEP'S AERIAL 

::Al's Musical Favs::  Poor Leno by Royksopp.  First time I heard this song about 4 years ago I was instantly transported back in time to my old home town of Tavistock Ontario somewhere in the 1950's.  There is something about this man's voice and singing style that triggers a  strong memory for me of standing in a doorway of the town's only restaurant (Joe's Place).  The doorway led to a two lane bowling alley and I am standing there watching the bowlers.  It's an uncanny memory triggered only by this song and the man's voice singing it.  Nothing to do with the beat or instruments involved, just the man's singing voice.  There must have a been a similar sounding song in the 50's that has remained all this time in my mind's musical Archives.  I like when things like this happen:))

GROANER'S CORNER:((   While working in the psychology department at a local college, I was asked to enlarge a chart for a meeting. I called the copy room and asked, "Can I get something blown up down there?" After a pause, the voice on the line replied, "I think you want the chemistry lab."
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Said the FBI agent to the bank teller after the bank was robbed for the third time by the same bandit: "Did you notice anything special about the man?""Yes, he seemed better dressed each time!"
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MORNING WALK IN THE BANNOCKBURN CONSERVATION AREA

Pheebs and I made it over to the Bannockburn Conservation Area area for a winter's walk this morning......................

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A woman goes to a psychiatrist and says, ''Doctor, you've got to do something about my husband -- he thinks he's a refrigerator!'' ''I wouldn't worry too much about it,'' the doctor replies. 'Lots of people have harmless delusions. It will pass.'' ''But you don't understand,'' the woman insists. ''He sleeps with his mouth open, and the little light keeps me awake.''
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MORNING HAZE IN THE COUNTRYSIDE TOLD ME SOMETHING

I KNEW WHAT THIS HEAVY HAZE IN THE COLD MORNING AIR MEANT

Had hoped to take a few photos of Saturday night's full Moon with my Nikon CP900 but the weather had other ideas and despite a clear sky day we did not have a clear sky night. Morning's fiery sunrise was encouraging but within minutes overhead skies turned a pale gray as yet another cloud cover moved in and gloomed up the day.

OUR SUNRISE THIS MORNING WAS A BIG BALL OF FIRE ONLY 91.709 MILLION MILES AWAY

Brewed myself a coffee, nicely burnt up a piece of toast, loaded up the furry little Cutesy Patootsy, and we were off out into the snowy cold countryside.  I was immediately aware of a familiar gray slightly purplish haze in the air and that haze meant one thing.  Our temperatures were finally rising.  Slightly warmer air meeting colder snow on the ground.  At this time of year rising temperatures are almost reason enough for joyous celebrations even if we didn't get up to the freezing mark.  Managed to find me a few rural photos before finally setting us a course for home.

SNOWY COUNTRY ROADS

Well you know my daily winter routine well enough by now to know that outside of an afternoon walk with Pheebs I spent most of my time ensconced quite comfortably in our cozy sunroom watching the humorous circus antics of our front yard birds, bunnies, and squirrels.

BRIGHTLY COLORED POSTS FOR MARKING SNOWMOBILE TRAILS

It seems the latest rumors (Saturday) going around our Park about it's sale to the big Parkbridge company is that the deal has been squashed a second time.  For Kelly and I that would be Okay because we kinda like the Park the way it is.  Quiet, slow moving, and we're not buried under a mash of hard and fast rules.  And we know current fees, etc. will remain basically the same.  From reading about the Parkbridge Company we know our living costs here would rise if they took over plus there would of course be a huge disruption.  And I'm sure they would have a list of rules and regulations long enough to choke a Giraffe.  All and all it's still an unknown waiting game for we residents until some kind of official notice is either posted or not.  Likely not.  Only thing we Seniors can do is try to ring out as much excitement from all this as we can.  Getting to be a bit of a soap opera I'd say.  But at least it's a little bit of mild excitement and anticipation for us.  And you know we folks need all the excitement we can get around here just to keep our blood flowing and hearts pumping on these long cold boring winter days.

A ROADSIDE STOP

::An Archive Post::  January 23rd 2015 found the Bayfield Bunch in Utah jeeping around Canyonlands National Park. I tell ya folks the scenery never ends in the Great American Southwest and this day was just another one of so many great days we have spent over our 13 years of Snowbird travels.  It seems like I can go to our blog Archives and randomly click on any date of any year we have traveled and find ourselves surrounded by beautiful scenery.  Here's my post for the day.  Jeeping Around In Canyonlands Utah

::Al's Musical Favs:: Breezin' by George Benson

GROANER'S CORNER:(( 

Husband:  My wife is missing. She went shopping yesterday and has not come home!

Officer:  Age? 

Husband:  I'm not sure. Somewhere between 50 and 60.  We don't do birthdays.

Officer: Height? 

Husband:   I'm not sure.  A little over five-feet tall.

OFFICER : Weight?

Husband:   Don't know.  Not slim, not really fat.

OFFICER :  Colour of eyes?

Husband:  Sort of brown I think  Never really noticed.

OFFICER :  Colour of hair?

Husband: Changes a couple times a year.  Maybe dark brown now. I can't remember.

OFFICER :  What was she wearing?

Husband:  Could have been pants, or maybe a skirt or shorts.  I don't know exactly.

OFFICER :  What kind of car did she go in?

Husband:   She went in my truck.

OFFICER :  What kind of truck was it?

Husband :  A 2017, manufactured September 16th, pearl white Ram Limited 4X4 .with 6.4l Hemi V8 engine ordered with the Ram Box bar and fridge option, led lighting, back up and front camera,

Moose hide leather heated and cooled seats, climate controlled air conditioning.  It has a custom matching white cover for the bed, Weather Tech floor mats. Trailing package with gold hitch,

sunroof, DVD with full GPS navigation, satellite radio, Cobra 75 WX ST 40-channel CB radio, six cup holders, 3 USB ports, and 4 power outlets.  I added special alloy wheels and off-road Toyo tires. 

It has custom retracting running boards and under-glow wheel well lighting.   At this point the husband started choking up.

OFFICER :   Take it easy sir,    We'll find your truck.

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