GOT GOOIE LOUIED AT THE BBC IN BISBEE TO-DAY

I'M ABOUT TO GOOIE LOUIE MYSELF

We had some DVD's from the Bisbee library to take back before we leave soon so it was off to Bisbee we went this morning. Before we left I spent some time checking the motorhomes tire pressures, oil, trans fluid, radiator fluid, etc. Wanted to get that done early in the morning when the air is still cool & comfortable enough to do things like that. Grabbed a shower & we were westbound for Bisbee by 10. No Mexican back-packs along the way on Frontier road this morning. Got me a real nice fleece lined denim work jacket out the last backpack we found but feel bad for the fellow who lost it by suddenly having to shed his heavy load. If I knew who or where he was I would return the jacket to him but that's not likely to happen. LOOKS LIKE KELLY'S GOT SOME HEAVY READING AHEAD OF HER

First stop in Bisbee was a Thrift store & I actually made it in & out of there without spending my dollar. Next was Safeway for groceries & then off to the Bisbee Breakfast Club for lunch. That is one very busy place & we had to wait a few minutes for a seat. We had heard they have good burgs in there so I immediately went to that section of the menu. Just below the standard burg was something called a Gooie Louie so without further hesitation I knew anything with a name like that has got to be good. And so it was. Topped with mushrooms, onions, & Jim Bean's barb-e-que sauce it had a great flavor. It comes complete with home cut fries on a bed of lettuce, tomatoes, & ucky pickles. I'm not a pickle person!! This was a great burg & lived up well to it's name. Two thumbs up for the BBC's Gooie Louie:)) Kelly had something called a Grilled Coffee Chicken Breast. Don't ask, I have no idea what the coffee has to do with it. She said it was really good & ate the whole darn thing all by herself. BISBEE'S CITY PARK

Next stop was the Library to return the DVDs. Really nice old stone & brick building right in the heart of downtown Bisbee. This is one great little town & the more you get around to see, the greater it gets. You have to drive the narrow hillside streets as well as walk them. Everytime we go there we discover new things. It's hard for me to find the right words to describe this town so if your in the area just go to Bisbee & take a few days to walk the town & it's cliffhanging back streets & alleys. Climb it's thousands of steps, & enjoy it's quaint little cafe's & shoppes. This town is a photographer's paradise. Everything is here. Architecture, color, ambience, nature, landscapes, old cars, characters of all description, flowers, trees, an abundance of old buildings, history, birds, etc. etc. etc. The absolutely rare Abyssinian Asscrather bird has even been seen here nesting in an old sleeping hippies beard. Art studios & crafts are everywhere. Of all the towns & cities I've seen in my lifetime I would have to say Bisbee is at the top of my list as far as interesting places to visit. If I was forced to live in a small town again I would choose Bisbee Arizona & if I was a talented young professional photographer I would definitely make Bisbee my home for awhile & absolutely photograph the complete heck out of the whole darn place. I LOVE THE BOLD COLORS IN THIS TOWN

Last week when we visited the Texas John Slaughter Ranch east of Douglas & forgot to mention something about the road leading to the ranch. It's called The Geronimo Trail & it was the inspiration for Stan Jones's 1948 country hit song, "Ghost Riders In The Sky." I have misplaced the literature but it was along this trail either during or after a thunderstorm that he was inspired to write the song. One of my favs & I have the Vaughn Monroe version in my music library.

Checkers let the chickens out to-day again................................. OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

ROUNDING UP ALL OUR EMAIL FRIENDS

ON THE COCHISE TRAIL IN THE DRAGOON MOUNTAINS FEB 23/09

We knew it was hot out to-day when Kelly opened the barb-e-que lid this afternoon & the sun automatically lit the propane burners. Pearce & Gleason, the ranch dogs barricaded themselves in the cool ranch house & refused to come out. And two of the chickens laid fried eggs!! And you know what, it isn't even the hot summer season yet. IN THE GHOST TOWN OF CHARLESTON NEAR SIERRA VISTA JANUARY 28/09

Spent the biggest part of the morning on the computer gathering to-gether scattered emails, notes, & memos. I'm usually kind of well organized but our 3 email accounts had steadily been getting ahead of me. Should have set up a better system before leaving Ontario but fell into that, round-to-it stage so here I am nearly at the end of our trip organizing files that should have been done at the beginning of the trip. Sound familiar?? I came across a lot of people I had been meaning to email & stay in touch with so I've dashed off some quick emails to see if they are still out there amongst the land of the living. I always have a twinge of guilt if I don't get back to someone who has obviously taken some time out of their day to email us. Am hoping by rounding everyone up into the proper corals I'll be able to keep a closer eye on the herd. I enjoy communicating with people on the internet and don't want to leave anyone out. Just wasn't prepared for the number of emails coming in though. But, no excuses!! IN THE GHOST TOWN OF MILLVILLE

Sometimes there are website links from people in the emails, comments, or guest book pages. Some of those websites have music on them when opened. Our Verizon program allows us 5GB a month for bandwidth. Because I upload a lot of photos we just barely squeak under our quota each month & there is a heavy financial penalty if you go over. In order to wiggle under the line we don't listen to or download any music, podcasts, videos, animated jokes & cards, etc. When I hear music on somebody's website I have to turn the site off because I'm worried about using up bandwidth. This is really unfortunate because there are fellow RV'ers & bloggers out there with great sites that we're missing. No problem looking at these sites when we get home because we're on unlimited cable. But no can do while on the road. Came across some this morning while re-organizing & that is what reminded me of it. IN THE FORT HUACHUCA MUSEUM FEBRUARY 3/09

Kelly's place of employment back home is Deerpark Lodge in Bayfield. It's a seasonal business & that allows us to travel in the winter months. However, Kelly in effect, is still working. All calls to Deerpark are forwarded to a cell phone which Kelly carries with her. She handles all the reservations for the upcoming season so not only travels with a cell phone, but a big reservation book as well. That phone can ring at anytime & anywhere. We could be driving through downtown Indianapolis, eating tacos at Jilbertos in Boreggo Springs California, cresting a mountain road in the Chiricahuas, hiking a mountain trail in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, or fighting a heavy crosswind on a Kansas interstate. Makes no difference to the cell phone, it still rings. People on the other end have no idea they are talking to someone far away in the American southwest. They assume Kelly is sitting in the Deerpark office taking the call. Big surprise when some of them ask about the frigid temperatures & how much snow is in Bayfield. And now that spring is here the phone has been getting steadily busier. To-day's photos show Kelly taking some of those calls in different places we have been while I've had a camera close by. IN THE RIG FEBRUARY 10/09

Watched the second half of the Bob Dylan DVD this afternoon. "No Direction Home" reveals a Bob Dylan that I had always suspected. An ordinary talented guy with a knack for stringing words to-gether in a way that put his inner thoughts & feelings out onto the public stages of the world in a way that clearly shook up a whole generation. He was clearly uncomfortable in front of cameras & silly media questions & spurned the publics determination to turn him into some kind of great guru which he himself knew he wasn't. An honest & unassuming fellow despite all the hype. Great song writer & his music will live on for sure. It's a revealing DVD & I enjoyed it.IN THE DOUGLAS ARIZONA WAL-MART STORE FEBRUARY 8/09

Surprise visitor late this afternoon. Sergeant John stopped in on his way home from Fort Huachuca. I did a blog a few weeks ago about John & his Hudson Hornets. He didn't want us slipping away without saying good-bye. We have a bad habit of doing that so John made sure he was one step ahead of us. That's military training for ya:))

Double checked our medical coverage yesterday & realized it runs out on April 1rst so once we leave here we'll have to make some fast tracks for the Ontario border for sure.

ANOTHER CALL IN THE GHOST TOWN OF MILLVILLE ARIZONA

To-morrow will probably be our last trip to Bisbee so we want to slip into the BBC (Bisbee Breakfast Club) where we hear they put up a pretty good lunch special. I have a feeling I might get dragged through a couple thrift stores too. I'm only going to put a dollar in my pocket so I don't get carried away & blow my whole allowance for the week...........................

OUTSIDE THE CEMETERY IN THE GHOST TOWN OF PEARCE ARIZONA

No photos for the web album to-night.

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

A DAY OF REST & A BIT OF REFLECTION

CHECKERS AFTER GIVING HERSELF A DUST BATH

Checkers, our purebred black & white border collie has always had a Motherly herding instinct. She has been totally fascinated with the chickens ever since we came to the ranch last month. She loves to hang around the chicken pen watching the goings on inside of the 9 hens & single rooster. Late yesterday afternoon as I was sitting at the computer I casually glanced out the window. To my astonishment all the chickens were walking around on the lawn outside their compound. And, there was Checkers right in the middle of all the girls contentedly watching over her little flock. She had finally figured out how to open the wire gate & let the ladies out for a walk. And, she did the same thing again to-day. We may have to consider getting Checkers her very own flock of chickens when we get home. Might have to borrow a couple chickens to take with us on our way home for Checks. Suppose we could always mail them back to the ranch. MORNING WALKS...CHECKERS, MAX, PEARCE, MOTORMOUSE, KELLY & GLEASON

Kelly had a Yoga class this morning in Elfrida & then headed over to Bisbee this afternoon for a little browsing. I stayed home with the furry guys in air conditioned comfort getting caught up on some computer stuff & reading. Sure wouldn't want to be here in July & August but at least there is no humidity turning me into a bucket of paste.

Right leg is still biting a bit but after to-days big rest up (and probably to-morrow too) I will once again be leaping over tall buildings in a single bound. But running faster than a speeding bullet is by now history I'm afraid:((

THE BIG SUPER FRIENDLY CORKY BOY

I think for the first time since leaving home back in November of 08 I haven't fired off one camera to-day so I'm going to have to do some scratching & digging for a few blog pics to-night. Wasn't fast enough on my feet to-day to get a picture of Checkers & her chicken buddies either. Maybe to-morrow:)) KELLY, RAY & JEANNIE.....THE DAY WE GOT SNOWED ON

And speaking of home......I am already beginning to experience the feelings that accompany any upcoming RV move. The sadness of leaving & the excitement of moving on down the road. This time it will be particularly difficult for me because I will really miss the two ranch dogs Gleason & Pearce. And I will miss Ingrid & Tom's dog Corky who comes to the ranch on Sundays. I have a habit of bonding with dogs & it's always hard for me saying good-bye to best friends. Our time here at the ranch has been a wonderful experience for us & we have Doug & JoAnne http://www.mytripjournal.com/travel-430903 to thank for recommending us to Jeannie & Ray, the ranch owners. We have had so many great day trips around the area & thoroughly enjoyed every minute we've been here. Even when we got snowed on last month. That was A-OK because all the snow was gone by early afternoon. We have also met some great people & learned some about chickens, donkeys, horses, cats, & dogs. Learned not to throw a big shovel full of dry donkey poop into a big Arizona wind too. Learned that no matter how hot it gets during the day ya still got to wear your woolies at night. And don't carry eggs in your pockets!! Which reminds me of Calicos In Borrego Springs California where we had our first encounter with an egg pocket. OUR FIRST MEETING WITH JOANNE & DOUG IN YUMA

And there has been all the nice emails & comments from people following our blog. We have met some of those followers & now include them in our growing list of friends. For example I remember the two fellows in Quartzite who rode out of the desert one day on their ATV's & approached me while I was in the midst of putting up some flags on the rig. Figured for sure I was in big trouble again for flying the Canadian flag but it was just a couple of guys who had been following our blog & tracked us down to say howdy. So a big hello out there to Pete & Ed:)) HEY, IT'S PETE & ED IN QUARTZITE

Our focus this summer will be to make it back once again to the southwest in the fall. Our ranch sitting job will be open for us in November & that would make a great start to another adventurous 4 months in some of the gol darn pertiest country this here side of the Pecos...................................................... A CASA GRANDE SUNSET

No photos for the web album to-night.

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