TRAVEL WITH THE BAYFIELD BUNCH:)): Motormouse

Showing posts with label Motormouse. Show all posts

Monday, November 07, 2011

GASSED UP THE RIG AND HAD A BIN DOOR GAS SHOCK REPLACED

With the approaching inclement weather in a few days I figured it was best to gas up the rig now rather than later. Pheebs, Motor and I headed off to Goderich and loaded up with $260.00 worth of fuel. With McDonald's tempting us just across the road we turned our backs on that idea and instead I zipped into the mall beside the gas bar and got us Turkey salad sandwich for breakfast. Happy little tummies all around.

From there it was over to CTC (Canadian Tire) to have all the tire pressures checked. A-OK. Headed back to Bayfield for a stop at STORMRUNNER RV SALES AND SERVICE. Our main bin door on the rig was not remaining up anymore and I suspected the gas shock was shot. It was. Had emailed Diane at Stormrunner earlier in the morning to see if they had those types of shocks in stock and they did. Rolled into Stormrunner's and it took one of the fellows there all of about 3 minutes to replace the worn out shock and I was good to go. Dianne hadn't met Pheebe or the Motormouse (Cora) before and after following our blog for the past 3 years she was anxious to to meet the guys. Dianne and husband Harry usually head for Florida every year in one of their nice high end Carriage Fifth Wheels but this year they are breaking with tradition and heading West with a truck camper on their big new Ford dually. Di had told me awhile ago that after reading our blog and seeing all the photos of our travels over the past few years she wanted to head West for a welcome change and see all that great scenery for herself. Good for you Di and maybe we'll meet up with you guys somewhere in the Southwest for a good old dust and sage brush infested desert coffee somewhere:))

HARRY’S BIG SHINY FORD DUALLY AND THE GAS SHOCK WE HAD TO GET REPLACED

Forgot to mention a few things in Sunday night's post regarding Kelly being able to help a neighbour gain access to our blog site again. A link in our Shout Box last week from Bob set the gears in Motion for Kelly in tracking down the culprit that was not allowing Monica's computer access. I also mentioned it was a DNS problem and forgot to explain DNS. I know how annoying it is when people put clusters of letters in their blogs and then expect everyone to know what they are. You know, ROTFL, LMAOUISMP, PMPTIOD, etc. DNS could have meant, Damn Nasty Soup or Disco Night Shuffle for all anybody knew. Here's what DNS really means......WHAT IS A DNS SERVER. Had an email this morning from Cindy in Ohio also saying she suddenly couldn't access our site so I have no idea what is going on. A second email from Cindy said she tried it again later and all is well. Just seems odd that this has never been a problem until the last couple of weeks.

And I seem to recall a question from SAM last week wondering what porridge is. I had mentioned having porridge for supper one night. Some may remember these words from a Mother Goose Rhyme..."Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold...Peas porridge in the pot 9 days old. Some like it hot, some like it cold... Some like it in the pot 9 days old." When I was a kid we always called porridge, porridge, but nowadays it may simply be known as a bowl of Oatmeal. Whatever you call it, it's yummy with brown sugar and milk.....hot or cold:))

OUR RIG IS ONE OF THE FEW ON THE ROAD WITH A BIG NATURAL BUILT IN HAPPY FACE FOR A FRONT END

So reassuring this year to know we are heading out with all practically new tires on the rig. We put two new front tires on the coach a year ago before heading south with the idea of replacing the 4 back tires this year before we left. By the time we reached Flagstaff Arizona on our way home last March we knew we could not chance going any further with the rear tires in the condition they were. Reluctantly, we pulled into a tire place and had 4 new tires put on. I took a few pictures that day at the tire shop but I never posted the photos to the blog that night. It was just one of those tired frustrating days. Below are those pics I never published. It sure tore the heck out of a $3000.00 bill:((

I especially liked the photos in JOHN AND BRENDA'S INCREDIBLE JOURNEY recently. They trailered their horses from near Phoenix to a beautiful area of the Dragoon Mountains near Tombstone Arizona. Kelly and I are familiar with the area where Brenda and John rode and camped.

Click on any of the following colored links and they will take you to my posts about each of these places we have been in and around the Dragoon Mountains. We have hiked both COUNCIL ROCKS and the COCHISE STRONGHOLD nearby and driven over the MIDDLE MARCH PASS. We have also Jeeped some ROUGH AND DUSTY TRAILS on the northeast side of the Dragoons ending up at the site of 5 Confederate soldiers killed by Apache Indians. Spent 4 enjoyable hours at the GRAPEVINE CANYON RANCH nestled into the side of the Dragoons near the Cochise Stronghold. Also visited 3 old western ghost towns on the east side of the Dragoons as well. PEARCE, COURTLAND, GLEESON 1 and GLEESON 2. And yep, I reckon we’ve been to TOMBSTONE a time or two as well. Great historical area for sure and it was nice to see some familiar territory in John and Brenda's photos:))

I am so looking forward to heading for the Southwest once again and I will be so glad to have something else to write about other than this daily same old-same old routine sitting at home stuff. This past seven and a half months have been such a loooooong haul. Looking forward to those big west winds blowing all these old tired cobwebs out of my head again…………… 10-4:))

OUR TAIL GUNNER IS READY TO RUMBLE AS ARE OUR BISBEE KIDS UP IN THE WINDSHIELD

GROANER'S CORNER:(( The pastor had launched into one of his "Best Ever"messages. He was about half done, at the 45-minute mark and just getting to the "good part," when a member of his congregation died.
Rushing to his office, he dialled 911. When the ambulance arrived, the paramedics carried out 51 people before they finally got one who didn't wake up when they got him to fresh air.

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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.

Thursday, November 03, 2011

KELLY’S HOME:))))))

Kelly made it home this afternoon about 2:30 and we sure had a couple pretty excited little puppy dogs racing outside to greet her. Pheebe never barks but she was soooooo excited today that she actually let out a great big bark. Little Motor's tale was wagging so fast it almost flew off. So nice to have Kelly home:))

THE GUYS WERE SURE HAPPY TO HAVE MOM HOME AND PHEEBS WAS SO EXCITED SHE EVEN SURPRISED LITTLE MOTOR WITH A SMOOCH….IF YOU CLICK ON THE BOTTOM LEFT PHOTO YOU CAN SEE THE LITTLE MOTORMOUSE WASN’T TOO KEEN ABOUT THAT:))

Below are a few pictures of Kelly's new Grandson Reeve and his proud Dad, Jason. Jason and Kim are some pretty happy new parents over there in Cambridge. And, a pretty happy Grandma Kelly here in Bayfield too:))

KELLY WITH HER OLDEST SON JASON AND JASON’S NEW SON, REEVE:))

Had a question from ME AND MY DOG about Pheebs eyes in Tuesday night's post. Question was... "The photo of DA PHEEBS yesterday, what is on her eyes? Looks like drops or something. Is she okay?" Well, I have a little confession here. I took that photo with my Canon Powershot using a flash. Both Pheebs eyes came out as two round white circles in the picture. My 'Redeye' removal tool in Picasa does not remove redeye from animals so I tried using the 'Retouch' tool in an attempt to blot out the whiteness and return the white eyeballs to something resembling a normal eye. I didn't get it perfect and debated whether to post the photo but I liked the overall picture so decided to include it. Didn't think anyone would notice.....but, someone did:))

PHOTO IN QUESTION IS THE ONE ON THE LEFT

Almost had to break up a scrap in our back yard last night. Heard a commotion near our recycle bin so opened our patio door to have a look. Well, Motor and the Pheebs had obviously heard it too and charged through the door so fast they nearly knocked me on my Keister . Whatever it was ran under the deck with Motor in hot pursuit. Tried to get her out of there right away because a cat could do her a lot of damage if that's what it was. Motor has always been a fearless little dog and wouldn't hesitate to take a few rounds out of a Grizzly Bear but she just doesn’t understand the danger she can get herself into. Had to quickly run in the house, grab a sausage snack and entice her back out from under the deck. Of course to be fair I had to get another sausage snack for Pheebs too. Don't want anyone to have their little doggy nose bent out of shape.

Kelly brought a few more photos home and I have included 3 of them below.

KELLY’S DAUGHTER SABRA HAS TWO BOYS AND THEY ARE ON THE ENDS HERE, LEFT TO RIGHT IT’S KEENAN AND LANGDON……KELLY’S DAUGHTER SARAH HAS THE BOY AND GIRL ON KELLY’S LAP, ADARA AND GABRIEL

KELLY HOLDS GABRIEL ON HER LAP ADARA AND GABRIEL

Noticed today we have a new Blog Follower so the Bayfield Bunch welcomes BUD RUSSMAN aboard. Looks like Bud’s an Arizona guy:)) Thanks for dropping by Bud and we do appreciate your interest.

LOOKS LIKE 2 YEAR OLD GABRIEL ALREADY HAS A KEEN INTEREST IN COMPUTERS:))

GROANER’S CORNER:(( For a holiday, an Irishman decided to go to Switzerland to fulfill a lifelong dream and climb the Matterhorn. He hired a guide and just as they neared the top, the men were caught in a snow slide.
Three hours later, a Saint Bernard plowed through to them, a keg of brandy tied under his chin.
"Hooray!" shouted the guide. "Here comes man's best friend!"
"Yeah," said the Irishman. "An' look at the size of the dog that's bringin' it

Sunday, January 24, 2010

TODAY WE NEARLY LOST ONE OF THE BAYFIELD BUNCH:((

MOTTY & PATTI CHECK OUT THE MOTORHOME

My bed isn't very wide but ranch dog Pearce managed to squeak himself up onto the bed sometime in the night & slept contentedly beside me at the bottom. Gleason stayed for the night as well & found himself a nice quiet spot in the hallway on the rug. Little Motormouse was curled up on her favorite chair with Max & Checkers on their respective doggy beds. A little crowded in the front of the motorhome but I don't mind. It's not every night I get to have a sleep-over with all my best pals.

When I saw the first rays of sunlight enter the coach's side window this morning I knew we were in for nice day. The storms of past days have long gone & soon we will be into warming temperatures. An email arrived from Motty & Patti saying they were headed for Belles to feed the animals so we sent an email back saying for them to come over to the ranch when they finished.

CHECKERS >>>>>>>>

Kelly loaded our present location into the new GPS system then stepped outside to do some weird arm & wrist movements to calibrate the PN-40. That worked & minuets later it actually pinpointed exactly where we were. A message flashed on the screen saying for the guy with the scruffy white beard to put a bag over his head. I can see me & PN are gonna get along real darn good!! Walked around in circles outside for awhile pressing buttons & trying things out. Finally got onto the moving GPS compass but haven't figured out how to activate the stationery electric compass yet. Altimeter told me I was at 4,069 feet. Ever since the late 60's I've always had a keen interest in how high I was everyday:)) I'll read some more of the instruction book in the morning & see if I can program it to make me a peanut butter sandwich on demand.

<<<<< LOOKING FOR KELLY WITH THE GPS

Motty & Patti, with their Boxer dog Moe rolled in about 11:30 & we all spent the day sitting in the warm Arizona sun chatting. It was while visiting that we nearly lost our precious little Motormouse. We had all walked over to a gate in the fence line to talk with the donkeys. We didn't see the little Motor squeak under the gate between us & venture out in front of the donkeys until it was too late. One of the donkeys immediately attacked her & stomped her with it's hooves. I immediately scrambled over the gate as I heard her squeal in pain. The donkey quickly bolted & I scooped up the little Motor & swiftly handed her over the gate to Kelly. And, she was still intact. No blood, no apparent twisted limbs, broken ribs, or crushed skull. She was shaking like a leaf & scared. Patti is a former dog trainer & quickly checked Cora (that's her real name) for any broken bones. No squeals of pain. Just a little mud on her nose & down her right shank where we think one of the hooves hit her a glancing blow. It was a miracle she wasn't killed or seriously injured. We held her for a long time & after awhile set her down & she seemed to walk ok. It is now about 7 hours later & she seems fine although Kelly thinks her right hip looks a bit swollen & she did have a little trouble jumping up onto my bed. She may be a bit stiff & sore in the morning but right now she's having a big snooze after eating a big supper. And of course she's really been soaking up all the extra attention she has been getting too. And, I should add, it was not the donkey’s fault for attacking a perceived threat moving across the ground at them. Could have been a rattlesnake, small coyote or something & the donkey was only protecting itself & it’s family. So, not to worry, I am still big buddies with the donkey gang:))

I THINK CHECKER’S LIKES MOTTY:))

Motty, Patti, & Moe left about 4 & we'll probably see them a few more times this week. Maybe over at Belle's or in Bisbee. Interesting & nice folks. They are awaiting a phone call from Camping World in El Paso Texas in regards to a part for one of their 5th wheel slide outs that won't work. They have to head back to El Paso to get that fixed.

HANGING OUT AT THE RANCH HOUSE

It's a cozy Sunday night here in the motorhome. We have our nice cactus cowboy boots lights on, Kelly's eating popcorn watching her favorite TV shows, I'm sitting at the computer with my 7 o'clock coffee & head phones on listening to my all time favorite acoustic guitar player of all time, WILL ACKERMAN. Max, Checkers, Motormouse, Gleason, & Pearce are all contentedly stretched out in their favorite doggy sleep modes & for a short time frame in the life & times of the Bayfield Bunch............all is well. And most best of all we still have our precious little Motormouse with us after today's near fatal & harrowing incident.