EVEN WITH TEMPERATURES HOOVERING JUST ABOVE FREEZING IT WAS STILL GOOD TO BE OUTSIDE GETTING A FEW THINGS DONE

ORVILLE YOU JUST GET ON HOME NOW AND NEVER MIND CHATTING UP THE GIRLS ON THE BEACH!!

Maybe not the warmest of days but with temperatures a couple degrees above freezing, an occasional splash of pale sunlight and no wind I figured it would be fine for getting a few things done outside………..and it was. 

CREEKS AND RIVERS ARE RUNNING BUT THIS SHALLOW POND IN THE SHADOW OF A FOREST STILL HAS ICE ON IT’S SURFACE

SOME MELTING AROUND THE EDGES

When I unloaded my Wednesday photos from the camera I have my telephoto lens on I found some photos I had forgot about.  I took the Pronghorn photos the evening before and the mountain photos the morning we left Arizona’s  Las Cienegas National Conservation Area just a little over a week ago.  Below are those photos.

PRONGHORN ANTELOPE

SANTA RITA MOUNTAINS

Dressed warm this morning I wasn't long in getting a lawn rake into my hands and started raking up the front yard for a bit.  Interspersed that with the leaf blower and cleaned off and began setting up our front porch.  With the Jeep I hauled the utility trailer out of the carport and parked it in it's outside summer spot.  Again with the leaf blower I blew all the leaves and pine needs out of our carport and got things squared away in there.  Next came the Jeep's interior and boy what a mess that was as I kicked the vacuum cleaner into overdrive.  The whole Jeeps finally looking good again both inside and out.  Somewhere in those morning activities I managed to wash the dishes as well.

AFTER ALL THAT SOUTHWEST DUSTY DESERT DRIVING THE JEEP SURE WAS IN NEED OF A BIG CLEAN-UP

Kelly's Pontiac Sunfire hadn't been on the road since late last October so she took it for a run to Goderich and caught herself up on a bunch of favorite stores she hadn't been in for nearly 5 months.  Things are finally settling back into place for us as we slowly familiarize ourselves with our good old 'back home' routines.

SOON THE ICE IN THIS POND WILL BE REPLACED BY HAPPY CROAKING FROGS SITTING ON BIG GREEN LILY PADS

It was about noon when I finally packed in my outside activities and came inside to fry me up some chicken soup and boil me a couple hot dogs.  Washed that all down with a big overflowing bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios.  When it comes to eatin real good I knows how to do er:))

Comfortably crashed in my cushy recliner with soothing ambient music on the stereo and a few warming rays of sunlight on our carpeted living room floor in front of me I basked in the fact we had made it home safely a few days ago.  The long arduous trek home from the southwest each year always seems to be the toughest and least enjoyable part of our whole winter away and takes way more out of us than our journey in the Fall going the other way.  When heading for the southwest the hardest part of the trip is right at the beginning with all the big cities and heavy traffic east of the Mississippi.  Once out onto the Plaines west of the Mississippi big cities are fewer and father between.  Traffic greatly diminishes and the whole journey becomes much more pleasant.  Coming home each year the opposite is true and I think that has a lot to do with it.  I can't even begin to imagine the stress involved for fellow RV Snow Birds traveling that busy city to city I-75 corridor between here and Florida.  Crazy!!

So what are our plans for the upcoming summer??  Well, the same plans we have every summer I guess which is, no plans.  We're not much for traveling in the heat and humidity of summer and being a peak traveling time with crowded highways and campgrounds we are quite content to stay put right here in our laid back country community location on the cooling shores of beautiful Lake Huron.  No traffic chaos, no big megalopolis cities, not even a traffic light in Bayfield.  Sandy beaches, snug harbors, sailboats, and gorgeous Lake Huron sunsets are only about a mile from where we live.  Quiet country drives or walks are at our doorstep with an abundance of birds wherever we go.  Horses, cows, Mennonite buggies, wild turkeys and deer in the surrounding forests. Relaxing country roads border a patchwork quilt of colorful farm fields in a true rural setting for as far as the eye can see at times.  And nearby quaint artsy little towns.  Yes indeed it sure is good to be home.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A woman goes into an antique shop and says to the owner, "When I was in here last week I saw a big mug with a flat head that holds a lot of beer. I'd like to buy it."
"Sorry," replied the owner, "but I can't sell you that."  "Why not?" asked the customer.
"Because that's my husband."

------------------------

The teacher was describing the dolphin and its habits. And, children, "she said impressively, "a single dolphin will have two thousand offspring."
"Goodness!" gasped a little girl in the back row. "And how about married ones?"

---------------------

Men are like a pack of Cards:
A "heart" to love them
A "diamond" to marry them
A "club" to smack them and
A "spade" to bury the body...