Tuesday, April 27, 2010

OK.....ABOUT THAT HAIRCUT PICTURE!!

 DSC_0007 A KANSAS SUNRISE

The weather turned out to be a big disappointment today with icy winds blowing in across Lake Huron freezing everything in it's path including the ice cubes in our freezer.  No motorcycle waxing today because the metal was too cold.  I did finish washing the final bug population off the front of the Motorhome though & figured had I picked them off with a tweezers I would have had enough bugs to thicken up a big pot of travel bug stew for supper.

DSC_0049 CLEANING UP THE RIG

In last night's blog I had a picture of our Motorhome interior & received some questions.  The photo was taken with a wide angle lens just as most real estate pictures are so the interior appears bigger than it really is.  Wide angle lenses are commonly used in small spaces to include as much of the subject as possible.  None of that furniture you see is secured to anything except the heavy computer desk in the left foreground.  Those red chairs are light enough to just pick right up & walk out the door with.  The bigger fold up bed in the corner is heavy & sticks like glue to the floor.  For traveling we just set that one red chair up on the slide section beside the other chair & that's it...in comes the slide.  This whole set up works fine for us & the dogs but would probably not work for most RV travelers simply because most folks like to socialize, play cards, entertain, & yadda yadda yadda.   As you all know we are not into any of that stuff so don't need all the extra seating, couches, tables, & stuff.  But, first & foremost, we ditched the original furniture simply because it was just tooooooo darn uncomfortable.

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DSC_0012 RENOVATION DAY IN QUARTZSITE ARIZONA

Maybe in the high end coaches the quality of the furniture is such that it is actually people friendly.  Not so in the lower or mid line coaches.  We put up with the uncomfortable stuff for our first trip with the coach but the second year out we weren't long in hauling the dinette, tub chair, & sofa bed right out of there & selling it all in Quartzite Arizona.  For the next few days all's we had in there was a couple fold up chairs & a small wooden table.  From Quartzsite we headed to an RV Park in Casa Grande & while there zipped up to an Ikea store in Tempe/Phoenix in search of new furniture.  We spent hours in that store & I have to admit it was probably the only time I ever really enjoyed being on a shopping excursion.  I had never been in an Ikea store before & was totally knocked out by the whole Ikea concept.  Check out our photos from that day here.... IKEA DAY.

DSC_0042 DSC_0030 DSC_0031 IKEA KNOWS HOW TO DO IT RIGHT!!

I think we sold our rig's furniture for around $400 in Quartzite & refitted the rig at Ikea for about $350.  Probably the only time in my life I ever came out ahead on a deal.  We bought a fold up bed, two Poang chairs, lamp, foot stool & an assortment of other goodies.  It had to all be assembled later so the boxes were easily loaded in our car for the drive back to Casa Grande.  Spent the following day assembling everything & we were ready to go.DSC_0056 DSC_0054 DSC_0018 DSC_0016ASSEMBLING THE STUFF & AL STARTS THE PAINTING

We decided on the interior color while thinking of the southwest & how much we liked the adobe look.  While in Casa Grande we went to Wal-Mart & I picked up a clay flowerpot in the garden section & took it over to the paint department where the fella read it with his magical little color scanner.  Had him mix us up a quart of paint to match & that was it.  Originally had only planned on painting the small section of wall directly behind the chair & lamp but the following summer I took the paint swatch on the lid of the can to our Wal-Mart in Goderich Ontario & had them brew us up some more paint.  I then painted the whole slide area plus the kitchen section.

DSC_0052-1 DSC_0050-1 PATAGONIA STATE PARK, ARIZONA

And, what the heck was the Bayfield Bunch doing at a fancy schmancy RV Park like Beaudry's in Tucson, Arizona?  Well, it wasn't exactly by choice but we had developed a water leak in our 5ver while at Patagonia State Park near Nogales & that leak needed fixing.  No place in Nogales to have it repaired so headed on up to Tucson.  Spotted Beaudry's from the Interstate & headed in to have things looked at.  It was a minor repair but  by the time they were done we were totally dead tired from traveling & decided to just stay in their adjoined RV Park for the night.  Ended up staying 3 nights while exploring around the Tucson area before leaving.  Nice laundry room, nice pool, nice internet access room, restaurant, etc. But, it just wasn't our cup of tea & the price per night was pretty steep.  We stayed at a number of RV Parks in the early days & it didn't take us long to realize we would be further ahead to invest future monies in a solar system.  It has turned out to be one of the best RV decisions we have ever made.  

DSC_0082-2 POOL & HOT TUB AT BEAUDRY WE NEVER USED

Now, about that haircut picture in last night's blog.  That photo was taken before I actually went under surgeon Kelly's scissors.  Never thought to take an 'after' photo so at Kelly's request, I attempted to do that this morning.

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OK, HERE'S THE 'AFTER' PICTURE

A young fella by the name of Rick showed up this afternoon from Lorne's RV Service here in Bayfield with our new Motorhome kitchen tap assembly.  Only took him a matter of minutes to haul out the old cracked one & have the new one up & running with real water coming out.  He made it look so easy to do that I thought to myself, well, maybe I could have done that myself.  Now, having seen how it was done I think next time I might just have a very good chance of doing that.  Hey, anybody out there need some taps changed:))

DSC_0014 DSC_0013RICK FROM LORNE'S RV REPLACES OUR KITCHEN FAUCET ASSEMBLY (click to enlarge)

Also, at this very moment our Hyundai Santa Fe is undergoing a complete ball joint replacement plus 4 new tires with a front end alignment & tire balancing at Huron Tire & Auto in Clinton, Ontario.  Should make quite an improvement to it's driving capabilities I suppose although I thought it drove fine before.  Oh well, ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

I am putting this blog together in late afternoon because tonight I have to spend the first 3 hours of a two part first aid course put on by the Home Care company I drive part time for.  Second 3 hour installment will be Thursday night again from 7 to 9.  Hey, anybody out there need a broken leg fixed.............................

DSC_0027 RENOVATION DAY SUNSET.....QUARTZSITE

GROANER'S CORNER:((  'You should be ashamed,' the father told his son, Andy, 'When Abraham Lincoln was your age, he used to walk ten miles every day to get to school.'  'Really?' Andy responded. 'Well, when he was your age, he was president.'

Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

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.

Monday, April 26, 2010

NICE DAY SO WASHED THE RIG & THE BIKE

DSC_0005 FORSYTHIA

Our recent rains sure have gone a long way to greening things up in the last 48 hours.  Early spring here always looks pretty bleak & barren after the long winter but once things begin to warm up in late April & May the vegetation literally explodes into life & by June we are in full blown almost tropical mode.  I've always felt June is the month most plants, shrubs, trees, & flowers are at their absolute best before the heavy heat of July & August take their toll.  As much as we love our southwest desert in the winter we sure love our summer greens here in the northern latitudes while at home.  We truly do have the best of both worlds.

DSC_0044 ALWAYS A BIG JOB GETTING THE RIG LOOKING CIVILIZED AGAIN AFTER A LONG TRIP

Our little 2003 Santa Fe car had developed some strange vibrations in the front end lately so Kelly took it to a local tire shop this morning suspecting we were in for some new tires.  Well, we do need tires all the way around but it was determined the ball joints are totally shot & at the dangerous point.  The car is 7 years old & we have had it for 3 of those years.  It's been a totally great little car with very few problems so I guess we have to expect some repairs now & again.  Four new tires, new ball joints plus labor & tax is going to carry us way over the thousand dollar mark for sure.  Also priced out 6 new tires for the Motorhome & as expected that's going to run us up close to $3,000.00.  We'll wait until September before having tires installed on the rig because who knows what could happen between now & then.  Let me see now, so far this month AL has made a grand total of $78.  Yep, everything seems pretty normal so far.

DSC_0009 POPLAR LEAVES

The temps came up enough today to finally take the motorcycle for a run.  Stopped at Bayfield's car wash & hosed off the winter's storage of dust & cob webs.  Took er out & blowed er dry on the highway & it was great to feel that wind ripping away at my aging face again.  Kind of like a road dirt- sand blast make-over.  A bit warmer tomorrow so I will try to get some wax on it.  (the motorcycle, not my face)

DSC_0055 ON THE BEACH AT GRAND BEND

Washed the Motorhome today as well so that should be good now until the fall when I will do it again before we leave.  Sure was a lot of road grime on it and is now looking so good we could fit ourselves right into shiny rig row with no problem at all.

DSC_0010-5 HERE'S THE BAYFIELD BUNCH ON SHINY RIG ROW WHEN WE HAD THE FIVER....BEAUDRY RV PARK, TUCSON AZ.

And, earlier this morning it was determined I could hold out no longer on a decision I had been mulling over for a couple weeks now.   Subsequently, my wild wooly west look ended up on the kitchen floor again.  Kelly shortened up my curly gray locks with a scissors & I in turn trimmed up my shaggy white beard with an old electric shaver.   I am now back to my neat little namby pamby school boy look for the summer.

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<<<< THIS YEAR'S HAIRCUT WAS A REPEAT PERFORMANCE OF LAST YEAR'S HAIRCUT

JUSTRAVELIN is in Arizona's Dead Horse State Park at the moment & that brought back memories of our stay there 3 winter's  ago.  You can see a few photos here.......  SEDONA, JEROME, DEAD HORSE STATE PARK.

DSC_0003 A FLOCK OF MORNING GEESE WING THEIR WAY TOWARDS COTTONWOOD, ARIZONA

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Brain cells come and brain cells go, but fat cells live forever.

Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

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.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

NEVER SET FOOT OUT OF THE HOUSE TODAY:((

DSC_0024-1 CHECKERS

A gentle rain came in the night & stayed most of the morning. I could hear a lot of giggling going on in the gardens as the flowers soaked up the much needed moisture.  A cooling breeze off the lake made the 52F temps feel much cooler & that pretty well kept both of us house bound for the entire day................................

DSC_2075 TIS THE SEASON FOR TRILLIUMS

I would have to say it was probably one of the least physically days I have had in any kind of recent memory.  My whole day was spent parked in front of computers wrestling with 4 separate hard drives loaded with photos, photos, & more photos.  I normally would not have become this disorganized with all the pictures but with the 5 Gig Verizon cap we struggled with all winter I couldn't upload each days photos into their proper Picasa Web Albums or Smug Mug account.  As it was, we blew threw our 5 Gig limit every single month.

DSC_2081Deciding to sort pictures into my Smug Mug account further complicates things because I really haven't used it much before so I am basically starting from scratch with 4 or 5 years of pictures.  The thought did occur to me that I may never get this project finished.  The uploads are slow & the files are many. I am going to need an awful lot of rainy days on my side, but already sun filled summer days are fast approaching.  And, the question did enter my mind.....why am I doing all this anyway!! 

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GROANER'S CORNER:((  I signed up for an exercise class and was told to wear loose-fitting clothing. If I HAD any loose-fitting clothing, I wouldn't have signed up in the first place!

Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

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.