Saturday, December 4, 2010

Market Day in Mesa…

Down in Arizona and California, we have come across a number of weekly type markets that sell everything on the earth from A to Z… today was no different. 

Bob had come across the Market up in Mesa so we all decided to go this afternoon and check it out. 

This morning I installed a new Max Air Vent over our Fantastic Fan in the kitchen area of the RV.  It is like putting an umbrella over your head.  We have had some minor leaking problems with our vent, and could not seem to get it sealed properly, so now the problem is solved!  There is always something to fix or do something with in an RV!

This market is one of the bigger ones, 3 very long rows of booths… lots of people!

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Bob is checking out the walking sticks… I think he really wants one, but didn’t end up buying one today…

 

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Although he did buy Judy and I a nice cold refreshment… yum, thanks Bob!

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After the market the 3 of us hit the hot tub at the resort to rest some weary bones, and we all decided we should go out for dinner at a Mexican Restaurant Bob had come across over near our local Fry’s Grocery Store…  augh… more liquid refreshments!

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We sat outside, and the shiny metal pole beside us had one of those nice fancy propane heaters on the top so you could enjoy your dinner, even if it cooled a bit outside…

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Now this picture is a little weird… Kristina, our Daughter, bought her Mom a gift just before we left a month ago for the south west, and it was a device that will hold your purse so you do not have to put it on the ground.  Judy bought this fancy new purse today at the market, and it is hanging on the “purse hanger” of course!

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While at the market, we decided to purchase a new set of Alpen Binoculars.  Here is Judy checking out the Christmas decorations around our park tonight with them.  The real cool thing about these binoculars is that they are Auto-Focus!  No more focus wheels… That is right, you just pick them up and look through them and every thing is automatically in focus… they work great!   Judy could never really us manual focus ones, as her eyes couldn’t see right with glasses on etc…   not with these one… they work great for her! 

They are very high quality.  I did not even know they made this type of binocular now… guess I live in a bit of a cave.  Bob found them one day at the Market and told us about them.   Guess he is due a commission…

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Tomorrow Bob and I are going back to work to improve the job we already completed on the RV.  We picked up a couple tools we needed today and will start early in the morning…  pics to come.

Congratulations to Al of the “Bayfield Bunch”.  He wrote His 1,000th. blog tonight!   I have been following his blog for over 2 years now and certainly have learned a lot from Al over this time, plus enjoyed reading about His and Kelly’s travels. 

Till tomorrow…

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Time for a Burgman run up South Mountain!

Another great Az. day today, lots of sun and it got over 75 degrees F.

This morning I spent a couple hours gathering up some material that Bob and I need, as we have decided to made some changes to the motorhome, after I spoke with the Vice President of Gulf Stream.  We want to make the joint more secure, so we are going to add a piece of framing to our solution.   I will try to get some pictures when we do it, maybe tomorrow or Saturday… depends.

This afternoon, was haircut time, as I was ready for my Arizona special, and Judy wanted me to do a bit of trimming to Her hair after the Lady at the Hair Salon did not seem to go deep enough for Her.

After the hair had fallen, we jumped on the Burgman and made tracks up the Baseline Road into Phoenix, and climbed South Mountain.  It was a beautiful day to climb the mountain.

Judy had driven the Burgman up the Mountain as I played tourist…

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This is a lookout building on top that people climb all over to get a good view.

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The keen blogger, will remember, that we climbed South Mountain last year while we stayed in Yuma.  John and Pat M. came to visit and we travelled up to Phoenix to watch a hockey game with the Coyotes and the Red Wings.  Before the game we drove up this mountain and took a whack of pictures.  This is an overall view of Phoenix…

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and here I laid out the big lens and added a bit of zoom…   Even though it was a nice clear day, you still see a big haze… that would be the air pollution hanging over Phoenix…  It sits in a valley surrounded by mountains and I guess not a lot of wind movement…

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These are the Superstition Mountains in the distance, and at the base of these mountains somewhere is our RV at Apache Jct.

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Check out my new Arizona Buzz cut!  Good thing I am way back in this picture, as to not to shock you all too much.  Kinda like all my hair is gone!  Just the way I wanted it!

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We won’t even speak about the Toronto Maple Leaf, Edmonton Oiler hockey game that I am watching tonight… simply say, “Not Good”

Till tomorrow…

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

What a day for a hike! Peralta Trails…

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We knew we were in for a good hike today just from the hoo doos at the trail head!

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There was a lot of defective rocks on this hike today, just like the one in the picture below… where has quality control gone these days???

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She is smiling here, but you should have seen her at the end…

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Here I am playing with my Magellan GPS… we had a couple problems on the trail today, like losing our way for a bit, but our GPS got us back on track… this was a real wilderness trail, quite scenic!

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We ran into a couple from the Ottawa area on the trail and they took this picture of us.  They were about the same age as us, and were just married!  Actually on their honeymoon!   They were flying back to Ottawa tomorrow.

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All the way out on the trail, we were climbing and it was hot!  We had to stop for a number of breaks along the way.

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There was lots of this on the trail… it was 3 miles out, and then 3 miles back in…

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My favourite pic of the day, with the natural framing…

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Lots of rock everywhere…

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We stopped here for lunch, right by some hoo doos…

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WE MADE IT!

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This trail is called “Freemont’s Saddle”.  We had to climb 1,450 feet in total, to enjoy of view that you see below… Weaver’s Needle!  Incredible!

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Our Jeep was parked 3 miles back up the canyon…

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This was to our right as we viewed the needle…

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My 2nd. favourite picture of the day, another defective rock with it’s own Saguaro Cactus!

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These guys blocked the sun for us on the return trip, so it was nice and cool… just another great day in Az.

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We enjoyed a nice relaxing hot tub and diner with Bob when we got back to the Resort this afternoon.  Bob was playing hockey today. 

Who knows what tomorrow will bring…

Till tomorrow…