Tuesday, February 23, 2010

THE WINDS ARE FINALLY AT REST

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"SSSSHHHHHH"......THIS IS A LIBRARY:))

The air is still at last.  No swirling dust, no rocking coach, & no noisy flapping of awnings.  The winds are finally dormant.

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BORREGO SPRINGS LIBRARY......KELLY WORKS AT INSTALLING SKYPE ON THE NEW LAPTOP

Our nearest neighbors Rue & Don pulled out this morning in their travel trailer heading for Yuma.  A Canadian Class A has moved into the neighborhood & the folks are from Ottawa.  They hadn't been here for 5 years & said it was surprising at how few rigs are here.  Said even Peg Leg Smith's has thinned out considerably compared to what it was.

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CREOSOTE BUSH

We loaded up the new computer this morning & headed for the Library in town.  I wanted to download a photo program called, Gimp & didn't want to do that using our limited Verizon plan.  Kelly also installed Skype on the new Toshiba.  Filled up some water jugs in the north end of town & drove through the Anza Borrego State Park to check out their dump & water facilities.  This is a very scenic SP set right under the massive San Ysidro mountains & this is where Palm Canyon begins.  We did that hike 2 years ago & you can see the photos from that day here. PALM CANYON Saw about a dozen big horn sheep high up on a canyon face that time too.

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THE ROAD TO ANZA BORREGO STATE PARK

We were back to the rig shortly after noon & spent the rest of the day lazing around just enjoying being outside again without the wind blowing us across the desert floor like a couple of tumbleweeds.

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RELAXING AFTERNOON IN THE SONORAN DESERT

It seems each day the surrounding hillsides are just a tad greener & we are beginning to see a few isolated flowers blooming here & there.  No big color yet.....but it's coming:))

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DESERT LILY

GYPSY http://gypsy97.blogspot.com/ had a comment question about yesterday's blog wondering how many 'Sons of the Pioneers' tunes we had.  That peeked my interest so this morning I had  me a look at our 1,312 music files & discovered 53 of those were Pioneer songs.  73 are from the 1940's Big Band era.  28 from the 50's, 133 from the 60's, 53 from the 70's, 64 from the 80's, & 42 from the 90's.    Ninety one tunes in our Country & Western file. (not including the Pioneers) Kelly has well over a hundred of her favorites in a file as well.  The rest of the music library is made up mainly of ambient music.  I have a file entitled Al's Favs with 348 instrumental pieces.    Some of my favorite artists are, Will Ackerman, Andreas Vollenweider, Michael Hedges,  & George Winston, just to name a few.

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BROWN EYED EVENING PRIMROSE - ?? - CREOSOTE (click pics to enlarge)

Had an amusing thing happen awhile back when I nearly set myself on fire.  Was sitting outside on a bright sunny day looking at one of our big road Atlas's.  I find everything so small & hard to read on maps now so I had my big magnifying glass with me.  I had the Atlas open looking at a page without the magnifier but was holding it upright in my right hand.  Kelly was sitting in the chair beside me reading a book.  I thought I detected the smell of smoke so looked out across the desert to the nearest rig figuring they had a campfire going.  Couldn't see any smoke anywhere.......except about 3 inches in front of my face.  Looked down & my shirt was smoking.  Said to Kelly, "hey, look at this!!"  The sun shining through the magnifying glass had focused to a hot point on my shirt & was in the process of igniting it.  I moved the glass & the threat was over but you can see how accidents can happen.  Probably most of us guys can remember frying ants on a sidewalk like that years ago when we were kids.  Oh boy, I sure am going to have a lot to answer for some day:((

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DESERT LILY'S

Blogs can be many things to many people & one of the things I enjoy about writing a daily blog is the fact it is not only a fun hobby but it is also an accurate record of one's activities.  I was reminded of that when I decided to have a look back to see exactly where we were & what we were doing one year ago today.  Turns out it was the day we did our grueling hike up to the Cochise Stronghold in the Dragoon Mountains of Arizona.  Two years ago today was our last boondocking day in the Ajo highlands just off Darby Wells Road west of Ajo, Az.  Said good-bye to our London friends Mike & Maureen that morning & drove to HICKIWAN TRAILS RV PARK http://hickiwantrailsrvpark.com/ for our last night in the southwest before beginning our long journey home on Feb 24.  And 3 years ago today we had already been home 3 weeks after battling snow storms coming through Michigan with our truck & fifth wheel at the end of January.  Kinda fun looking back through old blogs & kinda scary too if your me!!

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?? - CREOSOTE BUSH - ??

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Why are husbands like lawn mowers? 
They are difficult to get started, emit foul smells,

and don't work half the time.

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BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...... AL.

9 comments:

  1. My blog can help to jog my memory on what, when or where? As time marches on the old gray cells in my brain just ain't what they used to be!

    Loved the pics of the flowers you posted today, Al. Wonderful stuff.
    Glad the wind has left for the time being. Lazing around outdoors? Rough life, but somebody has to do it!! Might as well be the Bayfield Bunch.

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  2. Al, really love those flowers. We've never seen any of those that you showed. Have seen creosote bushes, but never in flower. Guess we don't go out in the right deserts at the right time.

    Setting yourself on fire can be dangerous. You've got to keep your magnifying glass moving at all times!

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  3. Hope you're still around in a week or so - I'll watch for ya as I'm driving along!

    If the desert lilies are a sample of what is to come, I can't wait to see the rest.

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  4. Ha Ha! Glad you didn't fry the ants in your pants!

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  5. Quote: "Some of my favorite artists are, Will Ackerman, Andreas Vollenweider, Michael Hedges, & George Winston, just to name a few"

    Oh gosh.. got every single one of them and as many of their CD's I can find! Those are my four main men in music! Especially Andreas!

    George's piano tunes as we roll down the highway makes me feel like we are in a movie.. and his music is some specially matched musical score backdrop.

    Anything on the Windham Hill collections from the 90's too...

    Woman musicians are Kim Robertson and Bettine Clemen Ware.

    For female vocals it's Celtic Woman.

    I crank the tunes in my studio and drift away.....

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  6. The flower pictures are wonderful! Can't wait for more color and fresh green growth. Come on Spring! :)

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  7. Thanks, Al, for your tips about Picasa 3...and FYI, we have skype..that is the only way I will leave my grandkids for the winter..Love my webcam!!! Keep on bloggin'!!!

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  8. Sure was nice to finally have that wind die down so I could sit outside and comfortably do nothing. Nice pics - hope the good weather holds up for quite a while this time!

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  9. I have to have my magnifing glass all the time,,especially for the maps...
    I'm not much of a music man,,never heard of any of those guys you mention,,,I do like C/western and johnny Cash was my man. I followed him around for a long time,,,been to lots and lots of his concerts..
    I like many of other C/W singers too......Never had any music when I was a kid out on my Dads ranch. Saddles and saddle horses didn't have radio's or cd's etc....
    Good Blog Al!

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