DO WE HAVE ANY 'RANCH SITTERS' OUT HERE IN RV BLOG LAND:))

FULL MOON RISING OVER THE SWISS HELM MOUNTAINS AT THE RANCH IN DEC. 09 (700mm telescope lens)

Anyone following our blog knows that we have spent the last 4 winters traveling around the American Southwest.  You will also know that we have spent some time 'ranch sitting' the past couple years as well.  When we leave Bayfield in late October we will once again head straight for the ranch which is located in Arizona's southeast corner near McNeal, Douglas & Bisbee.  Unlike last winter, we have decided to spend less time at the ranch this year & more time traveling.  We will be there from the beginning of November until mid December.

STORM CLOUDS OVER THE RANCH HOUSE

The owners of the ranch, J & R are also RV folks & again this year would like to spend the winter months doing some traveling of their own .  Another RV couple is going to take over the ranch sitting job from us from mid December to mid January.  A third RV couple & friends of ours will take over sometime in January & will stay for awhile but not sure how long yet.  That will leave part of February & all of March available.

OUR FULL HOOK-UP SITE AT THE RANCH

Workampers will probably not be interested in this because it is not a paying job. You do have full hook-ups & the security of a locked gate & a very large area with coyote proof fencing so it's a great safety factor if you have pets.  The ranch is an excellent home base for day trips in this historical southeast corner of Arizona.  Thousands of Sand Hill Cranes fly directly over the ranch every single day.  Their roosting area is only one mile south of the ranch at the, WHITEWATER DRAW WILDLIFE AREA

SUNSET ON THE PORCH

It is imperative that you understand, care for & love animals.  The ranch has about a dozen frisky chickens, 3 clever donkeys, 2 new cows, two lovable dogs (Pearce & Gleason) & Charlie the cat to look after.  The gang has to be fed twice a day & the 3 or 4 chicken eggs have to be gathered daily.  And, you will be required to milk the chickens every Saturday morning before breakfast:))

DRAGOON MOUNTAINS NORTHWEST OF THE RANCH

Douglas & Bisbee are only about a 20-25 minute drive away.  Tombstone is about a 40 minute drive & Sierra Vista is just another 15 minutes on the other side of Tombstone.  The ranch is located in the Sulphur Springs Valley & surrounded by the Dragoon, Chiricahua, Swiss Helm & Mule mountains.  And, if you haven't been to Bisbee Arizona yet, you are in for an alpine treat in an old mountain mining town.  For many photos of the ranch & surrounding area attractions just check our archives for Feb-March 2009 & again from November 09 to just about the end of January 2010.  Or, check our PICASA PHOTO ALBUMS for those same dates.

3 OF THE RANCH'S DESPERADOS'....SARAH, NELLIE & PONCHO

So, if anyone is interested in 'ranch sitting' for a spell in February & March, just let us know & we'll forward your interest to the folks at the ranch.  Preference will probably be given to anyone on our blog list that we know or have been in email contact with for awhile.  Just a little something for you Buckaroo RV'ers to think about:))

GROANER'S CORNER:((  GREAT TRUTHS THAT LITTLE CHILDREN HAVE LEARNED...................
1) No matter how hard you try, you can't baptize cats..
2) When your Mom is mad at your Dad, don't let her brush your hair.
3) If your sister hits you, don't hit her back. They always catch the second person.
4) Never ask your 3-year old brother to hold a tomato.
5) You can't trust dogs to watch your food..
6) Don't sneeze when someone is cutting your hair..
7) Never hold a Dust-Buster and a cat at the same time.
8) You can't hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk.
9) Don't wear polka-dot underwear under white shorts.
10) The best place to be when you're sad is Grandma's lap.

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Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

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

OUR BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

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

AL'S SMUG MUG PHOTO GALLERY http://stargeezer.smugmug.com/

It is not the concept of God I have a problem with.....it's his fan club that causes me grievous concern:((

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

THE RAINS HAVE ENDED…..AND NOW THE MUD!!

SNOW COVERED SWISS HELM MOUNTAINS EAST OF ELFRIDA, ARIZONA

It was still dark this morning around 5 when Max wanted to go out to do his business.  I opened the door & put my foot into something soft & cold on our bottom step.  Snow!!!!  Too dark to see how much snow but later as dawn broke I could see there was a small amount on our car but nothing on the ground.  A second look told me all the surrounding mountains had snow on them as well.  Brrrrrrrrr!!

 

A DUSTING OF ICY SNOW

Broken clouds today but lots of warming sunshine despite the cold wind that increased as the day went on.  Last year while boondocking on the banks of the San Pedro River near Sierra Vista we met a fellow working at Fort Huachuca who we named Sergeant John.  The Sarge lived in Elfrida with his wife Jackie & we visited with them at that time.  I did a post about the Sarge & his HUDSON HORNETS.  Today we dropped over for a visit with John & Jackie.  Always nice to touch base with folks you haven't seen for awhile. 

PLENTY OF SNOW ON THE DRAGOON MOUNTAINS

Rest of the day was spent around the rig.  Sometimes I jest & pooh pooh the high enders with their spotless cement slabs, acres of polished pavement, & swatches of manicured grass.  Today I was wishing we had all of the above!!  With all the rain recently we had so much mud tracked into the motorhome I was considering calling in a front end loader to haul it all away.  Luckily we travel with a good vacuum cleaner.  The first trip we made to the southwest we never thought to bring one.  Lesson learned!!

  

AND NOW WE HAVE THE MUD

I wasn't able to make much headway with the new Delorme GPS unit this afternoon but Kelly was able to plow through some early instructions & we did get a map of southern California uploaded.  Tomorrow we'll get a little smarter & put a correct map in for the actual area where we are.......southern Arizona!!  I have a feeling this GPS stuff is going to be quite a challenge for us.  Well, for me anyway:((

SNOW IN THE MOUNTAINS    (click pics to enlarge)

Tonight we have 5 contented & snoozing doggy guys in the motorhome.  It's probably a good thing we don't have our own ranch or we would probably be overwhelmed with stray critters needing a good home & lots of TLC.  Breaks my heart to see animals neglected or mistreated. 

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Some hit songs of the 60s and 70s are being revised with new lyrics to accommodate aging baby boomers. They include:

Herman's Hermits: Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Walker

The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Hip?

Bobby Darin: Splish, Splash, I Was Havin' a Flash

Ringo Starr: I Get By With a Little Help from Depends

Roberta Flack: The First Time Ever I Forgot Your Face

Johnny Nash: I Can't See Clearly Now

Paul Simon: Fifty Ways to Lose Your Liver

Commodores: Once, Twice, Three Times to the Bathroom

Marvin Gaye: I Heard it Through the GrapeNuts

Procol Harem: A Whiter Shade of Hair

Leo Sayer: You Make Me Feel Like Napping

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.

IN AWE OF THE SOUTHWEST

 

CLOUD SHADOWS DRIFT ACROSS THE SWISS HELM MOUNTAINS

I have always been in awe of the American southwest ever since my first venture to this great land in May of 1992.  That trip was done in a small Mazda pickup truck with a topper on the back to sleep under at night.  Frigid desert temperatures & all.  No matter though because the beauty of Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Montana, & northern Arizona far overcame any hardships along the way.  For the next 12 years the mountains, rivers, valleys, canyons, deserts, & endless day & night skys simmered away in my mind.  I longed to one day return to the land that I felt so comfortable & at home in.

CLOUDS SITTING ON THE MULE MOUNTAINS OVER BISBEE

In late December of 2004 a rare window of opportunity presented itself.  I was driving school bus at the time & Christmas Holidays were coming up.  With another driver filling in for me I was able to extend those holidays to 2 weeks.  Kelly had that same time frame off as well.  We had just purchased a small Class C (too small) about a month before so we quickly formulated a travel plan.  Looking at our Wal-Mart atlas I figured the closest mountains & cactus to our place in southern Ontario would be in the south end of Texas.  Big Bend National Park.  To make a long story short we jumped into our Class C & with the pedal to the metal & Max sitting between us we made a bee line for Texas.  I remember straining my eyes looking for mountain tops south of Stockton. 

SOUTHERN END OF THE DRAGOON MOUNTAINS

We were only able to spend about 5 days in Big Bend & surrounding areas before we had to race back to Canada.  But, those 5 short days clinched the deal for us in our desire to return once again to the land of mountains & canyons.  It had been Kelly's first trip to the magic land of desert sand & towering mountains & she was hooked.  As much as we loved Big Bend I knew that it wasn't enough though.  Next trip we were going to have to head further west where the whole land is mountains & canyons & not just a small part of it.  Texas is basically.......flat!!  I knew that what we saw & experienced in Big Bend we would find a hundred times over once we headed west into New Mexico, Arizona, & California.

SNOW TIPPED & CLOUD SHROUDED CHIRICAHUA MOUNTAIN RANGE

Two years later we were able to fulfill our southwest dream as we rolled into Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, & California.  We knew then that we had found our winter home & we have been returning to these States ever since.  Wouldn't even remotely consider going anywhere east of New Mexico!!  The reasons for coming to the southwest are too numerous to mention but to-day reminded me once again of why we love it so much here.

View Full Album

It was another fiery sunrise with tentacles of reds, gold, & pinks, splashing across the undersides of dark rolling clouds.    Distant mountains silouetted against the rising sun on the eastern side of the valley with slivers of light highlighting rocky tips of the Mule mountains on the western side.  As the sun climbed higher, clouds began casting their slowly moving shadows across the mountain faces & that continued for the rest of the day.  Sun splashes crossed the valley floor lighting large & small areas alike with their passing.  On our morning walk we saw clouds to the west sitting on the Mule Mountains over top Bisbee.  To the south were the dark mountaintops of Mexico.  A glance to the southeast brought into view the far distant mountain tops of the Pedregosa mountains & immedIately to the east was the Swiss Helm mountain range.  Beyond the Swiss Helms loomed the mighty & legendary Chiricahua mountains with their high snow encrusted peaks.  A hundred miles or so up the Sulphur Springs Valley to the north we could make out what was probably the southern tips of the Winchester mountains east of Tucson & to our northwest was the forboding & also legendary Dragoon mountain range with it's southern edge stretching all the way from I-10 down to the ghost town of Gleason about 20 miles from us.  And, all this from just standing in one spot here at the ranch turning in a slow 360 degree circle.  And, all this under a big beautiful cloud studded sunny Arizona sky.  Is it any wonder we are in awe every single day of the majestic American southwest..............:))

GROANER'S CORNER:(( How is a man like the weather?  Nothing can be done to change either one of them.

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/

WE ARE BACK INTO OUR WINTER CLOTHES......Brrrrrrrrrr!!

WOKE UP TO SNOW ON THE SWISSHELM MOUNTAINS  (telephoto lens)

It's a good thing we brought our Canadian winter clothes with us. Woke up to snow on the distant mountain tops & our temps never got above 43F with gusting winds. Reminded me of a cold, wet, gray, mid November day in Ontario. I hauled out the telescope lens & cracked off some photos of the far away snow tipped mountains this morning.

SNOW ON THE DRAGOON MOUNTAINS NORTH OF US THIS MORNING

Had planned on blogging about our visit to Marybeth Webster's house yesterday but I was talking to Marybeth to-day & asked if she could email me a few facts about her house, the Quaker Friends of the Southwest Center, & herself. Want to get all my facts straight about everything before doing the post. I've had the towns of Truth or Consequences NM & Borrego Springs California nicely email about mistakes I made about their respective towns so I sure don't want Marybeth chasing me down for not getting something right:))

SNOW CLOUDS SITTING ON THE DRAGOONS

Noticed BITS FROM BILL had a post to-day about a device that is essential for backing up hard drives if you have more than one computer in your home. Windows Home Server has made a big impression on Bill. RICK has some videos on what to do if you have a tire blow out & JERRY has been getting some great red faced comments about his cheeky red pajamas. WANDERING WILLY is doing battle with Mexican sugar ants & GYPSY has landed herself at Fort Pulaski in Savannah, Georgia. For some of you folks who follow TIOGA GEORGE you might want to stop by with a few words of encouragement. George has had a recent spate of bad luck & his RV was towed into Gila Bend Az to-day.

SADDLEBACK MOUNTAIN NEAR DOUGLAS AZ (saddle horn is far knob at left & saddle sways to the right) 

We had our usual 4 suspects out to the photography group to-day & were actually able to solve more problems than we created:)) And we all did well about staying on photography related topics & issues.

RAIN FALLING IN THE TOMBSTONE HILLS OFF TO THE NORTHWEST

The weather remained bad all day with heavy rains at times. Arizona's country roads are not graveled like in Ontario & are made of a hard packed sandy clay like mixture. When it rains, that sandy clay turns to a soft glue like mixture that sticks to your shoes like a fly's stick to gooey fly paper. Tires slip in the red mud & absolutely everything tracks into the motorhome. For us that is 4 shoes & 12 paws hauling mud inside. We've got quite a mess going on in here but I did have a go at it with the vacuum after Kelly went to her exercise class this morning. When this mud is in it's dry form it is of course called, dust. The southwest has waaaaaaaay more dust than it really needs & before we head home in the spring we'll really have to hose the vehicles down inside & out. We've got so much dust in the motorhome & car right now we would be charged big bucks for hauling a full load of Arizona dirt across the border & up into Canada.

THESE SAND HILL CRANES WERE FLYING AGAINST BLANK WHITE CLOUDS  SO I GOT OUT MY PAINT BRUSH & PAINTED THE SKY ORANGE:))

GROANER'S CORNER:))  And, some medical advice......If you have a bad cough, take a large dose of laxatives, then you will be afraid to cough.

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/