NOT GOOD MEDICAL NEWS FOR A FELLOW RV'ER & BLOGGER

WILDFLOWERS ALONG THE TRAIL

Kelly had a rare day off so she headed for Cambridge this morning to visit her daughter Sabra, a couple grandchildren, & also two sons, Ben & Jason. She has another daughter in Vancouver & one in Spain. All good kids & they are all doing well. MAX WALKING THROUGH A FIELD OF WILD DAISIES & CLOVER

I had a mobility van run this morning but when I arrived at the facility where my passenger was, she had decided she didn't want to go to the Optomitrist to-day so I turned around, took the van back & came back home. I enjoyed the leisurely drive through the countryside though.

Had a few questions about the camera/telescope set up. The camera & scope were not designed to work to-gether but with a T-ring adaptor & 2" extension tube the camera can be fitted to the scope. It's not an ideal combination but it will be fine for me. Camera lenses designed for cameras are the best way to go for sure but the costs can be very prohibitive. Cameras with matching lenses have automatic focus & exposure control making them easier to use. Lenses are lighter than telescopes as well. The telescope/camera combination I have gives me the equivelent of 720mm. I have noticed in my Astronomy magazines that Canon cameras are the camera of choice for astro-photography. Different software, sensors, etc than the Nikons. I like my Nikons but if I was doing it over again I would seriously consider switching over to Canon. They seem to have a wider range of lenses & accessories & Canon lenses are much easier to find than Nikkors

CHECKERS PLAYING HIDE & SEEK IN THE TALL GRASS ALONG THE PATHWAY

While in London yesterday I also decided to finally buy a new tri-pod. My old ailing Slik 88N tri-pod is 31 years old & literaly held to-gether with duct tape & binder twine. I've been nursing it along for years & didn't have the confidence in it to safely support the much heavier telescope now. I have bought 3 of my last 5 camera's plus lenses at Henry's camera shop in London's Masonville Mall. It's a very popular & well known camera chain based out of Toronto. Have been in the London store 3 or 4 times & have never found the staff friendly. Maybe it has something to do with the generation gap. They are mostly all younger kids, aloof, with a know it all attitude, & a touch of arrogance. They may have all the technical smarts & product answers but they have no people skills. None!! Zero!! Zip!! Zilch!! I managed a one hour photo lab & store for a couple years in Stratford Ontario two decades ago so I know about retail staff, customers, store ethics, policies, & how to treat people. I would strongly suggest to Henry's they enroll their retail staff in a basic, "how to treat people with respect course." But, I don't think it's just Henrys because I have noticed it other places as well. I have a feeling it probably has more to do with younger retail people not having patience or respect, & not knowing how to interact with older folks. Afterall, we are at an age now where we probably represent their parents & a lot of them have a chip on their shoulder about that!! Just my opinion............. MY BEAT UP 31 YEAR OLD TRI-POD HAS SEEN BETTER DAYS

Fellow RVers & bloggers DOUG & JOANNE received some bad news regarding Doug's health in the last couple of days & some future travel plans may have to be re-arranged or cancelled. We first met Doug & Joanne when they emailed us while we were boondocked west of Yuma Arizona last December. We met them at McDonald's in a Yuma Wally-World & they later boondocked near us in the California desert. We later met them again while boondocked near Boreggo Springs. It was Doug & Joanne who were directly responsible for Kelly & I getting that great little ranch sitting job near Douglas Arizona earlier this year & we're hoping to meet them again this November at the ranch. JOANNE, DOUG, KELLY, & I AT WALLY WORLD IN YUMA....... DECEMBER OF 08

I have uploaded some of July's photos to our Picasa Web Album site to-day at JULY 09. There are some additional photos from last Sundays stop in the Goderich harbor to see the Point-Counterpoint II boat.

TO-DAY'S HUMOR: What do you call cheese that is not yours? Nacho Cheese.

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

A PRODUCTIVE CAMERA AND TELESCOPE DAY

STOPPED ON MY WAY HOME FROM LONDON FOR A FEW TEST PHOTOS IN A ROADSIDE SWAMP

Monday morning weigh-in....209. Well, at least I'm holding my own & I haven't reverted back to my bad old eating habits:)) NIKON D40 MOUNTED ON THE NIGHTHAWK SCOPE FOR MORE TEST PHOTOS IN THE FRONT YARD

Seems there's a big black crow who seems to take great pleasure in perching outside my window every morning at dawn & crowing me right up out of bed & onto my feet. Oh well, different lows for different crows!! I THINK THIS CAMERA & SCOPE ARE GOING TO WORK WELL TO-GETHER

Since hauling my telescope out & dusting if off a few weeks ago I have been in touch with O'NEIL PHOTO in London in regards to what accessories I needed for the scope to make it adaptable for my Nikon camera as well as some different powered eyepieces for Astronomy purposes. This morning I packed up the camera & scope after breakfast & headed off for O'Neill's Photo in London. Joe O'Neill was expecting me & it didn't take him long to round up the necessary pieces for the scope. He has the same Nikon Camera I have & because this was actually Joe's old scope he was familiar with how everything worked. I had traded in my monstrous Celestron Dobsonian at Joe's 3 summers ago for the Stellarvue Nighthawk I now have.
With some instructions, a few test photos out the window, & a hardy Hi-ho Silver, I was on my way home again secure in the knowledge I now had a dual purpose scope with which I was finally happy. More test pictures from our front porch at home later confirmed my satisfaction. Going to be a learning curve though when it comes to something called "exposure" but that's ok because it's going to push me into the more creative side of photography & make me do more of the thinking rather than just letting the camera do everything for me. I have got a bit lazy over the years with, "automatic this & automatic that!!" The Nikon camera cannot automatically adjust the exposure with this scope set up so that is now up to me to figure out using the manual settings on my camera. So far so good & I'm encouraged by the first test results. UNDERSTANDING EXPOSURE CONTROL

I was reminded of my short term memory while reading WANDERING WILLY'S blog last night. He had lost a lens cap & it took him awhile to figure out where it was. I carry a favorite ball cap in the saddle bag of my motorcycle for whenever I stop somewhere. When I take my helmet off my hair is such a floppy floop I have to put a ball cap on so I don't scare anybody. Yesterday while in Goderich I had the hat on while walking around taking pictures of the Point-Counterpoint II boat docked in the harbor. Upon returning to the bike & set the hat on top of a saddle bag while I put my helmet on, jumped aboard the bike, & roared off for home. Well, me & the bike made the trip OK but my hat obviously decided to stay behind. So, all you nice Goderich folks up there, if you happen to see a powder blue baseball cap with the words, Las Vegas on the front could you please pick the little fellow up, dust him off, keep him safe, & send me an email:)) Our addy is on the website. I thank you, my floppy floop thanks you, & I'm sure my hat will thank you too. Came across a fellow's blog a few days ago that had fallen through the cracks & been lost in our bloggers file for awhile. He had first contacted us while we were in the southwest this past winter. Ivan at the time was traveling alone having recently lost his pet cat & traveling companion, Harley. Noticed he had some nice mountain photos from up around Lake Louise on his site so sent him a note to say hello. He not only found another traveling companion, he found two. Not only is there another cat in Ivan's life, there is a girlfriend too & they are about to depart on a roadtrip to the Yukon. Slip on over & hitch yourself a ride with Ivan & the gang at ROADTRIP 09 as they head to a place Johnny Horton sang about years ago.........North To Alaska:)) EVEN OUR PLANTED PLASTIC FLOWERS IN THE SHADE DON'T LOOK TOO BAD:))

And, did you know RICK has himself some competition in the family. You've heard of dueling banjos but that ain't it. How about.........dueling bloggers!! Yep, Paulette has set herself up her very own quilting site called, SWEET PEA QUILTING AND CREATIONS. Welcome aboard the "Blog Log Express" Paulette. Hang on tight cause it leaves the station most every night..............................:))

TO-DAY'S HUMOR: Went to buy some camouflage trousers the other day, but couldn't find any.

I'm going to start putting another photo album to-gether to-morrow for the month of July. I have a few more pictures from Sundays American Waterways Wind Orchestra boat in Goderich harbor.

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

HALLELUJAH JAMBALAYA

GODERICH HARBOR.....SALT MINE TOP CENTER & FREIGHTER CSL TADOUSSAC ON THE RIGHT

Well, it just don't figure. Now that I've decided to sell the motorcycle......I just can't stay off it!! Spent another enjoyable 4 hour cruise this morning wandering the back roads of Huron County. Found one secluded road that I had never been on before so that was a bonus. New scenery. This particular narrow gravel road (Balls Line) wound it's way through a swampy forest eventually dead-ending me in a gravel pit. The canopy of trees in places made it so dense it took on the look of a tunnel. Good thing I had on my leather jacket & Helmut because the mosquitoes in there were as big as baseballs. JUST GOTTA LOVE THESE OLD COUNTRY ROADS

Can you imagine the commotion I caused this morning as I rode through the farming community with Hank Williams tune, Jambalaya roaring out of my wind pipes. I was making more noise than the motorcycle & it's a good thing I was moving because by the time the farmers made it to the ends of their laneways with those rotten eggs & tomatoes to throw, I had already breezed on by...........Hallelujah Jambalaya!! TYPICAL RURAL SCENE

I eventually worked my way back to-wards the Bluewater highway near Lake Huron north of Goderich. Stopped at the Goderich airport & had me a look at some airplanes in various stages of being re-painted. Sky Harbor Aircraft is a well known company specializing in aircraft painting. Word has it that some movie stars have flown in here to have their planes done. Think a few years ago actor Kurt Russell flew in to have his plane done here. He is an FAA licensed Private Pilot holding single/multi- engine and instrument ratings.
SKY HARBOR AIRCRAFT PAINT COMPANY AT THE SKY HARBOR AIRPORT NORTH OF GODERICH'

From the airport I headed about a mile & a half into Goderich swinging down to-wards the lake & the north side of the Maitland River. Saw a strange looking craft in the water on the far shore so swung back out of the north harbor, into town, & back down to the lake on the south side of the river where this blocky, square looking vessel was anchored with a bunch of people milling about. Name on the boat or barge or whatever it was said, Point-Counterpoint II. In much larger letters on the side of the craft it said, American Waterways Wind Orchestra & beneath those letters was a complete sound stage. This boat, based out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is a floating concert hall & art center complete with Galleries & lodgings for some of the master students who perform in ports across North America. They had arrived in the harbor Friday & performed a waterfront concert last night which we sorely missed. We knew the concert was coming but forgot all about it. Too bad because I would really have liked to hear them. Overheard some folks saying the opening number last night was Aaron Copland's, Fanfare For The Common Man.HARK, WHAT STRANGE CRAFT DOTH YONDER LIE!!
THAT IS A COMPLETE SOUNDSTAGE IN THERE & THE SIDE COMES DOWN WHEN THE BOAT IS OUT ON THE LAKE. CAST OFF THE BOW LINE MATEYDWARFED BY THE MIGHTY TADOUSSAC.POINT-COUNTERPOINT II DEPARTING THE HARBOR YOUNG MUSCIANS WAVING GOOD-BYE BOAT, CREW, & MUSCIANS, HEAD OUT INTO THE LAKE MAKING STEAM FOR THEIR NEXT PORT OF CALL & MOONLIGHT CONCERT

It had been awhile since I had laid a good cleaning on the motorcycle so from Goderich I headed back to Bayfield & spent the next few hours washing & waxing the bike. Hmmmmmm, am I sub consciously trying to convince myself to not sell the motorcycle now.........????

TO-DAY'S HUMOR: An invisible man marries an invisible woman. The kids were nothing to look at either.

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