THE BIG EEE & LIBBY ARE HOOKED UP & READY TO ROLL FIRST THING THURSDAY MORNING

HOOKED UP & READY TO RUMBLE

A bit on the hot & sticky side today so my outside activities were somewhat curtailed.  Chain sawed down a 10' Pine tree stump to make a spot other than the carport for the utility trailer & took half a load of yard waste to the Park's recycle area.  I'm going to try & get in the habit of parking the Jeep Liberty in the carport.  After all that is why we had it built in the first place.  Had a little mishap moving things around this afternoon when I parked the motorcycle right next to our Pontiac Sunfire.  Apparently I didn't have the kick stand properly deployed & when Pheebs & got back from the recycle area the bike had fallen over into the Sunfire.  It's a very heavy motorcycle & I had quite a time straining to set it up back on it's wheels again.  Small dent & some scratches in the Pontiac's passenger door & it broke the mirror on my bike. 

NEW SPOT FOR OUR UTILITY TRAILER DURING THE SUMMER MONTHS

THIS IS MY IDEA OF A BEST BUDDY RIDING PARTNER & YES HE’S WEARING A BUNGEE CORD SEAT BELT

YEP I’M DEFINITELY NEEDING A NEW DRIVER’S SIDE MIRROR HERE

THIS IS ONE VERY HEAVY MOTORCYCLE WHEN YOU HAVE TO STAND IT BACK UP ON IT’S WHEELS FROM A LYING DOWN POSITION:((
Backed the Motorhome out of it's spot late this afternoon & parked it in front of the house.  Rolled the Jeep up behind & hitched it up.  We are off to London Ontario early Thursday morning.  Our first destination is FOREST CITY MOTORHOMES where we will leave the rig for them to repair the hydraulic pump that blew a valve a couple weeks ago.  Have to have the rig there at 9.  We bought our 2011 Class C Winnebago here in 2013 & they treated us very well.  From Forest City Motorhomes we will take the Jeep over to the other end of the city where Kelly has a 10 a.m. appointment with her liver specialist at University Hospital.  It is to go over the results of her blood tests & liver biopsy last month.  From there it is back to Forest City RV to pick up the hopefully finished & repaired Motorhome.  Hoping to make it back to Bayfield before predicted afternoon rains.

ON A MORNING WALK LAST WEEK KELLY FOUND THIS SEWING MACHINE CABINET DISCARDED IN OUR PARK’S RECYCLE AREA & IMMEDIATELY WALKED BACK HOME, GOT IN HER SUNFIRE & CAME BACK TO RETRIEVE IT

THE VENEER FINISH WAS PEELING OFF THE TOP SO BETWEEN THE TWO OF US WE GOT MOST OF IT SCRAPED OFF & GAVE IT A LIGHT SANDING…KELLY IS GOING TO PAINT THE TOP PART ONLY…NO SEWING MACHINE INSIDE OF COURSE BUT LOOK AT THOSE NICE FOLD OUT WOODEN DRAWERS

Thanks to Steve in our Shout Box for the link to Great Lakes and Seaway Shipping.  With that helpful link I was able to go to the site & look up all the info on the great lakes freighter I had featured in my Tuesday post.  It has an interesting history being originally built in Germany as a sea going vessel.  You can read about the Cedarglen here & see why Cedarglen was not it’s only name.

IF YOU LOOK VERY CLOSELY AT THIS PHOTO YOU CAN ACTUALLY MAKE OUT THE LETTERS OF WHAT THIS SHIP’S PREVIOUS NAME WAS
Several times in previous posts I have reflectively said ‘if only we could have started our RV life earlier than we did.’  I still feel that way of course & this following paragraph coming from a fellow Blogger brings it home on a very personal level as to why that is.  Sherry from IN THE DIRECTION OF OUR DREAMS writes, “ {Those of you younger than we are who are waiting until you “have enough money", “can get full retirement” or any of the other standard reasons for working 40+ years, take heed.  That Life is SHORT is a very serious understatement and unless you take some risks you may not have the freedom to follow your dreams until it is too late to do it.  How much money you need depends entirely on you and how much you actually have to spend to maintain a lifestyle that makes you happy.  It’s not money but your health that will determine your joy.  So be careful”}.  Now having read this paragraph I suggest you go back & read the 7 paragraphs preceding this one at NOT SUCH A GREAT WEDNESDAY. 

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A policeman arrives at the scene of an accident, in which a car smashed into a tree. The officer rushes over to the vehicle and asks the driver, "Are you seriously hurt?"  "How do I know?" the driver responds. "I'm not a lawyer!"

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Ditzy friend to another: "I failed the driving test. I entered the traffic circle and the sign said '30' so I drove 30 times around." The other one says sympathetically, "You probably counted wrong."

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When asked for her occupation, a woman charged with a traffic violation said she was a schoolteacher. The judge rose from the bench. "Madam, I have waited years for a schoolteacher to appear before this court," he smiled with delight. "Now sit down at that table and write: 'I will not pass through a red light' five hundred times!!"

PHEEBS & I CHECK OUT A BIG HULKING RUSTY LAKE FREIGHTER IN THE GODERICH HARBOR

Each & every morning she follows me around everywhere I go like a tight knit little black shadow.  She waits for me to put my shoes on then watches closely to see if & when my hat goes on.  With anticipation building she is soon over the top happy when she see's me picking up my two cameras.  At this point she knows without doubt it is going to be 'a ride in the Jeep’ time:))))

KEEP IN MIND I AM USING AN 18mm LENS HERE MAKING THE HARBOR LOOK MUCH LARGER THAN IT REALLY IS

 

SOMEBODY REALLY NEEDS TO GET UP THERE WITH A WIRE SCRAPER & A PAINT BRUSH

GODERICH GRAIN ELEVATORS ON THE LEFT

With sky's rapidly clearing I knew Pheebs & I were needing a part of that action so it was off to Goderich with us.  Our stop at the TSC store  this morning netted us a big bag of wild birdseed.  Up the road to McDonald's for a Burrito, a muffin, & a coffee to go.  Minutes later we were down at Goderich’s north harbor sitting by the water wolfing down our yummy breakfast.  I parked us right up alongside a big hulking lake freighter anchored there & I think it is the same one which spent this past winter in the same spot.  It obviously sailed away somewhere earlier in the Spring but it’s back now.  Sure needs a paint job & I suspect a whole lot of TLC.  Sitting high out of the water I figured it's cargo holds were empty.

THIS PORT SIDE BOW THRUSTER WOULD NORMALLY BE UNDER WATER…PORT SIDE??  OK IT’S THE LEFT SIDE:))

 

OH LOOK, 2 WHITE FIN SHARKS SWIMMING AROUND THE STERN OF THE SHIP…OK OK SO THEY’RE JUST 2 PROPELLER BLADES STICKING OUT OF THE WATER

Leaving the harbor we took a drive up around the airport but again it had no aircraft sitting around.  Too bad because at one time it was nice to drive up around that way & see airplane's coming & going.  Have not seen a single airplane sitting on the tarmac for the past half dozen times I've driven around that way.  I think the runways are still operational but the airport which played an important role back in the early 40's has seen it's better days.  I read a book a couple years ago about a lady flyer who ferried aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean during the war & some of her initial training was done at that little airport just north of Goderich.

BLUE STRUCTURE IN BACKGROUND IS THE ABOVE GROUND VISIBLE SIDE OF GODERICH’S SIFTO SALT MINE…THIS IS A 55mm SHOT GIVING THE PHOTO A CORRECT PERSPECTIVE AS TO NORMAL SIZES & HOW THE HUMAN EYES SEES IT.

    

MIGHT BE A GOOD TIME FOR A LOCAL PAINT SALESMAN TO DROP BY & SUGGEST SOME NICE COLORFUL ANTI-RUST PAINT

IF THIS LAKE FREIGHTER WAS LOADED WITH CARGO OR BALLAST THOSE PROPELLER BLADES & RUDDER WOULD BE UNDERWATER & NOT BE VISIBLE

A FEW EXTRA PHOTOS AROUND THE GODERICH HARBOR VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

WHEN YOU CLICK ON THE PHOTO ALBUM A PAGE OF PHOTOS WILL APPEAR, CLICK ON THE TOP LEFT PHOTO MAKING IT LARGER, NOW YOU CAN CHOOSE TO SEE THE PHOTOS IN A SLIDE SHOW FORMAT BY CLICKING ‘PLAY SIDE SHOW’ AT THE TOP OR VIEW THEM ONE AT TIME BY CLICKING  THE ARROW AT BOTTOM

A stop near the Tiger Dunlop tomb had Pheebs & I out for a walk on the Menesetung trail.  It was just one of those perfect weather mornings with warm temperatures & a cooling breeze coming in off the lake.  Air was light & clear with no humidity.  Just one of those 'feeling good' mornings as we strolled along the old railway line now turned into a trail.  Pheebs & I also made it around our pine tree trail here in the Park this afternoon for the second time this week & both times I have taken my clippers & did trail maintenance along the way.  And without any oppressive heat & humidity in the air we didn’t even have any pesky bugs biting or stinging us.  Bonus:))

IN THAT FOREST OF TREES ON THE HORIZON ACROSS THE RIVER LIES THE TOWN OF GODERICH…LOOK CLOSELY TO THE RIGHT & FIND 2 CHURCH SPIRES

IF YOU COULDN’T FIND THOSE CHURCH SPIRES HERE IS A 300mm TELEPHOTO LENS SHOT OF THEM FROM THE SAME SPOT 

HIGHWAY 21 BRIDGE NORTH OF GODERICH CROSSING THE MAITLAND RIVER…CARS ARE HEADING SOUTH INTO GODERICH

AFTER HEAVY OVERNIGHT RAINS THE USUALLY DOCILE MAITLAND RIVER IS OVER IT’S BANKS CARRYING TONS OF VALUABLE FARMLAND SOIL OUT INTO LAKE HURON

THAT WALKING BRIDGE CROSSING THE MAITLAND RIVER WAS ORIGINALLY A RAILWAY BRIDGE…AND SPEAKING OF BRIDGES YOU CAN SEE THE BRIDGE OF THE RUSTY LAKE FREIGHTER PHEEBS & I EARLIER ATE OUR BREAKFAST BESIDE

DOGGY GIRL RUNNING ALONG THE MENESETUNG TRAIL

With rain moving in Monday night & while checking vehicle windows to make sure they were closed I heard a beeping sound somewhere.  Finally tracked it down to the Motorhome.  With repeated cloudy days the solar charge on our house batteries was down with not enough charge left to even start the generator to charge the batts up again.  Quickly hooked up some shore power & all was well with happily charging batteries again.  Have to remember to keep an eye on that especially with back to back cloudy days………. 

NO NOT AUTUMN YET BUT THESE OAK LEAVES ALONG THE TRAIL THIS MORNING DID HAVE A NICE TOUCH OF COLOR TO THEM

GROANER’S CORNER:(( A passenger train is creeping along, painfully slow. Finally, it creaks to a complete halt. A passenger sees a conductor walking by outside. "What's going on?" she yells out the window.  "Cow on the track!" replies the conductor.  Ten minutes later, the train resumes its slow pace. Within five minutes, however, it stops again. The woman sees the same conductor walking by again. She leans out the window and yells, "What happened? Did we catch up with the cow again?"

A FEW MISTY PHOTOS & MY THOUGHTS ON GROUPS OF PEOPLE

LAMPPOSTS IN THE MIST ALONG BAYFIELD’S SOUTH PIER

I was reminded of Jerry Wallace’s song ‘In The Misty Moonlight’ first thing this morning.  We didn’t have any Moonlight of course but we did have mist & tall pine trees.  That set the song to playing over & over in my head for the next few hours.  Changed the title of course to, ‘In the Misty Pine Trees’.

NOT MUCH ACTIVITY IN THE SAILBOAT COMMUNITY THIS MORNING

With all the recent rains spurring everything to grow like gangbusters I was on the end of my weed whacker again.  We don’t have enough sunlight to grow much grass on our property but that’s Ok I don’t miss those days of noisy fume belching gas lawn mowers.  My weed whacker is battery operated & that is a noise level I can handle.  In place of grass we just have dirt, a whole lotta moss, & a sparse crop of weeds.  Maybe don’t look so swell but awwww what the heck it works for us:))

PHEEBS & I TOOK A STROLL IN THE MIST AROUND PIONEER PARK

I much prefer to use new photos in my posts but there are occasions when I end up empty handed at the end of the day & have to use file photos.  Writing a post without photos included just doesn’t seem right to me.  Knowing I didn’t have any new pics up my sleeve I figured Pheebs & I had better do a short little drive around Bayfield this morning & see what we could see.  Tonight’s photos are from our short drive.

I have written before how uncomfortable I am in a group of people.  Can you imagine how that uncomforableness would unnerve me if I had to stand up & give a talk in front of a gathering of people.  Unimaginable to me of course but yet I’ve actually done it a few times on a small scale.  Never liked having to do it of course but do it I did.  My earliest recollection of ‘speaking in public’ was in about grade 5.  Teacher caught me writing a story in my scribbler when I was supposed to be paying attention to something else.  He made me go up in front of the class & read the story I had written.  Strangely enough the class liked it but that by no means made me want to do it again.  Fast forward about 25 years & there I am in a Church basement in Stratford Ontario up on a small stage behind a wooden podium in front of about 40 very seriously looking upturned faces.  It was my first time speaking at an AA meeting & I was a nervous wreck.  This was not my idea of where an introverted person like myself wanted to be.  Maybe needed to be but certainly not wanted to be.  Being the center of attention for whatever reason has never been something I have been comfortable with.  Except when I was drinking of course & that whole story is a totally different bag of nails & one which I am not comfortable talking about…...or writing about.

NEW BENCHES REPLACING SOME OF THE OLD BENCHES IN BAYFIELD’S PIONEER PARK

 

 

FOLKS GATHER HERE NIGHTLY TO WATCH SUNSETS OUT OVER LAKE HURON 

I have no recollection of what I said that night but I know I would have followed the suggested AA guidelines & talked about where my life had been before AA & where it was now.  AA members are encouraged to give those kinds of talks from time to time & some members take to those speaker meetings like a ducks to water.  Not me.  It was frowned upon not to accept an invitation from a group to speak but I couldn’t seem to help turning down those invitations.  Think I only spoke maybe 4 times in the years I was actively involved with AA with the last time being for a fellow AA member’s one year birthday in a Church basement in a little place called Egmondville Ontario.  I was just about physically sick with nerves over that & it was the last time I ever spoke at an AA meeting. 

One time in the late 80’s I attended a Sunday afternoon travelogue slide presentation at the Stratford Ontario Art Gallery.  Walking out of the building that afternoon I thought to myself, ‘hey I could do that’.  A few months later I wasn’t the one sitting in the audience, I was the one standing in front of a group of seated people one Sunday afternoon in the Art Gallery putting on a slide show of my own.  Again very, very, nervous as I had to start off by introducing myself & telling the audience what my slide show would be about.  I narrated my slides as I went along & at the end of the show I had a question & answer period.  Yes it was a good feeling when it was all over & things had gone well but oh how I didn’t want to do that again.  Two weeks later there I was doing another slide show…….again.  Think I did about 6 shows altogether over a period of a few months.  Best part was taking the photos & putting my presentations together.  But then it was time to stand up front & face the people.  Despite the warm reception I always received I would just get myself wound up so tight I just wanted to get out of the building & go for a quiet walk alongside the river nearby.  In later years I traveled around to several Senior Citizen Centers putting on my ‘Nature Photography’ presentations but even with the Seniors I just could not overcome my uncomfortableness in front of a group of people & I finally stopped doing that about 10 years ago.

That ‘fear of people’ thing I have has not improved over the years.  There has been several funerals where I should have got up & spoke but I simply could not pry myself out of my chair.  And there has been other funerals over the past decade I should have attended but could not talk myself out of the house to attend those funerals & walk into a room full of people I knew.  I’ve also missed other things like family gatherings, weddings, & reunions, etc.  I remember years ago going around visiting people & thinking nothing of it & yet today for me to go & actually visit someone is like pulling teeth.  Not that I don’t like the people…….it’s just me.  Put me in group of people & I can immediately feel the panic setting in.  It’s a hard thing for most people to understand but I know there are others out here who feel as I do when they find themselves in a ‘people’ situation. 

ONE NEVER KNOWS WHO ONE MAY SEE IN BAYFIELD

ANOTHER ‘DRIVE-BY PHOTO’ OF A BAYFIELD HOME

We have found RV folks to be a very socially oriented bunch of people.  Not all of course but I would say the majority.  Pressure for the most part is often on to join in events, campfire rings, happy hours, get togethers, hand shakes, hugs, hanging out together, & the telling of tall tales etc.  Nothing wrong with that for a lot of folks & I do marvel at all the people who so much enjoy that sort of thing but some of us out here are just not built that way & it’s hard for the merry makers to understand that.  Rightfully so I guess but I can tell you a little something I have learned along the way.  A number of of those merry makers are also uncomfortable in many social situations but unlike myself they are much better at putting on a happy face & masking their feelings than I am.  I can sometimes handle one on one situations & maybe just two couples visiting but add any more people to the mix & my personality just withers & withdraws inwardly & I become very quiet anxiously looking at my watch & just not wanting to be there.  “Beam me up Scotty & transport me to a quiet forest where I can be alone with the quietness of nature”…………………………….

HERE’S PHEEBS & I LATE THIS MORNING DISCUSSING WHAT KIND OF A SUB TO GET, SHE WANTED A COLD CUT COMBO & I WANTED A TUNA SUB…WE ENDED UP GETTING A  COLD CUT COMBO:))

GROANER’S CORNER:((  A guy named Pete gets a job as a switchman with the railroad, and undergoes weeks of training. The supervisor then takes him into the switch booth to test his readiness. The following exchange takes place:
Supervisor: "Imagine you were sitting here alone and you learned there was a train coming from the North on that track, and another coming from the South on the same track. What would you do?"
Pete: "I'd throw this switch right here and put one train on the other track."
Supervisor: And what if that switch didn't work?"
Pete: "I'd go down to the track and throw that big switch lever there, putting one train on the other track."
Supervisor: "And what if that switch lever didn't work?"
Pete: "Then I'd come back here and call the dispatcher to stop both trains."
Supervisor: "And what if the phone didn't work?"
Pete: "Then I'd go to that gas station across the street and use their phone."
Supervisor: "And what if their phone didn't work?"
Pete: "Then I'd go get Uncle Joe."
Supervisor: "Uncle Joe??? What would he do?"
Pete: "Nothing, but he ain't never seen a train wreck."

WITH TEMPERATURES OVER A 100 DEGREES IN CONGRESS ARIZONA I’M SURE GLAD WE ARE HERE IN COOL LITTLE BAYFIELD ONTARIO:))

DID YOU KNOW BAYFIELD HAS A VIRTUAL HIGH SCHOOL RIGHT ON IT’S MAIN STREET…YEP THEY DO:))
Can't even begin to imagine living in a climate that has temperatures over a hundred degrees for days on end.  And yet when I checked the Congress Arizona weather this morning that is just the kind of weather they are having for the next 10 days.  Every day over a hundred degrees & not a drop of rain in sight.  I can only imagine what the little plantings I put in just a few months ago will look like by the time we return later in the year.  I will be very surprised if any of the small Joshua trees I dug in will make it.  And what must it be like inside our poor little forlorn ranch house in heat like that.  I hope Spencer & Froggy along with the rest of the teddy bear gang are keeping cool in there.  Tis a harsh summer climate in Arizona just as it is a harsh winter climate here in Ontario during the winter months.  So far we have been lucky enough to dodge both those severities for the past 9 years.  Looking forward to turning that 9 into a 10:))

THOUGHT I WOULD THROW IN ANOTHER SMATTERING OF PHOTOS SHOWING SOME SHOPS ALONG BAYFIELD’S HERITAGE MAIN STREET
With water falling out of the sky for most of the morning I lost my enthusiasm for the rest of the day & spent much of my time in my recliner in front of our television set.  Not my favorite kind of day but I did manage to catch half a dozen interesting biographies.


Talked to Aunt Jean in Sarasota Florida last night & she is pretty excited.  The deal finally went through on her purchase of a newer condo a few weeks ago & she has already had a firm offer on her place where she has been living for the past 25 years.  Moving right along she has had her new digs painted, arranged for new carpets throughout plus new vinyl floors in the 2 bathrooms & also new vanities.  She has been one busy lady getting everything organized.  Friends have come into help & everything is skipping right along.  She hopes to be in her new place by the end of the month.  Pretty darn good for someone in their upper 80's I'd say.

Been a long time since we've seen a post from Jerry at Our Life on Wheels way over there in that Benson Arizona place.  A few health problems temporarily got in their way these past couple years but both Jerry & Suzy are once more looking forward to getting in some RV traveling time again.  Matter of fact they are on the road at the moment with a new RV set up.  Gone is their Class A Motorhome & in it's place is a nice Toyota Tundra pick-up truck & a Prowler travel trailer.   Keep those wheels rolling guys.  Kelly & I spent Christmas Day with Jerry & Suzy back in 2009.  And if you click that link the first photo is not a picture of Jerry:))
 
And long time readers will remember Mike & Pat McFall from Mikes blog a few years ago called Mike & Pat's Travels.  Pat & Mike have been at their winter North Ranch digs in Congress Arizona now since the Fall of 2013.  Due to health problems they had not been able to travel & make it back to their summer place in Custer South Dakota since that time.  Can you imagine the excitement over at Mike & Pat's right now knowing they have finally been medically cleared to head out for South Dakota this coming Thursday.  Thanks for the note in our Shout Box Mike & we are all wishing you, Pat, & Ms Megabyte 2 safe travels:))

GROANER'S CORNER:(( My husband, who is an auto mechanic, was on the kidney- transplant list.  As you can imagine, it was a tense time for our family.  But one day, the phone rang and our teenage son answered. It was the hospital with good news. "Dad" he yelled excitedly, "Your parts are in!"