Monday, December 18, 2017

IT WAS A COLD RAIN UPON US TODAY AS WE………

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I THINK WE WERE BEING FOLLOWED

For the first time in a few weeks we are finally above the freezing mark.  Snow is slowly melting under a drizzly rain as a fine mist hung in the air all day.  Pheebs and I made our way to Goderich on wet slushy roads and picked up a few things at Walmart.  The harbor area was exceptionally dull and gray and I only ended up taking one photo all day which was on the way home.  And in Sunday’s post I had a pair of unidentified water birds which in a comment Sondra said, “Al you have red breasted mergansers in your photos, the male with his head hidden and the reddish colored one is the female”. …… I’m afraid my bird identification is not the best but I do know the difference now between a North American Cardinal and an East African Ostrich:))

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A SLUSHY AND SLIGHTLY FOGGY DRIVE THIS MORNING

To-night’s photos are the last in a series of photos I took a couple weeks ago one Sunday morning when Pheebs and I walked the Maitland Woods John Hindmarsh trail.

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THE EYES OF THE FOREST WERE UPON US

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THE TRAIL MAINTENANCE CREW HAS SPREAD SOME GRAVEL ALONG THE TRAIL

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HERE THE TRAIL PASSES BY A NEARBY FIELD

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Arriving back home I shoveled some slush around and came into the house to see Kelly busy packing things up to be loaded into the Motorhome.  That was my first indication that 'yes' we just might be heading out Saturday morning.  Without questioning anything I immediately busied myself gathering things together and despite the cold rain we both worked away at getting the rig loaded for departure Friday morning.

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WE WERE SURPRISED TO COME ACROSS THIS NICE LITTLE POND

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Needless to say we are paying very close attention to weather reports at the moment.  Some weather sites have warnings while others are still predicting good weather.  It's a real crap shoot but now that Kelly and I are on the same page we may even be heading out as early as Friday morning.  Because of weather warnings I am pushing for an early Friday departure to get us as far south as we can before a big cold front sweeps in from the North possibly bringing some very unsettled weather.  If we don't get out of here by the end of the week we will be caught in another deep freeze which no doubt will be packing a lot of snow again.  I do not want to have to get up on a ladder and clean the top of the Motorhome off a second time.

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I’M SURE THERE IS A NAME FOR THIS BRIGHT ORANGE FUNGI BUT I DON’T KNOW WHAT IT IS

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NO THIS IS NOT A FOREST PYTHON, JUST A BIG BIRCH TREE ROOT

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WE’RE STILL FOLLOWING THE WHITE TRAIL MARKERS SO I GUESS WE ARE NOT LOST YET

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SURE ARE A LOT OF BOARDWALKS ON THIS TRAIL

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ANOTHER BIG TREE TIPPED OVER

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I DO SEE A KIND OF OWL FACE HERE SOMEHOW >>>>>

Many trips out to the Motorhome and back in a cold drizzly rain but no matter, at least we finally had a positive goal in mind and our weeks and weeks of waffling back and forth were finally and thankfully at an end.  Well, at least as of today they are.  Tomorrow??  Who knows.  And with multiple buckets of water I did manage to get the salty sides of the rig and all four wheels sloshed off.  Yes I know the coach will likely be all salted up again before we reach warmer temperatures but at least it gave me a psychological lift to get the majority of sand and salt off before we leave.

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TREE FUNGUS OF SOME TYPE REMINDS ME OF A HORSE’S HOOF

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THOSE GRAY FLUFFY THINGS ARE SOME KIND OF DEAD PLANT

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LOTS OF INTERESTING TREE ROOTS ALONG THE WAY

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KIND OF A BLUE-GREEN LICHEN ON THE THIS BIRCH TREE

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As any couple knows, agreeably coming together on decisions is not always the smoothest of endeavors but Kelly and I have been lucky over the years in usually being on the same page at the same time and any decisions we make are always jointly made.  However with neither one of us being stubbornly dominate or unreasonable we sometimes waffle back and forth trying to accommodate the other's feelings.  And so it has been with our RV plans for heading south.  Because of some circumstances being out of our control it was definitely a challenge for us to both turn that page at the same time this year.

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AND I STILL THINK WE WERE BEING FOLLOWED

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16 comments:

  1. That would be a shelf or a bracket fungi, Al.

    Glad you two are getting out of there. You will be so glad you made the effort! :)

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  2. So happy for you guys and for us. We got the go ahead to travel today and will be making the exact same plan to head as far south as fast as we can. We will be leaving earl Wednesday. Whoop whoop! Happy trails to us!!

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  3. Way to go guys, grab the good weather and head on out, keep going south until it is good then make a right turn for the southwest. Onward and upward.

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  4. We'll be watching closely hoping you get away. I've enjoyed your pictures of that trail.. The fungus you thought looks like a horses hoof is in fact the Hoof Fungus.

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  5. I hope it works out for your departure on Friday! Love the trees!

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  6. I know how you feel about being on the same page with Kelly. Hopefully, Dolly and I are on the same page, but reading different books.

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  7. I keep forgetting to tell you how much I love the header picture. So happy you are getting ready to hit the road. Be Safe

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  8. Your watching forest spirit is wonderful!!! Love all the forest pics. I wish every trail had the trees identified like that. How exciting to be loaded up and ready for a quick exit before the next storm.

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  9. Excellent, now that you've started the rest will be easy and before you know it you'll turning the nose of the Big E southward and finding some much warmer weather.

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  10. Our fingers toes and what ever else are crossed in hopes that you get away on Friday, heading south quickly and then west. Safe travels.

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  11. I laughed out loud when I read your sentence about being able to tell the difference now between a Cardinal and an Ostrich. You are one clever guy! :-) Love the faces in the woods too.

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  12. That looks like a great place to go for a walk! Katie (the sheltie-girl) and I love our walks in the woods.

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  13. Al the key to your relationship with Kelly is really summed up in your sentence, "However with neither one of us being stubbornly dominate or unreasonable." Those are great words. Looks like a weather window has opened up for your departure.

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  14. Yes! That travel window is open weather wise for the next few days; perhaps you'll encounter rain but hopefully be far enough south to miss any snow/ice around Christmas! Be safe...

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  15. Good idea, Buckaroos..Get the Heck outta Dodge while you still can!!!!! Yeeeeee Haw!!!!!

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  16. Lovely that you captured in this section, hope the travel with wood experience is great.

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