COLD WET RAINY DAY

YES, I TOOK THIS PHOTO TODAY BUT IF THIS IS THE EARTH HOW DID I GET WAY OUT INTO SPACE TO DO IT??

Wow, what a great weather day it was......to stay inside!!  Cold with an Ontario damp feeling in the air & no sun.  A good day for familiarizing ourselves with the new Toshiba Satellite laptop & Windows 7.  As always when moving from an old familiar format to a new one there are always frustrations.  Same thing as Win 95 to Win 98 & then XP.  I'm sure I will be just fine when I change my head to match the system instead of trying my old familiar tactic of trying to change the system to match my head.

RANCH DOG PEARCE FOUND HIMSELF A COMFY SPOT LAST NIGHT

Win 7 definitely has a different look to it which I'm sure will be just fine when I get used to it.  I did manage to get some files transferred but of course it did not go as smoothly or quickly as I figured it should have so had to go sit in my chair & pout for half an hour.  In the meantime Kelly sat down for a first look at Win 7 & within 10 minutes had most everything transferred.  Like I've said many times before, I'm pretty good at taking the garbage out back home:((

DATA TRANSFER BETWEEN OLD & NEW…….(new is on the left)

The rain & thunder began around noon so I made a bee-line for the corrals to get the donkeys into a sheltered area.  Grabbed them a bale of hay while I was at it & ended up back in the rig cold & wet. Turned up the heat a tad & had another crack at Win 7.  Because of our limited 5 Gig Verizon card we can't do the many program downloads we have to do.  That will have to wait until Thursday morning when Kelly goes to Elfrida for exercise class & I go along to the Wifi spot in the library.  Hopefully I will be able to pull enough brain cells & patience together to get all that done correctly!!

GATHERED AROUND THE OLD HAY BALE TIRE

Today's rain has put us into a mud situation again & with 4 shoes & 20 little paws going in & out of the motorhome we are in quite a mess again.  But not to worry, I held onto my common sense & didn't let my mind stray to silly thoughts of concrete & pavement this time.  One look out the door without staring into somebody else's living room is well worth any mud that Mother Nature sends our way......Amen!!

 

SOME DARK HOURS TODAY

Doesn't look like we are going to get over to the Chiricahua Monument this time for more hiking.  Had we been on the ball we would have done that hike back in the first part of November when we first got here.  Too cold & snowy up in the Chiricahua mountains now.  Too bad because I was really looking forward to returning there. 

 

(click on pics to enlarge)

We're still not sure where we are headed once we leave here this week-end but it will definitely be further west.  Maybe Ajo Arizona, maybe up to Quartzite for a few days, maybe straight through to Yuma, just not sure.  Seems we have to go to Quartzite every year just to get a new flag pole because every year I always manage to step on the one we have break it.  At least the majority of humanoids should be out of there by now since the main event stuff was over a week ago.  We'll probably head up Tucson way & before we get there maybe we'll have decided where we are going.  The pull is strong to return to old favorite places but the pull is also strong to search out new areas & see new things.  Like I say, "we never know where we're going until after we have been there for awhile."   We are over half way through our winter stay in the southwest so I think it's time to get some new adventures under our belts before returning to another looooooong boring summer at home!!

And welcome to our latest blog follower, ParkingFineRants.  From England I think.  That name brings back memories of Stratford Ontario for me when in the mid 80's while working in downtown Stratford I was in almost daily conflict with the local parking enforcement officer.  But, that's another story.......or rant!!

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Another sign that you are growing older is when you keep more food in the fridge than beer.

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

THE BAYFIELD BUNCH IS ABOUT TO MEET…..WINDOWS 7:))

A FROSTY MORNING AWHILE BACK

The morning dawned cloudy but at least we remained above freezing through the night & anything above freezing is a bonus.  The day later turned into one of the finest days we've had here in the Sulphur Springs Valley for quite awhile.  Sunny & warm:))

ON THE CHARLESTON ROAD FROM TOMBSTONE  TO SIERRA VISTA WITH THE SNOWY TOPPED HUACHUCA MOUNTAINS ON THE HORIZON

This morning our laptop computer presented us with a blue screen.  Not good!!!!  We bought our current Toshiba laptop back in September of 2006 from a Future Shop store in London, Ontario.  Despite me dropping the computer on the kitchen floor less than 48 hours after we brought it home our Toshiba has performed flawlessly for most of the past three & a half years.  In the past 3 months it has occasionally seized up, etc.  Lately it has refused to shut down a few times, seized more often & this morning it presented us with a blue screen saying, 'Checking file systems.'  We managed to work through that but other problems occurred.  Kelly read up on the start up blue screen malfunction  & it said the problem could be the beginning of a deteriorating hard drive.  For awhile now we felt our computer was becoming a bit unstable & last fall we had talked about some of the computer problems & done a bit of research on new laptops just in case.  After the blue screen this morning we decided it was time to make a decision.  Could we afford another laptop.......'of course not!!'  Could we afford to take a chance on losing our stuff......an even bigger 'of course not!!'  Do we have things backed up......yes & no.  We do have an external hard drive with a lot of stuff backed up but we felt this was as good a time as any to move into Microsoft's new operating system.....Windows 7.  I have a huge load of high resolution photographs so felt it was time we had a more stable platform with greater power & much bigger memory capabilities.

 

A FEW QUICK PICS WHILE ROLLING THROUGH TOMBSTONE ON THE WAY TO SIERRA VISTA THIS MORNING

Kelly had previously done a lot of research on many brands of laptops & read all the reviews.  Because of our trouble free Toshiba plus the fact that they are reportedly better built laptops than many of their competitors we decided to stay with Toshiba.  After comparing our needs to what the various models were offering we decided on a Toshiba Satellite A 505 S6005  We also paid a bit extra to have it optimized which means the Geek Squad at Best Buy had already removed all the junk stuff that comes with new computers.  The recovery discs are already done & all that has probably saved us about 4 hours of trying to un-install all the junk ourselves.  The computer comes out of the box 'clean' & that was well worth the extra $60 to have that mess taken care of!!  Laurie from SEMI TRUE TALES recently purchased basically the same computer.  Laurie is a pretty smart gal & we knew she had done her research as well so felt comfortable knowing she also felt the Toshiba Satellite was a good buy.

 

IN SIERRA VISTA’S BEST BUY LOOKING OVER THE COMPUTERS

We have the computer home but not out of the box yet so am looking forward to having a look at this new Windows 7 everybody is talking about.  We will copy & transfer all our important stuff from this computer to the new one & that will give us a complete back up operating system.  Probably will continue using this one as long as it remains stable & so far today it has been running fine again. 

WHAT A COUPLE OF BUMS

From Best Buy in Sierra Vista this afternoon it was over to 'Jack-in-the-Box' for a production line burger.  Ho-hum!!  Next was Lowes for a few things, Wal-Mart for some motor oil, & Fry's for groceries.  By the time we got to Frys my patience was totally fried so I stayed in the car to guard our new laptop:))  Sierra Vista is a nice city & if I was forced (and I would have to be forced) to live in a city I think this one would be as good as any.  Located right at the foot of the scenic Huachuca mountain range this place has all the amenities plus it's picturesque location is only minutes away from mountain or desert wilderness.  It's a small city with an even smaller local town feel.  As I sat in the parking lot outside Frys I could look up at the looming mountains only a few miles away & see the warming sun glinting off the snowy slopes.  Reminded me of years ago when I did some downhill skiing & how beautiful the snow looked on the tree lined hills.  Today reminded me of the last time I swooshed my way down a long & fast hill on a fine sunny & warm spring day west of Toronto Ontario.  Yep, I think this Sierra Vista town is just about as good a place to be as any.

Motty & Patti are heading for El Paso in the morning so I hope we’ll see them again out here somewhere  on the highways & bi-ways of the wild & wooly west.  Ok, see ya later guys:))

We made some more progress on our new Delorme GPS unit today, or I guess I should say Kelly has.  We took it along to Sierra Vista this morning & Kelly was able to do some reading in the GPS manual & figure a few more things out.  We're slowly getting there.  I tried making a phone call with it this morning & was having a great conversation with something until Kelly told me it wasn't a cell phone & could not be used as one!!  Oh well, like I said.......I'm not the brightest crayon in the package:))

“HELLO HELLO”…… CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW??

Well, I'm gonna wind this up, go get a crowbar & see if I can pry that new computer out of it's box & see if I can find the 'Start' button.  Maybe I can even tune in an old frumpy Star Trek episode or something.  Or was that on television years ago.  Oh well, here I go, wish me luck........................:))

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Old age is when former classmates are so gray, wrinkled, and bald, they don't recognize you anymore.

FACEBOOK READERS GO HERE TO SEE OUR ACTUAL WEBSITE COMPLETE WITH PHOTOS & MORE INFO.

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

GOT MYSELF A NEW LID TODAY & MY LAST PHOTO GROUP

OLD BUILDINGS ARE ALWAYS GREAT FOR PHOTOS

Another sun filled day & the ground is drying up nicely.  I am over my bout of temporary insanity in wanting a concrete pad, acres of pavement, & a postage stamp swatch of manicured grass.  Very close call there.  I could have been hauled away & locked up for those terrible thoughts:((  Fortunately we'll be back boondocking next week again & I know that will instantly erase any nasty thoughts of concrete & pavement.....10-4:))

 

Kelly headed off for her exercise this morning & I headed off down to the corral to do some clean up after the donkeys were in the pen for a few days during our recent spate of rainy weather.  I suppose that stuff in the corral is normally left to dry up & blow away in the wind but the landscape gardener in me took over & hauled me down to the pen with a shovel & rake to clean things up. 

KELLY AT JIMMY’S HOT DOG COMPANY IN SAN JOSE-BISBEE A COUPLE WEEKS AGO

Headed off about 12:45 for my Elfrida photo group in the little towns library.  The usual gang, Mary Beth from Douglas, Jim from Sunizona, plus Jean & Ray from Gleason were all there & it was decided to drive a half mile up the road to an old tumble down building & do some photography.  Each went their separate way crawling around with cameras clicking amidst the brambles & rubble of the building.   Different ideas & different perspectives.  I knew it was my last Photo group but didn't have the heart to tell anybody.  I'm just not very good at saying goodbye to people so we all parted with the old familiar, "Ok, see ya next week."  I'm kind of like that about not going to funerals as well........."Ok, see ya later."

MONDAY AFTERNOON PHOTO GROUP

Happy to report the little Motormouse woke up totally fine this morning.  No stiffness or soreness that we could see.  It is possible the donkey accidentally or intentionally missed Cora & stomped the ground around her.  In the fraction of a second it took I thought I saw her stomped but maybe not.  Anyway, all is well & I was over at the fence today rubbing some donkey noses & scruffling some donkey ears telling them everything was A-OK & not to worry:))

  

PIGEON PALS

On the way back from Photo Group today I stopped into Elfrida’s High Lonesome store.  They have a bit of everything in this well stocked western store from hay bales stacked outside to western belts, jeans, shirts, jackets & cowboy hats.  It was a cowboy hat I was after.  Wanted a lighter one than I have & something I can wear on hot days.  Wanted a wider brim as well.  Saw hats ranging from $32 to $155 so it was a no brainer for me as I found a size 7 & a half $32 lid made in Mexico.    It’s called a SUN BODY HAT.

NEW LID TODAY

Test fired the rigs engine this morning & it started right up & ran as smooth as a Swiss watch.  Brought it up to temperature & did not leave the area in case I forgot to shut it off like I did one time this past summer.  Also fired up the generator & all was well there too.  All systems are go so far but already today I could feel a bit of sadness creeping in about our departure.  As much as I'm ready for new horizons I am definitely going to miss the old ones here at the ranch.  Don't know if we'll ever be back this way but as we pull out of the driveway & head down the road soon I'll look out the window back at the ranch to Gleason & Pearce thinking......Ok, see ya later.

PEARCE, MAX, GLEASON, CHECKERS & CORA (MOTORMOUSE)

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Sign seen hanging on a divorce lawyer's wall:  "Satisfaction guaranteed or
your honey back."

FACEBOOK READERS GO HERE TO SEE OUR ACTUAL WEBSITE COMPLETE WITH PHOTOS & MORE INFO.

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

TODAY WE NEARLY LOST ONE OF THE BAYFIELD BUNCH:((

MOTTY & PATTI CHECK OUT THE MOTORHOME

My bed isn't very wide but ranch dog Pearce managed to squeak himself up onto the bed sometime in the night & slept contentedly beside me at the bottom.  Gleason stayed for the night as well & found himself a nice quiet spot in the hallway on the rug.  Little Motormouse was curled up on her favorite chair with Max & Checkers on their respective doggy beds.  A little crowded in the front of the motorhome but I don't mind.  It's not every night I get to have a sleep-over with all my best pals.

When I saw the first rays of sunlight enter the coach's side window this morning I knew we were in for nice day.  The storms of past days have long gone & soon we will be into warming temperatures.  An email arrived from Motty & Patti saying they were headed for Belles to feed the animals so we sent an email back saying for them to come over to the ranch when they finished.

CHECKERS >>>>>>>>

Kelly loaded our present location into the new GPS system then stepped outside to do some weird arm & wrist movements to calibrate the PN-40.  That worked & minuets later it actually pinpointed exactly where we were.  A message flashed on the screen saying for the guy with the scruffy white beard to put a bag over his head.  I can see me & PN are gonna get along real darn good!!   Walked around in circles outside for awhile pressing buttons & trying things out.  Finally got onto the moving GPS compass but haven't figured out how to activate the stationery electric compass yet.  Altimeter told me I was at 4,069 feet.  Ever since the late 60's I've always had a keen interest in how high I was everyday:))  I'll read some more of the instruction book in the morning & see if I can program it to make me a peanut butter sandwich on demand.

<<<<< LOOKING FOR KELLY WITH THE GPS

Motty & Patti, with their Boxer dog Moe rolled in about 11:30 & we all spent the day sitting in the warm Arizona sun chatting.  It was while visiting that we nearly lost our precious little Motormouse.   We had all walked over to a gate in the fence line to talk with the donkeys.  We didn't see the little Motor squeak under the gate between us & venture out in front of the donkeys until it was too late.  One of the donkeys immediately attacked her & stomped her with it's hooves.  I immediately scrambled over the gate as I heard her squeal in pain.  The donkey quickly bolted & I scooped up the little Motor & swiftly handed her over the gate to Kelly. And, she was still intact.  No blood, no apparent twisted limbs, broken ribs, or crushed skull.  She was shaking like a leaf & scared.  Patti is a former dog trainer & quickly checked Cora (that's her real name) for any broken bones.  No squeals of pain.  Just a little mud on her nose & down her right shank where we think one of the hooves hit her a glancing blow.  It was a miracle she wasn't killed or seriously injured.  We held her for a long time & after awhile set her down & she seemed to walk ok.  It is now about 7 hours later & she seems fine although Kelly thinks her right hip looks a bit swollen & she did have a little trouble jumping up onto my bed.  She may be a bit stiff & sore in the morning but right now she's having a big snooze after eating a big supper.  And of course she's really been soaking up all the extra attention she has been getting too.  And, I should add, it was not the donkey’s fault for attacking a perceived threat moving across the ground at them.  Could have been a rattlesnake, small coyote or something & the donkey was only protecting itself & it’s family.   So, not to worry, I am still big buddies with the donkey gang:))

 

I THINK CHECKER’S LIKES MOTTY:))

Motty, Patti, & Moe left about 4 & we'll probably see them a few more times this week.  Maybe over at Belle's or in Bisbee.  Interesting & nice folks.  They are awaiting a phone call from Camping World in El Paso Texas in regards to a part for one of their 5th wheel slide outs that won't work.  They have to head back to El Paso to get that fixed.

HANGING OUT AT THE RANCH HOUSE

It's a cozy Sunday night here in the motorhome.  We have our nice cactus cowboy boots lights on, Kelly's eating popcorn watching her favorite TV shows, I'm sitting at the computer with my 7 o'clock coffee & head  phones on listening to my all time favorite acoustic guitar player of all time, WILL ACKERMAN.  Max, Checkers, Motormouse, Gleason, & Pearce are all contentedly stretched out in their favorite doggy sleep modes & for a short time frame in the life & times of the Bayfield Bunch............all is well.  And most best of all we still have our precious little Motormouse with us after today's near fatal & harrowing incident.

CHECKERS & THE LITTLE MOTORMOUSE THIS MORNING

GROANER'S CORNER:((  You know your getting old when the gleam in your eye is from the sun hitting your bifocals.

FACEBOOK READERS GO HERE TO SEE OUR ACTUAL WEBSITE COMPLETE WITH PHOTOS & MORE INFO.

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.