Elvis is Alive!! Maybe..

I couldn't believe my eyes when we were out shopping in Home Depot and I saw Elvis come through the door.  Now I guess deep down we all know that he is dead, but some people just seem to want to look like him.  Well this guy was as good of an imitation as I have seen in a long time.  I really had to take a second look.  Not the young Elvis we remember, but what a middle aged Elvis looked like.

Gulfport Harbor Festival of Lights

Today was a play day for all of us.  We all went our separate ways early in the day with the intention of meeting up for supper at the Beau Riviera Casino in Biloxi for supper.  Sue and I did some laundry and a picked up a few things in town before heading to the Casino.  Something we realized after was that no one spent a nickel on the slot machines so I guess we were all winners!!

Up on the Roof top.... oh wait thats just Harold.

Last night was a cool one with temps dropping to the freezing mark but with the sun shining in the morning, it wasn't long before it was warming up and we could head out for coffee.  Harold always laughs because in the evening I tell him that I will see him at 10 Celcius in the morning.  Speaking of Harold, he climbed up on the roof to install his new cell phone booster.  Some of the places we go have marginal cell coverage, and the booster sure helps in those situations.

Pecans, Oranges, and Sugar Cane

The job of the day today was to defrost the fridge freezer.  I think the door was left open a wee crack a few times and down here with the humidity, it doesn't take long for frost to build up.

Some Neat Things of the South

Today was cool so we all decided to head into town for various reasons.  Everyone went on their own so we could get our various tasks accomplished.  Our reason for going was to find a laundry to get some cloths washed.  The other reason was to buy some things we needed as well as some groceries.  I discovered a while back that I had left my electrical repair kit back in the shed at home.  Most RV problems involve electrical malfunctions, so it is necessary to have a good assortment of stuff.  So I bought a kit box and a bunch of stuff to fill it with.

Rain Rain go away

The remainder of our friends who have been riding horses here for the last week, have to break camp and head home to go back to "_ _ _ _".   Sorry we can't say that word around here.  Although we have not spent a lot of time with them, we sure have enjoyed the times we were together.  What great family people they are, spending time with their kids and their extended family.  What a great opportunity for a family to be away from the pressures of life for a while.  I failed to get a picture of Thomas and Kesha or any of the kids, but I did catch Tommy and Yvonne.  Thanks for sharing your time with us everyone.

Santa is officially here.

Today was a do nothing day.  Sometimes I feel like I am failing when I do nothing and especially after I read a lot of the blogs I follow and see all of the neat things people are doing. Our friends Kevin and Ruth are a good example.  Almost every day they explore something generally on foot and most often up a big hill.  Today they went sand sledding somewhere in New Mexico.  Rick and Kathy braved the Black Friday crowds and went shopping, Patsy climbed a mountain, and George packed his bags to leave on a cruise, before cooking up a great supper.  Deb and Riley were like me and admitted to not doing a whole lot.   Take some time and check all of my blog friends out.  They do some very interesting things.

I did get Santa up on the roof and working.
 

Black Friday turned into White Christmas

So Thanksgiving is over and Black Friday is the word of the day.  We decided not to participate in all of the good bargains that are up for grabs, but rather opted to just hang around home until later in the afternoon.  We have an old pump near where we are parked so Chuck and Angie and Harold decided to see if it would work.  Angie suggested priming it so they did and sure enough they got water.  The leathers were obviously hard which made it really hard to pump.   We have no use for the pump anyway but just wanted to see if we could get it going.

Thanksgiving Again!!

Canadian Snowbirds are lucky because we get to celebrate Thanksgiving twice a year.  In Canada we had our Thanksgiving on October 8th this year.  Canadians do not celebrate quite like the Americans do, but we do take time to be thankful for all our blessings. We are thankful for our families and the necessities we need to carry on life.  We are thankful for life itself, because our family knows how fragile we as humans are, and how quickly the breath of life can be taken away.  The bad thing about two Thanksgivings, is that we get to gorge ourselves twice in a short period of time and then very quickly it is Christmas and we do it all over again.

Our Thanksgiving began here in De Soto National Forest, with the arrival of 3 young horse people bearing Beignets.  Our neighbours seem to like to cook them quite often and are very generous in sharing them with us. Thank you for your generosity.  They are so yummmmmy!

Outdoor Projects

This morning Harold had a problem with his batteries.  They had depleated to a critical voltage and when he went to fire up the generator, the chassis batteries were dead.  So we spent the morning trouble shooting  and getting it back up to where they should be.

The Bird Flew Away

The other morning we had a knock on our door and three young gals were standing there with a plate of yummy treats.  The neighbours down the way had sent them over with some New Orleans Beignets.  They were so yummy!!  They are a little fritter pastry with icing sugar sprinkled on top.  Charlie would sure like a taste!!!!

A Trip to the Beach

Today was beach day.  The forecast promised to give us some nice warm weather for sitting on the beach.  We have travelled a long way for this.  So we packed up a picnic lunch and off we went.  Biloxi MS is about 30 minutes south of us and then another 10 minutes from there to a dog friendly beach.  We thought it would be important for Charlie to share in the experience.

Chore and Explore Day

Our day started out as usual with the 9 am Happy Hour.  This gathering is important in that all the decisions of the day are made there.  By 10 everyone heads to their respective homes, being none the wiser as to what the plan is, but at least wide awake from the coffee.

The Ponderosa Ranch

The Ponderosa is now a full fledged ranch.  Today a bunch of horse people moved in and set up corrals and trailer barns and feeders and tack stations and we are now a real working ranch.  I love when stuff like this happens and the action increases.   Horse people are generally friendly and love to show off their animals so it should be an interesting few days coming up.

We are going to Stay Put for a While

When we woke up this morning it was starting to warm up already.  When I went outside for coffee at 9 it was about 8C.   I took a short walk and looked back at our camp in the forest.  What a peaceful place to spend some time.  We can stay here for 14 days and I think we will maximize that.

Reunion with Travelling Friends

Today should not be such a hectic drive for us because we went an extra 150 kilometers yesterday.  We are heading for the De Soto National Forest just north of Biloxi Mississippi.  The weather is not supposed to be terribly warm, but a lot warmer than it has been for us the past couple months.  We can hardly go any farther south without a boat, so hopefully it warms up. Here is our travels today.

Elvis was not Home

Our drive today was a mix of sun and cloud and rain and snow.  Everything a good old Canadian late fall day should be.  Oh wait we are not in Canada, but rather today we were in Illinois, Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, and Mississippi.
 

On the Move Again

Roger was at the shop by 8 this morning and hard at work putting the pump back in for the third and final time.  We were confident this time it would work fine and it did.  He bled the pump and we fired it up and there were no leaks.

The Barn Board Project

On Saturdays post I mentioned that Sue got a couple barn boards from AJ for a project she wanted to work on.  Well this morning she gave her project to AJ and staff at Pinks for Christmas.  She is so good at this stuff.  It is something to make them remember the crazy Canucks with the fuel injector problems.

Remembrance Day/ Veterans Day

Sunday was Canadian Remembrance Day.  It is also Veterans Day here in the USA.  It is the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I and because there are no WW I veterans left anymore, it is truly a remembrance of them.  Tradition sees the reading of the poem Flanders Fields, but I never really paid any attention to the author.  Here is a little tidbit about him and what his state of mind must have been when he wrote it.

IN FLANDERS FIELDS POEM The World’s Most Famous WAR MEMORIAL POEM By Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place: and in the sky The larks still bravely singing fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the dead: Short days ago, We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved: and now we lie In Flanders fields! Take up our quarrel with the foe To you, from failing hands, we throw The torch: be yours to hold it high If ye break faith with us who die, We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields

My thought are often of the men (boys) who fought in these wars of old.  I was listening to a reporter today talk of the fact that some of these brave soldiers were 14 to 18 years olds.  Most were under 25 years of age.  What a commitment by these young people to climb on a boat and go clear around the world to fight for a freedom that we today are so quick to give up.  We are challenged in the last verse of the poem to not break the faith of why they fought.  If we do give up those freedoms, the dead will not sleep easy because their death will have been in vain.

Let us not forget.

We just had a quiet day today and our view is the same tonight as last night:

A Little Setback

Rodger was back at 8 am on this Saturday morning to work on getting us on the road.  Pinks Automotive is closed on Saturdays but Roger, Steve, and AJ all showed up to help get us on the road. We sure appreciate their kindness to work on their day off.  The injector pump on the Ponderosa is jammed in the back with lots of stuff around it and is difficult to work on.  You have to be like a pretzel.

Snowfall #8

We woke up this morning still in the climate controlled shop.  It was about 68 degrees inside the Ponderosa and in the shop as well.  It was NOT 68 degrees outside.  When Charlie and I headed outside we were in for a shock.  Yes this is the 8th snowfall we have experienced this fall.  We need to get some miles under us and get to where its warm.

Ellenboro Dining and Shop Camping

Our first night in the Pinks Automotive shop campground was a great one.  There was no wind and the temperature was constant all night. lol  Perfect place to spend the winter.  Its much like being outside in that they dim the lights for night time and about 7 am the first mechanic shows up and switches them back on and in the motorhome it looks like the sun came up!!!

Wisconsin Hospitality

We were up early this morning so we could be back in the Pinks Automotive shop by 8 am.  Our mechanic, Roger was there to meet us and let us in.  We backed in today so the motor was handy to his bench.  We had some difficulty getting it to fire up this morning.  It would start and then shut down.  It did this a bunch of times before we got it to run.  The same lights were still on the dash.

A Day of Troubleshooting

Well we were up and headed over to Pinks Automotive in Lancaster WI for our 10:30 appointment.  It was about a 30 minute drive and as long as I kept the Ponderosa's RPMs up to 1700 or so it seemed to run not bad.  It was definitely lacking power and smoked really bad when we were going up a hill.  It is the surging that really has me baffled.

Black Smoke is not a good sight!

Today we hit the road again on our migration south.  We left Kevin and Ronda's about 10 am and headed south.

White Stuff Again!!!!

This is the seventh time this fall that we have witnessed snow.  I think when we fire up tomorrow to leave here, we should put in a long day of driving and try to get south of this cold weather.

A Day with Friends

After a delicious breakfast, the girls headed to town to take in a craft sale and do some of the "S" word.  Us guys decided as usual to do some useful things so we went to pick up some things at the butcher shop.  On the way we dropped by Kevin's son Tye's place to see the grandsons 4H calves. 

They have a nice house and outbuildings on an acreage not far down the road.

Duluth MN to New Auburn WI

Today we only have 200 kms to travel so we sat around in the Walmart parking lot and drank coffee and talked for most of the morning.

We are South of the Border, but not down Mexico way!!

We had a good sleep sitting on the side of the street in Bloomenort where P & H's daughter lives.  We even had a visit from one of the people who live on the street.  John stopped by to see the Motorhome because he used to go with his parents when he was a kid, and he just wanted to see inside one again.  We were pleased to let him have a look and it looked like it brought back a lot of memories.  Hope you visit our blog once in a while John.