WE ARE IN QUITE A STATE OF WAFFLE OVER OUR COUCH vs RECLINERS OR A RECLINING LOVESEAT COUCH…..OR SOMETHING

We've been waffling again on our recliners idea for the Winnebago. We know for sure recliners are far more comfortable than the couch in our rig right now & far more practical for our purpose. We have no intentions of ever trying to deploy the air bed in the couch. We know we could make do with the couch, grumble & complain about it's uncomfortability a lot & save ourselves some money. Depends on our priorities I guess & at this age & stage comfort is always high on the priority list. If it wasn't, we would still be traveling with a tent. So with waffled minds in gear we motored off to La-Z-Boy in London Ontario this morning.

 
An hour & a half later with 18 annoying London traffic lights behind us we pulled into the Laz-Z-Boy parking lot. Nice patient & helpful sales lady by the name of Michelle showed us what they had in smaller RV oriented wall hugger recliners. While trying out different chairs for comfort & asking a handful of questions we decided to have a look at reclining loveseats as well. Discussing & weighing the pros & cons between recliners & reclining loveseat couches we took ourselves a fancy to one of the loveseat units they had. Biggest problem for us is the small 30x69" space we have to work with & the reclining leather loveseat we liked could possibly be a close fit. Before committing to any final decisions we decided to carefully re-measure our rigs space & compare them to measurements we took of the loveseat in the store.  La-Z-Boy is having a sales tax free Saturday sale in a few days & that would save us a nice chunk of change by not having to pay any sales tax. They will deliver, assemble, & install the loveseat in the coach & that again is a big plus for us. We will sleep on the decision tonight, maybe tomorrow night too & see if we are left with any waffles in the morning. We also have to decide what we will do with the mint condition (& maybe never used) leather couch/air bed in the rig right now. We have also decided we will not attempt to take the couch/air bed out ourselves. We will have to get someone to do that for us.

 
TRYING OUT SOME WALL HUGGING RECLINERS & LOVE SEAT RECLINERS TODAY AT LA-Z-BOY
 
HAVE TO USE YOUR IMAGINATION HERE & IMAGINE THIS FULL LENGTH COUCH WITH THE CENTER SECTION GONE REDUCING IT TO A SHORTER LOVESEAT…THIS IS THE ONE WE ARE (OR WERE) THINKING ABOUT
Kelly was also on the phone this afternoon with one of the Amish places in Elkhart Indiana who also custom make furniture such as recliners & loveseats for RV's as well. Prices were comparable to La-Z-Boy. If we had any kind of a problem (under warranty) with a La-Z-Boy unit we could simply go to the nearest La-Z-Boy store in either Canada or the U.S. Any kind of a problem with the Elkhart unit would mean we would have to return the unit to Elkhart. Safe to say we are leaning towards the La-Z-Boy deal in London……..or
Now, just before publishing this tonight we have had 2 more late irons added to the fire. Two more possible options. One for sure. We just may go with one of those 2 options.  Tomorrow night at this time I’m hoping we will have reached a decision.
Couldn't help but think while driving in London today what a huge change of pace & scenery it was for me from just a short 24 hours before when Pheebs & I were cruising around in our peacefully relaxing beautiful countryside. Thank heavens Kelly & I, former big city people, had the opportunity years ago to live for 7 years in the country. It thankfully changed us forever:))

And then there was Pheebs & my walk on a secluded beach Tuesday afternoon which I had remembered from a late night visit about 38 years ago. Found the narrow gravel dead end road & narrow steep path through a heavy stand of Cedar trees leading to the beach. Heard the roaring of waves before even seeing the water. How nice to be standing on that beach without a soul in site, wind blowing through my hair listening to & watching the crashing of those waves upon a stony shore. Pheebs dashing about up & down the shoreline being oh so careful not to get her paws wet.  Some days are just downright nicer than others:))

 
 
 
 

Thanks to readers for their suggestions about rotating our sewer pipe assembly upwards. I loosened two large bandit-clamps holding it tightly on & managed to gain about 3 more inches of road clearance. And yes, I even remembered to tighten those two clamps back up again. That whole low slung outlet system sure makes me appreciate how our Sunseeker & Damon both had that assembly installed higher & enclosed in a bin making it much easier to access & keeping it free from road dirt, flying debris, & curbs etc.
 
SOON IT WILL TIME TO HARVEST THE BEANS
'Cozy' is not exactly a guy's word. Probably won't find many fellas using it either verbally or in their writings. I like the word because of what it conjures up & means. 'Snug, Comfortable, & Warm.' Autumn is a time for cozy & for me it has to do with cooler crisp outdoor air & the warm Potpourri scented atmosphere one encounters when coming indoors. A warm cozy fire in the fireplace with mellow ambient music & soft lighting. Turning on the furnace or even a heater & feeling one's skin being enveloped by warming air gives me a sense of well being. Maybe a toasty sweater, a cozy blanket, flannel pyjamas or fuzzy slippers. A favorite movie on TV while snuggled up on a couch or stretched out lazily in one's very much most favorite recliner with a furry little Pal snoozing on their lap. One of my favs is sitting in our softly lit sunroom each night writing my posts.  Nice music, a gas fireplace stove aglow off to my right & a small electric heater at my feet if needed.  Outside the night air may be crisp & cold.  But no matter, It all means ‘Snug, Comfortable, & Warm’, & that in the end spells 'Cozy' for me.   I love it....... even if I am a guy. 10-4:))

Now, one last thing before some sharp minded readers with excellent memories check me up on something. I have some leather Crow to eat. I have blogged in the past stating my dislike for leather furniture. Not just once, but several times. I blah blahed about not liking leather seats in vehicles or leather seats & couches anywhere. Cold in the winter, sticky in the summer, etc. etc. blah blah babble babble.  You know me & my gripes.  Well Oooops, we now have two very comfortable & supple leather seats in our Winnebago. Had em in the Sunseeker as well. Bought a couple of nice used leather recliners for our sunroom earlier in the summer & now I am telling you about our plans to maybe buy an all leather loveseat recliner for our Winnie Wagon. What happened?? Well, I'd tell ya right now if I wasn't choking on my big slice of leather Crow............................Geeezzzzz, what's next, a new state of the art SAMSUNG SMART WATCH:))
 
GROANER'S CORNER:(( A new teacher was trying to make use of her psychology courses.
She started her class by saying, "Everyone who thinks you're stupid, stand up!"
After a few seconds, Little Johnny stood up.
The teacher said, "Do you think you're stupid, Little Johnny?"
"No, ma'am, but I hate to see you standing there all by yourself!"
-------------------------------------------------------------
- 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.

GLOOMY DEPRESSING START TO THE DAY ENDS IN FEELING GOOD SUNSHINE

  

THOUGHT THIS PERCHING BUZZARD & OLD GHOSTLY HOUSE WENT WELL TOGETHER

Disappointed to see it raining when I got up this morning. Didn't take long for my mood to match the grumpy weather. Thoughts of sitting around the house again had me between a rock & a hard place. Couldn't get my interest super-charged enough to fire up the Jeep & head out for a drive. Well, maybe I was having problems getting myself going but I'll bet you know who wasn't. Pheebs was just beside herself with excitement & she would not let up. She followed me everywhere, she was on my lap every time I sat down, she practically walked on my shoes in front of me & she made it perfectly clear, rain or no rain, we were going for a ride in the Jeep or else. She knew I was feeling down & she knew if she could get me going I was going to feel better. Of course she was right. About 9:30 I finally gave in & off we went. 

 

Rain had quit but sky's were heavily overcast & roads were wet. No matter, we were going to have ourselves a good day. Wheeled off onto a muddy country road for starters & made our way to the Hullett Marsh. Knew it would be wet in there but we went anyway. Trails are not maintained anymore in the Marsh & I knew the knee & waist high grass would be sopping wet. We did manage a short walk along an old road & by the time we got back to the Jeep Pheebs was soaked, had burrs in her tail & mud on her paws. All readily transferred into the Jeep of course. But no matter, that’s what Jeeps are for & it was just great to be out & about. No heat & no humidity. In fact I had 2 shirts on. One short sleeve in case the day turned warm & 1 long sleeve flannel shirt over top to keep the cool breezy morning air at bay. Actually had a little heat cranked on in the Jeep. 
 

 

ANOTHER FINE MORNING IN THE HULLETT MARSH
Despite our morning’s heavy overcast the Marsh landscape was beautiful. A distant flock of geese landing & several great Blue Herons lifting off the water as we drew near.  A lone Turkey Vulture atop a tall long dead tree sat stoically drying it’s wings.  It was a moody sky over sullen swamp waters ruffled slightly by a crisp westerly breeze.  There is beauty in nature wherever one looks if one has their mind open to it.  If thoughts are heavy the eye doesn’t see.  One must clear those thoughts & openly welcome what nature has to offer.

 

From the Marsh we headed northward kicking up clods of mud behind us.  Clouds brightened slightly & far, ever so far to the west where I knew the lake to be, I could see  tell tale signs of patchy blue sky.  Pheebs on the front seat worked away at a swatch of burrs in her tail while I did my best to dodge a few water puddles here & there.  We were heading for the little village of Ripley where I knew a house to be for sale.  Not really interested in it but it was a findable destination for us.  High Noon saw us sitting on the road in front of the house looking at it.  Just as I thought, not for us.  And with that we skedaddled right back out of town & resumed our muddy road journey swinging the nose of the Jeep southwards.

A RIPENING FIELD OF BEANS

 

GOT OURSELVES A LITTLE MUDDIED UP TODAY & ‘OMG’ I EVEN WASHED THE JEEP WHEN WE GOT HOME

 

The heavy overcast began breaking up & we were soon deluged in great warming splashes of sunshine traveling across the landscape.  What a great lift it is to see blue sky & sunshine after a few days of gloomy dark skies.  Ripening bean fields sprang to life & corn fields as far as the eye could see took on a glisten as the sun reflected off millions of raindrops on acres & acres of emerald green corn husks.  And to think, if Pheebs hadn’t dragged me out of my recliner this morning & surely would have missed what turned out be another truly awe inspiring day in a truly awe inspiring country surrounding.  We made many stops along many roads taking a photo here, a couple photos there.  Even made it to a secluded beach.  Will run the beach pics Wednesday.  It was just one of those exceptionally scenic days with a patterned cloudy backdrop right out of a Rembrandt painting.  No matter the troubles in the world, no matter the troubles in the mind, if one can open themselves to see the true handy work of nature’s finest works around them it has to have a refreshingly positive effect on one’s well being.

GROANER’S CORNER:((  John was driving his pickup down a country lane when suddenly a chicken darts out into the road in front of him. He's just about to slam on his brakes to avoid the chicken when he realizes that the chicken has sped on ahead doing about 30 miles per hour.  Amazed, he sped up to follow, but the chicken takes off faster and faster. Finally the chicken screeches into a turn and goes into a small farm. As he turns to follow, John notices that the chicken has three legs. He pulls to a stop in front of the farmhouse, and looking around, notices that ALL the chickens have three legs.
He says to the farmer, "Three-legged chickens? That's astounding!"
The farmer replies, "Yep, I bred 'em that way -- I love drumsticks."
John: "Well, tell me, how does a three-legged chicken taste?"
Farmer: "Dunno, haven't been able to catch one yet."
-------------------------------------------------------------
- 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.

SPENT A LITTLE TIME CRAWLING AROUND UNDERNEATH THE WINNIE WAGON TODAY

A FEW SEA GULL PHOTOS FROM MY FILES TONIGHT

Last thing I check every night before turning off the computer is our live real time weather map. Sunday night all was clear with no rain in sight. At 3:45 a.m. following a long peel of rolling thunder Pheebs & I were out the door in a light rain closing our 2 shed doors. Twenty minutes later lightning & thunder along with buckets of rain were pounding on our roof as a single fast moving storm cell came galloping in off the lake. No other rain cells around for hundreds of miles, just that one. Must have formed out over the lake & headed straight for Bayfield. And as per usual it knocked our power out long enough for me to have to re-set all our timers & clocks again for the umpteenth time this year.

 

Our overnight rains brought in much welcomed cooler 63F air & with today's breeze & overcast skies I was actually into one of my long sleeved flannel shirts. Cool enough again for Pheebs & I to resume our afternoon walks. Nice, nice, nice, but I don't imagine the week-end campers, cottagers, & boaters will be happy. Probably a lot of folks headed home early today.

Maybe it's the normalcy of Monday mornings I look forward to or maybe it's just the fact it's more of an action day than Sunday. I like Friday nights & all day Saturdays but Sunday's just somehow seem soooooo boringly slow or something. Monday's kind of rev things back up again & get things moving. Today is kind of a mixed bag of days with it being the Labor day week-end holiday. Just enough to confuse us for the rest of the week as to what day it actually is. Long week-ends have a tendency to do that.

You would think it would be easy enough to get service work done on a standard size Chev, Ford or Dodge Class C truck chassis & engine.  But apparently that is not always the case as Jimbo from JIMBO'S JOURNEYS recently found out.  As Jimbo says, “This is a friggen Ford truck for crying out loud! There are a million of them on the road.”

Spent a little time crawling around under the Winnie Wagon today just having myself a look at where things are located. Fresh water tank, gray & black tanks, drain valves, macerator pump, etc. Found our water pump & fresh water drain valve inside the coach under the bed along with the fresh water tank. One thing I do not like about this rig is the position of the black tank dump valve assembly. It is only 7.5" above the road & not easily accessible like our last couple rigs. Any kind of debris on the road like chunks of blown truck tires etc could easily fly up & strike that low hanging plastic sewer pipe cracking or breaking it right off. You can imagine the mess that would cause & it would be a very costly repair. Surely the design people at Winnebago could have come up with something better than that low slung pipe hanging down like that. A poorly thought out design in my opinion!!

 

AND WHY COULDN’T THEY HAVE INSTALLED A SIMPLE LATCH TO HOLD UP THIS SMALL DOOR I HAVE TO HOLD UP WITH MY HAND…COME ON WINNEBAGO!!!!!!

Ever notice how if your not quite feeling up to par mentally you are probably not feeling up to par physically either.  The mind, sometimes not wanting to feel alone in it’s own misery may have a tendency to drag the body down with it.  Aches & pains, maybe headaches, joints seem to stiffen, nausea is not uncommon, maybe some cramps, an aching back perhaps.  Just some of the ailments which I believe can be connected directly to the mind’s state of being.  And not feeling up to par can often be related directly to stress.  I think anyone who has had or has confronted sudden or prolonged stress can attest to the damage it does not only to the mind but the body as well.  I find if I allow myself to get stressed or angry over something my body is immediately drained of energy.  My mind not only shuts itself down but it shuts down my entire body as well.  Not necessarily the greatest feeling but at times the mind & body just need to turn & together walk away for the sake of their own combined well being.

Kelly's off to the Goderich hospital in the morning for an Echocardiogram. Pheebs & I might head out to blow some of this accumulated house dust off ourselves. With cooler air upon us now maybe we can get out for a bug free hike in the Hullet Marsh. We are both needing some healthy physical exercise.  And a hefty dose of feeling good from Mother Nature is definitely in order as well……………………………………….. 

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A woman on the phone to her friend; I feel like my body has gotten totally out of shape, so I got my doctor’s permission to join a fitness club and start exercising…. I decided to take and aerobics class for seniors. I bent, twisted, gyrated, jumped up and down, and perspired for an hour. But, by the time I got my leotards on, the class was over.
-------------------------------------------------------------
- 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.

JUST A SMATTERING OF SHORT PARAGRAPHS

LAKE HURON WAVES ROLLING IN ALONG GODERICH’S SHORELINE

We toyed with the idea of heading over to a La-Z-Boy store in London this morning to have us a look at some recliners & reclining loveseats but Kelly was called into work for a few hours & that was the end of that. We want to get an idea of what's out there regarding size, comfort, & cost. Think we might go have us look this coming Wednesday. We're still researching some recliner places in Elkhart Indiana as well.

Kinda had myself geared up for a road trip to London so when plans fell through I figured Pheebs & I might as well get ourselves out for a little Jeep toot. Another hot sticky muggy morning so we really didn't get ourselves too far & we were back home with the doors closed & the A/C on before noon. I am very much looking forward to cooler weather headed our way soon.

TIS THE SEASON FOR MUSHROOMS

TIOGA GEORGE, probably one of the best known RV Blogger Pioneers has finally decided it is time to come in off the road. After many happy years of traveling & blogging across the States & Mexico George has decided to return to & make San Diego California his home.  He tells why he is returning to the States & the circumstances that led to his decision.  We did meet Tioga George one time back in Ajo Arizona.  THE BAYFIELD BUNCH MEETS TIOGA GEORGE.

A RECENTLY HARVESTED WHEAT FIELD

Friends Chris & Caron from TRAVELS WITH CC & DIXIE are back up & blogging again since returning to Ontario Canada last April.  They dropped around to see us in Congress last March.  Here is THAT DAY.  And RV SUE doesn’t exactly have Bats in the Belfry but she figures she does have something crawling around in the ceiling of her Casita…………….

I LIKE MOODY SKIES

GROANER’S CORNER:((  The State of Florida had a problem. The drug busts over the years had filled their storage areas with marijuana. It was decided that their only option was to burn all of the marijuana on hand.On that eventful day, a huge mound of marijuana was torched. The fire raged, and the smoke of the weed lifted in a large cloud. Just at this time, a flock of terns flew though this cloud.
A group of forest rangers were sent out to assure the well-being of the terns. They followed this flock until they finally landed. The rangers, sneaking up on the terns, were able to observe them and issued a report that read: Not a Tern was left unstoned.

-------------------------------------------------------------
- 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.