NO HEAD SHAKING STUFF IN TONIGHT'S BLOG:))

MOM, DAD, & THE KIDS AT THE BEACH TODAY (Painted Turtles)

First thing this morning the Ophthalmologist office phoned to cancel my appointment for today.  The eye Doctor guy was sick so my appointment was rescheduled for next Thursday at noon.

LITTLE MOTORMOUSE DOESN'T LIKE TO GET HER PAWS WET IN THE EARLY MORNING GRASS

Spent a couple hours over at Deer Park Lodge again this morning trimming shrubs & clearing some brush.  It was the first time I had ever used a gasoline powered weed whacker.  It sure makes my little electric one here at home look like a wimpy bowl of soupy porridge.  Luckily a lawn cutting guy was there & was able to show me how to start the darn thing or I would still be there trying to figure that out.  Had a short mobility van run this afternoon & that was about it for the day.  I have a busy day on Friday with the company mini-van so that should keep me out of trouble for the whole day.  Might be a good idea to take the laptop & get caught up on some emails between stops.

IT'S NOT OFTEN WE MEET ANYONE ON THE TRAIL

I thought KAREN IN THE WOODS had a particularly interesting blog post today on 'Rustic RV Camping.'  Maybe not everybody's cup of RV tea but Karen explains why they enjoy camping with their Class A in rustic RV Parks deep in the wilds of the Wisconsin woods.  She knows that some folks won't understand why they would do that......but I know why:))

SPOTTED THIS GREEN HERON BY THE WATER'S EDGE THIS MORNING

For all you truck & fifth wheel jockeys out there you might want to check out HOMER & LUCILLE'S post on their new Pull-Rite Super Glide hitch and Fifth Wheel Airborne pin box  This sounds like quite a space age hitch they have just had installed in their Dodge 3500 dually.  Comes with a bit of a Space Age price tag too but Mike sounds mighty happy with it's performance.

                                 

THE HERON TAKES FLIGHT, LANDS AMIDST THE TURTLES, & THEN TAKES FLIGHT AGAIN UP INTO A PINE TREE (click to enlarge)

I am way behind on my email responses again so Wilf, Nellie, Phil, & a few  of you other folks who have emailed in questions, I have your emails rounded up here on my desktop now & will be answering them very shortly.  I enjoy corresponding with people but my biggest problem is remembering to do it so I have to figure out some kind of fool proof system here so that I do not forget people.  I know I have forgotten emails in the past.  I know what is like to send someone an email & not have it answered:((

Janie & John over at FLAMINGO ON A STICK have an interesting post on their transition from house to apartment to RV.  It will be of particular interest for folks in the various stages of 'downsizing' before hitting the road full time.

<<<< SPOTTED MY FIRST WILD STRAWBERRY TODAY

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart", all I hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart".

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Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

"UNTIL ONE HAS LOVED AN ANIMAL, PART OF THEIR SOUL REMAINS UNAWAKENED"

OUR BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

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

AL'S SMUG MUG PHOTO GALLERY http://stargeezer.smugmug.com/ (a work in progress)

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

WE ARE A MINORITY ON OUR OWN BLOG

THAT IS A SALT WATER POOL AT DEER PARK.....I cut those Cherry tree limbs off a week ago & Kelly stuck a couple birdhouses on them:))

Again I am short of photos so quickly cracked off a few shots at Deer Park Lodge where Kelly works.  I was there today trimming a lot of overgrown shrubs etc.  The rest of the pics are from my photo files.

NOTICE THE LADDER ON THE LEFT WHICH I FORGOT TO MOVE OUT OF THE PICTURE (plus the garden hose).....I HAD STOOD ON THAT LADDER TO TAKE THE TOP BIRDHOUSE/POOL PHOTO FOR THE POST

Grand Bend Ontario is a small village on the shores of Lake Huron about 20 minutes south of us here in Bayfield.  On the Southside of the river in 'the Bend' is the Grand Bend Yacht Club with it's dockside buildings & moorings.  One of those buildings is a taller replica light house.  In the winter time that lighthouse acts like a beacon for us although we may be up to 3,000 miles away in the Arizona or California desert.  With a few magical clicks of our computer mouse we are able to instantly check on the weather back home with an actual bird's eye visual view of the Grand Bend harbor area.  And how is that possible??

On the top floor of that light house, inside & out of the weather behind a window, sits a live webcam mounted on a tri-pod.  This cam takes a photo once every minute 24/7.  From the warm comfort of our Motor Home in a windblown desert location we can see how much snow is on the ground or ice in the river at any time.  Are they having a snow storm or is it a bright sunny day back home.  Sometimes we see people & cars on the screen.  Maybe even a sea gull or two sitting on a post by the river.   We can even see a partial sunset out over the lake some evenings.  In the springtime when we check the camera I particularly watch to see when the ice breaks up in the river because once the ice is gone we know it's time to start planning our journey home.  Here you can see the live view from that GRAND BEND WEB CAM

  (click to enlarge) 

Be sure to read LAURIE'S POST about their visit to the Memorial crash site of Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania a few days ago.  The fourth plane hijacked on September 11th, 2001.

I think it was TRAVELS WITH EMMA who had a question a couple days ago about how I decide which camera lens to take with me when I head out the door.  Our morning walk takes us through a pine forest with a few open spaces here & there.  Anything moving is likely to be small & of the wildlife nature.  That lends itself to a telephoto lens so that is generally what I carry.  I have been trying for the past couple of years to get a picture of a flying Kingfisher near the pond so every morning I have my camera & telephoto lens locked & loaded as I approach the pond but so far he has just been too fast & elusive for me.  For hiking I carry two cameras with 2 separate lenses that covers all the basis from 18mm wide angle right up to 300mm telephoto.

<<<< FILE PIC WITH MY 2 CAMS & OLDER 55-200MM LENS (June 2009)

While reading a few blogs this morning I came across some folks talking about blog followers & how some followers come & some drop away for whatever reasons.  As human beings we are all so vastly different yet so much the same with our many varied interests, preferences, & ideas.  As RV folks we all have a common bond in our love of travel & an alternative lifestyle different from what is considered 'the norm' by the majority of house people.  Full Timers of course are way out there on the leading edge & we Snow Birders are not far behind with our winters in the south.   Week-end RV campers bring up the rear with shorter get-aways whenever they can.   Within the RV lifestyle are many mini lifestyles as well & quite awhile ago something occurred to me about our blog which concerned our, 'blogs we follow' list in the right hand column.'  I realized we are in a minority of our own, even right here in our own blog.

JUST ONE OF THE MANY COLORFUL LITTLE SHOPS ALONG BAYFIELD'S MAIN STREET

As anyone knows who has followed The Bayfield Bunch for any length of time, we do not fit 'the norm.'  (and we are quite happy with that) Not only at home here but in the RV world as well.  And I emphasize the word 'we' when I am talking about all of this by the way.  The vast majority of RV folks are RV Park people which means they prefer nice level concrete sites with full hook-ups & all the comfy amenities like pools, spas, & shopping malls.  We prefer to boondock in out of the way quiet places & enjoy the natural world around us.  A lot of folks like to go from point A to point B & stay there for the  whole winter.  Three weeks in any one place is plenty long enough for me!!  Most east coast folks prefer Florida, Georgia, & Texas but our preference is New Mexico, Arizona, & California.  RV people are an extremely sociable lot with constant visiting & socializing.  We as a rule prefer to hang out by ourselves & avoid all that pressure.  We like to hike & go places by ourselves & not in groups.  We are not 'food' people & heading out on restaurant excursions in search of fine foods is not up our alley.   Seems most of the folks love to have the 'Grands' come for a visit.  I'm still trying to figure out what the heck a 'Grand' is.  Got a fair few religious speaking folks on our list too & once again we find ourselves in a minority.  Most RV people are animal lovers though so we definitely made the normalcy grade there but it's no wonder I get myself into hot water sometimes on the blog here when I express my thoughts & opinions from time to time.  (like tonight for example) As I said before, in an odd sort of way, we are a minority on our own blog............................

GROANER'S CORNER:((  And did you know that very bad decisions generally make for very good stories:))

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Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

"UNTIL ONE HAS LOVED AN ANIMAL, PART OF THEIR SOUL REMAINS UNAWAKENED"

OUR BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

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

AL'S SMUG MUG PHOTO GALLERY http://stargeezer.smugmug.com/ (a work in progress)

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

AN EMAIL & PHOTOS FROM A LOUISIANA RV COUPLE

A few blogs ago I posted about the mobility van I drive part time & included some pics of how the ramp system worked.  A couple days ago I received an email from an RV couple in southwest Louisiana who read that post.  I thought their email & pics would be of interest to other RV'ers & especially folks in similar situations.  I emailed Vickie & Ronnie back to ask permission to use their email & photos in an upcoming blog post.  This is that post & this is their email:))

Hi Al & Kelly.........I enjoy reading your blog and passing the link on to others.  It was interesting to see you describe how your work van lift works. So many people have no idea what it is like.  We, however have some experience in a similar lift we had installed in our Keystone Raptor Toy Hauler.  Ronnie has been in a wheelchair since 1988 as a result of a spinal cord injury. We live in SW Louisiana and travel when we can.  We just returned from a two week trip thru Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas and Texas.  Anyway, I thought you might like to see our rig setup. 

 

The first three photos were taken during the installation of the lift.  We didn't watch while they cut a huge hole in the side of our trailer.

             

Second two is Ronnie on the lift the first time. I know he's facing the wrong way, but he prefers to face the way he's headed.

 

Last pic is where we're enjoying our time, camping & fishing by a river.  We're proud of our ramp refitted Keystone Raptor and it get lots of stares when we pull into a campground.  Ronnie gets out of the truck on his seat lift and into his wheelchair, then people watch to see how he's gonna get up in that big trailer.  We just smile and wave!  The company that installed the lift in our 2009 Keystone Raptor Toy Hauler, got all the specs/blueprints from Keystone, because it is a Toy Hauler with a reinforced garage area in the back, & very little additional reinforcement was necessary. Before we had the lift installed we used an ATV winch mounted to the floor and would winch him in his chair up and down the back ramp door, it was sometimes very steep and dangerous when raining, now we have the perfect set up......

Last I read, MIKE & PAT were having themselves quite a time over there in Custer South Dakota with a troublesome water well dilemma.  Looked like some possible underground problems after arriving at their summer residence recently.  Well, Mike thought, we'll just use our 5th wheel water resources for the time being until we get the well situation straightened out.  "Oh Oh".......more trouble!!  Anybody got an extra few jugs of water to spare...............

Our friend Ron from FOUR SEASONS PERFORMANCE in Grand Bend Ontario has offered to put my motorcycle on his website if I decide for sure to sell it.  The hard words there are, 'decide for sure.'  The bike still had a lot of fine pine pollen on it from a couple weeks ago so if the bike is going to be sold I wanted to get it cleaned up.  Can't sell a bike with pine pollen all over it ya know!!  Slipped up to the Goderich car wash this morning & gave the bike a good washing & a coat of spray wax.  They have a clear water rinse there so no water or chemical spots are left on anything either.  When I backed it out of the bay all sparkling & shiny I thought to myself, "Geeeezzzzz, I can't sell this bike!!"  Drove over to Tim Horton's for a coffee & sat there for a bit thinking what I should do.  At this age & stage of the game if I sell the bike I'm not likely to ever have another one.  At least not as nice as this one.  It's a Honda Shadow Aero 1100 & it's a quality bike.  So, here I am sitting on the proverbial fence again.  What to do, what to do:((  I'm beginning to lean towards the idea of keeping the bike now in case we do not find a Jeep Wrangler.  Jeep decision first, motorcycle decision second.....ya, that's it.  Ok, that's my plan as of right now.  Well, until at least supper time anyway:))

DECISIONS, DECISIONS:((

Thanks to everyone for your concerns & comments about our little owl yesterday.  But, there may be a calming spiritual side to the story.  Our Colorado RV friend Rene from LIVE-WORK-DREAM left a comment on Kelly's Facebook this morning which read...."Ooooh, how sad. You guys are great for trying to save her. But you know what? We saw an owl today for the first time on our property. Maybe it was your owl's spirit being set free? Nice to imagine."

 GROANER'S CORNER:(( 

A man walked out to the street and caught a taxi just going by.   He got into the taxi, and the cabbie said, "Perfect timing.   You're just like "Brian!
Passenger:
"Who?"
Cabbie:
"Brian Sullivan.  He's a guy who did everything right all the time.  Like my coming along when you needed a cab, things happen like that to Brian Sullivan, every single time."
Passenger:
"There are always a few clouds over everybody."
Cabbie:
"Not Brian Sullivan.   He was a terrific athlete.   He could have won the Grand Slam at tennis.   He could golf with the pros.   He sang like an opera baritone and danced like a Broadway star and you should have heard him play the piano.  He was an amazing guy."
Passenger:
"Sounds like he was something really special."
Cabbie:
"There's more.   He had a memory like a computer.   He remembered everybody's birthday.   He knew all about wine, which foods to order and which fork to eat them with.   He could fix anything.   Not like me.   I change a fuse, and the whole street blacks out.   But Brian Sullivan, he could do everything right."
Passenger:
"Wow. Some guy then."
Cabbie:
"He always knew the quickest way to go in traffic and avoid traffic jams.   Not like me, I always seem to get stuck in them. But Brian, he never made a mistake, and he really knew how to treat a woman and make her feel good.   He would never answer her back even if she was in the wrong; and his clothing was always immaculate, shoes highly polished too.   He was the perfect man!   He never made a mistake.   No one could ever measure up to Brian Sullivan."
Passenger:
"An amazing fellow.   How did you meet him?"
Cabbie:
"Well, I never actually met Brian.   He died.   I'm married to his bloody widow!!!!"

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Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

"UNTIL ONE HAS LOVED AN ANIMAL, PART OF THEIR SOUL REMAINS UNAWAKENED"

OUR BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

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

AL'S SMUG MUG PHOTO GALLERY http://stargeezer.smugmug.com/ (a work in progress)

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