SOAKED UP SOME SUN, LISTENED TO SOME TUNES AND JUST ENJOYED OUR QUIET DAY

IT’S DAD’S CHAIR AND YOU ARE NOT SITTING HERE PHEEBS!!

How nice waking up to a sunny new day in another new area.  More territory to explore on our morning walks.  Works for me every time.  Now, if we could just get our early morning temperatures bumped up a bit from freezing to a least warm by 6 a.m.

AJO’S DOWNTOWN PLAZA CENTER >>>

Had us a rather peaceful calm morning going so figured it might a fine time to have a go at setting up our Shaw Direct satellite system again.  It is always of prime importance that I have myself in a relaxed state of mind before tackling any of this technical or mechanical stuff.  Probably took me the best part of 10 minutes to level up our Mickey Mouse tripod system and about 20 seconds to find the ‘bird.’  Now that we have all the new start up software problems out of the way we just have to secure ourselves a good tripod.  We will deal with that when we get to the Ranch in another week.  Will probably take your suggestion for the heavier tripod Don up there in that Manitoba place:))

ROCKS, DIRT, AND A CHEAP TRIPOD ARE NOT THE WAY TO SET UP A SATELLITE DISH!!

Didn’t take me long to get our two solar panels up this morning and we were soon sucking up lots of solar energy again.  Solar is a great way to go if you can do it.

PICKED UP A PRICKLY PASSENGER WITH THE MOTOR HOME >>>

Kelly spent the afternoon working on our Ipod music libraries.  Our distant neighbor’s dog Lady came over to the see the Pheebs this morning and the two of them had a blast again.  Soaked up a bunch of sun in my lounge chair listening to soothing ambient music this afternoon.   Later on, Pheebs and I had ourselves a big desert walk through the Saguaros, Ocotillo, Cholla and Palo Verde trees.  And that was about it for our relaxing Sunday on the Darby Wells Road west of Ajo, Arizona.

I LIKE THE GREEN BARK OF THE PALO VERDE TREES 

Noticed today we have 3 New Blog Followers. The Bayfield Bunch welcomes TERRY SARTER, GLENN, and GLEN'S GALLERIES. Thanks for dropping by folks……. Had a question about linking to new blog followers. If the blog follower has a blog or website I capitalize their link name and it appears in color. (blue) If I can’t find a web or blog site for a blog follower I still capitalize their name but their name will appear in the same yellow text color.

<<< THE YOUNG ORGAN PIPE CACTUS LOWER LEFT AND THE YOUNG SAGUARO CACTUS RIGHT OF CENTER ARE BEGINNING THEIR LONG LIVES TOGETHER

Question in our Shout Box about our Verizon Internet hook-up.  We use a Mifi Verizon modem and have a 10 Gig plan.  I like this set up because we can be traveling down the road and still be on the internet.  The rechargeable modem is small, compact, and flatter than a deck of cards.  It can provide wireless service to nearly half a dozen computers.  With our 2 laptops on board we are on-line pretty well all the time and just about everywhere we go these days we can pick up a Verizon signal.  When we were in this Ajo area back in 08/09 it was an internet dead zone and we had to go sit outside the few known hotspots around town to download our email.  When we return home to Ontario in the Spring we put our Verizon internet on ‘vacation’ for the summer and ‘activate’ it again before we leave for the southwest in the fall.  Works great and it’s not complicated.

SPOTTED THIS LONE CAR IN THE DESERT ON OUR CABEZA PRIETA DRIVE LAST WEEK SO STOPPED TO CHECK IT OUT…SIGN ON DASH SAID, 'DO NOT STEAL-BROKEN ROTOR’

No matter which way you slice it, cold rainy days stuck in an RV are no fun. Mud tracked in, heater going full blast, condensation on all the windows, small space and repetitive same old, same old TV channels, etc. Maybe a good time to catch up on some reading or computer stuff but that’s about it. Doesn’t take long to get bored and what a great feeling it is to finally see that big old Sun finally breaking through the clouds again releasing you from your rectangular metal and fiberglass holding tank.

<<< CAN YOU SEE THE FLYING ‘GARGOYLE’ IN THIS PHOTO?  KELLY SPOTTED IT IN AJO

It is the complete change of landscape that attracts me to the Southwest.  There is nothing here in the areas we stay or travel that is even remotely the same as our landscape back home in southern Ontario.  It is like living on two different planets and it is that complete change in environment that I particularly enjoy.

 NO, THIS IS NOT A TREE, IT’S A SAGUARO CACTUS SKELETON >>>

Just as I look forward to seeing the mountains and deserts of the southwest in the fall, I do look forward to seeing all the trees and greenery when we arrive back home in Bayfield.

 

<<< A BARREL CACTUS AT THE FOOT OF AN OCOTILLO PLANT

Having never been to the southwest in the summer I have a feeling it would be far too hot for me just as the winters in Canada are far too cold.  But, I sure would like to see the southwest in the summer some time when the green leaves are on the trees and flowers are in bloom.  Would love to see the green grasses and blooming shrubs.  Would like to experience the Monsoons in Arizona and see the dry washes roaring with water.  Would enjoy the challenge of photographing lightning in the stormy skies as it flashes across distant valleys and mountain tops.  Would love to see all the cactus blooms.  Maybe someday we will get a chance to experience all that.  I hope so.

NO, THIS IS NOT A NATURAL MOUNTAIN BUT IT IS A MAN MADE MOUNTAIN OF ROCKS AND EARTH TAKEN OUT OF THE HUGE OPEN PIT MINE IN AJO OVER THE YEARS

And a little bird just landed in a nearby Palo Verde tree and told me RV SUE AND HER CANINE CREW might just be headed for Ajo about the middle of this week:))

<<< AND, I WILL LET YOU PUT YOUR OWN CAPTION ON THIS ONE:))

GROANER’S CORNER:((

Ricky, Jimmy, and Stewy were on the bus home from elementary school, when a fire engine zoomed past their bus with blaring sirens.
The three kids noticed a Dalmatian dog on the front seat of the fire engine. Ricky said, "They use that dog to keep crowds back."
"No," said Jimmy, "he's just for good luck."
But Stewy knew better, "No, the dog's job is to find the nearest fire hydrant."

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