At least in this sequence of events. I expect some time in the future we may have occasion to discuss this event again…but for now it’s time to move on both physically and mentally.
We are planning to depart Chinle, Arizona tomorrow morning and head on down the road once again.
Yesterday Mary and I took our Ford Bronco II and headed out on the south rim of Canyon de Chelly, here in remote northeastern Arizona. I’ll show you the photos that I took, tomorrow. I also wanted to confirm my ability to drive a vehicle once again and I seemed to do okay.
We started out on the south rim trip one week ago Saturday, but after only about 30 minutes called it quits because of high winds and blowing sand. You can read about that day by clicking this link…
http://wp.me/pDCku-4Dx
In the previous seven Blog entries I’ve reported about a terrible accident Mary and I lived through eight days ago. In case you missed those entries, here are the links…
In today’s Blog entry I want to discuss odds and ends associated with the tragic accident.
First, the remoteness of the location. Here’s a couple of Google Earth images to assist. The dark shadows that look like lakes are indeed dark shadows caused by late afternoon sun coming across the mesas on the other side of the canyon. X marks the approximate tragic accident site location. I was helicoptered up from the accident site to the Mummy Cave overlook parking area where a waiting ambulance took me to the Chinle Hospital about 20 miles distant.
The nearest metropolitan cities straight-line distance approximate mileage is 185 to Albuquerque, New Mexico, 235 to Phoenix, Arizona and 325 to Denver, Colorado.
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…
Next is to discuss the three other fatalities of the tragic accident…our three cameras. Mary’s two and my one. Due to the physical shocks they received, like us, and the extensive amount of dirt and dust they were exposed to, they soon stopped working. I spent about two hours last Monday afternoon cleaning them with the hopes I could revive them. Nope, no hope. Done for…kaput…finished.
The owner of the tour company and the Thunderbird Lodge told us to go ahead and order our new cameras right away and submit the receipts to her insurance company. We did so and received the cameras a couple of days later. Here’s my new camera…a Sony HX200V…
Here’s just one review about this camera, click this link…
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/sony-hx200v/sony-hx200vA.HTM
Next, I have been unable to find one news account other than the newspaper that reported local resident Richard Crowe’s death. See my Blog entry by clicking this link…
http://wp.me/pDCku-4Gq
The National Park Service has finally issued a statement about the accident. It is on the News page of the Canyon de Chelly website and can be read by clicking this link…
http://www.nps.gov/cach/parknews/index.htm
Over the past several days Mary and I have been interviewed by several law enforcement accident investigators. In addition to their questions, I’ve indicated that everything I/we know about this accident has been documented on our Blog at
http://otrwjam.wordpress.com/
Finally, the interest in our personal blog has been phenomenal…in excess of 10,000 hits in seven days. I was unable to get hit numbers for our Seattle PI and San Francisco Blogs.
Tomorrow you’ll get to see all of my Canyon de Chelly photos.
All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust
Ready To Roll…
November 29, 2011
I’m all hitched up and ready to depart Mary’s home. I expect to be on the road by 9:00 AM. Destination for tonight is Bakersfield, CA.
I’m managing to leave without getting snowed upon. Our tentative plans are for Mary to meet me in Yuma, AZ in early January, 2012. Also with our current plans, I will not be returning to Mary’s home with the motorhome until October, 2013. Got some places to go and people to meet in the next couple of years!
All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2011
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust
No One Sees The World Quite Like A…
November 14, 2011
Photographer!
When you are photographer…beauty is everywhere. We see things that most folks who are not into photography walk right by and never know that they missed it. Today’s blog entry is a great example.
Since Mary is away babysitting two of her grandsons and most of my chores have been completed…I find myself with lots of time on my hands.
So yesterday I assigned myself a 15 minute photography assignment…wander around Mary’s yard for 15 minutes and come back with 15 photos. You may click on them to see an enlarged view.
Here are the results…
There are literally hundreds of photographs waiting to be taken within the range of a circle of 100 feet radius. They’re everywhere…they’re everywhere! And lucky me…I get to see them whenever I desire!
No matter where I travel with the RV and Bronco…this statement essentially remains true.
14 days until my departure to the warm and sunny south land.
All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2011
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust
A Slow Day In Never-Never Land…
October 24, 2011
In yesterday’s Blog entry I described helping Mary with her yard sale…something which I swore 16 years ago I would never-never do again after departing my house to begin my full-time RVing lifestyle. Due to her inexperience with such matters..she made it a two-day event. Shoulda made it a one day thing as there were few customers yesterday.
Since it was so slow activity day…I decided to work on a couple of my to-do list items. First job was to put on a new steering wheel cover on my Bronco. After 25 years the sun was finally taking its toll…
Online I found and ordered a product called Wheelskins and went to work…
The directions said installation time was about 60 minutes. That’s if you know what you’re doing. In my case…being the meticulous type…installation proved to be three hours. The instructions also indicated “Tight is Right”…so after each stitch you must pull very heartily to end up with a tight fit. My hands are still kind of sore this morning…but I’m pleased with the results. Good for another 25 years…
The second job of my day was changing out the rear-view camera on the motorhome. The company sent me a free replacement after I advised them that out unit had moisture inside of the glass covering the lens. I blame this on poor sealant techniques at the factory…so I went ahead and applied my own sealant on top of the factory sealant.
Hopefully we’ll have no more moisture-inside-of-the-camera problems.
When we completed our day…Mary said never-never again about her yard sale. Hopefully we will never-ever do another one again!
All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2011
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust
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