Sunday, January 31, 2010

OUR LAST DAY AT THE RANCH & A GOODBYE TO BELLE

DSC_5686-1

DSC_5705

We started the morning knowing it was our last day at the ranch.  I knew there would be many 'lasts' today & that always fills me with a sadness.  I have a habit of becoming attached to places & with our 7 weeks at the ranch earlier in the spring & our current 12 weeks now ending we have spent nearly 5 months of the past 12 months  right here on this great ranch in Arizona's Cochise County near McNeal Arizona.  We have made a few friends, had a really great time, & created enough memories to last a lifetime. 

IMG_2032IMG_2031  IMG_2027   

OUR LAST MORNING WALK ….. GLEASON & PEARCE PLAYING

Took a last walk around the ranch after supper tonight saying goodbye to the chickens, the donkeys & Charlie the cat atop the hay bales.  Gleason & Pearce will do a last sleep over in the motorhome tonight before we leave in the morning.  Ranch owners Jeanie & Ray will be here early & it will be like a shift change with one crew coming on & one crew leaving.  We know Gleason & Pearce will really be happy to see them & that makes leaving a bit easier for us but I still always find it hard because I become so attached to the animals & especially the doggy guys.  Now, I had better get myself out of this sad mood or my whole post is going to become very soggy.

  IMG_2041IMG_2042IMG_2053

GLEASON & PEARCE WAITING FOR THEIR SUPPER TONIGHT & PEARCE WON’T EAT UNTIL I GIVE HIM HIS SMOOCH           (click pics to enlarge)

Had us a nice clear sunny morning going for us as we headed over to Belle's place to say goodbye around 11.  Belle's lady cousin, Willy & her friend Betty had arrived a few days ago from the east & we were glad we got to meet them.  It makes us feel much better knowing Belle is in capable & caring hands for the next month or so.  Two young fellows are in place for now at the ranch feeding & caring for the animals so we've got our fingers crossed that all will work out.  Belle was her usual beaming self when we came in & she always makes us feel so welcome.  She just loves Canadians:))  She had a few issues with her email program on the computer so Kelly set to work straightening things out again.  It's an old computer & I'm afraid Belle is fighting an up hill battle with it.  But she sure does well for 83.  Motty was able to get a lot of things corrected with it last week but the computer is just simply too old & too tired.  The computer is Belle's lifeline so I hope it hangs in there for as long as possible. We will be in touch with Belle via emails though & that is always a positive thing. 

 IMG_2047                                IMG_2051

OK GUYS, SEE YA LATER…………

We chatted about the ranch, had us some laughs, some words of encouragement & some words of wisdom.  We talked a bit about Belle's health as well.  With Willy's & Betty's help she is finally going to give the Doctor a call Monday about her ongoing painful hip.  We were heartened by that & hope Belle can receive the proper medical attention now.  She broke that hip last August & had another fall after that.  Told her next time we see her we want to see her out of that wheelchair & outside in the fresh air.  While talking, her sparkling eyes suddenly lit up & she said, " I want to show you something."  Willy slipped into the other room & came back with a beautiful hand knitted afghan.  It was spun from goat hair & had all the vibrant colors of Belle's Peacock outside.  The blues, purples, & greens so perfectly blended together just like the Peacock itself.  A very big warm & sincere thankyou goes out from all of us here to our email friend Renee up in British Columbia for doing this for Belle.  Renee, I wished you could have seen the joy & excitement in Belle's face today.  She was bubbling like a little school girl at the thought of a stranger from afar taking the time to make that for her.  She is also looking forward to seeing you on your travels to Arizona soon.  Thankyou for being so thoughtful & thankyou to all the other folks as well who have taken an interest in Belle's life & have sent her letters & emails of encouragement & help.

IMG_2037  IMG_1808 IMG_2034

BELLE’S NEW AFGHAN WITH THE COLORS OF BELLE’S PEACOCK

We stayed for a little over an hour & then it was time to go.  It was time to say goodbye to Belle Starr.    Seems it was only yesterday that we were saying hello to Belle for the first time but now here it was time to say, "OK, see ya later."  And see her later we just might, depending where our travels take us over the next few months & if it's anywhere near here on our return trip we'll definitely stop in to see her.  If not, maybe we'll make it back in the fall.  We'll still be able to be a part of her life though & stay informed as to how she is doing & how the ranch is coming along.  It has been quite a whirlwind of emotions & activities these past 6 weeks with seldom a dull moment at the Silverado Ranch but despite the ups & downs I am a better person today for having met Belle.  She has taught me something & I know it will take time for it to sink in & become sorted out in my mind but she has definitely planted some new software in this old tired hard drive head of mine.........and I thank you for that Belle.

DSC_5688

Didn't want to wait until morning to hitch up the car so upon arriving back at the ranch I moved the motorhome ahead a bit, wiggled the car in behind & hitched it up.  Dumped the gray & black water tanks & stowed the gear.  Added water to the fresh water tank & disconnected the water hose.  Only thing left to do in the morning is pull in the slides, take down the Star Choice satellite dish, & pull the electrical plug.  That's it and we are gone.  No idea where yet but maybe we'll have that figured out by the time we get to wherever it is we are going to. 

DSC_0001

ALL HITCHED UP & READY TO ROLL IN THE MORNING

And I want to welcome the FREELY LIVING LIFE family & John R to our travels.  Thankyou for taking an interest in the Bayfield Bunch & their daily activities.  Much appreciated:))

OK, better wrap this up or I'll be typing more sad stuff into this post.   I'll be OK once we get a few miles on down the road but until then I've got a couple old ranch Pals to spend some time with now because tomorrow morning I have to tell them...........OK guys, see ya later:((

DSC_5696

GROANER'S CORNER:((  As you slide down the banister of life, may the splinters never point the wrong way!!

FACEBOOK READERS GO HERE TO SEE OUR ACTUAL WEBSITE COMPLETE WITH PHOTOS & MORE INFO.

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.

Friday, January 29, 2010

AN ONTARIO SPRING LIKE DAY IN ARIZONA

DSC_5661

OK BIG GUY LET’S TALK…………..

It felt like a refreshing Ontario spring day in Arizona's Sulphur Springs Valley this morning.  Just one of those feeling fine days with birds filling the air with happy songs. I often wonder where birds go on rainy days.

DSC_5670

SNOW COVERED SAN JOSE/NACO PEAK……………… IN MEXICO

We took a techno break today.  No Delorme GPS or Win 7 stuff.  It was time to let the brain swelling go down & just do some simple domestic stuff.  Kelly was off to her last Yoga class & I busied myself with a shovel & bucket removing all the mud from the motorhome's interior.  Had the vacuum working overtime & shook out all the mats.  Even managed to get the ATV stuck in the mud down near the hay enclosure & had to round up a couple boards to place under the wheels for traction.  By the time I had the ATV unstuck I had about as much mud on me as the ATV did so I first hosed down the ATV & then hosed down myself in the shower.  All & all, a great Ontario spring like morning:))

  DSC_0004                           DSC_0005

AWWWWWWW NUTS!!!!!!!!

We plan to leave Sunday morning so it was a busy day getting things stowed away & secured.  Windshield sunscreens to come down, a big patio mat to be hosed off & dried before storage.  Another tire pressure check & outside patio furniture to be cleaned.  Bar-b-que away, tow hitch greased, & coach batteries checked.  Nice feeling to be scurrying around knowing we'll be back on the road shortly.

DSC_5654 SURE GOT A BIG PILE OF MUD OUT OF THE MOTORHOME THIS MORNING

A lot of cars coming & going to the Whitewater Draw today with convoys of 4 & 5 cars in some groups.  I was just on my way over to milk the chickens when a small brown car came slowly into the driveway.  Figured it was one of the birders coming in to ask if we had seen the elusive & very rare fuscia feathered Abyssinian Asscratcher that was reported in the area again a few days ago.  But, something looked a bit familiar about this car.  Turns out it was JERRY & SUZI from Benson dropping in to say hello.  They had been to Sierra Vista & thought they would slip over to say goodbye to the Bayfield Bunch before we left the area.  Nice to see them & we had us a chin wag for about half an hour.  Suzi is doing really well since her shoulder surgery back in December & will soon be trying out for the Harlem Globe Trotters.  We're hoping to meet up with them again over in California somewhere when we track down RICK & PAULETTE.

A few days ago when we slipped over to Sierra Vista we went through Tombstone & I cracked off a few pics driving past on the highway.  Not the best pics but noticed a fair few people clicked on them to have a look.  We first spent some time in Tombstone in December of 06 & you can see some much better pictures here at TOMBSTONE 1.  In the spring of this year we were there again & you can see those photos at TOMBSTONE 2 by scrolling to the bottom of the photo album.

 DSC_5655-1                                    DSC_5656

CLOUD PATTERNS                                                 A FACE IN THE CLOUDS

In RICK'S blog this morning he posted about visiting Slab City near Nyland California Thursday.  We spent a few days at the 'Slabs' two winter's ago while having our solar system installed on the rig by Solar Mike who we think is the best Solar installer in the business.  If you have ever wondered what the Slabs look like or have ever heard of Leonard Knight's Salvation Mountain you can see our stay at the Slabs here..........

DSC_5606 

BUSY PACKING UP

SLAB 1 & SLAB 2 & SLAB 3.  We may stop at the Slabs again on our way west shortly & have Solar Mike check our system over to make sure we have been doing things right these past couple years. 

DSC_5586

Well it's 7 P.M. & it's raining again.  Jerry phoned from Benson wondering if we could see the full Moon beside Mars in the Eastern sky.  Slipped outside but we are under a solid cloud cover here in McNeal.  Too bad because Mars & the Moon side by each would have made a good photo.  Maybe I can catch them tomorrow night although the positions won't exactly be the same.  We brought ranch dogs Gleason & Pearce in out of the rain & they are 2 very happy guys right now all stretched out in our warm, dry, & cozy motorhome.  Yep, there's a gonna be a lot of contented doggy snoring again tonight & that makes me a happy contented guy myself:))

DSC_5567

GROANER'S CORNER:((  My mind works like lightning,...........one brilliant 'Flash' and it is gone!!

FACEBOOK READERS GO HERE TO SEE OUR ACTUAL WEBSITE COMPLETE WITH PHOTOS & MORE INFO.

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.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

KELLY DOES BATTLE WITH WIN 7 & VERIZON

DSC_5621-2

Heavily rain laden gray clouds spread across the great sky canopy from horizon to horizon this morning bringing us bucket’s of moisture on & off for most of the day.  Better weather ahead but we're sure going to have one big huge clean up in the motorhome Friday.

DSC_5635-1

The skies here in southeastern Arizona are nothing short of spectacular whenever a weather front comes through & I never tire of gazing in wonderment at the 360 degree panoramic view that makes me think I am standing in the middle of a Rembrandt painting.   The views are constantly changing & the colors run the whole spectrum from vivid to pastel.  Physical & geological parts of the surrounding mountains remain the same but their weather induced moody faces are constantly changing.  Shafts of sunlight, deep shadows & wispy clouds mixed with pallets of color fill the skies from mountaintop to mountaintop & play their artistic brushes across the valley floor & up the mountainsides for as far as the eye can see.

DSC_5565

I know that a lot of my photos are repetitive & the same landscape here at the ranch is seen over & over but it is the ever changing light that gives each photo it's distinctive individuality.  In last night's blog the header photo at first glance may have at first appeared to be the planet earth.  In fact, it was the moon.  I took the photo in late afternoon when the sky was still blue which in turn gave the moon a blue caste.  In Picasa 3.6 I used the 'Focal B&W (black & white) to turn the overall photo into a black & white with the focal color point on the moon.  I enhanced the blue color a tad & that made it appear to be a photo of the earth taken from.....maybe the moon:))  Just another example of what that simple & easy to use little Picasa photo editing program can do.

DSC_5631

Laurie, in SEMI TRUE TALES had an interesting comment in her blog today.  "we have more, and often closer, friends as full timers than we did in our prior, stationary lives."  Kelly & I have found this to be the case as well.  Although not full timers we have found that people we have met in our travels are a different type of people than most of those we know back home.  There is a common bond amongst RV folks that maybe isn't talked about a lot but it is there.  Friendships are formed through common interests, necessity, & a sense & understanding of a nomadic & gypsy way of life.  RV'ers generally have their best foot forward when meeting each other because we are all aware when company is parted there is a very real chance you will never see those folks again.  It's just the nature of the RV lifestyle.  Friendships can be made in an instant & last a lifetime with memories traveling forever.  All RV folks have lived in the sticks & bricks homes at one time or another & at some point in their lives decided there has to be more to life.  They all have a sense of adventure about them, a feeling of freedom, & an awareness that life does not go on forever.  They have made great sacrifices in giving up homes & business's & moving away from friends & families.  Most RV folks have a love of the outdoors & nearly everyone travels with their pets because we have also found most RV folks are animal lovers.  RV'ers are people who have broke with society's 'normal' way of doing things.  They had the courage to break away from what most people perceive to be a 'normal lifestyle' & it is this difference in RV people that bonds them together & cements the lasting friendships.

DSC_5634

I did manage to get all our downloads into the new computer at the Elfrida library this morning & everything went smoother than normal.  However, Kelly ran into problems this afternoon trying to set up our Verizon air card with Win 7.  Not compatible it said at first so Kelly tracked it back & found a driver problem.  Straightened that out & ran into an update problem.  Squared that one away & immediately ran into more problems with Verizon & Win 7.  She finally resolved all the problems except for a connection management issue which she'll tackle tomorrow.  I was not happy to find out Win 7 does not come with my good old trusted & reliable buddy, Outlook Express.  Outlook is long gone from Microsoft's stable & has been replaced by something called Windows Live Email.  It has a few similarities to Outlook but definitely not the same.  I suppose I will get used to it in time but I've been with Outlook since way back in the Win 95 days & we worked well together.  Oh sure, we have Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail, etc but I have never liked any of them with all their crappy ads, unnecessary clutter, & backasswards way of doing things.  Outlook was straight forward & easy to use in all aspects.  RIP Outlook Express:((

DSC_5592

And welcome to Susan Smeal for joining our gang of followers.  You are in good company Susan:))

GROANER'S CORNER:((  The best way to forget all your troubles is to wear really tight shoes.

FACEBOOK READERS GO HERE TO SEE OUR ACTUAL WEBSITE COMPLETE WITH PHOTOS & MORE INFO.

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.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

COLD WET RAINY DAY

DSC_5556

YES, I TOOK THIS PHOTO TODAY BUT IF THIS IS THE EARTH HOW DID I GET WAY OUT INTO SPACE TO DO IT??

Wow, what a great weather day it was......to stay inside!!  Cold with an Ontario damp feeling in the air & no sun.  A good day for familiarizing ourselves with the new Toshiba Satellite laptop & Windows 7.  As always when moving from an old familiar format to a new one there are always frustrations.  Same thing as Win 95 to Win 98 & then XP.  I'm sure I will be just fine when I change my head to match the system instead of trying my old familiar tactic of trying to change the system to match my head.

IMG_2006

RANCH DOG PEARCE FOUND HIMSELF A COMFY SPOT LAST NIGHT

Win 7 definitely has a different look to it which I'm sure will be just fine when I get used to it.  I did manage to get some files transferred but of course it did not go as smoothly or quickly as I figured it should have so had to go sit in my chair & pout for half an hour.  In the meantime Kelly sat down for a first look at Win 7 & within 10 minutes had most everything transferred.  Like I've said many times before, I'm pretty good at taking the garbage out back home:((

IMG_2011

DATA TRANSFER BETWEEN OLD & NEW…….(new is on the left)

The rain & thunder began around noon so I made a bee-line for the corrals to get the donkeys into a sheltered area.  Grabbed them a bale of hay while I was at it & ended up back in the rig cold & wet. Turned up the heat a tad & had another crack at Win 7.  Because of our limited 5 Gig Verizon card we can't do the many program downloads we have to do.  That will have to wait until Thursday morning when Kelly goes to Elfrida for exercise class & I go along to the Wifi spot in the library.  Hopefully I will be able to pull enough brain cells & patience together to get all that done correctly!!

DSC_5555

GATHERED AROUND THE OLD HAY BALE TIRE

Today's rain has put us into a mud situation again & with 4 shoes & 20 little paws going in & out of the motorhome we are in quite a mess again.  But not to worry, I held onto my common sense & didn't let my mind stray to silly thoughts of concrete & pavement this time.  One look out the door without staring into somebody else's living room is well worth any mud that Mother Nature sends our way......Amen!!

  DSC_5557 DSC_5562DSC_5554

SOME DARK HOURS TODAY

Doesn't look like we are going to get over to the Chiricahua Monument this time for more hiking.  Had we been on the ball we would have done that hike back in the first part of November when we first got here.  Too cold & snowy up in the Chiricahua mountains now.  Too bad because I was really looking forward to returning there. 

DSC_5547DSC_5561  DSC_5548 DSC_5550 DSC_5551 DSC_5559

(click on pics to enlarge)

We're still not sure where we are headed once we leave here this week-end but it will definitely be further west.  Maybe Ajo Arizona, maybe up to Quartzite for a few days, maybe straight through to Yuma, just not sure.  Seems we have to go to Quartzite every year just to get a new flag pole because every year I always manage to step on the one we have break it.  At least the majority of humanoids should be out of there by now since the main event stuff was over a week ago.  We'll probably head up Tucson way & before we get there maybe we'll have decided where we are going.  The pull is strong to return to old favorite places but the pull is also strong to search out new areas & see new things.  Like I say, "we never know where we're going until after we have been there for awhile."   We are over half way through our winter stay in the southwest so I think it's time to get some new adventures under our belts before returning to another looooooong boring summer at home!!

DSC_5553

And welcome to our latest blog follower, ParkingFineRants.  From England I think.  That name brings back memories of Stratford Ontario for me when in the mid 80's while working in downtown Stratford I was in almost daily conflict with the local parking enforcement officer.  But, that's another story.......or rant!!

DSC_5563

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Another sign that you are growing older is when you keep more food in the fridge than beer.

FACEBOOK READERS GO HERE TO SEE OUR ACTUAL WEBSITE COMPLETE WITH PHOTOS & MORE INFO.

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.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

THE BAYFIELD BUNCH IS ABOUT TO MEET…..WINDOWS 7:))

DSC_0056

A FROSTY MORNING AWHILE BACK

The morning dawned cloudy but at least we remained above freezing through the night & anything above freezing is a bonus.  The day later turned into one of the finest days we've had here in the Sulphur Springs Valley for quite awhile.  Sunny & warm:))

IMG_1999

ON THE CHARLESTON ROAD FROM TOMBSTONE  TO SIERRA VISTA WITH THE SNOWY TOPPED HUACHUCA MOUNTAINS ON THE HORIZON

This morning our laptop computer presented us with a blue screen.  Not good!!!!  We bought our current Toshiba laptop back in September of 2006 from a Future Shop store in London, Ontario.  Despite me dropping the computer on the kitchen floor less than 48 hours after we brought it home our Toshiba has performed flawlessly for most of the past three & a half years.  In the past 3 months it has occasionally seized up, etc.  Lately it has refused to shut down a few times, seized more often & this morning it presented us with a blue screen saying, 'Checking file systems.'  We managed to work through that but other problems occurred.  Kelly read up on the start up blue screen malfunction  & it said the problem could be the beginning of a deteriorating hard drive.  For awhile now we felt our computer was becoming a bit unstable & last fall we had talked about some of the computer problems & done a bit of research on new laptops just in case.  After the blue screen this morning we decided it was time to make a decision.  Could we afford another laptop.......'of course not!!'  Could we afford to take a chance on losing our stuff......an even bigger 'of course not!!'  Do we have things backed up......yes & no.  We do have an external hard drive with a lot of stuff backed up but we felt this was as good a time as any to move into Microsoft's new operating system.....Windows 7.  I have a huge load of high resolution photographs so felt it was time we had a more stable platform with greater power & much bigger memory capabilities.

IMG_1994IMG_1993  IMG_1991

A FEW QUICK PICS WHILE ROLLING THROUGH TOMBSTONE ON THE WAY TO SIERRA VISTA THIS MORNING

Kelly had previously done a lot of research on many brands of laptops & read all the reviews.  Because of our trouble free Toshiba plus the fact that they are reportedly better built laptops than many of their competitors we decided to stay with Toshiba.  After comparing our needs to what the various models were offering we decided on a Toshiba Satellite A 505 S6005  We also paid a bit extra to have it optimized which means the Geek Squad at Best Buy had already removed all the junk stuff that comes with new computers.  The recovery discs are already done & all that has probably saved us about 4 hours of trying to un-install all the junk ourselves.  The computer comes out of the box 'clean' & that was well worth the extra $60 to have that mess taken care of!!  Laurie from SEMI TRUE TALES recently purchased basically the same computer.  Laurie is a pretty smart gal & we knew she had done her research as well so felt comfortable knowing she also felt the Toshiba Satellite was a good buy.

  IMG_2002 IMG_2001IMG_2003

IN SIERRA VISTA’S BEST BUY LOOKING OVER THE COMPUTERS

We have the computer home but not out of the box yet so am looking forward to having a look at this new Windows 7 everybody is talking about.  We will copy & transfer all our important stuff from this computer to the new one & that will give us a complete back up operating system.  Probably will continue using this one as long as it remains stable & so far today it has been running fine again. 

IMG_1914

WHAT A COUPLE OF BUMS

From Best Buy in Sierra Vista this afternoon it was over to 'Jack-in-the-Box' for a production line burger.  Ho-hum!!  Next was Lowes for a few things, Wal-Mart for some motor oil, & Fry's for groceries.  By the time we got to Frys my patience was totally fried so I stayed in the car to guard our new laptop:))  Sierra Vista is a nice city & if I was forced (and I would have to be forced) to live in a city I think this one would be as good as any.  Located right at the foot of the scenic Huachuca mountain range this place has all the amenities plus it's picturesque location is only minutes away from mountain or desert wilderness.  It's a small city with an even smaller local town feel.  As I sat in the parking lot outside Frys I could look up at the looming mountains only a few miles away & see the warming sun glinting off the snowy slopes.  Reminded me of years ago when I did some downhill skiing & how beautiful the snow looked on the tree lined hills.  Today reminded me of the last time I swooshed my way down a long & fast hill on a fine sunny & warm spring day west of Toronto Ontario.  Yep, I think this Sierra Vista town is just about as good a place to be as any.

DSC_0010

Motty & Patti are heading for El Paso in the morning so I hope we’ll see them again out here somewhere  on the highways & bi-ways of the wild & wooly west.  Ok, see ya later guys:))

We made some more progress on our new Delorme GPS unit today, or I guess I should say Kelly has.  We took it along to Sierra Vista this morning & Kelly was able to do some reading in the GPS manual & figure a few more things out.  We're slowly getting there.  I tried making a phone call with it this morning & was having a great conversation with something until Kelly told me it wasn't a cell phone & could not be used as one!!  Oh well, like I said.......I'm not the brightest crayon in the package:))

IMG_1987

“HELLO HELLO”…… CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW??

Well, I'm gonna wind this up, go get a crowbar & see if I can pry that new computer out of it's box & see if I can find the 'Start' button.  Maybe I can even tune in an old frumpy Star Trek episode or something.  Or was that on television years ago.  Oh well, here I go, wish me luck........................:))

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Old age is when former classmates are so gray, wrinkled, and bald, they don't recognize you anymore.

FACEBOOK READERS GO HERE TO SEE OUR ACTUAL WEBSITE COMPLETE WITH PHOTOS & MORE INFO.

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.