RAINY AFTERNOON FOR A RITZY WEDDING

PART OF THE BEN MILLER INN COMPLEX ABOUT 20 MINUTES FROM OUR PLACE & ABOUT 20 MINUTES BEFORE THE RAINS CAME TODAY!!...Supposedly a 'movie stars' retreat.  Rumor has it that Bert Reynolds & long lost love Lonni Anderson were here years ago.

 

Worked today & my mobility van travels took me to a wedding!!  Picked up wheelchair lady in a neighboring small town & took her to a well known place for rich folks called the Ben Miller Inn.  The outdoor wedding took place outside the main building around 4 & just beat the rain by about 20 minutes.  All of today's photos are from the grounds of the Ben Miller Inn while I had a 2 hour wait before returning the lady to the little town of Brussels.

THAT RED DOOR LEADS TO THE FRONT DESK, ACCOMMODATIONS, & $FINE DINING$

Thursday's trip over to Waterloo Ontario quickly brought back the harsh reality of why we do not live in a city.  Mass suburbia!!  I lived in the Kitchener-Waterloo back in the late 60's & the area around Erbsville where we went Thursday was familiar to me.  It is not familiar any longer!!  We might just as well have been transported to some far off planet from the future.  Miles upon miles & rows upon rows of crowded houses interspersed with the ever present acres of shopping malls, twisting streets, traffic lights, & the ever present metal monsters all racing & competing for space to get to whatever seems so important for them all to get to.  The shopping malls I suspect!!  Kids on the sidewalks, kids on the roads, & kids on the lawns of well manicured houses all squished together.  All perfectly fine & normal for the people living there but what a contrast it is to our lifestyle. I think that is why big city living just jumps right out at us every time & bops us on the nose whenever we see that sort of thing.  It's always a good reminder for me of why I totally avoid all cities wherever possible!!  We are sooooooooo fortunate to live where we do both here in the summer & in the southwest during the winter.    And, whenever I start my blustery complaining stuff about being home I should just be put in the car, driven to the nearest city & forced to spend half an hour in the madness.  Instant cure for AL!!!!

Finally got my pocket voice recorder to a practical level of understanding I can use.  I am now well on my way to recording miles & miles of mindless drivel to annoy myself with on miserable rainy days.  The instruction manual goes on in detail how to use the device for a multitude of operations, & I expect, had I read the manual to the end, I would have found on the last page how to directly plug the USB cord into the operational flight deck system of a 747 Jumbo Jet & program the recorder to not only fly the jet but land it as well on obscure runways somewhere in southern Zimbabwe.  However, I just took it to a level where when RVing down the road I can easily record trivia like what State lines are being crossed & when.  Maybe comment on a traffic incident like a passing car exploding in a ball of flames or a dozen alien space craft blocking traffic on I-10 west of Tucson.  Stuff I would normally forget about by the time it came to write the blog at the end of the day. 

For any RV'ers traveling in risky weather areas where there may be severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, etc., be sure to read LAURIE'S weather experienced post  today on how they prepare themselves for any worst case scenarios.  And it sounds like RV'ers JOHN & JUDY'S have themselves pretty well surrounded by all the G8 & G20 stuff going on up around Huntsville & Gravenhurst Ontario, Canada.  Military aircraft, limousine convoys, army maneuvers, & RCMP everywhere.  They are currently in a KOA campground right beside an airport being used as a command center.  A couple of days ago John found himself inadvertently at the head of an RCMP 3 limo motorcade......on his motorcycle!! (check back a day or two in his blog when you get there)

   

I am still waffling badly on the decision to sell the motorcycle.  It is a classic heart & head battle going on within.  My head tells me that selling the bike is the right thing to do both from a financial & simply logical point of view but my heart is on the opposite side of the fence saying, 'nooooooooooo, do not sell the bike dummy!!'  So, it is quite a tussle I am having with myself here for sure.

GROANER'S CORNER:(  And here's what some of those computer terms mean to our local farmers....

1. Log on: when you want to make the house warmer.

2. Log off: Timberrrrrrrrrrrr.

3. Mega Hertz: when your not careful getting the firewood.

4. Lap top: where the cat sleeps.

5. Hard drive: maneuvering through those rocky fields on the northern range when there is snow on the ground.

6. Windows: what to shut when it's cold outside.

7. Byte: what mosquitoes do.

8. Modem: what I did to the hay fields last week.

9. Keyboard: where the keys hang.

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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.

MAKING ROOM IN THE DRIVEWAY FOR OUR NEW ADDITION

OUR 3 LITTLE FUZZY BABY ROBBINS ARE GROWING QUICKLY

Like a lot of folks over the past bunch of years we have slowly moved away from the paper society & now do all our banking, utility bills, & correspondence over the internet.  It's rare to even write a check anymore but we do have check books here for different types of accounts at various banks.  Three days ago we decided to write a check for something so went to the drawer where all that sort of stuff is kept.  But, all our check books were gone!!  Not just one or two, but all of them.  This was a mystery & of course a little alarming.  Nothing else missing in the house & we knew nobody could come in without us here or the dogs would attack & eat them!!  We spent 3 days looking & looking.  Even turned the Motor Home upside down in case we had put them in there.  Could aliens have beamed down from a spaceship in the night to snaffoo our check books.  Maybe a raccoon came through an open door & absconded with them.  What a mystery this was!!

                    

WE SURE HAD OUR VEHICLES LOADED FOR UNCLE HARRY'S MOVE LAST MONDAY

This morning while pondering the missing check dilemma again, Kelly happened to see the corner of a white shopping bag sticking out from under a piece of corner furniture in a hard to see & forgotten corner.  She walked over, bent down & pulled out the bag.......and there were all our check books inside.  RIGHT WHERE AL HAD HIDDEN THEM LAST OCTOBER BEFORE WE HEADED SOUTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A PAIR OF HOUSE SPARROWS

With the newest addition to our little gasoline family arriving Monday we will temporarily have 20 tires on the ground here & a total of 26 hungry cylinders to feed.  Had to do a little shuffling around in the driveway today in preparation for the Jeep coming home Monday so for sure we have to get our 99 Dodge Caravan sold post haste.  That little mini-van has been an amazingly good vehicle for us but there was always one thing I hated about it right from the day we bought it back in 05.  The doinky blue color....YUK!!   In contrast to that, we both loved the color of the Jeep as soon as we saw it.  A few other things the Jeep has that I forgot to mention yesterday are a trailer hitch & a rear view mirror with digital thermometer & directional compass built in.  I just love all that colored light stuff at night.  The radio/CD player is also an upgrade & includes a subwoofer.  I love all that subwoofer stuff too because I like to hear lots of big booming bass in my music.  I took along a ZZ Top CD Thursday to try out the Jeeps sound system but could tell right away I'm going to have to tweak the sound a bit if I'm going to get that subwoofer shaking my brains out real good.  The Jeep also has nice Alloy wheels. (whatever alloy wheels are)

Gordon, from GOLDEN WOLFORD PHOTOGRAPHY left me a comment on last night's blog straightening me out a bit in regards to Panasonic's Lumix camera line.  I do need a little straightening out from time to time you know.  Gordon said, "Just to make it clear, Al, Lumix is Panasonic's brand of digital cameras. There are many of them, ranging from pocket point-and-shoot models to digital SLRs.  The one I just bought is their compact P&S ZS7 model, which is basically the same as their less expensive ZS5, but has GPS tagging. So if tagging one's images with GPS data isn't important, the ZS5 is more cost effective."

Busy working week-end coming up & I will be on the road both days with the mobility van.  Hardest part is putting in time between the runs because I will be too far away to return home.  Better take the cameras, a laptop, soft pillow & maybe something to read...........with big print.

Although the above photograph has the Bayfield Bunch watermark on it I did not take this photo.  I think because I ran it through our Picasa Photo program the water mark was automatically added.  Credit for the photo goes to STAN SWITALSKI PHOTOGRAPHY.  It shows Kelly's daughter Sabra, oldest boy Keenan, husband Derek, & youngest son Langdon.  I did take the photos of Langdon below though.................

   

Finally got the date into the 'Recorder' but that's as far as I got so far.  Can't ask Kelly for help because I haven't told her I bought it yet.

ANCHORED OFFSHORE AT DEER PARK LODGE.................BAYFIELD, ONTARIO

GROANER'S CORNER:((  "After having dug to a depth of 10 meters last year, Scottish scientists found traces of copper wire dating back 100 years and came to the conclusion that their ancestors already had a telephone network more than 100 years ago.

Not to be outdone by the Scots, in the weeks that followed, British scientists dug to a depth of 20 meters, and shortly after,  headlines in the UK newspapers read: "British archaeologists have found traces of 200 year old copper wire and have concluded that their ancestors already had an advanced high-tech communications network a hundred years earlier than the Scots."

One week later, "The Daily Squidjigger," a Newfoundland newspaper, reported the following  "After digging as deep as 30 meters near Cornerbrook, Wilf Johnson, a self taught archaeologist, reported that he found absolutely nothing. Wilf has therefore concluded that 300 years ago Newfoundland had already gone wireless."

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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 UNEXPECTED TRIP OVER TO WATERLOO, ONTARIO

DID WE FINALLY FIND OURSELVES A JEEP?

Had my eye appointment today at noon & the eye guy said although I have slow growing cataracts in both eyes I am not there yet for cataract surgery.  Scheduled me for a full eye exam in the spring, wrote me out a new eye glasses prescription & sent me on my way.  Said reading in low light types of situations will continue be be more difficult as time goes on but that's the way it will be until I walk over the edge of a an Arizona cliff because I didn't see where it was in the dim early morning light:))

WE HAVE A NEW BATCH OF BABY ROBBINS IN ONE OF OUR JUNIPER TREES

I did pick myself up a Sony ICD-Px820 digital audio recorder this morning so now I've got another contraption to figure out.  Only took me about 3 years to finally make the 'recorder' decision.  First thing I'll do is record some info about myself in case I get lost in the woods & can't remember who I am.

THESE BAYFIELD BASED FISHING BOATS BRING IN A FRESH CATCH EVERY DAY DURING THE SEASON....If your in the area check out Scott Austin's Bayfield Fish & Seafood store on the north side of the river beside the fishing boats.

NOT EVERYONE CAN AFFORD A FANCY BOAT

Noticed Gordon over at NIGHTLY NEWS picked himself up a nice compact Panasonic Lumix digital camera.  Jerry coincidentally mentioned in an email today that he just bought himself a new camera too.....yep, a Panasonic Lumix & after Retired Rod read about Gordon buying the Lumix.....yep, he ordered himself a Panasonic Lumix as well.  Looks like it was a good week for Panasonic.  GORDON is a professional photographer & if he feels the Panasonic Lumix is a quality camera........you can take that to the bank:))  If I didn't have my little Canon.....yep, I'd be gettin me a Panasonic Lumix alright:))

 

IT'S A PICTURESQUE & QUIET HARBOR HERE IN BAYFIELD

Kelly spotted a Jeep for sale on the internet this morning over in Waterloo Ontario.  After a series of emails back & forth to the Jeep owner we decided to slip over this afternoon & have a look at it.  2006 Jeep Wrangler TJ  Sport with a 6 cylinder engine.  4x4 with a 6 speed manual transmission.  Both a hard & soft tops, tinted glass, fog lights, & a few extra goodies inside.  110,000 kms or about 70,000 miles.  Jeep was clean as a whip, one owner, never driven off road, not worn, & mechanically maintained.  New tires & brakes, E tested & safety checked just yesterday.  No fancy power windows & locks stuff on this little Jeepster but that's OK because we don't consider ourselves fancy power folks anyway.  It was a private sale & I was satisfied the lady we talked to today was honest & above board with us.

So, after a long consultation with ourselves........we bought it:))  We will return to Waterloo (2 hour drive one way) Monday morning to do all the paper work & licensing.  With any luck we'll be back in Bayfield by mid afternoon.  Kelly will drive the Santa Fe back & I will bring the Jeep.  Might take me a tad longer though, cutting through farmer's fields, across creeks, over bumpy hills & dales & all the swampy forests along the way I can find.........:))

             

GROANER'S CORNER.....but tonight this one isn't a groaner!! 

A Canadian Admiral was attending a naval conference that included Admirals from the Canadian, U.S. , English, Australian and French Navys. At a cocktail reception, he found himself standing with a large group of officers that included personnel from
from most of those countries.

Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks but a French admiral suddenly complained that, whereas Europeans learn many languages, North Americans generally learn only English.' He then asked, 'Why is it that we always have to speak English in these conferences rather than speaking French?'

Without hesitating, the  Admiral replied 'Maybe it's because the Brits, Canadians, Aussies and Americans arranged it so you wouldn't have to speak German.'

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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.