Wednesday, October 26, 2016

FALL PROJECTS

WE’VE BEEN BUSY WITH A FALL PROJECTS LIST. HERE MARY IS RESTAINING THE FRONT RAILING.

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BESIDES STAINING THE RAILING WE ALSO RESTAINED THE PARK BENCH THAT SITS OUT FRONT.

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I KNOW YOU’RE THINKING THAT MARY HAS DONE ALL THE WORK BECAUSE THE SCOOTER IS SITTING IN THE BACKGROUND, BUT HONEST THIS IS THE FIRST DAY IT’S BEEN OFF THE TRAILER.

WE STILL HAVE A SMALL ROOF REPAIR TO LINE UP, AND CARPET CLEANING AFTER IT GETS COLD ENOUGH THAT THE FURNANCE IS RUNNING.

MEAN WHILE WE’RE GOING TO SIT BACK ON THE PORCH AND ENJOY A BUSH LITE AND A JACK ENJOYING THE BEAUTIFUL FALL WEATHER ON THE MOUNTAIN.

  “SUNNY & 74”

Tuesday, October 25, 2016

BACK TO THE MOUNTAIN

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WE SAY GOODBY TO SOUTH PADRE ISLAND FOR ANOTHER YEAR.

WE ARRIVED BACK ON THE MOUNTAIN YESTERDAY (MONDAY) AT NOON. THERE WASN’T A PACKER GAME ON SUNDAY SO WE DECIDE TO HIT THE ROAD AND DID SAN ANTONIO AND EL PASO ON SUNDAY WITH LIGHT TRAFFIC.

WE’RE HAVING FALL ON THE MOUNTAIN WITH A YARD FULL OF ACORNS, OAK LEAVES, AND PINE NEEDLES. THE LONG RANGE WEATHER FORCAST ACTUALLY LOOKS GOOD WITH DAY TIME HIGHS IN THE 70’S AND LOWS AT NIGHT IN THE 40’S. WE WILL STAY ON THE MOUNTAIN UNTIL WE GET TOO COLD AND THEN RETURN TO MOHAVE VALLEY FOR THE WINTER.

  “SUNNY & 72”

Saturday, October 22, 2016

PICTURES

THE BESEL BUNCH HIT THE ROAD TO LA CROSSE YESTERDAY AFTERNOON AND THIS MORNING I FOUND A FEW FORGOTTEN BLOGWORTHY PICTURES TO POST.

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IN THE MORNING MARY AND I WILL BE HEADED BACK TO THE WHITE MOUNTAINS OF ARIZONA.

Friday, October 21, 2016

BAY FISHING

YESTERDAY MORNING THE BESL BUNCH WAS GONE FISHING AT 7AM. MARY AND I MET THE BOAT AT THE DOCK AS WE HAD A TEXT THAT THEY HAD SOME KEEPERS THIS YEAR.

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THESE TWO FISHING GUIDES MADE SHORT WORK OF CLEANING FISH, AND OF COURSE THE “BROWN BOMBERS” SHOWED UP TO HELP WITH THE CLEAN-UP.

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THEY HAD SO MUCH FUN, THEY TURNED RIGHT AROUND AND TOOK ANOTHER FISHING CHARTER AN HOUR LATER. THAT WAS 8 HOURS OUT ON THE BAY FISHING, AND THE CLOUDY DAY SAVED THEM FROM TOO MUCH SUN. THE SECOND TRIP WAS TWICE AS SUCCESSFUL.

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AND THEN THE FISH FRY……

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THAT’S AN OREO CREAM PIE FOR DESSERT…..

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Thursday, October 20, 2016

Volkswagen Rialta

By Uncle Hans

Since this was originally conceived as an RV and camping blog, here is a blog entry on RV.  We were just pulling out of Dalhart, Texas on our trip to Show Low, when I went to turn the headlights on as the sun was going down.  The strangest thing happened.  The headlights went off instead.  The dash switch had malfunctioned and now, in the "off" position, the headlights were on and in the "on" position the running and taillights were on.  So I had to choose between the two.

  Not being suicidal, I chose the headlights.  I got as far as I-40 in Tucumcari when the highway patrol stopped me because I had no taillights.  I explained and demonstrated the problem, and he suggested I run the 4-way flashers until I could get the problem fixed, like at the next Volkswagen dealership.

  We pulled over in Albuquerque and slept a few hours at the dealership parking lot.  They opened at 0730 and suggested the other dealership in town, on the other side of town, in rush hour traffic.  We went there and were told they were "swamped" and he could not give me a time when they could look at it.

Rex, Mary, and unlimited cold beer were waiting a few hours away so I declined, drove away into rush hour traffic, and got on the phone to Rex.  I figured there is not much Rex and I and unlimited cold beer cannot solve.  And the sun was up so the problem was gone.

  The nearest dealer Rex found was in Flagstaff.  We were planning no nighttime running until the following Tuesday, when our motorcycle trip would have us in Flagstaff anyway.  We took the dash apart (beer-tainted decision) and found the defective part was a simple plug-in deal.

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  We called the parts department, but there was, unbelievably, no part number.  I took this picture and tried to send it off my phone, but it would not send.  So we stopped at the dealer on our trip and the parts girl came out and looked at it.  She ordered the part and it would be in "tomorrow". We, however, would be in Show Low "tomorrow".  So we had her ship it to South Padre so it would catch up with us in a few days.....

.........but the trip to Padre involved driving at night.  So Rex and I went to Walmart and bought stick-up battery-powered lights wrapped in red cellophane.  But the cocky little Texas  highway patrolman with the fancy Dodge sports car "could not see"  them and gave me a 15 minute lecture and looked up my entire police record while I stood on the edge of the road at 0300.  I told him I would use the flashers and he roared off......

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......the part did arrive a week later on Padre, just in time for us to leave.  And it worked just fine.  An hour on the road, however, and the RV sputtered and died......on a busy 8-lane freeway in south Texas.  We called AAA and almost two hours of sitting on a 9 foot wide shoulder later, help arrived.  Renee, as you can see, was not amused......

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......Back to a Volkswagen dealership.  They put us up at the Hotel 6 next door, but I am not sure why.  They ordered a new alternator in the morning and told us it would be here "tomorrow" (What, is that their favorite word??.....Kinda like the sign many bars have: "Free Beer....Tomorrow!").    The poor thing sat on the hoist for almost 48 hours before we were underway again.

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    Oh well.  We have put almost 65,000 mile on the thing and had little problems so I should not complain.....

.......and for 15,000 of those miles it has carried a motorcycle along to boot.  Here we are loading the bike at Show Low.

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     And a good time was had by all, thanks to Rex and some good planning and good weather......

By Uncle Hans

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

REBUILDING THE BEACH

THIS IS THE DREDGE SHIP A FEW HUNDRED YARDS OFF SHORE SUCKING UP SAND AND THEN PUMPING IT THROUGH A STEEL PIPE TO THE BEACH.

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THEY USE THE SAND TO REBUILD THE BEACH ADDING A COUPLE OF FEET. THEY ARE REBUILDING THE BEACH DURING THIS SLOW TIME, OCTOBER – MARCH, FROM JUST NORTH OF CLAYTONS DOWN TO FLORENCE.

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THERE IS NO SIGN OF THE PURPOSED 3 MILLION DOLLAR PIER THAT’S TO BE BUILT AT CLAYTONS.

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Zoo Day

The Besl Family is visiting from Wisconsin this week.  Today we went to the Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville.  What a nice zoo it is.  I was surprised by the diversity of animals they had.

Enjoy the pictures!!

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Monday, October 17, 2016

ECO-TOUR

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TODAY WE TOOK THE ECO-TOUR, WHICH IS A BOAT RIDE OUT INTO THE BAY. THEY DROP A NET OFF THE BACK OF THE BOAT AND DRAG IT ACROSS THE BOTTOM FOR ABOUT ONE BEER, AND THEN HAUL IT BACK UP ON THE DECK AND IDENTIFY WHAT WE CAUGHT.

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THE MONDAY CATCH DIDN’T AMOUNT TO MUCH, BUT THE SEA SLUG WAS SOMETHING DIFFERENT.

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ESPECIALLY WHEN HE HANDED IT OFF TO ALI…

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WITH THE ECO-TOUR REQUIRMENT BEHIND US THE CAPTAIN TOOK OFF IN SEARCH OF DOLPHINS. I DON’T KNOW WHAT IT IS ABOUT THE SOUTH PADRE ISLAND DOLPHINS, BUT THEY SURE LIKE TO SHOW UP AND SHOW OFF FOR THE FOLKS FROM LA CROSSE.

WE WATCHED THEM OUT ON THE BOW OF THIS BARGE HEADED UP THE SHIPPING CANAL.

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AND THIS SHRIMP BOAT HEADED OUT OF THE SHIPPING CANAL.

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IT WAS A GREAT BOAT RIDE AS USUAL, AND THEY SIGNED UP TO GO AGAIN ON WEDNESDAY EVENING WHEN THEY PLAN TO RELEASE SOME SEA TURTLES.

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“SUNNY & 80”