WE SET OUT THIS MORNING TO FIND 21,000 PETROGLYPHS

SUNRISE AT OUR HOUSE THIS MORNING
I was simply bowled over by the number of stars in the night sky when I stepped out of the rig Friday night.  Haven’t seen a starry sky like that since leaving the southwest last March.  At home we are surrounded by Pine trees making the sky all but invisible.  I will have to haul out my constellation and star charts and re-familiarize myself all over again with who’s who and who’s where way up there in that beautifully clear night sky.

I was awakened several times in the night by what sounded like a low rumbling of distant thunder.  Thought that kind of odd considering the clear skies and time of year for here.  Then, I remembered….we are only about 30 miles from one of America’s top military locations…HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE.  It is here where the 49th Fighter Wing is based and fly America’s newest and later fighter aircraft, the F-22 RAPTOR.   It’s no wonder I heard thunder in the night sky:))

 
AROUND THE CAMPGROUND AT PETROGLYPH 
We are also located about 30 miles southeast of the Oscura Mountain range which helped contain the blast of our world’s FIRST ATOMIC BOMB on July 16th 1945.  The actual Trinity bomb site is about 60 or 70 miles from us as the crow fly’s.  Only open to the public twice a year.  Glad I was in Ontario at that time because that would have woke me up for sure.  I was just over 9 months old and about 1,800 miles away:))

I kind of got my Mountain Ranges mixed up in Friday’s post.  Always a bit difficult sitting down with my Atlas and magnifying glass at the end of a day trying to sort out mountain tops.  Luckily, I have a few Westerners like Ed and Red who keep pretty close tabs on my accuracy.  Red from over in California writes, “BTW you came off the West side of the White Mountains a sub range of the Sacramento mountains. The Capitan mountains are the only mountain range ,that I am aware of that runs West to East, They are only about 20 miles long and about six miles wide. When you drop off the mountains on US 380 you are almost at the junction of the White Mountains and the Sacramento Mountains. You are parked at the West base of the White Mountains. If you were in Alamogordo you would be at the base of the Sacramento Mountains.”

There are 21,000 petroglyphs here at the site  where we are are camped.  By the way, Pictographs are painted on rock & Petroglyphs are carved into the rock and that is the difference between the two.  We did our best to find all 21,000 Petroglyphs this morning but only managed to see about 50 or 75 maybe.  The numerous petroglyphs are scattered along a windswept ridge for about half a mile with a rugged trail leading through them.  This is the most Petroglyphs we have ever seen in one location.   We saw a bunch at ‘Painted Rock’ near Gila Bend in Arizona about 4 years ago but nothing like here.

For anyone interested in Petroglyphs you can see more of my morning’s photos here at my Picasa Album site….THREE RIVERS PETROGLYPHS
It has been one week now since leaving home and the crew is still working away at adjusting to the change of traveling.  New routines have to be established.  Different ways of doing things are slowly falling into place.  It can be quite a challenge swapping one’s at home hat for one’s traveling hat.  But, we’re getting there and things are falling into place.  All part of being a Snow Bird.

NO, NOT A PETROGLYPH…..JUST MY LOVELY WIFE KELLY:))
Came across this short post from WTTCS in the RV Net Forum this morning.  Made me think of our single travelers here in Blog Land and the sadness they have had to endure in pursuing the RV Lifestyle after a beloved traveling companion is gone.  I especially liked CRBuck’s response to Wttcs which incidentally stands for "wacky tacky traveling circus show."

Miss Lazee has just joined the Bunch as our latest Blog Follower.  Welcome aboard Miss Lazee.  Miss Lazee’s site is called, THE PRINCESS AND THE COWBOY.  Y’all might find it humorously interesting how this full time RV couple ever stayed together long enough to get their RV dreams off the ground in the first place:))

THIS IS A WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBLE SPOT FOR FOLKS TO SEE SOME OF THE PETROGLYPHS FROM THEIR WHEELCHAIRS THROUGH BINOCULARS.
In the morning we are going to head north up the Tularosa Valley to a place called VALLEY OF FIRES for a look around.  No idea about Verizon coverage there so if you don’t see a blog Sunday night it just simply means we do not have a connection.  I will do a blog anyway and post it as soon as we get back on-line.

PHEEBS AND I HIKED TO THE TOP OF THIS HILL TODAY
GROANER’S CORNER:((  A woman becomes ill at home, and her husband calls 911 to get an ambulance. The operator says she'll send someone out right away.
"Where do you live?" the operator asks.
"At the end of Eucalyptus Drive," says the anxious husband.
"Can you spell that for me?" the operator asks.
There is a long pause. Finally the man says, "How about if I drag her over to Oak Street and you can pick her up there?"
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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.

A HARROWING MOTORHOME DRIVE OVER MINGUS MOUNTAIN IN NOVEMBER OF 2007

A WINDY STORM TOSSED LAKE HURON ALONG BAYFIELD ONTARIO’S SHORELINE

RV NET is our favorite website for keeping tabs on the pulse of the traveling RV public & it's the place to go with all your RV questions, curiosities, & comments regarding the lifestyle.  Many topics in the forums & any RV problems you have can be answered here by fellow RV folks.  Always people ready to lend a helping hand.  There is no cost to join the site, just register & away you go.  We've been members since 2002. 

ALL THESE BAYFIELD HARBOR BOATS WILL SOON HAVE TO COME OUT OF THE WATER FOR THE WINTER

It was while I was perusing through some of the topics yesterday morning that I came across a post from some folks thinking of buying their first RV. They were trying to decide on what length of an RV to buy.  The fellow mentioned that he didn't want an RV that was too long or it might limit them to certain parks & he didn't want to get into towns or places that were too small to get his RV out of.  He mentioned the MINGUS MOUNTAIN  town of Jerome, Arizona as an example & that immediately reminded me of an accidental wrong turn & harrowing ride we had over Mingus Mountain right smack dab into the narrowed streets of Jerome on November 26th of 2007 with our 33 foot motorhome.  Our blog for that day is HERE & the photos I took while trying to squeeze through the streets of Jerome & still leave some paint on the rig are HERE.  Additional pictures of Jerome, Arizona are HERE.

SQUEEZING THE MOTORHOME THROUGH THE STREETS OF JEROME, ARIZONA

When we think of Autumn we generally thing of falling Autuman leaves, & that's a common thought.........unless you live in a pine forest!!  Before moving here we never thought of pine trees dropping their needles in the fall.  Not all of them of course, but a lot of them.  Always a big huge pine needle clean-up in the sping.  It is windy here to-day & it almost looks like a lite snowfall with all the pine needles falling from the trees.

THE YELLOW PINE NEEDLE  ROAD IN FRONT OF OUR HOUSE

Had a few questions about yesterday's Ikea blog & the furniture we bought there for the motorhome.  A resounding 'yes' to the question about whether the furniture has worked out well & do we still like it. 

POANG CHAIR….2008	VERY HAPPY WITH EVERYTHING
THE PAINTING BEGINS	BORREGO SPRINGS 09

ONE PICTURE SHOWS MAX RESTING ON A BIG CHAIR IN THE CORNER….THAT CHAIR FOLDS OUT INTO THE  COMFORTABLE SINGLE BED LITTLE CORA IS SITTING ON

While boondocking east of Sierra Vista last winter we met a fellow on RV Net who worked on the army base at Fort Huachuca.  We called him Sergeant John.   The ‘Sarge’  & his wife Jackie live in the little town of Elfrida.  They are an RV couple & the Sarge’s hobby is his 2 Hudson Hornet cars.  They have traveled to many car rallies over the years & I think John may have been President of the Hudson Hornet Car Club at one time.  The photo album below shows the Sarge’s cars in storage at his home.

View Full Album

It has turned out to be a very windy & gray rainy day but I did manage to slip over to the lake earlier & grab a few photos before the rains returned.

THE FISHING BOATS EVEN STAYED IN HARBOR TO-DAY

A VIEWPOINT AT BAYFIELD’S PIONEER PARK OVERLOOKING LAKE HURON & THE BEACH BELOW

GROANER’S CORNER:((  The nicest thing about the future is that it always starts tomorrow.

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

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

DECIDED TO FINALLY READ MY CAMERA MANUALS

WE HAVE SOME MIGHTY STRANGE BIRDS IN OUR OUTSIDE JUNGLE THIS YEAR:))

The first order of day this morning was to load up the two big furry swamp hogs & take them to the beach & ker-plunk them in the lake. Although I hosed them down yesterday after our romp in the Hullett Marsh they still had mud caked in their fur this morning. They love swimming in the lake anyway so it was a pleasant start to their day. DEERPARK LODGE BEACH THIS MORNING GETTING THE MUCK OFF THE TWO SWAMP HOG DOGS

Took the motorhome to Goderich yesterday morning & added some fresh gas to the tank. Sitting for months at a time is not a good thing & I try to take if for a run at least once a month. It always starts right up & runs like a top. It's like it's namesake.....Workhorse. It just wants to get back on the road & do what is was designed to do........work!! We are going to have to make a big financial decision about tires in a couple of months. They are in reasonably good shape but they are the rigs original aging tires & time is running out for them. There is a brake re-call on these motorhome models too but after reading all the politics & problems on RV NET around the issue I'm not sure what we'll do about the problem. So many pros & cons regarding the recall. Why can't people just make things right in the first place!!SPLISH SPLASH I WAS TAKING A BATH!HEY, THROW ME A BAR OF SOAP WILL YA!! WELL, WHADDYA THINK HUH

Been spending some time with my camera manuals over the past few days. Figured it's about time I understood how these darn fangled things work. I'm finally getting a little bored with the "automatic" settings & the time has come to kick it up a notch. The cameras are cable of doing amazing things if one takes the time to figure out just how to make them do that. The more I read the more muddled I get but out of that muddleness sometimes comes.....lightbulb moments. I've had a few of those lately so that has been just enough to encourage me to not give up & put the manuals down. You may start to see some oddball photos emerging in the blog but they will just be a result of my experimention into a more creative area of photography using some, "new found knowledge & equipment:))" Am hoping to aim for a little more quality & a little less quantity The only photos taken on "automatic" to-day were the 2 beach pictures. THIS IS OUR CEMEMT BIRD BATH COMPLETE WITH WAVES & AN ASTILBE FLOWER IN THE BACKGROUND

With envy I read LAURIE & ODEL'S blog this morning & could identify with their stirring hitch itch feelings. Quite simply, after being camped in one spot for awhile, it's that urge to hitch up your trailer or car & move on down the road in search of greener pastures & new adventures. Not all RV'ers get hitch itch but for those of us who do, it is what RVing is all about. I have always had the travel bug & that gnawing hitch-itch feeling just kind of follows me around each & every day. These past few RVing years have been great but they have left me extremely restless during our time at home here in Ontario. Most folks are content to stay put, secure in their daily routines, family priorities, job commitments, etc. Nothing wrong with that unless your like me & suffer from the affliction of.........hitch-itch!! DON'T KNOW WHAT THIS FLOWER IS BUT IT WAS GROWING AT THE FOOT OF THE BIRD BATH

GROANER'S CORNER: Did you hear about the snail that got beat up by two turtles? At the police station they asked him, “Did you get a good look at the turtles that did this? He said, “No, it all happened so fast.”

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