AT LAST!!!! A TENTATIVE NEW DEPARTURE DATE:)))))))))

Kelly's daughter Sarah phoned from Vancouver today saying she will be flying with the twins to Toronto late this Friday afternoon.  Kelly’s youngest daughter Rebecca will be flying along as well and helping Sarah with her two energized non stop little Rag-a-Muffins.   From the Airport they will then travel to Cambridge where Kelly's other daughter and Sarah’s twin sister Sabra lives.  Kelly’s two sons Ben and Jason live in Cambridge as well.  Kelly plans to head over there Saturday and spend a couple days with the Munch Bunch.  I call them the Munch Bunch because 3 of Kelly kids once shared a house on Munch Avenue in Cambridge.  That's where our little Motormouse used to live before coming to Bayfield for Summer Holidays about 8 years ago.......and the little Mouse is still here:))

 
I STILL HAVE A FEW FROGS LEFT IN OUR PINE NEEDLE LADEN POND TO CATCH AND TRANSPORT TO THE BIGGER POND ACROSS THE ROAD
Sooooooooo, it is now looking like we just might have the big wheels rolling, at the very earliest, on Saturday November 5th or at the latest, Saturday November 12th.  Kelly would prefer to leave later in the week after the 12th but I don't like the idea of having to do either a Chicago or Indianapolis morning rush hour on a week day, depending on the route we take.  But, at least this long log jam of indecision has finally been broken and travel plans are once again moving forward.  It has been nearly a month since finding out and having to accept the fact we would not be out of here on our original target date of October 15th.  These past 3 to 4 weeks of not knowing when we were ever going to be able to leave have been totally gruelling.   Probably wouldn't mean much to most folks but when one is afflicted with this 'Hitch-Itch Traveling Fever' as bad as I am, it is absolutely grinding to just sit around every day waiting, waiting, waiting!!

I'm wondering if anyone is having problems accessing our Bayfield Bunch blog site.  Received an email a couple weeks ago from a reader saying he could not get onto our site.  Tuesday, a neighbour phoned from Florida saying she could not get the Bayfield Bunch site to load and today I just had another email from reader Lakeport AL saying he could not upload our site either.  If there is a problem, I have no idea what it could be or where to even start looking for a solution:((
 
ALWAYS NICE TO SEE BLUE JAYS AT OUR FEEDER 
Hard to find a person more devoted to the love, care and preservation of animals than Debra over at FIND AN OUTLET.   Having just lost one of her beloved pack members, Jessa in September she has just rescued her newest member, Jada.  Much of Debra's life center's around helping mistreated and poorly cared for animals in her area and my hat is off to her and anyone like her willing to take the time and make the sacrifices to help those poor unfortunate animals that are so inhumanely treated by so many humans.  Debra has repeatedly put her own safety in jeopardy in order to retrieve neglected animals from bad situations.
 
Nice feeling inside to know we will soon be on the road.  I will now re-haul out my Road Atlas’s and begin checking internet weather reports for all points west over the next couple weeks.  So great to be back in the trip planning mode again……..10-4:))

                                                                     HEY, WHO’S DAT SLEEPING ON DAD’S CHAIR >>>
GROANER’S CORNER:((  Two Irish guys are fishing. The first guy reels in his line and sees that he's snagged an old bottle. As he's taking it off the hook, a genie pops out and promises to grant him one wish. "Turn the lake into beer," he says. The genie goes "Poof!" and the lake turns into beer. He says to the other guy, "So what do you think?" The other guy says, "You jerk. Now we've got to pee in the boat."
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-Tourists see the world, travelers  experience it.
-Until one has loved an Animal, their  soul remains un-awakened.
BAYFIELD BUNCH PHOTO ALBUMS https://picasaweb.google.com/117858411710794543295
The only thing better than right now  will someday be the memories of
right  now...AL.

SHE WAS 101 YEARS OLD SO I HAD TO DRIVE CAREFULLY!!

STOPPED TO TAKE A FEW RURAL  PICS FOR TONIGHT'S BLOG ON MY WAY HOME TODAY

The mobility van job has kept me busy the past couple of days & I will be off again tomorrow morning.  Transported a 101 year old lady in a wheelchair today & that is the oldest person I have ever had in the van.  Had to be extra careful to avoid potholes in the road & made all my turns slow & wide. 

CORN ROWS WANDER OVER THE HILLS

The other retired 'full time' driver will be back from his month of holidays next week & that will pretty much spell the end of my hours for the rest of the summer.  Too bad because I've always liked the job but it's just the way it is!!

Chow time at our house is always a bit of a 3 ring doggy circus.  Checkers is on a medicated type of dog food & little Cora's food is a smaller kibble making it easier for her to chew.  The two big guys, Max & Checkers wolf down their food so fast it makes lightning look like slow motion.  Cora, aka Motormouse, is a slow eater & likes to have a drink of water with her kibble & this is where Kelly or I come into the food picture.  We have to rigorously defend Motor's food dish until she gets back from the water dish.  When she is eating, the big guys hover very close by like a couple of buzzards with their eyes zeroed in on the little Motor's food dish.   They are hoping she will leave some for whoever gets to her dish first when she walks away....... Yep, always a big 3 ring meal time circus alright. 

PLEASE DAD, DON'T LET THESE BIG GUYS GET MY SUPPER AGAIN.......

Only ever had one serious incident over food sharing though. Couple years ago while boondocking in Borrego Springs Kelly dropped a piece of chicken on the floor.  Both Checkers & the little Motormouse lunged for it.  That resulted in a very nasty scrap & by the time I got the two of them separated blood had been drawn on both sides.  We could tell they both felt really bad about the whole incident & we're not sure who apologized to who first but they have been their usual best pal selves ever since. 

HAD TO LAY FLAT ON MY BACK FOR THIS PHOTO & THAT'S MY RIGHT FOOT AT BOTTOM RIGHT

I was surprised to see we had two new 'Followers' today.  Things have been really slow in that department since returning from the west a few months ago so I really do appreciate both followers for climbing aboard the Bayfield Bunch travel blog.  A really big thank you to Karen & Jedsmom.  You gals know how to pick up a feller's spirits alright.  Hope the blog doesn't get too cranky for you sometimes.

FIELDS OF BEANS

My van travels on Wednesday took me through a little burg with the name of Molesworth.  Now, I don't really know how much a Mole is worth on today's market but I bet the few people living in Molesworth do.

WE ARE A MAINLY FLAT TYPE AGRICULTURAL LAND HERE

My travels today took me to the town of Winghan Ontario.  I was on the early side so rolled into Tim Horton's parking lot to set a spell.  Counted 19 cars lined up going through the drive-thru & I'm sure that daily morning line up was repeated hundreds & hundreds of times all over the area at every other Tim Horton's as well.  They sure do a booming business.

LOOKS LIKE ONE OF THE LOCAL REGULARS HEADING IN FOR HIS MORNING COFFEE AT TIM'S:))

SQUEAKING INTO THE DRIVE-THRU LINE..."MOVE OVER YA BIG BUNCH OF MOSSMAGATORS!!!!"

An email just came across my desk & maybe across yours too.  Haven't had a chance to read it all but I think the gist of it is having to do with RV Parks & RV Park reviews etc. Has something to do with iPhone access too. (I'm still on rotary dial 101) As you all know, we are not big RV Park people but I will include the link here if you want to have a look at it.   I'll take a second look at this later....RVparking Just figured all you RV Park folks might be interested.

GROANER'S CORNER  We are born naked, wet, and hungry.   And then we get slapped on the ass.  And then things get worse.

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Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

"UNTIL ONE HAS LOVED AN ANIMAL, PART OF THEIR SOUL REMAINS UNAWAKENED"

OUR BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

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

AL'S SMUG MUG PHOTO GALLERY http://stargeezer.smugmug.com/ (a work in progress)

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

SUNDAY....MY LEAST FAVORITE DAY OF THE WEEK

BLUE JAY

Even as a kid I always thought Sunday was the most boring day of the week & now here it is over 60 years later & my mind hasn't changed one little bit!!

PLEASE DAD, CAN I HAVE SOME MORE

Decided to set up a web cam today in the sun room & planned to stream some live video of our front yard birds.  Well, easier said than done of course & that was only one of the computer frustrations I wrestled with today.

                           

A FEW MEMBERS OF THE FRONT YARD GANG

Did battle trying to change the weather gadget on our blog from Douglas Arizona to Bayfield Canada today & of course that little task thwarted me at every turn.  Kelly later did it.  Rick & Paulette's blog didn't show up on our 'Blogs We Follow' this morning & we have not yet been able to restore the link.  Some days ya just can't win for losing.

While repositioning some birdfeeders this morning one of my knots 'failed' dropping the feeder to the ground & breaking it.  Birdseed all over the place but I did manage to sort of fix the feeder with duct tape, staples, & glue.  Did I mention it was Sunday!!!!

THE SMALL SLEDGE WAS MY LAST RESORT IF THE OTHER 3 FIXES DIDN'T WORK!!

And, keeping things positively on a negative note, here's something that might apply more to Snow birder's than Full timers but ever notice how when you get home in the spring friends & family say things like, "did you have a good trip, can't wait to hear all about it."  That last question is generally a mere formality on their part.  It has been our experience that friends & family here at home really don't give a hoot about our traveling exploits. 

HEY BAYFIELD BUNCH, HOW WAS YOUR TRIP....CAN'T WAIT TO HEAR ALL ABOUT IT

The only people who have a genuine interest are fellow RV folks & you people out here who read our daily blog sometimes.   If family & friends were really interested in our travels they would simply follow the blog, but they don't.  So, when someone says they want to hear all about our trip we have learned to just take that statement with a grain of salt.  Besides, how do you tell someone in 30 seconds or less what you have been seeing, doing, & thinking, for the past 5 or 6 months.  And 30 seconds is about all the time a person is really interested in listening after they ask the question......."hey, how was your trip, can't wait to hear all about it.   IMHO of course:))

GROANER'S CORNER:((   A realty salesman had just closed his first deal, only to discover that the piece of land he had sold was completely under water.

"That customer's going to come back here pretty mad," he said to his boss. "Should I give him his money back?"

"Money back?" roared the boss. "What kind of salesman are you? Get out there and sell him a houseboat."

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Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

OUR BLOGGER WEBSITE 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.

A FINE THANKSGIVING DINNER WITH A FINE BUNCH OF LOCAL FOLKS

 

BISBEE’S MULE MOUNTAINS COMMUNICATION TOWERS

We woke up to a slight cloud cover this morning & that meant some temperatures above 32F for a change.  My feet didn't freeze to the ground when I stepped out of the rig.  The cloud cover also signaled an incoming weather change.  The day started out calm as I relaxed in a lawn chair with my 10 o'clock coffee soaking up some warming rays & quiet serenity.  Minutes later I'm nearly upside down as the first wind gusts swept into the valley blowing swirling clouds of dust before them.  The rig's awning was bouncing & the flags were snapping as we scrambled to get the awning up & secured to the rig.  Just goes to show you can never leave your awning unattended in the southwest.  That wily old wind is always nearby tucked away in a canyon somewhere just waiting for you to head off to town & leave your lawn chairs out & your awning down.  I'm sure it finds great pleasure in swooping down, scattering tables & chairs & bending awning arms around like pretzels.  I swear someday's I can hear that mischievous old wind laughing as it goes blowing by with a load of somebody's laundry in it's clutches.  It's enough to blow the underwear right off a horse.

OUR CHILE LIGHTS IN A DRAGOON MOUNTAIN SUNSET

Noticed we had a new blog follower this morning & would like to welcome fellow Canadian Pat from Guelph Ontario & his blog, TRAVELS WITH LEFTY Welcome aboard neighbor:))

SAND HILL CRANES WINGING THEIR WAY HOME AT THE END OF THE DAY

Received an email from Marianne at, THE RV TRAVEL BLOG this morning.  Turns out they are also Canadian neighbors from Elora, Ontario & while checking out our outdated links site I came across these folks at FULL TIME RVING.  Both of the these sites are very informative & I would recommend you have a look at them.  I can see I am going to have to update & re-vamp our links section because I had totally forgotten about one of them & didn't have the other one linked at all.  While double-checking our blogger list I also came across DOWN THE ROAD FROM DOGPOUND'S latest post 3 weeks ago which I had totally missed in the flurry & fog of Bloggerville. I wonder how many other folks I have missed:((  I did finally catch up on our email correspondence with readers but also feel I've missed some of you so have decided to deal with each email right away from now on as soon as it lands on the desktop.  Well, that's my well intentioned plan anyway!!

It's the American Thanksgiving Day here & I've noticed a lot of other bloggers giving thanks to various things so I'll add our thanks to the roll.  No great grandiose thanks to imagined ethereal entities or supposed worldly Saints.  Just a very simple & realistic thanks to all you folks out there who send in your comments & emails to the Bayfield Bunch.  Thanks to you all for reading our simple little travel blog & thanks to our fellow bloggers for sharing their daily lives.  And a special thanks to my family members both living & deceased for making this whole Travel with The Bayfield Bunch possible.  Somewhere down the road I will share with you all the true motivation of why I do this blog every day.  

TO-NIGHT’S MOON OVER ARIZONA (Nikon D40 in combination with a Stellarview Nighthawk refractor telescope)

I successfully dodged the snipping scissors this morning & kept my gray locks to grow another day.  Even got away without having to trim my beard.  Kelly fixed up a Sweet Potato Baked Casserole for the potluck Thanksgiving dinner over at the FRIEND'S OF THE SOUTHWEST (Quaker Intentional Community) this afternoon.  I was a bit apprehensive about this place having religious overtones but I needn't have worried.  We arrived at 1 p.m. & met a fine bunch of local people who made us feel welcome & comfortable.  About 2 dozen people altogether.  A diverse bunch of backgrounds & I'm sure everyone had a tale to tell of how they ended up here in the Sulphur Springs Valley of southeast Arizona.  A lady sitting across from me had moved with her husband to this area several years ago from Alaska.  Several friendly Mexican fellows were there from Agua Prieta across the border from Douglas.  Lots of great food, fine deserts, & friendly people.  We received several invitations to visit people at their homes & we learned a bit more about the history of the area.  One lady at the table told us about the history of the Quaker like community, but 10 seconds into her description my short term memory had already forgotten the first 5 seconds so I'll have to try & remember to write things down next time.

 

		THANKS FOLKS:))

THANKSGIVING DINNER AT THE FRIENDS OF THE SOUTHWEST CENTER NEAR McNEAL, ARIZONA             (Click the pictures to enlarge them)

We were back to the ranch shortly after 3 & by then the wind had subsided & it turned out to be a pleasantly warm day with a nice sunset.  We had eaten so much turkey at the dinner this afternoon that we skipped supper entirely.  Took a few sunset & moon photos & that was about it for another fine Arizona day.  To-morrow morning we'll head off to Pearce for their annual, 'Old Pearce Heritage Days' & maybe brush shoulders with some real wild west cowboys:))

GROANER'S CORNER:((  A gossip is someone with a great sense of rumor.

BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

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

MY SMUG MUG (I am finally working on updating this site)

http://stargeezer.smugmug.com/

JUST BEING MY OLD CONSIDERATE SELF:))

SUNSET AT THE RANCH LOOKING SOUTH TO-WARDS MEXICO

This morning Kelly headed off to Elfrida's exercise class at 9 a.m. & I, out of pure consideration remained home. Despite my absolute love for exercise classes I thought it better to deny myself that said pleasure & give Kelly a much deserved break from myself. RVing can bring people close to-gether for prolonged periods of time like no other lifestyle. Fulltimers willingly or reluctantly resign themselves to the adaptations that are required & just simply get on with the closeness of every day life regardless. Snowbirder's on the other hand face a bigger challenge always having to adjust between two lifestyles. Life in the sticks & bricks is spacious with participants having their own spaces. At home I spend my night's in our sunroom on the computer while Kelly is in the living room watching her nightly TV shows. We don't have the joys of that needed separation while traveling though!! I prefer my quiet music at night & Kelly prefers her medical & CSI type TV dramas. Problem is, our computer desk is situated directly under our television. My head is exactly 34 inches from the speakers!! (I measured it)

And, no doubt I am going to be in some mighty big trouble about to-day's post title:))

DID I MENTION IT REALLY GOT COLD LAST NIGHT

Last winter I purchased a good set of Sony headphones so I generally plug my ears into the computer with the volume well up & listen to my on-board computer music library. But, even with my headphones on I can still hear wailing police cars, gunfire in the streets of Miami, & the screams of hapless murder victims ripping through my peaceful world of ambient music. Fortunately, here at the ranch we do have a workable solution though because Kelly is able to go into the ranch house each night & watch her nightly collection of dramas there. That has been a big help!! But, I still try to be as considerate as possible & give her every break from me I can. And, for that one reason alone I shall miss the Yoga class to-morrow morning & give her another well deserved break...........:))

Has anyone noticed a change in their toilet paper lately?? Be sure to check out RAY'S MONDAY BLOG & then head back to your washroom with a tape measure!!

WORKING ON A LITTLE ADOBE BRICK STEPS PROJECT HERE AT THE RANCH

Thanks to RICK to-day for his email on how to effectively reduce the resolution in my photos for uploading to the blog. The solution was sitting right here in front of me all along in my Picasa Photo Editing program, which incidentally I consider to be the absolute best, & easiest photo editing program for people who are new to digital photography. All my photos are done using Picasa 3.5 & if I can do it......you can do it too!! Oh, & it's a free download from Google:))

LOTS OF SUPERVISORY HELP >>>>>>

The Efrida photography class went well to-day with a few new people showing up at 1 o'clock. Some folks were interested in learning about photography related blogging & a few others had some camera questions. New blogger Jean & I were able to help a few ladies with a look at the Blogger set up. We also helped another lady get started on her very own site. Ray was able to answer questions & give suggestions to the other folks about their cameras & photo programs. I think it was a helpful 2 hours for those who were interested.

To-morrow the Bayfield Bunch is having some rare company. JERRY AND SUZY are coming down from Benson. Jerry & I are going to have a rootin tootin Cowboy Cookie shoot-out here at the ranch. Gary Cooper's High Noon has nothing on the suspense filled caper. Put yer money on me folks because I'm bigger & hungrier than Jerry.........but, he's older & more experienced in the ways of Cowboy Cookies than I am. Hmmmmm, could be quite a shoot-out here in the Arizona desert sometime after High Noon........:))

To-night I am using Blogger to publish the post but I am having upload problems with Blogger as well so maybe it's not Live Writer after all that has been giving me publishing headaches.  Once again it is pointing back to connection problems I think.  To-morrow night I will try Live Writer again & see how I make out,
P.S. I love you & miss you Live Writer:((  Oh yes, & this is my first time using Rick's tip on lower resolution photos.  Figure I have saved enough bytes to fill a gravel truck already!!

GROANER'S CORNER:)) Last year in Arizona I tried to be a chef -- figured it would add a little spice to my life but I just wasn't at home on the range:((

FACEBOOK READERS GO HERE TO SEE OUR ACTUAL WEBSITE COMPLETE WITH PHOTOS & MORE INFO.
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The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now....AL.

WAITING IN TEXAS FOR THE SNOW TO CLEAR IN NEW MEXICO’S SACRAMENTO MOUNTAINS

 

HERE’S THE BEST PARTS OF THE BAYFIELD BUNCH:))

The day dawned cloudy, windy, wet, & cold.  Not a nice RV weather day!!  There is snow & bad weather in the mountains west of Roswell New Mexico & friends in Tularosa on the other side of the mountains said the Apache Pass can be nasty.  Weatherman said they had 13 inches of snow in Ruidoso & that is right on our way.  Decided to spend the day here in Brownfield Texas because we have free water & electricity, nobody else here, & they have a large sports complex area for walking the doggy guys.  Might un-hook the car later & do a mall crawl as well because they have a Wally World here.  I'm feeling like a people fix so just walking around in Wal-Mart for half an hour should fix me up real good for another month.

THE WHOLE GANG WAS POOPED TO-DAY

Ever had one of those really rotten RV days from hell??  Rene & Jim did a few days ago.  Check out their miserable ordeal at LIVE-WORK-DREAM.  We met Rene & Jim last winter at the ranch.  Nice folks.  I used Googles search gadget on our blogger site for the first time to find the Rene & Jim post I did last FEB 13TH & it worked fine.  Sure makes for finding things in previous posts much easier.  Jerry, go to your blogger dashboard & click layout.  Click 'add a gadget' & you will see the Google search gadget in the menu near top.  Click on that & 'poof' it's on your site.  Then, flushed with new confidence & success, get your blender out & try one of my yummy-yukking shakes while your at it:)) 

 

		COLD WIND BLOWING ALL DAY
	WHAT??

HOVER YOUR MOUSE OVER THE PHOTOS FOR CAPTIONS & CLICK THEM TO ENLARGE

4p.m.   We are back from our Wal-mart excursion & I was a bit disappointed in the store.  It's old, not very big, & reminds me of an old Kresge's or Woolworths store from years ago.  Needless to say I didn't walk out of there with my usual Wally World high.  Next it was a grocery store & than back to the rig in the pouring rain with a slight bit of sleet mixed in.  Just not a nice weather day.  Took the panel off the hydraulic leveler box looking for the big red 'easy fix' button but it didn't have one.  I think those 'easy fix buttons are only installed in those high end coaches.  Rest of our day has been spent sitting around reading, ambient music, TV, & slow motion computer stuff.  Air card isn't as fast as we are used to but it helps pass the time waiting for pages to come up.  Kelly also snuck up & gave me a haircut to-day after I fell asleep in the computer chair waiting for a website to open.................:))

HURRY BACK FROM GROCERY SHOPPING MOM & DAD

And welcome to new follower....John Souza Sr:))

GROANER'S CORNER:((  I got in a fight with my wife last night and it was totally my fault.  She asked me what was on the TV and I said............"dust."

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

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