A PROBABLE & LOGICAL ANSWER TO OUR UFO SIGHTING…AND WE HAD A VISITOR TODAY:))

SUNRISE AT OUR CAMPSITE THIS MORNING

By golly if we didn’t have to crack on some heat in the night then keep it going on & off till the sun was up.  These desert night’s can become mighty frosty indeed.  Computer said we were at 38F.  We were happy to feel the warmth of old Sols rays when he finally lumbered up & over some tall rock formations just east of us.

Couple things about our Unidentified Flying Object sighting Friday night over the Salton Sea.  Have seen lots of meteorites over the years & this is not what we saw.  No it was not the Moon or any Planets.  Nor was it any of Earth’s orbiting satellites including the International Space Station.  Have seen those & know what they look like.  Yes there is the possibility of some kind of advanced military aircraft.  Nobody knows for sure just what the American Air Force is working on at any given time or what they are flying in the Nations skies.  Because we couldn’t positively identify it the term UFO applies to our sighting. (Unidentified Flying Object)  Thanks to mgypsy97 for the MUFON website.  Mufon means, ‘Mutual Unidentified Flying Object Network’.  I will definitely fill out a Mufon ‘report a sighting’ form & submit it.

UPDATE: I wrote the above paragraph Sunday morning……then we received an email & a possible explanation to our UFO sighting.  One of our faithful blog readers Daniel writes from California….Hi Al, What you saw, what many of us in California saw was a launch of the Atlas V rocket from Vandenberg.  (The Atlas V is the largest rocket launch on the west coast.)  The bluish cone was the last of the sun's rays reflecting off the exhaust spray.  As I watched it from Santa Barbara I thought, "I should have emailed the Bayfield Bunch to be on the lookout."I have seen three of these when I lived in  Phoenix.  I'll email you when the next launch goes off.  Atlas V Launches NROL-35 Out Of Vandenberg…..Atlas V Rocket With Top Secret Satellite Payload.  Al here again…..I’ve seen video footage of rocket launches & the plumes of light emitted from the engines & stage separations & I would say that is probably what we did indeed see.  The timing was right as was the rockets position in the sky from where we saw it.  Daaaarrrrrnnnnn, & here after 70 years I had thought for sure I had seen my very first UFO which technically I did of course but it just wasn’t what I had hoped it to be.  But no matter I will keep looking up because I know they’re out there & for sure we are not along in this Universe……….  

 

Had ourselves a nice walk up to the entrance of the 660,000 acre KOFA NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE this morning.   Upon our return to the rig Pheebs & I hiked up a tall hill near where we’re parked & it wasn’t the first time I had been to the top of that particular hill.  In 2010 we were parked in this same area with the original Bayfield Bunch gang Max, Checkers, & Cora. (Motormouse)  Looking back in my blog archives I see it was a Wednesday afternoon on February 10th when I hiked up that same hill with our beloved pure bred Boarder Collie Checkers.  Checks was always up for a good hike & I thought of her this morning as I stood atop that hill with Pheebe.  The very same spot I had once stood with Checkers nearly 5 years ago.

 

THIS HILL TO THE LEFT THAT PHEEBS & WALKED UP THIS MORNING IS THE SAME HILL I WALKED UP WITH CHECKERS NEARLY 5 YEARS AGO

THIS IS CHECKERS & I HEADING UP THAT HILL IN FEBRUARY OF 2010

AND THIS IS PHEEBS & I ATOP THE SAME HILL TODAY

 

THE PILE OF STONES ATOP THE HILL

PHEEBS IS LOOKING DOWN AT KELLY STANDING BESIDE THE RIG’S DRIVERS DOOR

  

I PLACE A STONE IN MEMORY OF CHECKERS & NOW CALL THIS ‘CHECKERS HILL’

YOU CAN SEE WHAT I MEAN WHEN I SAY WE ARE ALL ALONE OUT HERE

Nice to have our coach’s power system working properly again.  With our re-installed & repaired inverter all plugs are live & functioning, batteries are charging normally, & all our solar & inverters monitors are once again providing all the correct information.  It’s been a long stressful time from the night in Williston North Dakota in early October we first noticed we had some kind of big inverter problem.  Total repairs came in at over $500 but with 2 new boards in the inverter now it should be like new & yes there is a 90 day warranty on both boards.  Don, our good friend & long time blog reader from Brandon Manitoba wondered if the same gravel road that smashed up our Jeep’s lights in southern Saskatchewan could have damaged our inverter but no our inverter is totally sealed in a bin with no outside access unless the bin door is unlocked & opened.

 

Someone mentioned about pop-ads appearing on my Blogsite.  When I click it I don’t see anything.  ED wrote: “Firefox with AdBlock Plus does not show any pop up ads on Al's blog nor do I get any on other blogs. I do get some on other websites, not blogs, but not nearly as many as without AdBlock Plus.

QUARTZSITE AZ LIES JUST UP THAT VALLEY TO THE RIGHT OF THOSE MOUNTAINS

Reader BobM in a comment asks, “any plans to get Pheebs a little brother or sister”?  No, no active plans but that’s not saying we wouldn’t consider it if circumstances led us down that path.  I can assure you having one dog is much easier than having 3 dogs like we originally had when we started out on our RV Snow Bird lifestyle.

PHEEBS STARTS BACK DOWN THE HILL

Jim & Rene from live. work. dream. just traded in their 7 year old Arctic Fox 5th wheel for a new one.  For any of you satellite ‘do-it-yourselfers’ out here you might want to read Jim’s latest post on transferring and re-installing their large satellite dish.  Also his previous informative post on the do’s & don’ts of trading RV’s also serves as another good read for newbies as well as seasoned travelers as well.  We have met Jim & Renee several times over the years in our travels.

 

<<< PHEEBS HAS GROWN A WEE BIT LONG FOR HER BED

As luck would have it we’re camped only about 10 miles from Ivan (Roadtrip 2014).  Of course we didn’t know that till Ivan mentioned in a comment where he was.  Dashed him off an email this morning giving him our location & sure enough Ivan rolled up to our campsite a couple hours later.  Last time we had seen him was January 2012 when Kelly & I had joined Ivan & Wandering Willy boondocked just west of Bouse for a few days.  It was good to see Ivan today.  Being a bit familiar with this Kofa Mountain area now we know where there is some nice hiking & points of interest.  Asked Ivan if he was interested in seeing a couple spots nearby & of course he was.  Kelly held down the Fort while Ivan, Pheebs, & I headed off in the Jeep to check out some water holes in the mountains called ‘Tanks’.  Ivan was anxious to try out his recently purchased new GoPro camera.

 

IVAN SHOWS US SOME GOPRO FOOTAGE THAT HAILEY TOOK WITH THE GOPRO CAMERA ATTACHED TO HER

IVAN HANGS ON AS WE MAKE OUR WAY ALONG A ROUGH & TUMBLE JEEP ROAD THROUGH THE DESERT

Of course the Jeep road was pretty choppy in spots but 20 minutes after leaving the rig we arrived at Horseshoe Tank.  This is a an area Kelly & I & Pheebs scouted out the last time we were boondocked here in the Kofas last winter.  We hiked up to the first water tank (water hole) & just far enough further for me to point out a higher tank.  

ARRIVING AT THE HORSESHOE WATER TANK (WATER HOLE)

IVAN CHECKS OUT A CRITTER CAM I POINTED OUT TO HIM…CAN YOU SEE IT??

STOPPING TO SECURE HIS GOPRO CAM ON THE END OF A POLE

HI-HO HI-HO IT’S OFF TO THE NEXT CANYON WE GO

From the Horseshoe Tank we Jeeped a quarter mile over to our second hike where we were able to check out a shallow cave with nearly a dozen Morteros (Indian seed grinding holes)  From there we followed a wash through some gnarly brambles in spots to a second set of waterholes that Kelly & I had been to last winter.  I have forgotten the name of this water hole.  Really, really, nice spot.  I was happy to see this area again for the second time & Ivan of course was happy to see it for the first time.  All & all we had a great couple hours & it was especially nice for me to have something to do instead of just idly sitting around all afternoon doing about the square root of nothing.  Ivan’s a Corner Gas fan as well so we had ourselves some good laughs remembering different episodes of the show.  Ivan & Brent Butt the leading character, writer, & producer on Corner Gas come from the same home town & Ivan actually met Brett one time.  Cool:))

ARRIVING AT THE SECOND TANK

 

REFLECTIONS IN A WATER HOLE

IVAN (REFLECTED IN THE POOL) TAKING A PICTURE OF ME TAKING A PICTURE OF HIM >>>

Sun was beginning to set in the west by the time we got back to the rig.  Chatted for awhile & as the Sun sank lower so did the temperature & it was time for Ivan to head back to his rig & the Hailey cat.  It was great to see Ivan today & who knows if & when we will ever cross paths again.  It is the way of the RV lifestyle.

IT WAS TIME TO HEAD BACK TO THE JEEP

A FINAL CHAT

AND IVAN DRIVES OFF INTO THE SUNSET

 <<< ANOTHER GOOD DAY FOR THE BUNCH:))

GROANER’S CORNER:(( My friend's husband is always telling her that housekeeping would be a snap if only she would organize her time better. Recently he had a chance to put his theory into practice while his wife was away.
When I popped in one evening to see how he was managing, he crowed, "I made a cake, frosted it, washed the kitchen windows, cleaned all the cupboards, scrubbed the kitchen floor, walls and ceiling and even had a bath."
I was about to concede that perhaps he was a better manager than his wife, when he added sheepishly, "When I was making the chocolate frosting, I forgot to turn off the mixer before taking the beaters out of the bowl, so I had no choice but to do all the rest."