Baja…The Other California

Mary is no longer available for RV traveling, but we remain good friends.
Because we have 5,000+ postings, I’ve invited her to continue posting entries on this blog.

To view past blogs, scroll to the bottom of this page and use the menu.

I’m currently in my 24th year of full-time RVing and my lifestyle is changing, For more info click Here

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The motorhome is parked at Shady Acres RV Park in Yuma, Arizona. I may be here until March 4th.

 

 

 

In my many years of RVing, I’ve wandered extensively across the North American Continent. Some of my fondest memories come from the winters in Baja, California 1997-98 and 2000-01. Baja is a very unique and beautiful place, but there were some things that I realized I missed after watching the below video.

 

If you like nature videos, you will love this one I stumbled across yesterday on YouTube…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Absolutely a fine production!

 

Here’s the main link to The Secrets of Nature on YouTube…

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=the+secrets+of+nature

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed the video.

Forecast for today is rain showers and 60 degrees.

Enjoying nice weather is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows my approximate location in the State of Arizona. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

 

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

 

“Let me recommend the best medicine in the world: a long journey, a mild season, through a pleasant country, in easy stages.” –James Madison

My current travel rig is a 2006 Fleetwood 26′ Class A Motorhome and a towed 1986 Ford Bronco II, Eddie Bauer Model. This photo was taken in the desert at Slab City near Niland, California…

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you would like to see my YouTube videos, click this link… http://www.youtube.com/user/JimJ1579/videos

There are more than 600 photo albums in my Picasa Web Albums File. To gain access, you simply have to click this link… https://picasaweb.google.com/jimjrver

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

For more information about my books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

All original works copyrighted – Jim Jaillet -2019

22 Years Ago Yesterday…

Mary is no longer available for RV traveling, but we remain good friends.
Because we have 4,000+ postings, I’ve invited her to continue posting entries on this blog.

I’m currently in my 23rd year of full-time RVing and my lifestyle is changing, For more info click Here

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The motorhome is parked at the Paradise Casino in Yuma, Arizona. I expect to be here a while.

 

 

 

Today’s subject… 22 years ago yesterday…

 

 

 

was December 22, 1995…the day I departed Olympia, Washington to begin my full-time RVing lifestyle. Today therefore marks the beginning of my 23rd year.

 

 

 

Back in 1995 I was driving a Chevy Suburban and towing an 18 foot travel trailer. Here’s a photo taken while in Baja, California, Mexico in 1998. The film was developed in Mexico hence the spotty photo…

 

 

 

 

As always you may click upon the photos to see an enlarged view…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 1999 I bought a 1983, 23 foot Class A Suncrest Motorhome and a 1984 Ford Bronco II specifically to take to Central America. This photo was taken in 2004 during that trip…

 

 

 

 

 

I met Mary in 2008 and in 2009 we acquired my current motorhome and Ford Bronco II…

 

 

 

The last 22 years have been delightful. Here’s hoping I’ve got another 22 years of full-time RVing. It’s a lousy job…but someone’s got to do it!  🙂

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed the photos.

 Forecast for today is partly cloudy and 66 degrees.

Enjoying nice weather is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows my approximate location in the State of Arizona. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

My current travel rig is a 2006 Fleetwood 26′ Class A Motorhome and a towed 1986 Ford Bronco II, Eddie Bauer Model. This photo was taken in the desert at Slab City near Niland, California…

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you would like to see my YouTube videos, click this link… http://www.youtube.com/user/JimJ1579/videos

There are more than 700 photo albums in my Picasa Web Albums File. To gain access, you simply have to click this link… https://get.google.com/albumarchive/110455945462646142273?source=pwa

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

For more information about my books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

All original works copyrighted – Jim Jaillet -2017

6,941 Days Ago…

The motorhome is parked at the Paradise Casino in Winterhaven, California. Less than 1/2 mile away is the Colorado River and on the other side is Yuma, Arizona. I’m expecting Mary to rejoin me here in later January.

6,941 days ago was December 22, 1995…the day I departed Olympia, Washington to begin my full-time RVing lifestyle. Today therefore marks the beginning of my 20th year.

Back in 1995 I was driving a Chevy Suburban and towing an 18 foot travel trailer. Here’s a photo taken while in Baja, California, Mexico in 1998. The film was developed in Mexico hence the spotty photo.

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

In 1999 I bought a 1983, 23 foot Class A Suncrest Motorhome and a 1984 Ford Bronco II specifically to take to Central America. This photo was taken in 2004 during that 343 day, 16,000+ mile trip…

I met Mary in 2008 and in 2009 we acquired our current motorhome and Ford Bronco II…

The last 19 years have been delightful. Here’s hoping I’ve got another 20 years of full-time RVing. It’s a lousy job…but someone’s got to do it!  🙂

Now…you may be wondering how I came up with the number of days. Did I find an old bunch of calendars and count them all? Nope. If you want to know the number of days between two events, all you have to do is click this link…
http://www.timeanddate.com/date/duration.html

Isn’t the Internet wonderful?

Here are yesterday morning’s sunrise photos…

And under cloudless skies, the Indian Mission Church atop Fort Yuma Hill is silhouetted shortly after sunset…

I hope you enjoyed the photos.

Yesterday was a sunny day at 76 degrees.  Forecast for today is sunny with and 76 degrees.

The red dot on the below map shows our approximate location in the State of California. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you would like to see my YouTube videos, click this link… http://www.youtube.com/user/JimJ1579/videos

There are more than 500 photo albums in my Picasa Web Albums File. To gain access, you simply have to click this link… https://picasaweb.google.com/110455945462646142273?authkey=Gv1sRgCKrvzqm8-IKGdA

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

For more information about my books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2014

MYSTERY ANTIQUES, PEND OREILLE COUNTY MUSEUM

My daughter-in-law sent me a picture of an item from an antique store. The store owner couldn’t identify the object.  Laurie thought, since I go to so many museums, I might be able to help.  Well folks, I’m at a loss. I hope somebody out there might know what it is. (You can click on it to enlarge the picture.)

Same item with the cover closed. I can’t even figure out how the cover closed? It sort of reminds me of a catering dish of some sort.

We zapped through the panhandle of Idaho, with a night at Sand Point, and slipped into Washington State at Newport. The Pend Oreille County Museum there is a terrific visit, not only because of the great collections and multiple buildings, but because the docents are so friendly and helpful. I couldn’t identify the item above and the docent demonstrated it for me. There was no tag because they don’t know what it is either? We both laughed. It has a bellows and obviously puffs something  out of the rather large hole at the point. But, what? If you know, please satisfy our curiosity.

Then she took me over to a cabinet of items they have not been able to identify. They are numbered and she has set out a paper and pen for people to guess what they might be. #10 looks like it could be a nail puller, except it doesn’t look strong enough. # 7 isn’t a bell. It has two big screws on one side of it.

I turned it around to the opposite side for a better look.

The inner works of #5 make me think it could be a telephone lineman’s test kit?

This Springfield Morgan Envelope Company gadget is not an envelope opener.  The handle on the right lifts up and down. The gadget is all hand-operated and a mystery?

#’s 6 and 8?  Six resembles a honey dipper without the knob on the end. Eight resembles a wool carder or maybe an animal grooming tool?

The copper comb, you can’t tell it has fine teeth, has a heat protected handle and might be a hair straightener or curler?  #4, a possible gear, definitely a machine part.  (Sorry the picture is so poor.)

These home made tools didn’t have a tag either? Maybe fruit pickers like apples or cherries.  But, apples and cherries have spurs. These gadgets would damage the spurs.

One item the docents make and sell in the gift shop is this “button buzzer”. a toy my generation of kids made and played with. She likes educating visiting children about such gadgets.  She told me that kids today, some of them, have never even seen a dial phone.  We had fun.

The museum is a complex of preserved buildings like this settlers cabin.

Two small chapels. This one room for one person for private meditation with an altar and stained glass windows.

This chapel has two pews enough to seat four people.

This was a first for me. A root cellar. I thought, how nice. You can walk in through doors like a little house and get into the root cellar. Except, this one didn’t go underground like they were meant to be. Maybe, in a winter clime, they prevent food from spoiling by freezing. In Michigan as a child, the root cellar was underground and held potatoes, cabbage, turnips, carrots, rutabagas and apples. Mostly root vegetables. Thus the name.  A sloped piece of tin kept the snow from blocking the cellar doors. Down the musty steps and onto a dirt floor with hay bales holding boxes of good stuff.

This cabin chimney is stone at the bottom.

Above the stone, the chimney is wood strips with cement between them. A fire hazard? Naw! Nobody thought it dangerous.

Because on the inside of that cabin is the only part that touched fire with a generous (joking) hearth. Oh,my.

There are about a dozen buildings, plus three giant sheds like this with much to see.

These docents joked that the woman was doing all the work while the men stood around and watched. She was making a flower bed around the ice house. There is a fire look out, a train car with signals and stuff, farm machinery, a dynamite shack and…you just have to see it for yourself. Nice, nice place. Two big buildings with the collections.

I saw a lot of things I’d never seen before and this easy to use sock making machine I had never even heard of before.

The all volunteer staff of docents  knew how to make a sock. Super! The docents made this such a fun place to visit.

After the museum, we met Jim’s friends that live in Newport,  Jim and Sharon Davison. Jim and Jim spent the winter of 2001-2002 deep in the Baja, a six month small caravan of RVing friends. They share a lot of memories of that trip to Mexico. And, as it turned out. Sharon has volunteered for the Museum and provided the church doors for one of the little churches. Jim says, the only trouble with living on the road is you see your friends so infrequently.

5,844 Days Ago…

was December 22, 1995…the day I departed Olympia, Washington to begin my full-time RVing lifestyle. Today therefore marks the beginning of my 17th year.

Back in 1995 I was driving a Chevy Suburban and towing an 18 foot travel trailer. Here’s a photo taken while in Baja, California, Mexico in 1998. The film was developed in Mexico hence the spotty photo. As always you may click upon the photos to see an enlarged view…

In 1999 I bought a 1983, 23 foot Class A Suncrest Motorhome and a 1984 Ford Bronco II specifically to take to Central America. This photo was taken in 2004 during that trip…

I met Mary in 2008 and in 2009 we acquired our current motorhome and Ford Bronco II…

The last 16 years have been delightful. Here’s hoping I’ve got another 16 years of full-time RVing. It’s a lousy job,,,but someone’s got to do it!  🙂

Now…you may be wondering how I came up with the number of days. Did I find an old bunch of calendars and count them all? Nope. If you want to know the number of days between two events, all you have to do is click this link…
http://www.timeanddate.com/date/duration.html

Isn’t the Internet wonderful?

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2011
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

More about Palmyra Island…

My last Blog entry about Palmyra Island was on October 25th. Here’s more…

Since that time, I received some Emails from my good friend Smokey Stover. I first met Smokey in 1997 when I joined my RV singles group. Every Winter Smokey used to lead a small group to explore Baja, California, Mexico. My first trip with him was the Winter of 1998-1999. I really enjoyed that trip and little did I know it would set the stage for my 2004 trip to Central America. I made a second trip with Smokey down to Baja in the Winter of 2001-2002. Here is the last photo I have of Smokey that was taken during that trip…

Smokey moved to Baja permanently several years ago. Back to the story about Palmyra Island…

In cased you missed it and want to catch up on how I got started on this subject…here is the link to my last entry about Palmyra Island…

http://wp.me/pDCku-2AL

A mutual friend who saw my Blog wrote me and told me he thought Smokey had been to Palmyra Island. I wrote to Smokey…and sure enough he’s been there…twice! He has graciously said I can use his Emails to me in my Blog. Here they are below…

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On September 20th…

I was fascinated by Palmyra Atoll. My first visit was about February 1984 on a 55″ sailboat for 8 – 10 days, Afterward I met two of the family members the owned the island. Their father bought the island in the 1920’s and it was used to grow copra (dried cocoanut meat). In 1939 Pam AM airlines wanted to develop the lagoon so it’s flying boats could go from Hawaii – Palmyra – Fiji – Australia. It was going to be a refueling point. Coral heads in the lagoon were a danger to the seaplanes so they were being removed. In 39′ 40′ the Navy wanted to protect the southern approaches to Hawaii so they wanted the island for a base. Depending on the history book you’re looking at after pearl harbor, the dredge “Sacramento” was clearing a channel into the lagoon, when a Japanese submarine surfaced and fired several shots with its deck gun. hitting the dredge and injuring the engineer. That was about December 23-24 1941. The Seabees were dispatched to the islands they were combined to form the two lagoons. I spent three days at the Seabee Museum in Port Humemie CA researching the history, as well as talking to the Fullard-Leo family. The Seebees used dump trucks, steam shovels, and bulldozers to join the islands, dredge, move sand and coral. The dump trucks received a spray oil bath every day to help retard rust, there life expectancy was six months. The buildings were all built out of wood, fire, storms, termite have all taken their toll. I did see a base map that showed what the concrete slabs used to be. I know the photo lab was a Quonset hut sitting in a group of about five Quonsets. There was no fresh water on the island, a large concrete tank (maybe 30×40 feet x 8″ tall) with a sheet metal roof hanging out over the sides bringing water in toward the tank was still supplying water when I was there. Palmyra is in the ITCZ (inter tropical convergence zone) and get huge rain amounts year around. I believe it was around 4* or 5* degrees North of the Equator. Google “Palmyra Atoll” and check it out. The island is now owned by “The Nature Conservatory” who are just a PIA. My second trip was in 1985 on a 48′ sailboat. Much nicer visit, and stayed for thirty days. Would love to go back for 3 – 4 weeks again. Sure I could lose twenty pounds with all the walking/exploring. Many more tales to tell – just tired of typing.

Also on September 20th…

Welcome to Kingman Reef National Wildlife Refuge

Less than 5 feet in elevation and one of the most pristine coral reef atoll ecosystems in the Pacific, Kingman Reef lies 932 miles southwest of Hawai‘i. Crystal clear oceanic waters and vibrant coral reefs support a spectacular diversity of corals, algae, fishes, marine mammals, sea turtles and migratory seabirds.Although no permanent land is found here, two small 2- and 1-acre emergent coral rubble spits occur on the northeastern and southeastern sides of the reef. In addition to the 3 acres of emergent reef, Kingman Reef National Wildlife Refuge includes 483,754 acres of submerged reefs and associated waters, out to its 12 nautical mile boundary.

Sea anemone Heteractis crispa – Photo credit James Maragos/USFWS

The first recorded western contact at Kingman Reef was by an American seaman, Captain Fanning, in 1798. The reef was named after Captain Kingman, who visited in 1853. The United States annexed the reef in 1922 and in 1934 delegated jurisdiction to the Navy. Its sheltered lagoon served as a way station and anchorage for Pan American Flying Clippers on Hawai‘i to American Samoa flights and for U.S. warships during the 1930s before a channel and dock were constructed at Palmyra.

On September 1, 2000, the Department of the Interior accepted restoration of its administrative jurisdiction over Kingman Reef from the Department of the Navy; Secretary’s Order 3223 signed January 18, 2001, established Kingman Reef National Wildlife Refuge.

On January 6, 2009, the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument was established, which includes Kingman Reef National Wildlife Refuge within its boundaries. For more information, please visit the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument website.

And again on September 2oth…

Did some surfing and I think I like this site the best.

http://www.janeresture.com/palmyra/

Be sure to read Adell letter to the C.O.

Brings back good memories. My EX has all of my pictures! Had one of Grandad Cocoanut Crab I caught with close to a four-foot arm span. Ate lot’s of fish, land crab, heart of palm salad. Good times – good memories.

Smokey

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All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2011
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust