RESCUED FROM THE WINTER BLAHS BY A BIG BRIGHT SUNNY DAY:))

With increasing cold and snowy weather upon us as of late I have found it harder to get myself out the door each morning and if it were not for Pheebs chances are I might not even get out of my pajamas.  I've done better this winter than I thought I would but these cold gray days are steadily taking their toll.  With snow falling from an overhead gray sky and a thermometer reading of 12F Pheebs and I again ventured out onto hardpacked snowy roads.  With a wind chill factor of +1F not even Pheebs wanted her window down.

OVERLOOKING LAKE HURON ON A COLD WINTER'S DAY

ICE IS BEGINNING TO FORM ON THE LAKE AGAIN

WINTER PLAYGROUNDS PATIENTLY AWAIT SUMMER'S LITTLE PEOPLE

Needing apples and bananas we slowly made our way to Goderich and while there I'll be darned if the Sun didn't pop out which of course made for a really scenic snowy landscape.  Had not the skies cleared making way for glorious sunshine I would not have ended up with any photos today.  Way too cold to get out of the Jeep so we just drove around and enjoyed the morning from our mobile toasty warm heater on wheels.  

A LOAD OF BIG BOULDERS ARRIVE FOR GODERICH'S SHORELINE RESTORATION

SOME NICE HOMES ATOP THE BLUFFS OVERLOOKING LAKE HURON

THIS WATER PIPE IN THE HARBOR RUNS SEVEN DAYS A WEEK THREE HUNDRED AND SIXTY FIVE DAYS A YEAR

Home shortly after 10 I basked in the day's warm feeling good sunshine from inside our cozy sunroom.  Despite the frigid cold Old Sol's rays were strong enough to start some melting.
Noticed winds had died down so on with my warm hat, coat, and boots and off Pheebs and I went this afternoon walking through the new fallen snow around the Pine Tree trail.  Clear blue skies overhead and not a cloud did I see.  Sun was so bright on the new sparkling snow it was almost blinding.  Not a sound in the forest as we made our way along.  Pheebs bounds through the snow like a little Jackrabbit.  She loves that cold white fluffy stuff.  Needless to say today's sunshine was again a very welcome shot in the arm as recent cold gray winter days had been closing in on me.  I don't know what our shaky medical future holds for us but if there is any way at all to avoid sitting here through another gray and bleak miserably cold winter we're going to take it and we've got from now to next October to figure out how we can do it and where we can go.  And I hope it somehow involves an RV again.

ANIMAL TRACKS IN THE SNOW

THESE ARE PHEEBER TRACKS AND BY GOLLY THERE'S THE PHEEBS HER VERY SELF WAY UP THERE WAITING FOR ME TO CATCH UP

MID AFTERNOON SNOW SHADOWS

JUST CAUGHT THE TAIL FEATHERS OF A PINK FLAMINGO FLYING BY......OR WAS IT JUST A LENS FLARE FROM THE SUN

GIVES NEW MEANING TO THE SONS OF THE PIONEERS SONG 'BLUE SHADOWS ON THE TRAIL'

STANDING ALONGSIDE MY FAVORITE YOUNGE MAPLE TREE IN THE FOREST 

Some folks may wonder if we now regret selling our big 37' Motorhome last summer and the simple answer to that is, 'no we do not'.  I really enjoyed driving the two big Class A's we had over the years but after getting back from Canada's east coast nearly a year and half ago the writing was on the wall for both of us.  All the winding twisty roads through Maine & Vermont about did me in.  Beautiful scenery but we were just too big to pull over and stop anywhere a lot of times.  Same thing had just happened to us on Cape Breton's Cabot Trail about a week earlier.  Enough was enough and we knew if we hoped to continue our travels we were going to have to simplify by going smaller.  We wanted a smaller rig we could use for scooting around on short 3 or 4 day trips in our own area during the time we spend at home here in Ontario and yet comfortable enough to maybe spend a month or two somewhere in the South during winter.  A rig Kelly would feel comfortable driving.  Something with half decent gas mileage for a change and easily serviceable by most any garage, etc.  A nice 23' 2010 Ford Class C Sunseeker in London popped up on Kelly's RV alert page yesterday but it's a tad out of our price range so we passed on it.  We figure come April there will be a lot more small used RV's to chose from and hopefully at better prices.  You folks in the U.S. are so fortunate in so many ways when it comes to buying either a new or used RV.  Lower pricing and availability come to mind not to mention all the rigs that have never been driven on salt infested roads.  For Canadians buying a rig in the States with our devalued dollar is simply way too cost prohibitive and not at all doable for us.

::An Archive post:: It was March 3rd 2011 when Kelly and I while boondocked near Borrego Springs California set out in our Jeep Wrangler to find Split Mountain and the Wind Caves somewhere in Anza-Borrego's State Park.  Split Mountain and The Wind Caves.  Remember to click on the smaller photos to enlarge them.

::Al's Musical Favs:: Le Singe Bleau (Song Blue) by Vangelus

GROANER'S CORNER:((  A father was reading Bible stories to his young son. He read, The man named Lot was warned to take his life and flee out of the city, but his wife looked back and was turned to salt.  His son asked, But what happened to the flea?

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- I've used up all my sick days, so I'm calling in dead.

- A hair raising experience sounds pretty good to a bald guy.

- Having rumpled clothing is a pressing issue, but I am sure that I can iron out a solution. ================