23 Jul: Sistah Carol and little Carole Anne have birthdays.!! And we sang the birthday song to Carol's answering machine and again when she returned our call half an hour later. Ron has become focussed on Volume 2 index with occasional sudokus for respite. He walked to Walmart and barely beat the rain home and walked again after dark around the neighborhood.
22 Jul: MEDICAL: Cynthia had a Dr appt. at Urgent Care before a fabulous gully washer with impressive lightning. We sat under a roof overhang waiting for the rain to let up, and when it did, Cynthia used a plastic bag on her head to boogie back to the hotel. Unfortunately, the rain increased; she was offered a ride several times but like a good Girl Scout she continued on…! Her shoes were soaked. Ron followed about an hour later when the rain let up significantly. The rain continued until 6:30 PM. Rain is very welcome as it was sorely needed.
21 Jul: Monday promises to be busy for Cynthia, what with reading the completed Volume One! Hurrah! We will exercise, do the stretches, pick up a package at the post office (nope), retrieve a prescription (nope), and we heard from a doctor confirming Cynthia's piriformis appointment next Monday at 10:30 AM. Fortunately the discomfort has improved significantly the last two days with rest, ice and stretching.
20 Jul, Sunday: Good Sunday Morning! Here is a link to Cynthia’s newly published book: https://www.authorhouse.com/en/bookstore/bookdetails/868439-sunday-offerings And Ron is happy to announce that he cannot think of anything else to do to improve Volume 1 of James Lea, James Lea, James Lea of Cawell County, North Carolina in 1790. He will work on improving the index for Volume 2 and creating Volume 3 in the next few days while Cynthia is struggling to keep her enthusiasm in check to allow her piriformis to relax. (Ron is always very funny.) Ron walked to the lake tonight. We should sleep good!
19 Jul: Another good night of sleep. How many younger people have ever mentioned a good night's sleep as a high point? Adult conversation. We awakened late and were slow to get moving today. Cynthia has decided that her piriformis syndrome was brought on by abuse/overuse striving for seven mile days, seven days a week, followed by too much sitting after eyelid surgery while walking was prohibited, and way too much walking too soon after the month-long prohibition was lifted. Now we need to learn how to get that little muscle to relax instead of strangling the sciatic nerve. After spending the morning doing multiple stretch exercises, we walked to Boss Hogg’s for a salad bar lunch. At 6:09 PM, Cynthia walked the halls and believes healing is forthcoming, thank God.
18 Jul: After another good night of sleep, we awakened early, exercised, ate our usual oatmeal (with black walnuts today), and started thinking about walking. Ron turned on the TV as auxiliary computer screen and started more edits on Volume 1. Mid-afternoon he walked comfortably to the boat ramp and back at 80 degrees, enjoying the sights of rich blue skies and stacks of fluffy white clouds. Thank God and Dr. Beim for this improved vision. We did a second small walk at 7:15, but Cynthia's piriformis syndrome told her to stop early. Editing Volume 1 continued into the evening.
17 Jul: What a fabulous night of solid sleep! Cynthia is reading and responding to volumes of birthday messages while Ron is doing Sudokus. We walked around the subdivision and saw perhaps the same two bucks that Ron saw yesterday. Liza, the waitress at Boss Hogg's, was delighted to see us today when we went to get our accustomed salads. She remembered our names, and Ron eventually remembered hers. She showed pictures of her son who just graduated high school and received his Eagle Scout award in scouting. Ron then walked to Walmart for rolled oats, blueberries and raspberries; round trip is just under three miles. The index in Volume II is missing quite a few names, so Ron is going to add those missing names to the concordance and rerun the index. Cynthia will be biting her nails at the delay. Instead, editing Volume 1 took over Ron's evening, and he removed many of the RSB notes and fixed P## page number references. It is sobering to realize how many of these references there are.
16 Jul: We awakened in the wee hours and got ready to ride quickly! Temperatures were quite cool as we rode in the early morning through Española to our breakfast stop at the Abiquiu Inn (click here). Breakfast was lovely in a spacious, open-air, pastoral setting, surrounded by a marvelous sculpture garden. For dessert, Ron ordered vanilla ice cream with caramel topping to celebrate Cynthia’s big birthday (she turned 18 again). Ron was somewhat overawed to see so much detail in the rugged scenery as we rode on old US 84 the entire way past Ghost Ranch and Echo Canyon to Pagosa Springs. We checked in to the West End Lodge (click here) at noon and promptly fell asleep for the afternoon. Then we walked to Boss Hoggs for the salad bar, and Ron saw two bucks browsing behind the food pantry (click here) before he rode to Walmart for groceries. Birthday messages fill Cynthia's text and phone. Replies will have to wait for tomorrow. We remembered Ron's pacemaker reading last thing before going to sleep and had problems but got it done.
15 Jul: Motorcycle service is to be done by noon, but to avoid riding in the afternoon heat, we will stay one more night in Santa Fe. No plans yet for Tuesday afternoon. Lovely Nina gave Ron a ride from the Comfort Inn to the motorcycle shop at 4 pm to retrieve his steed but declined the invitation to dinner. We met Mark and Vangie for a lovely dinner at El Rancho after we discovered that Harry's Roadhouse is closed Tuesdays.
14 Jul: Cynthia's hearing test at 11:30 showed a ten percent decline in hearing, age related. Not good news. Ron dropped off the BMW at OCD Motorcycles for its 30,000 mile service. We spent the afternoon at the Georgia O'Keefe Museum after taking the bus to downtown. We rode with John & Linda to Harry's Roadhouse for dinner, and they were considerate enough to drop us off at our hotel afterwards.
13 Jul, Sunday: We had a wonderful day by spending a couple of hours with Tony in the afternoon. For old times sake, we took four flavors of ice cream since daughter Liz remembers me as the ice cream man. Unfortunately, her daughter Senna was working and missed the celebration. Tony looks good and is very much enjoying his boxing therapy. Then we spent another couple of hours with Lupe, who was quite delighted to see us. And finally we waited for twenty minutes to be seated at Harry's Roadhouse, where we enjoyed a lovely dinner conversation with Mike and Maria, returning home to the hotel minutes before dark.
12 Jul: Today is a Wonderful DAY! We slept! We are doing Nothing, except that Ron did go to spend two hours in the afternoon playing a game of GO (click here) with Stuart and another hour with John and Linda before returning. Ron also stopped at Tony's house and next door to find his daughter who says she has trouble getting in touch with him also. The Smooches then went to dinner with Nina after riding on I-25 through frighteningly strong thunderstorm winds to Harry's Roadhouse. Riding back just after sunset was astounding with red sunshine highlighting multiple layers of clouds and one bank had a pearlescent glow.
11 Jul: Rich and Carol joined us for breakfast at the hotel. Sadly, this Hampton Inn's breakfast was sub-par, but we all thoroughly enjoyed our conversation. Rich has a host of great stories. We then packed and headed back to Santa Fe on the High Road to Taos (NM routes 518, 75, 76, past Santuario de Chimayo (click here), 503). Right at sunset (8:15) Ron rode to Walmart and witnessed an incredible red and orange sunset.
10 Jul: We rode up to Taos through Española and via NM highway 68 to the Hampton Inn south of town, which placed us within five miles of our dinner invitation with Rich and Carol, Cynthia's cousins. Their two grandsons joined us and were wonderfully well behaved. Rich is quite a talented chef and made mashed potatoes without using milk. The meal was really, really good.
9 Jul: We visited Stewart and Judy, who took us to lunch at Vinaigrette (click here). Then, afternoon, we spent a couple of hours with John & Linda, just returned from a camping trip in the Pecos. Mark had invited us to dinner, which was fabulous, as always, and surprised us by also inviting Charlie and Sam. Vangie showed up a bit later and was a welcome addition. What a delightful time we all had reminiscing.
8 Jul: Nina joined us for dinner, also at Vinaigrette. Cynthia is trying to find a gallery to do an exhibition for Nina.
7 Jul: Medical: Cynthia’s right hearing aid was quickly repaired (for free!!) at Sandia Hearing; she is scheduled for a tuneup test on 14 July. We checked out of the Hyatt at one PM and removed to the adjacent Comfort Inn. Ron is working on James Lea. We enjoyed lunch and conversation with Janie at Piazza Caffè, which was VERY expensive, and dinner and conversation with Michael and Claire at Vinaigrette. Janie's paintings look very, very good, but she reports disappointing sales at the flea market.
6 Jul, Sunday: Since the forecast was for a cool day today, we slept until 5:30 before arising, breakfasting, and packing. Hence, we didn't begin our four-hour ride from Clovis, New Mexico (click here) to the Hyatt Hotel in Santa Fe, NM until 8:30 am and were again cool until we stopped in Vaughn for gasoline and to remove a layer of clothing. The ride was quite pleasant and unremarkable although we did see a pronghorn. Disturbing storm clouds massed on the horizon beyond the Santa Fe mountains. The bike speedometer read 72 and the GPS measured 68 mph when a NM State Cop passed us in a 65 MPH zone. Imagine Ron's wonder at riding from Brenham, TX to Santa Fe, NM in July and being too cool most of the way and too hot only from Montgomery to Brenham. And now it is 3:30 pm in Santa Fe, and a thunderstorm just wetted everything. As soon as the roads dried off, Ron rode to Walmart for blueberries, raspberries, and bananas. The three people who answered their phones are all busy this afternoon, so Ron is freed to work on James Lea, after hooking his computer up to the HDMI port on the huge TV. Route: US 60 W to Encino, NM, R on US 285 N to Santa Fe, Rodeo Road to Cerrillos Road and the Hyatt Place.
5 Jul: Delicious. Yes, it felt delicious to sleep from nine PM last night until after six, maybe seven, this morning. The Hampton Inn serves homemade hot oatmeal in real dishes. Ron bought blueberries, raspberries and bananas last night. We walked 2.71 miles this AM, not a lot, but walking on concrete is not great. Ron set up the jumbo TV screen as a computer monitor to work on James Lea today. He has made great progress. Cynthia edited the galley proof for Sunday Offerings Meditations Book as well as the cover design, now submitted to the publisher. Yaay! We walked to Denny’s for dinner. And here it is only 8:15 and light is already fading. Our total mileage today is 4.27 miles
4 Jul: Happy Independence Day! We left Snyder, Texas at 7:00 AM en route to Clovis, New Mexico. It was a surprise to see how late light appears in the mornings this far NW near the time zone change. We were delighted and surprised by fog that kept temperatures cool, although anxious about potential rain. That fog lasted late into the morning and was so low hanging that the blades of the giant windmills disappeared for half of their revolution. Skies were still overcast as we watched a single-wing airplane come right towards us, following the highway. Rain spit at us from time to time, and blue skies and sunshine appeared only briefly. It was beyond strange to be cold riding in Texas in July. Because we haven't traveled this NW route we were amazed by so much green. Maybe they had a lot of rain? We saw a lot of crop irrigation in NW Texas and of course oil well pumps and smells. Why were we surprised it takes four days to get out of SE Texas? Clovis, NM is very nice compared to many New Mexico towns. Ron put Denny’s into the GPS so we had an immediate and delicious destination upon our arrival and treated ourselves to spinach, fruit and nonfat yogurt smoothies. Ron ate grilled salmon on a large salad, and Cynthia tried an egg "Slam". We checked into a lovely Hampton Inn, not surprised that we are totally exhausted. We opted to spend a second night and sleep late once. Route: US 84 N to Clovis, NM.
3 July: Yikes! We arose before the crack of Dawn, 4:30 AM, and had exercised, eaten, packed, and checked the weather several times before rolling onto the road by 6:10 AM, avoiding downpours forecast soon, and were elated to catch only a few light rain moments. About 11:30, the rain was increasing at Snyder, Texas when Ron found a nice Comfort Inn. We slept all afternoon. Cynthia corrected her galley proof, and Ron worked on James Lea before going after fresh fruit for the morning. Route: TX 36 N through Rising Star and Cross Plains to Spur 322 N to I-20 bypassing Abilene to Sweetwater and US 84 N to Snyder. We did get drenched for five minutes as we bypassed Abilene on I-20 and again as we approached Sweetwater. Cynthia had her rain gear on, so we didn't get very wet.
2 July: Departure Brenham @7:00 AM with lunch stop about 10:30 AM at a very good steak place in Gatesville. Being short on sleep and full, Ron started getting sleepy soon, so we stopped at Comanche, Texas at 12:30 high noon at a nice and convenient Best Western hotel. We slept for two hours. Then it rained until late afternoon, when Ron rode to a market for bananas, raspberries, and blueberries. We travel with oatmeal to avoid the salt in oatmeal packets. Route: US 290 bypass to TX 36 N.
1 July: We needed sleep more than we needed to leave on the ride Sw at 6:30 AM. It is eight AM, and we hope to be ready to ride before the temperature reaches 90 degrees. It will be a very short ride today. We absolutely must traverse the 60 miles from Walden to Brenham via TX 105 to pig out again at the Blue Bell Creamery (click here) (11 scoops), and we were lucky that Sue Ellen and the twins were working. Then we repaired to the Comfort Inn and slept a couple of hours in the afternoon and again all night.
So Wynn, we are happy that your cancer episode turned out to be only a scare, and we continue to add our routes so that you can follow us on your maps. Tomorrow, the 2nd, we will ride from the Comfort Inn in Brenham to the nearby Chevron gas station, get on US 290 bypassing downtown to TX 36 north and west towards Abilene, planning to stop when the temperatures get too burdensome (it was 92 degrees at noon today). If we get to Abilene, I plan to bypass it on Loop 322 north or east to I-20 for a few miles to US 83 N for several miles to US 180 W for a while to US 84 N that heads towards Lubbock, TX. Now you know our plans for the next day or two.
