page started 2/6/12
I left Union, Ohio about 5:30 AM EST on Monday, February 6th, 2012.
As I was driving across I-40 between Nashville and Memphis
in Tennessee I saw this sign that reminded me of the Bucksnort Saloon in Mesick,
Michigan.
I had the pleasure of meeting Max - K1MAX for lunch near
Memphis at a little after noon Central time. We had a nice lunch and great
visit!
I checked into a motel in Tyler, Texas at 8:30 PM Central time. A really strange tidbit was I checked the day's mileage on my trip odometer when I got parked in front of my motel room and the day's mileage was 1,000.0 miles! Incredible! I saw a high temperature of 59 degrees! It was a delightful day!
I got on the road about 7:30 AM Tuesday morning.
My first stop was at the Collin Street Bakery in Corsicana,
Texas to pick up a few items. Mmm Mmm...Pecan Bread! And more!
I arrived at The Lazy K Ranch about 10:30 AM.
We went to The Coffee Station in Crawford Texas for lunch.
Look at that beautiful blue sky!
Here's Hoss - WA5ZAI and Margareth! Lunch was great
burgers! Hoss splurged and had a piece of pie instead of a burger.
This afternoon I took a walk on Tweedy Road. The temperature was into the 60's!
Surprise! Dinner this evening was at the Bunkhouse
BBQ! :-)
Not a very good picture of our host, Ricky at the Bunkhouse
BBQ!
Here's Margareth with Maya - her newest inside kitty
cat. (Sorry it is not a better picture of either of the girls)
This is Callie!
This is Max!
We had about 40 degrees this morning. I took my walk
early. Here are some of the 4 legged friends I spotted along the way.
Here's Annie! This photo was taken shortly after
breakfast this morning.
We met Joanne and Ron - AA5RT for lunch at a great Chinese
buffet! We had a fun visit!
Here's Hoss - WA5ZAI and Margareth at lunch.
Since lunch had been an all-you-can-eat buffet, we elected to skip dinner and just have desert after this evening's IOOK 40 meter net.
Here's Hoss at his ham station. We are now ready to
check into the net.
Here's Keith trying to time out 40 meters! Yes, I got
a bit long winded! Har!
Our sugar free apple pie and chocolate covered strawberry was a delicious dinner!
It was about 32 degrees when I got up this morning. There was no wind so, it was a great morning for a walk!
The neighbor has his horses in Hoss and Margareth's pasture
this morning. Notice that the horses are wearing blankets to keep them
warm.
Here's Margareth with the smaller of the horses while Max
watches. Margareth is trying to get the small horse to come closer so she
could adjust the blanket.
As I left for my walk I noticed that the Lazy K Ranch had a
full moon over it! This is just before sun up!
Another four legged friend on my walk...
As the sun comes up it lights the undersides of the lofty
clouds. What you can't see are the three deer near the trees.
Many of the driveways along the road here have these
ornamented gates. I think this one is kind of special for me because of
the special additions at each end.
Yep! Large Mouthed Bass! The guy must be a
fisherman!
Here I am back at the Lazy K Ranch after my morning walk.
This is a copy of a photo in Hoss's ham shack. This
will have special meaning for Rick - KK8O. In this photo, Hoss and Robbie
have traded hats! Hmm, I wonder which one is the "Mover" and
which one is the "Shaker".
In the vernacular of John - KF8KK, today has been a VPD! VPD means "Very Productive Day".
After my shower and breakfast we loaded Hoss's flea market stuff in the van. Then we headed to Waco for Hoss to get a haircut and run some errands. Upon our return, we hooked up some radios in Hoss's ham shack that just needed 12 volts to work. After reviewing the weather forecast, we decided that today was a good day to take a quick run up the tower to check things out to see just what was wrong with Hoss's rotor on the big beam. The temperature reached almost 60!
On the left is a UHF beam under a dual band
vertical. On the right is Hoss's big beam with a 2 meter beam and another dual band vertical!
Here's looking up the tower.
Here's Keith as he begins his climb!
Making progress....going up!
At the top! Time to check things out.
Aha! Here's a problem! A broken wire on the
rotor! That would certainly keep it from turning!
OK! Actually the wire that has broken off the
terminal is red rather than white. It has bleached out on the sun out side
and is red on the other side. Here I have stripped insulation off the wire
and am ready to reattach it!
OK! The wire is back on the terminal strip. On
the rotor plate on the left you can see the wire fragments that were around the
screw. It was obvious where the wire was supposed to go.
Hoss took a shot while I was finishing things up!
Here is a view of the entrance of the Lazy K Ranch from the
tower top!
Going down......
Good news and bad news....the good news is now the rotor works....kind of. Now the rotor will rotate the beam from East, where it has been stuck for months to South...then it stops! Yes, it goes back around but then it stops at East! ARGH! Hopefully, we will find another good weather day so we can get back up the tower and replace the rotor. Hoss does have a back up rotor ready and waiting!
It's warming up here in Texas! This morning it was nearly 50 when I headed out for my walk. They actually had a bit of rain (I would call it drizzle) this morning. I wore a rain coat to keep from getting too wet during my walk. Mid morning the clouds broke and by mid afternoon we had clear skies and temperatures in the mid 60's! Delightful!
This evening we had dinner at the Bunkhouse BBQ again!
At least Ricky has his eyes open this time!
Brrr! Cold morning here! It was 30 degrees with a wind chill of 14 when I started my walk. That is about as cold as I can tolerate!
Kittyboo lives out front. This photo was taken as I
started my walk this morning.
Here's another shot of Hoss's antenna farm. Beautiful
clear sky this morning! This photo taken as I was finishing my walk.
We left the Lazy K Ranch about 10:20 this morning and headed towards Salado, TX to meet my buddy Don who lives in Elgin, TX
We met at the Stagecoach Inn about 11:30.
Here are Don and Keith! We have been good friends
since high school!
We are actually inside here. The building is built around the tree
behind us!
Don is feeling like a short timer now. He has a little over 10 months
to go to full retirement! Keith has been retired going on 10 years now!
Our waitress recited the menu for us, which is the tradition at the Stagecoach Inn. She has been a waitress there for 48 years!
After a great lunch visit we posed for a photo outside!
Here are Margareth and Hoss who accompanied us to the
Stagecoach Inn!
Brrr! 26 degrees this morning and the forecast is for it to maybe warm up to 41 this afternoon! But it is windy. Probably no tower climbing today.
As is our custom, Hoss and I played radios this morning.
Here's Hoss - WA5ZAI making a transmission during the 20
Meter IOOK Net.
OOPS! Hoss got his thumb on the zoom by mistake!
Here's Keith - WA8ZWJ making a transmission on the 20 Meter
IOOK Net.
It was interesting to be on Hoss's end of the 40 Meter IOOK Net. He always comments that he can't hear anyone. We always can hear him just fine. Well, it is true. He could not copy anyone but K1MAX and N0BIX. Knowing that we can always hear him, I went ahead and made a "normal" transmission. I hope he will be more understanding in the future and say a few more words for us than the usual "Sign me in and sign me out. I can't hear hardly anyone." After the net we both contemplated whether or not his beam is really working as designed. It seems to transmit OK but does not hear as well as it used to. Fixing the rotor problem will only be a part of improving things for him I am afraid.
This morning it was 36 and we had rain....actually all I saw during my walk was drizzle.
We found out this morning that Joe - WA5FLT's sister was taken to the emergency room with a heart related problem and his departure for Valley Mills would be delayed. Early this evening we found out that his sister had been moved from emergency to I.C.U. and her condition is undetermined. At this point in time it does not look like Joe will be joining us for the trip.
This afternoon the sky cleared off and the temperature got up to 58. No bad!
The van is pretty well loaded. Only a few last minute items remain to be loaded. We have hopes that Joe's sister's condition improves and he decides to meet us along the way to Yuma!
The next two shots show what it looked like at Joe -
WA5FLT's the morning his sister went into the hospital.
Happy Valentine's Day!
Here's the floral arrangement that Hoss gave Margareth for
Valentine's day!
We left the Lazy K Ranch at 8AM Central Time. We drove in moderate fog for about 25 miles! After that it was severe clear!
We stopped at our favorite restaurant in Lampasas, TX for
breakfast!
This is a neat lighter collection in the restaurant.
This is an antique bread slicer that still works!
They use it every day!
Here he is...still playing cards!
Back on the road, Hoss lights up his road cigar!
Keith enjoys a cigar too!
We took a rest stop in Eldorado. The temperature was up into the 70's! Hoss actually took his coat off!
This our first shot for you of the IOOK Vice Presidential
Highway (US-190) in West Texas.
Here's a look back from the same spot! This kind of
view is common on the Vice Presidential Highway!
We got to thinking that many folks don't have the
opportunity to visit in this part of the country, so, we decided to take a few
more shots along the way just to show you what it looks like out here!
Notice how there are so many rocks there are on the ground
here?
We passed a place called The Rock Ranch! Hard to believe, eh?
Here's a shot of Hoss's of the Vice Presidential Highway.
As we get close to Fort Stockton we begin seeing windmills!
Yep! It is kind of a flat rolling country. It
is hard to imagine a guy by himself out here riding his horse. It must
have taken days and days to get from town to town!
More Vice Presidential Highway shots...
We have reached I-10! It is up to 77 degrees!
Neat Texas scenery!
More windmills...
Here's Hoss talking with Joe - WA5FLT.
Joe's sister's condition is still undetermined. Please include Joe and his family in your thoughts and prayers.
More windmills...
More great Texas scenery!
The high temperature we saw today was 79 delightful degrees!
As we approached Van Horn, Texas cloud cover moved
it. In the distance you can see rain under some of the clouds.
We have stopped in Van Horn, Texas for the night. We have had dinner and are back at the motel. I was very surprised to discover that the motel has free wifi! So, I am taking advantage of some evening time to catch up on the photos and get them online!
Tomorrow we will cross into another time zone and "save" another hour. So, tonight we will try to stay up later to attempt to adjust to the new time zone...in advance!
Hoss and I met at the van a little before 8AM Mountain Time and headed for breakfast. Before too long we were on the road and headed towards Las Cruces.
Here is some of the scenery between Van Horn and El Paso,
Texas.
As you can see we had a pretty nice day today even if the temperatures didn't get above the mid 60's.
More scenery...
Hoss chatting with someone on his cell phone. He had
several calls this morning.
More scenery...
Right after we passed UTEP (the University of Texas El
Paso) where Chas, AI0OK works, we heard a call on 146.415 simplex asking if that
was us back there! Closer investigation revealed that Chas had pulled out
onto the highway right in front of us! Incredible timing! His plan
was to join us for lunch.
Here's New Mexico!
"How y'all doing?"
Wil, Gail, Keith and Chas...
Here are Hoss - WA5ZAI, Chas - AI0OK, Wil - WB5YFX and Gail
in the parking lot at La Posta de Mesilla!
Chas - AI0OK
Wil - WB5YFX and Gail
Before lunch we did some shopping to stretch our
legs...Here is a funny package!
Lunch time at La Posta!
L to R - AI0OK, WA5ZAI, WA8ZWJ, Gail, WB5YFX
A painting rendering a look at La Posta many many years
ago...
Scenery between Las Cruces, New Mexico and Tucson,
Arizona...
Here's Arizona! Yee haw!
Arizona celebrates their Centennial this year!
Once we arrived at our motel in Tucson and got checked in we headed out to visit with a couple of old friends who now live in the Tucson area.
Jim and Sue Hagedon used to live in Dayton, back in the days when Hoss worked at Wright Patterson Air Force Base.
This is the view of the sunset from Jim - AE8R and Sue -
AI8Q's back yard! They live in north Tucson!
Here are our hosts...Sue - AI8Q and Jim - AE8R!
AE8R, WA8ZWJ and WA5ZAI
Sunset shots...
Sue, Rocky and Jim...
Hoss and Sarah....
We headed out and had dinner after visiting for awhile. We continued our visit while we ate our dinner. What a fun reunion!
It is too bad that Jim and Sue have conflicts so they cannot attend the hamfest in Yuma this weekend.
Thanks to Jim and Sue for their warm hospitality! We had a fun time!
We left Tucson and headed north this morning. Wil and
Gail will be along later after they spend some time at the Tucson Zoo.
We stopped by a favorite restaurant of ours near where I-8
splits off of I-10 - the Iron Skillet! This was a neat desert scene on the
wall.
Here's a sample of some of the Arizona scenery as we head
towards Yuma across Arizona.
We learned sometime this morning that Joe - WA5FLT's sister passed away last night. We were very sorry to hear about Joe's loss and our thoughts and prayers go out to him and his family.
This is a big mountain pass you have to clear before
getting to Yuma. We are just at the peak here.
Now we are on our way down and you can see the outer edges
of Yuma in the distance.
After we checked into the motel we decided to go to the
fairgrounds and check in at the hamfest headquarters. The call sign on
this jeep caught my eye as we were walking in. My dad's call sign was
WA8BNW and he was known as the "Big Nasty Wolf" during most of the
year but during the holidays he was known as the "Big North
Wind"! Ho ho ho!
The first hamfest volunteer we were to encounter was BJ -
KD7WBH!
More Yuma Hamfest volunteers!
More Yuma Hamfest volunteers!
Hoss and Keith begin putting the IOOK banner together...
Making progress...
Up she goes! Yee haw!
Hoss relaxing back at the motel before dinner. He is
chatting with Ron - AA5RT.
Charlie - NN3V shows off his new QSL card!
Charlie and Keith enjoy a bit of adult beverage prior to
dinner. Cheers! We have made it to Yuma!
Here's Ti-Michelle - NJ6T!
Ron - W6KJ and JoAnne - N6YLO have arrived!
Dinner tonight will be at the Cocopah Casino.
Things have changed a lot at the Cocopah dining room.
There is no longer a buffet. We had to wait in line (for what seemed to be
a long time) to be seated even though there were what seemed to us to be plenty of
open tables and then we were given a menu to order from. Service was
slow. This is very disappointing after all these years of an enjoyable
experience. It looks like we will have to find a new place for Thursday
evening dinner next year. Here's our group dinner photo.
L to R - WB5YFX, Gail, WA5ZAI, NN3V, WA8ZWJ, W6KJ, N6YLO, NJ6T
Here we are at the IHOP for breakfast that is very near
the motel.
L to R - W6KJ, NN3V, WA8ZWJ, NJ6T, WA5ZAI
More Yuma Hamfest volunteers! This one is also an
IOOK'er - Jack - KC7DUU!
More Yuma Hamfest volunteers!
Here's Ti sporting here famous Flea Market Hat!
We are starting to get a few things set up!
More Yuma Hamfest volunteers!
Lookers and buyers arrive while we are setting up! The
early folks are looking for the bargains!
More Yuma Hamfest volunteers!
IOOK wannabees! They are looking for a sponsor!
Here is ARRL official Norm - W3IZ! He is affiliated
with the ARRL HQ.
Ah, Flat KBob has found a resting spot behind the wheel....
Here's Brent - AC7H
More Yuma Hamfest volunteers!
What a great call!
Ahh....someone is soaking up some sun!
Gary - N7DND has found his sponsor for the IOOK and is
waiting to be assimilated!
It is noon and the hamfest officially opens to the public!
It is just after noon and Ron and JoAnne have made the
lunch run to IN-N-OUT! Not everyone agrees, but Keith believes Animal
Style is the BEST!
More Yuma Hamfest volunteers!
More Yuma Hamfest volunteers!
More Yuma Hamfest volunteers!
More Yuma Hamfest volunteers!
More Yuma Hamfest volunteers!
More Yuma Hamfest volunteers!
After lunch, NN3V and WA8ZWJ venture inside to purchase prize tickets
and Buzzard's BBQ tickets.
This is the inside exhibit area. The hamfest has only
been open a few minutes and the place is packed!
This view is from the back of the building.
The ARRL booth from the front!
This is a very special year for the Yuma Hamfest. Not only is it the State ARRL Convention but it is also the Regional ARRL Convention! A two in one offer! I don't think this has ever happened before.
More Yuma Hamfest volunteers! I found out from this
volunteer that dinner ticket sales have been extremely fast! They started
with 330 tickets and they are already down to only 40 left and this is less than
an hour after opening at noon!
I called the guys in the booth and told them they needed to get their dinner
tickets ASAP!
Bruce - W6RBM has arrived!
Bruce and Keith are old high school friends. Bruce and his wife now
reside in Palm Springs, CA. As kids we only lived a few blocks apart and
we spent a lot of time together. We were also involved in Boy Scouts and
Band and took the class at DARA together to get our ham licenses. Bruce
will be assimilated at HamVention in May!
Ron and Kristen have arrived! Ron is Hoss's son.
As you might imagine, the only time there is time enough to
take pictures is when you don't have a lot of lookers in the booth. So,
when we see a lot of shots of us "just sitting around" try to imagine
that we get really busy in spurts and then have quiet times when we can sit down
and visit some.
Loyd - W1CX has arrived!
Ah yes, Chas - AI0OK has arrived! He says his big
goal for the weekend is to purchase new items to match his new call!
Here's John - KF8KK!
and Tom - K8BTE!
Ron and John look at the hamfest activities and seminars
that are scheduled.
Hoss and Charlie hangin' out....
Loyd and his XYL, Donna!
Chas has a new name badge!
As we are heading towards dinner we finally had a chance to
visit with Jack for a bit. He told us that more Buzzard's BBQ dinners had
been ordered and 100 additional tickets will be printed and ready for tomorrow!
We met for dinner this evening at the Village Inn Pizza
Parlor near out motel!
Kristen and Ron
KF8KK
K8BTE and NN3V
WB5YFX and Gail
WA5ZAI
"Don't bother me! I am eating pizza!"
AI0OK and NJ6T
Roma and Bruce. Bruce is Ron - W6KJ's brother.
Loyd and Donna
JoAnne and Ron
Wil - WB5YFX with his "Deer in the headlight's"
look!
Gail
Keith - WA8ZWJ
"Hey! Hold on a second! Lemme get a sip of beer first!"
Bruce - W6RBM and Keith
Another shot - this with Bruce's cell phone!
John and Kristen
This is a shot of Hoss that Kristen took with her cell
phone and then used an app on her cell phone to turn it into a cartoon!
Very cool!
Dave - WA6UHA
Kristen and Ron
Ron says "I only have eyes for you!"
We had a great time and wonderful experience, as usual!
This is the Saturday morning Early Breakfast Group!
L to R - WA6UHA, NN3V, NJ6T, W6RBM, Ron, WA8ZWJ, AI0OK
Dave, Charlie and Ti-Michelle
Ron, Keith and Chas
This shot is taken so you can compare the number of campers
set up between our booth and the main entry gate to the open space that used to
be there in the early days of the Yuma Hamfest.
Here's our booth. this shot was taken from the same
place the previous shot was taken looking at our booth instead of towards the
entry gate.
Notice the leash? This dog is taking himself for a
walk!
Bruce, Ron's brother...
I asked KE6JUK to have his photo taken with Flat KBob since
they share the same suffix. :-)
KC7RAF - Hall
John - W7CWK
Charlie is resting his eyes...
Chas is sporting a new hat! He is making progress on
his goal!
Doing all that embroidery work on the hat must have worn
Chas out!
K8BTE is hoping to sell his hula hoop antenna...
Chat and visit time...
Here's Keith talking with El Presidente, KG7SB on the Outer
Banks via EchoLink on the K7YUM repeater!
John and Tom discuss items learned from the D-Star forum.
Time to LAX.....and RELAX!
Keith is still talking with KBob...
Ron and Bruce
Charlie is now talking with KBob...
The conversation with KBob is over. Charlie is
looking for a likely target...
He aims and fires! The marshmallow gun works with
perfection!
Jack drops some items off to be sold.
Ron and Bruce went to IN-N-OUT today. Here we are
basking in the afterglow of lunch as Wil and Gail finish their lunch.
More afterglow...
As always, Ti-Michelle is smiling and enjoying!
Ah, here is some Vice Presidential Air Cap!
Group photo for the 2012 Yuma Hamfest!
Charlie won a door prize! He is the first this year!
Charlie's friend, Wild Bill - WB6BFG and Ellen - N6UWW pose
with Flat KBob!
I had just finished answering a question about some piece
of equipment on the table when I felt a gentle tap on my shoulder. Before
I could turn around I was told "Someone wants to talk with you."
When I recognized John - W0NEV and his buddy Ora - W9DJ, I knew who must be on
the phone....it was Jim - W5JCS. John is Jim's brother.
Chas is enjoying a Coke float while Charlie surfs the
Internet or checks e-mail...
Yes! There was a special event station for the ARRL
conventions.
They have a beam and a vertical set up for HF contacts.
Keith went back to the van and worked the special event
station just on account of because. Here's Bruce who worked the special
event station a little while later.
I got the following e-mail from Fast Eddie after we got back to Hoss's:
======
Just FYI.....I worked W1AW/7 on 20 Meters on Saturday
around 18:20 z !!
Their operating frequencies were listed in QST....so....I went band to band
looking for them and found them while they were on 20 !! 59 Sig
report as well !!
Have a safe trip the rest of the way as well !!
Fast Eddie.
======
Chas wins a door prize!
This is the back of Charlie's "Yuma Hamfest" IOOK
shirt.
Do you see Flat KBob taking a nap on the bench across from Charlie?
Here's Flat KBob taking a nap...
OK! It was a little windy at times and Flat KBob blew down, so, Charlie
fixed him up so he could not fall down!
Tom is trying to figure out what the heck this is! It
turned out to be a small dummy load.
It's time for the Old Buzzard's BBQ!
More Yuma Hamfest volunteers!
Chas and Tom enjoying their dinners...
Wil with his "deer in the headlights" look and
Gail...
This is Kristen - K6WX and Ti - NJ6T. Kristen will
soon be assimilated into the IOOK. Kristen gave the forum on Propagation.
JoAnne - N6YLO and Donna
Here's Johnny!
Ron and Loyd
Hoss, Kristen and Ron
Hoss says "Here I am eating again and he is taking yet another
picture!"
Charlie - NN3V and Bruce - W6RBM
Keith - WA8ZWJ
Some general shots of the Old Buzzard's BBQ
Jack dishing out pulled pork...
The IOOK gang...
Some more Old Buzzard's BBQ shots...
Some of the prizes to be given out...
more prizes...
Roger - K7MEX taking a higher view point for a photo op...
Tom - K8BTE won a prize...
John - KF8KK won a Yuma Hamfest shirt!
Ti-Michelle - NJ6T won a hand held radio...
Kristen - K6WX won the first prize!
Congratulations to all the prize winners!
Here Flat KBob is sporting John's new shirt!
Many thanks to all the Yuma Hamfest Volunteers who helped make the hamfest a BIG success! You are always very kind to us and we appreciate your efforts!
We have a had a fantastic time! What a FUN time!
Below you will find an excerpt from the ARRL Newsletter from March, 2012 about the hamfest that Tom - K8BTE sent me:
=====
From: "ARRL Members Only Web site"
To: <schooner@charter.net>
Sent: Sunday, March 04, 2012 4:34 PM
Subject: ARRL Newsletter for Arizona March 2012
March 2012
The full color copy of this newsletter with pictures and hamfest flyers can be found at www.az-arrl.org or http://www.arrl.org/Groups/view/arizona
ARRL SOUTHWESTERN DIVISION CONVENTION
Hope you made it to the Southwestern Division Convention/Arizona State Convention/Yuma hamfest a couple of weeks ago. It was a really good event with a record setting number of vendors for an Arizona convention/hamfest. QSL card checking and seminars rounded off the event with the largest assortment of door prizes and raffles I have ever seen. The Yuma hamfest folks did a great job. It was good to see everyone there. They had dinner for a record 400 or so people on Saturday night. The grounds were full of RV’s, campers and folks with trailers. At least four separate tailgate sessions were held in different parts of the grounds. Most people were there for the new equipment, as can be expected with all the new hams in the state. I received many pictures of the hamfest and placed them up on my flickr page for all to see.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tjfagan1/ Click on ‘sets’ and then ‘hamfest’.
The students at Arizona Western College in conjunction with the Arizona Near Space Research (ANSR), launched a balloon on Saturday at the Yuma Hamfest. The launch was an example of Amateur Radio High Altitude Ballooning (ARHAB), using amateur radio and weather balloons for high-altitude research. The balloon ascended for nearly an hour and 27 minutes, rising to a peak altitude of 87,654 feet (16.6 miles) before bursting. The parachute and payload were recovered 54.84 miles from the launch point. Pictures can be seen at http://www.yumahamfest.org/balloonphotos.html
=====
Some of the folks who remained in town this morning met at the IHOP at 8AM.
Hoss, Ron, Kristen
Charlie
Tom, Chas and Ti-Michelle
Keith and Bruce
I spent most of the afternoon working on photos and then posting them in the web page on the computer and finally added text. I am further along this process than any Yuma Hamfest before because Hoss and I built in this extra day for R&R! However, these photos and text will not be posted on the Internet until we get somewhere that I have Internet coverage.
About 5:30 I chatted with Jack - KC7DUU. He was on
his way home from the Fairgrounds for his final trip taking stuff home. We
decided to meet for dinner at a small Mexican Restaurant he knows well.
Below are Jack and BJ.
Here's Keith and Hoss. Hoss is all smiles because we
didn't interrupt his dinner for the photo! Har!
Here's a look at the outside of the Mi Rancho restaurant! It is small,
but the food was FANTASTIC!
Jack, BJ and Hoss
We have had a wonderful time in Yuma. The local hospitality is wonderful!
Tomorrow morning Hoss and I head back towards Texas and the Lazy K Ranch.
We left Yuma about 6:30 Mountain Time this morning.
Sunrise shot as we head East...
Neat scenery of mountains and Saguaro Cactus...
Shucks...it is blurry...It was HUGE! 25 feet tall!
We ate breakfast near Casa Grande north of Tucson. Yup! The Iron Skillet again! :-)
That is the "Welcome To Texas" greeting...
Check out Hoss in the lower left in the mirror!
This is what El Paso traffic looked like as we came through
town around 3PM Mountain Time.
We are back on Central Time!
We arrived in Van Horn, Texas about 6PM Central Time.
After checking into the motel, we ate dinner at the Cattle
Company Restaurant near the motel!
Since dinner I have been working on adding photos and making corrections and such. Yes, this is the same motel that has the SMOKING Internet! So, even though I haven't checked my e-mail I decided that I would update the Web Page from all the changes that I had made to the web page here on the laptop.
I am pretty well run down and tomorrow will be another long day- but not as long as this one! Hoss and I estimated that we drove about 675 miles today.
We have had beautiful weather as you have seen in the photos. The temperature got up to almost 70 today! Delightful! Of course the radiant heat of the sun through the windows was quite warming!
We got away from the motel this morning a little before 7AM. We decided to head towards Fort Stockton for breakfast.
Along the way we had a beautiful sunrise. Notice the
contrails in the distance?
We stopped at Pepito's Cafe in Fort Stockton. We had
a GREAT breakfast of huevos rancheros!
Here's the Rock Ranch along the Vice Presidential Highway!
Another look at the Vice Presidential Highway!
Here's a place called Cowboy's....notice the mud
puddle? That is something not usually seen in this area of the country!
Wow! Look how green this field has become!
Surely a combination of rain and sunshine!
This is a small home near one of the small towns along the
Vice Presidential Highway
More green fields...
Another look down the Vice Presidential Highway.
Notice the standing water on the right?
As we came through Lampasas I snapped a shot of the Country
Kitchen!
Here we are on Tweedy Road near Hoss and Margareth's.
Here is more standing water.
In all the years I have been coming down here I have never
seen this much standing water! Of course, they got over 4 inches of rain
Friday night and Saturday morning.
We arrived back at Hoss and Margareth's about 4PM. Hoss and I made the trip to Yuma and back without once turning on the FM radio to look for a station to listen to. We always managed to find something else to chat about. We had a wonderful time together.
The temperature got up to 75 this afternoon! Delightful!
Hoss spotted the first Blue Bonnet trying to open up!
Guess where we went for dinner this evening?
Yep! The Bunkhouse BBQ!
Ain't life grand?
It was 56 degrees with clear skies when I started my walk this morning! By the time I got back it was up to 61 degrees! Delightful!
This is one of the gates on Tweedy Road. the wind was
blowing pretty good this morning, so, it made the flags stand out nice!
Here's another shot of Hoss and Margareth's place taken at
the end of my walk this morning.
Margareth fixed us "huevos rancheros al la Margareth" for breakfast this morning! Delicious!
Here is some fantastic news from Charlie - NN3V!
Congratulations Charlie! Incredible!
While Hoss and I were gone Margareth has been busy
painting!
The green and white on top is the old color scheme and the
light yellow on the bottom is the new color scheme. Also, the shelf unit
is a new acquisition as well!
Margareth has plans to finish the top section on Friday.
I took the van in and got the oil changed today.
Here's Callie getting ready to take a nap!
We got up to 82 today with beautiful sunshine all day! FANTASTIC!
I found out via e-mail Wednesday evening that my brother
Jim - KA8SFL became a Grandpa today. Below you see Gramps Farley, Gordon
Farley and Jay Farley! Jay was born to Gordon (Jim and Jane's son) and Alicia (Jim and
Jane's daughter-in-law). Here is an excerpt of Jim's e-mail..."7.16
lbs & 20 1/2 inches tall... Strawberry blond hair. He is being fed by
mom as I type. Alicia and Jay are both doing fine. Gordon did very
well also. :-)"
Congratulations Mom, Dad, Grandma and Grandpa!
Hey! That makes me a Great Uncle!
We have had a beautiful day today! The high got up into the low 80's and we had a lot of sunshine. The only catch was that we had a lot of wind as well, so, no tower climb today. :-(
The Bluebonnet is opening up!
The neighbor has a pair of Long Horn Steers. They are
his pets. This is either Waylon or Willy.
They really are pets. They did not shy away from
us. They even responded to Margareth's voice.
What a set of horns. We sure don't see anything like
this back home.
We have spent a relaxing day. Margareth went to Waco to do some grocery shopping.
Well, it was a bit cooler here today. The temperature was in the mid 40's when I took my walk this morning.
Here are Margareth and Max out for their morning walk a bit
before me...
We went to McGregor, Texas for breakfast this
morning. As you can see, Margareth had some left over's so she would have
room for a piece of pie! This girl just loves her chocolate!
This afternoon I spent time repacking clothes for the trip to Oklahoma, Missouri and then home.
This evening we headed out to dinner a bit early so we
could stop by the Clifton Antique Mall where Margareth has two booths.
Here's one...
Here's the other...
She has an incredible eye for finding great stuff...buying cheap and selling
at a reasonable price!
Yep! We were back at the Bunkhouse BBQ for dinner
this evening! Fantastic! This shot is taken looking over the heat
lamps where Ricky carves the meat.
Here I am signing the Guest Board at the Lazy K
Ranch! It is really neat to read the notes visitors have left over the
years!
Tomorrow morning Hoss and I head to Georgetown, Texas for the hamfest. After that I will head towards Oklahoma.
I want to sincerely thank Hoss and Margareth for their wonderful HOSSpitality! I have had a wonderful visit!
As you can see, it was still dark when Hoss and I headed
out for Georgetown.
We stopped in McGregor for breakfast.
The hamfest had been open for a while when we arrived.
As you can see there was a pretty good crowd. This
shot is taken from the front of the room.
Hoss - WA5ZAI and Scott - WA5LHM managed to come to terms
on the ID-800! Congratulations Hoss! Welcome to D-Star!
To our surprise, Ron - AA5RT was there. We had
received an e-mail the day before saying that he would not be attending.
It was great that he was there!
This is Jon - KF8OCW with Ron. Jon called Ron early
this morning and convinced him to ride along to the hamfest!
This is Carter Cook. He repairs and restores antique
radios!
This a look forward from the back of the room...
Hoss and I headed back to his place. After saying our final goodbyes I headed towards Oklahoma.
Many thanks to Hoss and Margareth for their wonderful HOSSpitality!
Another state boundary is crossed!
My goal was to get to N5JFQ's place in time for dinner. Originally,
Joseph - WA5FLT had invited a bunch of the gang over for dinner this
evening. However, with the passing of Joseph's sister, Stan offered for
the dinner to occur at his place!
Here's Stan - N5JFQ with his Labradoodle, Molly!
This is Stan and Liz's place in Oklahoma City!
Here's is Liz preparing snacks...
Yes! Freshly baked cookies too!
Here are Lilly, Neal - N5KCO and Cody
This is Al - AE5CJ and Janice
This is Cathy and Joseph - WA5FLT
Before dinner visiting...
This is Kristin and Aaron - AD5JK!
This is Aaron's new pickup truck! No antennas or
radios installed yet! :-)
Wonderful pizza dinner...
More visiting following dinner. Here is Kitty and
Joe.
Many thanks to Stan and Liz for hosting the dinner party! It was a
wonderful time! We really appreciate your opening your home to us!
After dinner Joe, Cathy and I headed to Cathy and Joe's.
Before turning in for the evening, Flat KBob made an
appearance! He posed for a photo with Cathy and Joe!
Here's Joseph with the flowers from the IOOK for his
sister's passing.
Joseph really appreciated the flowers and thanked all the IOOK for their kind
thoughts and prayers during this trying time.
Bright and early Sunday morning Joseph and I headed towards
Al - AE5CJ's place where the repeater is located. Look at the white carrot
(^) and above that is the tower in the distance. As you can see it is just
now sunrise!
This is Al's place!
Here's the repeater site from a distance.
Looking up a set of guy wires...
Al comes out to feed the cattle...
Here we are inside the repeater building...this project
continues to be a work in progress...
The repeater and duplexers...
Solar panel number one - looking south...
Solar panel number two - looking east...
Solar panel number 3 looking south...
Storage batteries!
The solar panel and battery charger controller...
If you want to see photos of the work the guys did constructing the site, tower and installing the equipment, click on the link provided below:
http://iook.org/photos/oktwrwrk411.htm
Al feeding the cattle - they always wanted more...and
more...
Here's the big boy of the bunch!
Joe and Cathy's place in Calumet...
Getting ready to head out to breakfast...
On the way to the restaurant I tried to check into the 20 meter net. Well, that worked great until I blew a fuse for the HF rig. Timing is everything! UGH!
Waiting on our table...
We will soon place our order...
Many thanks to Joseph and Cathy for opening their home to me! Delightful!
After breakfast I headed towards Missouri.
Here is an unusual rest stop in Oklahoma. According
to Sue, it is the world's largest McDonalds by square footage in the world!
In my humble opinion, it is also the farthest I have ever had to walk to a
restroom in any rest area!
Here I am at the Hughes Farm near Nevada, MO. This is
my cousin Bob!
Don't fret folks...I am OK...there just isn't much APRS coverage in this part of the country!
This is Bob's wife Sue!
Here Bob and I are playing a couple of games of Cribbage!
Here is Bob and their daughter Lara!
I had my head up my butt this afternoon....there were a number of the kids here at different times, but I didn't take any pictures. What's up with that? DUH!
Yet another day has flown by!
Early this morning Bob and I headed towards Springfield,
Missouri to wander through the Bass Pro Shop for a while.
OK! I posed for a photo...
Here is a guy in scuba gear cleaning up under water stuff
in one of the displays.
Looking down on one of the rivers that flow through the
place.
Ah! Bob held this duckie so I could get a snap shot
of it for John - KF8KK!
Here is a neat cut out of an outboard engine!
Boat and pickup truck on display outside...
We each managed to find a couple of items that we could just not live without!
Then we went to Lambert's for lunch. This is in
Ozark, Missouri, near Springfield. Lambert's is the Home Of Throwed Rolls!
Here's my chicken fried steak, potato salad and fried
apples. Bob had liver and onions and sides. On the left is fried okra.
Of course, soon thereafter the corn, fried potatoes, tomatoes and macaroni,
black eyed peas, more okra, more fried potatoes - oh yes, and of course some
throwed rolls arrived!
If you go away from here without getting all filled up, it is no one's fault
but your own! Needless to say, Bob and I both skipped dinner this evening!
A post card from Lamberts...
Neat T shirt at Lambert's
On our way back to Bob and Sue's we found Lincoln (Bob and
Sue's son) working on some terraces...
Here's Lincoln!
We crossed paths with Doug - he is Lara's husband!
Bob and Sue's farm from the south...looking northeast
Lincoln and Trin's farm from the south...looking northwest
Yep! Both of the above shots were taken at the same place on the road.
This evening Bob and I stopped by Lara and Doug's
place. Lara was away at a meeting. In back is Doug and
Trenton. In front is Landon and Catie.
Neat sunset in the distance!
Doug and the kids were outside tending a brush fire doing a
bit of clean up at their place.
Another fast day....
Bob had a few chores to attend to around the farm on
Tuesday, so, we kind of hung around doing a little of this and that. Below
you see that Bob is ready to unload the wheat out of the storage bin when the
semi truck arrives.
The motor you see here runs an auger in the bottom of the
bin and dumps it into the small cart. There another auger running off of
the Power Take Off (PTO) of the tractor moves it up the chute towards the
tractor. Then another auger runs it up towards the far end and into the
truck.
The grain is being moved...
The driver starts loading in the front of the trailer and
then moved the truck back and forth to distribute the load.
This storage bin was not full when they started. It
was only up the about the middle of the top door access shown here.
A closer look
Here the driver is checking the load...He ended up making 4
trips today...
This is Bob and Sue's place looking from the driveway...
The west side and the back of Bob and Sue's place and their
camper.
One of the buildings to store and work on machinery...
Yes, and toys too!
Another storage building...
After running a few errands we stopped by Lincoln and
Trin's. Here is Trin and Caleb.
Here's Trin and Cael..
This is Cody. He is Lincoln and Trin's oldest.
After dinner, here is Grandpa Bob, Cael and Caleb on the
couch while Elvis looks up at them.
Ah, Bob has lost his seat to Elvis!
Here's Sue and Elvis. Elvis is really Sue's dog and
he tolerates, kind of, the rest of us...
Lincoln and Trin had a meeting to attend this evening, so, Grandma Sue and Grandpa Bob got to help the boys with their homework, do dinner and then watch some TV before Mom and Dad picked them up!
We had one heck of a storm last night. The power went off about 11PM. Bob started his backup generator about 1AM. He and Sue were up and down all night long. Bob hooked back up to the main power right after I got up. I slept really well and woke up refreshed at 5AM and was on the road by 5:30. They told me about some wind damage and a possible tornado that had gone through east of them. We lucked out and only lost power.
As I drove east across country I did see evidence of wind damage in a couple of places. A tree had fallen across the road but it had been cleared away and there was a crew working on replacing a telephone pole that had been blown down. Also a number of schools were closed because they did not have any power.
Here is the St. Louis Arch!
Another look of the Arch from a little closer...
I met Bob - N0BIX a little before 11AM at the Ruby Tuesday,
a short distance east of St. Louis!
As usual, Bob beat me to the first photo!
Here's my photo of Bob! Yep, he is done taking my
shot and has his camera removed from his face!
I got my tripod out and took a photo of the two of us in
from of Ruby Tuesday. This is shortly before they open at 11AM.
Here I am putting the tripod away.
Then we spent a few minutes transferring all the photos from the trip thus
far to Bob's thumb drive. By then the restaurant was open!
Our waiter snapped a shot of us at our table!
We had a nice lunch and a great visit!
Here's Indiana!
While driving near Indianapolis I picked up this station
WBOW which quite closely resembles the call sign of our good friend Gaylen -
WB0W!
Naturally, after lunch I ran into a number of places where they combine all the lanes down to one for miles and miles for construction. The only catch is, there is never any work being done! The construction zones slowed my progress sufficiently for me to be a bit late for dinner.
Here's the Ohio State Line! I am making progress!
This is one VERY crappy picture of the "Welcome to
Ohio" Arch!
Dinner at Marion's Piazza in Englewood! On the left
is Tony and Judy is on the right.
This is Bob - WD8ROE...
Here's Keith - WA8ZWJ with Marian - WD8CJD!
Even though I have had a wonderful trip and have had delightful hospitality in so many ways it does feel good to be back home.
Here are some interesting figures...According to my GPS, my average driving speed over the entire trip was 56.6 miles per hour.
During the trip I covered 5, 567.0 miles.
Photo contributors were: KA8SFL, KF8KK, N0BIX, NN3V, W6RBM, WA5ZAI, WA8ZWJ
I believe a total of 431 photos were posted to the page. Undoubtedly, a number of them probably should have ended up on the cutting room floor! Har!
Many thanks to all who contributed to my good times! Hmm, I don't recall any bad times!
Many thanks to all who opened your homes to me!
Many thanks to all of you who "rode along with me" via APRS.
If you haven't started, it is time you began making your plans for the 2012 HamVention in May!
Best 73 & 88!
Keith, WA8ZWJ
