LOOKING BACK ON SOME RVING CHRISTMAS DAY PICS

CHRISTMAS….ARIZONA RANCH STYLE

Our moderately gusting Wednesday winds finally blew themselves out sometime early Thursday morning.  Beautiful starry night with a few flecked clouds as I let Max out for a whiz around 2 a.m.  As quite often happens I was unable to get back to sleep so knew I was in for another long dragged out Zombie like day.  On the plus side….no early morning work schedule:))

SOMETIMES MAX BEATS ME BACK TO BED

Looking back at our RVing Christmas Days over the last number of years I was able to come up with a few Christmas Day photo memories.  Christmas Day 2004 we spent hiking in Boquilles Canyon at Big Bend National Park in Texas.  Thought I had those pics but they must be on the home computer.  Christmas Day 2005 was spent at home in Bayfield…..

   

Christmas Day 2006 we were at Pancho Villa State Park in Columbus New Mexico & had Christmas dinner at the town’s community center….& then Santa came in.

       

Christmas Day 2007 we were boondocked at the Clark Dry Lake Bed, Borrego Springs California.

  

Christmas Day 2008 we were boondocked west of Yuma California on Ogilbe road. We went rock scrambling that day.

  

Christmas Day 2009 we spent with JERRY & SUZY in Benson, Arizona.

   

  

Boy, I did a silly thing yesterday while messing with the computer.  Kelly & I were trying to figure out how all this tags, labels & categories stuff works between Blogger & Live Writer etc.  Ever since switching to the new version of Live Writer I have not been able to include tags for each post.  The menu that allows me to do that always drops down through the task bar & I have not been able to access the bottom of that bar to type in the box where new tags are entered.  Anyway, while trying to figure this all out I somehow inadvertently added a whole column of countless past tag words which ended up in the right column.  For whatever reason, after that our search feature wouldn’t work.  In the process of uninstalling & reinstalling the search box to get it going again I accidentally wiped out our Sitemeter counter above it.  When I turned the computer on this morning our Sitemeter showed we only had 1 visitor to the site in the last 12 hours.  I knew right away something was wrong so it was Kelly to the rescue & she quickly restored the Sitemeter counter.  I figured the meter would start all over again at zero but luckily it picked up the count where it left off when I accidentally deleted it 12 hours before.

The rains started here this morning at 6 a.m. sharp & continued until 7:15 & then restarted again at 9:15 for another half hour:((  We’ve almost got enough water in the dirt now to mix us up a good big batch of sticky old Arizona Desert Mud Soup.

Another tip from the internet on how to increase traffic to your blog…."Write well and write often.  Frequently updating your blog with useful content is the first step to building your blog's audience. The content you write is what will keep readers coming back for more. Make sure you have something meaningful to say to them and say it often to maintain their interest and keep them loyal.  Furthermore, post frequently to increase the number of chances you have for your blog's content to be noticed by search engines such as Google or Technorati.”

And, I see the HUFFINGTON POST has landed in the number one spot for the 3rd year in a row as top news blog.  It originally started out as…..just another blog.  Am I a daily news reader?  No I am not, but Kelly checks out what’s happening in the world every morning & keeps me up to speed on all the woeful worldly happenings.  I seem to be more interested in what’s for breakfast:))

I had never heard of a LIBERTY DELUXE CASITA TRAVEL TRAILER until reader’s Glenda & Jeff commented on our blog Wednesday.  I linked back & had a look at their CASITA ESCAPES blogsite.  I got a kick out their ‘Misadventures & Boo-Boos’ section.  I think we all should have a misadventures & boo-boo section on our blogs just to keep us all grounded.  Reading about other people’s foibles always gives me a boost on a down day & a chuckle on an up day.  Nice to know I am not alone in my ineptness!!

STRANGE PICTOGRAPH ROCKS KEEP SHOWING UP AROUND HERE

Some errands took us 3 miles into Elfrida this morning with a stop at the well stocked High Lonesome Trading Company cowboy type store.  Same store I bought my big white cowboy hat last January. 

A dash to the Post Office & visit to the Library enabled Kelly to pick up another stack of books.  I am a one book at a time kinda guy so I browsed around the non fiction local history section until I found, ‘Apache Wars’ an illustrated battle history of the Arizona, New Mexico, Texas & Mexico areas.  Many archival photos & a factual detailed account of the Apache Indian bands in the area including the Chiricahua Apaches.   The life & times of Geronimo are prevalent & it was interesting to see photos of the Indian Chief at Fort Bowie where Kelly & hiked to a couple years ago.  Looks like we might be adding on some more day trips.  After the library it was a quick little Burrito breakfast at Elfrida’s Roundup Café & back out to our dusty old road & home.

Here’s an interesting fulltime boondocking couple we came across this afternoon wandering about the southwest in their 21’ travel trailer.   The ROADSIDE RAMBLING folks consist of Mom, Dad, Daughter, 5 cats & Rufus the dog.  They are their own people & I admire their determined independence in the ever present face of conformity.

GROANER’S CORNER:((  For all you texting Seniors out there, here are all those short cuts you will need & what they mean..

ATD: At The Doctor's
BTW: Bring The Wheelchair
BYOT: Bring Your Own Teeth
CBM: Covered By Medicare
CUATSC: See You At The Senior Center
DWI: Driving While Incontinent
FWBB: Friend With Beta Blockers
FWIW: Forgot Where I Was
FYI: Found Your Insulin
GGPBL: Gotta Go, Pacemaker Battery Low!
GHA: Got Heartburn Again
HGBM: Had Good Bowel Movement
IMHO: Is My Hearing-Aid On?
LMDO: Laughing My Dentures Out
LOL: Living On Lipitor
LWO: Lawrence Welk's On
OMMR: On My Massage Recliner
OMSG: Oh My! Sorry, Gas.
ROFL... CGU: Rolling On The Floor Laughing.... Can't Get Up
SGGP: Sorry, Gotta Go Poop
TTYL: Talk To You Louder
WAITT: Who Am I Talking To?
WTFA: Wet The Furniture Again
WTP: Where's The Prunes
WWNO: Walker Wheels Need Oil
GGLKI: Gotta Go, Laxative Kicking In
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EMAIL THE BAYFIELD BUNCH:))
stargeezerguy@gmail.com
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.

KIND OF AN INSIDE COMPUTER DAY

Thanks to reader Larry C. my Google earth latitude & longitude placement in Council Rocks has been confirmed.  The numbers in Tuesday’s blog are correct.  I had planned to put a Google Earth satellite map in yesterday’s blog but forgot.  However, Larry sent sent a map along in his email complete with a stick pin marking the spot.  To the left of the yellow pin & up a bit you can see a round area with a single tree in it & that is where you can park.  The short road goes up to the left & out of the picture a few hundred yards to road 687. (not visible)Thanks Larry.  (reader help is always appreciated)

BIG DAWG & FREEWAY had an interesting post a few days ago regarding some thoughts on blogging & the popularity of posts.  Sue & Doug talk about their favorite posts from the past year.  RICK today also listed his own 5 favorite posts as well.  Blogger has a new statistic widget which you can add to your blog which will tell you which of your blogs have been popular with readers.   Figured I would jump on the wagon today & list the 5 posts readers have found to be the most interesting in my blog as well.  In order of popularity they are…….

1. SLAB CITY CALIFORNIA......YIKES, WHAT ELSE CAN I SAY

2. BLOGGING.....JUST MY OPINION

3. WE HAVE JUST TRAGICALLY LOST TWO OF OUR OWN RV'ING BLOGGER FRIENDS 

4.FOR 30 YEARS NOW OCTOBER 19TH ALWAYS MARKS A SPECIAL DAY IN MY LIFE

5. SOLAR POWER INSTALLATION DAY

The list continues on but I just listed the top five in the last few years.  You can see the rest of that list on our sidebar towards the bottom under the heading, ‘Popular Posts.’  This list is not based on ‘comments received’ but simply by the number of readers clicking on the post.  In regarding comments received I think it was, 'HE FOUGHT THE GOOD FIGHT' that brought the most comments to our blog this past year.

And speaking of ‘comments,’ here is a tip I found on line if you want to increase comment traffic to your blog.  This may be of particular interest to new bloggers just starting out.  “Commenting is a simple and essential tool to increase your blog's traffic.  Leave comments on other blogs to drive new traffic. Make sure you leave your blog's URL in your comment, so you create a link back to your own blog. Many people will read the comments left on a blog post. If they read a particularly interesting comment, they are highly likely to click on the link to visit the commenter's website. It's important to make sure you leave comments that are likely to invite people to click on your link to read more.”  Bottom line……if you want to receive a lot of comments on you’re blog, just get yourself out there & drop a whole lot of comments on other people’s blogs:))

A tad on the windy side today so that dropped our warmth factor a few degrees.  No complaints though because we have been very fortunate in the weather department so far this year.

A LITTLE CAMERA MAGIC WITH SOME CHRISTMAS LIGHTS

Had some nice comments on Tuesday night’s photo of the moon.  The air here in Arizona at this time of year is clear & crisp, so coupled with the fact there is basically no light pollution in our area it was a major factor in the clarity of Monday night’s moon photo.   Below are some photos of my camera & telescope lens plus 2 adaptors that I use to connect the camera body to the telescope.

THIS PHOTO WAS TAKEN NOVEMBER 21RST WHILE TAKING SOME PICS OF THE MOON AT THAT TIME

    

I’ve had more photography questions this week so I will include a few links to some of my posts where I have touched on a few photo thoughts. 

1. SEEING WITH A PHOTOGRAPHER'S EYE.

2. ANSWERING A FEW QUESTIONS

Didn’t turn out to be too active a day for us.  Mainly just dabbling on the computers.  Today’s Christmassy photos were done with a little camera & Picasa 3 magic:))

GROANER’S CORNER:((   A frog goes into this bank and hops up to the loan officer's desk.

The loan officer says: "Hello I'm John Paddywack, can I help you?" The frog says: "Yes I'd like a loan."

The officer decides to humor the frog and takes a form out of his desk and says: "OK what is your last name?" To which the frog replies "Jagger." The officer still doubting the frogs veracity says, "Well, Mr. Jagger, do you have any collateral?" The frog pulls out a small pink ceramic elephant and hands it to Mr Paddywack asking can he use this?

The loan officer, barely able to contain himself, but still humoring the frog says: "Well, I'm not sure. Excuse me for a minute; I'll have to consult with the bank president." The frog says: "Oh, he knows my dad, tell him Mick sends his regards."

In the presidents office John shows the object, and says, there's a frog out here who wants a loan and this is all he has for collateral and I don't even know what it is.

The bank president responds in a melodious voice:

It's a knickknack, Paddywack.
Give the frog a loan.
His old man's a Rolling Stone.

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EMAIL THE BAYFIELD BUNCH:))
stargeezerguy@gmail.com
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.

RECOVERING FROM LUNAR LAG

TOOK THIS PHOTO OF THE MOON MONDAY NIGHT AT 7:48 P.M. ARIZONA TIME….700mm TELESCOPE LENS AT 1/3200 OF A SEC SHUTTER SPEED.  HAD HOPED TO CATCH A COUPLE SHOTS LATER OF THE LUNAR ECLIPSE, BUT…………………………….

At 1:45 a.m. this morning we were outside like many others, gazing up at the total lunar eclipse.  From our vantage point here in southeastern Arizona the view was a bit disappointing because of a high thin cloud cover.  Checked several more times during the night but the clouds remained.  I had set up my Nikon D50 & 700mm telescope lens earlier in the evening in anticipation of some photos but it was not to be.  The moon was just too hazy.  We were able to see the dark orange color covering about 90% of the moon’s surface though.  Oh well, maybe another time.  The next lunar eclipse on the winter solstice date is over 400 years away so here’s hoping my camera batteries will hold up till then:))

SOLAR POWERED WINDMILL IN THE MIDDLEMARCH PASS

Monday morning we had planned to head for Wal-mart in Douglas.  Wanted to stock up on groceries before the maddening hordes of Christmas shoppers swarmed in.  Kelly opened the gate as I started up the Jeep to head for the opening.  Our little Jeepers felt sluggish as I glanced down to see if I had left the emergency brake on.  Kelly was decidedly pointing to the rear of the Jeep as I approached the gate.  Awwww nuts, flat tire!!!!  Well, no surprise after some of the rough roads we have been on lately.  Jeanie & Ray from the ranch just had a flat on their Jeep a couple weeks ago too.  Nail!!

        

I was encouraged that the tire was only flat on one side.  Ya right!!  Of course, being my usual realistic self, I figured I would never be able to get the nuts loosened because I knew the rims had been put on with a hammering ‘air gun’ a few short months ago. 

   

Had to get out the Jeep manual to locate the jack which was tucked away in it’s proper place under the passenger seat.  Looked very new so I suspect it had never been used.  The tire iron looked a bit short so imagine my surprise when I reefed on the first wheel nut……& it turned.  As Gomer Pyle would say, “Surprise, Surprise.”  With the successful turning of all the other wheel nuts I knew we had a good chance of getting the job done.  It had been dozens & dozens of years since I had to change a tire manually but it all came back & soon I had the Jeep jacked up, flat tire off, spare tire on, Jeep back down & we were ready to go.  Time elapsed….about 25 minutes.  Not exactly a Nascar pit stop but at least the job was done.  We were soon through the gate & off to Douglas.  And, I must say, I was quite proud of myself.  Not because I had successfully changed the tire but because I hadn’t lost my cool & got all mad about the flat tire in the first place.  My patience remained in place & I managed to keep my cool as well.   I like when that happens:))  And you know what……I may have even had a slight smile on my face heading for Douglas as well.  Changing a flat tire might not be a big deal for most guys but it’s those little mechanical success’s that are always a super big deal for me:))

    

LUCKILY WE CHECKED EVERYTHING AFTER CHANGING THE TIRE OR I WOULD HAVE LOST THOSE 3 LUG NUTS SITTING ON THE BACK BUMPER & THE SPECIAL SECURITY LUG I HAD LEFT ON THE WHEEL ITSELF

AT LEAST I REMEMBERED TO BRING THE FLAT TIRE ALONG FOR REPAIR:))

Dropped Kelly off at Wal-mart’s front door & then headed to their service tire repair garage section for an hours worth of frustration.  Let me just say they sometimes have a much different way of doing things here in the southwest.  Totally everybody I encountered in the garage facility was Mexican & by the time I figured out how they do things & what they were saying I was almost ready to leave & head back to the States!!   Anyway, let me just shorten this all by saying, from the time we got to Wal-mart to the time we finally left 3 hours later with tire repaired & a big load of groceries I had set a record.  Never before in my entire life have I ever spent that much time as a consumer in a retail store.  And no, that is one record I have no intentions of breaking!!  And, by the way, I have no idea what flattened our tire.  I just paid the $10 tire repair bill & got the heck out of the store.  I had no patience left for somebody trying to explain the cause of a flat tire in broken English or total Spanish.  As Forrest Gump might say, “Flat is as what flat was!!”

   

ABANDONED 1800’S MINE SHAFTS & A CURIOUS IRON PIPE STICKING OUT OF THE GROUND….MIDDLEMARCH ROAD NORTHEAST OF TOMBSTONE, AZ.

We were home mid afternoon Monday & my energy batteries were totally depleted from a poor Sunday night’s sleep.  Rest of the day I just kind of Zombied around the rig wandering aimlessly like a thirst slaked man in a hot dry desert.

      

OH OH, DEAD END ROAD!!  TIME TO GET OUT MY BACK UP LICENSE

OK, that now brings me up to date & I’m back on track for today’s current happenings.  First, let me say that our weather here in southeastern Arizona remains totally fantabulous.  We are so fortunate compared to many other parts of the country.  Even our night’s have been remaining well above freezing.  Most unusual for this elevation at this time of year in these parts.

Some commenters mentioned an interest in finding the Council Rocks area where we were Sunday.  We did actually enter the coordinates into our Delorme GPS while standing at the marker with the intention of posting that info in the blog to make it easier for folks to find.  Of course when I went to retrieve that info from the GPS for Mondays blog, the info was not there.  So, I gassed up our Google Earth plane this morning & flew back over to the Council Rocks area, circled the area round & round until I pinpointed the position where the photo is of Kelly beside the marker recording the info into our GPS.  Google Earth coordinates say….Latitude: 31'54'26.85”N & Longitude: 110'2'18.30”W.  Elevation is 4,904 feet & I took the photo of Kelly at 3:14 in the afternoon.  I think these coordinates should land anyone within about 50' of that marker.  It was impossible for me to zoom into the totally exact marker spot.  Now, having said all that, let me further confuse everyone by saying that 4 years ago when we had our Hughes net system & I would check our Datastorm position with Google Earth, it would always show our position about 15 miles away from where we actually were.  Oh dear, we just have to get ourselves very much more smartened up with our Delorme GPS…..& fast!!

WE IMAGINED SMALL INDIAN CHILDREN OVER A HUNDRED YEARS AGO PLAYING AT COUNCIL ROCKS ON THIS ODD SHAPED ROCK PRETENDING THEY WERE ON HORSEBACK CHASING WILD BUFFALO

Also meant to mention in Sunday’s blog about the Dragoon Springs which the marker refers to.  The Springs are north of this location & south of the town of Dragoon.  We Jeeped into that location a couple weeks ago & also stopped at the old Butterfield Stage Lines depot ruins where the bodies of 4 Confederate soldiers are buried after being killed by Apache Indians.  You can see my blog from that day here…… DRAGOON SPRINGS.

   

As you can tell from this picture, Santa came early to our house bringing Al a nice new vacuum cleaner.  The cheap plastic wheels had worn out & fallen off our old one making it too hard to drag around anymore.  Kelly & I took turns test driving the new sucker around the interior of the rig this morning.  Neat-O.

KELLY HAS LOTS OF HELP CHECKING OUT THE NEW VAC:))

Noticed what appeared to be some Christmas decorations beginning to appear on our Agave & Yucca plants this afternoon.  Could be a sign of things to come:))

GROANER’S CORNER:((  Back in the 1800s the Tates Watch Company of Massachusetts wanted to produce other products and, since they already made the cases for pocket watches, decided to market compasses for the pioneers traveling west. It turned out that although their watches were of finest quality, their compasses were so bad that people often ended up in Canada or Mexico rather than California. This, of course, is the origin of the expression, "He who has a Tates is lost!"

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EMAIL THE BAYFIELD BUNCH:))
stargeezerguy@gmail.com
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.