Sunday, February 19, 2012

FROM A MINE SHAFT TO A FLEA MARKET, AND……… GARFIELD:))

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We had noticed a cave/mineshaft in the hillside beneath yesterday’s hike up to the TV repeater station so figured we’d go have us a look see in that dark hole this morning.  Silly me forgot to put on my hiking boots so it was a slip sliding away hike up a lot of loose pebbly stones.

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The cave turned out be as expected, a mine shaft going straight into the side of the hill/mountain.  I’m guessing it went in for maybe a hundred feet or so & stopped.  These old mine shafts always amaze me when I think of the huge effort, sweat & toil it took those old prospecting miners to sledge & pick their way through solid rock.  And all that loose rock then had be be either carried out or hauled up & out of those mines.  And these old mine shafts are absolutely everywhere out here in the west.

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THE TUNNEL ENDED AFTER ABOUT A HUNDRED FEET

From the old 49’er miner digs we headed ourselves into the hustle & bustle of downtown Bouse about 3 miles away.  Well, not to much hustle & not to much bustle in little hustleless , bustleless Bouse, but it’s our kind of low key town:))  Kelly spotted a flea market which had Quartzsite written all over it.  Flea markets are not my favorite thing because I am not much of a junk collector, but we did find something I had been looking for ever since we got our Jeep.

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NO, THIS IS NOT WHAT I HAD BEEN LOOKING FOR…

Jeep people, like Harley owners have always been known for their attitude.  It’s just one of those little foibles of society.  I remembered a cartoon series years ago which featured a cat with a big attitude & his name was Garfield.  This morning, in the sleepy little town of Bouse Arizona, in a dusty & tired looking market of fleas alongside highway 72, I at last found my elusive, & packed full of attitude……… Garfield:))

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GROOVY:))

This whole region of Arizona was a huge desert training ground during the Second World War & many of the places we have been the past few years have shown evidence of that.  Remains of abandoned army camps are everywhere with Slab City being one of the best known.  BOUSE was also within the army’s grasp in those days with a secret camp located about 30 miles east of town.  General GEORGE S PATTON roamed this land with his many ‘in training’ tank brigades preparing for overseas action in North Africa & Europe.  Many military artifacts can still be found scattered throughout the desert.  Probably still a few live tank rounds buried here & there too.

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M60 PATTON TANK

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M109 HOWITZER SELF PROPELLED GUN 

The day turned out to be warm & sunny but the winds kicked up swirling a lot of dust into the air giving the horizons a hazy look.  Not a cloud in the sky & it looks like warmer weather is on the way to the whole area.  Still pouring over our maps considering where we will go next.  Really hoping the weather is going to warm up enough for us to get up into Monument Valley next month. 

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When we are out Jeeping I generally let Kelly pick the roads we are traveling on.  That way, if we climb a rise with a 3,000 foot drop off on the other side I can at least say to her on the way down…."well, you told me to go this way”!!

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Wasn’t satisfied with the resolution in Saturday’s post photos so went back in this morning & made some improvements.

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LIKED THE COLORFUL FLOWERS AT THIS BOUSE HOUSE

There are still some Comcast folks having problems accessing our site.  Fran sent us an email this morning with a possible fix for this annoying problem.  “I found out that the problem lies within the services area in the control panel under Administrative tools. click on the services shortcut and scroll down to google update service (gupdate) and google service update (gupdatem) make sure that they both have check marks in the boxes next to them. then in the (gupdate) under the startup type make sure that that is automatic and the (gupdatem) under startup type is manual. exit out of the services window and exit the administrative window and open Internet explorer and surf to your web page and walla it works.”  Thanks Fran:))

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SATURDAY NIGHT AT OUR HOUSE   

GROANER’S CORNER:((  An airplane pilot had had a particularly difficult flight and a rough landing. The airline had a policy which required the first officer to stand at the door while the passengers exited, smile and give them a ''Thanks for riding Royal Airlines.'' But, in light of his bad landing, the pilot had a hard time looking the passengers in the eye, thinking that someone would have a smart comment. Finally, everyone had gotten off except for this little old lady walking with a cane. She said, ''Sonny, mind if I ask you a question?'' ''Why no, Ma'am,'' replied the pilot,'' ''what is it?'' The little old lady said, ''Did we land or were we shot down?''

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-Tourists see the world, travelers  experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
BAYFIELD BUNCH PHOTO ALBUMS https://picasaweb.google.com/117858411710794543295
The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of
right  now...AL.
stargeezerguy@gmail.com

10 comments:

  1. That last photo of the dogs ought to be your new header. Bliss! :)

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  2. I Boused today, too. Why didn't you wave? In fact, I took many of these same pictures in an inferior way.

    Do you guys geocache? I combined a couple of caches with visiting the Bouse fisherman, and had a great day.

    Roxanne
    The Good Luck Duck

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  3. Been through Bouse in 2007..headed up to Parker..Looks like you have a great set up there...

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  4. Did you find any Gold? Or are you keeping that a secret.

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  5. Speaking of gold, a couple that was friends with my dad found two nuggets down there, in a wash. They were worth $10k and 15k each, and this was back about 10 years ago.

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  6. Looks like y'all had a fun filled day! I love the doggies, as ours is doing that same pose now. We had a great trip to the Desert Bar today - post coming soon. Have y'all been there yet?

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  7. In response to a comment that Al left on our blog, Sierra Vista has your name all over it!! Kelly could own the place, and never even mention Al. Canadian, what Canadian.............?

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  8. We like the little town of Bouse, but haven't spent any time there. It's on our agenda for "someday." Have you visited the Patton Museum? It's up on top of a mountain pass right along I-10, bot too far into California, forget which pass, which town. Lots of tanks and memorabilia.

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  9. Thanks for the history lesson and awesome pictures.

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  10. Kelly, Rochester! That's great! I like Rochester much more than I like Syracuse - of course - because there was always so much more going on. And the lake, of course.

    Did you read my RV.net question about water? I'd really like to know what's up. Can you fill with potable water somewhere in Bouse? I'm getting confused about what's where, and what's still open.

    Roxanne
    The Good Luck Duck

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