Mee gorgeous WeeFee:
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| Da groom with his gorgeous WeeFee |
31 May: Our last day to hike in Sedona, and we enjoyed a very hot hike on the Courthouse Butte Loop, 8.1 miles usually. We rested several times due to heat stress and thoroughly enjoyed our last sightseeing on this trail this year. Upon return, Ron busied himself eating frozen mango and transcribing longer than he should have. Now, at 5:30 three bags are packed and the dishes need to be washed. Lookin' good for an early departure tomorrow morning.
30 May, Sunday. Another 6AM rise and shine for the Lord day. And We Did It, awake, exercised, fed and dressed by 7:50. ThankGod for Cynthia. (She will like that.) Oops, Miley's was closed today. Their kitchen staff must have OD'ed with a busy day yesterday. We made do with more oatmeal and frozen mango. By the time we considered a hike, the temperature had already risen to 88 degrees - too hot for us in this arid environment. Ron is transcribing notes from scraps of paper into his Catchall file. Then Susan came by for a book signing, brought wine, and kept us entertained until 9 o'clock pill & bed time.
29 May: Cynthia decided to rest her blister yet another day, so Ron is freed to ride into Sedona early with the package to ship back to Texas. That is early if he can get the box cut down to size and the recycling ready. Traffic was the worst so far, backed up stop and go for four miles into Sedona. UPS accepted the box, Sedona Recycles accepted the recycling, Basha's accepted plastic bags and provided Ron's favorite pretzels. At 5:08 we began a walk to explore the tolerance limits of Cynthia's blister. It did fine to the second trail junction and most of the way back although that blister did start complaining a mile from home. The oversized bandage didn't even come off in the shower. (In Arizona, there is no worry about moisture remaining on the bandage and dampening the wound.)
28 May: Today we rode into Sedona, expecting horrendous traffic, but were delighted to find it not bad at all. Apparently word on the street recommends Phoenix visitors to come through Cottonwood, so that is the heavy traffic today. We met Dale and Linda at Sundowners for lunch. (Dale paid, thanks Dale. Dale played basketball in high school and probably played against the owner at least once.) As sunset approached, Ron ventured outside for a walk to Clark's for carrots, grapes and frozen mango. En route he was greatly surprised to espy a javelina walking uphill on the shoulder of the street.
27 May: Awake, exercised, fed, and Cynthia is taking a day off to rest her blistered foot, leaving Ron to hike without adult supervision, but first he will walk to Clark's to get cornbread mix, frozen mango, and salmon. This morning Ron's weight was 172 and blood pressure 101/62 with a pulse of 63; good numbers all, and he can continue eating pretzels in the evening. No hike today; it was just too hot.
26 May: Another gorgeous day in Sedona. Cloudy means cool, and the red rocks are somewhat more reddish when clouds cover the sun. We tried a new extension to our Slim Shady Trail hike today and took to Coconino Trail to the Hermit Trail to the Templeton Trail to the underpass under the southbound lanes of highway 179. Cynthia's feet tolerated todays hike quite well, and we are well pleased. Oops, on closer inspection, she developed a nasty blister that is painful.
25 May: After our traditional morning routine, Cynthia enjoyed a structured manicure, whilst Ron plugged away on the Lea manuscript until he decided to venture forth on the trails without adult supervision. 8.1 miles yesterday necessitated a day off for Cynthia.
24 May: Countdown = 7 days until departure for Durango. Today we plan on dinner with the Dale and Linda at Judi's at 5:30 PM. Oofta, we hiked the usual Courthouse Butte Loop today, but it was hotter than forecast and that hike kicked our buttes today, 8.1 miles. We met Susie again, and while chatting with her, a bicyclist pulled to a stop. Susie introduced him as her husband Dwight. At the junction of the Courthouse Butte Loop, we met Nathan and his lovely bride of 51 years from Minnesnowda. They had been looking for the Bell Rock Loop and accidentally hiked the Courthouse Butte Loop instead !! Our conversation led to religion and ended with a prayer on the mountaintop, a mountaintop experience! Not only did we make it to Judi's Restaurant early, but Ron also dropped off recycling and plastic bags before dinner. Dinner at Judi's is terrific. Cynthia shared her salmon with me, as usual, and Dale and Linda provided delightful conversation, also as usual.
23 May, Sunday: 6 AM arising for 8:30 church followed by breakfast #2 at Miley's. Then we spent the entire day waiting for Robert to come by with the new Arizona motorcycle registration. He was hung up by a computer problem which turned out to be an ISP outage. We are now betting that he is delayed further by clueless drivers stopping at every rotary. When Robert finally arrived after 5 PM, we enjoyed lovely, lively conversation until nearly 8 PM. So much for a walk today. 0 miles.
22 May: Another gorgeous day in Sedona wherein we awaked early, exercised briefly, ate oatmeals, and are busy on our electronic devices (just like the pre-teens). And then we got SERIOUS and hiked the 8.1 miles of the Courthouse Butte Loop without foot or ankle pain. Oh JOY, oh joy, Mee WeeFee is "fully" mobile again. Early to bed to be able to arise early for "traditional" church. (How can one call a church full of masked strangers traditional?)
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| Ronald S. Beatty at age 18 |
21 May: Where did the day go? Where did Cynthia's post go: 21st nanosecond of 21st microsecond of 21st second of 21st minute of 21st hour of 21st day of 21st week of 21st month of 21st year of 21st decade of 21st century of 21st age of 21st epoch of 21st eon of 21st millenium of 21st orbit around the galaxy center. We did get out for a noontime walk to Miley's, then Clark's and returned with bananas and grapes. Other than that Ron continues working on James Lea book, transcribing the Lorenzo Lea Genealogy for 3 days now, and that is finally completed. He spent a mandatory 30 minutes cleaning the kitchen again tonight. It is beginning to look habitable. Cynthia found Wesclin yearbooks on Ancestry and sent photos of young Ron to a couple of friends and my sistah dear (whose response was OH, GOOD GRIEF ! ). Innocent!
20 May: Countdown 11 days until departure from Sedona towards Durango. We awakened early, exercised, ate and are already considering hiking at 9:49 AM. We did enjoy a quick hike on the Slim Shady Trail to the second junction and return. Cynthia's foot, ankle and knee are getting a little better every day. Wish us continuing luck.
19 May: In Sedona for another 12 days. Cynthia's knee is now aggravated, so Ron is encouraged to walk by himself from 3:55 to 5:20 PM, as long as he arrives home before our dinner engagement. Because of the late departure, he was only able to hike to the second Made in the Shade Trail junction. Dinner with Pastor Braaten and Jennifer was delightful even though Maria's was unable to feed Ron anything besides a beer. After all, it does specialize in Mexican cuisine.
18 May: Earlier to bed last night, but we aren't going to get started hiking before the day begins to heat up. We did indeed hike again, about 5 miles on the Slim Shady Trail to the second Made in the Shade Trail junction and return. The prickly pear cactus are blooming everywhere now; we even saw a few pink blossoms. The ocotillo (click here) are huge with bright orange feathery flowers.
17 May: Happy Settende Mai, Constitution Day in Norway, the anniversary of freedom from 400 years of Danish and Swedish rule. We slept in late and feel great this morning, but Cynthia's foot is complaining (just complaining, not swollen). Ron is instructed to go to a jigsaw puzzle, and we can hike late in the day after he returns from Dale & Linda's and from Walmart in Cottonwood. The 1,000-piece Springbok puzzle is delightfully colorful (photo of Red Rock Crossing with Cathedral Rock reflecting in the waters of Oak Creek). Linda is a good puzzler, so we got it 80% finished before 5:30 PM. Ron rode into the setting sun towards an interesting, sun-lit rain-filled horizon, but arrived dry despite the threat. Groceries got, he skedaddled home before dark and got involved in genealogy again. (Imagine that !! )
16 May, Sunday: 6 AM rise and shine to get exercised, oatmealed and ready to leave for church at 8:00 (8:30 service). Afterwards we rode into Sedona to sign a printed copy of a document and ate at Cafe Jose since Staples doesn't open until 10 AM. We got groceries at Safeway, so we probably have nearly enough to last until we must begin packing for our trip to Durango and Cynthia's orthopedic appointment. Oofta, somehow the hours after 9 PM vanished quickly, and Ron did not get to bed until after midnight.
15 May: Another day we slept in in Sedona, finishing oatmeal at 10:30 today. Cynthia declares her foot well enough to hike today. We'll let you know how that goes. It went well - we hiked the Slim Shady Trail to the 2nd junction with the Made in the Shade Trail - about 5 miles including the 2 miles on asphalt through the subdivision. She was pleased with that accomplishment and is now elevating her foot per doctors orders.
14 May: We slept in this morning; Ron has just finished oatmeal at noon! Duty calls today; it is time to attend to financial details. That done, Ron worked on James Lea until time to consider getting ready for dinner - which is when Cynthia told him that dinner plans have been postponed to Sunday night. No hikes today. Ron couldn't pull himself away from the pursuit of source of a couple of quoted passages in James Lea - but he had no success finding the original source. Too peculiar that Google censored this blog for several hours today and deleted this post as being in violation of their community guidelines. I could see no remote possibility of a violation, so their algorithms are outta whack.
13 May: Life is back to awesome normality. Ron is hiking without adult supervision, Cynthia is reading with her leg elevated, and great-grandson Hudson in Minnesota is getting photographed for a passport!
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| Hudson posing for passport photo |
Ron is disappointed to report that he chickened out on the first significant obstacle to hiking up Bell Rock, a rounded rock shelf that required three quick steps up the slant after launching from a platform of four stacked rocks. However, he did sit in the shade and enjoy the panoramic views for ten minutes until three other people (with two tiny dogs) had successfully ascended that slope. This evening we joined Dale and Linda to help celebrate Dale's birthday (two days before Ron's). The big surprise is that Linda has begun another jigsaw, a 1000-piece Springbok of Sedona's Cathedral Rock reflecting in Oak Creek.
12 May: Happy Annibursary !! We celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary, hopefully with a foot that feels and looks much better. I love you (and thereby get first points for our big anniversary). And she responds, “Happy Anniversary to my beloved. You have been awarded the points! Hear ye! Hear ye! It is Ron’s
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| Lookie the rose petals at Rustica |
birthday! Happy Birthday to the love of my life, who is now officially proclaimed "Lord Ronald Stephen Beatty, the Scottish landowner." Ron is luxuriating on his annibursary after another night with six hours of uninterrupted sleep thanks to evening cornbread and pretzels. Serendipitously at his 3:15 AM wake up, his sistah Carol telephoned. The first thought was that it was a wrong number, but when he saw that his sister made the call, the next thought was that some catastrophe had occurred. Imagine his surprise when he returned the call to hear his sister gleefully singing "Happy Birthday to You." MeeThinks that he will allow his body a bit of rest after two days of hiking without adult supervision. After all, Tomorrow is yet another day. And Ron's idea of rest is a quick hour and a half walk of perhaps five miles partway up the Rector Trail towards Bell Rock. Then we went to dinner at Cucina Rustica to celebrate 10 lovely years together, and now it is time for bed.
11 May: Ron ate pretzels and cornbread last night and slept for 6 hours uninterrupted. It is indeed a good morning. Cynthia is still concerned about her less swollen foot, particularly the black discoloration near her toes. She did cancel her nail appointment in order to keep her foot elevated, so the prospects are good for Ron to go on another hike without adult supervision. There are two particularly appealing candidates, the HiLine Trail to Gracie's Point and back, or the climb up Bell Rock and return, hopefully without free-fall conditions. While Ron went hiking, Cynthia taxied to ER for an ultrasound and X-rays; the diagnosis is a hematoma! All will be weller than well, sooner than soon. Ron arrived home from his hike to Grace's Point by 5:40 PM, shortly before Cynthia returned from her exciting trip to ER. That was still a tiring hike, but much less distance than the entire 8-mile loop he soldiered through a week ago.
10 May: After a hearty breakfast at Mileys, we waved goodbye to Julie and Lamar at noon for their return to Phoenix to board an American Airlines flight to Houston. Ron fell asleep on the veranda; Cynthia finished the kettle corn that Julie had left behind and is icing her foot. Ron awakened about 4 PM and decided to hike the Rabbit Ears Trail. He was not overly energetic but persevered and arrived at the Little Rock signpost with the notion that he could hike that (presumably short) trail first. After quite a long walk he realized that this was NOT a short trail and that it would lead either to Rabbit Ears or to a trailhead somewhere. After 2.3 miles it connected to the Rabbit Ears Trail (click here) with another 1.8 miles back to the Big Park Loop, so Ron added 4 miles to the usual 6 miles from door to Big Park Loop and back. No wonder he was tired when he returned as the night was becoming dark. Time for bed.
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| Lamar & Julie at Cucina Rustica |
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| The restaurant view is remarkable |
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| See ?? Asylum |
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| Cynthia is delighted that they are at the Asylum |
9 May, Sunday: Another beautiful morning in Sedona. We are awakened, exercised, and awaiting Julie and Lamar to take us to Miley's for breakfast. Cynthia's ankle is more discolored and swollen so she decided that today is a great day to show Julie and Lamar the artist-occupied, reclaimed mining town of Jerome, including the Asylum Restaurant at the Grand Hotel (click here). The switchbacks are memorable and the views outstanding. It was a big hit with everyone, and we enjoyed a drink and salad sandwich on the patio of the hotel with those amazing views extending off probably 100 miles. Now we are back "home" freshening up for another fabulous (we hope - it was) meal at Cucina Rustica.8 May: Javelina tonight in Sedona? Nope, they and the deer seem to have been fenced out of this neighborhood now. After morning exercises, pills, and oatmeal for Ron, we went to Miley's again with Julie and Lamar. Then we lucked into one of the last available parking places at the Bell Rock Trailhead and hiked the Slim Shady Trail to HiLine and up that until first Cynthia and then Julie lost composure to exposure. As usual, Ron hadn't seen any significant exposure, but then exposure, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. Afterward, we returned "home," freshened and drove to Judy's (click here) for a lovely dinner at 6:30. The only drawback to eating that late was that it was too dark to enjoy the scenery on the way home. We were all tired and soon to bed after today's exertions.
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| Lamar & Julie near the trilobite site |
7 May: Did the javelina (click here) appear overnight to welcome our guests? Apparently not, I don't smell skunk. We upped, exercised, Ron ate, and we awaited our house guests to take us to Miley's. After another great breakfast there, we drove to the Bell Rock Trailhead. (Yes, actually rode in a car and parked.) We all hiked the Courthouse Butte Loop so Julie and Lamar got to see the spiral in the rock where a trilobite had once set. They weathered the hike in good shape so we immediately drove into the Old Sedona Bar & Grill for dinner, and it was excellent as always. Afterward, we took a tour of some of Sedona's highlights starting with the Buddhist Stupa, then a drive-by old town Sedona and north on 89A to the bridge over the gorge. We even walked down the pathway below the bridge for photographs. Cynthia and Ron had forgotten how memorably scenic the gorge is. We arrived back at the house before sunset to enjoy sitting on the deck with glasses of wine and champagne after showers as the light faded into darkness.
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| Our back porch has a great view |
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| Cynthia was amused to see the reflection |
6 May: We got up early and finished tidying up before Julie and Lamar arrived about 10:30 at Miley's Cafe (click here). We enjoyed breakfast and then grocery shopped at Clark's before heading out to the Bell Rock Trailhead (click here) about 12:30 and were greatly surprised that plenty of parking was still available. (I don't think that Ron and Cynthia have ever before driven to that trailhead, preferring to walk the mile instead.) Julie and Lamar were amazed at the view of the rock from our back porch and loved their guided tour of the Big Park Loop, although Julie's feet were less enthusiastic about the day's activities. Cucina Rustica (click here) lived up to its reputation by delivering an excellent meal to each of us. Julie joined the hosts of listeners put to sleep during Ron's endlessly long stories, and we all retired early. After all, "Tomorrow is another day."
5 May: The Tasmanian cleaning dervish threatens to appear. And we awakened to another beautiful, sunny day in Sedona, exercised, ate, and Cynthia decided that she "needs to rest my foot today," so Ron decided that he could continue safeguarding things from that Tasmanian and then hike perhaps the entire Hiline Trail (click here) to Cathedral Rock. Let's all wish him luck. Ron phoned home on the other side of Cathedral Rock, exhausted after climbing steeply downhill on rocks covered with loose, slippery dirt. The steep slippery surfaces reduced him to sitting several times while using all four limbs to prevent falling. (Several people writing reviews called this a chute.) Cynthia suggested a Uber if we can find one with wings. He was very tired and stayed that way for the six miles home, a total estimated distance of about 12 miles. Now he is showered, his clothes are washed, and it is time for bed. G'night.
4 May: Sedona, many rose bushes are in full splendor. Again up early, exercised, fed and hiking by 10:28, later than desired because Ron was distracted by a genealogy DNA correspondent. Cynthia's feet were sore, so we hiked our short hike and will ride into Sedona for supplies and lunch at Cafe Jose. That done, the larder is full and we are back to work on our electronics devices.
3 May: And morning arose here in Sedona, and so did we, early enough to finish exercises, oatmeal and pills prior to the pill alarm sounding (at 9:00 AM). Now it is time to discuss our morning walk. Soon. And we walked our little legs off to the Hiline Trail and UP that to the first really great view. Cynthia declared it well worthwhile, and we met two young Iowa lovelies Steph and Braedie. Our excursion brought us back to pavement at 1:40 - too late to make it to Miley's. Today's ascent was a challenging seven miles.
2 May, Sunday: Lovely worship service... But Miley's was closed so we ate at home and hiked Courthouse Butte Trail, 8.2 miles, plus we had a crazy tumble when Cynthia stumbled on a rock and Ron did a flip over her. Bruised egos and thanks for no broken bones. We are tired. Ron wrote the story thusly: Today Cynthia threw me over her head. It was a big surprise for us both. We were holding hands and hiking down the Bell Rock Pathway this afternoon when Cynthia stumbled and fell forward. Silly me, I continued to hold her hand and tried to hold her up until she was within a foot of the ground and my balance was gone. I momentarily "enjoyed" the quick roll over rocks, righted myself and hurried back to mee WeeFee. Cynthia was frightened and holding her head and afraid to move. But she soon calmed and discovered nothing broken, nothing damaged and everything still in working condition. She wins the award for most blood (from an elbow) and I get the award for most dirt on clothing washed just yesterday evening. Which is to say that we still thank God honestly and often, and He grants us God knows what.
Wouldn't it be nice if all of our accidents worked out so well?
1 May: Look at Cynthia's May Basket (a "tradition" of which Ron was absolutely unaware). Up early, exercised, oatmealed, and pilled, we should get getting ready to hike before hot. And we did hike the Slim Shady trail to the 2nd junction with the Made in the Shade trail and then back to Miley's long before closing. After Miley's we stopped at Clark's for carrots, bananas and a Moose on the way "home." Now we are up to our ears in genealogy again, thanks to an informative introduction to Ancestry DNA from Roy's cousin Skip.
30 Apr: In Sedona, April brought flowers instead of showers. We hope May brings even more flowers.
1 May:
Look at that May Basket!
