ROLLING THROUGH OUR SUNDAY MORNING COUNTRYSIDE IN THE BIG EEE

To the soothing melodic sounds of Will Ackerman's acoustic guitar the Bayfield Bunch rolled through southern Ontario's scenic countryside this morning aboard the Big EEE.  It was time for the rig’s monthly exercise run.  Kelly, Pheebs & I headed ourselves north up to Goderich on a mighty fine summer Sunday morning.  McDonald's were advertising Angus burgers so we pulled into the Speedy Auto Glass parking lot next door.  Pheebs & I held the Fort while Kelly walked over & came back with a couple burgs.  Probably well over 4 months since we last sat down at our rig's table for something to eat.  Burgs were Okay but at $6.99 apiece it's not something we will go back for again.  No matter, it was just nice for all of us to be in the Motorhome going somewhere together again:))

NICE MORNING FOR A WEE CRUISE THROUGH THE COUNTRYSIDE

DOGGIE WAITS PATIENTLY FOR THE BURGER LADY TO RETURN

AND BY GOLLY HERE SHE COMES NOW

Kelly noticed a heat alert had been issued for our Bayfield area today so needless to say we stayed inside & stayed cool.  I was needing a do nothing relaxing day anyway so it worked out well.

Finished my book THE MURROW BOYS today & must say I thoroughly enjoyed this step back into a past era of early journalism Edward R. Murrow style.  Interesting, educational, & above all a look into the reality of our times then & now.  I’ve always had an interest in journalism but never had the education, the smarts, or the confidence to pursue it years ago.  Life just kept getting in my way.

 

Hadn't mentioned this in my Saturday night post but at the time of publishing my post I was not feeling well again due to some dizziness & nausea.  Tonight (Sunday) I am feeling fine again & here's what happened.  Figured me mentioning this might help somebody else.  Having been unable to sleep in my bed for over a week I decided Friday night to give it a try again since feeling so good after my successful Vertigo EPLEY maneuver performed by my Nurse Practitioner last Thursday.  Using a special pillow to help with my sleep I still found myself rolling from side to side & on one of those rolls in the night from left to right I again became dizzy.  Hauled myself out of bed & moved to my recliner for the remainder of the night.  All day Saturday I had recurring minor dizzy spells when bending over again & didn't feel well.  Things were just ‘off’ again.  After publishing Saturday night's post I went in & laid across Kelly's bed letting my head drop down over the edge.  This was my first attempt at the EPLEY maneuver by myself.  Head turned to the right for about 45 seconds then to the left for 45 seconds.  The left head turn caused dizziness but I  held on & the dizziness did stop.  Sat back up, felt sick to my stomach for the next couple hours but then began feeling better with no more dizziness.  Slept in my recliner for the night & woke up feeling totally fine.  No dizziness or nausea all day Sunday which told me my EPLEY maneuver had worked.  But here's my dilemma now.  Can I never sleep in a bed again?  Must I always sleep in a reclining position?  If so that's not so bad because I find sleeping in my recliner totally comfortable anyway.  But oh-oh here's a problem.  We don't have a recliner in our Motorhome..........................

  

Ever thought about all the advantages of sleeping in a recliner?  No, well I have been & here’s a few of them I thought of today…………Never ever have to make my bed again.  No sheets to keep changing & washing.  No more flumpy pillows.  Solves my rolling back & forth problem which leads to my current Vertigo problem.  I can fall asleep & wake up with the TV remote still in my hand.  Don’t ever have to worry about falling out of bed & I don’t have to worry about Monsters being under my bed.  When I wake up I’m already half way to where I want to go.  I’ve never had coffee brought to me in bed but Kelly always brings me one in the morning if I’m in my recliner. Bonus.  Pheebs can’t curl up on top of me if I’m in bed but can & does curl up & snooze on my lap when I’m in the big reclining chair.  And if I have to go to the washroom in the night I’m already part way to standing up.  Yep, this recent Vertigo thing may just have put me on the right track to some mighty comfortable sleeping for a change.  Long as them Monsters don’t figure out a way to get under my recliner that is……………………………………….   

GROANER’S CORNER:(( When I went to get my driver's license renewed, our local motor-vehicle bureau was packed. The line inched along for almost an hour until the man ahead of me finally got his license.  He inspected his photo for a moment and commented to the clerk, "I was standing in line so long, I ended up looking pretty grouchy in this picture." The clerk looked at his picture closely. "It's okay," he reassured the man: "That's how you're going to look if & when a police officer pulls you over anyway."

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A man walked by a table in a hotel and noticed three men and a dog playing cards. The dog was playing with extraordinary performance.  "This is a very smart dog," the man commented.  "Not so smart," said one of the players. "Every time he gets a good hand he wags his tail."

I FLEW TO BORREGO SPRINGS FRIDAY NIGHT, DROVE AROUND CHRISTMAS CIRCLE & WENT TO JILBERTOS

Our morning sky dawned bright & clear but the air was already muggy at 9 a.m.  Even Pheebs didn't want to go for a morning walk with Kelly so I took her for a little Jeep ride with all the windows down.  We picked up our usual 'to go' in Clinton & headed a short distance to Huron County's Hullett Marsh.  Thought maybe we could try a short walk if the bugs weren't too bad.  Couldn't believe the heat & heavy humidity in the air when we got out of the Jeep.  Amazingly enough there were no Mosquitos but the triangular shaped Deer flies were soon after us.  A few hurried photos & it was back in the Jeep with windows up & air conditioning on.  Criss-crossed a few country roads & we were home again about an hour & half after we left.  Just tooooo hot to be comfortable doing anything outside.  Although a nice looking day we spent it inside with our A/C cranked comfortably wearing sweaters, mitts, & winter hats.  Unfortunately our 10 day weather forecast is calling for more of the same.  Nuts!!!!

I flew down to Borrego Springs California Friday night in my Google Earth plane & landed on the road just south of Christmas Circle.  Hopped in my 'Street View' Google car & took me for a drive around that big wonderful circle of green grass then up main street stopping at Los Jilbertos which is my favorite little eatery in the Springs.  Looked like they were closed so no burger & fries for me this time.  I'll just have to wait a few months until we walk through Jilbertos door in person again.  Of all the places we have traveled Borrego Springs is one of my favs.  Each year I always look forward to going there.  Sooooo many great memories for us in that area over the past 8 years.  It was December of 08 when we first heard of, then drove to Borrego Springs from Slab City.  We had been at the Slabs having a solar system installed in our Class A Damon Challenger & totally had no idea where we were going next until we talked to another RV'er who suggested Borrego Springs over on the west side of the Salton Sea.  We have been to Borrego Springs every winter since being drawn back there over & over by it’s charming quaint appeal.   So many things to do, so many things to see in that whole area.  And the scenery, the desert sunrises & sunsets are just beautiful.  No big cities nearby so the dark night sky just goes on forever.  Well there ya go, now I've got myself scratching away at my hitch-itch on the early side & it's still a couple months before we even get out of Canada.  Guess I should have just left my Google Earth plane parked on the runway...........................

DAD ARE YOU SURE THERE ISN’T ANY OF THAT CARROT MUFFIN LEFT

I did finally get up enough courage today to broach the subject of our ‘time of departure’ for the South-west this Fall.  We always seem to have a little tussle every year about departure times.  I always want to get rolling sooner than later while Kelly prefers to get rolling later rather than sooner.  Same thing happens every year.  She has her reasons for later & I have my reasons for sooner.  But at least we are in total agreement about one thing & that is none of this waiting until after Christmas stuff.  Every year we hear of fellow RV’ers fighting their way through bad winter weather, snow storms, icy roads, high winds & rain.  November is a seasonal change month like March & weather can turn on a dime in these parts so I always like to be out of here well before there is any chance at all of those early winter driving  hazards.  Our normal time for heading south generally centers around whatever Saturday comes closest to October 21rst.  This year we have a Saturday on the 24th & another one on the 31rst.  Of course you know which Saturday I would pick.  And I know Kelly would prefer to leave sometime in mid to late November.  Brrrrrrrr!!  Haven’t decided on our route yet but I have a feeling we may just decide to head straight for Congress Arizona.  Of course that could very well change once we get our RV travel heads back on straight.  I like when that happens & I’m hoping we can get those heads back on sooner than later:))

GROANER’S CORNER:((  A minister was asked to dinner by one of his parishioners who he knew as being an unkempt housekeeper. When he sat down at the table, he noticed that the dishes were the dirtiest that he had ever seen in his life.  "Were these dishes ever washed?" he asked his hostess, running his fingers over the grit and grime.  She replied, "They're as clean as soap and water could get them".  He felt a bit apprehensive, but blessed the food anyway and started eating. It was really delicious and he said so, despite the dirty dishes.  When dinner was over, the hostess took the dishes outside and shouted, "Here Soap! Here Water!"

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Ole and Lena were sitting down to their usual cup of morning coffee, listening to the weather report coming over the radio. "There will be 3 to 5 inches of snow today and a snow emergency has been declared. You must park your cars on the odd numbered side of the streets." Ole got up from his coffee and replies "Jeez, OK."  Two days later, again they are both sitting down with their cups of morning coffee and the weather forecast is, "There will be 2 to 4 inches of snow today and a snow emergency has been declared. You must park your cars on the even numbered side of the streets." Ole got up from his coffee and replies, "Jeez, OK."  Three days later, they both are once again sitting down with their cups of coffee and the weather forecast is, "There will be 6 to 8 inches of snow today and a snow emergency has been declared. You must park your cars on the..." and then the power went out and Ole didn't get the rest of the instructions. He says to Lena, "Jeez, what am I going to do now, Lena?"  Lena replies, "Aw, Ole, yust leave the car in the garage."

A FRIDAY MORNING STROLL ALONG GODERICH’S INUKSHUK BEACH

STORMY MORNING SKIES OVER A COUNTRY ROAD RAILWAY TRESTLE ON KITCHIGAMI ROAD

Very much relieved this morning to wake up feeling just as well as I did when I went to bed Thursday night.  My week long bout with dizziness & nausea were definitely over & I thought to myself how truly lucky I was compared to countless thousands of folks who every day wake up to some form of illness with no chance of ever feeling truly well again.

Despite our mornings cloud cover I did see a few dapples of sunlight making their way through our towering pine trees so figured that might be good for a few stormy sky photos.   Pheebs & I headed out meandering our way along a few gravel roads on our way to Goderich.  Slipped through McDonalds & down to the harbor, beach, & doggy walking area.  A week ago I had stopped to take a few pics of maybe half a dozen stone & concrete Inukshuks along Lake Huron’s shore.  I don’t know what those Inukshuks are up to at night but they are multiplying fast & I’m guessing there may be upwards of two dozen of them now.  This particular area of shoreline could easily be called Inukshuk Beach.  Nice to see people’s creative artsy side at play.

An outing for Pheebs at the dog walking area & we were soon in the Jeep making our way slowly back to Bayfield by 11 a.m.  A few more barn photos & I have updated my Old Barns, A Few Newer Ones & Some Sheds Along The Way.  Again, newer photos are at the beginning so you do not have to wade through the morass of 671 barn photos:))

A FEW CANDID PHOTOS OF THESE 2 LADIES POSING WITH THE INUKSHUKS

Had too many photos to include in my post so decided to put together a Live Writer photo album of my stroll along Inukshuk Beach this overcast Friday morning.  I was surprised at the number of people stopping to take photos.  Certainly could end up becoming a nice attraction for folks.  Sure hope these stone & concrete monoliths do not fall victim to vandals.

A MORNING'S STROLL ALONG INUKSHUK BEACH VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

I recommend viewing the photos in the slideshow format.  Open the album then double click the first photo.  Screen appears with photo enlarged against a black background.  Move your mouse around a bit & look to the top left corner to where it says ‘Play slide show’.  Click on that & away you go:))

Someone asked about the settings I had used on my camera for my first attempt at some starry night photos a few days ago. Tri-poded Nikon D3100 with an 18-55mm wide angle kit lens set at 18mm & focused to infinity.  ISO 3200 at F 4 with a time exposure of 60 seconds.  I'm sure some of these numbers will change as I gain myself some additional experience.

GROANER’S CORNER:((  And in the words of Phyllis Diller…..

- Whatever you may look like, marry a man your own age. As your beauty fades, so will his eyesight.

- Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing up is like shovelling the sidewalk before it stops snowing.

- The reason women don't play football is because 11 of them would never wear the same outfit in public.

- A bachelor is a guy who never made the same mistake once.

- Most children threaten at times to run away from home. This is the only thing that keeps some parents going.

- We spend the first twelve months of our children's lives teaching them to walk and talk and the next twelve years telling them to sit down and shut up.

- What I don't like about office Christmas parties is looking for a new job the next day.

- Old age is when the liver spots show through your gloves.

- Tranquillizers work only if you follow the advice on the bottle -  keep away from children.

- You know you're old if they have discontinued your blood type.

I AM ONE HAPPY GUY TONIGHT:))

Had I taken a minute to look up before Pheebs & I left the house Wednesday night around 10.30  I could have saved myself a round 8 mile drive.  Upon reaching our 'night sky' spot I was disappointed to find a patchy cloud cover over head.  Knew seeing any Perseid meteors was unlikely & no point in hauling my camera & tripod out of the Jeep for any star photos.  Stood on the country road for a short while enjoying the freedom of the night then loaded up the Pheebs & we drove the short 4 miles back home again.

Kelly, up early at 5 a.m. loaded up Pheebs & the two of them headed out of the Park about a mile to the East in hopes of seeing some meteors.  And sure enough she saw half a dozen right off the bat.  Doesn’t seem fair somehow!!  I wasn't feeling up to snuff at 5 so didn't go with them.  Well I guess there is always next year.

It was a traveling coffee morning for my good friend Richard & I.  My turn to drive so we grabbed a Horton's coffee to go in Clinton & headed south of Bayfield.  Wanted to show Richard that broken wind turbine blade I took photos of last week.  Blade had not been replaced & was still hanging  down.  As we approached we could make out a couple figures standing high atop the turbines nacelle.  Probably part of a crew assessing how to remove the blade & affix a new one in it's place. 

 

Another nice couple hours spent with a good friend as we covered all the usual topics plus a whole host of new ones.  Always something to talk about interspersed with bouts of laughter.  I do look forward to our semi-monthly 2 hour drives & non stop conversations.  And an age correction.  Several weeks ago I had mentioned while I was 70 Richard was 80.  That was incorrect.  Richard is still a young pup at 78.

I THINK THIS GUY JUST LOOKED DOWN THEN QUICKLY CALLED ‘DIAL A PRAYER’

I was early for my afternoon medical appointment at the Maitland Valley Medical Center in Goderich.  Only had to wait a few minutes before getting in to see Sue my Nurse Practitioner.  Blood pressure was a bit high but nothing to be concerned about.  She determined my problem was indeed BPPV (Benign Postural Paroxysmal Vertigo) & had me lie down on the examining table while she performed the EPLEY maneuver on my head.  Luckily when I laid my head way back the room remained stable.  Head turned to the right was Okay but had some dizziness to the left.  When finished with the head moves I sat back up with no dizziness.  With a diagram she explained what Vertigo was & how it is caused.  She also went on to explain why I have numbness & pain in whatever arm I am sleeping on at night.  It is this problem which causes me to roll back & forth from one side to the other about half a dozen times a night.  I had assumed it was the blood flow to my arms that was being restricted but she said no it was arthritis in my necks spinal cord affecting the nerves running into my arms.  Made a lot of sense to me.  All this rolling back & forth every night probably set up the Vertigo attack.  She recommended a cervical neck pillow.  Until I try one of these I plan to spend my nights in a semi-reclined position in my recliner.  So am I able to bend over now without becoming dizzy??  Well let me put it this way, although still feeling kind of pooky coming home I was later able to bend over & down to give Pheebs a big much anticipated tummy rub.  And the dizziness was totally gone.  The EPLEY manuever was successful:))))))))))  Now I’m not naive enough to think this can’t happen again but at least next time I will know how to do that EPLEY manuever on my own.  At the time of posting this tonight I am still feeling great with no dizziness or feelings of nausea.  If I wake up in the morning still feeling the same way I am going to be one very happy camper:))

Looking for a couple file photos for tonight’s post I came across some fellow RV’er photos. I think it was a year ago today George & Suzie from OUR AWESOME TRAVELS dropped in to see us here in Bayfield.  I had been thinking about putting a map on our blog but of course couldn’t figure it out.  George & Suzie happened to be in a campground not too far from Bayfield & offered to drive over & show us how it’s done.  Well, turned out a little more complicated than we figured so I just decided to scrap the map idea.  We were happy George & Suzie stayed for supper though.  Probably see you guys at Quartzsite’s 2016 Blogfest eh:))

GEORGE EXPLAINING THE MAP THING TO KELLY

  

AND THIS IS HOW GEORGE TAKES ALL THOSE YUMMY FOOD PHOTOS

A TOUR OF THE BIG EEE

EEHHH WHADDYA SAY……………..

Spoke a little too soon about our cooler early August weather I guess.  Humidity back in the air today so all the biting bugs are in the air again.  Had to crack on the Jeep's A/C going to Goderich & coming home again.  Anytime I have to turn on any kind of A/C unit.....it is too hot out!!  Oh well we are coming down the home stretch to sustained cooler temps:))

 

A HASTILY TAKEN SILHOUETTE IN BAYFIELD WEDNESDAY NIGHT WHEN PHEEBS & I HAD TO GO INTO TOWN FOR A QUART OF MILK…..REMINDED ME OF MYSELF BACK IN THE EARLY 60’S

GROANER’S CORNER:(( Last Sunday, the pastor of a local church began his sermon with a supposedly true story... "I was on a plane last week, flying from Chicago to California, when we ran into some very severe turbulence. As it got worse, the passengers became more and more alarmed, and finally even the flight attendants began to look concerned. Finally, one of them noticed that I had "REV." in front of my name on the passenger list came over to me and said, "Sir, this is really frightening. Do you suppose you could ... I don't know ... do something religious?" 

"So I took up a collection."

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WAITER: "Yes, sir, is there something wrong?"
CUSTOMER: "The soup. Taste it."
WAITER: "I beg your pardon, Sir?"
CUSTOMER: "Taste it."
WAITER: "But, Sir, I can assure you that the soup is excellent."
CUSTOMER: "Taste it."
WAITER: "Sir, the soup was made this morning of the finest ingredients."
CUSTOMER: "Taste it!"
WAITER: exasperated, "All right, Sir, I'll taste it."
Then after a pause he said, "Where is the spoon?"
To which the customer replied triumphantly, "Ah ha!!"

DIDN’T SEE ANY PERSEID METEORS BUT I DID FINALLY TAKE MY FIRST STARRY NIGHT PHOTO

ALTHOUGH NOT THE BEST PHOTO THIS IS MY VERY FIRST ATTEMPT AT SOME NIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY…..PHOTO SHOWS THE SOUTHERN SECTION OF THE MILKY WAY

Didn’t figure I would be able to hold out until midnight Tuesday before heading out to have a look for those Perseid meteors so I loaded a lawn chair into the Jeep along with Pheebs about 10 & off we went the 4 miles to our cool country road night observation spot.  Ohhhhh how nice to once again be outside at night under a star studded sky.  Unfortunately the sky didn’t remain star studded for long as I noticed right away a large cloud bank closing in from the East obscuring a third of the North-eastern sky & that was just the area where the meteors would be happening.  Needless to say we did not see any.  However I figured while there I would try my luck at taking some first time star photos.

MY SECOND STAR PHOTO SHOWS SOMETHING VERY CURIOUS…..LOOK CLOSELY TO THE FAR RIGHT SIDE JUST ABOVE CENTER…..NOTICE A DOTTED LINE & I AM GUESSING THIS MAY HAVE BEEN A SATELLITE TRAVELING THROUGH MY 1 MINUTE EXPOSURE…..I DO NOT BELIEVE THIS TO BE A METEOR…..ANY THOUGHTS??

Hauled out my Nikon D3100 which I already had on my tripod.  Being new to this it took me quite a bit of fumbling around with some red night lights, dials, switches, camera menus, the self timer, a flashlight my wrist watch, tripod adjustments & half a dozen other things.  Took me 8 tries before I was finally able to get myself a reasonably acceptable beginner’s star image.  This morning looking at the 3 photos on my computer screen I can see where I made some of my mistakes so am hoping to improve on that.  All & all for the short half hour I was out there it was a great learning experience.  Pheebs of course was as good as gold staying close by & perhaps the best part was no mosquitos in the cool clear humidity free night air.  I have written before many times how much I enjoy being outdoors at night & Tuesday night’s little night sky photo session has now given me more reason than ever to get myself out under that big beautiful night sky again.  I was a bit disappointed in myself when I did look skywards realizing the star patterns that had once been so familiar to me now seemed a bit unfamiliar just like years ago.  That tells me I have to brush up again on my sky charts & re-acquaint myself with all the constellations.  But it’s OK because I enjoy that & knowing one’s way around the night sky is very rewarding.

MY THIRD PHOTO SHOWS JUST A TOUCH OF THE HORIZON AT BOTTOM RIGHT…..YEP, I’M HAVING MYSELF A FUN LEARNING EXPERIENCE HERE:))

I did have myself a couple short dizzy spells when I unthinkingly bent over once to make an adjustment to a tripod leg & another time bending low over the camera reading a dial.  The dizziness lasted only a few seconds & I didn’t have any after effects except for a slight wobbliness which also lasted only a few seconds.  I will be so glad to get this problem cleared up so I can bend down once again to give Pheebs a big tummy rub:))

A FEW FLOWER PHOTOS AROUND THE YARD

Some folks have inquired a couple blogs ago as to where we had those decal letters made for our Motorhome & Jeep.  We are fortunate in that Kelly’s youngest son Ben in Cambridge Ontario has his own very successful sign company called, FLORENCE SIGNS & GRAPHICS.  Ben also made the decal lettering for our Damon Challenger Class A years ago including a set of doggy prints.  My suggestion for anyone wanting decals or lettering would be to just seek out any reputable sign company in your area & have them made. 

Spent my day puttering around outside.  All the usual stuff like raking up pine needles & leaves, weed whacking & edging flower beds.  Cloud cover cleared about mid morning & thankfully our temperatures are still remaining right around the 70F daytime mark with cooler bug free nights.  Even took Pheebs for a bug free walk this afternoon.  Fall’s early rustlings seem to have come a couple weeks early this year.  Bonus:))  Autumns magic approaches & it will soon be time for thinking of RV travels once again:))

I did watch 3 You Tube videos demonstrating the EPLEY MANEUVER for people suffering from Vertigo.  Looks fairly simple but I’m going to wait until I have seen my Nurse Practitioner Thursday.  Want to make sure I get it right because it may be something I will have to do by myself in the future. 

A word of thanks for all the well wishes regarding my current Vertigo problems & kind words regarding my photos.  I know I’ve said it many times before but it is you the reader folks who give me the Blogger guy inspiration to write a few words each evening & head out most every day to hunt down new photos.  I sometimes think to myself if it wasn’t for you there would be no me as I know myself now to be………………………………..

GROANER’S CORNER:((  How’s about some Irish humor tonight…..

Mick and Paddy are reading head stones at a nearby cemetery.
Mick says "Crikey! There's a bloke here who was 152!"
Paddy says "What's his name?"  Mick replies "Miles, from London."

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Paddy is said to be shocked at finding out all his cows have Bluetongue.
"Be Jeysus!" he said, "I didn't even know they had mobile phones!"

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Paddy and his wife are lying in bed and the neighbours' dog is barking like mad in the garden.  Paddy says "To hell with this!" and storms off.  He comes back upstairs 5 minutes later and his wife asks "What did you do?"  They’re still barking!  Paddy replies "I've put the dog in our garden. Let's see how they like it!"

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Paddy calls Easyjet to book a flight.  The operator asks "How many people are flying with you?"  Paddy replies "I don't know! It's your bloody plane!"

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Paddy and Murphy are working on a building site.
Paddy says to Murphy "I'm gonna have the day off. 
I'm gonna pretend I'm mad!"
He climbs up the rafters, hangs upside down and shouts
"I'M A LIGHT BULB! I'M A LIGHT BULB!"
Murphy watches in amazement!
The Foreman shouts "Paddy you're mad, go home"
So he leaves the site.
Murphy starts packing his kit up to leave as well.
"Where the hell are you going?" asks the Foreman.
"I can't work in the friggin' dark!" says Murphy.