AT LAST!!!! A TENTATIVE NEW DEPARTURE DATE:)))))))))

Kelly's daughter Sarah phoned from Vancouver today saying she will be flying with the twins to Toronto late this Friday afternoon.  Kelly’s youngest daughter Rebecca will be flying along as well and helping Sarah with her two energized non stop little Rag-a-Muffins.   From the Airport they will then travel to Cambridge where Kelly's other daughter and Sarah’s twin sister Sabra lives.  Kelly’s two sons Ben and Jason live in Cambridge as well.  Kelly plans to head over there Saturday and spend a couple days with the Munch Bunch.  I call them the Munch Bunch because 3 of Kelly kids once shared a house on Munch Avenue in Cambridge.  That's where our little Motormouse used to live before coming to Bayfield for Summer Holidays about 8 years ago.......and the little Mouse is still here:))

 
I STILL HAVE A FEW FROGS LEFT IN OUR PINE NEEDLE LADEN POND TO CATCH AND TRANSPORT TO THE BIGGER POND ACROSS THE ROAD
Sooooooooo, it is now looking like we just might have the big wheels rolling, at the very earliest, on Saturday November 5th or at the latest, Saturday November 12th.  Kelly would prefer to leave later in the week after the 12th but I don't like the idea of having to do either a Chicago or Indianapolis morning rush hour on a week day, depending on the route we take.  But, at least this long log jam of indecision has finally been broken and travel plans are once again moving forward.  It has been nearly a month since finding out and having to accept the fact we would not be out of here on our original target date of October 15th.  These past 3 to 4 weeks of not knowing when we were ever going to be able to leave have been totally gruelling.   Probably wouldn't mean much to most folks but when one is afflicted with this 'Hitch-Itch Traveling Fever' as bad as I am, it is absolutely grinding to just sit around every day waiting, waiting, waiting!!

I'm wondering if anyone is having problems accessing our Bayfield Bunch blog site.  Received an email a couple weeks ago from a reader saying he could not get onto our site.  Tuesday, a neighbour phoned from Florida saying she could not get the Bayfield Bunch site to load and today I just had another email from reader Lakeport AL saying he could not upload our site either.  If there is a problem, I have no idea what it could be or where to even start looking for a solution:((
 
ALWAYS NICE TO SEE BLUE JAYS AT OUR FEEDER 
Hard to find a person more devoted to the love, care and preservation of animals than Debra over at FIND AN OUTLET.   Having just lost one of her beloved pack members, Jessa in September she has just rescued her newest member, Jada.  Much of Debra's life center's around helping mistreated and poorly cared for animals in her area and my hat is off to her and anyone like her willing to take the time and make the sacrifices to help those poor unfortunate animals that are so inhumanely treated by so many humans.  Debra has repeatedly put her own safety in jeopardy in order to retrieve neglected animals from bad situations.
 
Nice feeling inside to know we will soon be on the road.  I will now re-haul out my Road Atlas’s and begin checking internet weather reports for all points west over the next couple weeks.  So great to be back in the trip planning mode again……..10-4:))

                                                                     HEY, WHO’S DAT SLEEPING ON DAD’S CHAIR >>>
GROANER’S CORNER:((  Two Irish guys are fishing. The first guy reels in his line and sees that he's snagged an old bottle. As he's taking it off the hook, a genie pops out and promises to grant him one wish. "Turn the lake into beer," he says. The genie goes "Poof!" and the lake turns into beer. He says to the other guy, "So what do you think?" The other guy says, "You jerk. Now we've got to pee in the boat."
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-Tourists see the world, travelers  experience it.
-Until one has loved an Animal, their  soul remains un-awakened.
BAYFIELD BUNCH PHOTO ALBUMS https://picasaweb.google.com/117858411710794543295
The only thing better than right now  will someday be the memories of
right  now...AL.

GUMO ASKS…"ANY TARGET DATE YET FOR YOUR DEPARTURE?”

ALL OF TONIGHT’S PHOTO’S WERE TAKEN WITH MY EITHER MY NIKON D40 OR D90
Our day for the most part was cold, gray and wet. Needless to say, the Bayfield Bunch was confined to barracks. Kelly did have some work related errands to run but the 2 Muskeeters and I stayed in, stayed warm, and played ourselves a few games of Toys. 

THE LITTLE MOTORMOUSE ISN’T FUSSY ON MORNING WALKS ANYMORE SO IT IS ALWAYS SO SPECIAL WHEN SHE COMES ALONG
JEAN AND SKIP encountered a pleasant, if not special experience near Sedona Arizona on Monday.  Might want to check it out and see what they heard and saw atop a high rock.  Clue….it was not a bird or an animal.  Just one of those times of being in the right place at the right time.   Having been to Sedona in December of 2007 I remember writing in my SEDONA POST that it was one of the prettiest towns I had ever seen.
 
GUMO asked in a comment question Monday.... “Any target date yet for your departure?”  Unfortunately, as yet I do not have that answer.  We are still waiting for Kelly's daughter to decide when she is coming to Ontario.  Last phone call 4 days ago said maybe this week so I'm guessing we won't get out of here until sometime in mid November now:((  I am encouraged by an email from ED FREY which said, "Don't get discouraged about the chances of seeing the Four Corners area. The weather changes every few days so you only have to keep and eye on what is happening. IF you get photos of Monument Valley with a dusting of snow people will go WILD it is so beautiful that pictures do not do it justice."  By the way, Ed just brought himself home his new best Pal, Patches:))
                                                                                      MILKWEED PODS >>> 
RV SUE AND HER CANINE CREW recently visited a small ghost town which still has a few live folks left in it.  Chloride New Mexico is in an area that Kelly and particularly liked back in March of 2008.  Sue mentioned what a treasure the old general store there was and I agree.  My post for that day is here at THE LITTLE WESTERN TOWN AT THE END OF THE ROAD and my photos of Chloride and especially the interior of that old General Store are HERE.

A SECTION OF OUR MORNING TRAIL WHERE MIGHTY OAK TREES ONCE STOOD
And yet another reason why I like most of the folks here in Blog Land.  A comment on last night's post from WENDY USUALLY WONDERS regarding an earlier post of mine about a suspected wheat intolerance problem was particularly interesting.  With her own related health issues and accomplishments Wendy sent along this link, WHEAT BELLY.   Again, it shows the type of caring people we have here.  Communication is information:))

SO WHAT DO YOU SUPPOSE KELLY IS UP TO WAY OVER THERE??
 
WHAT THE HECK, HAS SHE STOPPED TO PUT SOME MAKE UP ON??
 

‘OH RIGHT’, TEXTING IN THE FOREST…..  KELLY IS THE EVER VIGILANTE KEEPER OF THE DEER PARK LODGE PHONE:))
SAM has finally tracked down a pesky leak in his fifth wheel that apparently has been going on ever since the rig was originally built.  The leak source was the result of poor workmanship and had a surprisingly simple source.  Might want to double check your rigs for simple source leaks folks.
 
MANY RINGS IN THE STUMP OF THIS OLD OAK TREE THAT I ESTIMATE TO BE WELL OVER A HUNDRED YEARS OLD
And, a little photo tip......Most of last night's and a couple of tonight's leaf pictures were taken with the sunlight shining through the leaves and not on them.  This is called, 'backlighting.'  Any time you have a transparent subject like leaves, flowers, grasses, etc. try putting your subject between you and the light source.  This is sometimes easier to do in early morning or late afternoon when the sun is lower on the horizon making your shooting angle easier and the lighting softer.  With the sun shining 'through' the leaves instead of on the leaves it has a tendency to give the leaf a neon effect plus silhouetting some of the details within the leaf itself giving you nice vibrant colors.  Look for a shadowy area behind the leaf to give you a dark background.  I like to use a long telephoto lens if I can and shoot a lot of that stuff at 300mm.  At that range the range the focus is very shallow therefore blurring backgrounds and foregrounds.  This highlights the subject I am trying to bring out of the photo.  And, once again, I have my camera’s set to slightly underexpose (make them darker) each photo and that helps with the punchy colors and extra detail. 
  
GROANER'S CORNER:((  Two campers are walking through the woods when a huge brown bear suddenly appears in the clearing about 50 feet in front of them. The bear sees the campers and begins to head toward them. The first guys drops his backpack, digs out a pair of sneakers, and frantically begins to put them on. The second guys says, "What are you doing? Sneakers won’t help you outrun that bear." "I don't need to outrun the bear," the first guy says. "I just need to outrun you."
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-Tourists see the world, travelers  experience it.
-Until one has loved an Animal, their  soul remains un-awakened.
BAYFIELD BUNCH PHOTO ALBUMS https://picasaweb.google.com/117858411710794543295
The only thing better than right now  will someday be the memories of
right  now...AL.

AT MENTION OF THE WORD RV……’BLANK STARES’

TONIGHT’S PHOTOS ARE FROM A WALK IN THE FOREST LATE THIS AFTERNOON   (NIKON D40 WITH A 70-300mm LENS ON BOARD)
We have a steel roof on our place so whenever a hard rain hits us there is generally quite a clatter.  Our clatter for the day began at 4:43 a.m. this morning but that's OK, I was up anyway.  And, because this is October 24th and not December 24th I know that clatter on our rooftop was not the wee hooves of 9 tiny reindeer.  Remember, Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid , Donder, Blitzen, and Rudolph.....Ohhhh that Rudolph:))

Ever notice sometimes during certain conversations you may get blank stares.  Sometimes happens when talking to a casual stranger, somebody you just met or maybe an old friend you haven't seen for awhile.  We here in RV Land tend to take our RV lifestyle for granted.  We are all quite familiar with every day words such as RV (Recreational Vehicle), Full Timing, Diesel Pusher, Toad, Fiver, Rig, Slides, Boon Docking, Black Tank, Snow Birding, Brake Buddy, Hitch Pin, Hitch Itch, etc.  These same words however can bring a completely blank stare when talking to someone who is not of, nor is aware of the RVing world.  As strange as that may seem to us, we still have to realize and accept the fact we are in the minority of understandable and socially acceptable lifestyles.  I'm sure all of us at one time or another have found themselves on the defensive end of a conversation trying to explain the RVing lifestyle concept to someone who just doesn't get it.  I have read blogs and talked to folks, who when putting their RV dream plans together told absolutely no one about their intentions.  No friends, no business associates and in some cases, not even family.  I'm sure there are Full Timers on the road who's casual friend's have no idea where they are or where they have disappeared to.  Might even be some family members left wondering too.
   
ROCKET DOG  ON THE MOVE
One of the quickest ways to attract criticism in our society is in daring to be different.  Society tends to set a normal style of life…….as for example, working 9 to 5, couple kids in school with a nice house on a nice street in a nice town.  And a nice car in the driveway of course.  Deviate too far from this and eyebrows begin to get nervous.  Whispers can be heard.  To the majority of the norm it is totally inconceivable that someone would sell their precious car and house along with all their worldly possessions to go live in a steel and fibreglass box on wheels.   No roots, no social club, no steadfast daily routines, no same-same friends, no seeing the Grands 3 times a week or eating at your favourite restaurant 4 times a month or being in that same church pew every Sunday morning year after year after year.   How is it possible to live without the daily normalcy of routine.  How can people exist without all their 'stuff' clustered around them.

I can't remember when it was I first became aware of and interested in the RV world but it was a very long time ago.  I have always had that wanderlust feeling right from early childhood but it was probably in my first days of tent camping that my mind began to formulate the understanding and feasibility of a different kind of realistic lifestyle.  The word 'Gypsy' still did not have a good reputation back when I was a kid so one had to be careful when expressing any kind of interest in living a life other than the accepted norm.  A kid sure didn't want to be associated with those wild Gypsies after all.     Luckily, along with a lot of other old wives tales and myths, the stigma attached to the word Gypsy has long ago gone the way of the Dinosaur.  Well, at least in my sometimes topsy turvey little world it has.   
How fortunate I consider myself to be since making the leap into the Nomadic lifestyle even if it is only half a year at a time.   Our first rig back in the late 90's was a 17' Class C Dodge Centurion and from the time we headed that little RV down the road until now we have never looked back.  Although not Full Timers we do manage to spend 5 or 6 months a year as Snow Birds traveling and living in our Motor Home in America's great Southwest.  Our alternating lifestyles have brought us a far greater understanding of not only our surroundings, but ourselves as well.  Personally, I much prefer our life on the road as opposed to our sitting at home life but that's just the way it has to be right now.  My mind spends time on this problem each and every day trying to figure out a reasonable solution and agreeable compromise on how to better tip the balance in favour of spending less time at home and more time on the open road enjoying all the benefits the RV lifestyle has to offer.  A lifestyle outside the box, a lifestyle outside society's 'norm' and a lifestyle like no other………….10-4:))

GROANER'S CORNER:(( There was a man who had worked all of his life and had saved all of his money. He was a real miser when it came to his money. He loved money more than just about anything, and just before he died, he said to his wife, "Now listen, when I die, I want you to take all my money and place it in the casket with me. I wanna take my money to the afterlife."
So he got his wife to promise him with all her heart that when he died, she would put all the money in the casket with him.
Well, one day he died. He was stretched out in the casket, the wife was sitting there in black next to her closest friend. When they finished the ceremony, just before the undertakers got ready to close the casket, the wife said "Wait just a minute!" she had a shoe box with her, she came over with the box and placed it in the casket.
Then the undertakers locked the casket down and rolled it away.
Her friend said, "I hope you weren't crazy enough to put all that money in the casket."
She said, "Yes, I promised. I'm a good Christian, I can't lie. I promised him that I was going to put that money in that casket with him."
"You mean to tell me you put every cent of his money in the casket with him?"
"I sure did, " said the wife. "I got it all together, put it into my account and I wrote him a check."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Tourists see the world, travelers  experience it.
-Until one has loved an Animal, their  soul remains un-awakened.
BAYFIELD BUNCH PHOTO ALBUMS
The only thing better than right now  will someday be the memories of
right  now...AL.