SERGEANT JOHN & HIS HUDSON HORNETS

REMEMBER THEM BIG BACK SEATS YEARS AGO:))


We first met Sergeant John back in December last year when Kelly posted a question on the RV Net Forum http://www.rv.net/forum/ about boondocking spots around Sierra Vista Arizona. John responded on the forum saying he lived in the area & worked at nearby Fort Huachuca so new the area well & daily traveled the very road we were presently boondocking near. We corresponded with him back & forth for a bit & John dropped in to see us one Friday afternoon on his way home to Elfrida from Sierra Vista. He extended an invitation for Kelly & I to drop in & see him & his wife after we got settled in our McNeal ranch sitting job. To-day we dropped in & met John again, his lovely wife Jackie, & their cute little dog, Mattie. She's a little peach. THIS 1951 HUDSON HORNET HAS HAS WON MANY AWARDS & APPEARS ON VARIOUS CAR WEBSITES


John is a car buff & his two vintage Hudson Hornets have been a big part of his life for quite a few years. Lovingly cared for they have won many awards & been to countless car shows across the country. John once had the largest Hudson website on the internet.......until AOL pulled the rug out from under many subscribers a few years back & he lost the whole site. Much of it was backed up but John just hasn't got around to setting it all up again. WHEN CARS WERE CARS


The cars had been under winter wraps in John's large garage until to-day. The dusty covers came off & the Hudson's came out. A gun metal blue & gray 1951 Hudson Hornet & a pale yellow & green 53 Hornet. The 53 actually came from Saskatchewan Canada & John drove up their to trailer it back. The farmer he bought it from actually sent him the front license plate a couple of months later. You can see it in to-day's photo album. THIS 53 HUDSON HORNET CAME FROM SASKATCHEWAN CANADA


It's been awhile since I was around older cars & despite being about 8 years old when these cars were popular they did bring back memories for me. The overall rounded design of the car reminded me of the Chevs, Fords, & Dodges of that era as well. The big chrome grills, large whitewall tires, wrap around sun visor, & the big hood ornament. They all had hood ornaments back in those days as well as big chrome bumpers. The cloth designed & soft cushy seats, big round chrome centered steering wheel, the large round speedometers, & the big thumping bass sound of the single speaker in the middle of the dash. These were the days when cars were cars & quality meant what it said. No shortcuts, no plastic pieces, no back room politics about giving the consumer minimum amount of product for maximum amount of money. Those were the days when you trusted the cars your neighbor built. Those were the waning days of the last great decade of trust. Those Hudson Hornets came from the 1950's. And those Hudson Hornets in John's garage to-day were just about as new as the day they were made. And that was nearly 60 years ago & that says something about quality!!
A VIEW FROM THE BACK SEAT OF THE 53


Jackie & John live in the little burg of Elfrida north of Douglas, Arizona. They have a class A motorhome & generally travel in the summer months. They have covered all of the lower 48 States. John says the Army had occasionally sent him on training classes around the country & when that happened they took their RV with them. Great way to travel & see the country. This summer they heading over to California. KELLY'S NEW PAL, MATTIE

We don't often socialize a whole lot but I must admit it was nice to actually be sitting in a real stick house again to-day talking to some interesting people. Second day in a row for us & we're beginning to feel like social butterflies. When your living in an 8 x 33 box day after day it kind of blows you away when you step into someone's real house. Their kitchen is huge and they even have a real full size rec room basement under their house. I can't even remember the last time I was in a rec room basement. I had one in a new house a long time ago when I lived in Stratford, Ontario & it was my favorite place to hang out. Cool in the summer & warm in the winter. No outside noise & what a great place to run & hide when your wife had things for you to do. JACKIE & JOHN AT HOME IN THEIR COMFY LIVINGROOM


Yep, that basement brought back some memories alright, just like them there Hudson
Hornets......................


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TO-DAY WE MET 2 INCREDIBLE PEOPLE & THEIR 106 LEGGED FAMILY

ROSANNA & HER BEST PAL & MOM, CAROL

On our journey through life we occasionally meet some fascinating people along the way who turn out to be true kindred spirits. And so it was this morning as we met 2 big horses, 3 mini horses, 4 curious goats, 3 inquisitive sheep, 5 exuberant dogs, 9 passive cats, 1 large feathered & sometimes noisy blue/gold McCaw, a rather handsome & lengthy King snake, & of course 2 wonderful spring chickens named Carol & Rosanna. Actually, Carol & Rosanna are the human Mother & Daughter side of the Paws & Hooves ranch near Sunizona, Arizona. And yes, definitely spring chickens.
MMMMMM, I LOVE MY OATS

Can't exactly remember how we first came across the Paws & Hooves ranch but I'm thinking it was probably from an RV website or fellow bloggers about 4 months ago. A chance encounter with fellow RV'ers Doug & Joanne http://www.mytripjournal.com/ourdream in Yuma last December brought the P&H ranch to the forefront as Doug & Joanne were good friends of Carol & Rosanna. That meeting in Yuma also directly led us to our ranch sitting job here near McNeal Arizona where we met Jeannie & Ray who of course were very good friends of the P&H ranch as well. We soon began emailing back & forth with Rosanna & that eventually led to our visit to-day. And, another chance meeting on the internet with a lady in Wisconsin turned out to be Rosanna's sister, Donna. Yes, I know this is all a bit complicated & I'm not even sure if I have it all straight but I it never ceases to amaze me how a lot of scattered & random RV people are all interconnected somehow. It's a very small world out here on the road indeed.
MY NAME'S PAL & I'M THE BIG NUMBER ONE YARD BOSS AROUND HERE!!


Everyone we met spoke highly of Carol & Rosanna & without exception everyone said the same thing..."you just have to meet Carol & Rosanna, they are the best people ever!!" And so this morning we took a drive up to Sunizona & the Paws & Hooves ranch to meet the ladies. Carol is Rosanne's Mother & at 85 she truly is a spring chicken. They are genuine animal lovers & all the critters on their ranch have been rescued from bad situations at one time or another. These are dedicated people & look after all the critters on a daily basis. And they care for these animals with all the love you could ever imagine. SO, YOU NEVER SEEN AN ALIEN BEFORE??

We first met Fred the King snake. A rather lengthy fellow residing in a large glass case in the living room. Fred was just in the early days of waking up from his winter's hibernation. A rather handsome fellow as he slowly moved about in his environment looking for a snack. An ear piercing screech brought our attention around to a large blue & gold McCaw sitting in a big cage near a window. His name was Chile & I think he figured we were paying too much attention to Fred. All this time little Tooti the wee dog was dancing around us nervously barking. I'm sure she considered us intruders. I can't remember all the cats names but some were sleeping & some welcomed us with open paws. Wow, this was just our kind of place.
MY NAME'S FRED....WHAT'S YOURS


Outside we met 3 mini horses, & what sweet little fellows they were as they nuzzled up to the fence for a pat on the nose. All the critters on the ranch have names but being on the north side of 60 now, my memory didn't retain them all. The goats & sheep kept their distance but they followed us everywhere with those slotted & mysterious alien eyes. All the while in the barnyard we were accompanied by a large friendly dog who's name was Pal. He is the official yard boss. Next was 2 large horses with one being an Appaloosa. Rosanna fed them & it was funny to see them toss the loose hay on the ground to get at the oat kernels in the bottom of the feeder. Carol was busy topping up the water tanks.
THE ANIMALS ON THE FARM COME FROM RESCUE CENTERS


In the large front yard 3 big friendly dogs just about bust the fence down trying to get our attention. These guys were really hyped for our affection so Rosanna opened the gate & turned em loose. We were nearly bowled over with frantically wagging tails, large jumping paws, & big slurpy smooches. These guys were wired & I loved it. Dogs are my all time favs. Dogs I can bond with.....we have a lot in common:)) GET OVER HERE MISTER & I'LL PUT A SLURPY ON YA


And what is it that holds this magical animal farm to-gether? Well, "you just have to meet Carol & Rosanna, they are the best people ever." You have to see the love that comes from these two to-wards their animal family. They are dedicated hard workers. At one point I saw Carol carrying a long iron fence post across the yard. Did I mention Carol is 85:)) They told us about the diamond back rattlesnake they had living in their shed for awhile. They let it be & it let them be after Rosanne had a talk with it. The snake lived there until the local vet moved it for them while out at the ranch on a call. Rosanna is an avid & serious hiker having done the Grand Canyon twice, top to bottom. And rafted down the Colorado River through the canyon as well. She has hiked trails in Europe & is out once a week on long hikes in the nearby Dragoon & Chiricahua mountains. In the gloom & doom of our worldly times the personalities of these 2 ladies is like a big breath of fresh air, a warming ray of sunshine, or just a great big glass of feeling good. It was truly an honor for us to meet the whole warm hearted 110 legged Paws & Hooves crew to-day. And one with no legs.........see, I didn't forget ya Fred.........................ssssssssssssssss:))


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WEATHER'S WARMING UP....TIME TO LOSE THE HAIR!!

THE HAIRCUT

Guess the Arizona heat is re-arranging a few brain cells again. In last night's blog I thought the computer was messing up the calendar dates again. Nope, weren't the computer at all, just a little bit of my very own foggin in the noggin!!

For any night skywatchers out there you will see the moon & Venus very close to-gether to-night plus Comet Lulin is passing very close to Regulus in the constellation Leo. Better dig your binoculars out because it's not easy to see. Look for a small puff like dot of fog. Nope, you won't see a tail of sparks flying off it either. Remember the old Buck Rogers series on TV back in the 50's with the rocket ships going by & smoke & sparks coming out the back. My, my, how things have changed......for the better in some cases!!
CLEANING & RE-ORGANIZING SOME BINS THIS MORNING

We have had a few more inquiries about the paint we used for our motorhome walls. I have answered those directly but for anyone else who might be interested....The paint we used for the walls here in the motorhome is a satin finish latex. I went into Wal-Mart last year to the garden center & picked up a clay flowerpot. Took the flowerpot to the paint department & had them read it with their paint meter & that's how we came up with the adobe color.WASHROOM PAINTING IS FINALLY DONE

Jeanie & Ray, the ranch owners popped in to-day from Tucson. They had some property business to take care of over in Bisbee so slipped back to the ranch in their truck & decided to take the new jeep for a spin. Ray was needing a jeep fix for sure. Nice visit & it was good to touch base on our ranch chores. Before they left they were happy to hear that we haven't been feeding the horse's hay to the chickens or the chickens "scratch" to the donkeys. Scratch is chicken feed which comes in big bags. Needed a new bag of scratch this afternoon so carried one over from the driving shed. Saw some scratch trickling out of the bottom so knew there was a small hole in the bottom. Set the big bag of scratch in the large galvanized trash can & opened the bag. Well, it was a good thing I opened the bag & not Kelly because.......out popped a little grey mouse. Cute little fellow & up until that moment he had that whole bag of scratch all to himself. He wasn't long in skittering his way under the driving shed again. THIS LITTLE MOUSEBANANA IS ZONKED

Looks like we've got a definite warming trend going on here so figured it was probably time to get rid of some longer winter hair. Kelly tied me to a chair in the yard & went to work on my head with a scissors. Not quite a buzz cut but maybe next time. A man has to work his way up to these things you know. I actually think she got more hair out of my ears than off my head. Can you imagine that ladies.....hair growing out of your ears. Now there's a show for Oprah or an interview with Larry King!!

BEFORE & AFTER THE HAIRCUT (you can tell I'm really dragging the bottom of the barrel for pictures to-night)

The planet Venus & the moon are side by each to-night. Not too often you see a conjunction like that between those two. To-morrow we are heading up to Sunizona to meet some people with a ranch called, Paws & Hooves. They are friends of Jeanie & Ray's & have been following our blog for a few months now. I understand they've got a fair few critters up there so should be interesting. MOON & THE PLANET VENUS CONJUNCTION

Hey Sarge, we hope to drop in to see you on our way back from Sunizona to-morrow. Not sure what time though. We might have a pet horse in the back seat........................................ No photos for the web album to-night. YES I KNOW DEAR....I HAVE TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE BEARD NEXT

No photos for the web album to-night........but soon:))

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