ANOTHER COLD DESERT DAY, BUT WE MANAGED A COUPLE OUTINGS

No snow on the ground this morning but still cold at 33F when I woke up around 4.  A canopy of stars told me it was going to be a sunny start to the morning, & with no wind, we had a good chance at a better weather day.  But, it didn’t last……….

AUNT JEAN CHECKS OUT THE MORNINGS BLOG, KELLY WORKS ON A LOAD OF TOAST & PHEEBS IS UPSIDE DOWN ON THE FLOOR

 

AND JEAN TAKES A PHOTO OF KELLY GIVING AL A MUCH NEEDED HAIRCUT

With today’s HD technology & high resolution TV’s, I really enjoy watching those full featured animation movies.  Polar Express & Hugo come to mind.  Pheebs & I watched ‘Despicable Me’ Saturday night & enjoyed it.  Truly amazing what animators & the wonderful world if digital imagination can do these days. Takes me back to the time in the 50’s when my Mother bought a brand spanking new 24 inch Westinghouse B&W television.  It was cutting age stuff at the time & as a kid, I felt I was standing at the edge of the Universe.  Been awhile since those days, but sometimes while watching these animations in HD, I am almost back, standing at the edge there again.

A BRISK DESERT WALK UNDER SUNNY BUT COLD SKIES AS A HAWK & BUNNY KEEP A WARY EYE ON US

 

RV AND OUTDOOR ADVENTURES WITH JULIE & TOM located in Gainesville Florida joined us today as our later Blog Followers.  Say, Aunt Jean forgot to bring some of that warmer Florida weather with her….d’ya suppose you could send us some over.  Thanks for dropping by folks:))

PHEEBS KEEPS A CLOSE EYE ON PASSING BUNNY OUTSIDE THE SUNSEEKER

Karen & Steve from THIS COUNTRY IS OUR BIG BACKYARD have been working hard these past bunch of months on renovating an older house they recently purchased.  Two very talented people here & it’s always a learning experience to see what great alterations they are making to either their Safari Motorhome or recently acquired house.

 

ALWAYS INTERESTING THINGS TO SEE IN THE DESERT 

We did manage a sunny morning walk in the desert but an icy wind later picked UP & kept us indoors except for an hours Jeep ride around the neighborhood.  Showed Aunt Jean 2 cemeteries at the end of Ghost Town Road & did manage a short walk in the old Pioneer one.  Toured around Congress & then on down to North Ranch for a drive through.  Went by MIKE'S PLACE expecting to maybe see him outside in his Bermuda shorts, but with the colder temperatures I figured he was probably staying inside pretty close to his gun powder today.

 

 

A SHORT WALK IN THE OLD CONGRESS PIONEER CEMETERY

Rest of the day was uneventful.   Reading Cheyrl Ann’s post from DEEP CANYON a few days ago I left her a comment & decided to post that comment here as well…….'Editing photos to me is as much fun as taking the actual photograph itself.  Lighting conditions are not always the best in the field & composition can be a challenge in many locations, but getting those same photos into a editing program is like a second chance to photograph the same subject all over again.  Lighting problems can be corrected, composition re-positioned etc.  Inaccurate colors can be dealt with & contrast problems solved. Half the fun of photography is in the photo editing process & at the end of each day I always enjoy uploading my photos into my PICASA photo editing program to see what little treasures I may have captured.  And, it's always a challenge, no matter what the photo problem is,  to solve & trouble shoot each & every photo to have the photos come out as natural looking as possible.  Some days, using all 4 cameras, I may very well have over a hundred photos to edit & organize.  But, like so many hobbies, the key is loving what you are doing....and that is the key’:))

LOOK JEAN, A FLYING CHICKEN………….OMG!!

AND, HERE’S THE LADIES WATCHING DOWNTON ABBY SUNDAY NIGHT

GROANER’S CORNER:(( In Africa, some of the native tribes have a custom of beating the ground with clubs and uttering spine chilling cries.  Anthropologists call this a form of primitive self-expression.....
In America we call it golf.

-------------------------------------------------------------
- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- "If having a soul means being able to feel
love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals
are better off than a lot of humans."
(James Herriot)
- 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.

WELL, WOULDN’T YA KNOW IT………!!

  

SNUG AS A BUG

Rolled out of Congress Friday night & headed for Surprise Az to meet Aunt Jean being shuttled up from the Phoenix airport.  I always like to be places early so we were in Surprise in less than an hour.  First stop was FIVE GUYS BURGERS & FRIES for a couple yummy burgs & home cut fries.  Only the second time there & it has become our favorite burger stop.  

 

BURGERS & FRIES ON THE WAY………‘HEY YOU GUYS, EYES OFF THE FRIES

Still lots of time before Jean’s arrival so we slipped over to Walmart for some groceries.  While in Walmart, Kelly’s cell phone rang.  It was Aunt Jean.

Using her Tracfone phone, Jean called to let us know everything was going as planned. She had landed & was just waiting for the shuttle bus to pick her up.  Finished up our shopping & slipped next door to the pre-arranged meeting spot in Golden Corral’s parking lot.  The blue SUPER SHUTTLE van rolled in about 40 minutes later from Phoenix.

AUNT JEAN ROLLS INTO THE GOLDEN CORRAL PARKING LOT

Although it had been a nice flight in a new Southwest 737 jet, the long sitting on the plane & shuttle van had taken it’s toll on Jean.  She was very stiff & we had to walk out the cobwebs in the parking lot for a bit before the final hour’s drive to Congress.  Coming from the warm 80 degree temps of Sarasota Florida, we had the Jeep’s heater cranked up against Arizona’s much colder night time temperatures.  We arrived back home about 10:30.  A long day for everyone but Jean was so happy to be here & we are so happy to have her here.  Pheebs was flying around upside down in her usual exuberant happy excitement.  She was all over Aunt Jean with lots of smooches.  Almost knocked Jean clear into the next county with her furiously wagging tail.

LOADED INTO THE JEEP & READY TO ROLL FOR CONGRESS AZ

Jean will be sleeping in my room while here so last night was the first night for  Pheebs & I sleeping in the Sunseeker.   Pretty cozy in there.  Very comfy bed & we had no trouble sleeping.  Pheebs slept on the bed right beside me all night.  We were lulled to sleep by raindrops on the roof.

GETTING SETTLED IN

Managed to sleep in to after 5 in the morning but when I opened the door to let Pheebs out……there was SNOW!!  Ground wasn’t completely covered, but snow nonetheless!!  We had so much been hoping for warm sunny days for Jean & wouldn’t you know it……her first night here the temps go down to freezing & it snows!!!!!!!!

  

Saturday morning dawned cold with a heavy cloud cover.  Busied myself taking some ‘snow on the cactus’ photos.  Later, we did manage to bundle up for a morning walk around the block.  Jean is an early morning walker & I well remember years ago one time when I went to visit her for a week.  She showed me her daily walking route.  It wasn’t just a walk to the corner store & back as we briskly followed her morning route through street after street in her neighborhood along Sarasota’s Bee Ridge Road.

THE GALS WERE LOOKING A LITTLE COLD ON OUR MORNING WALK

  

THESE ORANGES & GRAPEFRUITS WERE LOOKING A TAD CHILLY AS WELL

A SLIGHT SUN SPLASH IN OUR BACK YARD THIS MORNING

 

SAY, IS THAT A COYOTE I JUST HEARD OVER THERE

Aside from a few slightly warm, but brief sun splashes, the day remained cold & cloudy.  I typed this paragraph at noon & it was 36F outside.  Turned out to be an indoor day getting caught up on things interspersed with quiet times, Pheeber follies, & some zzzzzzz’s.

 

Latest Blog Follower DAYTON joins us today as blog follower 555.  Welcome aboard Dayton:))  And a shout out to Aunt Jean’s friends Don & Char way over there in that Florida place.  Jean is as snug as bug in a rug & says now that she can watch Downton Abbey on PBS here in Arizona….she’s gonna become a full time Arizona girl and set herself a spell:))

SO THAT’S WHERE I LEFT MY TAPE MEASURE THE OTHER DAY

A few more thoughts on the Sunseeker.  Soooooo nice not to have a stitch of carpet on the floor & that was made very clear with today’s wet grounds & muddy shoes.  Also figured out there’s not enough room for me & my cowboy hat in the bathroom at the same time.  One of us has to wait outside. 

  

We have a Jenson television in the rig & have heard good things about them, but the sound quality is really poor.   Poorest I have ever heard for a television.    We may have a solution for that before too long.  I like how the furnace & A/C fans work together to circulate the warm air.  Gotta figure out how to make this couch/dinette combo work more comfortably for us.  It’s always kinda fun getting the bugs out of something new.  And, talking about new, sure has been a long time since we’ve had a vehicle with that ‘nice new car smell’ to it.  Oh, & one other thing before I forget.  To get as much into a photo as I can, I use an 18mm wide angle lens for interior pics, so things may look a little more spacious than they really are in my photos.  No matter, you still get the idea.

Well, despite some light snow showers this afternoon, we are all optimistic here that our weather will improve shortly & we will soon be out in the desert somewhere bouncing about showing Aunt Jean the sites:))  

GROANER’S CORNER:(( A little girl had just finished her first week of school.
"I'm wasting my time," she said to her Mother. "I can't read, I can't write - and they won't let me talk!"

-------------------------------------------------------------
- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- "If having a soul means being able to feel
love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals
are better off than a lot of humans."
(James Herriot)
- 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.

AUNT JEAN FLIES INTO PHOENIX ARIZONA FROM SARASOTA FLORIDA TONIGHT:))

PATIENTLY WAITING FOR SUPPER

An early post today.  We’re leaving here at 6 p.m. & slipping on down to Surprise Az to meet a shuttle van coming up out of the Phoenix airport around 9.  If all goes according to plan, we will be meeting the van with Aunt Jean on board in the parking lot of the Golden Corral.

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Mike over at MIKE & PAT'S TRAVELS has an interesting post this week on how he loads his own ammunition for he & Pat’s target shooting hobby.  It’s quite a process as Mike explains with words & photos the 4 stages of re-loading bullets.  It has turned into an enjoyable hobby for him since purchasing all the bullet re-loading equipment about a year ago now.  Might want to be a bit careful though….Mike works with gunpowder:))

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A few more thoughts on our new RV & tomorrow we’ll move on to some new topics…………..We all know the many advantages of having a larger RV such as much roomier living space, higher capacity holding tanks, bigger hot & fresh water tanks, etc. but when downsizing, one has to get one’s mind switched around to the advantages of having a smaller RV. And, here’s how I see the advantages. By the way, if we were moving from a smaller RV to a larger RV then I would be writing about the advantages of moving to a larger RV.

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In our new 23 foot Chevy Sunseeker, starting with the engine, I like the fact it is the newer more fuel efficient Chevrolet 6.0 in this rig. I know we will not see a dramatic fuel savings, but it will be better mileage than what we had.  Also like the idea a Class C is easier to service at any garage & will fit in most any bay. We will be back to dealing with normal size tires again. Something our air compressor will finally be able to handle. And, smaller tires mean smaller replacement costs. No hydraulic levelers or slides to worry about anymore. Standard exhaust system again means a substantially reduced replacement cost compared to the long dual exhausts on a Class A. The gas/diesel pros & cons go on forever but felt comfortable sticking with the more familiar gasoline engine.

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We now have driver & passenger doors & I like that. We will miss the big panoramic view out the huge Motorhome windshield but we’ll live with that. I like the idea of the smaller, cozier cockpit with better heating & air conditioning qualities. And, how sweet it is to once again have a great sound system & quieter ride. Really missed that with the Motorhome. Like the idea we have power windows now too. And, OMG what about all this new computer stuff I am seeing in the dash. I remember my first car never even had a gas gauge. (61 VW Beetle) How am I ever going to get my head wrapped around all this new auto technology. Blue tooth, touch screen, iPod, built in GPS, Sirius satellite radio & the list goes on. I am sure there are many features on this computer center I am not even aware of yet. Well, no matter, I just might surprise myself by somehow figuring things out eventually. One of the reasons I like our Jeep Wrangler so much is there is no fancy schmancy stuff in it, but here we are now with……………….oh well, despite myself I’ll probably be alright.

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And, here’s another reason for downsizing at this time which some folks may think about but rarely talk about. I’ve already mentioned about it being much easier for Kelly to drive. If something were to happen to me, Kelly wouldn’t be stuck with a large aging Motorhome she wasn’t comfortable driving. If she decided to keep right on RVing, the 23’ Sunseeker would be perfect for her. As I said, not something couples may talk about a lot, but something I think couples should definitely think about in their future plans. We’re not exactly ‘invincible teen-agers’ anymore ya know……………….

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After Thursday’s long post & many photos, I figured I’d try to keep things shorter today.

PHEEBS SAYS, THANKS FOR ALL THE NICE EMAILS, SHOUTS, & COMMENTS FOLKS:))

GROANER’S CORNER:((  "My wife and I have structured conversations...
first, she gives me her opinion,
then she gives me my opinion."

-------------------------------------------------------------
- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- "If having a soul means being able to feel
love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals
are better off than a lot of humans."
(James Herriot)
- 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.