Tuesday, March 12, 2013

HEADING SOUTH IN THE FALL & NORTH IN THE SPRING…TWO DIFFERENT FEELINGS………………….

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Sooooo nice to have our doors wide open by 7 a.m in the morning.  Sunshine streaming in, warmth in the air, mountains on the horizon, & happy little birdies singing in the trees.  A mighty fine start to to another great Arizona day:))
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IT WAS A YEAR AGO YESTERDAY THAT LAURIE & ODEL STOPPED IN TO SEE US
We spent a pleasant half hour climbing around the Sunseeker this morning discussing ideas & plans for tweaking it out.  Had the tape measure & measured it’s overall length from bumper to bumper at 25 feet.  Also noticed the roof is fiberglass & not rubber.  Bonus.  And plenty of room up on the roof for 1 or two solar panels.  We have also been amazed at how much headroom we have inside.  Especially in the kitchen area.  More than we had in the Damon.  It was also nice discussing future travel plans.  I always like discussing travel plans:))
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AND IT’S BEEN JUST OVER A YEAR NOW SINCE WE LAST SAW RV SUE & HER CANINE CREW
RETIRED ROD had left a comment about maybe having to wait for license tags if we register the rig here in Arizona.  Kelly was quick to get on the phone this morning with that question.  We were told by the Motor Vehicle place we would receive our tags right over the counter as soon as we registered our Class C.  No mailing, no waiting. 
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In Canada we would have to pay the 13% sales tax right up front at the border.  We’re looking at a big chunk of change here.  Arizona has a tax as well but it’s done differently.  Looks like a lot less money up front with a decreasing sales tax annually.  Arizona is definitely the better way to go.  But here’s the big deciding factor for me……I like the colorful Arizona license plates/tags with the mountain sunset & silhouetted Saguaro Cactus.  Much nicer than the standard bland white & blue Ontario plates.  Do you think I have my priorities in a logical order……..:))
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AND CAN ANYONE GUESS WHO THIS MAN FROM MARS WAS LAST YEAR?
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HINT:  HE’S MARRIED TO THIS LOVELY LADY
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BY GOLLY, THAT MYSTERY MARTIAN IS NONE OTHER THAN FELLOW RV BLOGGER MIKE McFALL HIS VERY SELF:))
I reminded myself of a Rancher/Cowboy this morning as I mended some old wire fencing on the property.  Of course the only authentic cowboy thing about me is my interest in the lifestyle & my hat.  I wouldn’t know which end of a horse to climb on or which end of a gun to shoot out of but I’d probably do better with the gun than the horse:((  Neither one of those things have been a part of my life.  Well, not yet anyway………..
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IT WAS ALSO A YEAR AGO THIS WEEK WE HAD THIS BIG ORANGE METAL MONSTER SITTING IN OUR BACK YARD
Darn, we just missed that California earthquake by one week.  Have never experienced an earthquake & would liked to have been camped out near Borrego Springs for that.  Quake’s center was just north of where we usually boondock at the Clark Dry Lake Bed.  Friends JOHN & NAN who we visited last week are still there & experienced it first hand.
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AND IT WAS ONE YEAR AGO WEDNESDAY THAT WE OFFICIALLY WENT FROM BOONDOCKING NEAR CONGRESS ARIZONA TO HOUSEDOCKING IN CONGRESS ARIZONA
Reading KAREN'S post this morning I was reminded of something that I think many of we Snow Birds experience every winter about this time.  As much as we are itching to hit the road every fall for our southern destinations there comes a time in late winter when that itch reverses itself & it is once again time to head north & home again.
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A NEIGHBOR’S SPRING CACTUS GARDEN THIS MORNING
Every trip south we have made I have always noticed that ‘turning point’ in the journey.  And in some cases it is an actual physical turning point.  I recall several times leaving our campsite in Borrego Springs knowing that was the starting point for our long journey home.  Pulling out of the desert making the left turn onto highway S22 I would often think…..this now begins our journey home.  And I have found with that turn for home, wherever it occurs, there comes a change.  It is a noticeably different feeling heading home in early Spring than it is heading away from home in early Fall.
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SUNRISE ON GHOST TOWN ROAD
For me, the excitement level & that ‘feeling good’ mind set is much higher on our southward bound trip.  Always the adventurous unknown factor of roads & destinations not yet traveled.  Touching base with old familiar places.  Freedom to wander wherever, whenever.  But there comes a time in our southwest winter lifestyle when it is time to head for home once again.  And, strangely enough, I rather look forward to that as well.  I just don’t look forward to it with the same enthusiasm or sense of excitement that I do when heading south.
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But, once that decision to head north is made then that is what I want to do.  The winter is over & is once again time to change hats & slip back into our Ontario lifestyle.  I think much of that has to do with the simple fact I am anxious once again for a change.  I look forward to that semi-annual change of scenery & I do enjoy being busy with the big Spring clean-up.  Even now, a month before we head out I can feel the stirrings inside.  I can sense the hitch-itch growing as another long journey looms on the horizon.  Another complete change of scenery, another change of lifestyle & activities.  And it is those changes that I so much look forward to each year.  It is those changes that keep the hounds of boredom from the door & it is those very changes that give me inspiration & motivation to tough out all the coming slow days in anticipation of the those once again faster exciting travel days ahead.
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Our afternoon was so lazy I nodded off in a chair on our front porch listening to the birds in our Saguaros.  That groin pain in my right leg that plagued me most of the winter is completely healed up.  It’s totally gone.  But, the second source of pain in my right hip that cleared up a couple months ago after stopping my Crestor pills suddenly reared it’s ugly head yesterday while I was planting some Sunflower seeds.  Took a sideways step to the right & felt a slight but familiar twinge in my outside hip.  Bothered me for the rest of the day & has hindered my walking.  That short sharp jabbing pain in the outer hip about where a cowboy would carry his shooting iron, has stuck with me again today.  I must have just twisted something again………dang nab it!!
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KELLY WORKING ON HER DEER PARK LODGE RESERVATION BOOK THIS MORNING
And it was one year ago today while having breakfast with PETER in the shadow of Vulture Peak that we received a cell phone call from our Real Estate guy in Prescott saying our offer on the house was accepted & it was a done deal:))
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KELLY TAKES THE CALL FROM OUR REAL ESTATE GUY
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PETER & I DISCUSSING THE PRICE OF POPCORN IN NORTHERN SIBERIA
GROANER’S CORNER:((  During a sermon a mother with a fidgety seven-year-old boy told me how she finally got her son to sit still and be quiet. "About halfway through the sermon, she leaned over and whispered, 'If you don't be quiet, the Pastor is going to lose his place and will have to start his sermon all over again!'
"It worked."

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- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- "If having a soul means being able to feel
love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals
are better off than a lot of humans."
(James Herriot)
- The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails -William Arthur Ward
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.

23 comments:

  1. I have never once felt the slightest tremor from an earthquake, and I consider myself very lucky. I think of all the natural disasters, quakes frighten me the most.

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  2. Having ridden out a 7.2 in 1989, I assure everyone it is not a fun feeling. For weeks after you doubt the safety of the ground around you. I remember kneeing down in the aren to plant daffodils a few weeks after the big quake and feeling an after shock roll up under me. If you can't count on the stability of the earth, what an you count on?

    For what a small quake feels like, think a big truck driving by on the road just outside.

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  3. I don't know where home is yet, so I don't worry about wanting to go home. Although, it will probably be somewhere near my daughter and her family. Great pictures of the flowers blooming in your neighborhood.

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  4. Only been in one small earthquake and we thought like Merikay said it was a huge truck or plane that rattled the house. Love the opening bird photo in flight, love the open wings.

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  5. The quake was just an interesting experience. It was nothing like what we felt in Indiana. There have been tons of aftershocks, but we have not felt any.

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  6. OK, if you get your license plates handed to you over the counter, why did I have to wait over a month here....?? Perhaps it is because we are in Maricopa County.. Aren't you in Yavapi,? But no matter why, its great that you don't have to wait like I did....

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  7. It's neat how the world includes so many different kinds of people. I can't imagine enjoying "being busy with the big Spring clean-up". If I ever have such a cleanup I must remember to ask if you'd like to come be part of it :-)

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  8. Hi Al, just wondering if there would be any problems at the border taking an Arizona licensed vehicle into Canada when your main residence is there. I know in BC that if you bring a vehicle from another province, you must register and licence it in BC within a matter of weeks. Perhaps you can get around that if it is in Kelly's name since she has US citizenship.
    John

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  9. For a minute there I thought those quail in that gorgeous cactus/flowers shot were real--beautiful photo Al!

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  10. Thats great you can get the tags over the counter. I love the colours and scenery on them too.
    Our turning point is about the end of February, when we begin the slow journey back to Ontario. This year only got as far as Rock Port Texas, only about 6 weeks to get there.

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  11. I'm not a fan of heading North toward home...Home means unpacking the Hiker and that just sucks...I keep pointing out to Dennis that we wouldn't have to go through all of that if we LIVED in it!..Plus, lately it seems or 4 month trip is shortened to 1 month almost every year..depressing.

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  12. Our turning point is going to be selling our home and starting a brand new journey...an adventure that is still hard to wrap my head around until I'm there...but the excitement for such feelings is beyond explanation! As for quakes...felt a few in IL and it's the strangest feeling, can't imagine a full blown one where the china falls off the counters!

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  13. We just got home and have started the clean up, luckily it's pretty mild out. Hope the hip pain is not going to stay.

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  14. Home is where the MH is parked. It's been that way 18 months now and we are so loving it. Enjoy the rest of your Arizona time before you head north.

    The cactus garden is so pretty!

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  15. Will you be doing any "boarding" up of your Congress home - shutters on the windows and doors, in case window glass is broken, etc.? Will there be someone to "keep an eye on" your place while you are gone?

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  16. Time to head north already????? Seems like you just arrived here! Time flies when you are having fun!! Re: Peanut Butter and Honey sandwiches.... also my favorite! But since I am diabetic (barely) I add ground cinnamon to the sandwich as well. Yummy! Beautiful photographs as always! You have an amazing eye Al!

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  17. Nice shot of bird in flight at the top of the blog.
    Always enjoy your photos.

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  18. I was born and raised in So. Cal before becoming an Oregonian. I hope NEVER to feel an earth quake again. Not a good feeling at all.


    If you get bored up in Bayfield, come on by. I have some flower beds that need work...

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  19. Al, see if your symptoms match those of an irritated IT Band:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iliotibial_band_syndrome

    I had this problem and was able to get relief by rolling my IT Band.

    Bob

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  20. Would love to be in the somewhat cooler area of around Wickenburg again. Was a nice day we had there last year.

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  21. We love going, we love coming. Yup, Al, you get it. Oh my I LOVE that photo of the kitchen looking into the living room. Such a perfect southwest space and you have made it sooo nice. Although I don't see any ant walls in there...you might have missed out on that one.

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  22. Wow,,that dude from outter space scared the peewadlin out of me!
    :-)

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  23. Having lived in So CA for many years I have experienced many earthquakes. Some were very scary.

    I am getting the itch myself and can't wait to get out of Phoenix and on to new adventures.

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