GETTING CAUGHT UP ON SOME BOOK READING

IT WAS A NICE NIGHT FOR PLAYING WITH THE CAMERAS:))

Turned out to be a quiet relaxing day here at the rig & we both did a lot of catch up reading.  Some day’s it’s just nice to sit outside & watch the fluffy white clouds floating by in a big deep blue Arizona sky.

We have been following the MOBILE KODGERS adventures in Slab City California.  For those who have never heard of SLAB CITY it is a place like no other.  I really must put an photo album together one of these days of our 3 day stay at the Slabs back in December of 08.  Here’s a sample of photos from a place we came across & didn’t know at the time what it could have been.  Have since found out that it was the sewage disposal plant for the huge army camp once based here.  General George S. Patton trained troops in this area.  Check out our photo album for some rather strange things in the desert……A WEIRD KIND OF PLACE.

OUR SOLAR INSTALLATION AT SLAB CITY CALIFORNIA ON DECEMBER 19TH 2007.

Ingrid & Tom, who’s property we are looking after at the moment may have returned to New York back in October but Ingrid’s Christmas Cactus is in full bloom right now.  They had to leave their plants behind & this one has been sitting in her kitchen window.  Too bad she can’t be here to see it.

 

I have 63 Television themes in my  IPod music library & Tuesday night while putting the blog together I had them playing in the background.  Talk about instant trips down memory lane.  I have to admit that some of those themes nearly brought a tear to my eye because of the great memories I have from those shows years ago.  I think it was the theme to Jackie Gleason’s Honeymooners that nearly did me in.  And Gunsmokes theme as well because that one even took me back to radio days.  Oh, so many memories of a bygone era that is lost forever.  Leave It To Beaver, The Andy Griffith Show, Little Rascals, The Waltons, Bonanza, My Three Sons, Have Gun Will Travel, Mary Tyler Moore Show.  The memories just go on & on.  Great shows & great themes.  Sure is a different world we live in nowadays & it is sure a different TV world than it used to be.  What happened? How did Television end up with so much garbage on it?  What ever happened to all those great old ‘feeling good’ shows? 

WEDNESDAY’S JEEP TOUR TO THE MULESHOE RANGE

We are about half way through our stay here in the southwest for another winter….and we are still in the same spot since getting here in early November.  Hmmmm, this is not exactly what my idea of RVing is all about!!!!  But, I am only one of two people & as so often happens in a man’s life……women rule:((  Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining…just saying.  We do have it pretty darn nice here:))

DON'T FENCE ME IN sums it for another fulltiming lady RV’er busy traveling across the country with a bucket list of people & places to see.  Kathy recently volunteered her time to help decorate floats for the ‘Tournament Of Roses Parade’ in southern California.  Yep, that’s another one of the Bucket List:))

IRRIGATION NEAR THE BONITA BEAN COMPANY

Our weather just keeps putting a big smile on my grumpy face & this morning it was puttering around outside the rig with melodious Bose tones filling the air with kd Lang, Jim Reeves, Frankie Lane, Eddie Arnold, Marty Robbins, Hank Williams, & Willy Nelson, just to name a few.  I love it when the old Cowboy gang rides into the ranch with their guitars & fiddles blazing the way.  And, with the Swiss Helm Mountains in our backyard……. ya just gotta love good old Arizony:))

I was just too tired last night to download my Moon shots so had no idea if anything even turned out until today.  I took the Moon photo at left a month ago in December.  Using the self timer on a second camera & took the photo below.  Just before the shutter clicked, Checkers walked by triggering the security light on the house behind me giving the photo it’s yellowish hue.  Yaaaay Checkers. 

AND NO, I AM NOT AS FAT AS MY CLOTHES MAKE ME LOOK!!  WELL, AT LEAST I HOPE NOT:((

Looking at Wednesday nights photos I see nothing special in the way of Moon shots so I threw all my Moony’s into a collage & let the lunar’s fall where they may.

GROANER’S CORNER:(( 

A bachelor who lived at home with his mother and pet cat went on a trip to Europe.

Before he left he told his best friend to inform him of any emergencies.

A few days after his departure, his cat climbed up on the roof, fell off and was killed. His friend immediately wired him with the message: "Your cat died!"

In a few hours he was back home, having cut short his trip in grief and anger at his friend, whom he told "Why didn't you break the news to me gradually? You know how close I was to my cat! You could have sent a message 'Your cat climbed up on the roof today', and the next day you could've written, 'Your cat fell off the roof' and let me down slowly that he died."

After a quick memorial service, the bachelor left again to continue his trip. A few days later he returned to his hotel and there was a message waiting for him from his friend. It read, "Your mother climbed up on the roof today."

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EMAIL THE BAYFIELD BUNCH:))
stargeezerguy@gmail.com
Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/
OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/
The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...... AL.

JEEP RUN TO THE GATES OF MULESHOE RANCH

THE JEEP GANG MEETS IN SANDY’S RESTAURANT PARKING LOT IN SUNIZONA, ARIZONA…RAY, JEANIE, CAROL, ROSANNA, KELLY & JEEP

We met our 4 Jeeping Pals Jeanie & Ray & Rosanna & Carol in the parking lot of Sandy’s restaurant in sunny Sunizona this morning at 10.   Arizona highways 191 & 181 meet here & it is a good jumping off spot for Jeep trips in the area.  Sandy’s is a ‘new owner’ restaurant with a growing ‘good food’ reputation.  Sandy’s also has an RV Park attached.  Now, how convenient is that:))

It was a beautiful morning for an outing with warm temps & a big blue Arizona sky.  We formed up our little convoy with Jeanie & Ray leading, we the Canadians in the center, with Rosanna & Carol riding shotgun in the rear.

Today’s destination was the MULESHOE RANCH CONSERVANCY AREA northwest of Willcox Arizona.  This is a 49,120 acre tract of land that just goes on forever & ever through rolling hills of yellowing grass.   Beaver Tail Cactus are in abundance everywhere.  Not a lot of trees but a generous helping of Soapstone Yuccas & Agave plants.  Beyond the rolling hills are distant mountains towering above the horizon all the way around us.  This was new territory for us so my mind was busy scrambling through it’s mapping memory banks trying to put names to the various mountain groups.  

The road was dusty & a bit bump infested in spots with a few sections of nasty washboard trying it’s best to turn the Jeep sideways.  We never hit any stretches where 4 wheel drive was required & after a couple hours of scenic driving we reached the trailhead for the Muleshoe Ranch.  And, the Ranch was closed today!! 

We determined from the reader boards at the trail head that from this point on the road became rugged & only 4 wheel drive vehicles were allowed.  In fact, drivers are required to sign a register stating name, type of vehicle & purpose of visit before proceeding further into the Muleshoe range. 

We decided, because of the time of day, we would return again in two weeks after getting a much earlier start to the day.  Apparently there is lot to see once the Muleshoe Range is entered including a movie location from the latest TOMBSTONE MOVIE starring Kurt Russell a few years back.

We decided this trailhead area was a good spot for lunch so without further ado out came the snacks & we all stood around by the Jeeps kibitzing & munching our oats & hay.  Then, it was back into the Jeeps & back out the long winding dusty road heading for home. 

 

NOTICED CAROL SEEMED TO HAVE EYES FOR OUR LITTLE ORANGE MONKEY PAL

I THINK THESE TWO GOT SOMETHING GOING ON HERE:))

HERE’S ROSANNA BELTING OUT A FEW BARS OF ‘THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER’    :))

 

IT WAS KIND OF A STAND UP JEEP BUNCH LUNCH TODAY

At a fork in the road we parted with our Jeepster Pals as they headed for Benson & we headed back down to Willcox.  Kelly wanted to stop in at the Bonita Bean Company located south of Wilcox so that was our destination on the way home.   Grabbed a couple sacks of beans.  One is a 9 bean soup mix & the other one is Pinto beans.  Kelly is a big bean person & I am just kind of a little mashed potatoes & gravy guy:))

 

PICKING UP A FEW SACKS OF BEANS AT THE BONITA BEAN COMPANY SOUTH OF WILLCOX, ARIZONA

It was late afternoon when we arrived back at the rig & tonight I have been outside cracking off some pics of the full Moon coming over the Swiss Helm Mountains.  It’s late now so I probably won’t do all the photos tonight & will save some for Thursday night’s blog.

 

CRACKING OFF A FEW FULL MOON SHOTS AFTER SUPPER (MOON PICS IN THURSDAY’S BLOG)

GROANER’S CORNER:((  A research group on sea mammals captured a rather odd porpoise on one of its trips. Its peculiarity was that it had feet. After they had photographed and measured the poor thing, they prepared to set it free.

"Wait a minute," said one of the researchers, "Wouldn't it be a kindness if our ship's doctor here were to amputate the feet so that it would be like other porpoises?" "Not on your life," exclaimed the doctor,

"That would be defeeting the porpoise."

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EMAIL THE BAYFIELD BUNCH:))
stargeezerguy@gmail.com
Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/
OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/
The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...... AL.

JUST A BOSE KINDA DAY:))

 

OUR LITTLE DESERT PAINTER IS AT IT AGAIN

At 7 o’clock tonight it was still warm enough to have our rig’s door open & that is unusual for this area at this time of year….but we’ll take it for sure:))

Congrats to Renee way up there in British Columbia for making it all the way through my 655 picture BISBEE ARIZONA PHOTO ALBUM last night.  You sure do have a lot of patience & I am happy you enjoyed the photos:))  I should add here that I purposely randomized all the pictures to follow no set patterns or themes.  Thought that might make it a little more interesting.  But boy oh boy did that ever chew up a bunch of Verizon bandwidth on us.  Two thirds of a Gigglebyte.  Guess I won’t be doing that again anytime soon:((

Some may remember those bizarre looking vehicles around Bisbee called, ‘Bisbee Cars.’  Well, figured I had better get with the program & get rolling on my own Bisbee Car:))

    

There are rumblings in the wind we may be off on another Jeep tour Wednesday with our 2 Cochise County Jeeping Pals, Jeanie & Ray & Rosanna & her Mother, Carol.  Have I mentioned Carol is 80+ but wouldn’t miss getting bounced around in the front seat of Rosanna’s little red Jeep for anything.  What a sport she is:))  No idea where we’ll be going but I’m sure it will be somewhere kinda rough & somewhere very scenic:))

We have a small Kit Fox coming in for water & Kelly has seen him twice.  We keep half a dozen water dishes out for the birds & the little Fox has been squeaking through the fence & coming in for water.  Hope to catch him with my 300mm lens.

KELLY RELAXES WITH HER BOOK TODAY

Today we welcome a couple new blog Followers.  Ross from MAGIC BUS has climbed aboard as well as Terri Lee.  Appreciate your interest folks:))

TOY TIME AT OUR HOUSE >>>>

I have blogged before about what I think about this business of wheeling & dealing with people so I won’t get into all that again except to say it is not my nature to haggle & argue with someone over the price of anything.  Hate it!!  However, we have a member of the family here who does quite well at that sort of thing.  Kelly noticed Best Buy had a sale on something called a Bose Sounddock Portable Digital Music System last week.  We had been wanting a small portable something for a long time to replace our ailing old boom box.  This Bose player is designed to work with our IPod Nano & how great was that because I would now have my complete music library on a portable external speaker system. 

NO, IT’S NOT A TELEVISION….IT’S A SOUND SYSTEM, & ‘WOW’ WHAT GREAT SOUND AT THAT:))))))

Talked it over & decided to go have a look at it last Sunday in Sierra Vista.  Kelly phoned Sunday morning to confirm the sale was still on & the clerk said, ‘nope, the sale ended Saturday.  What!!!!  Undaunted, Kelly phoned back & got another clerk who told her the same thing & wouldn’t budge on the price but offered to talk to the manager.  Came back on the phone 30 seconds later & said the manager said, no!!  We figure he just put the phone down & never went anywhere to ask anyone anything.  Kelly’s third call went right to the store manager himself & within 20 seconds his words to her were, “Yes, I will give you the sale price, come on over & pick it up.”  In fact when we got there he gave us a price even better than the sale price so it was a done deal &  now you know what we were doing banging around in the Best Buy store in Sierra Vista Sunday:)) 

 

From my IPod today I chose 53 songs from my 70’s Playlist & we were soon relaxing outside listening to the likes of the Eagles, America, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, the Bee Gee’s, JJ Cale along with Emmerson Lake & Palmer plus many, many, others.  Thanks to Kelly’s perseverance & determination we now finally have a quality portable outside sound system. 

ALWAYS LOTS OF INTERESTING LOOKING CHARACTERS AROUND & THAT IS JUST ONE OF THE MANY THINGS I LOVE ABOUT THE GREAT AMERICAN SOUTHWEST:))

GROANER’S CORNER:((   I just got off the phone with a friend in Minnesota. She said that since early this morning the snow has been nearly waist high and is still falling. The temperature is dropping below zero and the north wind is increasing. Her husband has done nothing but look through the kitchen window. She says that if it gets much worse, she may have to let him in!!

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EMAIL THE BAYFIELD BUNCH:))
stargeezerguy@gmail.com
Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/
OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/
The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...... AL.

FINALLY COMPLETED THE BISBEE PHOTO ALBUM

I HAVE PUT THE PICASA ALBUM LINK IN TONIGHT’S POST FOR THE BISBEE PHOTO ALBUM BUT YOU WILL NEED A COUPLE THERMOS’S OF HOT COFFEE TO KEEP YOU AWAKE THROUGH THE WHOLE ALBUM………

Our days are slowly warming up with temps running into the low 70’s.  I’ve always figured mid 70’s to be a perfect all round temperature.  When temps get into the mid to high 80’s & A/C becomes a factor, it is no longer a perfect weather day for me.  Being trapped inside by the heat with A/C running is just as bad as being trapped inside by the cold with a furnace running.  Same entrapment, same result!!

 

BISBEE ARIZONA & IT’S CHARACTERS

I have finally managed to scramble around through my thousands of photos & gather together most of the pictures I have taken in Bisbee Arizona the past few years.  No easy feat I can assure you & I know I haven’t found them all but will add to the photo album as I come across them.  I suggest if you go to the album site you click on ‘Slideshow’ & then press your F11 key to go full screen.   Slideshow can be canceled any time by scrolling mouse to bottom & clicking the X on the pop up control menu.  Viewing time for each slide can be adjusted on this panel as well &  I would suggest turning off the captions function.  Now, let me warn you….. this is a very large photo album & will not be of interest to most people but for those of you living in Bisbee or with an interest in Bisbee & surrounding area you might just get a kick out of this album & chances are, you will see someone you know:))   Click here…. BISBEE ARIZONA PHOTO MEMORIES.

On a recent trip over to Sierra Vista (not Sunday) we took a different route home because we were curious to see if we could find a piece of property that a blog reading couple had purchased recently near Sierra Vista.  We first came into email contact with these folks 2 years ago while boondocked along the San Pedro River.  We have never met them, but received an email awhile back saying they had decided to purchase this property as a result of, in part, following our blog.  They are in California now but emailed directions for us to drop around & have a look at their new property.  Great views for a full 360 degrees.  They will be able to watch the sun rise over the Mule Mountains & watch it set over the Huachucas.  Pretty darn nice I’d say:))

YEP, NICE PIECE OF PROPERTY ALRIGHT

Some readers have suggested using Blogger’s ‘reader’ as a way to get some semblance of order for all the blogs randomly floating around on my desktop here.  As usual, with anything new, I’m having difficulty gaining a handle on the concept but I guess the light will come on any time now………

The Bayfield Bunch welcomes our latest blog supporter GYMONR to our once again growing list of Blog Followers.  Thanks Guy:))

I’m having quite a time with my IPod Nano & the 1,054 pieces of music I have crammed inside it so far.  The tiny flute players aren’t so bad but it’s those big brass Tubas & long wooden Cello’s I’m having the most trouble fitting in.  Jimi Hendrix keeps trying to get out & for sure I know I heard Jerry Lee Lewis banging on some piano keys in there this morning.  Tis quite a little device & I’m sure I will have to take some Apple night classes just to find out how to turn the volume down.  I think the hardest part for me with all this new technology now is my impatience with myself to stay on the learning curve.  There never was a time when I could have breezed through all these learning technologies but there was a time when I at least had enough patience with myself to quietly work away at something for awhile without wanting to boot it into orbit after 30 seconds!!!!  Guess I just have to try harder at accepting this inevitable aging process & all the little nasty's that go with it:((

GROANER’S CORNER:(( 

The blacksmith immediately began his instructions to the lad, "When I take the shoe out of the fire, I'll lay it on the anvil; and when I nod my head, you hit it with this hammer."

The apprentice did just as he told. Now he's the village blacksmith.

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EMAIL THE BAYFIELD BUNCH:))
stargeezerguy@gmail.com
Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/
OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/
The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...... AL.