SAW A GREAT MOVIE IN SIERRA VISTA ARIZONA TODAY AND WE’RE ABOUT READY TO ROLL ON

BACKGROUNDED BY THE HUACHUCA MOUNTAINS SUNDAY NIGHT LIGHTS ARE BEGINNING TO COME ON IN SIERRA VISTA ARIZONA

Can’t remember the last time I saw one of my favorite constellations in the star studded night sky but early this morning to the East I saw the large Scorpion, ‘Scorpius’.  Moonlight had hidden it up till now but with the Moon in it’s waning crescent stage Scorpius was clearly visible.  How nice to see one of my old Pals in the night sky again.

SOUTH-EASTERN ARIZONA WHERE WE ARE IS CALLED THE HIGH DESERT REGION AND WE LIKE THE GRASSLANDS HERE

No further problems or discomfort with my legs so whatever that was that happened early Saturday morning I have no idea.  It just happened and that was that.  With our black tank gurgling we’ve decided to head out in the morning and dump our tanks behind the Valero Gas Station on the Northwest main corner of highways 90 and 92 in Sierra Vista.  Kind of an unlikely location for an RV dump station but there it is nevertheless.

TOOK THIS MORNING PHOTO OF A VERY SOPHISTICATED SURVEILLANCE BALLOON TETHERED TO THE GROUND VIA CABLE HIGH OVER TOP SIERRA VISTA

With our gray and black tanks filling up and and our fresh water tank going down we will soon have to decide when to pull up stakes here east of Sierra Vista and head on further west.  Will we move to a new location northwest of Sierra Vista or move ourselves on over somewhere west of Tucson.  I don’t know how we ever arrive at these destination decisions but somehow we do.  Well I guess I shouldn’t say that.  Weather is probably one of our main decision makers so we do check a week’s weather ahead of whatever direction we’re going.  Anything above 75F or below 60 isn’t going to interest us much so we do have a rather narrow window of  comfortable destinations.  For example, right now the Yuma area is too hot to be sitting or hiking around out in the desert for us.

ON OUR WAY TO THE MOVIES KELLY OPENS THE GATE TO THE REST OF THE WORLD

Hung around the rig a little longer than we usually do this morning.  The movie ‘Darkest Hour’ we wanted to see didn’t start till 12:35.  Years ago we preferred going to movies at night but now going to movies in the morning works much better for us.  Oh how times have a habit of changing.

PICKED UP A NEW DOGGY BRUSH AT ‘PET VALU’ TODAY AND PHEEBS LOVES IT

SHE’S ALMOST ASLEEP SITTING UP

<<< WHAT A LITTLE TWEETY PIE SHE IS

Have to say right up front what a great movie ‘Darkest Hour’ was.  I could find no fault in this movie at all.  Yes it does stray from historical fact at times but the acting, casting, production and everything else involved with this movie is top rate.  I liked how the director transitioned between scenes and the casting likenesses to the actual people of the era was also well done.  Being the skeptical critic I am it is not often I can walk out of a movie theater thinking to myself, ‘now that was a great movie’ but that is exactly thought of ‘Darkest Hour’.  Two thumbs up for the movie and I think actor Gary Oldman should get an Oscar for his portrayal of Winston Churchill:))

THAT’S KELLY IN WHITE AT THE RIGHT BUYING THE TICKETS

THIS FOOD COURT ADJOINS THE MOVIE THEATER

THERE’S KELLY BUYING UP A BIG PAIL FULL OF POPCORN

SURE DO LOVE THE BIG MOVIE THEATER EXPERIENCE

UPDATE:: With our black tank gurgling we’ve decided to head out in the morning, dump the tanks behind the Valero Gas Station on the Northwest main corner of highways 90 and 92.  Kind of an unlikely location for an RV dump station but there it is nevertheless.  Keep in mind if you don’t hear from us tomorrow night it just means we’ve probably landed somewhere with poor Verizon reception and we’re working on the problem.

REMEMBER THAT SURVEILLANCE BALLOON I HAD A PHOTO OF EARLIER, WELL THAT’S IT IN THE TOP RIGHT OF THIS SUNSET PHOTO

MUSTANG MOUNTAINS ON THE LEFT AND WHETSTONE MOUNTAINS ON THE RIGHT

SOUTH END OF THE WHETSTONE MOUNTAINS

GROANER’S CORNER:((  An elderly man lay dying in his bed.   In death's agony, he suddenly smelled the aroma of his favorite chocolate chip cookies wafting up the stairs. He gathered his remaining strength, and lifted himself from the bed.   Leaning against the wall, he slowly made his way out of the bedroom, and with even greater effort forced himself down the stairs, gripping the railing with both hands, he crawled down the stairs.   With labored breath, he leaned against the door-frame, gazing into the kitchen. Were it not for death's agony, he would have thought himself already in heaven: there, spread out upon waxed paper on the kitchen table were literally hundreds of his favorite chocolate chip cookies.   Was it heaven? Or was it one final act of heroic love from his devoted wife, seeing to it that he left this world a happy man?   Mustering one great final effort, he threw himself toward the table, landing on his knees in a rumpled posture. His parched lips parted: the wondrous taste of the cookie was already in his mouth, seemingly bringing him back to life.  The aged and withered hand trembled on its way to a cookie at the edge of the table, when it was suddenly smacked with a spatula by his wife.   "Stay out of the cookies," she said, "they're for the funeral."

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A MORNING DRIVE LEADS ALL THREE OF US BACK THROUGH BISBEE AND A STOP FOR PIZZA

A WINTER’S NIGHT OVER SIERRA VISTA ARIZONA

For us it was another great weather day.  Not too hot and not too cold.  A light breeze, lots of sunshine, and upper 60’s.  Maybe we’ll just stay in this area for the rest of the winter.  We know where a few other great boon docking sites are.  Not impossible but not likely we’ll do that,  But who knows…….

Once we both no longer had to work anymore years ago we switched from being all day people to becoming half day people.  Anything we need, want, or have to do we prefer to do in the mornings.  We are both early risers and we are at our energized best for the first 5 or 6 hours of each day.  Today was an example of that.  Up around 5:30 or 6 and out the door sometime between 8 and 9.  Morning walk out of the way we were into the Jeep for a buzz around the neighborhood to see what we could see.  Curious about a 6.6 acre property for sale we first tracked that down.  What a wreck it was so we got out of there right quick.  Owners of that trashed house and property would have to pay somebody to buy the place.  No, we’re not looking to purchase another house and property but we have always been interested in looking at real estate for sale over the years.   From there we had no particular place to so we did what we do best.  We went sight seeing.  Headed straight south as far as we could could go then turned east.  We were only about a mile north of the Mexican border as we headed in the direction of Bisbee.

HEADING EAST ACROSS THE SAN PEDRO RIVER NEAR MEXICO ON HIGHWAY 92

THAT IS NACO PEAK IN MEXICO AND I THINK THE BORDER WALL RUNS ALONG SOMEWHERE THE OTHER SIDE OF THOSE DARK TREES

My favorite Safeway store from our ranch sitting days is located southwest of Bisbee just north of Naco so we stopped in to buy a few things while I walked around checking off some old memories.  I had always liked the type of lighting they used in their produce department and was sorry to see that all gone now and the usual standard blaze of neon lights has replaced the cool looking produce department.

THIS USED TO BE MY FAVORITE SECTION OF THE STORE AND THEY RUINED IT WITH NEON TUBE LIGHTING

AND JUST KIDDY-CORNER TO SAFEWAY WAS ONE OF OUR FAVORITE HOT DOG PLACES

Again we were in very familiar territory as we rolled into Bisbee’s south end and drove up old Erie Street where all the old vehicles are parked in a section of town called Lowell years ago.  Lowell is frozen in time and I had never seen so many old vehicles on Erie Street in all the years we came here to eat at the Bisbee Breakfast Club (The BBC)  Now you would have thought we would have stopped in for sure but this morning we rolled on by.  By the number of cars out front we could see the place was packed so headed right on by and into Bisbee.

I REMEMBER MEETING DIANNE AND HARRY MERO FROM OUR HOME TOWN OF BAYFIELD  ONTARIO AND THEIR DOG SPORT HERE IN THIS PARKING LOT A FEW YEARS BACK…..THEY WERE IN THE AREA AND TOOK US TO THE BBC FOR BREAKFAST….BOTH DIANNE AND SPORT DIED THIS PAST SUMMER

COMING INTO BISBEE THE RV PARK UP BY THE MINE REMINDED US OF FORMER RV BLOGGERS LAURIE AND ODELL

BISBEE IS CHOCKED FULL OF COLORFUL CHARACTERS AND TO SEE SOME OF THEM CHECK OUT MY ‘BISBEE PHOTO ALBUM’ ON MY SIDE BAR

WE CRUISED ON BY THE BISBEE COFFEE COMPANY

PHEEBS AND I WERE JUST ON THIS STREET FRIDAY MORNING BUT COMING THE OTHER WAY

Kept the Jeep wheels rolling all the way right through Bisbee.  Kelly wasn’t up to browsing around in a few of her favorite stores so we headed directly to Bisbee’s northerly end where we pulled into the High Desert Market and Cafe.  This is another favorite place of ours and with the warmer temperatures and sunshine we decided to get a pizza and sit outside on the patio.  Dogs allowed too so Pheebs joined us for lunch instead of having to stay in the car.  Being an integral part of the family we always like to have Pheebs at the table with us.  She’s just as much a part of our family as we are.  We keep a dish of diet doggy treats on the table and instead of food scraps she gets maybe 3 doggy treats.  We like her there and she likes to be there sitting on the floor between us.  We’re a happy little family that likes to eat together:))

HERE WE ARE TUCKED IN AT THE HIGH DESERT CAFE

PHEEBS WAS SURE HAPPY TO BE OUTSIDE WITH US ON THE PATIO

THEY ALWAYS HAVE THE NICEST FLOWER BOXES ON THEIR WINDOWS

ACROSS THE ROAD IS BISBEE’S COURTHOUSE WHICH IS THE COUNTY SEAT FOR ALL OF COCHISE COUNTY

A BRONZ STATUE BETWEEN THE HIGH DESERT CAFE AND THE COURTHOUSE

OUR PIZZA ARRIVES AS WELL AS A BREAKFAST BURRITO WHICH WE TOOK HOME FOR SUPPER

YEP THERE SHE IS IN HER USUAL SPOT RIGHT BESIDE US

AND WE WERE JOINED FOR LUNCH BY A FEW FEATHERED FRIENDS WHO I WAS ABLE TO LEAVE SOME CRUMBS UNDER THE TABLE FOR WHEN WE LEFT

KELLY CAREFULLY DIVIDES A PIECE OF KEY LIME PIE

ALTHOUGH I DON’T REMEMBER SEEING A BUS IN BISBEE HERE IS A NICE BUS STOP NEAR THE COURTHOUSE

THIS SCULPTED ARTWORK IS IN THE PROCESS OF BEING PAINTED

IT APPEARS THERE MAY BE A FEW BISBEE PIRATES OUT AND ABOUT AS WELL

From Bisbee we were back to the rig in less thaN 20 minutes and it wasn’t quite 1 o’clock yet.  Afternoon was spent relaxing doing whatever we felt like doing, if anything at all.  I generally like to edit my morning photos and get a head start on my blog in the afternoons.  A very typically enjoyable day in the life and times of the Bayfield Bunch.

FROM THE HIGH DESERT CAFE WE HEADED NORTH UP TOMBSTONE CANYON PAST THE BISBEE FIRE HALL

ONE OF BISBEE’S BIG ATTRACTIONS IS THE ARTSY USE OF BOLD COLORS AND BOTH KELLY AND I LOVE THAT

HEADING NORTH ON HIGHWAY 80 THROUGH THE BISBEE TUNNEL

AND YES WE ARE STAYING IN A GATED COMMUNITY OF JUST ONE HOUSE AND US

A LATE AFTERNOON LOUNGE OUTSIDE IN THE NICE WARM AIR

SOME OF US LIKE TO LOUNGE AROUND MORE THAN OTHERS AND OCCASIONALLY TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL:))

All and all our journey has gone well so far with only a few minor repair things on our Motorhome.  The great weather started back in Van Horne Texas a couple weeks ago and has been fine ever since.  On the slightly downside though we have both been bothered by an overall tiredness and today for the first time in about 3 years I actually laid down flat on our fold out couch and fell asleep.  I normally sleep in my recliner.  And this morning I had an odd first time ever thing happen to both my legs when I stepped out with Pheebs.  Both legs immediately lost strength at the same time causing me to stagger around in a circle before luckily collapsing onto our rig’s steps instead of the ground.  Rested there for a bit wondering what had just happened then got up and came inside.  Leg strength came back and I was Okay for the day but I notice on any of our walks I don’t go very far and my legs begin to feel very heavy and that tires me and I’ve also noticed my legs haven’t been walking me right either.  Hard to explain but I know I’m not walking like I used to.  Just one of those gol darn inevitable aging things I guess………………….

JUST A STARRY PATCH OF NIGHT SKY OVER SOUTHEASTERN ARIZONA TAKEN AT 30 SECONDS AND 300MM

GROANER’S CORNER:))  'Excuse me,' a young fellow said to an older man, 'I've just moved here and I wonder if this town has any criminal lawyers?'  Well,' replied the older man, 'I have lived here all my life and all I can tell you is we are pretty sure we do, but no one has been able to prove it yet.'

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A supermodel orders a pizza and the waiter asks if he should cut it into six or twelve pieces. She says, "Six, please. I could never eat twelve pieces."

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