BLINDSIDED IN THE NIGHT BY A FAILED TECHNO CABLE COMPANY SWITCH!!!!

TO-DAYS PHOTOS ARE JUST A SMATTERING OF WHATEVER I COULD FIND HERE.  HAVE ALREADY MOVED THE EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE TO THE RIG

We didn't get off to a good start this morning!!  When I fired up the laptop it wouldn't connect & when Kelly booted up the desktop about half an hour later it wouldn't connect either.  Everything had been fine when I shut the computer down last night so we knew something was up.

HEY WASUUUP:))

Two weeks ago we had received a letter informing us that our cable company, Bluewater Cable in Goderich, would be changing it's name to Eastlink because it had been bought out by another cable company in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  We were not happy about that because Bluewater had been an excellent local company & a change to a larger out of Province company was going to mean not only change, but probable trouble ahead.  Well, that trouble started this morning!!

THIS WAS OUR MESS TO-DAY AS WE UNPLUGGED THIS & THAT TRYING TO GET OURSELVES BACK ON-LINE AGAIN.  LITTLE DID WE KNOW THAT THOUSANDS OF OTHER FOLKS WERE  DOING THE SAME THING THIS MORNING!! (Click on photos to enlarge them)

Kelly phoned Bluewater's customer service first thing expecting to speak with someone in Goderich but ended up with a young techie kid in Halifax.  Well, at least he spoke English & lived in North America.  The kid in Halifax didn't have a clue & tried to put our computer woes on our own equipment!!  The day just continued to deteriorate from there.  Unbeknownst to us, the change over from the Bluewater company to the Eastlink company had begun in the night, not gone well, & the whole cable system had crashed effecting thousands & thousands of people this morning.  Kelly dropped into the Goderich Bluewater office to-day & said people were lined up for 17 city blocks with baseball bats, pitchforks, 2x4's:))

DESERT MOONLIGHT BLOGGING WHILE BOONDOCKING NEAR AJO, ARIZONA

We were off-line until early afternoon & when the connection was finally established we had no Outlook Express & the internet connection itself was not reacting as it should.  Laptop still wouldn't connect etc.  Now, if I had been here by myself I would not have had the patience or know how to trouble shoot this complicated problem.  I would have had to have a techie come to the house & the kid in Halifax told us nobody was going anywhere until Friday.  I think he must have been figuring on the tech driving from Halifax Nova Scotia to Bayfield Ontario or something!!!!

KELLY ON THE LAPTOP IN OUR PREVIOUS ROCKWOOD 5TH WHEEL TRAILER......2007

Well, to make a long frustrating story short.....it was our very own in house computer guru, 'Kelly the Bulldog' to the rescue.  She bit into that computer problem connection mess like a gator into a big fat juicy T-bone steak.  She was on the phone for half an hour with question after question for some wilting techie on the other end.  After that call this afternoon I think the poor guy probably quit his job & signed up for a local basket weaving course in his own home town.  I should mention here that our particular situation was compounded by the fact we have to use a router because of our two computers so we kind of had double the trouble of other folks only running one computer.......if any of that makes any sense of course.

 GRABBING SOME RAYS AT PANCHO VILLA STATE PARK IN COLUMBUS, NEW MEXICO....DEC. 06

It was determined that the port numbers in our router were no longer valid with the new company & had to be changed.  The cable company said that wasn't their problem & too bad about our luck!!  Well, that didn't deter the Bulldog!!  Kelly right away got herself on the internet to a router forum searching for more answers & solutions.  She made a physical change to the back of the router with a paper clip, changed D-Links settings to default, searched for the IP address & started from scratch resetting the router.  She not only got the desktop's Outlook Express back in operation again but then tackled the laptop & unscrambled it's totally confused brains as well.  I won't even mention anything as to where my brains were by this time. 

You know, if it wasn't for Kelly I'd probably be living under a shrub somewhere with a rotary phone & a pencil!!

AND THIS IS WHY WE ARE RUNNING AWAY AGAIN THIS YEAR!!!!!!!  (April 09)

GROANER'S CORNER:((  And did you know that dust is just mud with the juice squeezed out of it.

FACEBOOK READERS GO HERE TO SEE OUR ACTUAL BLOGGER WEBSITE WITH PHOTOS & MORE:))  http://thebayfieldbunch.com/ 

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS  http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now....AL.

BOONDOCKING IN THE AJO HIGHLANDS.....2008

DOESN'T GET MUCH BETTER THAN THIS:))

A bit late sitting down at the old keyboard to-night but I did manage to throw a few photos to-gether of a favorite boondocking spot we camped at back in late February of 08. It's just west of Ajo, Arizona in the AJO HIGHLANDS in a place commonly referred to as the Darby Wells Road area.

HOME IS WHEREVER THE RIG IS PARKED:))

Anybody who follows our blog knows we are boondocking folks who avoid RV Parks wherever possible. I've blathered on quite a bit about our dislike of crowded parks in the past so won't re-hash myself here & get all the RV Park folks chasing me around with big sticks again. MY IDEA OF BOONDOCKING

To-day's boondocking photos show what we consider to be just about the perfect setting for people like us who prefer the peace & tranquility of Mother Nature. Only sounds are the coyotes, Gila woodpeckers, a few ravens, & the desert wind. No security lights, trailer lights, or headlights, only the beautiful light of the moon in a clear star studded night sky. Nothing moving past your rig except for the odd rabbit or roadrunner. No big flat sided fiberglass RV's 10 feet away, just endless miles of Saguaro cactus, Cholas, Ocotillos, majestic rock formations, & mountain ranges on all sides for as far as the eye can see. I'll bet this is all sounding pretty boring to a lot of folks out there & the question arises, "what do you do all day?" My answer to that is, "why do we have to do anything!!" We are totally immersed in domestic stuff for 6 months of the year when we are at home in Canada & we consider it a great privilege to step right out of that world once we get down to our desert home in the southwest. And that home is wherever our rig is parked & the quieter the place we can park it the better!! EVERY DAY A CAMPFIRE, EVERY NIGHT A DAY'S MEMORIES

We don't do the same thing day after day though. We do day trips with the car, pop into the nearest town for groceries, & spend large amounts of time relaxing around our rig. If you give it a chance, that relaxing stuff really grows on you. Always a morning hike though. I'm not a television person so couldn't care less if we had a TV or not, except for the news. Nightime is when I enjoy putting the day's blog to-gether. It's a favorite time of mine. Another favorite time is reading. While in Canada I never read a thing but the boondocking lifestyle for me totally lends itself to settling down in a comfy reclining lawn chair in the shade of the rigs awning with a good book. No interruptions, no honking horns, no blaring television, no neighbor's stereos or screaming kids, dirt bikes, ATV's, no social stress & no pesky neighbors. JUST THE WIND, THE THOUGHTS, THE PLANS, THE DREAMS, & THE MEMORIES WAITING FOR THE DESERT MOONRISE

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A diplomat is someone who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that you will look forward to the trip.

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/
The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.

OUR FRIENDS .....THE MnMnM's:))

STILL AT IT

The motorhome clean-up continued this morning & I finished the sides, wheels, & got all the glass cleaned inside & out. I should mention that the photo of the rig's interior a couple days ago was taken with a 28mm wide angle lens. That's a popular lens for photographing small interiors & is commonly used by real estate companies for inside house pictures. Also works well in small RV interiors but it does give the appearance of interiors being larger than they actually are. The human eye sees around 55mm so there is a bit of optical discrepency when using a wide angle lens. Roadtrek had an ad in one of our RV mags a few weeks ago showing the interior of their Class B van. You would have thought you were looking at the inside a Greyhound bus. They must have used an even wider lens than 28mm I think............So, that interior picture of our motorhome actually appears larger than what it really is. Just wanted to clear that up up after Kelly made the comment yesterday, "wow, wouldn't it be nice if our motorhome was really as big as it looks in that picture." DOUBLE PLEASURE......LAP TOP DOG & LAP TOP COMPUTER ALL ON THE SAME LAP:))

All the RV snowbirds we met these past few winters are back home now just as we are but our fulltiming friends are still out there enjoying the great RV outdoors life. I am so envious as I read their emails or follow their blogs & pictures. We first met Mike, Maureen, & Molly (MnMnM) in Cannonville Utah back in November 2008. http://adventureswithmnm.blogspot.com/ We had been unsuccesful in finding a boondocking spot that day so decided as a last resort to check into a $KOA$ campground. Another rig had just pulled in ahead of us & we were the only 2 RV's in the whole park. Turns out they were fellow Canadians from London Ontario which is only an hour's drive from Bayfield where we live. They were Mike & Maureen, fulltiming with their sweet dog Molly. Over the next few months we met up with them again near Zion Canyon, Kanab, & the north rim of the Grand Canyon. Also boondocked near each other in the Ajo Heights just west of Ajo, Arizona.

CANNONVILLE UTAH KOA.....WE ARE MIDDLE LEFT & THE MnMnM'S ARE MIDDLE CENTER

BOONDOCKING WEST OF AJO, ARIZONA.....MnMnM'S ON LEFT & WE ARE ON THE RIGHT

MAUREEN & MIKE AT OUR AJO HEIGHTS DARBY WELLS SITE

They spent the winter hunkered down on Vancouver Island with some snowy days & are presently in beautiful southern B.C. heading east. Molly, their beloved dog has not been well lately so our thoughts are with our friends...........MnMnM.

To-morrow I will head over to Deerpark Lodge & work on some of the spring clean-up there again. Been having problems with energy levels so we'll see how it goes. Wonder if that vitamin pills stuff works or is that just another big scam too........................

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

OUR LAST NIGHT AT HICKIWAN TRAILS:((

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 23/08

The big wind gusts finally subsided about 10 o'clock last night & when I took Max out this morning about 5 a.m. I was happy to see the great summer Scorpion riding high in the sky. In other words, the clouds were gone & the sky was once again full of stars & constellations. Scorpios being one of those summer constellations. The full moon which had been shrouded in clouds the night before had already lost it's perfectly round shape as it slipped over the mountain range to the west.

Our doggy walk was short again because Max still has a bit of a limp. I was sure glad the winds were gone as I climbed atop the rig to put the solar panels down for traveling. As the morning sun cast it's warming rays over the desert & mountains around me I couldn't help but think back over the past 5 years & whisper a quiet.............thank-you.

We had the big wheels rolling by 9:30 & as I wheeled the motorhome slowly out across the narrow & bumpy desert road I was saddened to be leaving a spot that had added so many pleasant memories to the lives of The Bayfield Bunch. I am always melancholy whenever we leave a favorite site because I know we may never pass that way again.
We stopped about a quarter mile down the road to say good-bye to our Canadian friends, Maureen, Mike, & their dog Molly. They are staying on in the area until the first week of March before moving on to Borrego Springs in California. Hope to meet you guys again out here sometime, somewhere. Take care M&M&M:))

When we reached the highway from Darby Wells road I turned right heading for Hickiwan Trails while Kelly, driving the car, turned left into Ajo for groceries, etc. I stopped for gas & propane in Why. Gas came to $185 & that's the first gas stop since leaving Quartzsite one month ago to-day. That tank should take us well over to the other side of New Mexico. Loaded up some propane then went into the little Cafe where the waiter wears a 6 shooter & loaded myself up on a big mess of bacon & eggs.

Rolled into Hickiwan Trails about 11:20 & pulled into the same spot we had been about 3 weeks ago. I had forgot that they were having their 8th anniversary of the park's opening. Ray had things swinging with a live Indian band set up right in front of the office. The Indian ladies were cooking up a storm in the wooden Palapha & RV people were lined up for tamales, burritos, tacos & Indian fry bread. The weather was perfect for a gathering & I'm sure lots of new RV friendships were made to-day. Luckily, I was able to get a bunch of pictures of the festive event for the Hickiwan computer files.......OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

We caught up on our laundry, vacuumed, filled the fresh water tank, etc. Always nice to have electricity & shore water hooked up after being out in the desert for awhile. I didn't bother to set up our satellite dish to-day because I figured we would just use the Wifi here. But, until Ray gets a final part for the bigger antennae, the speeds are slow & the distance is short. I may not get the blog or web album pictures uploaded for a day or two. Depends where & when we stop to-morrow night.

It will be a sad morning when we leave our little Hickiwan Trails for the last time Sunday but with a bit of luck we hope to pass this way again next November. There is no place like the beautiful & majestic American southwest & we'll miss our morning desert walks here:))

(I'll try uploading this now without pictures. The pictures I can add later when we have a better connection speed)

FOUND OUR PERFECT RV SITE AT LAST

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 14/08

Our recently warm weather has gone into the dumper as we woke up to a cold windy morning. Never even made it out for our walk. Max is still staying off his left ankle so it was a good morning for him to stay on the couch. Had problems uploading the web album photos this morning & we seemed to have some internet connection problems so we spent most of the morning trouble shooting.

We had planned on moving to a new RV site west of Ajo in a couple of days but after being at Mike & Maureen's last night on the Darby Hills road, we decided to pack up & move to-day. It's just too beautiful there to miss another day. Drove the 3 miles over to Hickiwan Trails, dumped our holding tanks, & topped up the fresh water tank & water jugs. Stopped in the office to help Ray with a few things on the computer & then we were on the road heading for Ajo. Arrived in the Darby Wells BLM land area about 2 p.m. Had looked at a site the previous night that was totally secluded so that's where we headed for & luckily no one was there when we rolled in. This is by far, the nicest RV site in the nicest area we have ever been at. Photos can't even begin to do it justice. We are sooooooo happy to be here & cannot believe our good fortune at finding such a superb site. Our friend's Mike & Maureen are our closest neighbors & they are out of sight about a quarter mile away. I will probably wear my camera out over the next couple of weeks taking so many pictures. OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy We just can't believe our luck:)) No chance of some yakky doodle RV club moving in right next door either. So many new areas to explore, trails to hike, & rocks to scramble on. Nobody around us but birds & coyotes. I am so looking forward to total peace & quiet in the lap of Mother Nature herself. At last.........we may have found our winter home for years to come:)))))) Hmmmm, can you detect the excitement in the usually un-excitable guy...............................................

RE-UNITING WITH SOME OLD RV FRIENDS

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 3/08
Woke up to a beautiful fiery sunrise this morning & because of the partial cloud cover it wasn't as cold as it usually is. Our daily morning desert walk took us through another area we hadn't been before. With every walk, the desert reveals a little more of herself each day. This morning we came across the largest Saguaro we've ever seen. We call him, El Pancho. Kelly also found a huge nest of some kind in a Mesquite tree. http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy

We will probably be leaving Hickiwan Trails sometime this coming week so later this morning we took a drive up to Ajo & out around to the west on Darby Wells road. We are scouting out some new areas for boondocking. This is BLM land & it's a beautiful area with an abundance of organ pipe & Saguaro cactus. Big jagged rock croppings jut out of the desert floor making for a beautiful landscape. We first drove through this area last year & we checked it out again when we were here nearly 2 months ago. Have a look at the pictures in our web album for December 7/07. http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy

While in Ajo we picked up some groceries & then went over to visit a couple of fellow RV'ers we had first met way back in Cannonville, Utah on November 15/07. Maureen & Mike are from London, Ontario & travel full time in their 33' Cardinal 5th wheel. Nicest 5th wheel interior I've seen so far. M & M are in Ajo for a week before moving on to California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia & then back home to London in April. We had quite an RV chin wag & caught up on travel adventures. Slipped out to a little restaurant called Marcela's for some burgs & fries. Nice to see them & they are going to drop in to have a look at Hickiwan Trails this week on their way to the scenic drive in Organ Pipe Cactus National Park.

The wind really picked up late in the afternoon & as I'm typing this the motorhome is rocking to the big Arizona wind gusts again. Must be something going on just up the road because a helicopter has been hovering & circling in the darkness & we can see the flashing lights of police cars & border patrol vehicles on the road. Probably some folks slipping through the desert I suspect.............................