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| View from vista point on Maud S. Trail |
31 Aug: Wonderful to consider dinner with Kerry and family this evening. But first Ron has to convert all of his "classic" Google sites to New Google sites (vastly inferior new sites); today is the deadline. And since we are up, exercised, fed, and ready, it is time to walk the cemetery in the smoky haze from California fires. (Yes, we consider it really bad when we cannot see Our Lady - but the air quality site says "moderate," meaning not quite unhealthy.) Dinner was delightful, Kerry and Jarett were lovely, the two boys behaved amazingly well (2-year-old and 4-year-old). The boys were transfixed when Cynthia showed them photos on her iPad. This Rib & Chop House provided a quick plate of apple slices and yogurt for the boys that kept them happy and quiet. Meethinks that restaurants which do NOT do that are decidedly inferior and inconsiderate of their guests. Ron went for a second walk around the cemetery before dark and continued to Walmart for frozen mango for tomorrow.
30 Aug: Poor SmoochSmooch did not sleep well last night, and then her Smooch dragged her up the Maud S. Trail to the vista on a warm day. She is about to nod off immediately after her favorite huckleberry salad at the Montana Club. We did meet a very pleasant Continental Divide Trail hiker, trail-name Just Awesome. Once he passed us by, he vanished ahead quickly. He hiked the Pacific Crest Trail last year and reports that it is becoming popular and consequently quite busy. He had no prior backpacking experience and couldn't wait for the hike to be over - - - until it was, and then he wanted to go again. Our visibility is diminishing; California wildfire smoke is back.
29 Aug, Sunday: Cynthia wants to attend the church nearby that offers indoor services (Gloria Dei). Aaaauuuggghh. That was not a worship service; it was child care. The pastor’s small children were running, climbing onto the chancel railing, dancing in the aisle … very distracting and disrespectful. At least we enjoyed our usual cemetery walks today, and even espied one lady tending the forlorn graves of the forgotten children in the most remote part of that property.
28 Aug: And today dawned with crystal clear skies here in Butte. So after exercises, pills and breakfast, we hiked up Maud S. Trail again to the "Vista," and it was delightful. Lunch of salads at the Montana Club was followed by acquisition of frozen mango. And now Ron is set to resume shivering while finishing confirming his copies of web sites onto his computer. (We hope.)
27 Aug: The end of the month approaches rapidly. Poor Ron is still trying to confirm that all of his old web site pages are copied onto his computer (while also correcting links). Again more smoke in the morning, but a chill breeze from the north seems to have cleared the air by afternoon, bringing along with it a black mass of clouds. The typical daily walk to Walmart for frozen mango is delayed by a very full tummy and threat of imminent rain. We did walk the cemetery picking up detritus this morning. And that wind from the north brought VERY welcome clear air. During our evening walk around the cemetery, the scenery was crystal clear.
26 Aug: Another day in Butte, Montana, much like all the others recently except that there is more smoke in the air again today. We walked the cemetery twice today but only picked up debris in the morning.
25 Aug: Another early morning. Ron is sleeping better since he has resumed eating pretzels and cornbread before bed. What a surprise to be given a lovely card and flowers by the hotel staff from that school councillor we met on the trail yesterday. We called and invited her and her family to dine with us. Thanks to God for such wonderful people! We walked in the cemetery this morning and picked up debris from cheap plastic flowers. The smoky haze is returning to the skies. Tonight we swam … Cynthia did 28 laps, and Ron swam 14 laps backstroke and 12 crawl, followed by a very hot jacuzzi.
24 Aug: The skies are a beautiful, clear blue, and the temperature is a perfect 67 degrees. We successfully (and speedily) trekked up the Maud S. Trail. Even though we thought we were quick, another hiker passed us, a school councillor who was on her lunch hour !! At the Vista we shared an apple and a couple of carrots and enjoyed taking time to gaze at the viws in gratitude. Ron left the Apple core in the same hiding place as all of the apple cores last year, perhaps for the same little critter. Despite the lovely day, dis-ease over the dilemma in Afghanistan is ever present. We only thought about additional exercise walking or swimming. Six miles.
23 Aug: We are in Butte, Montana, and the end of the month is approaching posthaste. The good news is that Cynthia removed her hand brace and can begin gentle strengthening exercises. We decided to take a break from uphills and walked the cemetery twice for 6.5 miles total today.
22 Aug, Sunday: Up early, but it was too cold for us to attend outdoor church here in Butte (48°). We exercised, breakfasted and went to hike the Maud S. Trail again, all the way to the vista bench. The distant mountains are hazy, but air quality is good. We met three people of note, one was a female runner who scared Cynthia witless by saying nothing until she was right behind her. I yelled at her substantially for being too quiet and scaring Cynthia so. The other two were much more pleasant, one a local who graduated from Montana Tech and the other a Continental Divide Trail hiker girl who started May 1st and is already here. We again had huge salads for lunch at the Montana Club and picked up frozen mango on the way home.
21 Aug: Tomorrow. And we were up early, breakfasted and off to hike Maud S. by 11:12 AM. Rain is forecast for this afternoon. We made it to the first switchback, then turned back rather than risking getting wet, walked through a bit of cloudy mist, and arrived back in town dry, although it had rained in the vicinity of Walgreens. After shopping for groceries, we ate a nice little lunch at the Rib & Chop House, because the very nice manager had told us yesterday that he could make Cynthia the chop salad that she so enjoyed last year. Now we are back to work on our electronics devices, and Ron is shivering while enjoying frozen mango. Looks like the smoke is again shrouding our view, but the air quality report says the air is unusually good. Must be humidity.
20 Aug: There was a little more rain overnight here in Butte, and the mountains are as clear as we've seen them this year. Let's hope the smoke continues to track south of us. We walked the cemetery twice today, ate lunch at the Montana Rib & Chop House, and otherwise spent the day on computer projects (after Ron walked to Walmart for more frozen mango and frozen veggies). Here it is 10:20 PM again already. Goodnight.
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| View from bench atop Maud S. Trail |
19 Aug: Up early, exercised, breakfasted and out the door to hike the Maud S. Trail again. Today we hiked all the way to the vista bench overlooking the city and valley. (We think the bench has moved since last year.) No smoke in the air and a great view. We had huge salads for lunch at the Montana Club and picked up frozen mango on the way home. Ron worked at migrating his websites onto his computer all evening.
18 Aug: Today we awoke to wet roads and a rainy forecast. But additional rain held off long enough for us to hike a few miles in the cemetery and locate the Peiro graves. A couple of hours after lunch at the Rib & Chop House, we again went swimming. Cynthia swam 24 laps, Ron did 14 backstroke and 14 crawl (in two installments). Ron was reading about wildfires, smoke, Delta varient, covid in children, etc. until midnight. We did not take a second walk today, since we were somewhat worn out from that unaccustomed activity, swimming.
17 Aug: We are having great fun talking with DJ and Rose Marie over morning breakfasts, and today we saw Pam, our favorite hotel manager, briefly. When it is this smoky, we eschew overexertion by only walking on flatlands in the cemetery. The cemetery superintendent introduced himself thie morning by saying, "If I appear cranky today, it is because I am cranky today." We thoroughly enjoy all these fine people, even the cranky one. Ron again walked to his mile for frozen mango and is shivering as he writes this. Today's plan is more swimming, more walking and rain avoidance.
16 Aug: Air quality turned "unhealthy" before sunrise this morning and continues unhealthy. Our Lady is no longer visible at all. We walked an hour in the cemetery, ate lunch at the Rib & Chop House, and intend to swim after Ron returns from Walmart with more frozen mango, a staple for his afternoons. Oops, he forgot to get pretzels, so he will have to return to Walmart this evening. Cynthia realized that her tried and true diet no longer works now that she is diabetic, so after her second filet mignon, she had to give the diet up - she was too tired besides being shaky. Ron swam 12 laps backstroke, 7 laps crawl and one frog kick. Then he rode to Walmart for those pretzels and did more tweaking to his nephew's web site.
15 Aug, Sunday: We continue in Butte despite the smoky air. After breakfast, we walked two miles in the cemetery, ate lunch at the Rib and Chop House, and swam for 45 minutes, especially enjoying the jacuzzi. We opted to not walk in the more unhealthy air in the evening. Ron finally finished tweaking his nephew's web site: eaxtellcoinvarieties.com.
14 Aug: Butte, Montana, more of the same. We again spent an hour after breakfast talking with D.J. and Rose Marie, compatible folks originally from Butte and Missoula respectively. According to the Montana state air quality monitoring (click here), the air quality index is moderate = unhealthy for unusually sensitive people. We could see Our Lady of the Rockies (click here) indistinctly through the haze. Same with the Montana Tech's M on the mountain. Our morning cemetery walk was quite enjoyable since we stayed in the shade of big pine trees in the cemetery. Ron then rode to Walmart to obtain his favorite ice cream substitute, frozen mango. Soon he will be shivering. Cynthia has gone to the pool to indulge in exercise without smoke inhalation. Now it is time for Ron to copy HTML from this blog into Eric's RPM coins web site (click here). By 4 in the afternoon, the air quality had deteriorated to just plain unhealthy.
13 Aug: We enjoyed a lovely breakfast-time conversation with D.J. and Rose Marie before we walked the Holy Cross Cemetery. The superintendent smiled broadly when Cynthia told him that we had missed him. He is forecasting that snow will put an end to the smoke, so we probably will have smoky skies until we leave here. They didn't have much snow last winter, rain has been scarce this year, and the pump for the cemetery's watering system was broken for two weeks, so most things are parched. Two miles there, two miles to the Montana Club and back for dinner at 5 PM, and a final two miles in the cemetery again this evening. Apparently we have survived this close brush against Friday the 13th.
12 Aug: Our first morning in Butte, and we atttempted to hike up the Maud S. Trail - - - somewhat unsuccessfully. We only made it as far as our first attempt last year. But we are happy with that, especially since the smoke is significant today. We ate dinner early at the Montana Rib & Chop House adjacent to the hotel and were pleased that service was not nearly as miserable as last year. The salmon was excellent and baked potato huge, making us very happy. Then we walked around the cemetery for a couple of miles this evening.
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| Cynthia loves baby Blaire bowling |
11 Aug: The skies were very clear today, giving us hope that our stay in Montana will be wonderful. Winds were a bit of a nuisance, but not nearly so difficult as on previous days. Riding along the Yellowstone River on US 89 was quite scenic and interesting, the interstate much less so, and the winds were only occasionally extreme. Ron had thought to exit the interstate when travel on it became unpleasant, but continued past Three Forks all the way into Butte, arriving about one PM, in time to have lunch at the Montana Club (but too early for a baked potato). Cynthia really likes their huckleberry salad with a piece of salmon topping it. The Copper King hotel is terrific, great showers, nice towels, marvelous bed, and a salon in house. Plus the free breakfast is a feast, and we get a fabulous discount for staying an entire month. After the heat of mid-day faded, we walked around the cemetery. Ron has been delinquent with his foot care and now has blisters on left big toe and right pinkie toe. route: US 89 north from Gardiner to I-90 west into Butte, exiting at Continental Drive, still familiar from all those hiking trips last year.
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| Miss Smoochie watching water and bugs |
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| More sunset from motel room |
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| Yellowstone River at sunset from room |
10 Aug: Riverton, Wyoming through Yellowstone Nat'l Park to Gardiner, Montana is not a ride we look forward to because of the potentially long, long lines of tourists taking photos of chipmunks. There was much less smoke and much less wind today, and the ride to Moran Junction on US Highway 26 went quickly and pleasantly. We crossed the Continental Divide again today. We stopped immediately inside the park at Coulter Bay, discovered the Jackson Lodge (where we've stayed before) and enjoyed a marvelous fine lunch, seated at a window looking out at the Tetons. The views and food are certainly worth the price at the Mural Room. (click here) We thanked God for encouraging us to stop just there and then as we rode onwards, delighted with the scenery of the Tetons and Yellowstone. There wasn't even much traffic ... until we had just 40 miles left to Gardiner. Then we came upon a line of parked cars that lasted about half a mile. The cause was a herd of buffalo very close to a large pull-off parking area. Not too many people were actually parking on the road, but traffic was stop and go going past the parking area. The line in the other direction stretched for miles. Within another couple of miles, a buffalo was walking on the road while crossing it. Those guys are HUGE. We rode by about 30 feet from him. Thereafter our trip to Gardiner was without incident although there was too much slow traffic to enjoy the very twisty, downhill road out of the park. Gardiner, Montana doesn't have a lot to offer for people with restricted diets, and our hotel was basically just OK, but we booked a room overlooking the Yellowstone River. And it was marvelous to look out the window at the river rapids. (Miss Smoochie stood on the windowsill all night, mesmerized by the water in the river and the bugs outside the window.) route: US 26 west joins US 287 north to Moran Junction into the Tetons, north on US 191 to Coulter Bay, north to the Grand Loop Road alongside Yellowstone Lake and the Yellowstone River (frequented by buffalo herds), exiting the park on US 89 north into Gardiner, Montana.
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| Ron's green hood is wind abatement |
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9 Aug: From Rawlins to Sweetwater, the wind was just as horrendous as yesterday, but we were greatly surprised after turning towards Riverton that the winds abated nicely. During the two plus hour ride Cynthia counted about one hundred head of cattle, twenty horses, one antelope and maybe six ranches with trillions of sagebrush. Wyomingites would be wealthy if they could market wind and sagebrush. The mountains close to the road were quite remarkable, but smoke again obscured anything very distant. Today we crossed the Continental Divide twice. By the time we reached our hotel Cynthia was starving, and Trailhead Restaurant fed us ranch hand portions. Feeling way too full we opted to walk the .08 miles to mail Ron’s traffic citation check and instead overshot Main Street a few blocks. Now that we are back in A/C it was a good idea, but we will see how sunburned we are tomorrow. Well! The A/C was set at sixty, and now we are bundled up trying to get warm… Ron has a jacket on eating frozen mango, and Cynthia is buried under blankets eating grapes. That is hilarious 😹! route: US highway 287 north to Sweetwater, Wyoming 135 north to Riverton. (We hadn't intended to go to Riverton, but that is where Cynthia was able to book a Comfort Inn using points.)
8 Aug: Fort Collins, Colorado to Rawlins, Wyoming… whipped by wind, but still upright. The ride north on Colorado 14 was delightful although much obscured by smoke. We paused in Walden, Colorado for delicious jumbo-portioned salads at the Antlers Inn. Once we got into Wyoming, the wind became fierce. We were very happy to have a short mileage day (180 miles) in such punishing winds. The blasts from trucks was unbelievable. Wyoming grows mostly sagebrush, and the smoke obscured any more distant scenery. Ron has decided that Wyoming is an ideal place to set up a large wind farm supplying cheap power to a full services retirement community. Provide cheap power, cheap taxes, shopping, a hospital and a rec center and retirees would flock here from all over the country (since so many retirees seldom venture outside anyway). route: Colorado highway 14 west to Walden, CO 125 north into Wyoming, becomes WY 230 to WY 130 north to I-80 west into Rawlins (to the Comfort Inn there, booked with points instead of money).
7 Aug: Onward… after a final breakfast at the Happy Cooker with Pat. Ron's chosen route to Berthoud passed through Nederland and around Ward (where we did NOT see any evidence of flood damage). This was another day much obscured by smoke. We thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon with Cousins Dick, his wife Fran, and his sister Jean! Lovely people, and Fran made a delicious dinner. We spent the night in Fort Collins. route: I-70 east past Idaho Springs to Central City Parkway (a 4-lane mountain road paid for by the Central City casinos), CO 119 north to Nederland, CO 72 N to Lyons, CO 7 east to US 36 south to CO 66 E towards Longmont, US 287 N to Berthoud, then County road 2E east to County road 15 N (bypassing town).
6 Aug: In Georgetown, Colorado in the early AM, we walked around the reservoir and learned about Big Horn Sheep before mid-morning breakfast with Pat at the Happy Cooker. Cynthia remembered the delicious Eggs Benedict from years ago, but it wasn’t the same today. At two PM, we walked back to the restaurant for a late lunch. The warm tomato and basil bread tasted great WITH butter, but that’s enough dietary digression for a few years. Again the smoke casts a film over everything distant.
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| We didn't see this guy, but we did see his harem. |
5 Aug: Salida, Colorado. GREAT NEWS! At 5:00 AM, we arose! After exercises, we walked to breakfast at Patio Pancake’s, then rode northeast over Guanella Pass (click here), a twisty narrow road that climbs to 11,670 feet before dropping into Georgetown. My gosh, but the views along this road are wonderful and expansive until it drops into a narrow canyon. How fun to see two big horn mountain ewes as we descended. Today the smoke obscured much of the more distant scenery, but everything up close was clear. Pat met us at the Happy Cooker (click here) for lunch, and Ron spent remaining daylight hours talking with Pat. Our Microtel room was the smallest motel room we have ever seen!! route: US 285 N to Grant, Colorado, left on the Guanella Pass road to Georgetown.
4 Aug: The plan is to be on the bike at 7 AM. For Cynthia, this is a cliffhanger. Almost! The saddlebags were on the bike at 7:03, and the rest of our belongings slowly found their way onto the bike, including us at eight AM. Not bad from Ron's point of view. We dropped off recycling at Fort Lewis College in Durango. What marvelous views, non-stop breathtaking as we traveled north past Silverton to Ouray to Montrose where we enjoyed delicious blackened salmon at the Stone House Restaurant. OOOPS! A state police officer clocked Ron coming downhill at 74 mph in a 55 mph zone. Ouch !! That was a big disappointment because Ron’s drivers license is squeaky clean for eons. But the day was sunny all the way to Salida, Colorado and the scenery remained beautiful. route: US 160 to Durango, US 550 to Montrose, US 50 to Salida. On the Million Dollar Highway (click here) we passed over Coal Bank Pass at 10,640', Molas Pass at 10,970' and Red Mountain Pass at 11, 018'. On US 50 we passed over Cerro Summit at 8,000', Blue Mesa Summit at 8,700' (this is where Ron got his ticket), and Monarch Pass at 11,312'. Had Ron remembered that I-70 is closed from a mud/rock slide, he might have thought that the highway patrol would be more active on the alternate routes.
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| One last look at our lake view in Pagosa Springs |
3 Aug: This arising at 5 AM is wearing, but it is our best strategy to get through Colorado during monsoon season. We again walked slightly past Rhonda's house this morning and enjoyed a brief conversation with one home owner and his dog that loves to run. Ron took our packages to UPS to send them to Conroe, TX and Butte, MT. Lunch at Boss Hogg’s was exceptionally good. Our belongings are almost packed, except for Ron's litter covering the floor.
2 Aug: We walked to Rhonda's house this morning, but lightning and thunder from black clouds convinced us to turn back early this evening. We did see lotsa deer quite close, a doe followed by six young bucks. An adorable little boy named Billy runs to greet us. Lovely parents! 8.1 miles and tomorrow we pack.
1 Aug, Sunday: This is the day we didn't leave for Butte, and Ron had to check the weather at Monarch Pass to check out his decision. Looks like prudence failed us although the pass is foggy. Rain didn't start until 5 PM. Ouray might have been wetter. Ron wonders what photo Cynthia will select for this month's "focus" photo. She is searching for the right image. (Cynthia) Monarch Pass sounds interesting and dangerous with advice to travel this pass early in the day before it gets crowded. Our hikes today were under cloudy skies, and we wondered about rain, but the day stayed dry here. We were delighted on our way home in the evening to come across five bucks with huge antlers, at least six and eight points. This was close to the hotel and they crossed the street about 50 feet in front of us. 11.4 miles total. WOW. 27, 035 steps.
Monarch Pass photo taken (by someone else) in late May
