AFTER 355 DAYS WE SAID GOOD-BYE TO ‘WINNIE THE BAGO’ TODAY

ALWAYS A GREAT FEELING TO GET THE MOTORCYCLE FIRED UP FOR ANOTHER SEASON

With temperatures hovering around the freezing mark this morning there was no big hurry to get outside.  Made it around the trail fine but headed back inside the house soon as we returned.  Brrrrrrrrrrr!!

MAMA GOOSE, NOW ON HER NEST KEEPS A CLOSE EYE ON US AS WE PASSED BY THIS MORNING

It was well after 9 before it was time to take Winnie for her last drive as part of the Bayfield Bunch.  Rain due in Friday & I didn’t want to have to clean off all the pine needles again so today was the day for Winnie to go.  Ron from FOUR SEASONS PERFORMANCE had said to bring her down anytime so Winnie & I were soon southbound for Grand Bend with Kelly following in the Jeep.

BACKING WINNIE OUT OF HER SPOT FOR THE LAST TIME

Ron wasn’t long coming out the door with a red 2011 plate to replace our front license plate.  Went over a few things & he said he had some folks coming Saturday to have a look at it already.  We decided on an asking price of $64,900.  A good deal for someone considering it’s the top of the Class C line for Winnebago.  It is the Access Premier model.  New solar system installed last November plus it has a domed satellite tracking system on the roof.  Only about 18,000 miles on it too.  Excellent shape, lots of storage space, everything works, spare tire has never been on the road, etc. etc.

BECAUSE IT’S A GOOD LOOKING QUALITY RIG RON DOESN’T THINK IT WILL HAVE ANY PROBLEMS SELLING

  

GOING OVER A FEW THINGS ON THE COACH (NOTE TO AUNT JEAN, NOTICE MY ‘SCHAEFER SLOUCH’)

HAD US A BIT OF KIBBITZING GOING ON THIS MORNING TOO:))

After sitting here reading over my own post’s title tonight I felt a little sad.  It’s hard for me to say good-bye to anything.  Always seems to be so final & I guess that is because it is.  Winnie gave us some great memories this past year transporting us safely from place to place.  She was a good looking well running rig & I will miss her just as I have missed all the other vehicles I have owned over the years.  (47 & counting)  I wrote a post about those vehicles back in September of 07 entitled, A LIFETIME OF OLD CLUNKERS.

BAYFIELD’S SPANKING BRAND NEW ‘FOODLAND’ GROCERY STORE IS TAKING SHAPE & SHOULD BE OPEN IN A FEW MONTHS…YAY TEAM:))

A partial afternoon sun brought the temps up a bit so figured I would hook up my motorcycle battery & see if the bike would start.  Good thing I bought a new battery last year because it took 5 good cranks before the engine came to life.  Always a sweet sound to hear an engine fire up after sitting for over 6 months & especially this year after the long brutal winter’s cold.  Took a spin around the Park a couple times before parking it in the sun & getting myself busy cleaning it all up for another season.  Soon as it gets warmer I’ll have it out for it’s customary ‘feeling good’ Spring run:))

OK SO LET’S SEE IF I CAN REMEMBER HOW THIS WORKS NOW

 

MADE IT AROUND THE BLOCK WITHOUT FALLING OFF SO GUESS I’M GOOD TO GO

Noticed a stray dog in our yard late this afternoon & he appeared to be lost.  He was a little timid at first but Pheebs quickly won him over & they were both soon running around like a couple Crazy-O's.  Looked hungry so we fed him.  Spotted a phone number on his tag & Kelly called the number.  Seems he had wandered away from a neighbouring farm about half a mile down the road.   Name tag said his name was Maverick so we loaded him in the Jeep & drove him home.  The folks were glad to get him back.  Got talking to one of the fellas there & it turns out this 200 acre piece of property with a large Dutch Windmill on it is currently under development & is going to be known as the WINDMILL LAKE WAKE & ECO PARK.  We were sooooo surprised by this because we live just up the road & had no idea this was all going on.  If you open the linked website above you will see an aerial photograph of the lake & property.  The Dutch Windmill can be seen right of center in the bottom third.  You can also see where we live except you can’t see us.  Notice the farm (long chicken barns) at the upper right.  Just above that is a large Pine forest & if those Pine trees were not there you could see our house.  One small red roof is visible in the Pines & our place is located about half way between that red roof & the Chicken Farm.  You can also see Lake Huron at the top of the photo & that shows how close we live to the third largest fresh water lake in the world.

PHEEBS HAD A BLAST PLAYING WITH STRAY DOG ‘MAVERICK’ FOR AWHILE THIS AFTERNOON…MY MY WHAT BIG EARS YOU HAVE

  

With Winnie gone now & another week before our Triple E arrives there seems to be a big hole in the trees alongside our driveway & carport.  We are anxious to get the big E home & into it’s spot.  In the meantime little Jeepers will have to pick up the slack & fill in the vacant space best he can………………………. 10-4:))

GROANER’S CORNER:(( There was a guy telling his friend that he and his wife had a serious argument the night before. "But it ended," he said, "when she came crawling to me on her hands and knees." "What did she say?" asked the friend. The husband replied, "She said, 'Come out from under that bed, you coward!'"

PHEEBS & I HIT THE BACK ROADS FOR A RELAXING COUNTRY DRIVE:))

GOOSE-STEPPING IN THE COUNTRYSIDE THIS MORNING
A bone chilling cold wind will turn me around every time & that’s exactly what this morning’s Northern blast of frigid air did.  Ice Queens Kelly & Pheebs carried on around the whole trail while I wussed out & high tailed it for home.  None of that cold air for this guy if he can help it.  However, living in a Pine forest has it’s benefits though & one of those is the protection afforded against wind  by a number of trees.  If one can find a sunny spot that is.  My sunny spot this morning turned out to be my next clean-up project.

SOON THESE BROWN BARREN FARM FIELDS WILL BE GREENING UP WITH FARMERS CROPS
We have 2 sheds on our property & everything ends up inside them in the Fall before we head off for the South-West.  With sunshine directly on one of those sheds it was a good morning to get in there & begin a good clean-up.  Moved things outside so I could clean the floor for starters.  Absolutely amazing how much one gathers over the years.  A good percentage of it is junk of course & I don’t know where in my life I climbed aboard the junk highway but I did.  There is just no rhyme or reason for it but oh well, at least we have a place for our ‘STUFF’.

STILL A FEW PATCHES OF SNOW ON NORTH FACING HILLSIDES
It was probably around 9 when I figured it was about time Pheebs & I took a break from our Spring clean-up projects.  Time to switch gears, do something different, see a bit of the post-winter countryside.  Loaded up the little Rascal Pants, a couple cameras, myself, & Jeeped us on over to the little burg of Clinton Ontario.  Coffee & a muffin to go at Tim Hortons & we were once again out onto the back roads of Huron County.  How refreshing to see wide open spaces again.  Living in a Pine forest we have a tendency to feel boxed in by the trees a lot of the time.  No farmers on the land yet because the ground is still very soft from the huge snow load this past winter.  Standing water in many fields made for muddy bogs waiting to entrap any kind of farm machinery carelessly venturing forth.
 
Slipped up & down a few of our old familiar roads just enjoying the warm sunshine beaming in Jeepers windows.  Pheebs was all happy to be out for a ride & bounced back & forth between the passenger seat & her soft cushy raised platform area in the back.  Despite traveling many miles on these gravel roads over the last number of years it still bothers me when I can’t remember where they go.  Everything is familiar of course but when I sometimes try to project an area map in my head which would take us to one of our favorite stopping places I just can’t seem to figure out how to get there.  Guess it’s part of the aging process but it’s a scary part of the aging process.  How soon the mind seems to forget things if they are not repeated over & over.

LAST YEAR’S CORN FIELD AWAITS THE FARMER’S PLOW
It wasn’t one of our usual 3 or 4 hour tours today & we were back home before 11.  Rains over the last couple of days had left Winnie in a bit of a mess with pine needles etc so I had to clean some glass all over again & do some wiping down.  Our frog pond was in warming full sun so started the annual clean-up there as well.  Lots to do but the cold air finally took it’s toll driving me inside to fall blissfully asleep in my recliner by early afternoon.  What a nice feeling that was.  I did briefly venture out a few more times managing to get the Jeep’s muddy tires cleaned up, some more pine needles raked, & lifted neighbor Monica’s suitcase into her car.  She’s going to be away for a month of which 11 days will be spent in Hawaii.  I will probably dig my motorcycle out of her garage Thursday.

A CEDAR LINED COUNTRY ROAD THIS MORNING
Had a few people ask questions lately about towing our Jeep.  One in an email, one in our Shout Box & another fella in Durango Colorado a couple weeks ago when we stopped at a McDonalds.  Questions being, ‘what gear to leave the Jeep in while towing’.  First off our Jeep is a 6 speed manual transmission.  I may catch some flak for this but I don’t really think it matters what gear the transmission is left in because when the 4 wheel drive crankcase is pulled into it’s neutral position for towing it disengages the transmission anyway.  But out of habit I generally leave the transmission in third gear.  Been towing the Jeep back & forth to the South-West for 4 seasons now without any problems.

GROANER’S CORNER:((   You've all heard of the Air Force's ultra-high-security, super-secret base in Nevada, known simply as "Area 51?"  Well, late one afternoon, the Air Force folks out at Area 51 were very surprised to see a Cessna landing at their "secret" base. They immediately impounded the aircraft and hauled the pilot into an interrogation room. The pilot's story was that he took off from Las Vegas, got lost, and spotted the Base just as he was about to run out of fuel. The Air Force started a full FBI background check on the pilot and held him overnight during the investigation. By the next day, they were finally convinced that the pilot really was lost and wasn't a spy. They gassed up his airplane, gave him a terrifying "you-did-not-see-a-base" briefing, complete with threats of spending the rest of his life in prison, told him Las Vegas was that-a-way on such-and-such a heading, and sent him on his way. The next day, to the total disbelief of the Air Force, the same Cessna showed up again. Once again, the MP's surrounded the plane ... only this time there were two people in the plane. The same pilot jumped out and said, "Do anything you want to me, but my wife is in the plane & it is crucial to my immediate health that you to tell her where I was last night!!

TODAY’S ACTIVITIES INCLUDED CLEANING THE CARPORT, HOSING DOWN THE JEEP’S ENGINE & MORE YARD WORK…I’M HAPPY TO HAVE THINGS TO DO:))

Think it was the first time this year we saw a touch of fog in the air this morning. Rains had moved through in the night & dripping raindrops from the Pine trees was enough to immediately convince the Pheebs she was not going out. No way Jose. She just does not like to get wet even if it is only a couple of errant drops of rain.

WELL YOU DON’T HAVE TO GET ALL RUFFLED UP ABOUT IT

Despite the the colder damp temperatures (40F) I still had myself in clean-up mode & it was our carport I targeted first thing right off.  We have a 6x60’ storage section which is part of our over all carport & it was a messy clutter that just had to be dealt with.  We have a wood floor in the storage part but the carport itself is a dirt floor.  How many times over the last 8 years have I kicked myself in the pants (baggy ones) for not having a cement pad poured in there when the fellas built the carport & encouraged me to do that.  Guess I was in one of my penny pinching modes at the time so it has been a messy & grubby dirt floor ever since.  Dirt tracks into the storage area too & this morning I had to Shop Vac all that out of there.  We have a fella coming this week to give us a price to pour a concrete slab where we park our vehicles.  That should finally rectify my 8 year old penny pinching problem.  We are under no illusions it will be cheap:((  

HOPING TO REPLACE THIS MANGY DIRT CARPORT FLOOR WITH A CONCRETE SLAB

 

SPENT MY MORNING IN HERE CLEANING & RE-ORGANIZING A BUNCH OF STUFF

Finished up the carport clean-up about noon, grabbed myself a short rest & headed back out to tackle some more yard work. Keeping active was the only way to stay warm in today's colder temperature. Pheebs & I hauled a couple more utility trailer loads of pine needles to the recycling area. Somewhere in there I fired up the power washer again & hosed down the Jeep's engine. It was so totally covered in thick cinnamon colored red rock Utah desert dust. So did the Jeep start after I hosed it down?? Hey, it's a Jeep eh:))

 

BEFORE & AFTER OF THE JEEP’S ENGINE WASH TODAY

Talked to our good RV friend Ron from FOUR SEASONS PERFORMANCE today & we'll be taking the Winnie Wagon down to Ron's lot in Grand Bend sometime this week. He said his phone has been busy already so it looks like a good start to the RV season for him. Probably going to be next week before we pick up the Triple E so for the first time in 8 years we will be temporarily RV-less:(( We have had an RV since 1998 when we first bought an old 21'Dodge Centurion. We were RV-less once before in 2004. After selling our 24' Prowler Travel Trailer it was about a year before we re-entered the RV world again with a small Gulf Stream Class C.

Steve from HOUNDS & RV'S is still having quite a time on deciding which RV combo is going to be best suited for him & his Hounds when they hit the road now that retirement is finally at hand. Choosing the right RV is no easy matter in many cases & Steve is a good example of how confusing all the options & combinations can be. I remember back in 06 how we went back & forth, back & forth, between a Motorhome vs a truck & fifth wheel decision. Convinced ourselves the truck & trailer combo was the correct choice for us. It wasn't. Just like our decision two winters ago to downsize to a smaller Class C. Thought we had all our Ducks lined up but somewhere along the line some of those Ducks waddled away on us while we were looking the other way. Some folks are fortunate enough to have their decisions work for them right off the bat while others have to work at it for awhile to get things right. It's all part of the great RV lifestyle & the stress & excitement of choosing the correct RV for one's needs is all part of the overall experience. Not necessarily rights or wrongs, just preferences, personal needs & tastes:))

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh how great it is to be back in Canada eating REAL peanut butter again.  Yay, no more salty saturated excuses for the real thing.  No more additives, just real peanut butter.  The only main stream peanut butter I can remotely tolerate is Jif.  Tried some Kraft a few months ago & couldn’t eat it.  Threw it out.  We seem to have a hard time finding real peanut butter in the States.  There are peanut butter products on the shelves with the word ‘Natural’ on the labels but the peanut butter inside is about as natural as a vase of plastic flowers.  Don’t know how companies get away with that kind of blatant false advertising!!

ASLEEP UNDER A WATCHFUL GAZE >>>

How nice to hear Spring Peeper frogs out around our little front yard pond again.  Can’t see em of course but we sure can hear em.  Soon will be the Crickets, then the Tree Frogs.  Song birds will begin arriving shortly as well & both Pheebs & I are itching to get ourselves out for our first country road coffee & muffin morning photo tour of the season.  Depending on the weather we could maybe slip out sometime later this week although after today’s cold temperatures & long range forecast I am not too optimistic about that.  After the harsh winter Spring is having a little difficulty getter herself ramped up this year.  I think we already had more flowers out last year at this time.  Squirrels have sure been active in our front yard though but they have not been able to figure out our new Squirrel proof bird feeder which was mysteriously sent to us in Congress by an anonymous Blog reader:)) 

MIGRATING TUNDRA SWANS

Pat B in a comment wondered if we had a name for the new rig yet.  Nope, not yet & as I said to Kelly, I sure don’t like the name Commander.  And referring to as the Triple E doesn’t do it for me either.  I’m sure once we take delivery of it & get out for a few spins we’ll think of something.  Anyone have any ideas:))

I LOVE YOU TOO BIG RED

GROANER’S CORNER:((  A fifteen-year-old boy came bounding into the house and found his mom in bed. He asked if she were sick or something. He was truly concerned.
Mom replied that, as a matter of fact, she didn't feel too well.   The son replied, "Well, don't worry a bit about dinner. I'll be happy to carry you down to the stove."

NOSE TO THE CLEANING GRINDSTONE FINISHES WINNIE’S CLEANING TODAY….SHE’S READY FOR THE RV MARKETPLACE

STARTING TO LOOK A LITTLE BIT LIKE SPRING AROUND HERE

Well, it's that time of year again. I'm usually Okay for the first couple weeks after arriving home about coming up with things to post about but it's not long before things begin to get a little routine, readers drop off, & I question myself about keeping the blog going for another summer. Happens to me every year at this time & probably happens to others as well. Blogging every other day, once a week, or maybe once every two or three weeks, just doesn't hold any interest for me. If I tried to do that I would lose momentum for sure & probably would just give it up altogether. No, for me it's daily or nothing. I did start this Blog unofficially in 06 & officially in 07 & have always tried to keep it headed in general RV travel oriented direction but as many Bloggers know it can be a real challenge coming up with anything interesting to write about especially when one isn't traveling. With 2,225 Blogger posts behind me I find each year becomes an ever bigger challenge trying to keep posts non repetitive, interesting, & fresh.  No I’m not planning on quitting yet, just expressing a few of my usual thoughts again at this ‘routine’ time of year…………...

 
TURKEY VULTURES ARE BACK FOR ANOTHER SEASON
Because our predicted rains did not appear all day my pace was set & there was no let up until late afternoon. Don't know where my energy came from but right off I hauled out our power washer & got right after the Winnebago. Power washed the Jeep & Santa Fe while I was at it as well. With our way overloaded chlorine levels in our water anything washed is left with hard to remove white spots. That just makes for a whole lot of extra work but there is no way around it. Using 'The Solution' I had to of course again go over the whole coach. Bugs were especially bad on the front of the Ford so Pheebs & I took a break & headed up to Goderich for some 'Bug & Tar Remover', plus some 'Armor All’, & 'Black Streak Remover.' Grabbed a Tim Horton coffee, a Carrot Muffin, & headed right back home again. Spent the next 4 hours cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. It was so reminiscent of how I used to look after my vehicles many years ago. As most young fella's know, their vehicles are the biggest most important thing in their lives & I was no exception. Always cleaning, always shining, always polishing. I reminded myself of myself oh so many years ago. Remember those days Gary B:))

SAY, YA DON’T SUPPOSE THOSE JEANS ARE A WEE BIT TOO BAGGY ON ME DO YA

But alas, all this cleaning today was not for myself or the usual reasons one works hard at keeping their vehicle all spiffed up. Today's cleaning was necessary simply because we will be selling the RV & it is much easier to sell a good looking clean RV than one all dirtied up. Plus Winnie's new owner will start off on the right foot with a completely clean & fine looking Class C. And I feel good about that.

KELLY BEING WELL OVER A HUNDRED POUNDS LIGHTER THAN ME WAS ABLE TO GET UP ON THE HOOD TO CLEAN UNDER THAT OVERHANG
Couldn't help thinking today about one of the reasons I was looking forward to downsizing to a Class C from a Class A over a year ago. With our Class A Damon I pretty much had to get up on a ladder all the time to properly clean the windshield. How much easier I figured it would be to clean the front end of a much lower Class C. Despite having 2 previous Class C's years ago how soon I forgot just how actually hard it is to get the top of a Class C windshield clean. And then there's that big inaccessible front cap. Try to get up there & get the bugs of that eh. I'm sure fellow C owners know exactly what I mean. I was reminded of that all day today. I am soooooo looking forward to getting back up on my ladder to clean an ‘oh so easy’ Class A windshield again:))

NOW HOW’S THAT FOR A BIG BOARDING HOUSE BREAKFAST REACH
I may have mentioned this before but I am so relieved our Triple E has the bigger 22.5 inch tires on it. For the size of our 26' Winnie Wagon I was nervous about the smaller 16” tires on the Class C & after blowing a tire in northern New Mexico last October I was never comfortable with those smaller tires again. Maybe I had nothing to be nervous about but nervous I was & that's all that mattered.

ARE YOU LOOKING AT ME MISTER!!

I liked TIOGA GEORGE'S thoughts in his latest post. Short, simple, & sincere, as he momentarily reflects back on his marvellous RVing days, accepts the reality of where his life is now, & pensively thinks ahead to his future. Good stuff George….keep it up:))

RALPH, I CAN HEAR THOSE SEEDS TALKING TO ME I TELL YA
GROANER'S CORNER:(( Toward the end of our senior year in high school, we were required to take a CPR course. The classes used the well known mannequin victim, Resusci-Annie, to practice. Typical of most models, this Resusci-Annie was only a torso, to allow for storage in a carrying case. The class went off in groups to practice. As instructed, one of my classmates gently shook the doll and asked "Are you all right?" He then put his ear over the mannequin's mouth to listen for breathing.  Suddenly he turned to the instructor and exclaimed, "She said she can't feel her legs!"
---
A policeman arrives at the scene of an accident, in which a car smashed into a tree. The cop rushes over to the vehicle and asks the driver, "Are you seriously hurt?" "How do I know?" the driver responds. "I'm not a lawyer!"

OUR NICEST WEATHER DAY OF THE YEAR & WE TOOK FULL ADVANTAGE OF IT

KEEPING A LOW PROFILE

Until the day warmed up a bit Pheebs & I worked away at the yard clean up again. More raking up of Pine needles & picking up of downed branches from many tall Pine trees surrounding our house. Grounds are slowly beginning to take shape.  Crawled under the front deck to turn the outside water on for the season but no go.  Tap wouldn’t budge so can only assume there is still ice in the pipe.  I’ll try again in a couple days.  First time that has ever happened but with the horrid winter they had hear I am not surprised.  Update::  After today’s warm temps I tried the tap again after supper & it worked.  Water’s on:))

We seemed to be going full tilt today.  Kelly busied herself cleaning the interior of the Winnebago while I washed out bins & cleaned windows, etc.  Interspersed with all that was helping a neighbor with a bit of yard work & a couple loads of pine needles to the dump area.  Turned out to be the finest weather day of the year so far with temps into the 60’s I think.  After publishing the blog Saturday night I worked outside till dusk.  I like when that happens.  A nice feeling of accomplishment at the end of a day is always a good thing.

SOME WEREN’T WORKING QUITE AS HARD AS OTHERS TODAY

 

GETTING WINNIE ALL SPIFFED UP

Cindie & NAN in a comment question wondered about the pond reflection photo in Friday night’s post.  The actual reflection in the pond’s water is the bottom third of the photo.  From the pond to the upper right is a grassy bank with a touch of frost on it.  A yellowy early morning Sun coming in from the upper left is shining through a stand of tall Pine trees.  The long black shadows you see on the bank are actually tall skinny Pine tree trunks. (Bea was right)  We see this scene every morning right now as we approach the Park’s pond from the North-East.  In a few weeks as our ever rotating Earth slowly changes position with the Sun we will not see these exact same reflections again this year.  Also had some unidentified Ducks in the same pond in Wednesday’s post & our friend GORDON from up there near that Ottawa place thought maybe they were female Hooded Mergansers.  By the way if you want to see some truly excellent photography just click on Gordon’s name.  Well worth taking a moment to have a look.  This guy knows how to do it right:))

BACK YARD BREAK TIME WITH A JUG OF TEA

And at last I am totally free of that miserably nasty chest & head cold I had for nearly 2 weeks.  Could maybe have put the run on it if I had taken some prescribed meds earlier but we were on the road at the time & I never got to seek any medical attention until after we were home.  Oh well it’s gone now & that’s all that matters.

JUST DOING MY PART BY HELPING OLD MAN WINTER GET THE HELL OUT OF OUR BACK YARD

Seems like everybody in our Park was so happy to be out walking & shaking off those winter blues today.  I probably met & talked to more people than I ever meet & talk to for the whole length of time we are home here in Bayfield.  Had to reach deep, pull out a few seldom used rusty old social skills, dust em off & put em into play.  Guess I did alright, nobody threw anything at me.  Saw a few backward glances & some lips moving so guess I have to assume they were just saying as they walked away, 'hey, he’s not so grouchy after all………..10-4:))

GROANER’S CORNER:(( Once upon a time long, long ago there was a season when neither the Packers nor the Vikings made the post season playoffs. It seemed so unusual that the management of both teams got together and decided that there should be some sort of competition between the two teams, because of their great rivalry. So, they decided on a week long ice fishing competition. The team that catches the most fish at the end of the week wins.
So on a cold northern Wisconsin lake they began their contest.
The first day after 8 hours of fishing the Vikings had caught 100 fish and the Packers had 0. At the end of the 2nd day the Vikings had caught 200 fish and the Packers 0.
That evening the Packers coach got his team together and said, "I suspect some kind of cheating is taking place." So the next morning he dressed one of his players in purple and gold and sent him over to the Viking camp to act as a spy. At the end of the day he came back to report to the coach. The coach asked "Well, how about it, are they cheating?"
"They sure are!" the player reported, "They're cutting holes in the ice."