Thursday, June 30, 2011

MOTORMOUSE HELPS ME LOOK FOR GOLD IN MY SHOES

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RIGHT FROM AN EARLY AGE I ALWAYS WANTED TO BE A ROOTIN TOOTIN COWBOY 

I was short on photos tonight & besides I wanted to do something different for a change.  Just before the sun was down I grabbed an old photo album, took some photos outside & found a sunny patch in the driveway to copy them.  Some of tonight's pics are from way back in the 40's:))

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BUT EVEN ROOTIN TOOTIN COWBOYS GOTTA GET A BATH SOMETIMES

I was a gritten my teeth & a bitin my lip this morning.  My nerves were a steeled to what I knew I had to do.  I had been a puttin it off for too darn long now.  I loaded the little Motormouse in the Jeep & off we went.....to the shoe store!!

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EVEN AT AN EARLY AGE I WAS HANGING AROUND FLOWER GARDENS 

Despite my best efforts with a hot glue gun earlier in the week to fix the bottom of my old blown out running shoes, it just didn't work.  Within a day the rubber slats on the bottom of my runners were a slappin on the ground again.  The writing was on the wall....Baby needed new shoes.  Figured I'd stop for a few groceries on the way to the shoe store just to see if I could talk myself out of the whole darn crazy idea.

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HERE I AM WITH ONE OF MY FAITHFULL BLOG READERS....IT'S MY COUSIN NORMA FROM WATERLOO ONTARIO WHO DAILY, ALONG WITH HER HUSBAND JIM,  READS OUR BLOG 

Hadn't figured on it being the long week-end so the grocery store was packed tight with people & out of control shopping carts everywhere.  I have no patience for people abandoning their carts in the middle of aisles while they go squeeze the lettuce a half dozen times two aisles away.  I always try to find me a cart with with a built in battering ram on the front.  I am never rude to people but I am not exactly walking up & down the aisles with a big happy grinning Cheshire cat happy face hanging on my skull either!!  And don't get ahead of me in the 'Express 8 Items Or Less' check out line with your 9 items or I will be grumbling out loud about you all the way home!!

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THAT'S MY UNCLE HARRY ON THE LEFT & MY DAD ON THE RIGHT...HARRY WAS IN THE ARMY STATIONED IN ENGLAND DURING THE WAR & MY DAD WAS IN THE AIR FORCE STATIONED IN YARMOUTH NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA 

My time in & out of Werth's shoe store in Goderich was probably less than 5 minutes.  My needs were simple.......find a pair of shoes that I could slip in & out of easy enough.  Size 10 & brown!!  Rockports have been good to my feet over the years so that's right where I headed while the little Motormouse waited in the Jeep.  Try em on, walk around the chair 3 times.  Good enough, now lets pay for em & get the heck out of here.  I almost didn't make it past the counter.  The cashier rang up the price & I nearly crumpled to the floor.  Geeezzz, did they use pure gold soles in these things or something.  I weak kneed myself to the Jeep & grumbled my troubles to the Motormouse all the way to McDonalds.  I could tell she was quite taken aback by the price as well, at least until we got into the drive thru line & she realized it was Burrito time.  How fast your best friend can desert you when there is food in the immediate future.  We Burritoed ourselves all the way home with me still grumbling out load about the price of the 'golden slippers!!'

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WITH THE PRICE OF MY NEW SHOES I GRABBED THE MAGNIFYING GLASS WHEN I GOT HOME TO SEE IF I COULD FIND OUT JUST WHERE ALL THE GOLD IN THEM MUST BE

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MOTORMOUSE HELPS OUT WITH A CLOSE SCRUTINY AS WELL

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"DON'T SEE ANY GOLD IN THESE HERE SHOES DAD, I THINK YA GOT RIPPED" 

Got myself a window cleaning buzz on today & did the interior glass of the Motorhome & the sunroom. Relocated & fixed up a birdhouse with some good old duct tape, whacked the heck out of some pesky weeds & installed a new hose nozzle on the garden hose. Now, how’s that for an action Jackson productive day eh:))

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THAT'S MY AUNT JEAN ON THE BACK OF MY DAD'S MOTORCYCLE...YOU CAN SEE WHERE MY MOTORCYCLE INTEREST COMES FROM & TO THIS VERY DAY WHENEVER I SMELL A CIGAR I STILL THINK OF MY DAD ...MY AUNT JEAN NOW LIVES IN SARASOTA, FLORIDA 

No sign of that Squirrel on the bird station today so that tells me he is hiding in the shrubs watching me watching for him.  No doubt as soon as I turn my back he is on top of that feeder faster than a speeding bullet.

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MERIKAY'S POST this morning deals with her thoughts & ideas for purchasing a future RV at some point in their future.  I sure can remember those exciting days alright & I sure can remember all the mistakes we made.  Took us 5 RV's to finally end up with what worked best for us.  Two Class C's, 1 Travel Trailer, 1 Fifth Wheel Trailer & finally our Motorhome.  I could see us downsizing some day to a smaller Class C maybe. 

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NOVEMBER 2006 ON OUR WAY TO THE SOUTHWEST IN OUR GMC TRUCK & FIFTH WHEEL...THIS WAS OUR FIRST NIGHT OUT & i WAS ALREADY BUSY WORKING AT THE PICNIC TABLE ON MY BLOG FOR THE NIGHT  

We have had our gas powered 2003 33' Damon Challenger just over 4 years now & we are quite satisfied with it.  We are not 'brand loyal' people so we didn't go looking for any specific type or floor plan.  We saw a rig that looked compatible for our wants & needs so that is what we got.  Could have been Winnebago, a Georgy Boy, a Bonanzarama or a Hooligan Bay, no matter just as long as it was a good solid rig.

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With a fair few Snow Birding miles under our belts now we do have a better idea of what we would look for in another rig if the opportunity ever presented itself.  That is not likely to happen.  It's only natural for most folks to want a bigger stronger rig.  A 40 foot diesel pusher would be nice alright....but would it be a good fit for the Bayfield Bunch?  Lots of pros for sure but it is the cons we have to be practical about so here are a few thoughts on the subject.

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DIDN'T TAKE ME LONG TO GET SOME PAINT ON THOSE WHITE WALLS 

Hypothetically speaking,  our next rig would have far more kitchen counter space, roll out pantry shelves, bigger refrigerator & hot water tank.  Bigger holding tanks & a shower stall instead of those tiny cramped little tub affairs.  A back up camera that can be moved around from the driver's seat, pull out bins or doors that open sideways & not upwards.  A surround sound stereo system.  Maybe double pane glass for better installation, maybe an in dash GPS & some kind of easy pull out computer desk for the front passenger seat person to work at.  A bigger fresh water tank too.  I see the world in color so I would like the rig to be either painted or detailed.  Anything but white!!  No white on the inside either, just soft pastel colors throughout with nice lighting thank you very much.

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Am I a dreamer?  Of course I am, aren't we all.  If we weren't, we wouldn't be RV'ers:))

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AS A KID I WAS A TOTAL BOOKWORM & TOOK MY SOUTHWEST COWBOY HISTORY VERY SERIOUSLY...NOTE THE PLAID SHIRT COMPLETE WITH A POCKET...SOME HABITS JUST DON'T CHANGE MUCH OVER THE YEARS:))

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Some good old Cowboy sayings.......

His family tree was a shrub.

He was so ugly he had to sneak up on a dipper to get a drink of water.

She's so ugly, she could back a buzzard off a gut-wagon.

He was ugly as a burnt boot.

There was once an old-time cowhand who ordered some toilet paper from a mail-order catalog. They wrote back and requested that he look in his catalog to give them the exact order number. He answered 'em right back and told them that if he had their catalog, he sure wouldn't need the toilet paper.

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EMAIL THE BAYFIELD BUNCH:))
stargeezerguy@gmail.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.

13 comments:

  1. Since you are a cowboy at heart, you may enjoy a tribute to the old singing cowboys of long ago Friday evenings in July on TCM. I'll be there for sure.

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  2. I think I see a consistent succession of plaid shirts!

    When you were "working" what did you have to wear?

    I think it would be hard to get all of the things you would like in a smaller Class C!

    Any input into what to watch out for is welcome.

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  3. I always enjoy older pictures. I was a big taken aback by the first one. That sure looks like my Shetland Pony that my uncle Harry gave me when I was four!

    We are now thinking about our next rig, if we were to quit full timing. In our case, that would mean it must be a lot smaller.

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  4. Glad you found your shoes....I found some at Sam's yesterday....and I hate shopping as much as I hate IRS!

    Love the photos....thanks....

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  5. Al, see if you can find some "Shoe Goo". That stuff is supposed to really work well for fixing shoes.

    Love the picture of the hummingbird on your new header photo! Beautiful shot!

    Thanks for sharing.

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  6. nice new shoes there Al..sounds like there is a new 'spring in your step'!!..Rockports may not be the cheapest shoes to buy but at least they will last!!..
    we all dream..dreams never die just the dreamer..some days though the dream seems like a nightmare!..adios from BC..tomorrow we will be in Port Orford, Oregon!!!

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  7. your pictures of your youth are great, I am the say way about shoes and have rescued shoes thrown out by Donna several times from the dumpster. be safe out there. Sam 7 Donna...

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  8. Great post Al. THere is always something we want in a new rig, that is for sure, I could come up with a list, no problem. We still like ours though, that is for sure.

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  9. I love the old pictures in this post. Don't worry about the cost of the Rockports - it is likely you will wear them until they fall apart, so you'll get your $ worth.

    My daughter & s-i-l just bought a mini-van that has a built in GPS but you can't change anything on it or enter any new info while the van is moving. Even the passenger can't change it. I like the screen size of the built-ins but glad I don't have one for the above reason.

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  10. Aren't you afraid to wear those nice new shoes outside? :)

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  11. Wonderful new header picture! I also appreciate the quality, if not the price, of Rockport shoes, also SAS. We are quite comfortable with our 10 year old 36' gas powered Itasca, have no intention of upsizing or downsizing as our lifestyle changes. As long as she still runs, Rosie is our home on the road. We are hoping, though, for getting her outer skin refurbished!

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  12. Loved the old pictures of you and your family... What a wonderful post today!
    Have fun and don't wear out your new shoes...
    Donna

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  13. Love the hummingbird picture on your header photo. You sure to take nice pictures.

    Jo

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