OH OH, IT TURNED INTO A LOOOOONG BLOG:((

Figured it would be best to slow things down a bit to-day & take time to rest a troublesome lower back & sore leg. It's a warm sunny afternoon in southeastern Arizona making it a perfect day for wiling away the hours quietly reading my Walter Cronkite biography.

Kelly had a Yoga class this morning so it was a good time for me to empty some tanks, get the dishes done, do a little vacuuming & get some puttering out of the way before cruising into a relaxing afternoon.

Also might be a good time to answer questions from some blog followers.

-Someone asked a question about our fulltiming RV life.
At this stage of RVing we are still just winter snowbirds heading to the southwest for the winter. Fulltiming may very well be in our future at some point but for right now we are just seasonal.

-A question about when we will be heading home this year.
We really don't know yet when we are leaving but we're guessing it will maybe be sometime around the end of the month. We will have to get the wheels rolling on some travel plans very shortly. Is the snow all gone up there yet??

-Randy & Pam inquired, how do I get sharp looking pictures & what kind of camera do I use??
I have 2 DSLR Nikons....A D40 & a D50 & a Canon Power Shot A720IS fixed lens cam. The Canon has 8.0 pixels & the Nikons are probably the same or higher. I use a Nikkor 18-55mm zoom lens on the D-50 & a Nikkor 55-200 zoom lens on the D-40. I generally shoot on the automatic setting & let the camera do the technical work for me. I also have the camera's image quality settings set at normal or higher. I also use a great web based photo program called Picasa 3 by Google. It's a free download & I highly recommend it for people like myself who like to keep things simple. I don't use the Nikon or Canon photo programs that came with the cameras. I do have Photoshop installed on my lap top but just haven't gathered up enough patience yet to figure it out. I may consider taking some kind of Photoshop course this summer. Picasa 3 is a scaled down & simpler version of Photoshop. No, you can't change backgrounds, edit people out, put snow on mountains or smiles on grumpy old faces. But, you can sharpen up your photos, add contrast where needed, crop, straighten, enhance colors, plus a host of other things. I have been using Picasa for about 5 years now. You can find it here... http://picasa.google.com/ It also goes hand in hand with Google's Picasa Web Album program for uploading photos to the web. The photo album program can be downloaded from the Picasa 3 site.

-Someone about a month ago wondered about the availability of our ranch sitting job. I was unable to contact that person because they had not included a return addy in their comment.
There is a ranch sitting job open right now for 3 weeks this coming November in Sunizona Arizona. The ranch is called Paws & Hooves & I blogged about it on Feb 28th I think. If interested, check out my post & then email us & we can forward the email to the ranch. Also, for anyone emailing us, please put "Hello to the Bayfield Bunch" in the subject line & that way I'll know it's not spam. Well, at least until some spammer lowlife reads this that is. Also on this subject, I'm sorry if I've missed some emails out there that people have sent to our Hotmail account. It's hard knowing which emails to open or not & I've probably deleted some that were meant for us. So, if I haven't answered your email, please send it again & hopefully I'll catch it.

-Another reader asked, "how long does it take you to do your blog everyday??"
That's a hard question to answer because it depends on how many pictures I have taken. To just sit down & write the blog maybe takes me an average of 30 or 40 minutes. To add photos to the blog tacks on another 20 minutes maybe. But, if I have fifty photos for the Picasa Web Album it can take considerably longer. At the end of each day I upload all the photos from the cameras into my Picasa 3 photo program. I then have to sort the pics from all 3 cameras into some kind of story order & into one single folder. Then I start from the beginning photo of the day & look at each & every one making changes to them as I go along such as cropping, straightening, color adjustment, contrast, & image sharpening. When I am satisfied with all that I add the captions to the bottoms of the photos. Next comes the photo upload onto the net into my Google Web Albums. Fifty photos could take10 or 15 minutes sometimes. From those fifty photos I generally pick 5 or 6 to insert into the blog itself & that can take about 15 minutes. Sooooo, all & all I would say to do an average blog plus edit fifty or a hundred pictures & upload them all to the web album we are probably looking at maybe 4 hours all to-gether. Maybe 5 if I'm tired & making a lot of mistakes. It's not unusual for me to be still at the computer at midnight putting it altogether. So, bottom line............I enjoy it & that's why I do it.....flaws & all:))-Someone suggested I maybe take too many pictures.
Well, yes & no. I don't think I take too many pictures but I do agree that I put too many of them in the web albums. I generally send about 20% of the days pictures to the trash bin but I know it should probably be higher than that. I'm just not the kind of perfectionist to whittle them down to maybe 10 or 20.

-And I ask myself......why do I do this??
Ever since learning to type in High School back in the early 60's I had always enjoyed sitting at a typewriter tapping out letters, poetry, little stories, etc. Hadn't typed a word in maybe 20 years & then along came the computer age & I fell right into it. The written word is my favorite way of communication so it was a natural happening for me to take an interest in computers. The photography bug bit me back in 1965 when I was in naval boot camp up in Canada. Bought a little 35mm camera at the commissary & ran around taking lots of pictures of all the guys. In 1993 I lost interest in the photography world & rarely picked up a camera for the next 12 years. And then along came digital photography. We already had a computer by then so the digital photography interest fell right into my lap. My first camera was bought at a Staple store & was a 1 megapixel job. I literally wore that camera out in 2 years but it was instrumental in re-igniting my interest in photography. And then about 3 years ago, along came the blogging craze. Well, with my interest in typing, plus my love of writing & photography it all began to come to-gether. Add a couple more ingredients to the mix in the form of traveling & a wonderful RV lifestyle & it all leads to this moment with Mr. Blabberfingers sitting here at the computer on a sunny warm day in the middle of March somewhere between the Mule & Swisshelm Mountains in southeastern Arizona.

And, I would like add a few extra thoughts here about blogs & blogging. I try not to make the blog sound like a newspaper article with just a bunch of facts or events tied to-gether. And it's not a cook book of everything I eat every day. I try to put some thoughts & feelings into it & I try to make each blog different than the one before it. There are times in the middle of the night when I'll be bothered by something I've written, get up, turn the computer on & go back to the blog to either edit it out or re-write it. I am an opinionated person & that sometimes ends up in the blog as well & it's usually those blogs that wake me up at night. I am neither a hardened optimist or pessimist, but as a logically thinking realist I see things for the way they are & not for the way they are supposed to be. Sometimes those observations end up in the blog. And sometimes there is criticism, but as fellow blogger Rod commented once, it's your blog & you can say what you want.
Occasionally you will see flashes of anger if I get a rant going about something that upsets me. You will also find humor & that is my favorite side. When I sometimes read other people's blogs I look for the feelings behind the lines. I look for the person. I am not only interested in what they are seeing or doing but I like to know how they feel about what they are seeing & doing. I like Gypsy97's On The Road Again blog for example because she is someone who expresses her thoughts & feelings as she comes to grips with everyday RV life. It's the trials & tribulations of an older woman on the road by herself. I like her well rounded & honest writing style. Her blog comes from the heart. It tells you who she is.

Ok, it's about time I get myself outside & parked in the sun for awhile. I had no intention of getting into all of the above stuff but when your a true blue blabberfingers like me it's kinda hard to get your boots dug in good enough to get yourself stopped sometimes!!

Heard a great line to-day from the song Evil Woman by the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO)
"Got a hole in my head that the rain comes in." Now, how's that for some good old 70's song writing eh!! No photos for the web album to-night.

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

TEXAS JOHN SLAUGHTER......THE RANCH

THE RESTORED RANCH HOUSE

We were up in good time, organized, & had the Santa Fe wheels rolling by 9:30 for Douglas Arizona & beyond. The Texas John Slaughter Ranch is 15 miles east of Douglas right on the Mexican American border. Road is paved for a few miles but then turns into dusty gravel. John Slaughter's ranch seemed a long way & it was hard to imagine people having to travel by horse & cart through the rough & tumble desert all the way to Bisbee for supplies. They sure were enduring people back in those days. THE ARTESIAN SPRING WAS DAMED TO MAKE THIS POND

Texas John Slaughter
http://www.desertusa.com/mag00/jun/papr/slath.html
http://www.thewildwest.org/cowboys-western/287/Outlaws-Lawmen-of-the-Wild-West.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Horton_Slaughter

The very first thing that impressed me as we approached the ranch was the greenery. The cottonwoods were fully dressed in their shimmering green spring leaves & I couldn't get over the acres of lush green grass. This was a true emerald green oasis in the harsh dry & sometimes bleak looking desert. John Slaughter had chosen this site to build the ranch because of the artesian wells here. He dammed up the springs & made a large pond which is now the water source for all the grass & trees. It has been so long since we have walked on green grass under big green trees & it was that which impressed me more than anything else to-day except for the farm fresh smell coming from the barn. Took me right back to my childhood with memories of barns & cattle.

BUILDING WAS ORIGINALLY THE GRAINERY BUT IS NOW A MUSEUM

We were very fortunate to be the only ones there for awhile & it made touring the quiet old ranch house a nicer experience. There are many photographs on all the walls from the life & times of the folks who lived there. The buildings & grounds have been completely & lovingly restored. From the house we walked out around the big pond, under the large cottonwoods to a series of steps leading up to Mesa de la Avanzada. This was the site of the old cavalry encampment just east of the ranch where soldiers watched as Pancho Villa's army made camp before turning to attack Agua Prieta south of Douglas Arizona. This army camp was strategically positioned on this mesa with a clear view to the south for many miles into Mexico. Not much left of the fort anymore except piles of old stone walls. Geronimo, years earlier had used this same valley to travel from the Sierra Madre mountains up into the United States on his raiding parties. THE LAST OLD ORIGINAL BORDER MARKER BETWEEN MEXICO & THE UNITED STATES

Back in December a rare Blue Mockingbird was sighted at the Slaughter ranch & since then thousands of birdwatchers have been pouring into area for a glimpse of the bird. I think we were the only people on the property to-day who were not bird watchers. I saw some pretty fancy cameras & long powerful lenses as people ambled around the grounds searching for the Mockingbird. And then we heard shouts of, "there it is, there it is!!" Walked over to a group of people with binoculars & cameras snapping away at a grove of bare trees & had us a look. Could hardly see the dark colored bird in the branches of the dark colored tree but I finally saw some movement & started firing away with my little 200mm lens. It wasn't until I got home & severally cropped the pictures that I was actually able to pull something resembling a bird out of the photo. You can see my poor results in to-day's web album. http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/ The bird people were sure excited though. From there we strolled around the grounds & I stopped to have a nice little chat with some horses. They sure were friendly. In the meantime Kelly got a ride in the staff golf cart to where our car was parked up the hill from the ranch because by this time my hip & right leg were so painful I couldn't make it any further. She brought the car down & picked me up. LOOKING EAST ALONG THE THE BORDER BARRIER

From the ranch we traveled a short distance to a spot one of the staff had told us about where the last old original border marker between the countries of Mexico & the United States was located. Those markers used to be placed a mile apart. A sign said to keep out of the area but Kelly made me drive down the road to the border wall anyway. Those photos are also in the web album. It is mind boggling to think how these Mexican people come through these fences & over these walls & then have hundreds of treacherous & unknown miles & dangers ahead of them. And all they have are what they can carry on their backs. We recently found two backpacks alongside the road near McNeal fully loaded with food & I could hardly lift the one pack because it was so heavy. Can't imagine carrying that on your back in the dead of night through endless miles of unknown desert. The determination of these people is nothing short of totally incredible.AL IS IN NO MAN'S LAND BETWEEN MEXICO ON THE LEFT & AMERICA ON THE RIGHT

We were back in Douglas by 2 & Kelly picked up a few groceries at Wally-World. The pain in my lower back, hip & leg was too much & I didn't get too far in the store. Made it back to the ranch OK so guess I'll have to just back off the hiking & traveling for a few days until this problem corrects itself. Feels like it's probably a pinched nerve because I can feel numbness down my thigh to my knee sometimes. Guess it's just the price you pay for pushing the aging body a little too hard sometimes. But hey, that's what life is all about & I wouldn't want it any other way.............................:)) ANOTHER FINE END TO ANOTHER FINE DAY

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

A WEE HIKE UP TO CORONADO PEAK

Weatherman says we're going to be up in the 80's again before too long so figured we'd better get a few more good day trips & hikes under our belts before it gets too hot. Had heard there were some pretty spectacular views from Coronado Peak at the Coronado National Memorial in the southernmost part of the Huachuca Mountains.
http://www.nps.gov/coro/
http://www.desertusa.com/cor/
http://usparks.about.com/library/miniplanner/blcoronadonmemTHE SAN PEDRO VALLEY BELOW

Fired up the car & headed southwest about 9:30. Rolled up & out of the Sulphur Springs Valley, over the Mule Mountains, through Bisbee & down into the San Pedro Valley on the other side. Ahead of us in the morning sun lay the mighty Huachuca Mountain Range. We were surprised at how green & full the cottonwood trees along the San Pedro River looked. Just last week we had crossed the San Pedro west of Tombstone & they were still stark & bare of leaves. Large puffy white clouds cast moving shadow patterns on the mountains as we drew closer. Morning is my favorite time of day because it is when I have the most energy. I like to do the day trips or the hiking in the cooler morning hours, cruise through the afternoons, & crash onto my bed in a crumpled heap about mid evening. How can ya tell I'm over 64 huh. LOOKING SOUTHWEST FROM CORONADO PEAK

We always like to stop at visitor centers first when visiting parks because they have maps & advice on where to go & what to see. Talked to a park ranger outside for awhile & he was full of ideas for us about the surrounding area. Told us where to find Fort Rucker's ruins so looks like we'll be heading back to Rucker Canyon again shortly. That's the road where we picked up about 45 pounds of dust inside the car & unfortunately, inside my cameras too.

The drive from the visitor's center up to the parking lot at Coronado Peak is a graveled road with twisting winding switchbacks wide enough for only one vehicle in many spots. It's not a drive you want to make in a hurry. There are no guardrails & the drop offs are sudden & dramatic. Kelly refused to look over the edge as we made our way up. Big parking lot at the top as the road continues on by & down the other side of the mountain into Mexico. The views were spectacular from the parking lot & we noticed a trail heading higher in the direction of a peak to the south. This was Coronado Peak. Kelly went about half way & I continued on up to the peak despite an increasing pain the last few days in my right hip. Pain doesn't count when your doing something you really enjoy though.

THE HUACHUCA MOUNTAIN RANGE

The view from the peak was totally awesome & I was so happy that there were no people there to destroy the quiet tranquility of the moment. The view into Mexico extended maybe a hundred miles. I could see the wall between Mexico & the United States extending from the foot of the mountain east to the horizon over near Bisbee. To the west was a vast flat plain ending in mountain ranges in all directions. Same thing looking south into the heart of Mexico. Once again as I stood there in the morning sun with the big fluffy white clouds overhead & the blue hazy mountains on the horizon I thought to myself how lucky I was to be there seeing all this beauty before me. There were no human sounds up there, just the wind in the grasses & the tiny flitting birds in the cactus. But my time alone on the peak was precious as I scurried around taking photos here & there. I knew I didn't have much time because I could already hear the clatter & clamor of people approaching on the trail below. Nothing like a bunch of chattering people to destroy one's quiet thoughts & reflections. I bid a final adieu to a place I will not likely see again & began the descent down the scenic stone step pathway, all the time snapping pictures to my left & right of the valleys & mountains on both sides of the ridge. The group of people coming up the trail were all busy twittering away as they went by & I was reminded once again of why I avoid groups of people. There is a feeling of peace to be had in the outdoors but it's not possible to attain when surrounded with domestic blusterings of politics, economic issues, health concerns, bitching & complaining & just downright dumb stuff. Heavens knows I can do all that by myself without having to have people around to add more bull to my own blusters!! LOOKING SOUTH INTO THE HEART OF MEXICO

Kelly was seated on a bench in the parking lot enjoying the views when I got back. We rustled up the binoculars & had us a good look down into the sweeping countryside of Mexico far below to the southwest. Chatted with a fellow from Michigan & watched a young border patrol officer scanning the roads below with his binoculars as well. This is a very busy area with a lot of illegal aliens moving across the border below. THE HUACHUCA MOUNTAIN RANGELOOKING EAST TO BISBEE & THE DISTANT MULE MOUNTAINS ON THE LEFT HORIZON

The drive down the mountain was just as hairy as the drive up but before long we were out of the mountains & heading back across the San Pedro Valley for the little Alpine town of Bisbee. First stop was Jimmy's Hot Dog Company & then across the road for groceries at Safeway. Grabbed a cup of expensive burnt tasting coffee at Charbucks again & then it was off to the Bisbee Library to return some DVD's & pick up a few more. We were back to the ranch by 3 & cruised through the rest of the afternoon rather quietly. Kelly got a campfire going later on & I slipped out to watch the full moon pull itself out of a heavy cloud bank over the Swisshelm Mountains. All our dogs are fine, the ranch animals are in good shape & aside from 7 donkey eggs to-day it was another fine day for the Bayfield Bunch.....................:)) THIS MORNINGS SETTING MOON OVER THE MULE MOUNTAINS

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/