Tuesday, August 16, 2022

A NOSTALGIC LOOK BACK

 IT LOOKS LIKE THE LOCAL TUESDAY MORNING BOVINE BRUNCH GROUP IS ENJOYING THEMSELVES AGAIN
Not a cloud to be seen in this morning's clear blue sky as Pheebs and I walked our country road.  In the western sky hung a pale, hardly visible partial Moon well on its way to setting for another day.  Home again, I grabbed my tall stepladder, swede saw, clippers, and proceeded to cut off some magnolia tree branches which were interfering with our neighbor Monica's roof.  When those bigger branches move in the wind it messes with the shingles.  There is still one large unreachable branch left.  Might have to toss a stick of dynamite up at it.  
 IT'S THAT UNREACHABLE BRANCH OVER MY HEAD THAT IS MAINLY MESSING WITH THE SHINGLES ON THE ROOF
Stuck for something to write about again today I will leave you with a paragraph from a post I wrote last year at this time.  It's how I felt then and it is how I still feel today. ..... Especially in our RV years, the middle of August always marked a turning point.  It was at this early time I would begin counting down the days to our October departure for the great American Southwest.  Growing feelings of excitement and anticipation mixed with occasional bouts of apprehension would begin to stir.  It was a time to begin organizing things for our upcoming travels.  And the best part of it all was knowing that we were closing in on something we so much looked forward to each year.  In fact, it was one of the two big things we looked forward to each year.  Going south in the Fall and coming home in the Spring.  Scenery has always been the biggest travel motivation for me whether at home here or on the road traveling, and I guess that is why I always carry a camera with me.  For our RVing years, I marveled and loved how twice a year we could completely change our topographical landscape.  Just when I was getting bored with one landscape we would switch to a completely different landscape.  The landscapes of southwestern Ontario and the landscapes of southwestern Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, and California are so different with each one having it's own unique diverse beauty.  And, for me, therein lies the magic.  Being able to live in both places for half a year at a time was in my opinion, the best of both worlds.  Ontario's green forests, blue lakes, and rural farmlands for early Spring, Summer, and early Fall and the American Southwest's mountains and deserts for the winter months.  We always considered the southwest our second home.  So much so that we even bought a house in Arizona one time.  I loved working on my winter cactus gardens there for the nearly 5 years we had the house.  Just as I don't like living in Ontario through the winters I'm sure I wouldn't like living through the hot summers of the American southwest either.  And that was the key to traveling between the two areas each year.  Come the end of March in the southwest we were always more than ready to head home for the green forests and rural farmlands of Huron County alongside the clear and cool waters of Lake Huron.  And, from the time we arrived home, we always had something to look forward to again in the Fall.  And oh how I so much miss that now.....................

2008 ALL LOADED UP AND READY TO HEAD FOR THE SOUTHWEST
 AN OVERNIGHTER IN ELLIS KANSAS AFTER A BIG KANSAS CROSSWIND DESTROYED OUR RIG'S SIDE AWNING WESTBOUND ON I-70

I LOVE THESE SWEEPING VIEWS
 BOONDOCKED A FEW MILES WEST OF TOMBSTONE ARIZONA
 THE KIVA KOFFEE HOUSE EAST OF BRYCE CANYON, UTAH
NEAR YARNELL, ARIZONA
 BOONDOCKED IN CALIFORNIA WEST OF YUMA  AT A PLACE CALLED PILOT KNOB
 ZION CANYON, UTAH
THE TRAIL BOSS:))
 ROCK SCRAMBLING ALONGSIDE ONE OF OUR FAVORITE 4-WHEEL-DRIVE JEEP ROADS WEST OF CONGRESS, ARIZONA
'THE LOOP DRIVE' NEAR  ORGAN PIPE NATIONAL MONUMENT ALONG THE MEXICAN BORDER IN SOUTHERN ARIZONA
 VULTURE PEAK WEST OF WICKENBURG, ARIZONA
AT THE VERY NORTHERN EDGE OF THE SONORAN DESERT HALFWAY UP THE WEAVER MOUNTAINS
 OLD STAGE COACH ROAD NEAR OUR ARIZONA DIGS......ONE OF OUR FAVORITE MORNING DRIVES FOR PHEEBS AND I 
 THE OLD WEST IS STILL VERY MUCH ALIVE
 OUR DIGS IN CONGRESS ARIZONA
 I LOVED WORKING ON MY FRONT YARD CACTUS GARDEN AT OUR HOUSE IN YAVAPAI COUNTY
GROANER'S CORNER:((  A man was on trial for murder and if convicted, would get life imprisonment. His brother found out that an Irishman was on the jury and figured he would be the one to bribe. He told the Irishman that he would be paid £10,000 if he could convince the rest of the jury to reduce the charge to manslaughter.  The jury was out an entire week and returned with a verdict of manslaughter.  After the trial, the brother went to the Irish man's house, told him what a great job he had done, and paid him the £10,000.  The Irishman replied, "It wasn't easy to convince the rest of the jury to change the charge to manslaughter. They all wanted to let him off."

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11 comments:

  1. Thank you for your post tonight. I LOVED looking through those photos and remembering why I like the Southwest too. Great memories for you, Kelly, and Pheebs. It sucks when life throws unexpected curveballs. (baseball term). I am going be looking at these photos a few times tonight. Thanks for taking the time pulling the photos out of your archives, never an easy job.

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  2. Fun to see your travel pics - I think I remember most of those stops! It's been weird the last two years to have a winter base to return to. I mostly like having the travel and the return to look forward to, but I also miss just traveling fulltime.

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  3. Haven't traveled much in a long time, bit I consider my life much richer for what times I had. Seems you do too....and as you treasured all of it, that will stay with you as it does now. And mine do for me......So thanks for the photos. Those of today and back then!!

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  4. Your Southwest photos are always a view into my past. I love “going home”and vicariously reliving my life. the dust devils, the wonky armed saguaros and the blossoming ocotillos all against the red-gold sunsets. Now if you could work your camera magic into wafting the desert aroma of wet greasewood after a rain, that would be magnificent. Thanks for all that you saw and photographed.

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  5. Best photo tonight - the one of you and Miss Pheebs looking at each other.

    Like you, I treasure all of our travel memories, including 88,000 plus of motorhome traveling.

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  6. We used to travel to the United States two or three times a year, but became ever more uneasy about gun violence and the polarized political climate, and the Sandy Hook massacre was the nail in the coffin for us. We have not crossed the border since and I am quite sure we never will again. My favourite area was southeast Arizona, but given the political situation down there, with Trump sycophants being elected all over, I could not see using my money to fuel the tax base to support these fanatics. The USA is a country I barely recognize any more.

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  7. Absolutely stunning photos, Al. I say no more, except Thank You.

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  8. Really enjoyed those photos Al--Know exactly where you are in the one outside Tombstone--those concrete pillars are still there. We stayed there one time and the wind almost blew us away! Medical stuff will keep us in Montana this year until after Thanksgiving. :(

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  9. Thanks for taking such good care of Moms place You and Kelly are honestly the BEST neighbors she could ask for ❤️

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  10. Sure enjoyed a look-see at you guys and your rig and a peek at your winter stomping grounds from back when. I think all of us who are (or were) seasonal can relate to the feelings of anticipation and excitement of the upcoming change of scene. Thanks, it was a fun read!

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