OUR SOUTHWEST TRAVELS….VACATION OR LIFESTYLE??

TOOK THIS PICTURE OF MYSELF USING A NIKON D50 ON A TRIPOD AND SELF TIMER  WITH THE LIGHTING BEHIND ME  COMING FROM THE JEEP’S HEADLIGHTS….I AM TAKING A PHOTO OF THE FULL MOON COMING OVER THE SWISS HELM MOUNTAINS EAST OF ELFRIDA ARIZONA….CAMERA I AM USING IS A NIKON D40 WITH MY TELESCOPE LENS…..IT WAS A COLD NIGHT SO I HAD 37 LAYERS OF CLOTHES ON AND THAT IS WHY I LOOK SO BIG…………YA RIGHT!!

I have never looked at our 5 or 6 months in the southwest during the winter as a vacation.   In my mind, a vacation is 2 or 3 weeks away relaxing on a beach or at cottage somewhere.  We took a travel trailer up to Killbear Provincial Park near Parry Sound, Ontario about 12 years ago for a couple weeks and I considered that……. a vacation.

HIGHWAY 82 HEADING EAST TOWARDS HUACHUCA CITY ARIZONA

Our lifestyle in Bayfield is nowhere near our lifestyle on the road.  Everything is different (including my attitude:)) Different country, different people, different house and greatest of all, different scenery which has the great option of changing whenever we want to change it.  I once had a neighbour say to me, "well, it's nice to get away for awhile in the winter but then you have to come back to the real world." That statement stuck in my craw all summer that year as I pondered those words.   Our half year life on the road is every bit as real as our half year life here in Bayfield.

BOON DOCKED JUST A FEW MILES NORTH OFJOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK, CALIFORNIA

I noticed while traveling that I rarely think of our life in Ontario and when I do, the memory always seems so far away that it just doesn't really seem to matter a whole lot.  Our life in Bayfield is like an old faded memory from a far distant Planet.   Only time my thoughts turn to our Bayfield life is the last few weeks around the end of March before we return from the Southwest.  Can’t say those are good thoughts for me.

CASTLE VALLEY NEAR MOAB UTAH BACK IN 2008

I have blogged a few times before about us having the best of both worlds and of course in many ways it is true.  I think most people would probably agree with me on that one.  Pretty darn nice having a home base and yet be able to travel for half the year.  But, only half the year……….  Unfortunately for me, I was just  born with a restless spirit and too darn much travel juice in my blood!!

Our two reality worlds will soon be switching places once again as we head off for our second home in the land of deserts & mountains. Our other lifestyle. That other reality.  My personal favourite of……………..our two lifestyles:))

 

WE ARE GOING TO DEARLY MISS A COUPLE OF OUR BEST OLD TRAVELING PALS THIS WINTER

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."

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-Tourists see the world, travelers  experience it.

-Until one has loved an Animal, their  soul remains un-awakened.

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

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

ALTHOUGH WE DON’T CROSS THE MEXICAN BORDER, WE DO SPEND A LOT OF OUR TIME…….REAL DARN CLOSE TO IT

OUR SUMACS ARE BEGINNING TO SHOW THEIR AUTUMN COLORS
Kelly busied herself loading the Motor Home for awhile this morning and I was able to successfully repair a loose step runner.  After that major accomplishment I was flushed with success and briefly entertained the thought of applying for an engineering job at Nasa’s Rocket Science center in Florida.  Thought to myself….Nawwww, I wouldn’t be able to take the humidity down there.
Not a real productive day again but Pheebs and I did make two trips around the forest trail.  Took the rig for a short drive this morning because we are having a problem with the ABS brake warning light.  Brakes are fine but the light persists.  It’s not an uncommon problem for the earlier years with that ABS Anti-Lock Brake System.  I did manage to get the light to go out this morning by backing up and applying the brakes.  May have to take it back to the Bayfield Garage Monday morning.  We’ll see.
WILD GRAPE VINE IN THE PINE TREES
The closest Galaxy to our own in this Universe is now visible in the night sky.  You can find the Andromeda Galaxy high in a dark Eastern Sky at the moment.  It's visible to the naked eye assuming your eyesight is 20/20.  Best seen through a pair of steady binoculars though.  TONIGHT'S SKY gives you an idea where to find the Andromeda Galaxy and it is predicted that our own Galaxy will one day collide and merge with the Andromeda Galaxy.  Hope that doesn't happen before we get on the road next month.  Could cause quite a ker-fuffle in our travel plans.
A commenter wondered if the You Tube video in my Wednesday night blog was part of some blog changes.  My short answer to that is 'no.'  That particular video happened to land on my desktop while I was writing the post and was a spur of the moment decision to throw it in.  Any blog changes or whatever in the future will simply be done quietly without me blabbering about it anymore. 
Our Pine needles have begun to fall and soon the ground will be covered in a carpet of gold.  A slight breeze today lazily brought a few leaves to the ground.   Nice to hear my footsteps shuffling through the leaves along the forest path.  Easier for me to keep tabs on Pheebe too because I could hear her rustling in the leaves off to the side of the trail.

I SURE HOPE TO BE GETTING ME SOME GOOD OLD MOUNTAIN AIR SOMEWHERE IN THE WEST ABOUT A MONTH FROM NOW
And a big Bayfield Bunch welcome to Geo for joining us our latest Blog Follower.  Thanks for stopping by Geo and welcome aboard.
A few posts ago I talked about our reluctance to travel in Mexico.  Just as we have decided to avoid any unnecessary problems by doing that I am also aware there are many RV'ers who have the same feeling about the South-western United States border areas near the border itself.  This is the area we frequent quite regularly in our travels and at times we are face to face with the Mexican border itself with only a few feet separating us.  We have spent many months ranch sitting a short 20 miles or so north of the border these past 3 winters and have felt quite comfortable in doing so.  We have taken the time and interest to meet local folks who have been good at orienting us to the do's and don'ts along the way.  There are known problem areas with heavier illegal traffic so we don't go messing around those places, and especially not at night.  Rule of thumb is to use common sense and be aware of your surroundings.  Now, having said that, we did have an uneasy encounter about a year ago just a few days after we arrived in Elfrida, Arizona.

  
THE MEXICAN BORDER JUST WEST OF CORONADO PEAK IN ARIZONA…..WE WERE TEMPORARILY LOST WHILE LOOKING FOR PARKER LAKE…JANUARY 2ND 2011

 
THE MEXICAN BORDER A MILE WEST OF THE TEXAS JOHN SLAUGHTER RANCH NEAR DOUGLAS ARIZONA…YOU CAN SEE KELLY TRYING TO DO A LITTLE CROSS BORDER SCROUNGING THERE AS SHE REACHES INTO MEXICO UNDER THE FENCE…..MARCH 11TH 2009 
At the eastern most end of Elfrida's Jefferson road there is a nice area at the foot of the Swiss Helm Mountains where we had driven up to a few times before in previous years.  Last year having acquired our Jeep Wrangler we knew we could get in closer to the mountains so off we headed.  It was only a couple miles from where we were staying.  Wasn't long when we ran into a couple of, shall we say.....  SUSPICIOUS CHARACTERS!!  Click on ‘Suspicious Characters’ for that brief encounter……….

WE’RE THEY REALLY HUNTERS??  WE’LL NEVER KNOW…….  THE GUY ON THE LEFT DIDN’T SAY MUCH AND JUST STARED AT US AND THE GUY ON THE RIGHT JUST SEEMED WAY TOO FRIENDLY.  WERE WE NERVOUS ABOUT THIS 10 MINUTE ENCOUNTER IN THE FOOTHILLS OF THE SWISS HELM MOUNTAINS??  DAMM RIGHT WE WERE!!!!
We have spent a fair bit of time in and around Douglas Arizona and there is a heavy Mexican population there because Douglas is a border town on the American side.  A trip to Walmart is like entering Mexico itself because most of the shoppers and staff are Mexican folks.  We feel just as much at home in Douglas as we feel in any of the cities in our area here in southern Ontario.  And, mentioning cities, I'm sure there are a lot of city areas all over North America that are far more scarier than anything we have come across in our travels through the southernmost parts of New Mexico, Arizona and California.  But, like I said, our travels stop at the border. 

GROANER'S CORNER:((   Back in the 1800s the Tates Watch Company of Massachusetts wanted to produce other products and, since they already made the cases for pocket watches, decided to market compasses for the pioneers traveling west. It turned out that although their watches were of finest quality, their compasses were so bad that people often ended up in Canada or Mexico rather than California. This, of course, is the origin of the expression, "He who has a Tates is lost!"
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-Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
-Until one has loved an Animal, their soul remains un-awakened.

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

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

NICE DAY & SOME MEXICAN BORDER MEMORIES

POOR MAMA GOOSE....NO BABY GOOSES THIS YEAR:((

Another cooker today but when you don't have to be outside working in the heat it's not too bad.  Nice mobility van run to London & back this morning in air conditioned comfort.  A big plus from the days many years ago when I might have been out in the back of some new housing sub division on my hands & knees in the dirt laying new sod for hours & hours in the heat.  Yep, did that for awhile in Kitchener Ontario back in the late 60's.

OUR LITTLE 'MOUSE'

I have read in the RV NET FORUMS from time to time about RV'ers having their rigs towing assemblies tampered with by kids while they have been away from their rigs or even around the other side gassing up.  I always make it a point to especially check our tow pins whenever we have made a stop somewhere.  Kids have been known to pull them out &  bicycles have been stolen right off the back of some rigs at fuel stops.  Came across a blog last night that ran into what could have been a very dangerous situation when they stopped at a Flying J for diesel fuel.   Check out R SANITY RV ADVENTURES

ALONG THE FOREST FLOOR

While ranch sitting near McNeal Arizona last winter I noticed they had a small photo group meeting every Monday afternoon over in the little town of Elfrida so I threw my cameras in the car & wandered on over.  Met some great folks over the next couple of months before departing the area & heading further west.  Ray, (RAY'S QCC BLOG) from the group still sends me updates & keeps me in the loop as to what the group is up to & what photo shoots they are out on.   He has just put a BLOG SITE together for the group & you can find photos of their last shoot in the rough & tumbly down town of Naco Arizona on the Mexican border.   Kelly & I were in Naco this past January & here is my BLOG & PHOTOS from that day....complete with a bullet hole in a downtown window!!

 

MAIN STREET NACO ARIZONA....THE MEXICAN BORDER IS DEAD AHEAD!!

We are sometimes asked if we feel threatened at any time while near the border in the Southwest & my answer to that is...no!!  I would feel much safer there by the Mexican border than I would in most large cities I have been too in Canada or the States.  We only had one incident & that was when we crossed into Mexico one time south of Why, Arizona at Lukeville.  You can read about our little scrape here...SONOYTA 

LOOKING DEEP INTO THE HEART OF MEXICO FROM ATOP CORONADO PEAK SOUTH OF SIERRA VISTA, ARIZONA

For the most part it is life as usual just as it is here.  It's when something happens along the border & the media gets a hold of it that makes things seem much worse than they sometimes really are.  We have met many locals in the last couple of years & they all seem less concerned with the problems than people living far to the north.  We have seen people in the desert & we have found pieces of clothing, back packs, etc.  We have heard the ambulances wailing by in the cold nights heading out into the desert to pick up people in distress & we have been buzzed by border patrol helicopters. 

WHENEVER WE HEAR A BORDER PATROL CHOPPER COMING OVER THE RIDGE WE  JUST STAND VERY STILL & PRETEND WE ARE JUST A COUPLE OF SAGUARO CACTUS SHADOWS IN THE DESERT

We have seen the bright yellow flares floating out of the night sky lighting the ground below & one morning we came across about a dozen Mexican folks sitting in single file along a ditch with 2 border patrol guys standing over them.  The group looked to be handcuffed, weary, & worn.  Unfortunately it is the way of life along the border & would we ever consider not going there because of those problems.  No, not a chance.  The American southwest is too special a place not to go & besides, it is just another great chapter in the exciting saga of the daily liveliness & charm of the old wild west..................................:))

    

(click to enlarge)

THERE'S KELLY CRAWLING UNDER THE BORDER WIRE INTO MEXICO EAST OF DOUGLAS ARIZONA - 'ADIOS KELLY'- OH OH SHE'S HEADING BACK TO THE CAR....DIDN'T FIND ANY BARGOOOONS IN THE DESERT I GUESS!!

 

MORNING PHLOX

GROANER'S CORNER:((  I don't know why I consider myself over the hill when I don't even remember ever getting to the top.

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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.

WE ARE ONCE AGAIN ALONE AT THE RANCH

TO-NIGHT’S MOON COMING UP OVER THE SWISSHELM MOUNTAINS

Maybe one of these mornings I can start the blog off by saying how warm it is outside but probably not until later next month when we move over to the Yuma area.  We are in the high desert here in southeastern Arizona so the nights will be cold from now until March sometime. 

WE ENDED UP HAVING TO TURN AROUND HERE

Ranch owners Jeanie & Ray finished loading their 5th wheel this morning & it wasn't long & they were hooked up & on their way to Tucson.  Its hard for them to get a break from the ranch so we are staying on here until about the middle of January.  That will give Jeanie & Ray a nice RVing holiday to slip around the southwest doing some boondocking, 4 wheeling, & visiting with family & friends over the next 6 weeks.

RUGGED, BUT BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY OVER IN THE SWISSHELM MOUNTAINS

Kelly & I headed for Elfrida at 8:45.  She had an exercise class at 9 & I had planned to do updates & uploads to the computer at the library next door.  Had problems getting connected but remembered a small restaurant up the road that had Wifi.  No problem so that's where I headed & of course I couldn't get connected there either.  Only logical thing left to do was bury my face in a big mess of bacon & eggs while I was there & cut my losses.  We were back at the ranch by 10:30.

LOVE FOLLOWING BACK ROADS TO SEE WHERE THEY GO

Had a nice sunny cool day going for us so we didn't want to sit around.  Had heard there some roads going up part way into the Swiss Helm mountains north of Elfrida so decided to take the car for a little rock scramble.  Pavement ended & we were onto a rough rock strewn road.  Stopped to open & close a couple of gates & made our way up to as far as we could go.  It was surprising how the vegetation changed just by climbing maybe 5 or 6 hundred feet from the valley floor.  Cholla, Agave, large Prickly Pear cactus, Yucca & Mesquite trees.  Very rocky terrain & prime rattlesnake country in the warmer weather. 

THIS IS PRIME RATTLESNAKE COUNTRY BUT IT’S TOO COLD FOR THE SNAKES TO BE OUT AT THIS TIME OF YEAR

Dropped in for a few minutes to visit a lady we had met Thanksgiving Day at the Friends of the Southwest dinner.  "Cheryl & her husband Tony have a very nice place complete with a hobby barn that Tom calls the Man Cave.  Tom was busy doing some wood staining in the barn so Cheryl showed us around.  They moved here from Alaska 4 years ago.  Visited this area once, went back to Alaska, sold their house with one phone call, & moved right back down to Arizona's Sulphur Springs Valley.  Tom said the change in his health was immediate & Cheryl said he's been 100% better since moving to their home in the lee of the Swisshelm Mountains.  Nice folks. 

GOTTA WATCH YOUR STEP IN THE DESERT

FREE RANGE CATTLE & HORSES FEEDING AMONGST THE CACTI

After some more bumps, bangs, gulley whumps, wash outs, gulches, & some genuine thumps & wonkers, our little Santa Fe mountain goat got us back down to the valley floor & we were at the ranch by 3.  Fed the 8 chickens, gathered one egg, fed Gleeson & Pearce plus the elusive ranch cat Charlie.  Honked at the donkeys & that was it for another day.

 

	CHERYL & KELLY
	NICE HOUSE

CHERYL & TONY’S PLACE UP THE HILL EAST OF ELFRIDA

(click to enlarge the photos)

Well, the Bayfield Bunch has finally made it onto the HITCH-ITCH site.  Took us awhile to make the cut so would just like to say thanks to the Hitch-Itch folks for finally including us on their site & to any folks who may have mentioned our name over there.  Thanks guys:))

OUR LITTLE MOUNTAIN GOAT DOES WELL ON THESE KINDS OF ROADS

With all the health care talk & issues going on in the States we sometimes get asked about the health care system in Canada.  There seems to be a lot of mis-information going around about Canadian health care.  I don't know if it's the media or the politicians who are mainly responsible for all this but lets try to set the record straight about a few things.  Check out JB's second last paragraph on his blog DOWN THE ROAD FROM DOG POUND.   And if your fed up with all that paper junk mail just do as Ray does in his QCC blog……buzzzrup!!

THEY GROW SOME MIGHTY BIG TUMBLE WEEDS AROUND HERE

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A man takes his Rottweiler to the vet and says, "My dog's cross-eyed, is there anything you can do for him?" "Well," says the vet, "let's have a look at him." So he picks the dog up and examines his eyes, then checks his teeth. Finally, he says "I'm going to have to put him down." "What? just because he's cross-eyed?" "No, because he's really heavy."

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.

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.
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.

RATTLESNAKE CRAFTS IN THE DESERT

THESE OLD WEATHERED GUNS ARE THE REAL McCOYS

( For some unknown reason to-night's blog would not publish in Live Writer so I have reverted back to the Blogger program for to-night's post,)

My back was tweaking this morning but not as bad as yesterday. I'm not quite out of the woods yet because the upper back muscles have tightened up & bent we slightly forward. Just going to take a little time for things to ease up & settle down. Did not want to just sit around all day again so we decided to take a drive over to the old mining town of Gleeson & see if we could find the Rattlesnake Craft place we had heard about. We had spent a few hours in what's left of Gleeson last March & our blog for that day is HERE. And, check out our PHOTOS of the old ghost town.

HEAD NORTH OUT OF ELFRIDA & TURN LEFT TO-WARDS GLEESON & WATCH FOR THE WEATHER WORN RATTLESNAKE CRAFTS SIGNS

The pavement ends just west of Gleeson's cemetery & the dusty road eventually leads to Tombstone 20 miles to the west. We spotted a large western looking gate with the words 'High Lonesome Ranch Real Estate.' Took a drive through the scenic rolling hills & saw 6 or 7 homes scattered about here & there. Wide open spaces with up to a mile between places & you would need a good set of binoculars to see what color your neighbors car was. I would like it here:)) We continued up the main road a few miles where another old weathered sign directed us onto another dusty & bumpier road. Wasn't long & we rolled into the Rattlesnake Crafts Ranch.

ON THE HIGH LONESOME RANCH PROPERTY

Well, let me tell ya, this was quite the place way out here on the high desert in the shadow of the Gleeson Mountains. As soon as we parked & got out of the car I knew we were going to be there for awhile. Kelly was excited about the number of rocks & mineral specimens. I was fascinated with a whole acre of photo opportunities. This was a step back in time as countless bits of history hung everywhere. Weather-beaten pots & pans, old rusting guns, jars, & well, just too many things to even begin to mention. Somewhere over 5,000 items on display. I'll have to refer you to my photos to give you an idea of this place. Most everything is real & all of it is old, very old, with the exception of the many rattlesnake crafts which Sandy John make.

AND THIS IS THE ROAD INTO RATTLESNAKE CRAFTS

Sandra & John Weber have dragged home a lot of stuff over the years & what they haven't brought home others have brought out to their place. I think these folks were on the 'To-day' show years ago & there are a bunch of newspaper & magazine articles posted about them. They call their little 1 acre place in the desert Rattlesnake Crafts because they have a whole trailer full of just about anything you can imagine made from rattlesnake parts. In fact there are 150+ rattlesnake related items in the jam packed old vintage trailer. Wallets, belts, ties, sunglasses holders, hat bands, cell phone & knife cases, etc. etc. And where do the rattlesnake parts come from?? Usually within about a 20 mile radius of where they live. On warm summer nights during July & August they head out into the desert in search of the rattlers. John said it can take as much as 9 hours to track down a rattler. They have been doing this for years without injury or incident. Kelly asked him if they keep any snakes on their property & John said, "no, they just escape anyway."

LISTENING TO THE WIND TINKLE & JINGLE ALL THE OLD TREASURES

We didn't meet Sandra but she did go by on one end of a table her & John were carrying out to set up a rock collection. John, a very personable & friendly fellow did his best to answer Kelly's many gemstone rock questions. I was busy just looking at everything & taking pictures, marveling at the amount of history packed into this solitary little place kind out in the middle of nowhere. Pretty much everything is out in the open. No specially track lighted display cases or marbled museum floors here. Just the harsh Arizona sun above, cattle wandering by through the mesquite & cactus, & John's big rugged smile lighting up his cowboy boots from under is well worn & weathered cowboy hat. These are real western people & this is a real collection of wild west stuff they have here. No pressure from these folks to buy anything either. John just happened be setting up some stuff nearby when we got there. And everything is on the honor system. He said once they were away for 3 days, just left the place open, & when they returned someone had left $300 for some stuff they picked up. Real trusting down home folks these Webers are & isn't it too bad the rest of the world couldn't follow their example. If you don't mind a little dust on your tires or a bit of sunshine on your face just take the Gleeson road at the north end of Elfrida & follow it west. The placement ends west of the Gleeson cemetery & it's maybe another 5 miles or so to Rattlesnake Crafts. Watch for the signs & make sure your not transporting nitroglycerine or your gonna get blowed up for sure on the bumpy road:)) Check out Sandra & John Weber's website at.......RATTLESNAKE CRAFTS & ROCKS. Tell em the Bayfield Bunch sent ya:))

JOHN WEBER & KELLY.......'ROCK TALK'

Gets pretty hot in these parts by noon so we were back home about 12:30 & spent the rest of the day inside with the A/C on. Took a lot of photos so I will create a separate album for this mornings jaunt to Rattlesnake Crafts & upload it to our Picasa Web Album. Problem is we are almost out of bandwidth but I will probably upload the pics anyway. Sometimes ya just gotta do what ya gotta do!!

THERE WAS A BIRD NEST IN THE FIRST POT ON THE LEFT

Sat out under the stars last night for awhile with my binoculars doing some Stargazing. I am always a little dis-oriented here in the southwest for awhile. Same stars & constellations for the most part but everything is slightly in a different place. No problem for me finding the constellation Pegasus last night but it took me a long time to find the Andromeda Galaxy which is located not far off one of Pegasus's 4 star points. Watched mighty Orion slip up over the Swiss Helm Mountains to our east. The Hyades & Pleiades were in fine form as were many other old familiar pals high in the sky. Could see 2 of Jupiter's moons. Arizona is probably one of the most popular astronomy areas in all of the U.S. & how lucky that is for me to be here in one of it's darkest areas. Stars from horizon to horizon in the cool, crisp, & clean desert air. Will be glad when my forgotten tri-pod arrives & I can pop my telescope on & see if I can find me some alien spacecraft:)) Do I believe in that sort of thing?? Absolutely!! Makes a whole lot more darn sense to me than many other popularly held beliefs.............10-4:))

AL'S SELF PORTRAIT IN A BLUE BALL AT RATTLESNAKE CRAFTS

To see the rest of our Rattlesnake Crafts photos from this morning click…. PICASA WEB ALBUM

And just in case anyone is wondering who AMOS & ANDY was from last night’s blog, just click on their names:))

GROANER'S CORNER:(( What do you call a guy on the side of the road with his hand up a horses behind? An Amish Mechanic!!

FACEBOOK READERS GO HERE TO SEE OUR ACTUAL WEBSITE COMPLETE WITH PHOTOS & MORE INFO.

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.