30 Aug: Here we go for another exciting day recuperating sitting in our room. Tomorrow we should be ready to take a light hike.
29 Aug: I think we will survive! Ron ate breakfast and lunch. Reggie made us sweet potato pancakes for brunch!!!
28 Aug: Ron's fever broke in the night. He is doing his stretches! But after eating he went back to bed. The sun is shining, the weather forecast for the next three weeks is fantastic hiking weather: no rain, with cool temperatures. We met Kayla R. who is hiking the Long Trail and Jarhead who is hiking the AT a second time but he doesn't know why. Ron had a good answer for him to ponder.
27 Aug: Cynthia is healing; Ron is sicker. To be updated when we are weller!
26 Aug: Ron spent the day in bed with a fever.
25 Aug: Ron hiked to Jungle Junction and removed the huge tree that had fallen across the trail. He returned fatigued. Cynthia is on orders to rest for a few days. Shingles are healing. Cough is better. The wait staff asked how she slept; they were startled and they were greatly amused when she replied, "Cocaine in the cough syrup caused me to sleep well." Ron got a huge laugh by correcting, "Codeine, not cocaine!"
24 Aug: Ron spent the morning finishing the "world's most difficult jigsaw puzzle." It did not live up to the advertising; Oke was very disappointed that I finished it in only 2 days, all 300+ pieces. Ron decided to rest his knee to see if the new, minor pains will go away. (That is his excuse for puzzling all day, and he is sticking to it.) Oke has already produced another puzzle from his yard sale collection, but Ron thinks it is time to get back to work on the Likens package. Besides we want to leave the Jackson Pollock painting puzzle out for Wannie and Chris to see.
23 Aug: Yuk! Another trip to ER in Middlebury, Vermont. The good news is that the x-ray showed the pneumonia is gone, but Cynthia still relapsed acute bronchitis. She was given a steroid breathing treatment, plus four new prescriptions and Lidocaine patches for shingles. Oh my!
22Aug: Smooch's coughing resumed! So did puzzling.
21 Aug: Eureka !! Little Smooch is returned to the Inn at Long Trail and is somewhat healthier than before Aunt Jo's birthday party. A good time was had by all. Ron rode through 30 miles of rain to arrive at the Rutland airport 10 minutes late. In that 10 minutes Cynthia had already ordered a lunch from the restaurant, so Ron was able to jigsaw puzzle for three hours while Cynthia napped and we waited for the rain to stop.
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| Aunt Jo and Cynthia |
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| Sisters Merrilee, Cynthia, Bonnie and Bob Photo-bombin |
19 Aug: Richard seems less capable and more confused than previously. Perhaps that recent seizure caused more damage than the stroke four years ago. The evening with Wall and Irja was also wonderful. We sat and chatted until late. They fed me ratatouille on top of my old leftover potatoes.
18 Aug, Sunday: Little Smooch flies off to Sacramento today to enjoy a family birthday party for her 91-year-old Aunt Jo. Ron will ride to visit Margie and Richard, Richard in Watertown, Wall and Irja, Richard a second time, Rick before Little Smooch returns on Wednesday. And all went according to plan although Ron was not pleased with the amount of traffic he encountered. It was indeed wonderful to see Margie and Richard; the best news is that Richard is experiencing less back pain now.
17 Aug: Time for the ride to Piermont, NH to an MIT Club of New Hampshire gathering. We had a great time at a lovely location overlooking the Connecticut River into Vermont.
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| Connecticut River Bend |
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| Sherrie, Rick, and Ron |
16 Aug: Lots of rain last night and an astoundingly loud crack of thunder at 1:37 AM. Ron examined the pavement this morning, half expecting to see a burned spot from the lightning strike. This morning Ron indulged in more puzzling followed by emails to friends hoping to set up visits while Cynthia is off to Sacramento.
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| The Puzzler |
15 Aug: Its a sad day in Mudville. Cynthia has lost a week of hiking due to pneumonia and now she has shingles. The pneumonia is greatly improving because the new RX is working faster. The shingles rash is still putting forth blisters, and it is very painful at night. In six months it is possible to get a vaccination against having a return bout. Cynthia had a girlie two hours getting girlicued while Ron mended socks. Yikes, time is flying fast. We are down to one more month to enjoy our friends and Reggie's awesome food at the Inn at Long Trail. About 5 PM Ron pulled himself away from the jigsaw puzzle and the SCS package to go out and move dirt and rocks. GMC 2 hrs old AT moving dirt & rocks.
14 Aug: Cynthia's departure for Sacramento is nearing rapidly. She will see the doctor on Friday to be certain she is well enough to travel. Oops, no; last night she read about shingles, decided that her rash and pains fit the description, so today we rode through 4 episodes of road construction to get to the recommended ER in Middlebury, where the doctor took one quick look and confirmed "classic shingles." He also ordered an X-ray and was surprised that her pneumonia doesn't look as bad as it sounds. The doctor was surprised that her inhaler is already almost gone, so had her show him her use of it, and corrected her procedure. The idea is to breathe everything out of the lungs, then squirt the inhaler while inhaling. That way the albuterol gets into the lungs instead of coating the mouth. We filled the two new prescriptions at CVS and ate our usual late lunch at the Inn. Cynthia is OKed to do whatever she feels like doing, so the trip to Aunt Jo's birthday party is A-OK. Ron is off to move dirt & rocks until 7 PM dinner time. GMC 2 hrs old AT moving dirt & rocks.
13 Aug: Somehow Cynthia was able to sleep through the night without much coughing. Life is getting better again. Reggie flipped sweet potato pancakes for us at lunch; that and sorbet and salads was a delightful lunch. After lunch Ron returned to the trail with his hiking hoe for a couple of hours of hoeing water bars clear. GMC 2 hrs, old AT hoeing dirt.
12 Aug: We woke up at the usual time although neither of us slept particularly well, Cynthia due to coughing until 1 AM, me for that reason and too many trips to the bathroom throughout the night. Regardless, we both awoke with optimism, but Cynthia's coughing continues to plague her, and Ron's knee is still not quite right. So we spent the day in our room at the Inn working first on her Harry King paper until tedium set in, and then Ron worked on the Likens package again. This inactive lifestyle does NOT suit our psychologies and tomorrow is supposed to be a rainy day. Regardless, Thank God; it is a wonderful miracle to be alive and functioning.
11 Aug: The sun is shining on the lovely rock garden visible from the dining room at the lodge. The bagpipes playing on the stereo are not the most pleasant, but it goes with the territory. The inn was full this weekend; people drive from all over to hear live Irish music and enjoy the food at the Inn. Our sleep was good. We are rested and Cynthia is coughing somewhat less. Imagine... it is already 11 years ago in August Ron & Cynthia embarked on a 30-day research trip! And we had so much fun that the trip never stopped. Thank God! And we do thank God daily for the miracle of creation, for our relationship, our families and our friends. In all things give thanks! At 11 AM Ron went out with trowel and plastic bag to move dirt. At breakfast and lunch we have cut back a smidgeon to attempt to cut our weight back an equal amount. Ron spent the afternoon working on the Likens SCS package. GMC 4 hrs on old AT, moving debris from water drainages to roots, rocks, and water bars.
10 Aug: Cynthia's coughing worsened last night so after breakfast Ron asked if she wanted to go to ER. Cynthia almost said no, but weakly agree to go. And then it rained briefly. Rutland ER before noon was amazingly fast; we were checked in, nursed, and doctored in no time. The doctor asked a few questions, froze her chest with a cold stethoscope, and diagnosed bronchial pneumonia. My beloved is now medicated with doxycycline (an antibiotic) and an inhaler. Then the trauma cases arrived and we waited 45 minutes to see our nurse again for instructions and prescriptions for 21 days of antibiotics. No hiking this week for the girl, doctors orders - and gentle hiking thereafter until the condition is quiescent. Ron went out for a late slip and slide on the wet trail, and we were again stuffed full after dinner. The pickle bucket for dirt & rocks seems to be too heavy and is likely the cause of Ron's knee pains. GMC 1 1/2 hrs on old AT, moving debris from water drainages to roots and rocks.
9 Aug: We awakened feeling much better this morning. Cynthia is coughing much less, and Ron's knee seems "fine." Soooo,a-hiking we will go, albeit cautiously to see how we do with actual movement. Woo Hoo! We survived 5.24 miles round trip. Ron carried the hoe and cleaned out water bars. Cynthia wore her new Hoka hiking shoes and declared them a success. However, after dinner Cynthia's cough worsened and she felt miserable. Thanks to cooler temperatures, we slept reasonably well, although Ron has gained a couple of pounds, so decided not to eat fat-free salt-free pretzels, and consequently awakened frequently throughout the night. GMC 5 hrs on old AT, hoeing debris from water drainages.
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| Eric and Emily's Wedding November 2018 |
7 Aug: We tried to hike today, but the humidity sapped us both, and Cynthia's cold w/ shortness of breath motivated us to call it quits early. We were back at the Inn before 11:30 (as opposed to days when we don't get started before 11:30.) The future track radar shows pop up thunderstorms in the area at 1 PM and steady rain beginning at 4 PM. Ron is convinced that he would hike & maintain trail if the humidity were less oppressive, but instead, he is thankful for the opportunity to work on SCS packages. Cynthia fell asleep for an hour before lunch, and after lunch Ron revived and spent 3 hours moving dirt from water drainages to water bars, getting wet only from sweat - no rain. We were joined for dinner at 7 PM by Scout and Sailor, who had finished their hike by following the white blazes to Cooper Shelter and the blue-blazed, steep, rocky trail to Killington summit for pleasing views. Fun conversation; Ron is always pleased when everyone laughs at his jokes. GMC 4 hr moving debris to bolster water bars.
6 Aug: at the Inn at Long Trail (click here). Today is that "another day" promised yesterday. And we hiked another hike (imagine that) whereupon we met a couple of hiker girlies at Thundering Falls, Scout is from Houston and Sailor from Philadelphia. They decided to do a section hike, their first-ever camping trip longer than four nights and started in Gorham, New Hampshire to do the Whites, the toughest part of the AT. They took along a friend on her first-ever camping trip. On top of Mt. Monroe, the friend said she was done and that this was nothing like she imagined. However the wilderness is quite unforgiving and the next airlift off the mountain top was too expensive to consider, so she continued to the end of her program and left, as planned, in New Hampshire. Scout and Sailor had a blast and intend to do Maine as their next section. As Cynthia and Ron were hiking back to our parking lot, a group of six people passed us, one of whom was Charlie from years past. He told Ron that he (Charlie) was now official maintainer of that section of trail and asked Ron's opinion of the trail. Ron replied that when they first hiked the trail this year, he was disappointed ... because there was no maintenance for him to do. Then he showed Charlie the spot where he had scooped debris from a water drainage and the rocks and roots in the trail where he had transferred the debris. It is now after our 4 PM lunch and Ron succumbed to another siesta. We had dinner with Scout and Sailor at the Inn and hope to see them again tomorrow after they wrap up their section by slackpacking to the top of Killington and return to the Inn via gondola and bus. GMC 5 hrs on AT, moving debris from water drainages to roots and rocks.
5 Aug: Here we are on a beautiful Monday morning with the sun shining brightly despite mass murders over the weekend: the same circle of blame continues to swirl: the Democrats are blaming Trump for mass shootings in El Paso and the Republicans are blaming mass shootings in Dayton, OH on the Democrats, while Baltimore records its 200th shooting of the year and Chicago's record is equally high. When will we wake up to the discovery that Hollywood violence in movies and video games affects our children? We have a law: Thou shalt not kill/murder; let's take our children to church to teach them to love God and to love our neighbors. Let's take the Gospel into the neighborhood and be the presence of Christ. Lord have mercy! In the meantime-and in-between-time, we are going hiking. Ron's position is simple. Do you remember that the press declared God is dead back in the 70s? Now we are reaping the harvest of a God-less society. I hope you are enjoying your freedom from the oppression of religion. However, this blog is usually a-political, so we now return to our usual programming. We both slept well but woke up ill rested. Mondays we allow the cleaning crew into our room, so Ron had to organize his messes before breakfast. Breakfast was terrific as usual. Our hike today was a struggle for us both. Cynthia's cold is doing well but its presence took a toll on her energy. Ron continued to be worn out; his muscles complained about many of our usual steps and hills. His hiking hoe required more effort than usual and catching back up to Cynthia was harder than usual. Oh well, tomorrow is another day !! GMC 5 hrs, old AT cleaned out debris & scratched new water bars.
4 Aug, Sunday: How fun! Lunch with TreeTrunk and Joe was a delight. TreeTrunk is a friend of a friend of friends of ours. Ron visited TreeTrunk at the Yellow Deli last night and invited him to do lunch with us at the Inn at Long Trail. We had an intellectually and theologically stimulating conversation that invited Joe to reveal his life as a pastor. Serendipity. TreeTrunk is known among other hikers on the trail for his watercolors, and he posts them onto his TrailJournals web site every few days (click here.) After his day's activities, Ron was beaten. Immediately after breakfast, he ascended towards Deer Leap with his hiking hoe in hand until he found clogged water bars to hoe, hoe, hoe. Within an hour TreeTrunk and Joe showed and exclaimed that in my straw hat with a hoe in hand, I looked to be a ringer for a Twelve Tribes member (ala Yellow Deli click here.) After a hamburger and a couple of beers TreeTrunk and Joe opted to return to the trail, so I accompanied them uphill and downhill in order to show them the memorial cross with a view someone placed slightly off trail and to guide them over the "old trail" that is a quarter mile shorter and absent the five mud pits that the new trail has created. Cynthia felt pretty miserable, so Ron hiked up the Sherbourne Pass Trail moving with bucket and trowel moving the dirt to improve conditions. GMC 4 hrs, old AT, moved dirt (& one heavy bucket of rocks) from drainages to better locations.
3 Aug: YAY! Cynthia's grandnephew, eleven-year-old Tyler B., pitched the winning game for the USSSA Far West Coast team against the USSSA Atlantic team to take home the national trophy (Little League baseball) last night in Melbourne, Florida. Congratulations Tyler!!! Cynthia is doing a zero (no hiking day) after catching a cold besides the sore feet and painful bursa. The feet are improving, so once the cold goes away she is back on the trail. Nurse Ron stayed home to care for her; isn't he special! Murray's sister celebrated her fortieth birthday at the Inn with a huge group of friends dressed in costume. Apparently, they will hike in costume to astound other hikers. Ron continues to accomplish many minor projects previously delayed by his jigsaw obsession. Ron also zeroed today. He rode into Rutland to buy Robitussin for Cynthia, mail a couple of letters, and look for hiker "TreeTrunk" at the Yellow Deli. He was successful on all counts and scheduled a couple of beers with TreeTrunk at noon tomorrow. What a fun night we had dined with Lightning and Anchor! She is Irish from Omagh and Belfast, two of the Irish towns we have seen. He is a triple-degreed motorcycle mechanic who retired after taking the advice of a computer geek friend to buy Bitcoin. Good grief, Charlie Brown, it is 10:54 already. Where does the time go?? Goodnight.
2 Aug: Cynthia's feet improved after icing and Ibuprofen, so we opted to hike across the street and did a comfortable six miles. It appears that the pain might be related to hiking too fast and hard, so slow and easy wins the race. Ron is nearing completion on the jigsaw puzzle but feeling a bit guilty that he is not working on more urgent projects like the index, packages, James Lea, and Harry King. Reggie is such a good cook, and the Inn caters to our dietary needs. We love this place almost as much as the Pritikin, and Vermont has better mountains than Florida. Ron's new passport arrived, so he again has a valid ID. GMC 5 hrs on old AT, hoed dirt out of water bar spillways to bolster water bars.
1 August: at the Inn at Long Trail (click here). Birthday month is officially over for this year. We will find some other reason to celebrate this month, although, today poor little SmoochSmooch has very hurty feets. She is icing them and taking ibuprofen. Today's hike was the usual "easy" hike around Kent Pond to the Thundering Falls. As we began our hike from Gifford Woods State Park, we enjoyed talking with Jack, a 68-year-old thru-hiker from Alabama, especially interesting since he shares our skepticism about the "news" being fed to the American public. (Cynthia's brother-jn-law has published an article explaining that global warming can be accounted for by the normal variations in the earth's orbit. My comment is that his article is destined for obscurity because it cannot be used to bash Trump or to sell politically correct products. Call me cynical if you wish, but I think that the American public is being duped by the owners of the media.) Soon after we wished Jack well and parted ways, he slipped on a slick root, fell and bashed his shin on a rock. His injury was exceptionally painful and swelled immediately. Cynthia was a bit slow hiking, but after she took her shoes off at "home," her feet hurt so badly that she could cry. Ron is forming the opinion that the radical change in weather from hot & humid to cool may be contributing to her arthritic pains. Cynthia started this post thusly, "Not really are we August hikers; instead we are tired." And ended by stating that tomorrow she is going to rest (although she just told Ron that she intends to hike albeit slowly.) GMC - 3 hrs on AT, moved stones and dirt.
