ANOTHER TOUGH HUMIDITY DAY

 

A RAINBOW OF STONES

Today has basically been a repeat performance of Friday except I think the humidity is even heavier today.  Had a list of things I hoped to accomplish this morning & got off to an OK start but it didn't take long for me to run into the usual long list of snags.  At one point I had to drive over to Jeepster Pete's place & get him to show me how to totally remove the Jeep's soft top.  Decided this morning I absolutely do not have the patience to continually fight with that stretching, pulling, & grunting soft top roof getting it up or down.  Kelly & I are going to try lifting the hard top roof back on the Jeep in the morning.  The hard top is just sooooo much more practical & AL friendly.

SHOVELED A WHOLE WHEELBARROW LOAD OF MUD & PINE NEEDLES OUT FROM UNDER THE TRAILER'S SUB FLOOR

By the time I got to the computer Friday night my interest & enthusiasm for writing the blog was about zero.  Maybe it was the humidity, maybe it's the doldrums of summer, or maybe it was just the other 146 things I had on my mind.  I think it may have been the first time since I started blogging in the fall of 07 that I didn't feel up to the day's blog challenge.  Instead, I just wrote a couple of short paragraphs, pushed myself away from the computer, rounded up Max & Checkers & took the guys for a ride in the Jeep with the top down.  It's been a long time since I have done something different after supper & the guys loved it.  With the wind blowing their fur backwards we buzzed around a few country roads with their favorite Rin Tin Tin CD blaring in the player.   It was nice to see how much they enjoyed riding in the open air Jeep & boppin to the tunes.  Later last night around 10 I slipped out into the 80F air for another a drive by myself.  Can't even remember the last time I sat behind a steering wheel & was able to look up & see the moon & stars.  It felt great just to be doing something different for a change & it was a beautiful night for a drive.  I have always loved being outside at night & it seems these last couple of years I have hardly been out at all.  My astronomy interests have slipped & I now find myself having trouble remembering a once very familiar night sky.

  Hey Dad, Checkers is pulling my tail!!

     Ummm, don't ya think we're going a little fast there big Guy!!

We are creatures of habit & sometimes those habits need to be shaken up or life can become very humdrum & mundane leading to a debilitating case of.......Ho-Hum!!  I am a believer in the saying, 'a change is as good as a rest.'  Desire for change is the driving force behind RVing's hitch itch fever.  I have always been at my best when the winds of change are blowing.  When the mind is alive with thought.  When the mind is alive with planning & when the mind is alive with excitement. 

AWWWWW NUTS!!!!  I SURE MESSED UP ON THE COLOR FOR THIS WOODEN BOX THAT WILL GO IN THE BACK OF THE JEEP.  WANTED IT TO MATCH THE JEEP BUT I AM NO WHERE EVEN CLOSE.  NOW THE TRAILER SIDES WILL HAVE TO BE THIS COLOR TOO CAUSE I GOT A WHOLE GALLON OF THIS PECAN PIE COLOR:((

There has been a fair bit of talk in the blogs lately about 'comments.'  Sometimes a blogger will see an upswing in comments & then the comments may fade again.  Doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason for the most part.  Carefully written & entertaining posts can garner few comments while hastily thrown together one's are sometimes very popular. However, I do think if a blogger takes the time to consistently leave comments on a lot of other people's blogs he/she of course will see a marked upswing in visitor's comments to their own site.  That is a perfectly fine & totally logical way to attract visitors to your site & I wished I had the friendly type caring personality to do that.   Personally, I don't comment on every blog I read.  That doesn't mean the blog I'm reading isn't interesting, informative, or entertaining.  It could be all those three things in spades but for me to comment on Grands, food, basket weaving, quilting, cooking, horseshoe tournaments, family rebellions, fishing, sports, or somebody's tour of a stamp collection museum just isn't me & I can't do that.  As I said, wished I could but it just isn't in my personality to do that.  (well ok, sometimes I do) But, when I do leave a comment on somebody's blog I try not to make it a generic comment.  Some days it's hard to pull a comment out of myself about anything but when reading blogs I look for something a little different & try to put my own personal & creative spin on it.  Sometimes serious, sometimes humorous & sometimes helpful.  I can't call a photo 'great' if I don't think it is.  I can't tell you how wonderful your new hat looks if I don't feel that way about it.  Maybe it's the coolest hat in the country but I can't fudge my opinion. 

RED WINGED BLACK BIRD

I'm glad the 'comment' topic came up because it has been on my mind for a long time now & when I saw WANDERING WILLY express his thoughts a couple days ago about 'blog commenting' I knew I wasn't the only one with a differing opinion on the subject.

Now, one last thing about comments, just in case I haven't dug myself in deep enough yet..................I came across a comment in another's blogger's post Thursday that has me a bit puzzled.  The comment left in a fellow blogger's comment box said, " We blog when it comes to us. It makes it more interesting. Freely flowing thoughts are so much more creative than sitting there trying to come up with something to write about." Ummmm, is this person saying they feel their blog is more interesting & creative than other bloggers simply because they don't write it every day therefore making it....... free flowing.  This person says "their thoughts are so much more creative."  "We blog when it comes to us because it makes it more interesting!!"  Well, there is a lot I could say about this but I'm just not going to go there.  Maybe I have missed the point somewhere or am not understanding correctly what this blogger is really saying.  Or maybe it's just one of those mountain/molehill thingys.  Or maybe it just doesn't matter!!

 

So now, let me blow myself out of my own water by telling you that the person who left the above comment on a friends blog happens to have well over 400 Followers.  They have obviously hit upon a winning blog formula so what do I know & who am I to suggest they do or don't know what they are talking about.

Now I'm going to go take the guys for another spin in the Jeep.................10-4:))

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Got a tongue twister for you tonight.......

Through three cheese trees three free fleas flew.
While these fleas flew, freezy breeze blew.
Freezy breeze made these three trees freeze.
Freezy trees made these trees' cheese freeze.
And that's what made these three free fleas sneeze.

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Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

Until one has loved an animal, part of their soul remains un-awakened

OUR BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

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

AL'S SMUG MUG PHOTO GALLERY http://stargeezer.smugmug.com/ (a work in progress)

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

WHATEVER

I am so much looking forward to the weather pattern shift in mid August when pleasantly cooler days will signal the very early stirrings of Autumn.

Started my utility trailer project this morning & managed to remove 3 sides of the rotted wooden side panels.  Next I will throw a coat of paint on the steel frame & see how that goes.  Aside from a trip to town for paint the day was spent just puttering with the trailer, weed whacking & consulting with my recliner. 

GROANER'S CORNER:((  In just two days from now, tomorrow will be yesterday.

STORMY SKIES & A VISIT TO MITCHELL

STORMY SKIES OVER A NEIGHBORING WHEAT FIELD

Every time I drive that little lumber wagon Jeep of ours the more I am liking it.  I'm past the early stages of herky jerky cornering &  big bumpity bounces.  I've got the 6 speed shift pattern smoothed out & am beginning to slide through those gears like a hot knife through butter.  One of the extra bonuses I hadn't expected is the power of this little Snagglepuss.  It's big 6 cylinder engine coupled with the manual transmission really torgues the light weight Jeep body off the line.  I imagine it would be a real S.O.B. to drive on icy & hard packed snow though.  Throw some high wind gusts into the mix & I'm sure it will be like handling a para-sail with a pair of broken roller skates on while trying to stay upright on a glass smooth lake of frozen ice hockey water.  Even the downdraft from a herd of sparrows flying over rocks the Jeep from side to side & the wind sheer from a Turkey Vulture flying over this morning nearly blew me off the road.  Yep, it's a fun vehicle to drive alright & I am just loving every minute of it:))

JEEP'S FIRST RUN PULLING THE UTILITY TRAILER THIS MORNING.......we are lucky to have our own area within the Park to dispose of yard clippings.

Now that the convenient & totally logical mini-van is gone I have decided to upgrade our little utility trailer back into road worthy shape.  It has been let go over the years but I am already seeing a new & necessary use for it now that the van is gone.  It has a solid steel frame but just needs some new side panels made & some tail light wiring replaced.  We bought that little home made trailer nearly 8 years ago before moving to Bayfield when we realized we were going to have to move a lot of household stuff by ourselves.  That handy little trailer has turned out to be one of the best purchases we ever made & it has well earned the upcoming extra TLC about to be bestowed on it.  Gotta get Bruce to help me this one though or the trailer could end up looking like, 'The Wreck Of The Asparagus' by the time I would be done with it.

NEXT PROJECT WILL BE THIS UTILITY TRAILER

Had a few questions about the Canadian Flags on our rig & also the graphics on the back.  Also, about the 'Bayfield Bunch' lettering on the Jeep's windshield.  Lucky for us one of Kelly's Son's owns his own sign company & graphics business.  We gave him the flag decal measurements & he made up the decals & put them on for us.  Same with the 'Bayfield Bunch' graphics on the back.  He has some kind of machine that does all that stuff & when we wanted lettering for the Jeep he just whipped them up for us.  The graphics & letters come on some kind of paper that is carefully peeled off as the letters go on.  He specializes in 'wrapping' cars & trucks which means he can put all that fancy logo stuff on vehicles that you see going down the road.  We have a big blank white spot on the back of our rig & just this morning I sent Ben an email asking him what kind of graphics design he thought might look good in that spot.  His company is called, FLORENCE SIGNS & GRAPHICS and is located in Cambridge, Ontario Canada.

THINKING OF PUTTING SOME GRAPHICS IN THAT WHITE BLANK SPOT BETWEEN THE TAIL LIGHTS

We headed down to Mitchell this afternoon to visit with Uncle Harry & Aunt Jean.  Jean will be flying back to Florida early Sunday morning.  Harry's doing pretty good but it will be a very sad day Saturday when brother & sister say goodbye because they both know there may not be many more goodbyes left:((

   

I sometimes click on blogs I see in other blogger's lists & the other day I clicked on one but only got a few words into the blog & had to turf it.  Why?  The print was too small for me to read!!  Obviously the blogger had excellent vision & never thought about readers who didn't.  It was the smallest print size I've seen so far & I now wish I could remember who's blog it was because I should have dropped a helping comment on the blog about the small print being hard for some folks to read.  When I started out my font size was too small as well & it took me awhile before I went with a larger easier to read font type & size.  And while I'm on the topic of blogs I have another opinion which I've blogged about in the past.  If I click on a blog & it has music blaring I don't go any further.  I don't scramble around looking for a 'mute' button either.  'Click' & I'm gone.  On the up side I'd like to remind fellow bloggers of the advantages of putting a 'search' gadget on your blog.  People can type in key words & find your older posts.  I use it a lot when looking for things on my own blog whether it be from a week ago or a year ago.  You can find the 'search option widget' in your 'Blogger Dashboard.'  Go to Layout/Design & look for the the phrase, 'add a gadget.'  This is where you will find the 'search' widget plus other goodies for your blog.

'OH OH' I THINK SOMEBODY JUST HEARD THE RUMBLE OF THUNDER

And guess who popped up in the blogging world today after a pro-longed 4 month absence.  Yes indeed, it's our old blogging & traveling buddy WANDERING WILLY.  Nice to see you out here again WW:))

THE ROAD JUST OUTSIDE OUR PARK

GROANER'S CORNER:((  With all the sadness and trauma going on in the world at the moment, it is worth reflecting on the death of a very important person, which almost went unnoticed awhile back.   Larry LaPrise, the man who wrote "The Hokey Pokey", died peacefully at age 93.   The most traumatic part for his family was getting him into the coffin.  They put his left leg in.  And then the trouble started.  And, just to add to that......What if the Hokey Pokey REALLY IS what it's all about!!

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Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

Until one has loved an animal, part of their soul remains un-awakened

OUR BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

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

AL'S SMUG MUG PHOTO GALLERY http://stargeezer.smugmug.com/ (a work in progress)

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

TOOK THE RIG FOR IT'S MONTHLY SPIN TODAY

JUST A FEW OF THE BOATS IN BAYFIELD'S BUSY SUMMER HARBOR

A sunny dry day greeted us this morning so figured it was a good opportunity to take the rig out for it's monthly summer drive.  Headed off to Goderich to fill some gas cans & take on a little fuel for the rig itself.  Wanted to run the generator for a bit to give it some exercise too.  A stop at Tim Horton's & the grocery store rounded the morning of.  I have taken a liking to Vanilla Soy Milk so picked up some of that plus a carton of 'Peach-Tangerine juice.  I find two thirds of a glass of vanilla soy milk with a third of Peach-Tangerine thrown in makes for a real fine smoothie.  I also use the Soy milk in my morning shakes with a good slug of PT juice as well.  As Jackie Gleason used to say, "how sweet it is:))"

Bruce came over today & we did up the final paperwork, ownership, etc on the mini-van we sold him last week so after 5 years it is officially gone:((

 

FUEL STOP IN GODERICH THIS MORNING...I generally fuel the rig here because it is easy to get in & out of.  We gas up here before heading for the southwest & it usually gets us well down into Indiana.  (and they put the gas in........ and I really like that!!)

       

THIS SEEMS LIKE A RATHER PRECARIOUS WAY TO DREDGE THE RIVER

Took Max out for a spin in the little Lumber Wagon today & he did really well.  He really liked all the extra air coming in with the Jeep's top partly down.  Today's pics are from Tuesday's drive down around the harbor. 

A GOOD DAY FOR DOING SOME PAINTING ON THE FISHING BOAT

Sometimes I pick up ideas for the daily blog from something I've read in another bloggers post.  Rick mentioned this morning about normally writing his blog in the evening.  For the most part I have been doing the same thing but a bunch of months ago I began to write bits & pieces starting earlier in the day.  For example, right now it is 6:30 a.m. Wednesday morning & I am writing this to include later in tonight's blog which I will finally put together sometime after supper.  I have a laptop beside my recliner so during the day I periodically flop into my chair for a short snooze.  Sometimes the snooze is replaced by a few thoughts on the laptop which in turn is worked into the blog.  I call it, Snooze & Write.  Started doing that while on the road this past winter & I find it's easier for me at night not having to start from scratch.  Just working on the day's photos at night can be very tiresome without having to write a whole blog on top of that.  Too many 'midnight oil' nights so by starting the blog earlier in the day & splitting up the times, I find it easier in the long run.

THE ENTRANCE TO BAYFIELD'S HARBOR

And speaking of photos.  Rick's way of photo filing is undoubtedly the correct one.  I do it a little differently.  I simply create a monthly photo on Picasa like, 'May 2010 or June 2010, etc.  I put all of the pics I take in May into the May folder.  Same thing in July, September, etc.  Those files & names are also mirrored in 'My Pictures.'  When a month ends I also put a copy of the month onto our external hard drive.  In June I had 555 photos, in May it was 283.  So far in July I have taken 225.  All our travel pics are in a folder entitled, 'All RV Travels.'  Within that folder are yearly folders such as 06/07, 07/08, etc.  Within those year folders are then the months of travel.  I have a tendency to use words in my filing instead of numbers simply because words are easier & less confusing for me to remember.  I have never had a head for numbers.  This system works for me & in my foggy little world it is important for me to keep myself simple:))

A FAMILY BOATING DAY

Some days when we are traveling I may be uploading pics to the computer from 3 separate cameras......now that's where things begin to get a little hairy late at night after a long tiring day!!

KIDS CLAMBERING AROUND ON THE BOW OF AN OLD SHIPWRECK JUST OFF BAYFIELD'S BEACH

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Did you know that when your Gecko is broken you have reptile dysfunction & did I tell you I have kleptomania,
but when it gets bad, I take something for it.  Oh, by the way, did you hear about the suicidal twin who killed her sister by mistake!  Ok, that one wasn't so nice but just remember, FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS!
(Except that one where you're naked in church.)

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Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

Until one has loved an animal, part of their soul remains un-awakened

OUR BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

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

AL'S SMUG MUG PHOTO GALLERY http://stargeezer.smugmug.com/ (a work in progress)

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

QUIET DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD

'FOR SALE'....BUT, WHAT IS IT??

A dull overcast & 'nothing planned' sort of day.  Humidity is building again & the air is still.   Sunny warm days ahead as we plod steadily along on our way to Autumn.......& happy RV days again:))

THE 'FOR SALE' SIGNS ARE ON MANY BOATS HERE.....Left boat is top photo.

For any of you photo folks out there with a ka-million million photos scattered about on your overburdened hard drives you might want to check out RICK'S BLOG today & see how he has organized his files & photos.  For some down to earth thoughts & feelings about many aspects of the RVing lifestyle be sure to drop by MARGIE'S BLOG & get yourself acquainted with her views of life on & off the road.  LAURIE'S BLOG asks the question, "Do You Get Lonely?"  Follow her RVing thoughts from their early full timing days up to the present & see how thought patterns have changed.

A WHOLE HERD OF BOATS FOR SALE

A big friendly wave goes out from the Bayfield Bunch to Dan & his friends traveling from Amarillo to Mackinaw City this coming Saturday.   And to Al out there on his boat just off the Michigan shore line somewhere I say, check out the DEER PARK LODGE WEB CAM & give us a big 'Howdy' wave from way out across the lake.  To Paul over there in that New Jersey place southeast of us I say thank you for your email this morning.  Very much appreciated & am happy to hear Becky likes 'Groaner's Corner:))'.  It's people like all you folks who give bloggers like myself the incentive to stay out here kicking the old can around.  Thanks guys:))

                                   

DO YOU THINK NEW OWNERS WILL KEEP OLD NAMES

Long time blog follower Carol from New York State south of Lake Ontario asked about my thoughts on the Big Bend area of southern Texas a couple days ago.  Kelly & I made a 'shotgun' trip down there back in 04 during the Christmas holidays in a Ford Class C Gulf Stream.  On August 10th of last year I wrote about & included some photos of that trip & you can pick up our story about half way through the blog entitled, A LOOK BACK AT BIG BEND.  Photos aren't the best because I had just got into digital photography with a.....1 megapixel camera back then.  We have criss-crossed Texas several times through different terrains & so far Big Bend National Park & Big Bend Ranch State Park with their mountains, canyons & forest regions were the best areas of Texas we have seen.  For us, RVing is all about scenery so we do prefer the mountainous U.S. States west of Texas.

SOME BOATS MAY TAKE A LONG TIME TO SELL

Didn't have much in the way of photos today so took a drive over to the harbor & managed to scrounge up a few dry docked sailboats nearby.

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Here are some of the perks we Seniors can look forward too....

1. Kidnappers are not very interested in us.
2. In a hostage situation we are likely to be released first.
3. No one expects us to run--anywhere.
4. People call at 9 pm and ask, did I wake you?
5. People no longer view us as a hypochondriac.
6. There is nothing left to learn the hard way.
7. Things we buy now won't wear out.
8. We can eat supper at 4 pm.
9. We can live without sex but not our glasses.
10. We get into heated arguments about pension plans.
11. We no longer think of speed limits as a challenge.
12. We quit trying to hold our stomach in no matter who walks into the room.
13. We sing along with elevator music.
14. Our eyes won't get much worse.
15  Our investment in health insurance is finally beginning to pay off. 
16. Our joints are more accurate meteorologists than the national weather service.
17. Our secrets are safe with our friends because they can't remember them either.
18. Our supply of brain cells is finally down to manageable size. 
19. And last but not least.......We can't remember what blogger put this in his post:))

And, this one is for you Becky.......  Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night!!

AUNT JEAN'S BIRTHDAY, CHERRY PIE, & UNCLE HARRY:))

I'm sure the rain Gods were having quite a chuckle as they watched me put the Jeep's top down late Sunday afternoon.  They knew it would be difficult for me to get it up again in a hurry.  About 12 hours later they were happily dumping tons of water on us but I outfoxed them by parking the Jeep in the carport knowing I didn't have to go anywhere Monday anyway.  However, I did surprise my self this morning by actually getting the top back up & secured.  I didn't put the rear side windows in though because I figured there was no point in pushing my luck!!

My Aunt Jean's birthday was Sunday so this morning Kelly picked up a freshly baked Cherry pie (Jean's fav) at our local Mennonite bakery south of Bayfield & we headed off this afternoon to meet Jean at Uncle Harry's nursing home in Mitchell, Ontario.  Kelly headed off to Tim Horton's for a load of coffee while Jean, Harry, & myself headed for the Ritz Villa's lobby, pie in hand, to find us a nice table.  Rain soaked Kelly returned with the coffee & made a dash for the front door.  Minutes later we were all swamping down home made Cherry pie with 4 cup's of Timmy's best .  Fading memories & short stories were told & Uncle Harry had that twinkle in his eye again as a few of those old family memories brought a wee smile to his face.

AUNT JEAN CAREFULLY DIVIDES UP THE CHERRY PIE AS UNCLE HARRY LOOKS ON

Had a nice email today from another long time blog follower living just across Lake Huron from us in Michigan.  (Hi Al) Emails, comments, & Shouts, are always appreciated not only by myself but most other bloggers as well & it's always such a nice surprise when emails roll in from total strangers who have either just come across the blog or have been following it for years.  It's the kind of feedback that keep's my daily blog (& maybe other's) going on those gray days that come along every once & awhile. 

I get down on myself sometimes because I know I have lost readership due to my occasional 'rants & strong opinions.'  My intentions are not to intentionally alienate anyone but I know that is impossible for me as I run rough shod over people's feelings from time to time. 

I QUICKLY GRABBED TONIGHT'S FLOWER PHOTOS FROM THE FLOWER BED OUTSIDE THE RITZ VILLA NURSING HOME TODAY

Special thanks to you folks out there who take the time to email me with your thoughts, support & ideas.  And, you guys know who you are:))  Carol, Di, Rick, Al, Keith, Bob, Jerry, Rosanna, Wilf & Gypsy, just to name a few.

Have expressed my concerns a few times about changing my blogging ways but the response to that from many readers has been...."don't change a thing Al, we like the blog the way it is!!"  I have taken that advice to heart & it has given me added confidence to believe the way I write my blog is the right way for me to do it.  I write it the way I do simply because that is me & to do it any differently would be a false representation of myself.  I can't sap things up & I can't tell you I think something is 'awesome' if I don't think it is.  If I have a happy day, it's in the blog.  If I have a frustrating day, it ends up in the blog as well.  When anger occasionally rears it's ugly head  it finds it's way in through the keyboard too.  Sometimes you will find excitement & sometimes you will find sorrow.  But above all, you will always find honesty in my thoughts & feelings.  And sometimes......you may even find a little humor & silliness as well:))

GROANER'S CORNER:((

Charley, a new retiree-greeter at Wal-Mart, just couldn't seem to get to work on time.
Every day he was 5, 10, 15 minutes late. But he was a good worker, really tidy, clean-shaven, sharp minded and a real credit to the company and obviously demonstrating their "Older Person Friendly" policies.

One day the boss called him into the office for a talk. "Charley, I have to tell you, I like your work ethic, you do a bang up job, but your being late so often is quite bothersome."
"Yes, I know boss, and I am working on it."
''Well good, you are a team player. That's what I like to hear. It's odd though your coming in late. I know you're retired from the Armed Forces. What did they say if you came in late there?"
''They said, "Good morning, Admiral, can I get you coffee, sir?''      (ain't it the truth!!)

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Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

Until one has loved an animal, part of their soul remains un-awakened

OUR BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

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

AL'S SMUG MUG PHOTO GALLERY http://stargeezer.smugmug.com/ (a work in progress)

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