LASER COMPUTED EMBROIDERY ON OUR NEW CAPS

KEVIN SOEHNER LETTERS UP SOME BALL CAPS FOR US TO-DAY

Turned out to be a dull gray day with sporadic rain showers for most of the morning. Just as well because it turned out to be a busy day on the computer with emails coming in & emails going out. One email from El Centro in California came from a school district requesting permission to use some of my photos from the Tumco Mining site & the Salton Sea area this past winter on their about to be redesigned website. I happily agreed & will receive a photo credit. A nature magazine in England last winter published one of my desert photos in conjunction with an artist's rendering of a salamander as well so it's a nice feeling to know people are enjoying the photos. Just goes to show you never know who's looking at your stuff:))

Both Kelly & I generally wear hats in the southwest quite a bit & it dawned on us last winter that we should be wearing hats that told where we are from. After all, I wear my Arizona hat up here quite a bit so it's only fair we wear Bayfield hats down there. Problem was in finding Bayfield hats/caps we like. There were a few in some shops in Bayfield but nothing we really fancied. Last week Kelly came across a place in Goderich that not only sell the kind of hats we wanted but they also put on the hat whatever you want. So, this afternoon we headed for
Goderich on some errands & thought we'd stop by the place to have a look.

N'SEW ON (and so on) is located at 53 South Street & we were surprised to be greeted by such a friendly personable fellow by the name of Kevin Soehner. (friendly retail people are as scarce as hens teeth these days) He dropped everything he was doing, showed us some hats, & explained how the high quality custom embroidery process worked. Within the space of 35 minutes he had done up two new hats for us plus embroidered BayfieldBunch.com on the back of my photo vest to boot. It's all done by some manual labor on Kevin's part, a lot of instant mathematical computing by a computer & some very accurate laser-light precision sewing by a fast stitching machine. The 5 minute process for each hat took 2,880 stitches to make up the words, Bayfield Ont. Canada. The photo vest lettering took 6,400 stitches & was done in a short 12 minutes. In Kevin's advertising it says they're fast turnaround time & friendly service make them an ideal place to do business with. Well, we can sure attest to the friendly service & fast turnaround time alright. Not often you find a fellow as pleasantly humorous as Kevin Soehner anymore. And the best part was yet to come. I was busy taking pictures while Kelly paid for everything & when we got back to the car I cautiously asked how much it all came too & was floored by the answer. I sure didn't expect to pay 1950's prices in 2009. What a pleasant shock it was to FINALLY have something done that wasn't an out & out money grab. Thank-you Kevin for giving us a little hope for the human race's moral & ethical business practices again. Kevin doesn't have a website (he's waaaaaaay too busy) but can be reached by email at nsewon@gmail.com
I will include a few pics in the blog to-night & put the rest of the photos in June's web album shortly.

Also had an email from http://www.fulltime-rving.com/ with an invitation to join the site & submit an RVing story which I did. So all & all it was a very busy day despite all the gloomy weather outside. And Kelly forced me to pose for these pictures!!
PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/
WE PURPOSELY KEPT THE LETTERING LOW KEY

FIXED KELLY'S HAIR & SQUARED OFF MY BLACK HAT

PIONEER PARK SUNSET OVER LAKE HURON, BAYFIELD ONTARIO CANADA

It seems I was standing on a white sailboard with a large dark green canvas sail overhead. Someone was standing beside me silently talking. The sailboard appeared to be sitting in a small grassy parking lot somewhere at the foot of a steep hill. I was aware of many songbirds somewhere & they seemed to be drawing me away from my friend beside the sailboard. I could see his lips moving but it was only birds I was hearing. I struggled to get back with him but the strength of twittering birds prevailed & slowly pulled me toward the light of consciousness & out of my dream. As I slowly opened my eyes I could hear the morning's songbirds outside my window and saw directly in front of me a pair of big brown eyes just beyond my nose. Cora, our little Motormouse dog was curled up right there on the pillow peering intently at my puzzled face. What a great way to start another day:))

Well, my great start to the day didn't last long as I stepped on the scale for my Monday morning weigh-in & was greatly disappointed to see the number 209 appear on the read out. This is a gain of 3 pounds from last Monday morning. With the exception of one piece of rhubarb pie two weeks ago, one strawberry shortcake a week ago, & one bacon & egg breakfast I have totally stayed away from all sweets & fried food since starting out. Very discouraging for me to say the least!!

Thanks to all the folks for sending in suggestions on our Bayfield Bunch logo. Made the suggested changes this afternoon, straightened out a few lines on the coach, re-aligned the headlights, re-did the grill, put a green dress on Kelly & a blue shirt on me. Fixed Kelly's hair & squared off my black hat too. Oh, & I added a set of clearance lights at the the top of the rig as well. Kelly's youngest Son in Cambridge owns his own graphics business so we are going to send the logo over there & he can figure out the correct sizing, etc. Right now the logo is more of a square than a rectangle. Neither Kelly or I wanted to wrestle with those mathematical configurations on the printer set up here at home.

YOU CAN SEE SOME OF THE CHANGES I'VE MADE.....THANKS GUYS:))

Kind of a strange weather day with pockets of rain randomly coming in off the lake whenever they felt like it.......

TO-DAY'S HUMOR: A man woke up in a hospital after a serious accident. He shouted, 'Doctor, doctor, I can't feel my legs !' The doctor replied, 'I know you can't - I've cut off your arms !'

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HAVING A WHIRL AT CREATING A LOGO

The rains began sometime in the night & continued on & off for most of the morning. Our dog walk was rained out as was any other outside activities. In all Microsoft operating systems is a program called Paint. I had never paid much attention to it over the years but on this rainy Sunday morning it was about to get my undivided attention for an hour or so.

I'd had it in the back of my mind for quite awhile to try my hand at designing a Bayfield Bunch logo. Just a little something we could put on a piece of paper or card to exchange with fellow RV'ers on the road. It would save having to scramble for a pen & piece of paper to scrawl email addresses or websites on.

Started out by going to Clip-Art sites on the internet & trying to find drawings of cactus, trees, a motorhome, etc. Found some pictures but couldn't quite figure out how to join & size them together so gave up after a bit & decided to have a go at drawing the stuff myself. It was at this time I remembered Microsoft's Paint program so with mouse in hand & a bunch of uncharacteristic patience I set about figuring out the programs tools, brushes, lines, pointers, pencil markers, colors, erasers, text & whatever else it had in it's little bag of tricks. Logo at the top of blog is a first draft. Any suggestions for changes.??

Haven't figured out how I'm going to get this logo onto paper yet when it's done but Kelly has a lot more experience with printer programs & formats so maybe she can figure out the workings of our seldom used printer & come up with something. Regardless, it was kind of a fun way to spend an hour or so on a dull gray & rainy Sunday morning.........................:))

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

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THE "OOOOOPS" FACTOR

I WONDER HOW MY 3 MOST BEST ARIZONA PALS ARE DOING...........
GLEESON ON THE LEFT, PEARCE TOP CENTER & CORKY ON THE RIGHT:))
What a bunch of wild & crazy guys they are:))
(Click pictures to enlarge)

While reading Travels of John & Bridjet this morning I was reminded of the OOOOOPS factor & stories I've heard about RV'ers backing into trees, catching roof air conditioners on low hanging branches, tires flattened on high curbs, awnings torn off in high winds, open bin doors spilling contents onto the highway, tow dollys & vehicles becoming detached from their tow vehicles, 5th wheels being dropped onto truck beds & just about anything else you can imagine. And, of course we have had our share of OOOOP's as well:((

Last summer a pine tree jumped out from behind another pine tree & OOOOOPSED off an open rear bin door. Two summer's ago while moving the rig forward our carport must have swung on it's cement post foundation & OOOOOPSED an open screen door into a twisted pretzel. Pulling out of a campsite in Silver City New Mexico last November I nearly OOOOOPSED a whole electric post right out of the ground with the driver's side of the motorhome. I have also pulled out & OOOOOPSED a couple of electrical cables. OOOOOPSED a rear hydraulic jack last November near Alamogordo New Mexico when I dropped the rig down too hard on an over extended jack. OOOOOPSED both sides of the rig with some nice desert pin striping while motoring through chollo shrubs in the desert looking for boondocking sites near Why, Arizona. Two years ago we OOOOOPSED both dual wheels on the passenger side into a ditch in Lindsay Ontario while trying to make a tight right hand turn into a darkened parking lot late one night. OOOOOPSED our satellite dish in Quartzite Arizona by not anchoring it down properly & having a big north wind slam dunk it into the desert floor & if I were to think about it for a bit more I could probably come up with some other additional good OOOOOP's as well!! Click here to read about our LINDSAY OOOOOPS two years ago:((
And to you guys out there who would never admit to an OOOOOPS......good luck keeping your socks dry while walking on water!!

Had a mobility van run this afternoon & I was once again reminded how fortunate most of are. Having to spend your middle age confined to a wheelchair all alone in a couple small rooms dependant on medications for the rest of your life is not a fate I would wish upon my worst enemy. Very sad.

Looks like a wet rainy week heading our way so I might have to get my rubber ducky out & put my water wings on again........................... "Glub Glub"

TO-DAY'S PUN: Two cows are standing next to each other in a field. Daisy says to Dolly, 'I was artificially inseminated this morning.' 'I don't believe you,' says Dolly. 'It's true; no bull!' exclaims Daisy.

And did you know......The most dangerous animal in the world is the common housefly. Because of their habits of visiting animal waste, they transmit more diseases than any other animal.

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NICE MORNING FOR A BACK ROAD MOTORCYCLE RIDE

I MISS MY MOODY MOUNTAINS (Borrego Springs, California)

The humidity was gone out of the air to-day making for a really pleasant morning. Perfect for a motorcycle ride so I headed off out into the countryside. Local country roads were hard packed from recent rains & dust free making for some nice enjoyable slow scenic riding. My favorite kind:)) Years ago Kelly & I went on a "Food Drive" motorcycle run with about 40 other motorcyclists. It was a 4 hour ride with a couple of stops in between & it was the first time I had ever ridden with a bunch of other motorcycles. By the end of the day I knew I would not be doing that again. For safety sake each bike is confined to a small riding block in the formation & if you stray out of that block there could be a serious collision with another bike. Not my idea of a relaxing enjoyable ride so if & when I go somewhere................ I go solo!! Never was much for group decisions anyway.

We lost a neighbor to cancer yesterday. Just recently retired & looking forward to spending summer vacation & travel time with his wife & little dog. Had just purchased a newer truck & travel trailer this past winter. He was only 62 & it is a reminder that at this age & stage the hands of time are winding down much quicker on all of us. Do whatever it is you want to do now............. while you still have your health!!

When is a travel blog not a travel blog? Does it cease to be when the traveler's return home? Does it lose it's travel status when the blogger stops blogging about travels or does it lose it's status when the blogger blogs about thoughts, feelings, & opinions of non traveling issues? Hmmmmmm, just curious.........................

TO-DAY'S PUN: Two cannibals are eating a clown. One says to the other: 'Does this taste funny to you?
And did you know.......Flea's can jump 130 times higher than their own height. In human terms this is equal to a 6ft. person jumping 780 ft. into the air.

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AWWWWW NUTS, I MISSED THE HAIL STORM TO-DAY!!

AND WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE FOR CHRISTMAS PRETTY LITTLE GIRL

Ho Ho Ho...........6 months from to-day will be Christmas. I didn't get any pictures for the blog to-day so have included some pics from Christmas Day 2 years ago in 2006 when the Bayfield Bunch was staying in Pancho Villa State Park in Columbus, New Mexico. We had gone to a Christmas Day dinner put on by a volunteer group of town's people at the local hall. After the turkey dinner we heard what we thought were sleigh bells on the roof & the next thing we knew Santa Claus blew through the front door with a big sack of presents for everyone. Kids & Seniors alike all ended up on Santa's knee that day including Kelly & I:)) HELP, GET ME OUT OF HERE!!

It's been about a month since I last took the motorhome for a run so took it out for the 16 mile around the country block tour this morning. Everything checked out fine & the rig ran like a fine tuned swiss watch. We have been very pleased with this coach since purchasing it used back in April of 2007. It's not a high end motorhome & the workmanship & materials used in the coach are nothing to write home about but the Chevy Workhorse chassis, Vortec engine coupled with an Allison transmission, have been very smooth & reliable. SOME LOCAL ENTERTAINERS

I couldn't help but think as I was driving along this morning how much I wished we were still on the road traveling somewhere. I've been to Canada's east coast several times but Kelly has never been there. I have always wanted to return to British Columbia for a visit since leaving there in 75 too. Would like to travel the coastline of Oregon & Northern California as well & summer is really the best time to do that. Montana, the Dakotas, Washington, Wyoming, Idaho, & others await. When I look out the window & see the motorhome just sitting there month after month it just kind of drive's me buggy. So much to see & do yet & so little time left to see & do it all in!! That economic downturn last September & the winter's downslide of the markets sure rocked us back on our heals & forced us to re-consider our future plans. I'm still hopeful though that we will have many years of mountains & canyons in our future. Sitting at home watching the world pass us by is not an option!!!!
COLORFULLY DECORATED HALL WAS FILLED TO CAPACITY LATER

Heard thunder out over the lake & noticed dark skies to the north in the direction of Goderich late this morning. Had some errands to run in Goderich anyway so grabbed my cameras & headed off in hopes of getting some storm pictures on the beach there. As I approached the harbor area the rains came & within minutes it was raining so hard I couldn't get out of the van anyway. What I didn't know was that back in Bayfield the town was being pummeled by hail. Just as well I didn't know that because I would been going bonkers worrying about our solar panels on the motorhome's roof being smashed. I saw what hail did to Kelly's car years ago so I know the damage hail can do. By the time I got out of Wal-Mart & headed back to Bayfield the storm was over. It was later reported on the local 6 o'clock news that a tornado touch down had destroyed a house about 60 miles inland from us. Soon as I got home I scampered up the rig's ladder onto the roof & much to my relief the solar panels had withstood the hailstones & were fine.

And Ontario's liquor stores have averted the big bad booze strike so countless thousands of hard core drinkers have stepped back from the brink of absolute panic & are once again comfy in the knowledge they will have a perfectly normal alcohol infested summer after all................................

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ALAS, AN EMAIL FROM FELLOW RV BLOGGER GYPSY:))

ALL PHOTOS IN TO-DAY'S BLOG ARE OF A FLOWERING ASTILBE IN OUR FRONT YARD

It's been nearly a month now since fellow RV blogger Gypsy97 headed off to Lassen Volcanic National Park in northeastern California for a summer job & disappeared off our cyber radar screens. She is doing well & sent us the following email this morning which I'm sure she wouldn't mind me posting here.............................. "I came to Sacramento for the birth of my granddaughter (9:17 pm yesterday). I'll be here for a couple of days before heading back to Lassen Volcanic National Park. I love it there, although I have no electricity (also troubles with the generator), no cell phone & no internet. I'm supposed to use the Park radio that was issued to me to keep in contact, but I am at such a secluded spot the radios don't work all that well. Love the folks I work with, the campers are generally nice, but once in a while I have to deal with stuff.It is really a paradise up there and I'm looking forward to returning for a few summers to come. I have been keeping an update for my blog, and will try to get it posted before I leave Sac. It'll be a long one, but I will divide it up into smaller parts. Left my reading glasses back at the Park so I will have to buy yet another set of drugstore glasses to see what I'm doing. (I can barely read what I'm typing here, but you will get the picture.)I miss y'all too, but I will be back." Gypsy When I hear the chorus of songbirds outside my window in the morning I know it is 5 a.m. & time to roll out another new day. I don't know exactly why I get up that early but I just do. Figure if I were to sleep in till 9 or 10 I would probably think I had died & figure the day was half over anyway so what's the point of getting up. Well, that's my logic anyway.

Disappointed this week to find out my back to back 5 a.m. Andy Griffith TV shows have run their course & been replaced by something called Matlock which I have no interest in. Oh well it's just nice to sit quietly by the open patio door & listen to the morning's early song birds. Even the old noisy crows have their kaaa kaaa-ing song parts in the treetop symphony of sounds. Sandra's blog yesterday mentioned a common nuisance for this time of year & for the rest of the summer as well. "BUGS" Our morning's walk yesterday was brought to an abrupt halt when we entered the pine forest. I was immediately swarmed by cluster flies, mosquitoes, & flying hippopotamus's which are brought on by warmer humid weather. One of the reasons we like the American southwest so much in the winter is it's lack of bugs. Walking, hiking, & all outside activities are always pleasurably bug free:)) Spent some time motoring through our beautiful rural farmland again this morning. Crops are quickly emerging from farmer's fields & acres upon acres of waving grass are already being cut for feed & hay. An eye catching swatch of bright yellow on the horizon turned my attention to a large wild mustard crop amid a sea of greens for as far as the eye could see. Many farms along the roads compete for attention with their sweeping mowed lawns, stately maple trees along gravel lanes & colorful flowerbeds around the houses. Cattle & horses lazily graze in sun splashed pastures. It all makes for beautiful country scenes you may only see on picturesque calendars. I really must get out there with my cameras & take some pictures.

TO-DAY'S PUN...... Two peanuts walk into a bar, and one was a salted.

And did you know there are 206 bones in the adult human body and there are 300 in children (as they grow some of the bones fuse together).

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