BETTER TO HAVE RAIN THAN SNOW!!

RELAXING ON A RAINY DAY

Rained all night & the computer map shows we are in for a few rainy days.  That is totally acceptable compared to a year ago today when we had.....snow!!!!

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IT WAS A SNOWY APRIL 6TH IN 2009

Often times traveling throughout the American southwest in the past few years we have come across places that we thought would be nice to live.   New Mexico, Arizona, & California come to mind.  New Mexico is probably the most cost effective while California is the most expensive.   For RV folks like ourselves who live in the harsher winter climates of the north it only makes sense to look for a more moderate year round climate further south & New Mexico would be the logical place to begin that search.  

THE GILA FOREST IN THE MIMBRES MOUNTAINS EAST OF SILVER CITY NEW MEXICO

We have always thought an ideal situation would be to live in northern New Mexico or Arizona during the hotter summer months & then spend the winter's a few miles away in the warmer south.  We saw some really nice pine forested areas east of Silver City in the Gila Forest area a couple of years ago that we liked.  It was just one of many regions we found interesting.   A short hop, skip, & a jump, to the warmer deserts of the low country for the winter months.  It would mean no more tedious long grueling drives two thirds of the way across the country just to get where we're going.  And, much easier access to all the northern States for summer travel.  Well, easier said than done of course but it is one of those pots of interest we keep on the back burner along with our southern British Columbia ideas.  It is these simmering pots that keep me positive about the future.  I always welcome the challenge of acceptable change.

WE OFTEN CHECK REAL ESTATE PRICES IN AREAS WE LIKE  (near Hillsboro New Mexico)

Our motorhome seems lonely these days sitting outside in it's  quiet spot beside our carport.  Once again this past winter it had been our warm cozy home every single day for over 5 months.  The hub of all night & day activities.  It moved us from one spot to another, kept us dry in the rain & secure in the wind.   Warmed us up on cold nights & cooled us off on warm days.  Our rig is an integral part of the Bayfield Bunch & I can't help but feel a little sad when I see it sitting out there all alone.  No barking dogs or talking people inside.  No early morning or after supper games of toys going on with the furry guys.  The satellite radio is silent & the black television screen remains off & strapped to the wall.  No awnings flapping in the wind or the sounds of flags dancing in a stiff afternoon breeze.   It sits in it's dormant state patiently waiting.  Waiting for the first stirrings of activity in early fall.  An armful of clothes coming in, a box or two, maybe a few tins of soup into a kitchen cupboard.  It patiently awaits the return of life when we will once again breath new excitement into it's expectant waiting heart...............:))

 

RESTING UNTIL IT'S TIME TO HIT THE ROAD AGAIN

Welcome to blog follower Sheila who makes our 123rd follower.  I think we have another animal lover here:))

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Did you know the only way to get holy water is to boil the hell out of it!!

Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

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

ANOTHER FINE WEATHER DAY IN SOUTHWESTERN ONTARIO...CANADA:))

CROCUS FLOWERS

A few people commented on my ' banana shake supper' last night.  I normally do my big 'shake' thing in the morning with all the lettuce, carrots, celery, apples, etc. etc. but last night I just had the urge for a banana shake.  It's not that I can't cook because I can, & did years ago.  It's just that I chose not to because my interest is no longer there.  Kelly once told me she wouldn't eat anything I cooked anyway:((  I have a habit of doing things a bit differently than....'the norm.'  Check out my Sept. 22/09 post in which I did a little video about my MORNING BREAKFAST ROUTINE

As many of you know, I don't place a high priority on food (ok, well maybe sometimes) & only eat the darn stuff because I have to.  For me, simpler is better.  No silly sauces (except ketchup) or spices & no fancy plate arrangements.  BGQ or no BBQ makes no differences & I preferred my hot dogs boiled, not fried, BBQ'd or cremated in a firepit.   Now don't get me wrong, Kelly's a fine cook & everything she makes tastes totally great (except I hate boring rice) but if I was on my own I wouldn't go to all that work & fuss just to feed myself.  Now, where's my peanut butter jar!! 

WE HAVE A LOT OF CURIOUS LITTLE CRITTERS AROUND OUR FRONT YARD FROG POND

Oh, & tonight's supper??  In the bottom of a fine china bowl I put in a nice selection of Post Spoon Size Shredded Wheat & Bran with a fine sprinkling of Kellogg's Special K, topped off with a generous helping of General Mills Honey Nut Cheerios.  Finally garnished this fine masterpiece nicely with a thinly sliced in banana before adding my last ingredient.....skim milk:))  And who said I don't know nothing about food preparation!!

Watched the news Sunday night about that big earthquake down in Mexico/California.  We missed that by less than a month because we were in Borrego Springs CA one month ago at this time & that was only a few hundred miles north of the earthquakes center in Mexico.  Have never experienced an earthquake so would have liked to be there to see what that felt like.  Sometimes when we are hiking in those narrow steep canyons down there I think to myself, 'this would not be a good time or place to be if there was ever an earthquake.'  We often see large boulders & sandstone walls perched precariously high above us that just a little 'shaking' would surely dislodge.

When we head for the southwest in the fall we have to turn off & unplug everything.  Phone plans & cable TV are put on hold & have to be reactivated again in the spring.  This is always a pain in the asparagus because the big companies rarely get things right & we always have to begin the usual series of phone calls to get the companies tech heads to restore the service just as it was when we left.  Why is it so hard for them to get things right!!  Today is shot for me because I have to sit around all day waiting for a tech guy to come & see why our bedroom television did not receive the cable signal when they reactivated the system a couple weeks ago.  (Cable guy came at 11:45 this morning.....I had the wires hooked up wrong again:((

I spent a big part of last night with RICK traveling all around Arizona looking for a suitable RV spot for him & Paulette.  We looked at lot of spots & the importance of a level site & a hard concrete surface were priorities for Rick.  We probably checked out about a thousand places in just a few hours from one end of Arizona to the other.  Isn't it amazing how dreams come together in the night while we are asleep.  Never know where we'll be, who we will be with, or what we will be doing.  Every night is filled with new adventures......if you can remember them:))

Noticed we have 2 new followers & one of them I recognize very well despite the pirate patch over one eye & one of those silly 'hair hats' that were so popular in Quartzsite a couple of years ago.  Kelly had picked up one of those hats & I recognize it on.......her Dad:)) Looks good on ya Frank:))  Our second new follower is HAPPY KANSAS CAMPER & his name is Steve.  He is just getting started in the RV lifestyle with his Ford truck & camper.

SUNSET AT DEER PARK LODGE

GROANER'S CORNER:((  And did you know that the ankle was an arch enemy of the heel because the heel had a sole that could neither toe the line nor keep instep.

BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

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

EVEN THE DUST WAS LOOKING FOR SOME SHADE TO-DAY!!

 

SUNRISE AT THE RANCH

The sun was so hot to-day even the dust was looking for shade.  Luckily there was a breeze but the sun's hot rays kept setting my skin on fire so I spent most of the day inside catching up on a lot of wayward computer emails, files, & photos.  When you take as many photos every day as I do it doesn't take long to end up with files & files of photos waiting to be captioned & organized into categories & albums.  I have uploaded 2 new albums to our Picasa web album site that details in photos our trip so far but just noticed they are way out of order so I'm going to have another re-organizing job to do with hopes of getting all the photos into a proper sequence.  Good thing we slowed down when we did!!  Some of the photos have made it into the blog & the bulk of photos can be seen at our PICASA WEB ALBUM SITE  if anyone is interested.  For example, I included one Roadrunner & 1 Lizard photo in the blog but took another 5 or 6 of each subject.  I'm still experimenting with Live Writer ideas on how best to present the photos too.

 

SAND HILL CRANES MAKE THEIR WAY UP THE VALLEY

Saw some clouds in the faint light of early morn over the Swiss Helm mountains to the east so knew there was going to be a nice sunrise.  And, there was.  And lots of Sand Hill Cranes in the morning air as well.  Last summer I was talking to a lady who told me she had looked at our website a couple of times last winter but she said the only thing I had on it both times were birds.  Lotsa birds!!  Awwww nuts, lost another one!!  Well, this ranch is located about a mile north of probably America's largest Sand Hill Crane population for the winter months.  Early every morning thousands upon thousands of Sand Hill Cranes wing their way overhead in large flocks heading for feeding areas up the valley to the north.  About mid afternoon they return to their roosting quarters at a place called, The Whitewater Draw.  I have photos of the cranes in large flocks flying through the morning sunrises & evening sunsets.  Yes, I do have a few bird photos alright.  They can be found in our archives for February & March of 2009.  

 

PASTEL SUNRISE

I think we got up into the mid to high 80's to-day but we did get out with the dogs for our usual morning walk before the heat build up.  Both Checkers & Max dropped way behind so we turned & went back taking Pearce & the Motormouse with us.  Jeanie continued on with Pearce.

 

On our mountain road drive to Paradise a few days ago we dropped into the GEORGE WALKER HOUSE Birding Bed & Breakfast.  I mentioned it then but didn't have the photos ready to go so here are the pictures from that day as a nice lady by the name of Nancy showed us around................

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Jeanie & Ray, with Carol from the PAWS & HOOVES RANCH up near Sun City will drive to San Diego to-morrow morning whereupon the 3 of them will board a cruise ship for Hawaii.  It's kind of a special Birthday trip for Carolyn.  They will return around the 23rd.  So, to-morrow morning we begin our heavy duty ranch sitting chores.  Eight chickens, 3 donkeys, 2 dogs, & one cat to feed.  Do you think the Bayfield Bunch can handle it:))

 

Remember to keep an eye on RICK'S  blog these days if your interested in the new Microsoft Windows 7.  Rick & Paulette were blessed with a new Win 7 in the family a few days ago & Rick's pretty excited about it:))  Heard he's even been handing out some cigars!!

 

LOOKING EAST TO THE SWISS HELM MOUNTAINS

And welcome to our latest blog follower Sandy:))

I've just run into some unforeseen problems with the Picasa Web album site so it's probably going to take me longer than I figured to get everything sorted out.  Give me a day or two to get it all straightened  around............................:))

HOVER YOUR MOUSE OVER THE PHOTOS FOR CAPTIONS

GROANER'S CORNER:))  A man rushed into the doctor's office and shouted, "Doctor! I think I'm shrinking!!" The doctor calmly responded, "Now, settle down. You'll just have to be a little patient."

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.

LOADING.......AND UNLOADING SOME THINGS FROM THE RIG TO-DAY:))

WE WILL SOON LEAVE OUR AUTUMN BEHIND

Gonna be a short blog to-night.  Just got home from a 'driver information meeting' with the mobility van company I am a part time driver for.  The meeting went long but I didn't care because they brought in some big delicious chicken pot pies for supper with Cesar salad plus all the butter tarts I could cram into my face.  All the info they presented at the meeting won't mean a think to me when I return next April because I won't remember any of it......except how many butter tarts I ate:))  Oh, & I finally picked up my company driver's winter coat they had promised me........3 years ago!!

WIND CHIMES HANGING FROM AN OLD DEAD TREE I PLANTED BESIDE OUR FROG POND A FEW YEARS AGO.  THE LARGE ONE IS ACTUALLY A LIGHT WHICH ILLUMINATES THE POND AT NIGHT

Another cloudy, mild, & quiet day.  Raked pine needles & cleaned out some eaves.  Luckily we just have a one story unit so no high wire act for me.  Caught a lucky break this morning when I noticed Kelly loading a bunch of canned goods into the motorhome.  It's the same mistake we made before  in carrying around a whole lot of unnecessary weight.  I promptly removed about 6.4 tons of beans, soups, sauces, chilies, & whatever else comes in those darned tin cans.  Not anything we can't get south of the border!!  And luckily for me Kelly understood:))

A Canadian RV couple we know just had their whole winter vacation destroyed when they were denied access to the United States.  Conflict over an old green card obtained in 1992.  They have been spending their winters down south for about 5 years now & just a few days ago when they tried to cross at Buffalo they were flagged & denied access!!  They are now in Ottawa scrambling around trying to find a place to stay, getting their 5th wheel winterized, etc.  Their whole lives turned completely upside down & their RVing lifestyle brought to a screeching halt.  You can read SANDRA'S BLOG HERE.  Border crossings are not for the faint of heart as we can well attest to!!!!   STILL SOME OUTSIDE GERANIUMS BLOOMING

GROANER'S CORNER:))  And just when you thought you had that last tongue twister figured out, try this one.  "The sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick"

FACEBOOK READERS GO HERE FOR OUR ACTUAL BLOGGER WEBSITE WITH PHOTOS & MORE INFO:))

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.

BLINDSIDED IN THE NIGHT BY A FAILED TECHNO CABLE COMPANY SWITCH!!!!

TO-DAYS PHOTOS ARE JUST A SMATTERING OF WHATEVER I COULD FIND HERE.  HAVE ALREADY MOVED THE EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE TO THE RIG

We didn't get off to a good start this morning!!  When I fired up the laptop it wouldn't connect & when Kelly booted up the desktop about half an hour later it wouldn't connect either.  Everything had been fine when I shut the computer down last night so we knew something was up.

HEY WASUUUP:))

Two weeks ago we had received a letter informing us that our cable company, Bluewater Cable in Goderich, would be changing it's name to Eastlink because it had been bought out by another cable company in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  We were not happy about that because Bluewater had been an excellent local company & a change to a larger out of Province company was going to mean not only change, but probable trouble ahead.  Well, that trouble started this morning!!

THIS WAS OUR MESS TO-DAY AS WE UNPLUGGED THIS & THAT TRYING TO GET OURSELVES BACK ON-LINE AGAIN.  LITTLE DID WE KNOW THAT THOUSANDS OF OTHER FOLKS WERE  DOING THE SAME THING THIS MORNING!! (Click on photos to enlarge them)

Kelly phoned Bluewater's customer service first thing expecting to speak with someone in Goderich but ended up with a young techie kid in Halifax.  Well, at least he spoke English & lived in North America.  The kid in Halifax didn't have a clue & tried to put our computer woes on our own equipment!!  The day just continued to deteriorate from there.  Unbeknownst to us, the change over from the Bluewater company to the Eastlink company had begun in the night, not gone well, & the whole cable system had crashed effecting thousands & thousands of people this morning.  Kelly dropped into the Goderich Bluewater office to-day & said people were lined up for 17 city blocks with baseball bats, pitchforks, 2x4's:))

DESERT MOONLIGHT BLOGGING WHILE BOONDOCKING NEAR AJO, ARIZONA

We were off-line until early afternoon & when the connection was finally established we had no Outlook Express & the internet connection itself was not reacting as it should.  Laptop still wouldn't connect etc.  Now, if I had been here by myself I would not have had the patience or know how to trouble shoot this complicated problem.  I would have had to have a techie come to the house & the kid in Halifax told us nobody was going anywhere until Friday.  I think he must have been figuring on the tech driving from Halifax Nova Scotia to Bayfield Ontario or something!!!!

KELLY ON THE LAPTOP IN OUR PREVIOUS ROCKWOOD 5TH WHEEL TRAILER......2007

Well, to make a long frustrating story short.....it was our very own in house computer guru, 'Kelly the Bulldog' to the rescue.  She bit into that computer problem connection mess like a gator into a big fat juicy T-bone steak.  She was on the phone for half an hour with question after question for some wilting techie on the other end.  After that call this afternoon I think the poor guy probably quit his job & signed up for a local basket weaving course in his own home town.  I should mention here that our particular situation was compounded by the fact we have to use a router because of our two computers so we kind of had double the trouble of other folks only running one computer.......if any of that makes any sense of course.

 GRABBING SOME RAYS AT PANCHO VILLA STATE PARK IN COLUMBUS, NEW MEXICO....DEC. 06

It was determined that the port numbers in our router were no longer valid with the new company & had to be changed.  The cable company said that wasn't their problem & too bad about our luck!!  Well, that didn't deter the Bulldog!!  Kelly right away got herself on the internet to a router forum searching for more answers & solutions.  She made a physical change to the back of the router with a paper clip, changed D-Links settings to default, searched for the IP address & started from scratch resetting the router.  She not only got the desktop's Outlook Express back in operation again but then tackled the laptop & unscrambled it's totally confused brains as well.  I won't even mention anything as to where my brains were by this time. 

You know, if it wasn't for Kelly I'd probably be living under a shrub somewhere with a rotary phone & a pencil!!

AND THIS IS WHY WE ARE RUNNING AWAY AGAIN THIS YEAR!!!!!!!  (April 09)

GROANER'S CORNER:((  And did you know that dust is just mud with the juice squeezed out of it.

FACEBOOK READERS GO HERE TO SEE OUR ACTUAL BLOGGER WEBSITE WITH PHOTOS & MORE:))  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 COZY LITTLE PLACE TO SPEND A RAINY DAY

SLIPPED OUTSIDE BETWEEN RAIN SHOWERS FOR SOME FLOWER PHOTOS

Figured it was about time I addressed the Windows problem we've noticed since moving the computer. It has been a visual impairment & is very apparent sitting directly in front of the monitor. I don't know if Bill Gates had this same Windows problem or not but to-day I was able to correct the whole thing in about 40 minutes.........with a ladder & some Windex. And you thought I was talking about Microsoft Windows eh. Nope, I was talking about our dirty sun room windows. Had been a few months since spring cleaning so out came the squeegee, paper towels, ladder, garden hose, & a bottle of Windex. Checkers ended up getting wetter than the windows again because she loves it when Dad & the big garden hose monster get after her. Windows are so squeaky clean now the birds are looking extra, extra, colorful. We are experiencing a big thunder storm at the moment too. TIGER LILY

It was music to my ears to-day when I heard Kelly say, "maybe we shouldn't take the bicycles with us this year." We have strapped, roped, tied, & tarped our 2 bicycles onto the back of the motorhome for the past couple of years hauling them all the way down into the southwest & back. Our total riding time on those bikes in 2 years might have been one hour. The bicycles take a real dirt beating on the back of the rig with road grime, dust, salt infested roads at times, & water, really making a mess out of them. They are nice bikes & it always bothered me to see them aged way beyond their years. I could understand taking them if we were going to a flat road RV Park & sitting in one spot for 6 months but with our boondocking ways there isn't always level enough surfaces to ride them so I'm glad we will be leaving them home this year. Just one less thing to worry about & it should shave off a few pounds for the motorhome carrying weight as well. REFLECTIONS IN THE SUNROOM WINDOW

Some of you may remember a month or so ago when I was trying my hand at designing a Bayfield Bunch business type card in the Windows XP Paint program. (no, we are not in business) Just thought it might be nice to have a simple little card to hand out to folks when we meet them in our travels. Kelly's son has a graphic's business in Cambridge called, FLORENCE SIGNS so we emailed Ben the design I had come up with & he formatted it to fit a standard business card format. He then forwarded it to a printing company called BCT in Waterloo for printing. We received the finished cards a few days ago & were very impressed & totally pleased with how well they came out. Not just your standard cardboard card because these seem to be laminated somehow so won't bend or suffer from dampness or water. Very nice cards. We had to kind of laugh at the quantity of cards we ordered though. Kelly said we'll be long gone off the planet by the time all these cards are ever used up at our rate of meeting people. The whole Bayfield Bunch is going to have to live for another hundred & fifty years if we're going to hand them all out. OUR BAYFIELD BUNCH CARDS

I sometimes go on a bit much about the traveling RV lifestyle but I was reading another RV'ers blog to-day & he has taken the time to research some of the great lifestyle quotes that have stood the test of time & put all this traveling wanderlust into perspective. My feelings exactly!! Be sure to check out Howard's blog at RV-DREAMS JOURNAL. FRONT YARD FROG POND.....THAT GREEN STUFF IS NOT SLIME, IT'S DUCKWEED

Thunder is rolling across the skies at the moment with heavy rains bending low the long lanky branches of our sunburst locust tree outside our sunroom window. Winds are swaying the tall white pines. Relaxing ambient music on the stereo with the overhead fan wafting down a gentle breeze on my keyboard. Max is asleep on the couch in the living room, Cora is hiding from the great thunder monster under the computer table & Checkers is curled up beside my chair waiting out the storm. Many birds outside are flitting through the raindrops from feeder to feeder & Kelly is quietly stretched out in her recliner reading one of her many books. Aw yes, all is well here to-day in the life of The Bayfield Bunch:)) A COZY LITTLE PLACE TO SPEND A RAINY DAY

GROANER'S CORNER:(( This verbal exchange took place between Winston Churchill & Lady Astor many years ago......She said, "If you were my husband I'd give you poison."He said, "If you were my wife, I'd drink it."

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/
The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.