HALLELUJAH JAMBALAYA

GODERICH HARBOR.....SALT MINE TOP CENTER & FREIGHTER CSL TADOUSSAC ON THE RIGHT

Well, it just don't figure. Now that I've decided to sell the motorcycle......I just can't stay off it!! Spent another enjoyable 4 hour cruise this morning wandering the back roads of Huron County. Found one secluded road that I had never been on before so that was a bonus. New scenery. This particular narrow gravel road (Balls Line) wound it's way through a swampy forest eventually dead-ending me in a gravel pit. The canopy of trees in places made it so dense it took on the look of a tunnel. Good thing I had on my leather jacket & Helmut because the mosquitoes in there were as big as baseballs. JUST GOTTA LOVE THESE OLD COUNTRY ROADS

Can you imagine the commotion I caused this morning as I rode through the farming community with Hank Williams tune, Jambalaya roaring out of my wind pipes. I was making more noise than the motorcycle & it's a good thing I was moving because by the time the farmers made it to the ends of their laneways with those rotten eggs & tomatoes to throw, I had already breezed on by...........Hallelujah Jambalaya!! TYPICAL RURAL SCENE

I eventually worked my way back to-wards the Bluewater highway near Lake Huron north of Goderich. Stopped at the Goderich airport & had me a look at some airplanes in various stages of being re-painted. Sky Harbor Aircraft is a well known company specializing in aircraft painting. Word has it that some movie stars have flown in here to have their planes done. Think a few years ago actor Kurt Russell flew in to have his plane done here. He is an FAA licensed Private Pilot holding single/multi- engine and instrument ratings.
SKY HARBOR AIRCRAFT PAINT COMPANY AT THE SKY HARBOR AIRPORT NORTH OF GODERICH'

From the airport I headed about a mile & a half into Goderich swinging down to-wards the lake & the north side of the Maitland River. Saw a strange looking craft in the water on the far shore so swung back out of the north harbor, into town, & back down to the lake on the south side of the river where this blocky, square looking vessel was anchored with a bunch of people milling about. Name on the boat or barge or whatever it was said, Point-Counterpoint II. In much larger letters on the side of the craft it said, American Waterways Wind Orchestra & beneath those letters was a complete sound stage. This boat, based out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is a floating concert hall & art center complete with Galleries & lodgings for some of the master students who perform in ports across North America. They had arrived in the harbor Friday & performed a waterfront concert last night which we sorely missed. We knew the concert was coming but forgot all about it. Too bad because I would really have liked to hear them. Overheard some folks saying the opening number last night was Aaron Copland's, Fanfare For The Common Man.HARK, WHAT STRANGE CRAFT DOTH YONDER LIE!!
THAT IS A COMPLETE SOUNDSTAGE IN THERE & THE SIDE COMES DOWN WHEN THE BOAT IS OUT ON THE LAKE. CAST OFF THE BOW LINE MATEYDWARFED BY THE MIGHTY TADOUSSAC.POINT-COUNTERPOINT II DEPARTING THE HARBOR YOUNG MUSCIANS WAVING GOOD-BYE BOAT, CREW, & MUSCIANS, HEAD OUT INTO THE LAKE MAKING STEAM FOR THEIR NEXT PORT OF CALL & MOONLIGHT CONCERT

It had been awhile since I had laid a good cleaning on the motorcycle so from Goderich I headed back to Bayfield & spent the next few hours washing & waxing the bike. Hmmmmmm, am I sub consciously trying to convince myself to not sell the motorcycle now.........????

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

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BAYFIELD LAUNCHES......THE BAYFIELD BREEZE:))

SITTING ON THE PORCH THIS AFTERNOON TYPING AN EMAIL TO MY AUNT JEAN IN SARASOTA, FLORIDA

A darkened thunderstorm with accompanying rain rolled in across the lake about 7 a.m leaving a beautifully fresh & sunny Saturday morning in it's wake. Saturday mornings have always been my favorite time & I suppose that harkens back to the old school days when Saturday mornings were for sleeping in, no school, hanging out with the gang & planning the week-end's adventures. It's a custom that has remained with me all through my working years & I can still feel like an adventuress little boy on sunny Saturday morning even after all these years. AND.....THAT IS A MOTORCYCLE FLOORBOARD

A new on line news source for the village of Bayfield & surrounding area has just been launched calling itself the BAYFIELD BREEZE. The site is designed to be the voice of the village & will rely on submissions & ideas from the local community to make it a success. Nice looking site with an airy feel to it, well laid out & easy to read. AND A LITTLE SMOOCH FOR MY NEW ARIZONA FRIEND

Since posting my "Motorcycle For Sale" ad on the area KiJiJi SITE yesterday I have had 134 people look at the ad but not one response. That tells me my price is too high or buyers figure they can take advantage of sellers because of the present economy. Well, I'm not giving this motorcycle away!!!! So, with that in mind I hopped on the bike & took myself on a big Saturday morning country cruise. With my toes a tappin on the bikes floorboards & my big voice belting out Johnny Horton's "Honky Tonk Man, I motored through the countryside scaring the cows & stampeding the sheep. Aw, ya just gotta love a Saturday morning:)) OH OH, LOOKS LIKE I'VE STARTED SOMETHING HERE.....SORRY GUYS I'M OUT OF SMOOCHES

Read on one of my Astronomy websites this morning a review in Canada's SKY NEWS magazine about a newer technology & reasonably successful MOSQUITO REPELLENT. Just in case anyone was interested:)) LIVE.WORK.DREAM. ON THE LEFT & BAYFIELD BUNCH ON THE RIGHT

Jim, over at LIVE.WORK.DREAM. has some good tips on boondocking for anyone in the lifestyle who might be interested. We met Jim & Rene' this past February while ranch sitting in southeastern Arizona. (it was the same day I smooched a horse) They stopped in at the ranch for an overnighter before heading on over to New Mexico, Texas, & eventually Colorado. Real darn nice folks they was too. (and the horse wasn't so bad either:)) KELLY, MOTORMOUSE, RENE' & JIM

And you can tell I have worked very hard again to come up with another in a series of "stinkers" for To-day's Humor:))

TO-DAY'S HUMOR: A group of chess enthusiasts checked into a hotel, and were standing in the lobby discussing their recent tournament victories. After about an hour, the manager came out of the office, and asked them to disperse.'But why,' they asked, as they moved off.'Because,' he said, 'I can't stand chess-nuts boasting in an open foyer.'

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INTERNET.....THE GLUE THAT HOLDS US TO-GETHER

FOR SALE:((

After a lengthy decision making process over the past couple of months I have finally decided it is time to sell my motorcycle. I put the ad up onto the internet this morning. I lost the excitement of motorcycling along the way somewhere a few years ago & try as I did I just couldn't get it re-started again. It was hard to justify paying insurance 12 months of the year for something that could only be comfortably used for 3 or 4 months. Interests & priorities change & this marks the end of a motorcycling era for me that brought a lot of enjoyment in the early years I rode. I will miss the bike on those few special warm summer days every year but in the long run I know I will feel better having at last made my decision. And so it is done.

EITHER THIS BIRD WAS EATING STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM OR MULBERRIES OFF A NEARBY MULBERRY TREE

Without the internet we would all have far fewer friends & much smaller address books. Isn't it amazing how many old school chums, business associates, fellow workers, relatives, & neighbors we all have now. Where were all these people before the internet. Personally I think the internet is the greatest invention since pickled chicken feathers. It allows us, in the privacy & comfort of our own homes to go out there on-line and meet people we'll probably never really meet in real time anyway & enables us to keep in touch with those remaining people that we actually have met. It is a comfortable kind of distance friendship for people like me who are not out-going & socially bubbly. I have what might be called, Wizard of Oz syndrome. I can ruffle & bluster & make a big noise on my keyboard but if you pull the curtain away you will find a slightly portly, quiet, shy, unassuming, & somewhat uncomfortable aging cursmudgeon hiding under a shock of graying hair complete with moustache & beard. Aw yes, it is the age of Ozlike Cyber Cursmudgeonism:)) (I know cursmudgeon isn't spelled right but I prefer to have a little s ahead of my mudge) 2002 HONDA SHADOW AERO 1100

It is still early July but to-day I found myself sitting with Atlas & magnifying glass in hand pouring over various routes to the American west. We have a standard route we like that takes us into the southeast corner of New Mexico but if we decide on the Mesa Verde National Park area near Durango Colorado this fall it's going to mean a totally different trek. Two years ago we slipped through Chicago straight across to Denver & then over the mountains to our first destination of Moab, Utah. I imagine we would use the same route as far as Limon & then head southwest down through Colorado Springs. However, I haven't checked our mountain directory guide yet so that may change things. As beautiful & breathtaking as the Rocky mountains are they can be a real SOB to haul a motorhome & car through. RV friends of ours blew a Motorhome engine last year in the mountains on their way south from Alberta. Not a good thing to have happen!! From the 4 corners area we would then make our way south into Arizona running down through Apache Junction to southeastern Arizona for our 3 week November Ranch sitting job again near Douglas. Well, it all sounds good in theory anyway. In the meantime I had better get myself busy collecting pop bottles for some gas money again!!

TO-DAY'S HUMOR: A man walks into a bar with a slab of asphalt under his arm, and says: 'A beer please, and one for the road.'

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A VISIT FROM SOME FELLOW DESERT TRAVELERS

MIKE & MAUREEN......FELLOW DESERT TRAVELERS

No wonder I feel soooooo tired most every day. I'm always too busy on the night shift & last night was no exception again. My RV dreams seemed centered around me pulling a very large trailer into some very weird situations. I recognized some of the people in the dream but this morning I can't remember who they were. Fellow RVers I think. Sure was busy moving that long trailer around though & I'm probably going to need an afternoon siesta later to-day. CANONVILLE, UTAH....BAYFIELD BUNCH ON LEFT & MnMnM's RIG IN THE CENTER

Kelly had to slip over to London this morning to pick up her permanent residence card. Because she is an American citizen with duel citizenship living in Canada the renewal of that card is required every 5 years. Because I am a Canadian citizen with a duel appetite living in Canada, the renewal of my Cracker Barrel restaurant card is required every 6 months:)) MIKE & MAUREEN AT THE NORTH RIM OF THE GRAND CANYON

It's not often we have visitors but this afternoon we were happy to have an RV couple drop in whom we had met at a KOA Campground in Cannonville, Utah back in November of 2007. Mike & Maureen had just pulled into that campground minutes before we did & aside from one other rig, we were the only ones in the whole park. And, as co-incidences go they were fulltimers who had called London Ontario their home. Bayfield is only a short 1 hours drive from London. We loosely traveled to-gether over to Zion Canyon later & then down to Kanab where we all visited the north rim of the Grand Canyon. They moved on from Kanab to Page & we swung down around & over to the south rim of the Canyon & we didn't see Mike & Maureen again until February of 08 when we visited them in an RV Park in Ajo, Arizona. Shortly after that we were all boondocked just off the Darby Wells road west of Ajo. On the morning of February 23rd 08 we left our boondocking site, stopped by Mike & Maureen's site to say good-bye & began our long trek back to Ontario. That was the last time we saw them until this afternoon. WEST OF AJO, ARIZONA....MnMnM's ON THE LEFT & THE BAYFIELD BUNCH ON THE RIGHT

We noticed right away that neither one of them had aged one bit. Another testament to that fulltiming RV lifestyle I'd say. It was nice to get caught up on things & reminisce about some old times although we didn't spend a whole lot of time to-gether back then. I have always noticed there is a special type of friendship & bond between RV folks even if you don't know them well. Friendships are often like ships passing in the night. There is a wave, a shout of "ahoy there," greetings are exchanged, a few words, a few laughs, & then the ships disappear into the darkness again. I remember those shouts & greetings & I remember the brief passings & there is something very special about that. Whether it is sharing area information with another passing couple on a far off mountain trail or having a 30 second chat with a fellow RVer at Flying J fuel stop, I remember those brief encounters. The meetings may only last minutes but the memories last forever. BYE GUYS......TILL WE MEET AGAIN

Mike & Maureen & Molly their dog (MnMnM) are in an RV Park over in Strathroy & plan to spend this winter in London before resuming there fulltime life on the road next spring again. Nice to see them & I'm sure our ships will soon again pass in the night somewhere. Maybe here, maybe London, or maybe far off in the land of mountains & deserts again. We may meet on a mountain trail, a quiet desert plateau, or we may pass in the night with a wave, shouts of "ahoy there", some greetings, some words & some laughter. Safe travels my friends........................................:)) SAFE JOURNEYS MY FRIENDS

TO-DAYS HUMOR: A woman has twins, and gives them up for adoption. One of them goes to a family in Egypt , and is named 'Ahmal.' The other goes to a family in Spain ; they name him 'Juan.'Years later, Juan sends a picture of himself to his birth mother. Upon receiving the picture, she tells her husband that she wishes she also had a picture of Ahmal. Her husband responds, 'They're twins ! If you've seen Juan, you've seen Ahmal.'

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REMEMBERING CB RADIOS

THAT RAINBOW CAME DOWN & LIT UP A DISTANT ELECTRICAL TOWER (Click to enlarge)

Last night was one of those blogs that rolled off my keyboard & ended up later giving me a hard time about the thoughts I had put into it. When I re-read it this morning I didn't feel right about what I said regarding fellow RVers traveling lifestyles & inferring that doing the same old thing all the time was boring or unexciting. I'm sure there are many types of adventurers out there who would find our type of travel not to their preference either. We are all different people traveling the road of life with many varied destinations & stops along the way. Wherever we are on that road & whatever stage we are at we generally feel it is the best place for us at the time. Interests change, eras come & go, new challenges are met & old ones are left by the roadside. It's a good thing we are all different or we would be a planet of robotic drones without spark, fire, or that special kind of thunder that individually makes us who we are. To-day Kelly & I embrace the adventurous spirit within us for as long as we can make it last. There fast approaches a time when interests & circumstances will change & we'll move on to a new era of forced winters in Canada again or maybe just taking the shorter route to Florida & happily lazing the days away in an RV Park remembering the good old days & waiting for the early bird specials. One thing is certain though, despite me repeatedly using the phrase 'same old' in last night's blog, nothing ever remains the 'same' & the word 'old' only applies to dinosaurs, left over pizzas & aging hippies!! Interesting post on the RV NET this morning about the use & abuse of CB (Civilian Band) radios. Many RVers have them in their rigs including us. I remember getting my first CB radio in 1975 when most of the channels were alive with all kinds of colorful chatter. The CB craze was in full swing & it seemed like everyone & their dog had a CB. A lot of guys on CB's were trying to sound like truckers with lots of phony southern drawls, big 10-4's at the ends of sentences, loads of swearing & tall tales. Remember C.W. McCall's popular trucker song, Convoy. And did you know that was not his real NAME. Anyway, fast forward 32 years to when I decided to put a CB radio in our motorhome. I honestly felt I had a defective radio because all the channels were silent. The non stop chatter from the mid 70's was gone & there was not much of anything left but dead air. Times have sure changed in CB-Ville. I leave the radio on channel 19 now while traveling & the only other people on there seem to be the truckers. Sometimes their conversations are interesting & sometimes they are just plain rude. In the 3 years I have had the radio I have never had occasion to use it. Idle chatter isn't my thing but I do like to have the radio present for traffic congestion & emergencies, etc. And who knows, maybe someday I'll just grab that old mike & let loose with a big, Hey little Buddy how's it goin........10-4:)) MOTORMOUSE IN THE LAUNDRY BASKET

It's now July & we have entered the dog days of summer. If your wondering where that phrase came from just hop on over to JENNY'S blog & she'll tell ya all about it. RICK, on the other hand blogged about his favorite RV accessories he wouldn't leave home without. I, in turn left a comment on Rick's blog about something Max, Checkers, me, & the Motormouse wouldn't leave home without either:)) WORKING ON A LITTLE WALLPAPER TRIM IN THE BATHROOM.....YES, WE DO LIKE TO MAKE THINGS COLORFUL IN KEEPING WITH OUR SOUTHWEST THEME:))

Did a Twitter Tweetdeck update to-day & it really messed around with my Facebook account & website. Took me awhile to get things straightened out but everything appears to be back as it was & no Tweetfaces were harmed in the process. Sun is shining, computer stereo is rocking with ambient tunes, I'm in the same chair at the same time of day with the same coffee cup typing on the same keys using the same cranium I work with every night. I have on the same track pants, flannel shirt, & brown socks, I had on last night. Same, same, same, so everything is somewhat basically the same as usual. Now if that isn't routine excitement for an aging RV hippy type guy........then what the heck is huh........:)) Adios Amigos A TOUCH OF DUTCH JUST DOWN THE ROAD FROM OUR PLACE ABOUT HALF A MILE

TO-DAY'S HUMOR: A blind man with a guide dog enters a Wal-mart & begins swinging the dog around over his head by it's collar. The store manager rushes up yelling, "stop, what are doing!!!! The blind man answers, "just looking around."

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JUST BLOWING ALONG WITH THE WIND:))

NEAR SEDONA ARIZONA

ANOTHER cold, gray, overcast day in the neighborhood. T-shirt, long sleeve flannel shirt & my lined Mexican jean jacket was the order of the day. Oh well if it wasn't for the weather what else could I complain about anyway. And speaking of weather I noticed a good weather site posted on RV NET this morning. You can find out about yearly weather in many cities & towns all over the U.S. Average temps, precipitation, snowfall, etc. WEATHER ATOP GROSVENOR'S ARCH IN UTAH

While driving over to London to-day I got to thinking about how we end up in places while we're RVing. A lot of folks know precisely where they are going when they leave home, exactly how many hours it will take them to reach their destination, cost of fuel & how many gallons will be used to get there. They know where they will be stopping & what they will be eating while stopped there. A strict schedule will be adhered to & their destination will probably be the exact same spot in the very same RV Park they have been to for the last umpteen same years. Same friends, same BBQ, same tree beside the cement pad, & the same view out their window as last year because the very same neighbor will be in his very same spot again as well. Boy, sure sounds exciting huh!! HIKING IN THE AJO MOUNTAIN RANGE....ORGAN PIPE NATIONAL MONUMENT, ARIZONA

I feel soooooo fortunate that neither Kelly or I are into that structured kind of traveling. Not saying there is anything wrong with that, it's just simply different strokes for different folks. Here's an example of how a typical RV trip goes for us. We leave home knowing the area of country we are headed for which in our case is The American Southwest. We start our traveling part of the journey each day not knowing where we will end that night. Some people would find that stressful....and so do we sometimes when it's mid to late afternoon & we've got the map out trying to track down a nearby State Park. Nerves can become a little frayed until we've settled in somewhere but at least it's not boring, routine, or predictable. We don't usually dilly-dally along too much while heading for the southwest so we generally scoot across the country lickity split & in about 5 or 6 days we've reached the eastern edge of what we consider to be our southwest winter stomping grounds. Coming across flat Texas into New Mexico my eyes begin to strain for the first glimpse of our beloved mountains & once we've put Roswell NM behind us & begin to climb into those mountains through the Apache Pass to Alamogordo I feel we have reached our second home & our adventurous snowbird lifestyle begins. PARK AVENUE IN ARCHES NATIONAL PARK, UTAH

We kind of blow along in the wind like a tumbling Tumbleweed sometimes & the least little crosswind can blow us off into an entirely different direction. Two seasons ago after talking to some RV boondocker folks in Why Arizona we decided to have solar panels installed on our motorhome because we knew we did not want anything more to do with RV Parks. We had heard of a fellow in Slab City California who did quality solar panel installations so that's where we headed. Spent about 3 days at the Slabs & didn't have a clue where we were going next until a 5th wheel RV couple rolled in to Solar Mike's to have some work done on their solar batteries. Said they were camped in a great spot west of the Salton Sea at a place called Peg Leg Smiths just outside of Boreggo Springs. Well, the name Peg Leg Smith is enough to perk anybody's interest so as soon as our installation was complete we put a big California sunrise behind us early one morning & headed west for a place called Boreggo Springs. SOLAR INSTALLATION DAY IN SLAB CITY, CALIFORNIA

Swung down around the southern edge of the Salton Sea, north to Salton City & then hung a big left turn heading for the looming San Bernardino Mountains & Boreggo Springs. No problem finding the Peg Leg place out in the desert but as we drove up & had us a look we knew it was not for us. Way too many RV's clustered in a tiny area just off the highway but just a mile back from there we had spotted a smattering of RV's scattered about in a larger area of desert floor. We ended up staying there for 2 or 3 weeks before heading off again letting the wind blow us to wherever it felt we should go.SLOT CANYON HIKE NEAR BOREGGO SPRINGS CALIFORNIA...BUTCH, KELLY, & AL.

Hope to be at our 3 week ranch sitting job near Douglas Arizona by November this year & if we can get an early start in October I would like to head down into the southwest corner of Colorado to an area known as the 4 Corners. The Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, & Colorado State Lines all meet there & we hear the area is second to none for awesome & spectacular scenery.

Well, that's some of the very early thoughts in my head & maybe with a little help & a nudge from that old westerly wind we just might end up somewhere in the mountains again this winter without ever knowing how or why we got there. For us...........it's the only way to go..........................now that's what I call exciting:))

TO-DAY'S HUMOR: What do you call a cow with no legs?...........................Ground Beef

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PUTTING ON WOOD TRIM WITH RAILWAY SPIKES!!!!

A WILDFLOWER ALONG THE TRAIL

My Monday morning weigh-in was a good example of the old saying, "is the glass half full or half empty?" I have to be optimistic & say the glass is half full as I weighed in the same as last week.....209 pounds. Although I didn't lose any weight.....I didn't gain any either!! IN OUR FRONT YARD BUT DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS

For the first 3 or 4 years we lived here at the 5 Seasons Estates I did a lot of gardening & landscaping around our place. Our unit hadn't been lived in for 3 years & the outside grounds were pretty barren & shabby looking. Quite a change from then to now as I have basically created a jungle like monster all around us. It's a never ending job of maintenance but I'm not complaining. I made my big green monster & now I must keep it's voracious appetite for gobbling up space under control. This morning I headed over to a neighbor's house & spent over 3 hours wrestling her front yard back from Mother Nature's wild & weedy side into something resembling a suggestion of order & control. The first 3 or 4 years we lived here I used to do a bit of gardening & landscaping for the park & some of the residents,but the last few years I have scaled all that back to mainly dealing with our own jolly green jungle monster. STELLADORO LILY WITH HEAVY DEW

Noticed a post in RV NET this morning that caught my attention. In one of the forums the topic was, Inconsiderate RV'ers, & that reminded me of a time back in January of 2008 when we were boondocked in Quartzite, Arizona. In the space of a few hours we were forced to move not only once..........but TWICE!! GETTING MY WALLPAPER MEASUREMENTS RIGHT

Did a little more painting in the motorhome last week around the stove area. Tried my hand at putting on some vinyl wallpaper plus wood trim. I amazed myself by not screwing it up too bad. Didn't even make any measuring mistakes for a change & I actually got the wallpaper right side up. But.......not to be outdone by my perfection I went ahead & nailed the wood trim on with the wrong kind of nails. Should have been small finishing nails but I used something akin to railway spikes. What was I thinking!!!!!! THE AREA TO BE PAINTED

I scrambled out of the park last night pretty quick when a fast moving tropical downpour like storm blew in across the lake complete with thunder & lightning. I'm always on the hunt for storm photos but only managed a few last night & they were not anything spectacular. I remember one enjoyable night years ago just northeast of Stratford when I set up my cameras during a very nasty night storm & got some great lightning photos. Unfortunately that was the old pre-digital era & those photos were on slide film. LAST NIGHT'S DARK STORM CLOUDS

To-morrow I'm off to London with the mobility van so at least that will get me out of the park again, dust me off, & give me something to look forward to. I always enjoy the ever changing rural scenery....................................
PAINTED & PAPERED........BEFORE I PUT THE RAILWAY SPIKES IN:((

TO-DAY'S HUMOR: Why do cows wear bells? They wear bells because their horns don't work.

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SNOOPY RIDES THE SCHOOL BUS:))

LITTLE SNOOPY WAS ALWAYS MY FIRST PICK UP IN THE MORNING

Occasionally while browsing around on the RV NET FORUM I'll come across a post about the size & intimidation of driving a large Class A motorhome. People are worried about the sheer bulk of the monster but motorhomes are actually easier to drive than they look. In an earlier blog I had talked about how I was suddenly dropped into the world of large blonky vehicles by having to take over the reins of a large cab-over Ford stake truck one time out in Vernon, British Columbia. That was all ok for me but by the time we bought a motorhome 35 years later Kelly had never driven anything bigger than a full size van up till then.
I'M NOT IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT BECAUSE IT WAS A BIG FIRST STEP & I ALWAYS HAD TO GET OUT & HELP HIM UP

That all changed when we moved to the old farmhouse back in the summer of 1995. Kelly had quit her job in Cambridge so was on the hunt for new employment in our new area around Stratford & St. Marys, Ontario. School bus companies always seem to be looking for drivers so it was one of the first places Kelly applied & of course landed herself a job driving school bus. And a big long yellow one at that!! SNOOP DOUBLE CHECKS THE SIDEVIEW MIRROR TO MAKE SURE WE DIDN'T LEAVE ANYONE BEHIND

The bus company provided excellent training & in no time Kelly had her school bus license & lots of real on the road experience. Between cleaning jobs she drove school bus right up to 2001 when......I started driving school bus as well. I had been driving full size vans for an Airports transportation company based in Stratford for the best part of 13 years taking people to & from Pearson International Airport in Toronto. By the summer of 2000 my patience levels were stretched thin, stress levels were up, heavy traffic seemed to be getting worse by the day, & I knew it was time for a change. On August 25th of that year I made my last trip into the Toronto Airport & that was that. SNOOPY TAKES HIS SEAT & WAS ALWAYS THE BEST LITTLE PASSENGER I EVER HAD

Kelly quickly talked me in to trying my hand at school bus driving so without further ado I obtained my school bus training & license from the same company in St. Marys that Kelly was driving for & away I went. Well, let me tell you.....driving school bus was not something I enjoyed. The driving part was OK but the #!!%^**&!!! teen-agers!!!! I'll maybe write about some of those episodes another time. EARLY SUNRISE ON A FROSTY ONTARIO MORNING

In 2001 the bus company teamed Kelly & I to-gether on a small cube like mobility bus complete with wheelchair lift. We carried an average of 5 mentally & physically challenged kids each day around the ages of 10. Most of the children lived in the country so I did like the rural driving part of the job. Kelly was the aide on the bus & looked after the children's needs. So basically speaking, she rode shotgun on the bus & on several occasions her services were quickly needed. One particular day we had just dropped a young wheel chair boy at a farm near St. Marys. Right behind me sat another boy (non wheelchair) who was fairly big for his age. He was a quiet fellow & liked to watch me drive the bus. I had just pulled out of the farm driveway & was accelerating down the highway when all of a sudden he jumped up, swung round beside me & grabbed onto the steering wheel. He just figured it was his turn to drive I guess. I hung onto to the wheel with my left hand & tried to push him back with my right but he was too big & too determined to be the head honcho bus driver that day. Kelly swiftly came to my rescue & managed to get him pulled back down into his seat & a potentially nasty situation was averted. The young fellow sat quietly the rest of the way home & we never did have that problem again. He never did sit right behind me again either because we moved him back a few seats after that. It was just one of many little incidents that await unsuspecting school bus drivers:((
A SNOW COVERED RURAL ROAD

You may wonder about the school bus photos I have included in the blog. No doubt they need some explanation!! I took those photos back in the winter of 2003 after we had moved to Bayfield & transferred our bus driving jobs from St. Marys to Clinton. Both Kelly & I were back to driving big buses again then. I have an Aunt in Sarasota Florida & we have been sending emails back & forth for about 11 years now. My Aunt has always liked Snoopy from the Charlie Brown days & would sometimes include little Snoopies in her emails. I spotted a Snoopy dog in a local Thrift shop one day so bought it & brought him home. Early one very incredibly cold winter morning I stuffed Snoopy in my driver's bag & stopped on a rural road before my first pick-up. Quickly posed the Snoop dog in a few places around the bus just like a student, took some photos, & later that day emailed them to my Aunt to show her my first student of the day boarding the school bus...........and you know what, I think she believed me:)) IT WAS SOOOOOO COLD THE ICE CRYSTALS WERE HANGING IN THE AIR

Another time I will tell you about a snow ball fight in the bus, teen-agers mooning a police cruiser out the back window, & a public school principal giving me a talking too about letting my bus load of small children have too much fun on the bus...........Yep, that's what happened alright:)) THAT'S A CHRISTMAS CARD FROM MY AUNT JEAN IN FLORIDA THAT SNOOPY'S HOLDING UP. KELLY'S PUTTING LIGHTS ON A TREE TO THE LEFT

TO-DAY'S HUMOR: Two fish swim into a concrete wall. One turns to the other and says, 'Dam!!'
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