OUR TRIP TO THE VET WENT WELL BUT THE MOTORMOUSE GETS A CASE OF THE SHAKES

It has been well over a year since I cut my 4 coffee's a day down to 2 with both being morning coffees & nothing after 11 a.m.  And, the second one of those two morning coffee's is decaffeinated.  That coffee cut was suggested by my Doctor in response to me mentioning about my  sleeping difficulty.  Seemed to work for awhile but it still has been many years since I can remember ever having a good night's sleep.  Lately I have sometimes been starting my days as early as 3 a.m. & by noon I am a total Zombie for the rest of the day.  Not good!!

KITE SURFING OFF BAYFIELD’S BEACH WITH A TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT LAST WEEK

 

 

     

SAFELY BACK ON THE BEACH

Our trip to the Vet went off without a hitch this morning.  Pheebe was a brave girl as her stitches were removed.  No problem with the tummy stiches but the dew claw stitches caused her to flinch a bit.  Only took a few minutes & she was done & bouncing around happy as ever.  Next, it was Motor's turn to get her nails clipped.  Kelly held her tight as the Vet technician snipped away.  The little Mouse was shaking like a leaf and by the look on her face you would have thought her nails were being pulled out & not clipped. 

   

 
“OH SAVE ME MOM, SAVE ME”

Thanks to folks for sending in some travel destinations for the Bayfield Bunch.  Some good ideas there & we have put those suggestions into our 2011/2012 travel pot.  I will be soooooo glad to put this long hot summer behind me and get back on the road once again heading for more unknown new adventures and destinations.  Sitting in one spot for months at a time is fine.......if your a stone!! 

Managed to scrape together enough energy this afternoon to take Pheebs for a walk around the trail and for the first time in nearly 9 years on that trail I actually sat down under a tree for a few minutes waiting for my batteries to recharge.  No battery recharge for the Speedball though.  She just goes and goes and goes.  I probably ran out of energy from just trying to keep my eyes on the furry speeding bullet racing up and down the trail.

JUDY identified the bird in my post last night as a Double-Crested Cormorant.  I, in turn, mistakenly typed in Double Breasted Cormorant.  D’ya suppose my mind was maybe not on it’s work.  Thanks to Ed for pointing out my error and I have since corrected it.

 
AN EARLY SIGN OF AUTUMN
Nice feeling knowing we will be traveling on basically all new tires this year with our rig.  We replaced the two front tires before leaving last November & on the way home in March we replaced all 4 rear tires on the coach in Kingman Arizona.  They were just looking too bad to drive any further.  I remember someone saying years ago about good tires being the cheapest insurance one can buy.  We put all new tires on the Jeep last summer as well and as I recall, the Santa Fe got all new rubber in the Spring of 2010 too.  Whewwww, that was a lot of rubber in one year!! 

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Doing a good deed......
A fellow finds himself in front of the Pearly Gates. St. Peter explains that its not so easy to get in heaven. There are some criteria before entry is allowed.
For example, was the man religious in life? Attend church? No? St. Peter told him that's bad.
Was he generous? give money to the poor? Charities? No? St. Peter told him that that too was bad.
Did he do any good deeds? Help his neighbour? Anything? No? St. Peter was becoming concerned.
Exasperated, Peter says, "Look, everybody does something nice sometime. Work with me, I'm trying to help. Now think!"
The man says, "There was this old lady. I came out of a store and found her surrounded by a dozen Hell's Angels. They had taken her purse and were shoving her around, taunting and abusing her.
I got so mad I threw my bags down, fought through the crowd, and got her purse back. I then helped her to her feet. I then went up to the biggest, baddest biker and told him how despicable, cowardly and mean he was and then spat in his face".
"Wow", said Peter, "That's impressive. When did this happen"?
"Oh, about 10 minutes ago", replied the man.

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GODERICH TORNADO DAMAGE PHOTOS....5 DAYS LATER

https://picasaweb.google.com/117858411710794543295/GODERICHONTARIOTORNADOSUNDAYAUGUST2120115DAYSLATER

Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

Until one has loved an Animal, their soul remains un-awakened.

OUR BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

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

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.

PHEEBE’S FIRST RIDE IN THE MOTOR HOME…AND MOTORMOUSE COMES TOO:))

IN OUR FRONT YARD THIS AFTERNOON  (NIKON D40 at 300mm
It is only crickets I hear in our Pine forest now with an occasional Blue Jay's shrill call breaking Nature's quiet.  Forest's are in early seasonal transition from late summer to early Autumn and the magic is already upon us.  Pheebe and I did the Pine trail twice today and I couldn't help but notice the beautiful silence in the air as we walked along the forest path.  Spring songbirds are no longer in the trees and Summer's flying insects are nowhere to be found.  Dappled sunlight filters through a Pine scented canopy of trees leaving dappled patches of light on the soft forest floor.  From now until the time we leave for the Southwest in mid October it is my favourite time of year.  

 
JUDY IDENTIFIED THIS AS A DOUBLE CRESTED CORMORANT ON THE POND THIS MORNING  (CANON SX21OIS)
Pheebs was due to have her stitches out Wednesday but she is doing so well we moved it up a couple days and will head off to the Vet first thing in the morning.  Motormouse is going along as well to have her nails trimmed.  I think this is the first time the newly reformed Bayfield Bunch will all be together in one vehicle. 

IT WAS A DOUBLE ‘LAP DOG’ KIND OF A DAY  (NIKON D90)
Been about a month since I've had the Motor Home out for a run so loaded the guys in the rig this morning to see how the Pheebs was going to like riding in the big house on wheels for her first time.  Motormouse took up her usual position on the front seat with me driving and the Pheebster free to ride wherever she wished except in the front driver's area.  Our 25 minute drive was a rousing success and Pheebe was as good as gold.  Noticed she liked riding in the exact same spot Checkers used to like.  Just behind the front cab area at the top of the steps. 

 
Only glitch on our morning ride had to do with our turn signals.....they weren't working!!  Four way flashers worked but not the signals.  A quick check of the owner's manual told me it was likely a 15amp fuse so with a bit of wiggling and snorting I managed to wedge myself between the front seat and steering column long enough to remove and replace the suspect fuse.  Extracted myself from my precarious position, switched on the ignition and hit the left turn signal.......holy smokes it worked!!  A very major accomplishment for AL.  He actually changed a fuse and it worked:))  Will wonders ever cease.


An old friend of mine who I grew up with in my hometown of Tavistock dropped by for an hour Saturday.  Craig traditionally comes up to the annual Zurich Bean Festival every August and before heading home to Kitchener he has been dropping around to say hello.  Weather was good Saturday so he was on his Motor Cycle.  Coincidentally, Craig and I had been in Goderich this past Friday for the same purpose of having a look around and taking pictures of the Tornado damage.  We didn't run into each other because I was there in the morning and Craig was there in the afternoon.  He flew his 'Grumman' airplane up to the Goderich airport and then walked all the way into the town of Goderich.  Below is a series of photos Craig took from his airplane as he flew over the town of Goderich.  You can clearly see the Tornado's path as it came ashore at the Salt Mine & then rolled on up through the town center.  Thanks to Craig for sending me the photos.  
 
 
 

Today, Edwin K joins the Bayfield Bunch as Blog Follower 325.  Welcome aboard Ed and with any luck we should have the big wheels rolling in about 6 weeks:))

GROANER'S CORNER:((  The State of Florida had a problem. The drug busts over the years had filled their storage areas with marijuana. It was decided that their only option was to burn all of the marijuana on hand.On that eventful day, a huge mound of marijuana was torched. The fire raged, and the smoke of the weed lifted in a large cloud. Just at this time, a flock of terns flew though this cloud.
A group of forest rangers were sent out to assure the well-being of the terns. They followed this flock until they finally landed. The rangers, sneaking up on the terns, were able to observe them and issued a report that read: Not a Tern was left unstoned.
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GODERICH TORNADO DAMAGE PHOTOS....5 DAYS LATER
https://picasaweb.google.com/117858411710794543295/GODERICHONTARIOTORNADOSUNDAYAUGUST2120115DAYSLATER Tourists see the world, travelers  experience it.

Until one has loved an Animal, their  soul remains un-awakened.
OUR BLOGGER WEBSITE  http://thebayfieldbunch.com/
OUR PICASA PHOTO ALBUMS   http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy
The only thing better than right now  will someday be the memories of right  now...AL.

A FEW TRAVELING THOUGHTS AND A FEW CONCERNS

HIKING PALM CANYON IN THE KOFA MOUNTAINS OF ARIZONA

Had I not loaded up the furry guys this afternoon and taken them in to town for a Cold Cut Combo sub at Subway my day would have been totally eventless.  Later this afternoon I did a load of laundry to get some of the Sub's honey mustard and sub sauce out of my shirt.  Seems whenever me & the Kids go out for lunch, I end up doing laundry!!
Watching the Pheebs racing around on our morning walk we couldn't help but think of some perils she will be facing on our upcoming journey.  I don't think Pheebe knows what a Skunk is or a Cholla Cactus.  Javelina's are extremely dangerous to an unwary young dog & we are always on the lookout for Coyotes.  Of course we have Coyotes right here nearby as well. 

THE RUGGED KOFA MOUNTAINS AS SEEN FROM OUR BOON DOCKING SITE SOUTH OF QUARTZSITE, ARIZONA….WE JUST MAY BE SPENDING SOME MORE TIME IN THESE MOUNTAINS ON THIS WINTER

Traveling with three 13 year old dogs is not be the same mind set for us now traveling with one 13 year old and an energetic 2 year old.  We will have to carefully re-think old habits for her safety.  I have always worried about rattlesnakes in the southwest especially as it begins to warm up in March but we have never encountered one so far.  We well know the importance of dog obedience classes & how they can save a dog's life so we are looking forward to beginning our classes with the Pheebster a week from Saturday.  The classes will run for 6 weeks.

SAND HILL CRANES OVER THE SULPHUR SPRINGS VALLEY WITH THE LIGHTLY SNOW DUSTED MULE MOUNTAINS IN THE BACKGROUND…PHOTO TAKEN FROM ‘THE RANCH’

We also threw around some ideas on our walk about destinations this winter as well.  Warmth will be our prime focus so that is probably going to mean the Yuma area for a time.  We may very well re-visit the Ajo region again for awhile as well as the Kofa Mountains south of Quartzsite.  These areas of Arizona are generally warmer than other regions.  If we are not needed for Ranch sitting this year we may not be back into the South-eastern area of Arizona until on our way back home in March when the night's are warmer.  I imagine we will hit Borrego Springs California at some point again for sure too.  And, of course we are always looking for new and unique out of the way places so if anyone has any suggestions for the Bayfield Bunch we would love to hear them.  No, we are not interested in RV Parks or Cities of any kind.   For any new readers, we much prefer boon docking off by ourselves with just the wind in the cactus and a clear canopy of silent stars overhead every night.

THIS WINDING ROAD LEADS THROUGH THE AJO MOUNTAINS IN ORGAN PIPE CACTUS NATIONAL MONUMENT SOUTH OF AJO, ARIZONA
Sitting here in our sun room this afternoon staring out the window on all the lush thick green jungle like foliage surrounding us it is hard to imagine in less than two months our environment will completely change.  The distances we can see from our house here in Bayfield is measured in yards while the distances visible in the Southwest are measured in as far as the eye can see.  From shrubbery just a few feet in front of me now to the tops of Mountains 40, 50, & 60 miles away.  From small patches of night sky visible through our tall pine trees here to sweeping night vistas from horizon to horizon.  From a few visible stars to thousands.  Our world will change to that of endless Mountain ranges with breathtaking beauty around every turn.

We will be in the land of fiery sunrises and smokey sunsets every morning and every evening.  A land of deep colourful rocky canyons, forests climbing ever higher on the mountain sides, rivers snaking their way across canyon floors and great desert terrains sporting green swatches of stately Saguaro cactus.  For the little boy inside me it is the land of my childhood dreams.  It is the land of Cowboys and it is the land of Indians.  And, it is the land where Indians and Cowboys still roam and are still a part of everyday Arizona life in the West:))

I am not a person who looks too far beyond of where he is anymore and with the way things are going now with the economy I have to realistically understand that each year we are fortunate enough to head south for the winter could very well be our last.  After all, this dream life does not last forever.  When we started RVing a few years ago I was far more optimistic about a long RVing future whether it was going to be Full Timing or Snow Birding.  Simple realities of life have chipped away at that optimism over the years but if we can get ourselves on down to the Great American Southwest once again this year I will consider that a treasured bonus.   We will deal with the following year and all it holds, when it gets here……………and not before. 

 

A COUPLE OF HIGH FIVE’S AT THE GATE WHEN KELLY GOT HOME THIS AFTERNOON  (CANON SX210IS)

GROANER’S CORNER: 

Heard on a public transportation vehicle in Orlando.
"When you exit the bus, please be sure to lower your head and watch your step."
"If you miss your step and hit your head, please lower your voice and watch your language. Thank you."

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GODERICH TORNADO DAMAGE PHOTOS....5 DAYS LATER

https://picasaweb.google.com/117858411710794543295/GODERICHONTARIOTORNADOSUNDAYAUGUST2120115DAYSLATER

Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

Until one has loved an Animal, their soul remains un-awakened.

OUR BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

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

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.