BIG BAD WINDS AND FRIDAY AFTERNOON COMPANY

LIGHTS OF MEXICO ON OUR SOUTHERN HORIZON

With night's becoming warmer now it is much nicer being outside under a great canopy of stars.  Took a few photos and the thought occurred to me how nice with no mosquitos in the air.  Just another one of the many fine perks here in the south-west during these winter months.   In my books no bugs is good bugs:))

YUMA'S GLOW OVER THE HORIZON WITH THE RV LIGHTS OF FELLOW BOONDOCKERS VISBLE IN THE FOREGROUND

THREE VIEWS OF THE CONSTELLATION ORION FOR MY AUNT JEAN IN FLORIDA

THE BIG DIPPER STANDING ON IT'S HANDLE

IF YOU LOOK VERY CLOSELY TO THE EXTREME LEFT YOU CAN SEE GORD AND CATHIES 'UN-LIT' RIG

Had us big wind advisory going on for today so this morning I anchored our satellite dish down real darn good and positioned the Jeep as a windbreak.  Winds howled and barreled in from the south-east and by noon there was no keeping a hat on anymore while outside.  Surrounding horizon lines disappeared into clouds of blowing sand.  Had we stepped out we would have had our socks blowed right off.

OUR UNSEEN SATELLITE DISH IS SANDWICHED BETWEEN THE JEEP AND THE MOTORHOME

HEY WANDERING WILLY I HAVE TWO OF THOSE LEGS TIED DOWN LIKE YOU SAID, A 900 POUND ROCK ON THE OTHER LEG AND THE CENTER TIED DOWN TO A SPIKED IN YELLOW DEVICE ON THE GROUND PLUS A  SUSPENDED WATER  JUG......OH YA THEN I WELDED EVERYTHING IN PLACE 

On the leeward side of the coach before the winds reached their worst potential for the day Kelly was able to barbecue a steak.  Would you believe neither one of us could even remotely remember the last time we had barbecued while traveling.  We're guessing almost 5 years ago about the time we bought our Congress house in late February of 2012.  Of course our orange barbecue was used a lot while at the house but even on our short winter side trips we never bothered taking it along.

HEY THIS IS GONNA GET AWESOME GEORGE SALIVATING

 Here's an on-line semi-monthly newsletter/magazine I recommend for fellow South-West RV travelers.  It's called Desert USA . Always interesting articles focusing on the southwest with much to be learned about history and things to do and see in these vast deserts and mountain lands.  Articles are not lengthy and I often get a kick out of how many of the places it features we have already been to.  And while I'm at it check out Desert Magazine and be sure to have a look at the archives from as far back as the 1930's.  This magazine is chocked full of western history for all you old history buffs out there.

A RELAXING MORNING AT OUR HOUSE

And here's another example of where my memory is at these days.  Looking for something in a cupboard above the dash on the drivers side this morning I noticed a brown case tucked down in the back.  Pulling it out I realized it was my 15x70 Celestron binoculars I had bought several years ago for star gazing.  I had completely forgotten I had them and the last time I remember using them was one night at our Congress house 2 years ago.  Makes me wonder what other little treasures I have sitting around somewhere I have forgotten about.  On Thursday I completely forgot to email Cathie and Gord directions to where we were parked on Ogilby Road.  When Kelly came home she asked me if I had remembered to email Gord and Cathie............nope I hadn't.  Kelly quickly dashed them off an email with directions and they wandered in a short time later after driving around for miles upon desert miles looking for us.  Like I've said before, it's not easy being me:((

LOOKS LIKE I'M GOING TO HAVE TO GET BUSY AND DUST THOSE BINOS OFF

Cathie and Gord headed off into Yuma this morning to have themselves a look around and I replied to an email they sent inviting them over for coffee when they returned so we had us a nice afternoon here in the rig chatting.  Gord's very savvy with technical things so we learned a lot of cell/smart phone stuff.  Well Kelly learned a lot of stuff.  I was lost right from the get-go but did manage to throw a few chirps in here and there whenever I thought I was familiar with something.  'Thought' was the operating word there. 

CATHIE GORD AND KELLY ARE ALL BLACKBERRY USERS SO THEY HAD LOTS TO TALK ABOUT.....NOBODY SEEMED TOO INTERESTED IN HEARING ABOUT MY PEN AND SHIRT POCKET NOTE BOOK

With Kelly's help I am very much enjoying setting up this new computer of mine.  I've transferred via thumb drive and email links most of the stuff from my Toshiba already.  Photos and music especially.  Took a bit of searching but Kelly was able to find a download for Picasa 3.9 so I am a happy camper for now.  Of course the writing is on the wall for Picasa and I really should begin learning myself another photo editing program.  Compared to Picasa Googles photo editing program is a joke.  It's obviously geared to 'snap-n-go' cell phone users and not people with any kind of a photography interest who take some pride in having their photos look as good as they can be.

JUST BECAUSE THIS IS A TOUCH SCREEN  MACHINE IT DOESN'T MEAN I WILL BE TOUCHING IT AND GETTING MY GREASY LITTLE FINGER PRINTS ALL OVER IT.....I MUCH PREFER MY TRUSTY MOUSE THANK YOU VERY MUCH

I'M GUESSING THIS  NOTEBOOK/TABLET CONFIGURATION WOULD BE BEST FOR TOUCH SCREENING.....NOT GONNA HAPPEN

At the time of publishing this tonight some of the wind gusts have really picked up.  Saw 2 Marine military helicopters earlier making their way back to their Yuma base from manoeuvers in the Chocolate Mountains and they were hugging the ground pretty close in the wind.  They were partly obscured by blowing sand at times.

CAN'T EVEN SEE THE CARGO MUCHACHO MOUNTAINS ON THE HORIZON

Weather people say we have a huge rain front accompanied by thunder and lightning headed our way and due to arrive in a couple hours.  Said some of the dry washes may even be running from all the water coming down off the mountains.  I've always wanted to see water running in these washes.  Maybe I can get a few photos in the morning because we are right beside one.............. Come on rain let er rip:))

THESE NIGHT PHOTOS WERE TAKEN IN MUCH CALMER AIR THURSDAY NIGHT

GROANER'S CORNER:((
Three Little Pigs went out to dinner one night.. The waiter came and took their drink order.
'I would like a Sprite,' said the first little piggy.
'I would like a Coke,' said the second little piggy.
'I want beer, lots and lots of beer,' said the third little piggy.
The drinks were brought out and the waiter took their orders for dinner
'I want a nice big steak,' said the first piggy..
'I would like the salad plate,' said the second piggy.
'I want beer, lots and lots of beer,' said the third little piggy.
The meals were brought out and a while later the waiter approached the table and asked if the piggies would like any dessert.
'I want a banana split,' said the first piggy.
'I want a cheesecake,' said the second piggy.
'I want beer, lots and lots of beer,' exclaimed the third little piggy.
'Pardon me for asking,' said the waiter to the third little piggy,'
But why have you only ordered beer all evening?'
The third piggy says -
'Well, somebody has to go 'Wee, wee, wee, all the way home!!

I AM ABLE TO ENLARGE THE PRINTING OF SOME JOKES I COPY AND PASTE BUT NOT ALL...........

A man lost two buttons from his shirt and put them in his pants pocket. But the pocket had a hole, so the buttons fell into his shoe. Unfortunately, the shoe sole also had a hole, so he lost the buttons. As pockets with holes, holes without buttons, and shoe soles with holes are useless, the man ripped the buttonholes out of his shirt and the pocked from his pants and tossed them in the trash along with the soles of his shoes.A police officer who was observing the man asked him for some identification. The man gave the officer a document that shoed he was an ordained minister of the gospel. When the officer began to escort him to a mental institution, the minister protested violently, asking why he was receiving such unjust treatment.“Look, we both know it’s the best place for you now,” the officer replied. “Anyone claiming to be a preacher who doesn’t save souls or wear holy clothes has probably lost his buttons.”

FRIENDS FROM FLESHERTON ONTARIO DROP BY AND I'M GETTING THE HANG OF THIS BLOGGER FORMAT

HAVING A NICE WARM SNOOZY DAY

Okay so here goes the first post from my new Dell laptop computer.  Most noticeable thing right off the bat is the much lighter weight.  This laptop is about 75 pounds lighter than my old Toshiba and it no longer feels like I have a cement block sitting on my lap.  No fan noises and no heat blowing out setting my pajamas on fire every morning.  It's a whisper quiet solid state machine so has no moving parts to be cooled down.  When starting up it is fast right off the line and I no longer have to drive around the block 3 times waiting for my old Toshiba to boot-up.  And finally after all these years a lighted keyboard.  I no longer require a ring of floodlights around my chair to see the keyboard at night.   And speaking of the keyboard I am so glad they did away with the numbered key pads on the right hand side.  In 20 years of knocking around computers I don't ever remember once using those numbers on the right.  In fact Dell has really cleaned up the whole surface eliminating a lot of other buttons making the typing surface very clean and clutter free.  And I like that.  Now here's a biggy for anyone like myself who edits a lot of photos.  No matter if I tilt the screen forward or back the density remains the same meaning the screen doesn't get lighter or darker when moving it forward or back.  It has always been difficult for me to get my head and my screen on the correct matching angle and if either one of them are too far back or ahead it effects the lightness and darkness of my finished photos.  That was always a big pain in the assparagus!!

MY NEW DELL KEYBOARD

MY OLD TOSHIBA KEYBOARD

Happy to see a slight high cloud cover coupled with a modest westerly breeze  working well together in keeping the day's heat down.  Warm and hot are slowly replacing cool and cold.

SPOTTED THIS LITTLE CHAP ON AN AFERNOON WALK

Kelly headed into Yuma around10 for some groceries while Pheebs and I stayed home.  Been having a little trouble with a 'critch' in my lower left back that began late Wednesday afternoon so I wasn't feeling like doing much today.  Kelly was needing a break from 'Oscar the Grouch' anyway.  She's lucky she can get away while I'm kinda stuck with myself.  Seems no matter where I go I somehow manage to end up with me following myself around.   It's the darndest thing!!

IT'S A DOGGIES LIFE:))

Skies cleared in the afternoon but luckily the breeze hung around and today's  mid 70+ temps felt mighty nice.....in the shade.  Kelly made it back from Yuma shortly after 2.  We have big winds coming up from the south Saturday along with rain so we might have to make it a movie day except I wasn't much impressed with any of the upcoming movies I saw.  Romance, drama, and the ever present growing usual fare of blood, guts, and great gobs and violent volumes of gory violence.  Where's Walt Disney when ya really need him eh. 

Friends of ours from Flesherton Ontario who we met last summer rolled into Yuma this afternoon after doing an overnighter on Darby Well Road in Ajo Arizona.  It was only a week ago they left Ontario but they were determined to get themselves west into some warm weather soon as they could.  Gord and Cathie drive a nice Mercedes Benz van Gord modified himself.  They basically followed our old route from earlier traveling days when they slipped down around Indianapolis to I-40 west of Memphis then slid across through Little Rock Arkansas picking up highway 380 west of Texarkana.  From there they journeyed through Roswell New Mexico, Alamogordo, Las Cruces, Tucson Arizona across to Why and Ajo landing themselves in Yuma.  They are hoping to make it onto Borrego Springs.

CHECKING OUT GORD AND CATHIE'S VAN

THERE'S PHEEBS DOING HER ATTENTION GETTING ROUTINE

CATHIE AND GORD TUCKED AWAY FOR THE NIGHT JUST UP FROM US

Despite all my grumbling, complaining, ranting and blustering about the Blogger format a few days ago I am going to have to eat some humble pie with a top dressing of crow on it.  This is my fourth post using Blogger and I must say I am getting quite used to it and even if they get the Open Live Writer/Picasa issued resolved I just may think very seriously about sticking with Blogger.  Definitely a few advantages for sure.  I always seem to get myself in such a snit most anytime things change in the computer techno world.  It's hard enough for me as it is to tie my shoes let alone upload this, download that, upgrade that thing over there and install this thing over here.  'Bah Jumblebug' I say!!

CALIFORNIA'S CARGO MUCHACHO MOUNTAINS WERE LOOKING MIGHTY PRETY THIS EVENING

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Worried that they hadn't heard anything for days from the widow in the apartment next door, the mother said to her son, "Tony, would you go next door and see how old Mrs. Pierpoint is?" A few minutes later, Tony returned.
"Well, is she all right?" asked the mother. "She's fine, but she's rather annoyed with you," remarked Tony. "At me?" the mother exclaimed. "Whatever for?" Tony replied, "Mrs. Pierpoint said it's none of your business how old she is."

A journalist assigned to the Jerusalem bureau takes an
apartment overlooking the Wailing Wall. Every day when she
looks out, she sees an old Jewish man praying vigorously. So,
the journalist goes down and introduces herself to the old
man.  She asks, "You come every day to the wall. How long have you done that and what are you praying for?" The old man
replies, "I have come here to pray every day for 25 years. In
the morning I pray for world peace and then for the
brotherhood of man. I go home have a cup of tea and I come
back and pray for the eradication of illness and disease from
the earth."  The journalist is amazed. "How does it make you feel to come here every day for 25 years and pray for these things?" she
asks.  The old man looks at her sadly. "Like I'm talking to a
wall."

IT WAS A TECHNO KIND OF DAY

KELLY HEADS INTO BEST BUY THIS MORNING

Standing under a clear canopy of bright twinkling stars Tuesday night I marveled at the glittering line of thin diamonds spread across low on the horizon south of us.  Checking my Benchmark California atlas and Google Earth this morning I determined that necklace of  shimmering pin point lights could quite possibly be that of Paredones and Cdad.Morelos Mexico as well as possibly San Luis in America.

A FEW WHIRLYBIRDS IN THE AIR THIS MORNING

Would you believe all this time and maybe for years I have been spelling Ogilbe Road wrong.  Yep I have and Kelly pointed that out to me this morning.  Should be Ogilby not Ogilbe.  I remember years ago when a reader finally wrote in to let me know I had been spelling Quartzsite wrong.  I had been spelling it without the 'Z'.  And I remember Janna writing in one time to inform me the Kofa Mountains were in Arizona not California.  Ed, a sharp eyed reader from the past often used to correct my mistakes and I always appreciated that. 

AGRICULTURE IS BIG BUSINESS AROUND YUMA

Knew it was going to be hot today when we stepped out into warm desert air this morning.  Thank heavens for the cooling breeze.  It was around 9:45 a.m, Arizona time when we all piled into the Jeep and headed for Yuma.  We were on a mission this morning with the Yuma Palms Mall and the Best Buy store being our destination.  We had us a new laptop computer to pick up.  After driving to Temecula California last Friday (this is the post I have been unable to publish in Live Writer) to check out some laptops at Best Buy we came home and ordered on-line a Dell Inspiron 2in1 156 TouchScreen Laptop Intel Core i7 12GB Memory 512GB Solid State Drive  Model: I7579-7171 Gray.  The computer was shipped to the Best Buy store in Yuma.  It was shortly after 10 and the day was already becoming hot and not wanting to leave Pheebs in the Jeep I took her for a walk in the parking lot while Kelly slipped in and picked up the computer. 

I LIKE YUMA'S TRANSPORTATION TROLLEYS

We knew we had to open the box and fire it up right there outside the door in hopes of using Best Buy's wifi signal to load all the necessary updates.  We made the mistake with the Asus computer last month of setting it up back at the rig and not thinking of the updates it immediately downloaded reams of updates using up our precious Verizon Gigs.  That cost us big time so we were sure not about to make that costly mistake again.  With our new Dell out of the box and powered up by a 75 watt inverter plugged into the Jeep's cigarette lighter (I think they call those plugs something else now) we soon discovered Best Buy's wifi signal was too weak for us to do all the updates.  With a Verizon store on the other side of the parking lot we headed over there and sure enough they had a wifi signal, but it was too weak as well.

IN FRONT OF BEST BUY KELLY OPENS THE NEW COMPUTER BOX

CHECKING WIFI SIGNAL STRENGTH IN FRONT OF THE VERIZON STORE

 Luckily Kelly remembered a Starbucks close by so away we went again and luckily found a parking spot right in front of the coffee shop's building.  They had a strong wifi signal so Kelly started the update process on my new Dell solid state laptop computer.  It was also a good opportunity to update her smaller Asus laptop and Blackberry phone as well and luckily she had remembered to bring them along.  And fortunately for me I was able to upgrade my impatience program from 2.5 to 3.9.  With a couple Starbuck coffees on the go and a hunk of lemon pound cake we sat there for over an hour with our 3 devices updating.  We were on the south side of the building and with sunshine pouring through the windshield Pheebs and I were getting pretty warm.  Kelly was in the shady backseat with all the electronic gizmos.  Fortunately it was a breezy day and with windows down it was not too bad.  I did have one slightly disconcerting moment while Kelly was inside getting the coffee though when I saw our Motorhome go by.  What!!  Well it had to be ours because what are the chances another Canadian made 37 foot 2002 Triple E Commander with the same dusty paint and decals as our coach would be in Yuma Arizona.  Yes I had locked the rig and yes the keys were in my pocket, but................what were the chances??

WHEN IS MOM GOING IN TO GET US SOME SNACKS DAD??

KELLY CHECKS HER BLACKBERRY >>>>>>
Soon as the updates were complete we tore out of that parking lot, raced across highway 195 and back into the Yuma Palms Mall on the other side of the road.  Minutes later Kelly was coming out of 'In-N-Out' Burger with a couple big double burgs and fries.  Sixty seconds after that we were sitting on a curb under the shade of a nice Poplar type tree ravenously eating our curds and whey.  Then along came a spider......wait a minute, that's somebody else's story!!  Suffice it to say we munched down our enjoyable burgs and fries.  Fifteen minutes later with all Libby's windows down and hair and fur blowing in the wind we were westbound on I-8 heading back to our rig on Ogilby road.  Kelly then spent an hour installing a bunch of my programs on the new laptop.  It's better that Kelly do those things now rather than me because this way we both know those installs will be done right.  There was a time a few years ago when I did that stuff but with my short term memory the way it is I simply get too frustrated with myself when I keep forgetting how to do stuff.  By the way.....our rig was waiting for us when we got back so that was not our Motorhome I saw in Yuma this morning. Whewwwwwwww:))

OUR FAVORITE BURGER JOINT NOW

Readers may remember all the trouble we had with our Motorhome engine cutting out on hills and grades last year and the year before.  Readers may also remember a couple by the name of Chris and Rosemary dropping around to our place in Congress earlier this year.  It is Chris we have to thank for finally solving our Motorhome's problem when Chris wedged himself into our rig's passenger side front end wheel well that morning and took apart and totally cleaned our mass air sensor.  Our Motorhome has run perfect ever since and this afternoon Chris and Rosemary dropped around to say Hello.  They are camped out in Yuma and how nice to see them again. I often think of how Chris helped us out whenever we get into any steep hills and mountain grades now.  We will always be thankful to 'Chris the Jeep Guy' for solving our Motorhome's problem:))

RELAXING IN THE SHADE WITH OUR BURGS AND FRIES

Be sure to read Doug's post over at Miss Adventure Travels to see how a good Samaritan was able to help fellow travelers Stuck In The Sand.  Good stuff Doug.  And a note to RV Sue.....Doug mentions you in his post:))

One of the greatest things about being back on the road traveling again is the freedom to change our scenic neighborhood whenever we feel the urge to do so.  Always something to look forward to, always somewhere to go.  I continually love that feeling when we decide to move knowing we are off to somewhere whether it be a new place for us or an old familiar spot.  I also love that feeling whenever we get to wherever it was we were going and shut things down for the day.  How nice to slip back into the coach and do a big old belly flop right into my comfy recliner and breath that huge sigh of relief I'm sure every fellow RV'er knows about at the end of any travel day.

WHAT A PATIENT LITTLE GIRL SHE IS

GROANER'S CORNER:(( During a performance for the high school talent show at the local theater, a hole was cracked in the stage floor. Subsequent acts managed to avoid the damaged area until little Freddy, juggling bowling pins, accidentally stepped through the hole up to his knee.  He apologized to the audience for his clumsiness. But a heckler in the back of the theater shouted:
"Don't worry, Freddy! It's just a stage you're going through!"

Q. Who was the greatest comedian in the Bible?
A. Samson. He brought the house down.

An ant walks into a bar with his good friend Mister No, who is not an ant. The bartender says, "I'm sorry. We only serve ants here."
The ant says, "But this is my good friend Mister No."
The bartender says, "Sorry, but I don't take No for an ant, sir."

Knock Knock
Who's there?
Ya!
Ya who?
I didn't know you were a cowboy!
Knock Knock
Who's there?
Yacht!
Yacht who?
Yacht a know me by know!

“Whenever there is an earthquake the geologists are always quick to find fault.”