MONDAY’S EXERCISE CLASS CAUSED ME TO MISS TO-DAY’S YOGA CLASS &……..THE McAFEE STORY

 

My first Yoga class this morning was thwarted by my first exercise class yesterday morning.  While feeding the ranch dogs on my rounds earlier to-day I bent over to give Gleeson a tummy rub & felt that tell-tale quick sharp jab of pain in my lower back just to the left of my spine.  My old nemesis , Mr. Backpain  was back with a sharp reminder  that he is still around!!

LOOKING SOUTH TO-WARDS NACO MEXICO

First injured my back in the late 70's while working in a factory in Stratford, Ontario.  The company made large & very heavy cast iron V-belt pulleys so there was a lot of heavy lifting & for a young guy.....the heavier the lift the better.  Oh, the ignorance & bloated ego of youth!!  Every few years I will be doing something & my back will go out with varying degrees of severeness.  One time I laid on my apartment floor for a day & a half unable to even get up to reach a telephone.  Another time a doctor came to the house & gave me a shot of something & I was able to get to my feet.  Those were the 2 extreme cases.  Other times have meant painfully hobbling around for 4 or 5 days until the disc or whatever it is eases back into place.  Sometimes the injury is immediate & other times it's the following day after an event that my back goes.  I think this is one of those times & it's too co-incidental that I was laying flat on my back yesterday at the Elfrida Community Center with my legs up in the air pretending to peddle an air bicycle.  And then there were the ab crunches on my purple mat that left me feeling like an inverted crab at a Sourdough Saturday night barn dance.  I don't suppose my clumsy elephantine aerobic dancing helped matters either.

So, here I am at home in the rig while Kelly heads off to Yoga.  My back is sore but not debilitating & I think I may have dodged a bullet by immediately arching my back this morning right after the pain.  People in physical therapy once told me to do that when I first felt that first 'hot poker' jab.  Decided not to push my luck with a Yoga class this morning but hope to give it a whirl on Friday.  And I'm really not too darned sure if I'll be going back to that bouncing exercise class again.  Ya know, them there ladies in those boot camp classes are one bunch of tough dudes....or would that be Dudettes!!

 

CORRAL IS QUIETER THIS YEAR WITH 2 HORSES GONE & THE DONKEYS STILL IN PASTURE

There has been a bit of buzz lately about Google having access to people's accounts & activities.  RICK first brought it up in his blog a few days ago & I've read some blogs since then by bloggers who seem very concerned about it.  Personally, I don't understand what all the fuss is about.  So what if they know I've used 62% of my allotted space.  It's there business to know.  So what if they know I have 16 entries on my blogger profile, 159 contacts, have joined 28 other sites, have 10 conversations in my Inbox, 739 total conversations, a sore back,193 conversations in my Sent box, 93 Spam's or 179 conversations in my Trash box.  It does however tell me it's time to clean up some files for sure.  So what if I've got 21 gadgets installed, 282 public web albums, 17,316 photos, 9 fans, 42 photo comments, 30 reader subscriptions, a tattoo of Amos & Andy on the bottom of my left foot, 3 You Tube uploads, over 60,000 hits on the blogsite averaging 275 visits a day at the moment, 607 blog posts  so far or what color my Aunt Jean's Honda is!!!!  I just think some people are totally paranoid about certain unnecessary things.  Yes, I understand the need for security & all that, but come on people loosen up & be realistic.  There is a lot more to be worried about on the internet than Google.  I see Google as a good company making this whole internet/computer thing a fun, learning, & entertaining place for people to be.   As I said in a comment on Gypsy’s blog this morning.....I'm not worried about Google coming like a thief in the night & stealing my socks!!  Oh, wait a minute......how else would they have known about my Amos & Andy tattoo!!  ‘OH OH’…….:((

 

A DONKEY DUST BATH

And, speaking of computers & internet, I'm sure a lot of you people have heard of or are currently running McAffee anti-virus software.  I'm not going to give you my opinion of McAfee or Norton but the John McAfee story is a rather interesting one.  He's the founder of the anti-software company & is quite a flamboyant & controversial figure now living in, or shall we say hiding in Belize.  We stumbled across the McAffee story by accident last week while camped at RUSTY'S RV RANCH near Rodeo New Mexico & Portal, Arizona.  He was very prominent in this area a few years ago with his Sky Gypsy Aerodrome amongst other interests.  His story borders on the Howard Hughes lifestyle & McAfee actually bought & restored Hughes's old Airstream trailer.  Now, rather than me trying to re-tell the John McAfee story I'll just put in a few links where others have told the story much better.  I will include & caption the photos of his Para-Glider hangars, RV Park for his friends vintage Airstream Trailers with matching vintage cars, the building he built which housed the Sky Gypsy Cafe & movie theater.  It was here the rich & sometimes famous people partied on the decks to Karaoke into the wee hours of morn.  Couldn't get fresh veggies out here in the desert so he built his own large greenhouse to serve his friends whims  & needs.  He lost a Nephew & friend in a nearby canyon when their para-glider crashed into a rock wall.  After a few years McAfee left the valley just about as quick as he had come.  A huge auction was held & what wasn't sold McAfee gave away to many local residents.  Rumor has it he was hiding out at the Portal store for awhile when all the legalities were going on.  I think it might have been all the red tape from his various business ventures that finally drove him out of the country.  If you have the time, check the links for his rather fascinating Hugheslike lifestyle.  A colorful character for sure.

THE McAFEE STORY

SKY GYPSY VIDEO WITH JOHN McAFEE

THE AUCTION ARTICLE

WIKIPEDIA

 

THE McAFEE SAGA…….HOVER YOUR POINTER OVER THE PHOTOS FOR CAPTIONS & CLICK ON THEM TO ENLARGE

An easy way to follow our blog or anyone else's blog, or for that matter, any website is to simply put an icon on your desktop. To do that, just open up any website in your browser & look up to the top left of the page & find the word 'File.' Click that & a menu drops out. Scroll down to the word 'Send.' Another menu with 3 options pops out the side. If you want to send that website's address to anyone, just click on 'Link by Email' & it will automatically format an email for you to send. If you want to put an icon on the desktop for that website just click on 'Shortcut to Desktop.' In our case the icon will probably appear as an orange square with a white capital letter B in the center. Now, anytime you want to go to that website just click on that icon on your desktop & it takes you directly to the site. No more rummaging around looking for the website address:))

 

SAND HILL CRANES IN THE EARLY MORN

And to answer Squawmama's (can't find your email addy Donna) question regarding Verizon.  We bought & had the card activated in Silver City New Mexico last year around the end of November.  Purchased the card outright to avoid lengthy contracts.  The 5 GB cap was already in place by then:((  Kelly phoned Verizon this  morning so see if there was anything we could do about the cap but the next program up was a 10 Gig cap for nearly $200 a month.  Definitely not an option for us.  Verizon has lowered the penalty fee for going over the limit to 5 cents a megabyte from 25 cents a megabyte.  Guess if I wasn't such a blabberfingers & photo hog we wouldn't be having this 5 Gig problem.  Oh well, I'm encouraged by the fact I haven't touched a camera yet to-day..........:))

GROANER'S CORNER:((  I was driving home from work when, out of nowhere, a bird slammed into my windshield. The poor creature got its wing stuck under the windshield wiper, so I tried to get it loose by turning on the switch. On the first upswing of the wiper, the bird flew off, slamming into the windshield of the car behind me -- a police cruiser.  Immediately, the cop pulled me over. He walked up and told me he saw what happened. "I'm going to have to write you up," he said, "for flipping me the bird."

P.S. Did you really believe I had an Amos & Andy tattoo on the bottom of my left foot....tsk tsk:))   Oh, & if you don’t remember who Amos & Andy was……………….your probably too young to be reading this blog!!

FACEBOOK READERS GO HERE TO SEE OUR ACTUAL WEBSITE COMPLETE WITH PHOTOS & MORE INFO.

BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

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

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

EXERCISE PROGRAM IN THE A.M. & A PHOTOGRAPHY PROGRAM IN THE P.M.

 

BRIGHT EYES IN THE SUNRISE

At Kelly's Yoga class last week she noticed other programs offered at the Chiricahua Community Health Center & one of those was a beginner's exercise program.  Well, guess where Al ended up this morning with Kelly prodding him through the door of the Elfrida's Community Center.  I knew I was in trouble right off the bat when it was obvious I was the only male there with 8 ladies, floor mats, wide elastic stretching bands, hand weights, & chairs.  I had seen these Senior exercise programs on TV before & now here I was about to become part of one.  So, it is true.  With the passing of the 65 age barrier I have entered into another era of my life.  I have become a Senior.  How did this happen & why did it happen to me!!!!

SOUTH SIDE OF THE RANCH HOUSE’S WRAP AROUND PORCH

Fortunately I had Kelly to lead me around by the hand this morning picking out a floor mat (purple) for me & suggesting what hand weights would be suitable.  I was hoping they would have balloons for weights.    She even brought me a chair for balancing & sitting exercises.  The instructor of course was the youngest person in the room & I of course was the odd man out in the room.  Made sure I got myself in the back row to avoid as much major embarrassment as possible.  The class lasted an hour & at no time did I feel I was doing any of the exercises remotely right.  Just a few short years ago I was smoothly moving through all 108 moves of a complex Taoist Tai Chi program & here I was this morning having trouble with walking on the spot.  Some of the leg twisting & stretching exercises shot pain through both my knees & I found that very discouraging.  My co-ordination was off & I felt like I had bags of sand in my joints.  And, to-morrow morning is my first Yoga class.........oh dear:((

Another free program offered by the Chiricahua group is photography.  Now, that one perked my interest because I'm always willing to learn new & better ways of doing things.  The 2 hour program was held in the Elfrida library at 1 P.M. with 6 people in attendance.  I think small communities always seem to have the nicest people & to-days gathering of shutter bugs was no exception.  I generally use Picasa 3.5 as my photo program but Ray & Jean O'Neal talked of another photo program called Paint.Net 3.5.  Kind of a half way  program between Picasa & Photoshop.  I have already downloaded it & will be taking it for a test drive shortly.

 

THE PHOTO GANG…..MAYBE BY THE END OF THE MONTH I WILL REMEMBER EVERYONE’S NAME

Ray also told me a place nearby called Rattlesnake Crafts which actually made it on to the ‘To-day’ show awhile back.  Sounds like we'll be heading out there soon for a day trip.  Not exactly sure what is all there but I guess that's why we're going to go. 

OLD FARM MACHINERY OR AN ALIEN COUPLE FROM ROSWELL

We are really having to scramble & re-think our on-line internet habits.  We are on a limited 5 GB Verizon Air Card & already we are over the 80% usage mark & we've still got one week to go.  We learned last year to avoid unnecessary downloads & uploads.  No using the web cam with Skype anymore & we don't send or receive large mega gobbling jokes while we're traveling.  I wonder if some of Windows Live Writer applications may be consuming a lot of bytes.  I might have to cut back on the photo album feature, decrease the size of my pics, & just simply upload less photos.  Maybe skip a blog or two which may be a reality sometime in the coming days as we rapidly approach our 5 Gig cap.  We love our air card.......except for the 5 Gigabyte cap!!!!  But, to skip a blog or two is just not acceptable

Welcome to new followers MAC & DIANNA & TRENT & TERESA.  Thanks for following our blog folks:))

GROANER'S CORNER:))  What do you call cheese that isn't yours? Nacho cheese.

FACEBOOK READERS GO HERE TO SEE OUR ACTUAL WEBSITE COMPLETE WITH PHOTOS & MORE INFO.

BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

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

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

A RETURN TO BISBEE & THE BBC

 

NO, THIS IS NOT A BIKER GANG…..JUST SOME MOTORCYCLE ENTHUSIASTS DROPPING IN FOR BREAKFAST AT THE BBC

Needed groceries this morning so it didn't take us long to get ourselves on the road heading for a small alpine like village nestled snuggly in the nearby Mule Mountains a short 30 minute drive from the ranch.  We first stumbled into & out of Bisbee Arizona 3 years ago on our way from Pancho Villa State Park in Columbus New Mexico to Tombstone, Az.  It was a nastily cold day & the mountains had seen snow.  We came into the east end of Bisbee, got spun around a couple times in a traffic circle, went past the biggest hole in the ground I had ever seen, & somehow right down into a packed little town with nary a space big enough to turn a truck & fifth wheel around.  I remember making a wide swing in a partially snow covered car infested parking lot of sorts, making a panic right turn which put us on a direct collision course with what appeared to be the lowest overhead bridge I'd ever seen.  But, there was no turning or backing up.  We both let out a gasp (ok, mine was more of @*!!*#^) waiting for the inevitable jarring, ripping, & tearing off of our trailer's roof mounted air conditioner, as we whooshed under that bridge around a tight curve to the left, saw an RV Park sign flash by (& parts of my life too) & somehow we were back up on the highway heading for Tombstone. The air was so 'blue' in the truck we had to open the windows to let all the swearing out.  Figured we had just driven through the town from hell.  Don't ask me how we got out of there without a scratch but we somehow did and that was our very first introduction to a town we would later come to love, but not see again until this past winter....3 years later.

THIS STREET REMAINS SUSPENDED IN TIME

I have a lot of photos of Bisbee that I took this past March so I am going to include the blog links & photo sites here including a tour of Bisbee's Queen Mine:

BLOGS

BISBEE FEB 12/09

BISBEE FEB 19/09

BISBEE FEB 20/09

BISBEE BBC MARCH 19/09

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PHOTOS

:ALBUM 1

ALBUM 2 

ALBUM 3

ALBUM 4

 

XKE JAGUAR PARKED ACROSS FROM THE BBC

Our first stop in Bisbee this morning was to the BBC.  No, not the British Broadcasting Corporation, but the Bisbee Breakfast Club.  This great little eatery was recommended to us earlier in the year & we have been there 3 times since.  If you make it to Bisbee be sure to eat at the BBC.  In the above photo albums you will see photos of our times there & I took a few more this morning when we popped in for breakfast.  The old main street where the BBC is located is like no other.  It hasn't been restored, refurbished, or re-done since the whole town seemed to just pack up & move away many years ago leaving this one street as a reminder to an almost forgotten era.  The street remains suspended in time.  And it is in this suspended time location that you will find the BISBEE BREAKFAST CLUB  And it was here that we found ourselves this morning bellied up to the lunch counter because as usual the place was packed & the only 2 seats in the house were at the counter.  That turned out to be a good thing because we looked directly across at the very busy open kitchen.  Just watching the 3 fellows preparing the food was like poetry in motion.  They never stopped for a second as all three of them flittered about in the small space totally focused on the task at hand.  I was worn out from just watching those guys.  Kelly ordered something kinda Mexican on the menu that I couldn't even pronounce so knew right away I wasn't gonna have that.  Settled for one of my old reliable standards.....bacon & eggs.  Food was great, service was great, & as usual......the BBC was great:))  Always quite a cast of characters coming & going here & that in itself makes the place a really interesting stop.

I WAS WORN OUT JUST WATCHING THESE THREE GUYS

View Full Album

TO-DAY’S BISBEE PHOTO ALBUM

Next stop was the Thrift Store.  Realized last week that I had forgotten to bring my short sleeve shirts.  I remember standing in front of my closet back home, picking out 5 or 6 summer shirts & laying them out on my bed & that was that.  I probably got busy with something else & it may have been a couple hours before I walked back into my room a few hours later, saw a pile of shirts on my bed, & while wondering what they were all doing there.........promptly hung them all back up.  Oh, & Rick, it's OK, there were no blood stains or bullet holes in the 3 shirts I got to-day.  I was very careful about that when I picked them out:))

HAD TO CROP OUT THIS GUYS GIRLFRIEND ON THE GREEN BIKE BECAUSE SHE HAD SOME NASTY’S WRITTEN ON HER LEATHER JACKET:))

 

The last stop of our Bisbee jaunt  to-day was to my favorite grocery store.  Yes, it's true, even men can have favorite grocery stores.  Can't remember the name of it  but it's across from Jimmy's hot dog place on the road that goes down to the Mexican border at Naco.  And why is it my favorite??  Well, strangely enough it doesn't have anything to do with food.  It's all in the lighting.  Instead of just the blatantly boring blast of neon lights from the ceiling this grocery store uses a lot of clever track lighting to highlight displays, food colors, & aisles, etc.  The store has a warm cozy feel to it, especially in the produce department.  Maybe it's my photographic eye that picks up on the soft colors, shadows, & highlights.  It's a very attractive way to display food & whoever did it is way ahead of his time.  Thank-you for making this my favorite grocery store Mister smart lighting guy or ‘ahem’..................girl:))

I HAVE MORE PICTURES OF THIS CAR IN THE PHOTO ALBUMS FROM LAST WINTER WHEN WE WERE HERE

P.S. The little yellow Tweety Bird & purple Gooble Bear that sit on the dash of our motorhome are both  from a Bisbee Thrift store & that’s why we call them……’The Bisbee Kids:))’

GROANER'S CORNER:))  A thief broke into the local police station and stole all the lavatory equipment. A police spokesperson was quoted as saying, "We have absolutely nothing to go on!!

FACEBOOK READERS GO HERE TO SEE OUR ACTUAL WEBSITE COMPLETE WITH PHOTOS & MORE INFO.

BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

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

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

I will include to-day's Bisbee photos in the following Live Writer album.......

RANCH DOG PEARCE HEADS FOR THE ANNUAL ROUTINE RABIES CLINIC IN ELFRIDA, AZ.

 

The ranch we are on is located a short 20 miles or so from the Mexican border running through Douglas, Arizona.  I blogged earlier this year about finding backpacks loaded with clothing & food along the roadsides in the area.  That is common.  I still wear a nice fleece lined blue jean jacket we retrieved from one of two back packs we picked up one day.  No idea whatever happened to the owners but the packs were probably carried for many miles through the desert nights before being hastily abandoned on a road near Bisbee.  The U.S. Mexican border running east west through the desert near here is quite visible for miles & miles.  In March of this year Kelly & I drove down to visit the Texas John Slaughter  ranch right on the border.  PHOTOS FOR THAT DAY This is the area where, 'GHOST RIDERS IN THE SKY' was written.'  We could see the actual border fencing stretching from horizon to horizon.   After we left the ranch we took a short half mile dirt road that headed right for the border itself.  Below are the photos of what the actual physical border looks like in this region.

 

BETWEEN MEXICO & THE U.S.	STICKING MY FOOT INTO MEXICO
LOOKING EAST	FACING WEST	WE SAW SIGNS OF ENTRY

CLICK ON THE ABOVE PHOTOS TO ENLARGE THEM

THIS IS THE AREA THAT INSPIRED STAN JONES TO WRITE THAT GREAT WESTERN SONG ‘GHOST RIDERS IN THE SKY’ ON JUNE 5TH, 1948

From time to time we get a question we don't have an answer for.  I was reminded of that when another reader inquired, 'how come you guys aren't on the HITCH ITCH site.  It's a good question & we have no idea why they won’t put us on.  I've sent them our Bayfield Bunch site 5 times over the past 3 years but we have never made their RV list.  We did finally receive an email last summer after my 5th attempt that said to contact them again when we're traveling.  I did that a couple weeks ago but we still didn't make the site.  We have many friends on Hitch Itch & some of them are not traveling at all right now but they made it on so the only thing I can figure is that for whatever reason the folks at Hitch Itch took a dislike to the Bayfield Bunch & that was that!!  I'm sure they are fine people over there but I won't be bothering them folks again.

Isn't it amazing how the weather holds us captive.  In Canada during the winter there isn't much you can do outside unless you happen to be a winter sports type person.  We did like cross country & down hill skiing for a few years but that was a long time ago & interests change.  Long days are spent inside where it's warm & comfy.  To go outside for any extended period of time is to risk various cold related illnesses, frost bite, & in some cases even death.  It is the main reason RV'ers in colder climates head south for the winter.  But, we can be held captive in the south as well.  To-day is a good example of that as we stay indoors out of the hot sun.  If we were in Canada right now we would be trapped in our house staying warm but instead right now we are trapped in our RV trying to stay cool.  D'ya suppose it's ever possible to please a human being!!  Rarely do we run the A/C but this is the third time this week we've had it on.  Am I complaining??  No, not at all........just stating some facts:))

IN THE RANCH’S CACTUS GARDEN

There was a rabies clinic this morning in the little town of Elfrida nearby & we were to take the 2 ranch dogs Gleeson & Pearce in for their shots.  Pearce jumped into the car no problem but try as we might we could not get Gleeson in.  She's a very skitterish girl & knew something was up right off the bat so headed off down by the hay barn despite being enticed with yummy treats.  We ended up just taking Pearce & the nice Vet guy shot him up in the back of the car with no problems at all.  Next Saturday we'll try again to see if we can get Gleeson to come along with us over to the small town of Hereford near Bisbee where another rabies clinic is being held.

 

SITTING WITH PEARCE BEFORE HIS RABIES SHOT TO-DAY

We are so fortunate to have real water here at the ranch.  It is pumped straight out of the ground right to the tap.  No poisonous chemicals added to destroy people's health.  Back home we used to have real water as well until the Government decided about 8 years ago to start dumping tons of chlorine into it.  I'm sure the Government has to be in bed with the major chlorine producing industry.  Every time we turn on a tap we are met with a wafting chlorine smell.  We don't like it, our house plants & outdoor gardens don't like & we won't even let our dogs drink it.  I don't wash any vehicles at home because the chlorine residue leaves white spots & streaks on everything.  I was reminded of all this when I washed the car here this morning & it dried perfectly spotless.  No poisonous chemical residues!!  Thanks Arizona:))

 

WE HAVE A CUTE LITTLE DUTCH GIRL ON THE RANCH WHO LIKES TO TAKE THE GANG FOR MORNING WALKS:))

Spent some time down around the hay bales this afternoon looking for a snake.  Ray said he saw a Gopher snake there a couple of days ago but I couldn't find anything.  I've never seen a Gopher snake so wasted about 5 minutes taking some tele-photo shots of an old twisted piece of rope the wind was moving around a bit.  The Gopher snake was probably standing behind me all the time making faces at the dumb Gringo from Canada!!  From there I moved on & took a few photos of some old farm machinery.

OLD FARM PARTS & MACHINERY

Have once again received some really nice emails from people this past week.  Some from home & some from other RV folks we've never met. I try to email everyone back but sometimes my memory plays hardball with my head & I forget about responding to everyone.  Now that the dust has settled a bit from our shotgun trip to the ranch I'm working on getting re-organized & hope to get back to folks shortly.  I always feel bad when I forget to answer someone.  Despite my blustery cursmudgeony side I do care a great deal for the folks who have taken time out of their day to email or leave comments for the Bayfield Bunch.  As all my fellow bloggers well know, if it wasn't for the positive feedback from caring people out there reading our blogs, none of us would probably be doing this anymore.  So, from the Bayfield Bunch & on behalf of all our friendly fellow blogsters..........thanks folks for giving us closet writers something to think & blog about each & every day:))

And welcome to Randall Carrier for climbing aboard as another Bayfield Bunch follower:))

THIS MORNING’S SUNRISE

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Back in the 1800s the Tates Watch Company of Massachusetts wanted to produce other products and, since they already made the cases for pocket watches, decided to market compasses for the pioneers traveling west. It turned out that although their watches were of finest quality, their compasses were so bad that people often ended up in Canada or Mexico rather than California. This, of course, is the origin of the expression, "He who has a Tates is lost!"

FACEBOOK READERS GO HERE TO SEE OUR ACTUAL WEBSITE COMPLETE WITH PHOTOS & MORE INFO.

BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

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

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

AN ALL ROUND GOOD ARIZONA MORNING:))

 

WE’VE GOT A LOT OF COLORFUL HOMEGROWN CHILE’S TO EAT UP NOW

It was an early start for everyone on the ranch this morning.  Jeanie & Ray had their p/u truck loaded with suitcases for their long days drive to San Diego & the cruise ship.  Rosanna from the Paws & Hooves ranch north of here rolled in with her Mom, Carol around 7:30 & piled Carol's suitcases into the back of the truck with the other 115 suitcases.  It was nice to see Rosanna & Carol again since our visit to their place last March.  Pictures were taken, hugs all around, smooches for the dogs, & lots of laughter.  Then, it was time to go.  Rosanna headed back to the ranch while Jeannie, Ray, & Carol headed for Hawaii.  Alo-ha:))

 

NELLIE BELLE, KELLY, & ROSANNA

Well, I gotta just tell ya right up front......had me the best morning I've had in years.  The energy levels finally rejuvenated themselves overnight to the point where it wasn't long before I had the ladder out with a bucket of water & sponge on the go.  Now, I'm not the kind of guy who jumps out of the rig every time we arrive somewhere & wipes the wheels & tires off but we just had too much road grime on the rig from the 2,353 mile trip to let it go any further.  We normally wear our desert pinstriping, minor scrapes, abrasions, contusions & dusty wheels with great pride.  Don't want people pointing at us going down the road all sparkly & shiny calling us fancy 'long tall shortys!!'  That was term my Dad always used for......well, you know.

“NOW MOM, I DON’T WANT YOU TO DO ANYTHING THAT”………….”YES ROSANNA, I KNOW!!”

Kelly headed into McNeal this morning for Yoga classes (I start next Tuesday) so out came my boom box, slapped my 'Sons of the Pioneers' CD into the player, cranked on some major volume, & blew 5 big Crows right off the old fence down by the corral.  Even got the donkeys ears a twitchin half a mile away.  Geeeezzzz, I love when that happens. I ain't too old to cut the mustard yet!!

THE HAWAII GANG WAVES GOOD-BYE

Another hot one to-day but at least the hot days here in Arizona are not as bad as the hot ones we have in Ontario where there is no escape from the crushing humidity.  It just envelopes you in a hot sweaty glue & won't let you go.  Maybe not as bad as Florida in the summer but bad enough for us northern folks who never really get used to it.  We have always noticed here in the southwest that there is a big temperature difference from the sunny side of the motorhome to the shady side during the winter months.  At least here, if you can find some shade, you have a chance of enjoying the day. And here's another big plus.....I am bothered by arthritis in my legs & the cold damp Ontario weather really takes a toll on my activity.  Just danced the Watusi & went under that limbo bar one too many times as a teen-ager I guess.  This morning in the hot dry Arizona air I'm outside bouncing around like a puppy dog.  Up the ladder, down the ladder, scurry off here & scurry off there.  By Tuesday's Yoga class I'll be able to sit on the floor, spin around twice, & wrap my legs around behind my head.  That'll be a sight I'm sure.  Ok, Kelly just informed me it's not that kind of Yoga.  It's for older folks & called 'Chair Yoga' where everyone sits on a chair to do it.  So, now I gotta sit on a chair to exercise!!  Oh, the perils of aging.  Ok, I have just been re-corrected again!!!!  Kelly says maybe 20% is done on a chair & the rest is done on a mat on the floor.  Oh Oh, back to the legs behind my head concept again:((

SARAH, NELLIE, & PONCHO NEEDED A LITTLE CONSOLING AFTER THE FOLKS LEFT

I was pretty disappointed with myself when I realized a few days ago that I had forgot to bring my new camera/telescope tri-pod with us.  Worse yet, I had no recollection of where it was back home.  Only thing to do was to dash off an email & call in a professional search & rescue person whom we just happened to have looking after our house back home while we're away.  Our neighbor Bruce is retired from the Canadian Forces where he spent years on Canada's east coast as part of a search & rescue crew aboard Canada's aging helicopter fleet.  It didn't take him long to track down the missing tri-pod & located it behind the sunroom couch.  It is a total mystery to Kelly & I as to how it ever got there in the first place.  We are now making arrangements for Bruce to box it up & mail it to us.  Without the tripod I cannot use the heavy lens with my cameras or even use the scope for it's intended purpose of stargazing.  And to be in the Arizona desert without a telescope would be like visiting England's Buckingham palace without your underwear on!! Ok, ok, doesn't make any sense to me either.

AL’S BUSY WASHING THE MOTORHOME

Have had a fair few inquiries from people asking about permission to use my photos for their desktops, paintings, etc.  Yes, by all means, please do.  I am not in the business of, nor am I interested in selling photographs.  That is a job for the pros & I am not a pro.  I'm just like you, only I may have a few more opportunities than you do to be in some really nice photogenic places.  Photography for me is a super enjoyable hobby & if I tried to do anything else with it the magic would be gone.  I am very flattered that someone would think enough of my photos to actually put one of them on their desktop.  And what do we have on our two computer desktops??  My photos of course:))

RELAXING WITH ‘THE SONS OF THE PIONEERS’ TO-DAY

I finally finished captioning & re-organizing our 2 latest trip web albums up to this point.  I must never let myself get that far behind again.  It's a real cranium drain trying to remember in which order all the photos happened.  Especially when your using 3 cameras all the time.  And if you take a lot of photos like I do it can be a real challenge to get everything sort of right!!

GROANER'S CORNER:((  A marine biologist developed a race of genetically engineered dolphins that could live forever if they were fed a steady diet of seagulls. One day his supply of the birds ran out, so he had to go out and trap some more. On the way back, he spied two lions asleep on the road. Afraid to wake them, he gingerly stepped over them. Immediately, he was arrested and charged with transporting gulls across sedate lions for immortal porpoises.

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