NICE WEATHER DAY IN BAYFIELD AND A LOOK BACK TO SOME OF OUR ADVENTURES IN SOUTH-EASTERN ARIZONA A FEW YEARS AGO

ON THE STREETS OF TOMBSTONE ARIZONA
One of the big advantages full time RV’ers have over Snow Birders is the simple fact they live in and use their rig’s systems on a regular basis therefore always being familiar about the working of things. 

THERE ARE 2 OLD IRON BRIDGES IN THE HULLETT MARSH AND THIS IS THE ONE AT THE END OF SANCTUARY LINE….THE OTHER BRIDGE IS AT THE END OF CONSERVATION ROAD

A BIG ‘SHADOW COWBOY’ WAVE FROM THE SANCTUARY LINE BRIDGE THIS MORNING
It started out innocently enough today when I thought I would simply sanitize our fresh water tank.  Key joke word there being ‘simply’'.’ Not being full timers it’s not something we are accustomed to doing on any kind of a regular basis.  I think the last time we did it was a year ago about this time and therein awaited the problem.  My brain wouldn’t even give me the slightest clue where to start and I had to ask Kelly where the instructions were on how to do it.  Seems to me I had to do the very same thing last year as well.  I wasn’t off to a good start and it went down hill from there.  A job that would take a seasoned Full-timer about 15 minutes cost this aging Snow Bird a good hour and a half this afternoon:((

I BETTER GET GOING HERE, TRAINS A COMING
I won’t bog you down with my frustrations today because I am still pretty upset with myself but I can tell you that what transpired was not the fault of the Motorhome.  All me and with my poor memory having more holes in it than a Swiss cheese and my ever increasing impatience with anything even remotely mechanical I caused myself a lot of stress.  I don’t know when it was my problematic impatience began but I don’t remember it being this bad years ago but here’s the bottom line, ’we’ did finally manage to successfully complete the fresh water tank project and everything is fine and honky-dory now.  Everything that is except me and me will not be Okay until me has a good night’s sleep and starts Tuesday morning off on the right foot again.  Well that’s what me hopes anyway……..
I AM STILL CATCHING FRONT YARD POND FROGS AND TRANSPORTING THEM TO THE BIGGER PARK’S POND……17 TRANSPORTATIONS SO FAR INCLUDING THE FROGS IN THESE PHOTOS TODAY

ONE FROG IS REAL AND ONE ISN’T

A TAD OUT OF FOCUS BUT I’VE INCLUDED THIS FELLA ANYWAY


HE’S KEEPING A REAR VIEW EYE ON ME
Desert USA is an on-line South-western magazine we have been receiving now for a number of years and I often like the articles because we have been to a lot of places featured in it.  The latest edition was no exception when I read the title, Ghost Towns In Southern Arizona.  We have been to nine of the 13 ghost towns mentioned.  We’ve been to Superstition Mountain, Fort Bowie, Pearce, Courtland, Gleeson, Tombstone, Fairbank, Millville and the ever so hard for us to find, Charleston.  Through the Apache Pass to Historic Fort Bowie.  I wrote daily posts about all those places along with many photos and have included a few links such as Tombstone and  The Ghost Town of Gleeson Arizona.  We have walked the streets of Tombstone half a dozen times, found Johnny Ringo’s grave at the western foot of the Chiricahua Mountains as well as Wyatt Earp’s brother’s grave in Wilcox.  Johnny Ringo's Grave and Warren Earp's Grave in Wilcox Arizona.  I took some rare photos through a broken door of the crumbling Gleeson Saloon, we have walked among the old graves of Fairfield, hiked the long way in and out of Fort Bowie along trails Cochise once walked.  Cochise's Council Rocks  Had to take our shoes and socks off to wade across the San Pedro River to find Charleston after walking through the remaining ruins of Millville.  Today We Found The Ruins of Charleston Arizona. We have walked in the footsteps of Geronimo and his Apache warriors.   We’ve been to and through Pearce Arizona half a dozen times even twice spending time partaking in their ‘Pearce Heritage Days’ celebrations.  The old general store there is only open 1 day a year and we were lucky enough to be there on one of those days.  As we walked through the store I’m sure we had old ghosts walking along beside us.   Here’s a look inside that store….Old Pearce Heritage Days.  Made our way through what is left of Courtland with it’s few crumbling brick walls and old jail cell still intact.  Courtland Arizona  That South-eastern area of Arizona is such a fascinating place and we were so fortunate to spend many months Ranch Sitting there over a period of 4 years.  My links to Old Fort Rucker and Our Search for Cochise's Council Rocks.  Oh the memories and oh the thousands of photos I took.  Even now I still get excited thinking back to that marvelous era and that whole historically fascinating area.  The links above are only but a few of my many blog posts and photos of our memorable adventures in the great American Southwest and hopefully this winter we will be back once again on the dusty desert trails of many more great memories:))
THE HISTORIC RUINS OF FORT BOWIE

 
KELLY SITS LOOKING DOWN ON THE RUINS OF OLD FORT BOWIE

SOUTH-EASTERN ARIZONA IS ONE OF OUR ALL TIME FAVORITE PLACES

TOMBSTONE ARIZONA



THE OLD CEMETERY IN FAIRBANK ARIZONA

GHOST TOWN RUINS OF COURTLAND ARIZONA

JOHNNY RINGO’S GRAVE

THIS OLD SALOON IN GLEESON ARIZONA IS WHERE JOHNNY RINGO WAS LAST SEEN DRINKING AT THE BAR

GLEESON ARIZONA CEMETERY

THE COCHISE STRONGHOLD IN ARIZONA’S DRAGOON MOUNTAINS



A RUGGED AREA OF THE DRAGOON MOUNTAINS

THIS INDIAN FELLOW  WE MET AT COUNCIL ROCKS TOLD ME HE WAS A DESCENDENT OF GERONIMO


IS IT ANY WONDER WHY WE KEEP RETURNING TO THE GREAT AMERICAN SOUTH WEST YEAR AFTER YEAR AFTER YEAR
GROANER’S CORNER:((  A guy walking along the beach finds a bottle and picks it up.  A genie pops out and says, "Thanks for letting me out. For your kindness I will grant you one wish."  The guys says, "I've always wanted to go to Hawaii, but I can't because I'm afraid to fly and ships make me deathly sick. My wish is for you to build a road from here to Hawaii."  The genie says, "I'm sorry, but I don't think I can do that. Just think of all the work involved. Think of the huge pilings we'd need to hold up that highway and how deep they would have to be to reach the bottom of the ocean. And think of all the cement that would be needed. Plus, since it's such a long span, there would have to be gas stations and rest stops along the way. No, that's just too much to ask. Impossible."  The guy says, "Well, there is one thing I've always wanted to know. I'd like to be able to understand women...what makes them laugh and cry...you know, what makes them tick."  The genie thinks a second, then asks, "You want two lanes or four with that highway?'
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Kids can sometimes ask the toughest questions.
Son: Father, Can I ask you a question?
Father: Ok ask. Son: When a doctor doctors a doctor, does the doctor doing the doctoring doctor as the doctor being doctored wants to be doctored or does the doctor doing the doctoring doctor as he wants to doctor. --------------------- - How is it one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire? - Why does a slight tax increase cost you two hundred dollars and a substantial tax cut saves you thirty cents? - Health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die - The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth. - There are two kinds of pedestrians: the quick and the dead. - I used to eat a lot of natural foods until I learned that most people die of natural causes.

A FEW PHOTO PROJECTS UNDERWAY & WHAT A CHARMING VILLAGE BAYFIELD REALLY IS

A FEW PHOTOS FROM THE WEST SIDE OF MAIN STREET IN DOWNTOWN BAYFIELD THIS MORNING

Thunder, lightning, & heavy rains came in the night bringing cool temps & blinking our power off & on.  Foliage, drooping under the weight of continuing raindrops looked extra lush & green.  I'm sure area farm folks will be happy with all this extra water for their fast growing late Spring crops.  With Mother Nature stirring up her proverbial weather pot neither Kelly or I managed a good night's sleep which in turn led to a tired day.  In my head was the childhood tune, 'rain rain go away come again another day'.  But there was a big upside to our overnight rains in that it washed all the pine pollen off the Big EEE & Jeep Liberty.  When storms again returned in late afternoon I quickly backed our pollen laden Sunfire out of the carport & it too ended up sparkly clean:))

I THINK THIS LADY MIGHT BE GIVING HER HUSBAND THE DICKENS…”YES DEAR, YES DEAR”

Back in August of 2008 I had taken a bunch of photos in & around Bayfield & put together a photo album of the Village.  Been in the back of mind to do that again sometime so this morning after the rains let up I headed into town & parked on Bayfield's Heritage Main Street.  Being Monday some shops were open & some shops were closed.  Not many people on the street so it was a good time to wander around uninterrupted with a camera.  Only had one fella come out & ask me why I was taking pictures of his place.  Turns out he grew up in Stratford & the more we chatted the more people we realized we knew.  He was called back inside by a staff member & I continued on my way snapping here & snapping there.  Bayfield truly is a nice picturesque little Village atop the cliffs of Lake Huron & dates back to 1832.

I have also started compiling photos of Bayfield homes around the Village.  On my evening drives with Pheebs I have been randomly snapping pics of houses & properties as we slowly roll by.  (It’s my kind of ‘drive-by shooting’)  Bayfield is made up of beautiful individually designed homes from old original rustic cottages to a few architectural marvels.  Close to the heart of the village nothing resembles a sprawling subdivision.  Each property is unique & with Bayfield’s abundance of century old trees home owners have blended their landscaping in to give the whole village it’s charm.  

I was home a few hours later with about 175 photos to edit.  Taking & editing photos is the easy part.  Putting together a photo album is the hard part for me.  When Google stepped in with their Google+ stuff years ago & took over how my photos & photo albums were handled I lost touch with all my photo albums.  Try as I did I was not able to get a handle on Google's way of doing things & I soon found myself left far in the dust.  And I've been lost in that Google dust ever since.  I do need to come up with some sort of way to deal with my photo album problem.  I have far too many photos to include in my daily posts each day & I really need to organize my photos again into some kind an album form.  At least with albums I can include their links in my posts for anyone wanting to see additional photos on any one given subject.  Today's Bayfield photos really need to be albumized & I think it’s high time I got a handle on things.  I do have have a Flickr account as well as a Smug Mug account but I was never knocked about Flickr so maybe I should try & get my head wrapped around my Smug Mug account again.  I did like Smug Mug better than the other photo programs but their last upgrade a year or two ago confused me, my attention dwindled, & out of frustration I let my account drop.   Anyway, if I am to move ahead with some new photo ideas I definitely have to get a handle on my photo album problem.  More patience Al, more patience………………………..

I have still been plowing through books on my Kindle but have been lax at keeping up my book reports.  As a young fella I read a lot of books about the 2 great wars & especially liked reading of those daring young men in their flying machines in particular the fighter pilots.  A few weeks ago I finished an excellent read from one of those brave young men who flew the skies over England during the Battle Of Britain.  Author & pilot Geoffrey Wellum wrote First Light.  The book is not as much about the aerial dogfights as it is about a young man’s thoughts & feelings as he struggles with his own self doubts, guilt's, & fears.  It is an honest book with as much of the story taking place on the ground as in the air.  Hard to imagine at only 19 years of age 15,000 feet in the air fighting to just survive the next few seconds while your Spitfire is being shot to pieces by another young fellow flying a German Messerschmitt right behind you.  Hard to imagine being lost over England in bad weather & fog not knowing where your air base is & fighting the panic to stay calm.  Hard to imagine the aircraft mechanical failures, the crashes, friends dying, stressful sleepless nights & always waiting, waiting, waiting never knowing if you would ever see another sunrise.  Great book & well written.

I BEGAN READING AT A YOUNG AGE, GOT AWAY FROM IT FOR A BUNCH OF YEARS BUT AM RIGHT BACK AT IT AGAIN:))

Currently I am again reading another factual book on history called Famous Sheriffs & Western Outlaws & of course am thoroughly enjoying it.  Many of the towns & areas in the South-western United States where history has taken place Kelly & I have been & even lived in for a time while boondocking, ranch sitting, or at our house.  It was in our ranch sitting days near McNeal Arizona that we got to walk the streets of Tombstone & hike the trails of Cochise & Geronimo.  Not just once but many times over the course of a few winter seasons spent in the area.  I especially liked the book section having to do with Cochise County.  Kelly & I have have found & walked the long ago Ghost Towns of Mill Bank, Charleston, Gleason, Pearce, Fairbank & a few others which have slipped my mind.  We found Johnny Ringo’s grave at the foot of the Chiricauha Mountains, walked the grounds of Fort Bowie, & stood at the grave of one of the legendary Earp brothers in a Willcox cemetery.  This whole area was once referred to as Helldorado & when one reads the history one can easily understand how it acquired that name.  Mexican & Apache raiding parties riding up the Sulphur Springs Valley & into the Dragoon, Mule, & Chiricahua Mountains.  The book tells of the lawlessness in not only Tombstone but nearby Bisbee as well.   Bisbee by the way is one of our all time favorite western towns.  Last time I was in Tombstone I walked those legendary streets with my Aunt Jean.  Yes, I’m really enjoying this book & especially so since we have traveled this whole area & now actually own a house in another one of Arizona’s wild west historical areas near Wickenburg.  Always nice reading historical things about areas we have been too…………………………………. 

GROANER’S CORNER:((  The little boy greeted his grandmother with a hug and said, "I'm so happy to see you grandma. Now maybe daddy will do the trick he has been promising us." The grandmother was curious. "What trick is that my dear," she asked. The little boy replied, "I heard daddy tell mommy that he would climb the walls if you came to visit us again."

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- The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails -William Arthur Ward
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.