A GOOD FLUSH, A GOOD BURG, LOTS OF BIRDS, AND WILL IT BE TRUTH OR WILL IT BE CONSEQUENCES:))

HERE’S THE GUYS CHECKING OUT ALL THE SAND HILL CRANES AT BOSQUE del APACHE NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE TODAY
I don’t know how Pheebs does it but last night she somehow quietly sneaked up onto my narrow bed and without disturbing me snuggled up with her head on my pillow.  She is just the bestest dog:))   

A RAIN CLOUD MOVING ACROSS THE DESERT FLOOR MONDAY
After Monday’s blustery weather it was sure nice to see the sun climb into a clear blue cloudless sky this morning.  Didn’t spend a lot of time on the Shaw Direct satellite system because I didn’t want to start the day off on the wrong foot.  We’ll try again later but we did find out last night that the cable going into one of 4 locations on the LMB was plugged into the wrong port .

VALLEY OF FIRES RAIN STORM COMING THROUGH
It was time to dump tanks this morning before leaving Valley Of Fires and after last week’s black tank fiasco I must admit I was feeling like a very nervous skydiver sitting at the open door of a plane waiting to jump.  A skydiver might be trying to convince himself to ‘jump, jump, jump.’  I was trying to convince myself to, ‘pull the lever, pull the lever, pull the lever.’  I had checked the hose connection carefully this time, checked it twice and triple checked it about 76 dozen times.  Pulled the gray tank lever first just to get a good burst into the hose to see if it would hold.  It did.  Was wishing I was wearing a Haz-Mat (hazard materials) suit but….here goes,  ‘JUMP!!’  Ka-Whoooooosh, away went the soup into the Rhino soup tube and right on down into the big soup tank in the ground.  A successful mission.  Conclusion…My black tank crash last week resulted from pilot error and not from an equipment failure…….10-4:))

OK, HERE GOES……KA-WHOOOOOOOSH
I managed to get myself a little smarter this time by dumping the tanks before having a shower and not after:))  It was soooo great having a long hot shower in an area larger than a small clothes closet.  Enough room in the shower stall for half a dozen people but I was quite happy to be all myself.  And a nice clean and heated washroom too with enough space for a game of floor hockey…now how nice is that.

BOSQUE del APACHE NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE
And, a few parting thoughts about Valley Of Fires.  Would highly recommend this place.  RV sites are scenic and spacious with water and electricity available on many sites.  Modern washrooms, dump station and a staffed Visitor’s center.  And yes there is a looping turn around road at the south end of the Park but if you have to dump tanks do it on the way in if you can and that will save you having to get your rig turned around to line up with the dump station.  The Lava Flow walk is well worth it.  Take your time, read the reader boards and don’t forget to take a brochure with you to read the numbered viewing sites.  It’s a loop walk so do it from left to right to keep your numbers in sequence.

We rolled out of Valley Of Fires and headed west on highway 380 with just a beautiful looking New Mexico morning going on.  Rolling hills spotted with Juniper trees passed by as we made our way over hill and dale heading for the little town of San Antonio.  It was a great morning as the horses in our Damon Workhorse Motor Home pulled a little extra hard getting us up and over a few grades.  At 10:20 we crossed the Rio Grand and minutes later we were seated in the Owl Bar and Café.  We had read somewhere about the hamburgers served here so we popped in and had us a couple home made burgs.  And, as advertised, they were yummy.

 
WAITING FOR OUR BURGS AND CAN YOU SPOT THE YELLOW ‘BAYFIELD BUNCH’ CARD PINNED TO THE WALL JUST ABOVE THE STARS IN THE AMERICAN FLAG
San Antonio is one of those dusty little western towns and consists of one intersection and maybe a couple dozen buildings.  We slipped south through the intersection and headed 9 miles on a narrow road to the BOSQUE del APACHE NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE.  Stopped into the visitor center first to make sure a Motor Home our size would be able to do the 12 mile Refuge tour.   Yep said the guy, no problem.

 

Twenty minutes later Kelly showed her ‘America The Beautiful’ card at the pay booth and saved us $5.  Spent the next hour driving slowly along the dirt roads throughout the Refuge.  There’s quite an extensive irrigation system flowering throughout the Park feeding the many ponds and small lakes.  Forests of Golden Cottonwood trees create a natural habitat for the many forms of bird life we saw.  Sand Hill Cranes were in abundance as were thousands of white Geese.  We even came across a small herd of Javelinas (wild pigs) making their way across a field through a flock of Sand Hill Cranes.  It is these Javelina’s here in the southwest that we fear the most because they can easily kill a dog.  We didn’t have to worry as much last year because Max and Checkers were too old and well beyond chasing Javelinas.  But, fireball Pheebs would be right after them.  Yes, it is a big worry for us.
     
We would definitely recommend the Bosque del Apache to anyone with an interest in wildlife and birds.  This is a big Refuge and I noticed in the Visitor’s Center they had a poster up looking for help.  We noticed well over a dozen RV’s parked close together behind the Visitor’s Center and wondered if maybe they were all volunteer workers.
  

SAND HILL CRANES
From the National Wildlife Refuge we headed back through San Antonio, picked up I-25 heading south and put the hammer down for another familiar place of ours….Truth Or Consequences. 

SOUTHBOUND ON I-25 FOR TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES
We did an overnighter here last year on our way to the ranch and in March of 08 we spent nearly a week here.  First stop was Wal-Mart for groceries and then it was off to the quiet little Elephant Butt Recreation Damn Site.  This is a quiet out of the way little place right on the banks of the Rio Grande River.  Tucked away in a tiny valley below the damn it has maybe a dozen or more Casitas to park beside.  An old fish hatchery sits at the end of the road and there are many birds in the trees along the river.  Just another one of those quiet little spots the Bayfield Bunch loves so much.

We have 4 antennae TV channels and we do have a spotty Verizon connection.  This blog may publish or it may not.  Right now we are keeping a very close eye on the weather because it looks like some major rain may be headed our way over the next couple days.  We may roll right on out of here or we may hang in for a day or two.

RV LIFESTYLE AS FULL TIMERS have joined the ‘Bunch’ as our latest Blog Followers. Welcome, and nice to have you along folks.

GROANER’S CORNER:((  A friend hosted a dinner party for people from work and everyone was encouraged to bring their children.
All during the sit-down dinner one co-worker's three-year-old girl stared at the man sitting across from her.
The man tried his best to just ignore her, but finally it was too much for him. He asked her ,"Why are you staring at me?"
Everyone at the table had noticed her behavior and the table went quiet for her response.
The little girl said, "I just want to see how you drink like a fish!"
---------------------------------------------------------------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.

RESTING UP AS THE SEASON DRAWS TO A CLOSE

 

I’M THINKING THIS IS A HOUSE FINCH

And as another Christmas slides into the history books I breath a smiling sigh of relief & close the book on another season.  We talked this morning about heading off somewhere on a day trip but just didn't get it pulled to-gether.  Stayed on the ranch just relaxing & catching some rays.  Kelly spent time on the computer looking at real estate properties & prices in & around the Tucson area & I cleaned up some donkey do-do's in the corral.  Them there donkeys sure do do-do a lot!!

<< DOGS, DOGS, EVERYWHERE

Ever wonder how a herd of mosquitoes could hold back a truck??  Check Barneys, OLD FAT MAN'S ADVENTURES:))

Have been asked about that Christmas collage I put to-gether Christmas Eve & posted in the blog.  We had a few strings of chili lights plus a 40' section of rope lighting that we picked up really cheap at Wal-Mart a few days ago.  Kelly strung the lights in an apple tree beside the motorhome in the afternoon.  Plugged them in when it got dark & while sitting in my chair looking out the window I had myself an idea.  Took a few pictures through the screened window & by focusing on the screen itself & not the lights I was able to get that crosshair look with the out of focus lights in the background.  Slipped outside & took a few more unfocused & focused pictures.  Two of them in the collage actually have the night's half moon in them.  A few photos with the rig in the background completed the project.  Opened up my Picasa Editing program, did some cropping, enhanced some colors, threw in a couple special effects & clicked on the Collage button.  A bit of photo re-organizing in there & it was done.  In hindsight I wished I had thought to put our blogsite profile photos in as well.  Oh well, there's always next year.

  

KELLY PUTTING UP SOME CHRISTMAS LIGHTS THURSDAY

Ray had an interesting post on his Monday's QCC blog about photo manipulation & that kinda got me to thinking.  I'm sure there are two schools of thought on this & it boils down to the age old question of, what is art & where & how is it done??  I think there are very few professional photographers out there who do not run their fine photos through their very professional photo programs.  These people are making a living with their photographs & it's an extremely competitive field.  You have got to be the best of the best & if photos have to be enhanced & manipulated to reach the final end product for sale, then so be it & that is what is done.  But, that's the professional guys so we'll leave all that wrangling to them.

   

BIRDS IN OUR APPLE TREE BESIDE THE RIG

Having worked in the photo finishing business for awhile back in the mid 80's I understand a few things about enhancing & manipulating prints because I had to do it almost every day for people.  Now, I'm going back a few years before the digital age when everything was done on film.  Mainly 35mm, 126, & 110 film formats.  I worked for & managed a one hour photo finishing store in Stratford, Ontario.  I spent many countless hours sitting at one end of a large photo processing machine printing thousands & thousands of people's films day after day.  Most of it was 35mm.  If the processing chemicals in either the film or paper processing machines wasn't exactly correct it effected the quality of the prints in the end.  Could be as subtle as a color shift on the cyan or magenta side giving the prints a cool or warmer look than was actually the case when the person took the picture therefore unintentionally manipulating the prints color.  If the color print filters in the printer were not calibrated correctly each & every morning the prints once again were going to be 'off!!'  

 

CATCHING A FEW RAYS BY THE POOL TO-DAY

The printing machine itself was programmed to automatically adjust for each & every negative but in the end it's just a machine & that final decision as the film negative passed in front of the person doing the printing could be overridden by the printer person.  As I sat there hour after hour I would have to make snap decisions on each & every negative whether to override the machine or let it go.  As long as the negative was correctly exposed the machine did a great job but if a light or dark negative popped into the frame carrier I generally overrode the machine to try & compensate for the over exposed or underexpose negative.  In other words I manipulated a lot of prints everyday to make them look as good as I possible could.  Sometimes at the counter when people were picking up their prints they might comment on a particular picture saying how nice it turned out.  They didn't realize that in effect they had over or underexposed it but the person at the printer had caught the mistake & corrected it making it acceptable.

 

CAN YOU SEE THE FIGURE IN THE CLOUDS…..

Out of habit I work with every photo I take.  I crop a bit here, I enhance a color there, add some contrast for a darker effect, maybe add some yellow to warm up a sunset, or put a hint of color into a cloudy gray sky.  The camera cannot exactly reproduce the colors your eye sees.  Many times looking at a sunset I am seeing subtle shades & shadows.  I am seeing either soft or brilliant colors & hues.  Quite often when I load those photos into my computer I am not seeing exactly what I really saw & so begins the work of remembering that photo how I actually saw it.   The free Picasa Photo Editing program although not at the level of the expensive professional photo programs does a fine job for folks like myself who are not professionals but want their photos to look as good as they can with as little work as possible.  You can bring those dull colors to life, add a soft focus, give it a black & white effect or use any of a couple dozen other enhancements.  No, you can't put Aunt Sally's head on Uncle Charlie's masculine frame or drop the grandkids into a dogsled at the North Pole but you can, with a little bit of work, make your photos look a whole lot better.  Picasa is so perfectly suited to the blogger crowd for sure & if you enjoy seeing this beautiful world through a cameral like I do then you will take the time to reproduce your photos the same way I do:))

GROANER'S CORNER:((  I've often wondered why Kamikaze pilots ever bothered to wear helmets!!

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.

GREAT GALLOPING GOBS OF GHOSTLY CRANES

A glance out the window early this morning told me it had been a frosty night. Rays of sun breaking over the Swiss Helm mountains cast an eerie yellowish  pastel glow over the valley through a low hanging bank of fog. The day later dawned clear as a bell & all the magic mushroom like clouds of the past couple days were gone. The big blue Arizona sky was back.....and so were the welcome cooler temperatures:))

There was a continuous sound coming from high overhead that lasted the whole morning. Great soaring formations of Sand Hill Cranes circled on the air currents rising to heights only seen with binoculars. Round & round they went on the thermals. Some formations sweeping in one direction would intersect with other formations going the opposite way. The sky was alive with a 'weebling' sound. It never let up. At times the birds appeared dark against the blue sky & other times as they swooped into a turn the sun backlit the whole feathery flock giving them a massive ghostlike appearance. Laying back in a chair with my 8 x 50 binoculars I was reminded of film clips I've seen about the Battle of Britain. Formations of Cranes looked like squadrons of British Spitfires spiraling, diving, tightly turning with near collisions, & close formation flying. Some flew in large groups, others as pairs intermingled with single flyers. Some groups criss-crossed others, some followed, & some seemed to make head on passes. And all the time came the steadily weebling sound from the sky.  There was a definite intelligence in the air & it was an entertaining morning with a grand stand seat to a free & well co-coordinated air show.

RICK had another very informative post this morning talking about Verizon (& other) air card usage & how to wisely keep from blowing through the monthly 5 Gig cap. I suggest anyone using an air card read Rick's blog & file it away for future reference. In last night's blog I had mentioned about listening to Old Time Radio on Saturday nights but I don't do that while we're on the road because streaming audio like that really chews through the bytes. I only do that while at home with the desk top computer. 

Going to keep this blog short. One day to go before we roll into a new Verizon coverage month & then we will start anew putting some of Rick's air card tips into play.

Sorry about the quality of the Sand Hill Crane photos.  I was trying to stretch my 200mm lens with a 2TX converter & the results were less than poor:((

GROANER'S CORNER:(( I once worked in the woods as a Lumberjack, but I just couldn't hack it, so they gave me the axe!!

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.

BIG WINDS & STORMY SKYS IN THE VALLEY

 

WATCHFUL EYES OVER THE MULE MOUNTAINS

(click on the photographs to enlarge them)

Knew for sure we were definitely in Arizona last night when big walloping wind gusts tried their best to totally re-locate us some distance east of where we presently are.  People in sticks & bricks houses wouldn't be aware of the wind unless they saw branches blowing by but if your in an RV it's akin to being in a wind tunnel.  The rig rocks, the slide awnings flap, & every square corner sets up it's screaming banshee sound.  Needless to say this is not at all very conducive to a good night's sleep.

 

BLACK CLOUDS IN WIND BLUSTERING MORNING

Converging weather fronts brought in a tangled mass of angry looking clouds & the day dawned with a moody determination.  Bright blue sunny days are nice but it takes clouds to give the sky a fuming personality & dark ominous clouds are my fav.  Took some photos & would have taken many more but it was Yoga morning & I couldn't really come up with a good legitimate excuse not to attend my first class this morning.   All the way to the Elfrida Community Center my eyes were on the sky watching Mother Nature's wonders at work.  The cloud shadows & sun splashes on the mountains were inspiring.

SILOUETTED SOUTH END OF THE SWISS HELM MOUNTAINS AT SUNRISE THIS MORNING

Looked to be about a dozen ladies gathered around in a large circle with chairs & mats when we walked in to the Elfrida Community Center at 9 this morning.  David, an instructor from Bisbee welcomed us to the group & it wasn't long & I was seated in a white chair with a purple floor mat at my feet.  I immediately knew I was going to be more comfortable here than the exercise class when David dimmed the lights.  I am not a bright lights kind of guy.  The first minute was spent in a relaxation mode.  Now, this was my kind of exercise.  The instructor had a soft voice as we went through a series of stretches with closed eyes.  The closed eyes part really worked for me because I was able to drift off down memory lane making some now & then comparisons.  My mind took me back 44 years ago to my days in boot camp at a naval base in Canada called Cornwallis.  How different my body now as I sat there in this dimmed room trying to do even the simplest of stretches.  Where once I scrambled up & down 30 foot ropes, drilled for hours on parade grounds, ran for miles on cross country runs, & did a whole host of improbable physical things, I now found it hard to simply bend a knee joint to reach the floor or raise a leg to an even level while in a seated chair.  I was on the floor, on my back, & found that hard.  I was on my stomach & that didn't work well either.  Mashed my face into the purple mat.  The only thing that finally worked for me was when after an hour & a half I heard Yoga instructor David say, "and now for our final move.......:))"

 

ANGRY WIND TOSSED SKYS

Elfrida has a community garden just behind their community hall so after the Yoga class we took a walk over there to have us a look see.  Yes, I was still able to walk after the class.  This plot of garden land is made free to the local people & seeds are provided.  Each person or family is given a tower or in Canada we'd call it a raised bed with screened soil where they can plant their seeds.  Two spacious greenhouses are filled with strawberry plants.  A large earth oven has been built as well as a small pond with seating benches.  We saw rows of onions & a long patch where peanuts had been grown.  A band of roving chickens kept an eye on us as we strolled under an arbor that might have been grapes at one time.  Gourds had grown up along a fence line & were hanging loosely for anyone to pick.  What we thought were corn stalks turned out to be sugar cane.  A Mexican caretaker fellow shoveled soil through a screen in another greenhouse as his boombox belted out Mexican tunes.  We talked with a couple of ladies who had walked over from the Yoga class.  Eve lives here in the valley near McNeal but has property in Nova Scotia as well.  Another lady was visiting from England.

View Full Album

Wind gusts had picked up in intensity & when we arrived back at the ranch two of our tables were blown over & our Star Choice television satellite dish was on the ground with the dish pointing straight up in the air like a turtle on it's back.  I immediately assumed the worse figuring the electronics in the LMB arm would be shattered & we would never ever be able to watch television again in this lifetime.  Set the tri-pod back up, re-mounted the dish in the high winds, made a few slight adjustments & had Kelly turn on the TV inside.  When I moved the dish slightly & saw Oprah Winfreys face fill the screen I knew that all would be right with the world again because Kelly would have her Oprah show back.  Whewwwww, close call for me!!  I then staked the tri-pod legs to the ground & suspended a heavy jug of water under the tri-pod center for added weight.  I then re-positioned the car close to the dish to act as a wind break.  It's nearly 7 p.m. now & so far so good.

DARK CLOUDS OVER THE GLEESON MOUNTAINS

Rest of the afternoon was spent inside because every time we stepped out the door we were practically blown right off our feet into the next county.  We occasionally have strong winds in Ontario but they are not like the big winds that sweep out of the mountains in the southwest & come screaming across the desert floor to turn your whole world upside down right quick!!

SAND HILL CRANES LOW TO THE GROUND STRUGGLE AGAINST THE WIND TO-DAY

Later in the afternoon I stood outside & watched as thousands of Sand Hill Cranes struggled against the massive wind gusts on the way back from their feeding grounds at the north end of the valley.  They were heavy with the days intake & at times were motionless in the sky only to be pushed back by the winds.  They reminded me of salmon struggling upstream against the onslaught of relentless rushing waters.  Great flocks of birds were down low to the ground trying to escape the wind shears.  They came low over the ranch house & dropped even lover as they hugged the ground heading for their nightly roosts another 2 miles south of here.  It's dark now as I'm typing this & yet I can hear them overhead trying to get home.  Usually they are all back well before dark.....but, not to-night.  I'm sure there will be some for which there will be no sunrise.............

ANOTHER 2 MILES & THEY WILL BE HOME

And welcome to new bloggers &  friends JEAN and RAY from Gleeson Arizona and their website QUIET COUNTRY CREATIONS

GROANER'S CORNER:((  I once had a job in an Orange Juice  factory, but I got canned..... I couldn't concentrate.

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

A GREAT CHATTERING FROM THE SKY

FULL MOON SETTING THIS MORNING

The frost encrusted car told us we had a cold morning going on outside so right from the get go we jumped into our warm winter Canadian clothes. No snow on the mountains this morning but it felt like we were parked right next to a big iceberg somewhere.

We didn't waste anytime getting our rounds down stopping only briefly to talk to Jeanie & Ray who were likewise dressed in warm clothes. The chickens had their toques on & the big four legged guys were wearing heavy woolen scarves, furry ear muffs, & matching hooves mittens. All the dogs refused to suit up saying they thought the donkeys looked ridiculous in their matching attire.

THE RANCH

Jeanie & Ray headed off to Sierra Vista later to find some extra parts for a new water heater they were putting in. We hung around the rig mainly staying in out of the cold wind. It was around noon when I noticed there was a steady sound in the air outside. This sound continued steadily until around 3 in the afternoon & never let up. It was the thousands & thousands of Sand Hill Cranes returning from their morning feeding grounds. There must have been a lot of gossip going on to-day because there was an awful lot of chatter coming out of the sky. Noticed that they were flying much higher than in previous days & the flocks seemed a lot larger. They seemed like mere specks against the blue sky. Sat in one of the lounge chairs for awhile with my binoculars watching wave after wave go over. I could tell there were many small groups within the larger groups. Sometimes only 3 or 4 birds in a single group. Sometimes single birds moving around in the flock. And the flocks weren't always going in the same direction. Sometimes they would circle around & merge with another flock. Sometimes small groups would break away going in the opposite direction. And all the time was the constant chatter. It's more of a weeble than a honk. HIGH FLYING CRANES TO-DAY

In the coming weeks we hope to check out some very interesting places in the area. The Texas John Slaughter Ranch east of Douglas, the alpine like village of Bisbee in the Mule mountains. Cochise's stronghold in the Dragoon mountains, Geronimo's surrender point in Skeleton Canyon, ghost towns Gleeson & Pearce, just to mention a few. Was feeling a little under the weather to-day so hope I'm not coming down with a nasty case of chickenpecks!! YEP, WE'RE ON A RANCH ALRIGHT

To-night's DVD was, Amazing Grace. Based on the true story of Wiliam Wilberforce & his quest to end the British slave trade. An inspiring movie & well done. Liked this one:))

No photos for the web album to-day. OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/