Monday, June 30, 2014

‘DUMB & DUMBER’ AT HICKIWAN TRAILS ARIZONA

HERE'S THE INUKSUHK CULPRIT

HIGH ATOP A ROCKY RIDGE NEAR WHY ARIZONA I BUILT MYSELF AN INUKSUK

Kind of a carbon copy day of the last 2 days so nothing new at our end.  We sure are glad we have a nice cool air conditioned sticks & bricks to spend these hot summer days in.  Weather channel tells us we have one steam bath day left before temperatures drop by Wednesday.  Stormy weather headed our way Tuesday.  Was 85F here today but the humidity factor took that to 95F.    I will leave you tonight with a little something I call ‘dumb & dumber’.  A couple things I did back in early January of 2007.   We had a truck & fifth wheel at the time & we were staying at the HICKIWAN TRAILS RV PARK in Why Arizona.  Why is about 122 miles west of Tucson.

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A LITTLE RESTAURANT IN AJO ARIZONA AT THE TIME WE WERE STAYING AT HICKIWAN TRAILS IN WHY ARIZONA
ARCHIVE MEMORIES::  Boy oh boy oh boy, did I ever do something dumb last night. I had been re-organizing my wallet after cleaning sand out of it in the afternoon & laid it on a small wood table beside my lawn chair. Max (our oldest dog at the time) in his quest to get a game of sticks going had apparently bumped the table knocking my wallet over the edge into the doggy guys water dish where it probably remained for a couple minutes. No problem I thought as I lifted it out, but noticed it was already pretty wet inside. In order to dry everything out I made the first part of a big mistake. I laid my wallet on the tonneau cover of the pick-up truck to dry. Laid out some credit cards, driver's license, CAA card, etc. The tonneau cover is black & felt warm from the sun so figured everything would dry quick. Well, you probably know what's coming.

LUCKILY WE FOUND AN RV SITE FOR THE NIGHT IN “WHY” ARIZONA

BACKING INTO OUR SITE AT THE HICKIWAN TRAILS RV PARK…OUR VERY FIRST TIME THERE…LATE DECEMBER 06

DSC_0001-1 BIG WIND LAST NIGHT SO WE HAD TO PULL IN THAT LITTLE SLIDER ROOM ON THE RIGHTDSC_0020-8

THIS IS THE SITE WE WERE AT WHEN I DID MY ‘DUMB’ & ‘DUMBER’ THING

A couple of hours later just after supper I decided to head down the road about half a mile to check our Toshiba lap top for emails at a remote wifi spot near another campground.  (Coyote Howls RV Park) Out I went, jumped in the truck, & took off out of the park & down the highway. When I reached the wi-fi site I pulled off the road & stopped, got out of the truck, walked around to the passenger side to access the computer, glanced at the back of the truck & "OH NO!!" In a sickening flash I remembered my wallet & cards that I had laid out there earlier, and..........they were all gone.

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Jumped in the truck & raced back to the trailer, rushed in & told Professor Rockhound (Kelly was collecting a lot of rocks at that time so I called her Professor Rockhound) what had happened. I knew the only hope I had of ever finding anything lying on the road in the day’s fading light was to get an expert ground scanning person involved. She quickly headed out the driveway to the highway in full ground scan mode. I took the truck & slowly started driving the highway shoulder & immediately found my Scotia debit card lying right in the middle of the highway. Continued up the road a bit & turned around. By the time I got back to the area where I found the debit card I saw the Professor busily scooping things off the highway & alongside the road. Oblivious to traffic which consisted of 1 ambulance heading east, she was on the job!! By the time I got the truck stopped she had already retrieved my wallet which had been lying open upside down in the eastbound lane. I probably drove over it myself in my rush to get back to the trailer a few minutes before. She had also found what was left of my driver's license. It was the only thing damaged. I found one more card on the southbound shoulder & that completed everything. We were only moments away from complete nightfall but the eagle eyed Professor had saved the day. Nothing missing from inside the wallet either. Both American & Canadian money were intact.

THIRSTY BUNCH

ON A MORNING DESERT HIKE KELLY GIVES MAX, CORA, (MOTORMOUSE) & CHECKERS A BIG DRINK

It sure would have put an unfavorable dent in our vacation plans if all had been lost. Thanks to our superb ground scanning Professor we were spared to travel another day. It was a close call & I had to promise that I would not be so dumb in the future. Well, that didn't work because here's what I did just a few days later.  Awwwww nuts!!

TAKING A BREAK

POSING FOR A PICTURE WITH MAX, CORA, & CHECKERS JUST EAST OF THE RV PARK
Decided to clean up the cab of the truck so opened the passenger door to pull the floor mat out. I was wearing my black cowboy hat which I had just purchased near Carlsbad New Mexico a few weeks before. As I bent over I knocked my hat off so just reached down, picked it up & casually tossed it around the corner onto the tonneau cover behind the cab. Sound familiar!!

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OUR GMC TRUCK WITHOUT IT’S TONNEAU COVER ON…THE MIGHTY AJO MOUNTAIN RANGE IN THE BACKGROUND

Finished the clean up & went inside the trailer. Kelly said she was heading into Ajo (about 10 miles away) for some groceries & would be back in an hour or so. I had some stuff to catch up on with the computer so said, "ok, see ya later." It was probably about 10 minutes later when the hair on my head almost stood straight up as I suddenly realized............my hat was on the back of the truck!!!! Oh noooooooo!!!! I rushed out of the trailer, down the road, around the corner & up to the highway vainly looking off in the direction Kelly had traveled with the truck. No black object on the road or shoulder resembling a cowboy hat. Walked a short distance along the road but knew it was futile. My hat was gone forever & that's all there was to it.

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I'm not a hat person & this cowboy hat was the only one I had ever stuck on my head that I thought didn't make me look like a total nerd. I was like a little boy who had just lost his most prized possession of ever. And I was sooooooooo mad at myself because of the wallet incident just a few days before. Why didn't I learn my lesson that time about setting things on the back of the truck. 

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WE SO MUCH ENJOYED OUR LONG DAILY MORNING WALKS IN THE DESERT AT HICKIWAN TRAILS

I was in the trailer slumped in a chair when I heard Kelly pull in with the truck. How was I going to explain to Kelly that she had probably married the dumbest creature on the planet. The thought did occur to me that she was most likely quite aware of that already:(( The screen door opened & Kelly came in with a couple bags of groceries and there perched atop her beautiful blonde head was............................ my black cowboy hat:)))))) At that moment I was the happiest little wannabe cowboy kid west of the Pecos.  

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PROFESSOR ROCKHOUND WASHING UP HER DAILY FIND OF INTERESTING ROCKS

Kelly said it was a movement in the rear view mirror that caused her to look as she was accelerating down the highway after leaving the Park. That movement was my cowboy beginning it's take-off roll across the tonneau cover runway in preparation for lift-off into the big blue Arizona sky. She quickly backed off the gas, slowly braked & pulled over to the side of the road & retrieved my precious hat. Now she was faced with a decision. She could turn around & bring the hat back before I probably even knew it was missing or she could keep on going & let me stew about my missing hat until she got back. She made the right decision. She cranked up the burner & continued on her way letting me stew for an hour.  I certainly was well done by the time she returned!!  So do you think I learned my lesson??  Say, did I ever tell you about the time I.....................

SUNDOWN AT OUR CAMPSITE

GROANER’S CORNER:((  The fourth-grade teacher had to leave the room for a few minutes. When she returned, she found the children in perfect order. Everybody was sitting absolutely quiet.  She was shocked and stunned and said, "I've never seen anything like it before. This is wonderful. But, please tell me, what came over all of you? Why are you so well behaved and quiet?"  Finally, after much urging, little Sally spoke up and said, "Well, one time you said that if you ever came back and found us quiet, you would drop dead."

Sunday, June 29, 2014

SUNDAY…….SAME AS SATURDAY:((

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BAYFIELD HARBOR

Today was basically a repeat of Saturday with the exception Pheebs & I headed out for a short Jeep drive earlier this morning before the heat built up again.  Pheebs also treed a Raccoon in our back yard when I first let her out around about 5:15 a.m..  Coon later came down & slipped over the fence.
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SAILING ON LAKE HURON

Afraid I've been a bit lax in keeping an eye on our Blog Followers/Friend Connect list but noticed today we have a few new followers on there.  A big Bayfield Bunch welcome to Mike & Dee from GONE RVING as well as Joe & Crickett Cherry from POP & MEEMEE ON THE ROAD. And just in case I missed the folks before them a welcome also to FIFTHWHEEL TOYHAULERRV  Nice to have you folks aboard & thank you all for taking an interest in the Bayfield Bunch. 

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Today marked the one year anniversary of the tragic Yarnell Hill fire which claimed the lives of 19 young firefighters near our South-West home in Congress Arizona last June.  THE PAIN STILL LINGERS  Thanks to Cheryl Ann from DEEP CANYON for mentioning that on her post today.

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GROANER'S CORNER:(( A vacationer e-mailed a seaside hotel to ask its location.

"It's only a stone's throw away from the beach," he was told. 
"But how will I recognize it?" asked the man. 
Back came the reply: "It's the one with all the broken windows."

Saturday, June 28, 2014

TODAY WAS A NO BRAINER……STAY INSIDE & STAY COOL

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A FEW FILE PHOTOS TONIGHT FROM THE SMALL HAMLET OF AUBURN ONTARIO NORTH-EAST OF BAYFIELD

Update on Kelly's sister Becky.  She is home from the hospital.  It seems the strong pain medicine Becky was on for her knee interacted with the heart medicine she was taking causing heart attack like symptoms.  Cardiologist said Becky is not to return to work until after her knee surgery on July 26th.  Doctor's said no damage was done to Becky's heart & she should be Okay:)) 

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Weather people had predicted a hot & humid day today & they were sure right.  Turns out May was the hottest May on record & I think June might be a close second.   We didn't do our morning walk because it was already humid at 8 a.m. & that meant the mosquitoes & biting flies would be out in full force.  Concentrated my efforts on the second clean up & re-organizing of our wooden shed.  A Mother Robin has a nest only feet away from where I was working & has become very trusting of me walking by.  We also have a noisy nest of baby Wrens in one of our old birdhouses as well.  Those little birds can sure send up a squawk.  But it wasn't the noisy birds that soon chased me back into the house.....it was the heat & humidity. 
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Kelly was off to Goderich running errands early this morning because with no A/C in the Santa Fe it gets pretty uncomfortable.  I am of the belief that our summers are getting hotter & our humidity levels are higher & longer lasting than years ago.  I base that on summer memories from the past 60+ years.  Weather changes are particularly more noticeable in the Northern hemisphere where weather changes can be readily seen & felt with the continuous clashes of warm, hot, cool, & cold air.  Far more frequently volatile than in the dryer South-West.

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DSC_0033-001In Thursday's post I referred to the building where Fred kept his Motorhome as a 'driving shed'.  Driving or Drive shed is a common term on farms.  Generally large oversized garage type buildings used for parking farm machinery such as tractors, combines, trucks, wagons, & just about anything farmers can drive or fit into the big sheds.  Some are open sided while others are complete buildings with large doors.  On rainy days farmers can work on their machinery in their driving shed.  Barns are for straw, cattle, chickens, horses & hay while dog houses are of course for dogs & errant husbands.

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ARCHIVE MEMORIES::  Late November of 2008 found us traveling through the State of Kansas when the following happened...............Up about 5:30 a.m. hooked up the car, said good-bye to our scenic Pawnee campsite & we were on the road heading west on I-80 by 6:30. The buffeting Kansas winds were hitting us nearly head on from the northwest so we quickly pulled into a rest area & I tied some rope around the awning arms just in case. (turns out it was a good thing we did that) Turned off I-80 onto highway # 81 heading south for Kansas. This was a great 4 lane highway with hardly any traffic on it & was the nicest drive we had since leaving home. Very relaxing in a gently rolling countryside & a beautiful sunrise to boot. Because the big winds were behind us I figure we must have been getting about 351.2 miles to the gallon:)) At Salina, Kansas we picked up I-70 heading west for Colorado Springs & it immediately became apparent the winds had greatly increased & were now hitting us broadside!! Felt like we were on a midway ride at times as the wind gusts had their way with us. Made for some mighty exciting driving to say the least. We had only gone about 10 miles when we heard a "pop" sound like a parachute opening somewhere behind us. Kelly right away looked back out her window & hollered, "stop, stop!!!!" Quickly got the rig off onto the narrow shoulder out of the way of the huge trucks coming up behind us. Our worst fears had materialized.....about a third of the awning had been pulled out & was flapping fiercely over the top of the motorhome.

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Quickly got our ladder & some rope out & went up the side but could not get the rope around anything because the wind had the awning totally out of control. Climbed up the ladder on the back of the rig & got myself onto the roof but didn't dare stand up because the wind was just ripping across there. Glanced to the northwest & could swear I saw Dorothy & Toto go flying by. Kelly came up the ladder at the side of the motorhome & between the two of us we were able to get some rope around one end of the awning but it was futile gesture. The awning was already ripped & I was afraid the wind gusts would pull more of it out at any second & blow me off the roof onto the dual lanes of I-70. Lots of big trucks going by causing a secondary whoosh of air complicating things as well.

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Kelly got me a knife & I proceeded to cut the whipping awning off. The wind was cold as well & only an hour before we had stopped at a Wal-Mart for some groceries & I had picked myself up a winter toque. (warm winter hat) That was a lucky break for me. I had taken a length of rope up onto the roof so I cut short 15 inch pieces & worked my way along the awning securing what was left with about a dozen pieces of rope. Kelly grabbed a camera in the meantime & took a few pictures. What a relief it was to get the last piece of rope tied into place. My fingers were froze.  Carefully lowered the big chunk of awning down to Kelly & she crumpled it into the back of the car for later disposal somewhere. Didn't want it blowing out across the freeway onto somebody's windshield. DSC_0013-1

WITH THE BIG 18 WHEELERS THUNDERING BY ROCKING THE COACH FROM THE SOUTH SIDE & THE BIG KANSAS WIND TRYING TO BLOW ME OFF THE ROOF FROM THE NORTH SIDE IT WAS NOT ONE OF MY FAVORITE MOMENTS BUT FOR SURE IT WAS ONE OF MY MOST MEMORABLE ONES

Finally got down off the roof & back inside to the warmth of the motorhome. Whewwwwww!! We'll see about getting a new awning when we get to Quartzite, Arizona later in January. (we did get a new awning in Quartzsite later) All & all we were very fortunate because had we not heard the "pop" of the awning opening & not got pulled over so fast, the wind would have quickly pulled out the rest of the awning which in turn would have acted like a fully inflated parachute & ripped the awning arms right off the motorhome causing damage to the coach itself. We never did open that awning since the day we had bought the motorhome back in the spring so what caused it to open like that, we have no idea. Glad we weren't pulling the fifth wheel because we never would have heard the awning go & would never have got pulled over right away. Also, on the fifth wheel we had last year there was no ladder to get onto the roof so we would have been in a big heap more trouble for sure 10-4!!  We made it to Ellis Kansas that day & spent Halloween Night in a quiet little county park beside a relaxing river.  What a day it had been..........................

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GROANER'S CORNER:((  After years of scrimping and saving, a husband told his wife the good news: "Honey, we've finally saved enough money to buy what we started saving for in 1979."  "You mean a brand-new Cadillac?" she asked eagerly.  "No," said the husband, "a 1979 Cadillac."

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Two sea monsters were swimming around in the ocean, looking for something to do. They came up underneath a ship that was hauling potatoes. Bob, the first sea monster, swam underneath the ship, tipped it over and ate everything on the ship.  A little while later, they came up to another ship, again hauling potatoes. Bob again capsizes the ship and eats everything onboard.  The third ship they found was also hauling potatoes and Bob once again capsized it and ate everything.  Finally his buddy Bill asked him, "Why do you keep tipping over those ships full of potatoes and eating everything on board?"  Bob replied, "I wish I hadn't, but I just can't help myself once I start. Everyone knows you can't eat just one potato ship."

Friday, June 27, 2014

KINDA FUNNY HOW THINGS WORK SOMETIMES

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On the way home from Arizona this past April we kinda half decided not to get ourselves into our usual summer 'Real Estate' mode.  Agreed where we live now is pretty darn nice so why look for another place although we would like to have a house on our own piece of property.  Where we are now we own our unit but not the land & we pay a monthly lease payment.  Been making those payments for nearly 12 years now.  Kelly's been checking out some places on her real estate site again & we've been out looking around at a few prospects.  Of course prices are always too high for us but one never knows if there's a deal out there somewhere if one doesn't make the effort to at least look.
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While out for a Motorcycle ride this morning I spotted a 'For Sale' sign on a piece of property just a few miles from where we live.  Looked promising so headed back home & Kelly looked it up on the computer.  A fully forested 69 acres & as expected out of our price range.  And besides we certainly do not need 69 acres but we took the Jeep over & had a look at the property anyway.  Had to look at it from the road because it was solid forest with no access.  But that was Okay because we always like looking at houses & properties anyway.  Gets us out of the house & gets a little bit of adrenalin pumping every time.  My kind of excitement.

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On our way home we spotted a small unoccupied house on a side road slowly being taken over by vines & trees.  Of course these places always intrigue us.  There was a nice looking farm across the road & Kelly spotted a fellow outside working away at some siding on his driving shed so in we went to ask about the property across the road.  Turns out this fellow owned the house & land in question but said the house was unliveable & the property wasn't really for sale.  In the course of the conversation Arizona came up & it turns out this fellow & his wife also spend their winter's in Arizona around Casa Grande & Quartzsite.  He walked over & opened the big driving shed door to reveal a big beautiful Class A Tiffen Allegro Motorhome.  We talked about RVing for a bit & in the course of that conversation came up the topic of aging, care facilities & nursing homes.  This fellow who's name is Fred mentioned that his Dad had just past away this past winter & with that nodded towards a white car sitting in the driving shed beside the Allegro.  Said the 2004 Pontiac 4dr Sunfire was his Dads.  Only 41,000 miles on it & the car had spent the past 7 winters in the driving shed & had only been driven a bit in the summertime.  Said he's probably going to sell it.
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Well that grabbed our interest as we walked over & had us a look at this car which appeared to have just rolled off the assembly line.  All new tires to boot.  We hadn't actively been looking for another vehicle just yet but it has been in the back of our minds since we found out last summer the Santa Fe's A/C cannot be repaired.  Now with the recent clutch replacement & not knowing how long the repaired flywheel will last it may be time for us to to think about replacing the 2003 Santa Fe.  And besides we definitely need a vehicle with A/C.  Our summers are becoming hotter with higher humidity levels.  Fred said take the car for a drive so we did.  Liked it.  Couldn't get the A/C working but Fred said it was Ok last summer.  Probably just needs some Freon.  He's going to have it looked at & call us next week.   We haven't bought the car but we are thinking about it.  Car has been undercoated, well maintained, no rust & if we can agree on a price we just might pour some additional serious thought into it.  We'll see what shakes out next week.  Kinda funny how things work out sometimes eh......................
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NOW HOW’S THAT FOR A POWERHOUSE JOHN DEERE TRACTOR

While talking to Fred this afternoon he took us over to another driving shed to show us the ‘toys’.  It’s a mechanical family here with interests in things other than the chores of routine farming. 

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ARCHIVE MEMORIES::  APRIL 2008  Have you ever had a pine tree sneak up on you when you weren't looking. Happened to me last Saturday morning. I had walked out to the motorhome to unplug the electric cord because I intended to move the rig ahead about 20 feet to wash it. Opened the bin door, unplugged the cord, turned around & laid it on ground. Did you just catch my mistake!! I turned my back on an open bin door therefore making it a non existent open bin door. Kelly came out of the house with the dogs for our morning walk & off I went. 

Upon returning I hopped into the motorhome, started it up, took a quick glance in the mirrors (no such thing as a quick glance!!) slapped it in drive & motored ahead. There is something about the sound of crunching & tearing metal that just kind of takes your stomach out on ya. You know you have just done something bad alright & by the sound of it there is probably going to be a costly repair involved somewhere. I knew there was no need to panic because whatever it was I screwed up would be out there waiting for me. I hazarded a look in my drivers side mirror & yup, there it was alright. A pine tree had sneaked up alongside the motorhome when I wasn't looking & all but tore off my (open) bin door. Trees will do that to motorhomes sometimes. But, I never thought a tree was smart enough to open the bin door first before attempting to wrench it right off the coach. After all, I had closed it...right??
Took my sick feeling stomach with me & exited the coach, walked around behind the motorhome to the drivers side. The bin door was twisted at an upward angle with the apparent & appropriate damage of course. Took it in my hands to try & twist it down but the whole door just came right off leaving an open & gaping electrical bin hole. The whole upper hinge mechanism was all torn & twisted. Torsion bar hanging askew, body flange bent, etc. etc. Amazingly enough the bin door itself was still intact. Wasn't twisted or bent, & no paint missing but that still didn't alleviate that awful feeling you get in the pit of your stomach when you've just screwed up by not seeing a pine tree sneak up on you. I remember my Dad having a brand new Honda generator years ago at his cottage, leaving it behind the car, & then promptly backing over it. The look on his face that day was the same look I had on my face last Saturday morning!!
No point in me trying to fix it because I'm still attending my 4th year night school class on how to change a light bulb. We have an auto body repair shop near us so Monday morning I took the rig over there & left it with the professionals. Picked it up Tuesday afternoon all fixed up but I'm too embarrassed to tell you how much that tree cost me. Let's just say it took a huge bite out of our income tax return this year.
Kelly was quick to point out to me that things like that don't happen to her. I was quick to point out to her that's because she never drives the motorhome or moves it around. She quickly pointed out to me that maybe it was about time she did!! Case closed:((

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GROANER'S CORNER:((  And a nod to World Soccer today::  Sandy began a job as an elementary school counsellor and she was eager to help. One day during recess she noticed a girl standing by herself on one side of a playing field while the rest of the kids enjoyed a game of soccer at the other.  Sandy approached and asked if she was all right. The girl said she was.  A little while later, however, Sandy noticed the girl was in the same spot, still by herself.  Approaching again, Sandy offered, "Would you like me to be your friend?"  The girl hesitated, then said, "Okay," looking at the woman suspiciously. Feeling she was making progress, Sandy then asked, "Why are you standing here all alone?"  "Because," the little girl said with great exasperation, "I'm the goalie!"

Thursday, June 26, 2014

BOB SAID….THEN ED SAID….THEN I SAID

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Kelly talked to her Mother tonight & there has been no word from Florida.  We are going with ‘no news is good news’ & are assuming Kelly’s sister Becky is still in the hospital while further tests are being done to determine if it was an actual heart attack she had or something else.  To complicate matters Becky is slated for knee surgery on July 24th. 
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Anything that needs doing around the house or outside  these late June days needs to be done in the morning before heat & humidity build up so I was again busy outside with some small cleaning projects.  Rest of the day was spent in my recliner in front of my 3 bladed rotating fan.  Nice. 

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ANNIE, the photos below are for you.  Kelly noticed when you downsized to a smaller rig you had a picture of a blanket with name LAUREL BURCH on it.  Kelly recognized the design right away because she also has some works by the late Laurel Burch.  One is a painting hanging in her bedroom, another is a coffee mug which I remember her purchasing in downtown Toronto one time when we used to bop around in the big city occasionally & the third is a nice colorful handbag Kelly sometimes carries with her.

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A few days ago BOB left a comment on my blog saying,   I always enjoy the pics, even though I sometimes scroll through the words.   ED later left a comment saying, I enjoy what Al writes and usually just scroll through the pictures.  Well, looks like I occasionally manage to get something just about half interesting at least 50% of the time:))

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Browsing through my Archives today I came across numerous paragraphs & posts I had written back in my early days of RVing & Blogging.  Have decided to include some excerpts of these writings in my posts because I feel they are just as relevant today as they were back then.  Some are informative, some humorus, all as factual as I can make em & hopefully interesting to new readers.  Some long time readers may remember a few of these.  Going to call this new segment to my blog ARCHIVE MEMORIES & I promise not to make them all as long as this first one:))

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AWWWWW NUTS WE’RE GONNA NEED A TOW TRUCK……..(2007)I knew the mistake I made as soon as it happened & I knew right away without getting out of my seat we were gonna need a tow truck!! I had read about this happening to other RV'ers especially upon entering or leaving a campsite & especially at night. It wasn't a campsite I was turning off the road into, but a large parking lot on a dark street in an industrial section of Lindsay, Ontario Canada.
We had arrived in Lindsay Ontario Tuesday night Oct. 3/07 about 8 p.m. & thought we would take a drive past the Tech Mobile Communications place where we were going to have our satellite TV & internet installation & lesson the following morning. We missed the corner near their location but there was a parking lot just up the road on the right with a wide entrance. I could see there was a second entrance & decided to turn into that one assuming it was equally as wide. WRONG!!! It was dark & hard to see so I eased to the left of the road to make a wide sweeping right turn. What I failed to see was that the supposed entrance I was turning into was a narrow ramp type road for exiting the parking lot to the west. Everything was fine as we swung round & entered two thirds of the way up into the driveway. And then....... a bump, a scraping crunch sound & we stopped. A little pressure on the gas pedal & nothing. Into reverse, step on the gas a bit, nothing. We were hung up high & dry. I immediately remembered some of the RV forums where I've read about people getting into this situation so I knew what was wrong, we were in trouble, & needed a tow truck. What a sickening feeling it was as I stepped out the side door because the bottom step was only inches above the ground. The rear wheels had dropped into a ditch beside the driveway & the rear end of the coach was now sitting right smack down on the road. As I walked around the unit my heart sank even lower because I could not see any way of getting the motorhome out of it's predicament without causing a lot of further damage. Towing it out from the front or back was going to do some real serious bad stuff for sure. It was a really dumb mistake & I knew it. I was ready to give up RVing right there & then & just simply take up basket weaving & stay home forever. No doubt about it I figured...... we were in a rut!!
Meanwhile, Kelly was on the cell phone talking to our E.R.S. (Emergency Road Service) people, explaining our situation & location. The dispatcher had a tow truck scrambled within minutes. (Gaynors Towing Service-Lindsay) They even called back to see how we were doing. Now, that's friendly & efficient service I'd say & we had a tow truck there in less time it takes to drink a quick coffee.
As all the negative thoughts were rolling around in my head I had already made a second miscalculation by assuming the worst. (I usually do that) What I hadn't figured on though, was.....the positive tow truck driver. He was a young fellow, baseball cap, friendly & looking every bit like a capable mechanic type guy as he strode over from his truck. I didn't have to explain the situation, the problem was very obvious to say the least. He didn't say too much at first so I took that to mean we were really up the creek for sure. He got down in the ditch & crawled in behind the back tires for a look see. That's when I took the picture & you can see his legs & feet sticking out. In a muffled voice I heard him say something like, "hey, you got load levellers on the coach." Did I detect some optimism in his voice & maybe, just maybe, a ray of hope here?? He climbed back out & instructed me to go into the coach & put the rear passenger side hydraulic jack down. Well, that instantly got me real nervous for sure because I had only ever put them down once before at home in the driveway when I was trying to figure out how they worked. (which I never really figured out too good anyway) I remembered to put the emergency brake on, plus the hydraulic on/off switch but of course I dumped both valve levers & put all 4 levellers down. WRONG!! I could here him holler something at me from out the side door so I quickly managed to retract the front levellers & get us back down into earth's orbit again. I also quickly retracted the rear drivers side leveller too. Well, at least I think I did. Now, we were back in business & the tow truck driver fellow was probably wiping his brow & breathing a sigh of relief as he was thinking something like, TOURISTS!! He had me carefully move that last leveller lever into a down position & I could feel the back end of the coach lifting, & lifting, & lifting. Any higher & I figured we would roll right over into the next county. When it seemed almost certain, he hollered, "stop!! Then.... nothing but silence for about 10 seconds. Had he left & gone home, was it coffee break time, did Lindsay have a 9 o'clock curfew?? Finally I heard, "ok retract the leveller all the way up." I put the dump lever in the up position & the coach descended, but not as far as before. Hmmmmmm. "Ok, back up real slow & try not to spin the wheels" he said. What's this, could it be, could it be. YES, as I ever so slowly stepped on the gas the coach very smoothly backed right out onto the road. 'YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY:))" I quickly parked the rig & got out to see what wondrous miracle this young fellow had performed. "Short planks" he said. "Always a good idea to carry a couple of short sturdy planks with ya." He had them in the tow truck & when the leveller raised the passenger rear side of the coach he simply put 2 sturdy planks under the rear dual wheels. When I retracted the leveller the tires came down firmly on the planks & I was able to back straight out onto the road. Wow, talk about a feeling of relief.....but, then it got even better. As we inspected the coach underneath with flashlights it was apparent there was no damage & a following closer inspection the next morning confirmed this. Thank heavens for butterscotch ice cream & smart tow truck operators:))))))) Too bad about some motorhome operators though:((
On our way home from Lindsay Wednesday afternoon Kelly remarked that she hoped I wasn't going to put this on our blogsite. How embarrassing!! I totally agreed with her so here I am putting it on the blogsite. Well, here's the way I figure it. A lot of people don't like to talk about mistakes (especially men) but if we don't talk about them how are others going to know not to make them. Worked for me didn't it. I read about the hazards of turns with big rigs in unfamiliar darkness & went ahead & did it anyway....... Well hey, I'm a man!!  Whaddya expect eh……………………………………

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GROANER'S CORNER:((  A lady noticed her husband standing on the bathroom scale, sucking in his stomach. Thinking he was trying to weigh less with this manoeuvre, she commented, "I don't think that's going to help." "Sure it does," he said. "It's the only way I can see the numbers."