From Craggy Wash December 17th 2005

Greetings from Craggy Wash, near Lake Havasu City, AZ
I’ll just pick up the prose where my last effort left off at the Pilot Station RV in Stanfield, OR.
From Stanfield I moved south-east along I 84 to Pendleton and then began the climb up to the Blue Mountain Summit, AKA Cabbage-Meacham. As usual, the highway was bare at the bottom and skies clear, so I figured that the omens were good for a relatively stress free crossing. Actually, I had checked the Internet highway cam earlier to see what the pass looked like. Up top, lay 14” of snow at the side of the road whereas the actual paved surface appeared plowed but icy. When I got to the summit, this was, indeed, the case. The road was slick but slow speeds and a self-imposed prohibition on braking or acceleration got me down the east side in one piece. The problem is that the semis don’t seem to want to slow down, so they come by with a great blast of wind and snow. Some people drive even more slowly than I do and there is always a big risk coming up behind them. On icy surfaces, this can be problematic because one doesn’t want to use the brakes. The key is to accept the fact that it will take a while to get back to bare pavement and plod along with the flow. The road had been closed earlier for a couple of hours due to a major accident the night before but was clear by the time I came over (about 10 a.m.). I left Stanfield at 9 a.m. and arrived in Jackpot NV at about 4 p.m. This stage could have been a little faster but for the scenic shortcut that I took through some farm roads west of Twin Falls. This was in order to take a look at the Thousand Springs, a cliff with several waterfalls descending from the escarpment above the Snake River. Somewhere, I took a wrong turn, saw no signage, or waterfalls, but did, eventually, end up back on the country lane leading to the Jackpot highway. Temps were fairly chilly en-route (down to -14° C) at one point, so I was a little concerned about the water in the trailer and turned the furnace on to keep the tanks heated. This seemed to work, since I had running water when I got to Jackpot. I had thought that it was going to be really cold and opted to camp in Cactus Pete’s Casino RV Park, so I could plug in to “shore power”. The thinking here is that, If I have to run my furnace on “low” all night, simply to protect the water lines, then being hooked to power is an advantage – plus, I can use my small electric heater as a backup. We all know what happens to the efficiency of batteries in a car at really cool temperatures. Well - the same thing applies to my batteries in the trailer. They run at less than 50% efficiency when cold and the furnace fan requires plenty of juice. As it happens, Jackpot, even though at an elevation of nearly 5000’, wasn’t all that cold (slightly under freezing), so I probably could have survived without the extra boost. As always, Cactus Pete’s had an excellent buffet, so I fuelled up there rather than reheating frozen pork stew that the border guards had allowed me to keep. I wandered around the casino for a little while before returning to my TV in the trailer. Lots of people were playing “hold-em” poker in the”poker pit”. A woman came up and said that they had a spot at one of the tables if I wanted to play but, having observed the rate at which some players were throwing their chips in the pot and not really understanding the stakes, I declined.
From Jackpot, it is about 6½ hours to Lake Pahranagat, the Wildlife Sanctuary 4 miles south of Alamo, 90 miles north of Las Vegas. I was assisted by a huge tail wind most of the length of Nevada, which helped with fuel consumption. On the radio, it was announced that Colorado was to experience hurricane force winds up to 195 kms per hour (one of the few metric measurements that I have heard in the US), so I may have benefited from some of the overflow. I stopped at Pahranagat last year and am still impressed that the Fish and Wildlife people created such a nice camping/picnicking area with no fees for staying overnight.

Dec 10th Craggy Wash
I made it to Craggy Wash on schedule, Dec 8th – arrived about 2.00 pm after roughly 3 - 3.5 hours from Pahranagat with one stop at Searchlight, NV for fuel. The pumps at “Terribles” Service Center were acting up; with the result that there was a requirement to submit a zip code before the pump would operate. I tried all the buttons that I could press, attempting to crack the code with a fictitious zip but finally had to go in and speak with the attendant. She got me to run my credit card for a pre-approved maximum purchase amount, after which I returned to the pump, filled up with fuel and got another receipt for the actual amount. I thought that this was very strange and more than a little labour-intensive. At Craggy Wash, north of the Lake Havasu Airport, I pulled in to my usual spot on the edge of a little wash, and was greeted by Lyn and Linda Michaud (with dog Zulu), who had arrived earlier from Buckskin Mountain State Park – also Pam and Terry Ellott, folks from Surrey who I met last year in Why, and who had, unwittingly, parked adjacent to the Michauds.
I have discovered that I may have at least one low battery, since the monitor dropped down into the orange range when I fired up the inverter and TV on the first night.
Yesterday, the Michauds and I went for a hike to see if we could get down to the Colorado at Topock Gorge. First, we exited I 40 at Needles Mountain Road and went south on a gravel track as far as possible. This was in Lyn’s fairly new truck and it is possible that we went a little further than Linda considered ideal as the trail got a bit rough. It took us just over an hour after parking to hike down a wash to the river where we ate sandwiches on a nice sandy beach. The return trip was longer (uphill with hip pills wearing off). The Michauds have changed their plans a bit and will return home before Christmas. We discussed going to Maricopa Mountain Wilderness for a few days but opted to stay here, since Maricopa would be a day’s drive in the wrong direction for them. With the flea market on Sunday and shopping, e-mailing, etc. to do, I’m sure that we can waste a little more time at Havasu.
There are quite a few tent people here, some of whom looking slightly dishevelled. The ones nearest to me make lots of noise with one particular man who shouts haphazardly at persons unknown. It may just be that he and his elderly dog have developed a conversational understanding over time but the words don’t make much sense to me. Old cars containing equally eccentric looking individuals visit at odd times of the day, so, anyone less open-minded than me might be disposed to think that funny business was afoot (word has it that drugs are available in Craggy Wash). At least he goes to bed early and doesn’t drown out the sound of my TV.

Dec 15th Lake Havasu (N34°35.648’ W114°21.611’)
The Michauds made their escape several days ago and, yesterday, the Ellotts left for Quartzsite to get new batteries. Now I have new neighbours - two large fifth wheel trailers from Salmon Arm and one motorhome containing, Ted Webber and girl friend Bonnie, who hail from Idaho (I think, though Ted has licence plates of convenience for tax reasons). Ted is highly conversant about all things to do with GPS systems, battery management and water conservation, so has been advising me on matters pertaining to same. His water saving skills are to the point that, while in pre-shower mode and awaiting the arrival of hot water to the showerhead, he collects any surplus cold water in his kettle for future coffee making, I tried this and gained almost two litres – a bonus!

While Lyn was still here, we made a visit to the Walmart down the road and purchased my Christmas present to me – a GPS – Garmin - eTrex Legend C. From now on, every campsite will have its coordinates listed, so those navigating on their maps, or following along, will be able to pinpoint my location. I have been reading instructions and practicing my course-plotting technique by walking up, down and in a random manner, around Craggy Wash. The neighbours might think that I have joined the muddle-headed ranks of the nearby tent people, some of whom are prone to holding discussions with themselves. In reality, though, I am making slow progress and hope to find my way to the highway in a day or two. Still to come are detailed backcountry maps (on CD) for installation in the computer. Walmart did not have these, so I shall hunt them down elsewhere.
Even though my 1 weak battery has shown signs of revitalization, The electrolyte readings are still low, meaning that it is doomed. Prevailing wisdom in these matters dictates that one should replace all the batteries. It is likely only a matter of time before one or more of the others begin to fail - when one has a bank of four, all hooked together, one rotten apple…….. I checked out several battery places in town, to discover that most battery people also recommend changing all four (of course they would!). Prices may be better down in Quartzsite, so I shall probably go there to spec things out.
Daytimes are very pleasant here with highs in the upper 60s. Nighttime lows drop into the low 40s. I shall use Fahrenheit scales throughout the winter messages – without translation into Celsius any more. Older readers will remember and younger ones will have the mental benefit of making conversions. This may be the last e-mail before the 25th (sighs of relief), so - Merry Christmas!
Am still having difficulty posting pictures. Will, no doubt, work this out sometime during the winter. For the time being, bloggers will have to settle for text only
JW

Leaving the not so sunny Shuswap

Leaving the not-so-sunny Shuswap seems to get a little more difficult every year. Mainly, this is a question related to carrying loads of “stuff” up from the cabin to the trailer. Maybe age and a general lack of interest in becoming a Sherpa are factors. In any case, my new wheelbarrow (half price at Canadian Tire), came in handy and all the usual things – fridge defrosting, water pipes out of the lake (done in mid-November), putting my ratty looking Lake Louise flag back in its drawer to eliminate that attraction for winter vandals and a host of other things, all got done (read that sentence quickly and it sounds better). The trailer axles, which were being inspected for possible misalignment, checked out perfectly at Salmon Arm Frame, so, if I wear out a tire every 3 or 4 years, that’s the price of doing business.
The week prior to leaving was fairly cool by Shuswap standards, temps dropping to -7 or 8 at night, barely recovering to freezing in the daytime. Naturally, we had some snow just before I pulled out and I had to install chains on the trailer just to get down the steep hill on Sunnybrae Road. In fact, the Maintenance crews had plowed and sanded before I got there, so the chains were superfluous but, I got some practice for when I really need them
The Walmart in Omak is a traditional first night stop. This is about 5½ hours and an easy first day. Other than allowing me to stock up on a few items taken by the border guards - this year 6 chicken eggs, apparently because of the duck in the Fraser Valley who caught Avian flue somewhere in its travels, plus other supplies, Walmarts encourage campers to use their parking lots – and it’s free! Evidently, inflation has come to Omak. Franzia wine (available in BC for Cdn $25.95 for a 3 litre box) is sold in the U.S. in 5 litre boxes and has gone up from US $7.99 last year to $10.47 this year, or, $2.09 per litre for those who are counting. Multiply by 1.175 to equate with Canadian dollars and we come up with Cdn $2.46 per litre. At these rates, I’ll have to slow down consumption. Maybe, the fact that my particular model of Franzia is designated as a “chillable red” makes it pricey – who knows? Bitterly cold in Omak last night (Saturday) with temps down to -12° C. This keeps the furnace working overtime but the trailer is still quite comfortable. Tonight’s stop in Stanfield, OR is one of my few commercial parks of the winter trip. The main reason for this is to flush through the antifreeze in my lines and fill up with a half load of water – also to have a shower, enjoy complimentary wi-fi access and watch Desperate Housewives on cable TV. For those who live without water once their lakes freeze, this (the shower) is quite a luxury.
I took a stroll around the Park this evening, just in case there were any spare DHs in need of cryptic crossword guidance but the bait was rejected - like most of my fishing expeditions. Because it was so cold up in Omak, I assumed that my fridge was having a moment of rebellion when it declined to start in propane mode. The interior of the trailer would have been well below freezing, as were most of the veggies in the fridge crisper. No harm was done if crunchy, then limp, green onions were on the menu but …. fridges can’t have minds of their own and the mystery had to be solved. Tonight, I poked around with a long screwdriver and got rid of the rusted metal flaking that fell down the interior of the fridge stack and covered the orifice, after which it worked as the manual says it should. Actually, this is the third time that I have had to do this in the last year or two.
From here, the plan for tomorrow is to conquer the dreaded Blue Mountain Summit, where snow and ice often create treacherous road conditions. Once over the pass and safely down the other side, I hope to make it to Jackpot, Nevada, where Cactus Pete’s Casino offers one of the better buffets on my route. The next day should get me to Lake Pahranagat Wildlife Sanctuary, about 90 miles north of Las Vegas, after which I hope to meet up with the MIchauds (Lyn and Linda) at Craggy Wash, near Lake Havasu City on or about Dec 8th.
This e-mail is a little short on pictures, since one Walmart looks much like another and it is now dark here at the Stanfield Pilot Station RV Park. Therefore, my driveway with some snow will have to do.
JW

Summer in BC

Good thing that the blog travelogue hasn’t officially started yet, since technical concerns still seem to be at the forefront. The last entry included a photo of Aunt Barbara, with a caption of “lady at piano” immediately underneath. When I submitted the blog to be published, the caption was correctly placed beneath the picture. Once published, however, the text moved down and the caption ended up several rows away from the picture. There must be a way to co-ordinate this a little better, so will keep working on it. My quick answer as readers of this entry will note, is to post captionless photos in random order. In this way, no manner of organization will be expected

Summer at the Shuswap (actually, the entire 8 month period of time that I spend living at the cabin) ranges from active (the warm months when guests come to visit) to sedentary (the cool months when daytime fog hangs over the lake at most times other than those when it is actually raining, and no one comes. This blog/e-mail won’t bother with too much detail of who came and what happened. Rather, I am going to insert a few photos of various activities/guests and leave it at that. The pictures were intended to be in chronological order from Spring to the present and are not limited to the Shuswap. However, I have experienced some difficulties in posting pictures at all so randomness may be the keyword for this effort.
My Spring usually starts out with a May visit to Vancouver Island for the purpose of visiting mother Kay and various friends.

Kinsol Trestle
This trip was interesting in that neither of the participants, DonnaMae Wilson or myself, had set wheels on this trail before. DonnaMae’s cycling friend, Jeannette Klein (of Trails BC -Vancouver Island Division fame) had given us instructions to the south end of the now abandoned Kinsol Trestle, part of the rail freight system that had, at one time, serviced the Kinsol (short for King Solomon) Mine way back when and had fallen into disrepair when the world price for whatever mineral they were mining fell to a point where extraction became non-profitable and the railway ceased to operate. Given that the trestle itself was impassable, we were directed to a bypass that Trails BC was considering for access to the north end of the trestle and eventual connection to the Cowichan Lake trail system. At 10 kms, this didn’t seem too big a detour until we discovered ourselves climbing up a 7% grade logging road, then descending a fairly steep and narrow single track back to the Koksilah river level (roughly 700’ vertical). Eventually, we reached the north end of the trestle after having several discussions regarding the accuracy of Jeannette’s instructions. Returning to the truck by the same route would have taken us perilously close to the end of the day, so we opted to ford the river, risk the displeasure of someone’s guard dog on marked private property and save time on the way back. As it was, the day was darkening by the time we reached our starting point.




Aurora Explorer
The high point of my Spring visit to the Island was a trip aboard the Aurora Explorer. This landing craft-style freighter leaves from Port McNeil, north of Campbell River, and delivers heavy equipment and general construction goods to various remote logging camps and other settlements up mainland inlets as well as around some of the islands in the neighbourhood of Desolation Sound. In addition to a deckload of excavators, forklifts, skidders, water and logging trucks, the boat carried a human cargo of 12 passengers.
First class food and some spectacular scenery up Bute, Jarvis and Princess Louisa Inlets, more than made up for the fact that the weather remained cloudy and rainy throughout our voyage.
My mother had booked the trip six months before and had originally intended to travel with one of her friends from England. As it happens, the friend had other commitments, whereas I evinced mild expressions of interest, and left for Arizona on the understanding that she would search for more compatible cruising companions over the course of the winter, keeping me as a last resort to be used if needed. It is, without a doubt, a small measure of the esteem in which I am held that no other candidates surfaced and I got the nod. For those interested in looking up the website, I think that the address is marinelink.com, though a Google search for Aurora Explorer would arrive at the same place.
One of the downsides of going on the cruise was that I had to miss the annual Around Saltspring Island sailing race with friends Lyn and DonnaMae Wilson on their boat “Louise”. Apparently, they enjoyed the best winds in several years and finished in record time. That they were not actually in the money was a reflection of the absent ballast factor. My contribution in other years had been, primarily, to weigh down the windward rail, thus trimming the boat and adding a fraction of advantage to our cause. In lieu of sailing, we all got together for a few bike rides, one of which was via the Galloping Goose Trail from Sidney down to Spinnakers Pub on the inner harbour in Victoria – this in company with Jeannette and George Klein along with the Wilsons

Christie Memorial
In early April, Louky W. returned from South Africa to join some of the neighbours, one or two of Christie’s friends, Barbara Asquin and me for a little ceremony at the memorial corral up the hill from my cabin. We planted Christie’s ashes under the “towering” ponderosa sapling that I planted the previous year and had a glass of champagne in her memory. I was given the job of drilling holes in the granite rock that Tony W. and I had placed the previous year and attaching the plaque. I was worried about having the correct drill bit, glue and a drywall (?) plug to do the job properly, so studied correct procedure on the Internet. In the end, everything went according to plan; the plaque got mounted and Christie’s ashes joined those of a few deceased farm folks, plus one or two favourite pets who make up the residents of the memorial corral. I am pleased to report that the memorial ponderosa grew a foot or more over the course of the summer and looks as if it may, indeed, “tower” someday.

Ponoka Stampede
The annual end of June trip to Ponoka, with trailer in tow, went off, I was going to say – without a hitch, but of course, with the trailer, there is always a hitch.
Don Cameron and Kerri, collectively known as Team Medi-Dart, were great hosts, as always; the barnyard was chock full of relatives, dogs, a flock of 59 buzzards there to mark the 60th birthday of Kerri’s dad, as well as assorted guests. We attended Stampede events a few times, golfed twice and sat under the awning of the party trailer (mine) swilling beer and listening to Abba (the only CD in my collection of 10 CDs that gets universal approval). I even had the great thrill of going through Edmonton once to visit the Blackwood golf course – thanks to Gail H for the passes. Don and Kerri, accompanied by Razor the retriever, returned the visit by coming to the Shuswap later on in the summer, there to soak up sun and go for a few bike rides to the ice cream store as well as one over the top of the mountain and back down the front side (35 kms; 2800’ vertical - shuttle trucks needed for this one).


Shuswap guests
Plenty of other guests came to the Shuswap this year. Included were Reg Newcom and his trusty companion, Makk – so named because the previous dog, AKA Mac, passed away and Reg put the two “K”s in to avoid confusion. I was pleased to take on the task of being the swimming instructor for Makk, who, despite being a Chesapeake retriever, had never seen swimmable water. Off the dock he went in chase of a stick – perhaps the only dog that I have ever seen to do a regular human dive (head down, paws outstretched). When he resurfaced, gasping and choking. I thought for a moment that I might have to perform a dramatic sea rescue but his vertical attitude in the water changed to horizontal after a minute and he ended up paddling like a pro.
Jim Lebourdais was by and camped on board his “ship” at the dock. I had to spring into high gear to get the dock repaired in time – it was partially destroyed in one of the several Spring storms that we experienced this year. One of my ongoing projects – actually a project that has been static for a few years, got done while Jim was visiting. The fir tree in the middle of the deck now has space to breathe after we cut out the surrounding boards that had been threatening to choke it for the last several years.

My cousin David Asquin and family came out a couple of days. Finally, the boat, bobbing happily on its buoy all summer to that point, got a short workout as people skied, swam and sank in their respective fashions.
Tony Worrall came for 10 days in September. The water was still quite swimmable, though he brought some Toronto cloud with him that lingered throughout the week. Regardless, a good time was had by all. Mother Kay and her sister, Tommy, from England, came for a few days and enjoyed sunny hot weather. As Tommy suffers from a degree of visual impairment, preparations for them had to be made in advance. Rock pathways and steps were coated with fluorescent paint for heightened visibility, quantities of gin and pernod were imported from Salmon Arm for heightened perspective and resident spiders were pressurewashed from the outhouse. All would have gone well, had it not been for my friend Darch from Merritt, who dropped in with a couple of bottles of wine that he proceeded to pour into the ladies, to the point where a tipsy hike back to the guest cabin was enjoyed by all. There were plenty of other visitations, including friends from Lake Louise and area (Dawn, José, Dan and Joe with Dan’s brother Steve), Neil Mckendrick, Brian Honeywell and the CSPS golf team (how I can play so poorly and win money at the same time is still a mystery) spent a weekend, Doug and Sue Macdonald en route to, or on the way back from, their place on SaltSpring Island, dropped in and new acquaintances, the Richards from Sidney, BC arrived with dog Kenya in tow. A frequent visitor this summer has been Onyx, a young German Shepherd, so named because of his jet black colour. He is a recent arrival at Bastion Ranch, which surrounds me, and pops by quite regularly to check up on me and see what lady dog guests are on the loose (not to mention the leftover roll of “Rollover” that I inherited earlier in the summer). Other than that, MaryAnn H., now a Whistler resident, came out to show me her new, mufflerless, diesel truck and Lyn and Linda Michaud, whom I hope to meet in Arizona shortly, made their first appearance ever at the cabin. I’m sure that there were more arrivals but, memory being what it is, I have temporarily forgotten.

Projects
My projects this summer were fairly mundane. Dock repairs, following Spring storms took most of my talent and energy. Firewood cutting was ongoing throughout most of the summer, the deck, as mentioned, got cut around the tree, plus I replaced some deck planks. In addition I obtained a Lee Valley concrete mixer with which Don Cameron and I built some stone steps into the lake (or out of the lake, depending which way one is climbing) from the cliff immediately below the cabin. On most efforts, I had help from willing guests, though on some projects the guests did all the work - to all of you, thanks and please come back any time.
As this blog segment is being written, I am back on Vancouver Island for the Fall visit, though will be returning to Shuswap on Monday next. I need to get the frame shop in Salmon Arm to straighten one of my trailer axles after which I should be on the road south, hopefully on or about December 3rd.
The plan is to meet up with the Michauds when I arrive in Arizona, maybe travel to new and exciting destinations, then get to Gunsight Wash, near Why before Christmas. There is a good chance that the Perecys (of Sunnybrae Road) will be there and we can enjoy one or two campfires together.
This blog will end up being identical to the pre-departure group e-mail that I plan to send – the reason being that I am a little uncertain as to whether the blog is going to get through to its blogsite, presumably by passing through the blogosphere on the way.
One observation about the making of the blogsite comes to mind and maybe there is someone out there who can point me in the right direction. The text written here is in Word. I have downloaded the Blogger toolbar from Blogger.com and am attempting to write as if this were simply a Word document. The process of inserting pictures (as opposed to “attaching” pictures), however, is when the problems arise. Try as I might, the pics keep getting out of order – as if they had minds of their own. In any case, I have attempted to include a few pictures, though not all that I wanted (some simply disappeared), and one might note that they seem to be randomly placed. I think that I need to get to the next level of my blogging education and would welcome any input that anyone might offer – don’t hesitate to comment - that’s what the “comment” button is for! For those reading this as an e-mail, the blogsite can be found at travelswiththegoldenfalcon.blogspot.com – start at the bottom and work your way up to read in a chronological fashion. Oh and it’s time for he annual reminder – those who wish to receive the group e-mails simply have to respond with even a sentence to let me know that you are still alive and interested. Those who wish to “unsubscribe” can just let it ride by doing nothing.
JW

November 15th 2005

November 15th 2005
It is a little difficult to figure just where to start writing a blog. The first couple of submissions were testers, to determine how the blog actually operates, set formats (this one is Rounders) and play with other blogworthy settings. For the moment, I am reasonably satisfied with the product, even though the first glitch has already reared its ugly head.



1 Lady at piano/cat on table

Barbara, my aunt in Salmon Arm and one of the few Mac users that I know, receives the blog text in
dark green print on a black background, thus rendering the script unreadable.
My computer shows a dark text on light background, so I have to presume that the Mac is at fault. If anyone else suffers from this affliction, or any other, for that matter, then let me know. There is a “comment” button somewhere near this blog and we should try all the features. I have
submitted a stern reprimand to the blogspot people and await their feedback. In the meantime, Barbara will have to settle for the piano while the cat keeps an eye on the Mac.
Another discovery is that the order of blog updates goes from most recent to most ancient, meaning that someone wishing to read the entire blog from start to finish will have to hit the page down button until arriving at the beginning, then work their way back up the page to get to the end.
One of the selling features of “blogging” was that I would be able to display photos in a more efficient manner than by sending them attached to e-mails. This remains to be seen, since the speed of my connection (this is from home at 53.2 kbps) still has to get the pics to the blogsite somehow. I think that the advantage comes to the reader who will be reading in an HTML format, something that may take less memory than whatever arrives as an attachment in an e-mail. The last little bit of technology that might be of interest is that I downloaded a program that enables me to “create” my masterpieces in Word and then transfer them to the blogsite with the push of a button. I plan to do this right now before proceeding with the summer activity section.
The last item of interest is that captions for pictures may show up in the correct alignment i.e. immediately below said picture at the time of the intitial insertion but get moved as much as a couple of lines away in the published version. Presumably things get resized, text moves around and the caption gets misplaced. Advise on this from anyone would be useful.

Nov 1st 05 - update

Nov. 1st - a few days later.
Am still trying to find my way around the blogging site. For this exercise, am attempting to submit a second blog, so locating the correct page in which to enter my user name and password is an issue. Am not sure if times and dates are automatically entered or if I should date all input separately.
This year's southern journey will be the start of a seventh winter for the Falcon. It is my intention to seek out some new (to me) areas for boondocking, take a look at the Chiricahuas, camp in a few of the regular spots, return home via Moab (plan interrupted last year by the threat of a severe snowstorm in mid-March), make a decision on what satellite TV service to underwrite, now that ExpressVu has diminished the number of channels available in southern climes, explore on the bicycle and sit around a lot.
That should take care of this submission - we'll see how it turns out on the actual page.

initial post

TWIMC:
have just undertaken to add blogging to my repertoire. As an alternative to e-mail, blogging may or may not provide one with the ability to post multiple photos and lengthy text excerpts without massive download times on a slow moving dial-up computer. To this point, missives from the golden falcon have been delivered by e-mail, so this is another option. I enclose a pic of the Golden Falcon, dated last March, to see if the attachment methodology works. There may be some formats or etiquette involved with blogging - that being the case, constructive advice would be welcomed.

To most, the picture will make it evident that I am an RVer - more specifically, a boondocker; defined, more or less, as one who camps (in my case, mostly south-west AZ) without the benefit of commercial amenities. For the moment, that should take care of my introductory blog. I shall learn more about the art of blogging and post more as time allows.