SAID GOOD-BYE TO UNCLE HARRY TODAY UNTIL NEXT SPRING

IT WAS NEARLY A YEAR AGO WE SPENT A COUPLE NIGHTS AT RUSTY'S RV RANCH  NEAR RODEO NEW MEXICO UNDER THE WATCHFUL GAZE OF ARIZONA’S LEGENDARY CHIRICAHUA MOUNTAINS

Out of our last 6 border crossings into the States we have been singled out 3 times for so called 'agriculture checks.'  This involves having to disembark the rig (dog's too) and wait outside in the cold while custom inspectors go through your stuff.  This is followed by a long wait at the end of a constantly growing line of people until you find yourself at a counter inside a building with an often as not grumpy custom's officer firing questions at you.  This is never a pleasant experience (generally an hour) from start to finish and is the main reason we always dread border crossings.  We have been free of those border checks for 2 years in a row now but will our luck hold Saturday morning at our Port Huron border crossing or will we be randomly singled out again!!  We'll see...........

PLAYING A GAME OF ‘STICKS’ WITH MAX, CHECKERS AND CORA A YEAR AGO TODAY AT AN IOWA REST STOP

One year ago tonight we overnighted in a little county park in Lindsborg, Kansas on our way west and the following night we made it to Dalhart, Texas.  It is sad when I look back in my blog to that time a year ago and see all my photos of Max and Checkers each day happily traveling along on their way west with us.  Little did we suspect that 5 short months later neither one of the guys would be with us anymore.  Very sad.

<<< TOOK THIS EARLY MORNING SUNRISE PHOTO THROUGH THE WINDSHIELD OF THE RIG SOMEWHERE IN SOUTHERN IOWA A YEAR AGO

Been toying with the idea of hooking the utility trailer up to the back of the Jeep behind the Motorhome.  Why?  So I can take my treasured recliner with me:))  Ok, just joking about that but I consider recliners to be one of the greatest inventions of modern history.  I do love my big cushy recliner but it's way too big for the Motor Home.  First spotted it sitting quietly amongst a bunch of other recliners in a Sears 'Outlet' store in London Ontario about 6 years ago.  Walked over to it, sat myself in it and pulled the wooden reclining leaver to stretch myself out into full blown comfort.  It was love at first snuggle.  Half an hour later we had the chair in our mini-van heading for home.  Me and my Buddy have been nearly inseparable ever since.

LAST YEAR’S MORNING DOGGY WALK AT RUSTY'S RV RANCH

I sleep in it, sometimes eat in it, write portions of my blog in it, snuggle with the doggy guys in it, catch daily catnaps in it and just generally spend too much quality time in it.  Kelly has sometimes threatened to have me taken to the hospital and have the recliner and I surgically separated.  Sometimes there are furry critters sleeping in it and keeping it warm for when I get there.   From my control center recliner I can open and close our patio door for the guys when coming in or going out.  I can clearly check the daily temperature on a tree outside the window and of course have full control over TV and Stereo systems via remotes conveniently located on a renovated marble topped cabinet/table out of a Phaeton Motor Home.  I can answer the telephone from my recliner and reach one of my Canon cameras for impromptu doggy photos or easily slip out of it onto the floor for a game of doggy toys with the guys.  Yep, I'm going to miss my good old cushy recliner Pal alright and on our return in the Spring it is one of the first things I tend to reunite with when coming into the house.  I look forward to that big huge sigh of relief as I blissfully sink into the welcoming and enveloping arms of my dear old friend:)) 

ROLLING THROUGH HUTCHINSON KANSAS NOVEMBER 10TH 2010

I always carry a 'pruners' with me on our morning walks for trimming back small branches or tall weeds along the forest path. For three years now I have used the blue handled cutters in the photo below. I even take these cutters to the southwest with me each year and carry them on our mountain hikes sometimes trimming back any protruding or low hanging branches growing across the trail.  

MY BLUE HANDLED PRUNERS ARE NEVER TOO FAR FROM MY SIDE WHEN OUT ON THE TRAIL
Jerry's post over at OUR LIFE ON WHEELS was of particular interest to me today.  I totally understand Jerry and Suzy feeling a need to prioritize things and go with the necessary and welcome changes in their busy lives.   They have decided to change some of their blogging habits and I understand why.  I always find the topic of blogging interesting and I always enjoy reading people's thoughts regarding blogs or blogging.

KELLY SAYS GOOD-BYE TO UNCLE HARRY TODAY

We slipped over to Mitchell Ontario this morning to see my Uncle Harry and say good-bye before we leave Saturday.   He's doing pretty good and we feel comfortable that he will be fine over this upcoming winter season.  He is in good hands at the Ritz Villa.  He sure is going to miss Pheebe though.  Uncle Harry always has been a caring 'dog person':))

I REMEMBER HOW GREAT IT FELT LAST YEAR ON NOVEMBER 12TH TO FINALLY BE STANDING IN THE SHADOW OF THE MIGHTY CHIRICAHUA MOUNTAINS ONCE AGAIN

GROANER'S CORNER:((  A State legislator is awakened in the middle of the night by his wife, who whispers, "I think there's a thief in the house."
"Not in the House, my dear," her husband says. "Perhaps in the Senate, but not in the House."

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OUR FIRST HIKE INTO THE CHIRICAHUA MOUNTAINS

THE VIEW FROM CATHEDRAL VISTA

It felt so great to step out of the motorhome this morning into the predawn dusk & wait for the sun to rise over the Peloncilla mountains.  Hadn't been outside for a sunrise since leaving the ranch last March.  Not a sound in the campground except for a few birds shaking off the sandman.  Always felt this was the finest part of any day to be outside & enjoy the wonders around us.  A quiet time.  A time for reflection.  A time for appreciation.

SUNRISE ON THE CHIRICAHUA MOUNTAINS BEHIND PORTAL ARIZONA (Photo taken from Rusty’s RV Ranch)

Took us awhile to get ourselves motivated this morning but we finally got it to-gether * headed out in the car around 8:45.  First stop was the just newly opened Chiricahua Desert Museum a few miles south of Rustys.  Met co-owner Sheri just as she was hanging out the open sign.  With husband Bob they opened the Desert Museum just four short months ago.  Everything is new & they have put themselves to-gether a fine facility.  Be sure to see my photos of their efforts.  A large reptile & amphibian room is nearing completion & Bob (Herpetologist) will be bringing the creatures back from Texas in couple weeks.  If your in the area be sure to drop in to their nature store & check out the hiking gear, nature books, gifts, paintings, sculptures, southwest jewelry, etc plus amphibian reptile room.  They also do silk screen hats & T-shirts on site.  And if all that isn't enough, Sheri & Bob have future plans for a large water garden to the south of the building.  ECO WEAR & PUBLISHING

CHIRICAHUA DESERT MUSEUM

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From the Desert Museum we drove the short 4 miles to Rodeo where breakfast had been recommended.  Stopped into the Rodeo Cafe for a good old feed of bacon & eggs.  My favorite but rarely have anymore because of the ridiculous prices most places charge these days.  But, at $5.99 we thought that was a bargoon & we both had B & E's & coffee.  And, it was a great breakfast to boot. 

PHOTO ABOVE IS FROM RUSTY’S WATER GARDEN.  APPEARS TO BE SOME FEATHERS CAUGHT ON A ROCK IN THE LITTLE STREAM

RUSTY'S RV RANCH << (click for Rusty’s website)  Having connection problems so will have to try & add Rusty’s photo album either later to-day or try again to-morrow.  I don’t think it was Live Writer causing the problems last night.  Just think it was sporadic dis-connects to the internet interupting the upload process.

Headed back up the road to Portal, Arizona & headed for the old Post Office & Library.  We had come across Portal last March when we came over the Chiricahua mountains from near McNeal on the other side.  I had taken photos of the Portal store at that time but had missed the old Post Office & Library.

LOCAL PORTAL RESIDENTS WAITING FOR THE MORNING MAIL

From Portal we drove into the Cave Creek Canyon area.  Caught a lucky break when I pulled over to take a picture of the canyon & Kelly spotted a Roadrunner in a tree right beside the car.  Finally, after 3 years I was able to grab a few pics of a real Roadrunner.  We then headed for a short hiking trail called Vista Point.  Figured we had better start out with a few easy short hikes to get our legs back into shape again.  What a great feeling it was to be out walking on a new rocky trail again surrounded by beautiful trees, mountains, & rich deep blue skies.  First trail we've been on since leaving the southwest back in the spring.  No wonder our legs felt like rubber when we got home later.

ROADRUNNER…….’meep meep’

Drove into the Sunny Flats campground again & it looked just as beautifully peaceful as it did 6 months ago when we first came across it on a day trip over the mountains.  No hook-ups here & no cell phone or internet signal.  It's a small campground with only the wind & the birds in your ears.  Took a few photos & talked to another RV couple camping there in their motorhome.  Really friendly folks who invited us in for a tour of their Georgy Boy Class A coach.  Really nice rig.....really nice people.

IN FRONT OF THE PORTAL POST OFFICE & LIBRARY

It was only 12:30 but we were already so tired we decided to head back to the rig.  We just haven't been able to tap into our energy resources since arriving from the north & we spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing & dragging ourselves around between short snoozes & dozes.  I think if I could sleep totally uninterrupted for about 3 days I might be OK.

We had fans going inside as the sun really heated things up to-day.  In fact we never spent any time in our lawn chairs at all.  Almost missed the moonrise in late afternoon but did spend some time outside as things nicely cooled down.  I will go outside later to-night & just sit quietly under the big desert moon listening to the distant coyotes.

A QUIET BENCH OUTSIDE THE PORTAL LIBRARY

We will stay one additional night here at Rusty's & then head out Wednesday morning for the short drive to the ranch just over on the other side of the Chiricahuas to the south. We're looking forward to hopefully getting ourselves caught up with our time zone dilemma as we begin phase two our trip this year......our life on the ranch:))

 

JAGGED CHIRICAHUA PROFILE (Photos taken from Rusty’s RV Ranch)

 

TO-NIGHT’S BIG DESERT MOON

GROANER'S CORNER:))  Mark, our five-year-old grandson, couldn't wait to tell his grandfather about the film we had watched on television, "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea." The scenes with the submarine and the giant octopus had kept him wide-eyed. In the middle of the telling, my husband interrupted Mark,  'What caused the submarine to sink?'   With a look of incredulity Mark replied, 'Grandpa, it was the 20,000 leaks!'

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

OCTOBER IS DEFINITELY A POPULAR BIRTHDAY MONTH & A DRIVE THROUGH THE CHIRICAHUA MOUNTAINS TO PORTAL ARIZONA IN MARCH 2009

WE MAY BE CAMPED HERE FOR A FEW DAYS IN THE SUNNY FLATS CAMPGROUND AT THE END OF THIS MONTH....NEAR PORTAL, AZ.

In SANDRA'S BLOG yesterday she mentioned the following...."Did you know that most people in the U.S. are born on October 5th? You would expect birthdays to be evenly distributed among the 365 days on a calendar. AnyBirthday.com has a database of the birthdays of more than 135 million Americas and claim that more people were born on October 5 than on any other day of the year. The reason seems to be that October 5th is approximately 9 months from New Year's Eve. Another little bit of trivia." 

NEAR PORTAL ARIZONA AT CAVE CREEK....MARCH 2009

Well, I was born in October as well so the only thing I can say about that is....."Happy New Year"  I also noticed to-day in Janna's TIN TEE PEE  blog that Mike's celebrating a birthday as well.  I offered Kelly $5 to write something nice about me like Janna did for Mike but Kelly told me to keep the $5 & go climb a tree..............:))

 NICE OLD CAR PARKED OUTSIDE THE PORTAL GENERAL STORE

Well, thanks to JERRY yesterday I did find out that in fact I do have a Google Adsense ad on our  website.  It has been hiding at the very bottom of our blog all this time & I had totally forgotten about it since thinking it had vanished a long time ago.   Must have got shuffled to the bottom of the deck at some point when I was making changes to the sidebar.  I have now moved it from it's low visibility point at the bottom to a high visibility spot just under the right side of our main header picture.  Oh geezzzzz, what am I gonna do with all this ad money rolling in now!!  Hope I can make enough to pay Jerry a finder's fee:))  Guess this also tells me I should do a little house cleaning on our website from time to time to make sure I know where things are!!

ATOP THE CHIRICAHUA MOUNTAINS ABOUT TO DESCEND INTO PORTAL

Noticed Jerry & Suzy from, OUR LIFE ON WHEELS are staying a few days at WEST RUSTY'S RV RANCH near Rodeo New Mexico right now.  We're hoping to be in that very area in about another 3 weeks.  We don't have Passport America but maybe Rusty will cut us deal anyway if & when we get there:))    Jerry mentioned they were doing a daytrip to Portal Arizona which reminded me of our trip over the Chiricahua mountain last March & down into the totally beautiful Portal area.  Our blog for that day is HERE & our photos for the day are in WEB ALBUM including lunch at the little Portal general store.............................:))

THE WINDING ROAD AHEAD

Some of you may remember I blogged awhile back about receiving a book called 'Backyard Guide To The Night Sky' from National Geographic.  I have it sitting right here on my desk but haven't read it yet.  I am now  thinking this will make a great read once we reach the ranch in Arizona.  I seem to do the majority of my reading while we are traveling.  Sitting quietly in the open desert air just seems to go hand in hand with reading for me so I'll let you know how I like the book hopefully next month while lazing away under the warm Arizona  sunshine:))

 FOLLOWING THAT WINDING DIRT ROAD THROUGH THE CHIRICAHUA MOUNTAINS

Wondered if any other 'Live Writer' users out there are having any problems with their 'link' section.  Our links are connecting OK but I'm getting error messages every time I insert a link.

THIS IS A BEAUTIFUL, BEAUTIFUL, LAND

GROANER'S CORNER:((  I just got lost in a bunch of thought & it was unfamiliar territory.

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

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