Tuesday, July 10, 2018

OUR TRAVEL TALKS ARE BACK ON AND WE HAVE BOTH FINALLY AGREED ON A DESTINATION THIS WINTER:))

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YES PHEEBS AND I SURE DO ENJOY OUR RURAL COUNTRY ROADS AROUND HERE ALIGHT:))

Without any significantly good rainfalls for a long time now things are drying up.  Some of our lush green ferns have already turned brown and died.  Several of our ground covers are wilted and shrinking up, various leafy plants are droopy, and green lawn grasses are also turning brown and brittle.  No sign of any positive rain in the near future and our days are heating up again.  Our pine forest is very dry and a tinderbox.

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LOOKS LIKE HURON COUNTIES WHEAT HARVEST IS BEGINNING

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I LIKE WHEN FARMERS GET AWAY FROM THEIR RECTANGLE FIELDS AND THROW A FEW CURVES IN

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BEEN NOTICING A LOT OF WHEAT FIELDS THIS YEAR

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THIS FARMER IS CUTTING GRASS FOR HAY

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AND I WOULD SAY THIS FARMER IS A DEDICATED ALLIS-CHALMERS GUY

With a coffee in hand from Bayfield’s Shop Bike Coffee Roasters and a new box of Graham Crackers from Foodland stashed safely away under my drivers seat Pheebs and I were off out into the countryside.  Our travels took us down around the small town of Zurich this morning.

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CORN’S UP ABOUT FOUR FEET

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LOOKING WEST ACROSS A BEAN FIELD

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LOOKING EAST ACROSS ANOTHER BEAN FIELD

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JUST LOOKING

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WON’T BE LONG AND THESE AREA CORN STALKS WILL BE SIX AND SEVEN FEET TALL

It was a nice sunny Tuesday morning with a refreshing breeze in off the lake.  Thought we’d take a chance on another forest walk so headed for the Klopp Tract east of Zurich.  With each day getting warmer I wasn’t sure if the Deer Flies and Mosquitoes were back in the air again or not.

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THERE ARE ALWAYS A VARIETY OFFLOWERS IN BLOOM AT THIS COMMUNITY REST AREA ALONGSIDE THE ROAD

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Parked the Jeep and slipped into the coolness of the forest and noticed the pleasant absence of flying insects right away.  Bonus.  Well it was not long lived and our presence was soon detected by a waiting armada of Mosquitoes.  No Deer flies just mosquitoes.  We could have turned and headed back to the Jeep but decided to to do the whole loop trail anyway.  So with arms swinging like windmill blades in a Typhoon we forged ahead at a brisk clip.  Didn’t take many photos because every time we stopped I got swarmed.  But here’s the upside of our trek through the woods.  Walking as fast as I did it was the best possible exercise for my aging arthritic legs and I was glad we decided to go all way around the loop trail.

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ALWAYS NICE TO FIND A BIT OF SHADE TO PARK IN ON THESE HOT SUNNY DAYS

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EVERY TIME I SLOWED DOWN ENOUGH TO SNAP A PHOTO THE MOSQUITOES GOT ME

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MOSSY SHADOWS

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THE BLUE DOTS ARE DAPPLES OF SKYLIGHT PEEKING DOWN THROUGH THE TALL THICK LEAF CANOPY OVERHEAD

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NORMALLY THERE WOULD BE WATER IN THIS SWAMPY AREA BUT NOT THIS YEAR

DSC_8634<<< ANOTHER HOBBIT HOUSE IN THE FOREST

Heat and humidity were building so with windows down and the A/C keeping us cool we wandered a half dozen more country roads on our long round about way home.  Just so nice to be out and about in the freedom of our wide open rural countryside here in southwestern Ontario.  So many back road opportunities to go to so many varied places.  We are definitely in the right area for the things we like to do.

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SPOTTED THIS FAMILY ENJOYING THEIR MORNING ABOUT HALF A MILE EAST OF OUR PARK AT THE WINDMILL LAKE WAKE AND ECO PARK

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Well I had a very pleasant uplifting surprise later in the morning today.  Kelly her very self brought up the subject of this upcoming winter’s travels and I was so glad to hear we had finally landed on the same page.   Oh how nice it was to feel that early twinge of excitement stirring again and that little bit of hitch itch to go right along with it.  How nice to get all that indecision behind us finally.  Been awhile since I’ve felt that.  I have already written numerous times about our same old-same old south-west destinations and although we have not given up on them we have decided to first head for an area we have often talked about, an area we have never been before and where many other RV’ers have travelled and loved it.  We realistically understand we may very well be down to our last few remaining RV years.  We agreed if we don’t make the effort this Autumn to head for the Great American Northwest we are likely never going to see it.  Our aging Motorhome is still in good shape and despite a few medical issues with the occupants we’re not in too bad a shape ourselves, considering.  Yes that could turn on a dime but we’re basing our plans on how we feel right now and hope to feel for the foreseeable future.  We hope to finally dip our toes and paws into the Pacific Ocean somewhere in Oregon.  Now I caution, these 2018-19 travel plans could flip upside down at any time between now and then but if it all holds together we could be looking at a departure date sometime in September to take advantage of the better weather in the northwest States before winter sets in out there.  From the northwest we will probably flip around down through the southwest to many of our old favorite spots before pointing the nose for home possibly for the last time.  If all goes well and we still have a couple dollars left then next year at this time we may very well plan an Autumn trip out to Canada’s east coast.  But wait a minute, I had better not get too far ahead of myself.  First things first…….now where’s my dusty old Atlas for the Northwestern United States…………………….

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GROANER'S CORNER:((  This joke may be a bit dated but it's cute and here it is anyway……………….

What If Dr. Seuss was a Technical Writer? Here's an easy game to play.  Here's an easy thing to say:

If a packet hits a pocket on a socket on a port, and the bus is interrupted as a very last resort, and the address of the memory makes your floppy disk abort, then the socket packet pocket has an error to report!

If your cursor finds a menu item followed by a dash, and the double-clicking icon puts your window in the trash, and your data is corrupted 'cause the index doesn't hash, then your situation's hopeless, and your system's gonna crash!

You can't say this?  What a shame sir!  We'll find you another game sir.

If the label on the cable on the table at your house, says the network is connected to the button on your mouse, but your packets want to tunnel on another protocol, that's repeatedly rejected by the printer down the hall.

And your screen is all distorted by the side effects of gauss so your icons in the window are as wavy as a souse, then you may as well reboot and go out with a bang, 'cause as sure as I'm a poet, the sucker's gonna hang!

When the copy of your floppy's getting sloppy on the disk, and the microcode instructions cause unnecessary risk, then you have to flash your memory and you'll want to RAM your ROM. Quickly turn off the computer and be sure to tell your Mom!

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19 comments:

  1. I worked in Richland Washington for several years. Snow comes early in the passes out there. When I quit work and left on October 7, 2007 I headed south into Oregon on the interstate and just cleared the first pass in Oregon when they closed it due to heavy snow. It is a wondrous area for sure. The Columbia Gorge is important to see. Many places to camp along the Columbia River. I loved it. I think you may new a couple more cards for your camera with all the pictures you will be taking every day.

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  2. Nice to be tossing around some new travel ideas again.! 😁

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  3. I always enjoy reading about your travel plans. I love the planning part & used my Allsrays app on the IPad to look at various Walmarts & campgrounds before we left for the East Coast. Saving to go West next. Plan on bring the trailer over to Point Farms Provincial Park in Sept. Want to check out that flea market you showed here. Great photos as usual, especially the daisy.

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  4. Kelly and you will have fun planning and traveling again.Did you mean to close the shout box?

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  5. October in Oregon is almost close to perfect. Mo and I have camped at Harris Beach in November, December, and even January. The coast is different that late in the winter, and we head south by mid January, only this year we are barreling right through the desert and heading straight for the spring runs of Northern Florida. I do hope you make it here before we head out, however, would love to give you a place to rest your weary bones for a bit.

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  6. Maybe we'll see you in Oregon. We plan to spend some time there in late October.

    www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

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  7. We are finishing our tour of coastal Oregon. So, in addition to your "dusty old Atlas for the Northwestern United States", you can read our recent posts at
    https://merika-merika.blogspot.com

    At the moment, Oregon and Ontario share several characteristics:
    1. their initial letter
    2. their latitude, and
    3. a growing drought. Hopefully this one will be over in both places by the time you come.

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  8. I'll be interested to hear about your travels through the Northwest in fall. I'm looking at our ideas for 2019 travel. I am thinking about going East in early summer (with a stop in South Dakota to do our required 5 year renewal of our Drivers Licenses) and spending August in the UP and around Lake Superior, then heading West either in Canada or the northmost parts of the US, with comming South thru the Northwest in very late fall. But first we will enjoy our 2018 summer! Dreamers never stop looking at road maps, do we?

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  9. Nice to hear plans are in the works. Utah sure has some beautiful areas to see.

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  10. That is awesome news Al! So glad you both are feeling well enough to go again, I was getting concerned for awhile there. Great pics as always. xxx

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  11. A ferry ride from Anacortes WA to Friday's Harbor and back. An hour or so boating through the San Juan Islands to Friday's Harbor ... is my recommendation.

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    1. Amen to Steve's comments, tho if it's a nice day you might want to wait and get off the ferry on Orcas Island, stay overnight (or more) on Orcas, then head back to Anacortes. As well, Deception Pass State Park on the northern end of Whidbey Island is gorgeous, open until November 1, with stunning sunsets a walk away at West Beach, and great views of Deception Pass (and the bridge). I live in Tacoma, WA, was raised hereabouts, and would be more than happy to share more info, and/or to offer a helping hand if you need it if you come to Washington. Just say the word. :-)

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  12. Nice that you have a plan in the works, that is also a trip we are wanting to enjoy as well, looking forward to riding along on your journey

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  13. The Pacific Northwest is very nice. Hubby and I made it up to Medford, Oregon a few years ago, and also saw Mt. Lassen. He had never been to Oregon before. I had a cousin who grew up outside of Roseburg and another one up in Washington that I used to visit fairly often growing up. We would like to do that, too, at some point...drive up the coast of California, then Oregon and Washington.

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  14. Another beautiful hike through the forest. Loved the photos. Dolly and I lived in Grants Pass, Oregon back in the early 80's. Southern Oregon along the coast is beautiful and comfortable year around. It would be fun to drive from there all the way to Southern California along the coastline.

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  15. Last year we spent about a month and a half slowly making our way from north (Astoria) to South Brookings) on the coast of Oregon. And we fell in love!We've been warned it's rainy most of the time, but we hit perfect weather. There are casinos and turnoffs right on 101 to boondock in,and the state parks are awesome. Verizon doesn't always work. You would love taking lighthouse pictures. Stop at Tillamook and load up on cheese. Enjoy!!

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  16. You were very brave to take on the mosquitoes.

    Happy for you that you have a date and a destination. Time to get on with the planning. Soon you will be loading. You only have just over 2 months till D Day.

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  17. Fall in the PNW should be beautiful with more to see than several lifetimes.

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