31 Jul. Whaaaat? We are out of the birthday month? Oh, no! The last day of the spectacular month was momentous. We rode to the National Forest and hiked nearly eight miles on a gorgeous day followed by dinner at Boss Hoggs, and yet another 3.5 mile walk to the lake and back. Tremendous progress is being made on the DNA article for the NGS Quarterly. After all, tomorrow is another month.
30 Jul: In contrast to yesterday, we awoke at 6:45 and had to rush through exercises and breakfast to get the motorcycle moving towards Durango by 8:30, stop for gas, and arrive at Spine Colorado by 10 PM for Cynthia's cortisone injection into her irritated hip bursa. Afterwards we ate a marvelous egg white veggie omelet breakfast with sourdough toast at Jean Pierre's bakery. Cynthia has already dropped off into a nap this afternoon. The doctor recommended against walking today, so Ron walked alone both faster and longer than usual.
29 Jul: And we were able to sleep in until 7:45. Nice. But now Cynthia is in a fluster, rushing to be ready to walk to her hair dresser appointment. We had a good morning walk, although it was too warm, and arrived back at a poor time (noon-thirty) to go to Boss Hogg's, so we waited an hour and went early afternoon to get better, quicker service. And our timing was excellent since it rained while we were eating. After eating his veggies in the afternoon, Ron walked to City Market for blueberries, grapes, pretzels and frozen mango. Then we walked to the lake through the neighborhood a second time before dark. Ron wants to see the bucks with the tall antlers again, but they are not cooperating.
28 Jul: Ron finally stayed asleep most of the night. For those of you who complain about waking up at night to relieve your bladder, Ron woke up at 12, 1, 2, 3, 4:30 and 6:30, which is fairly normal if he doesn't eat a lot of pretzels before retiring. You can understand his pretzel obsession. Our morning walk was cool and pleasant as was our typical luncheon at Boss Hogg's (click here. or click here.) Our afternoon neighborhood walk was a little warm in direct sunlight, and we napped away an hour of the late afternoon, causing us to begin our evening walk late so that we turned around early in order to avoid walking after dark. 9+ miles today. Again we stayed up, this time until midnight-thirty, editing Cynthia's Harry King article. Cynthia appreciates walking three times since her body accommodates that much easier.
27 Jul: Ron is not doing such a good job of transitioning from DNA to SCS packages, but he is confident that today is the day. Five PM and Ron has answered several emails and chatted with a few people. We walked through the neighborhood once and were heading out on a second walk when the first several raindrops hit us. They were the first of not very many, so maybe we shoulda kept going. Instead we decided to wait an hour which has now turned into two hours with increasing rain. On the upside, Ron is struggling to stay awake as he finally begins work on the next SCS package. Then Cynthia asked him to review her Harry King article, and we stayed up until 11:30 enjoying the thrills of chasing footnotes, rounding them up and getting them into their proper pens.
29 Jul: And we were able to sleep in until 7:45. Nice. But now Cynthia is in a fluster, rushing to be ready to walk to her hair dresser appointment. We had a good morning walk, although it was too warm, and arrived back at a poor time (noon-thirty) to go to Boss Hogg's, so we waited an hour and went early afternoon to get better, quicker service. And our timing was excellent since it rained while we were eating. After eating his veggies in the afternoon, Ron walked to City Market for blueberries, grapes, pretzels and frozen mango. Then we walked to the lake through the neighborhood a second time before dark. Ron wants to see the bucks with the tall antlers again, but they are not cooperating.
28 Jul: Ron finally stayed asleep most of the night. For those of you who complain about waking up at night to relieve your bladder, Ron woke up at 12, 1, 2, 3, 4:30 and 6:30, which is fairly normal if he doesn't eat a lot of pretzels before retiring. You can understand his pretzel obsession. Our morning walk was cool and pleasant as was our typical luncheon at Boss Hogg's (click here. or click here.) Our afternoon neighborhood walk was a little warm in direct sunlight, and we napped away an hour of the late afternoon, causing us to begin our evening walk late so that we turned around early in order to avoid walking after dark. 9+ miles today. Again we stayed up, this time until midnight-thirty, editing Cynthia's Harry King article. Cynthia appreciates walking three times since her body accommodates that much easier.
27 Jul: Ron is not doing such a good job of transitioning from DNA to SCS packages, but he is confident that today is the day. Five PM and Ron has answered several emails and chatted with a few people. We walked through the neighborhood once and were heading out on a second walk when the first several raindrops hit us. They were the first of not very many, so maybe we shoulda kept going. Instead we decided to wait an hour which has now turned into two hours with increasing rain. On the upside, Ron is struggling to stay awake as he finally begins work on the next SCS package. Then Cynthia asked him to review her Harry King article, and we stayed up until 11:30 enjoying the thrills of chasing footnotes, rounding them up and getting them into their proper pens.
 |
| And here you see the beauty of answering "nature's call" in nature |
26 Jul, Sunday: Thank God! And we do!! Our usual routine with morning walk was punctuated by seeing a quick brown fox sprint across the field for a quarter-mile and cross the road far in front of us. That and we saw several deer. The drivers of the two tractor-trailer rigs parked across the street were buddies who threw a barbecue right there in the parking lot for their friends in town. During one trip downstairs to the freezer to retrieve frozen mango for a treat, I detoured through the courtyard to chat for an hour with a very interesting guy who builds Morton buildings because he likes the work and likes to satisfy customers. Our second walk also went well although the color radar showed rain 10 miles to our east and 10 miles to our west. We had a moment of hilarity when Cynthia took a bathroom break in the bushes and discovered a deer that was just as surprised as she was. When we were ready to take the third walk those promised thunderstorms finally showed up here. Cynthia is still celebrating 8+ miles walking today.
25 Jul: The forecast was horrendous, but the reality was mild and pleasant. We saw a group of four bucks with TALL antlers, still in velvet, during our morning walk. It was peculiar to see such tall "sticks" from each head in the grass. Afterward, we enjoyed eating salmon with potatoes at Boss Hogg's. Jamie was our waitress again and explained that there is no "baked sweet potato" button on the order menu, so she has to punch "baked sweet potato fries" and tell the cook that those are actually supposed to be baked sweet potatoes. Our second walk, mid-afternoon, was supposed to be rain-shortened, but wasn't. The forecast was 100% chance of rain; reality was no rain. We are now discussing the third walk. Either that or Ron has to resume working on a Swedish Colonial package. Ugh. And we managed a rain-free third walk totaling 11.5 miles, 26,000 steps for our daily total. Cynthia is celebrating.
24 Jul: And the birthday celebrations are over; a song is sung beautifully in two-part harmony. GEDmatch.com is still down, so Ron is accomplishing a few other tasks recently, including mending 101. Our usual neighborhood walk went by without a hitch (or rain), and afterward, we enjoyed another luncheon of potatoes at Boss Hogg's. Ron laid down for a nap during this afternoon thunderstorms after too many nights without adequate sleep. Our evening walk was cut short by thunder and approaching ugly black clouds.
23 Jul: Happy Birthday to Sistah. A phone call and birthday song is sung early. Looks like a good day for a longer hike in the National Forest, but tomorrow and Saturday forecasts call for an 80% chance of rain. Our hike was delightful even though our single wildlife sighting was one grey squirrel with a bushy tail. We picked the one mushroom we've seen for the mushroom-hunting owner of the motel but gave it instead to his daughter-in-law's cousin for her husband because she was at the desk when we got here. Oh, and Jamie asked to know our names to tell the kitchen staff who know us by our order. The chef even came out to see us in the last two days. We walked to the lake and back again at 7:30 and are getting ready for bed early tonight.
22 Jul: We awakened early, exercised early, ate our oatmeals early, and now Ron is quite disappointed that GEDmatch.com is not yet recovered from its latest "maintenance" that has lasted three days now. Oops, they sent Cynthia an email revealing a security breach. No doubt thousands of users will be scared off. We had a nice walk through the neighborhood to the lake and back, 3.5 miles according to Cynthia's Apple watch. Then we ate potatoes for lunch at Boss Hogg's, and now we are back to computers on a slooow internet. And now we've finished our second walk to the lake and back. Sunset was a multitude of various grey clouds with faint pink highlights. We even saw a couple of deer. We've had rain for the last couple of days, so we should start seeing more flowers and greenery soon.
21 Jul: Is today. We woked up, ate breakfast, did email chores, and decided to walk through the subdivision because the forecast was too hot. Somewhere along the walk, the clouds covered the sun, and our normal subdivision 3.5 miles to the lake and back was quite pleasant, even though we did have to dodge the road grader and gravel truck. Why are those big 18-wheel gravel trucks built like a bridge superstructure? (Technically it is called a semi-trailer bottom dump truck, and it can dump the gravel in a long window instead of a heap.) Ron walked to City Market so that he could fill up with frozen mango before we walked to an early dinner at Boss Hogg's. Now he is so full as to burst. In the evening (7:36), we walked again to the lake and back, seeing five bucks in velvet along the way. One had ten points, one had eight, two more had six points, and the last one wouldn't tell me how many points. Sunset was nice although the clouds blocked most of it.
20 Jul is yesterday, and I fell on the mud slicked trail. Yup, because of the heat, we decided to ride to the end of the Piedra Road pavement and hike on the Turkey Springs Trail in the National Forest. We hiked along at a good clip to our first sitting log, then past the Jack gravel road, then to the gate and the second sitting log, but by then the thunder and storm clouds were presenting convincing arguments for a retreat. Our retreat was not early enough or quick enough and raindrops soon increased in frequency so that we took shelter against a ponderosa pine and inside a plastic rain poncho. That worked marvelously for the half-hour until the raindrops became less frequent and we decided to continue to the motorcycle and get home while the gettin' was good. As we hustled down the final steep slope of the trail Ron stepped onto very slick mud and landed BOOM on his butt and back. It was sooo quick that he hardly realized what was happening before his head bounced off the hard ground. The mud on his pants was quite the sight. WoooHa. We rode back into town on wet roads and straight to Boss Hogg's for sweet potato, baked potato, & veggies dinner.
19 Jul: Disappeared somewhere, somehow. We think that we walked twice around the neighborhood to the lake and back for a total of eight miles. We cannot think of anything else done two days in the past.
18 Jul: Ron is excited to see if any of the Bankston cousins replied. Out of seven emails sent, five have replied, and Ron is already way behind, having answered only two. We did walk twice and were inside for the heavy afternoon downpour, and we ate dinner of salmon & potatoes at Boss Hogg's. The dusty neighborhood roads are no longer dusty and thankfully not muddy either.
17 Jul: Something we ate prevented us from sleeping well last night. We were both up to the bathroom frequently for the first two hours. Fortunately last night Ron had the brainstorm to use the slippery bedspread to cover the curtains. It worked perfectly to keep the room dark even after sunrise. So now it is nearly noon by the time we've finished our oatmeal & berries breakfasts. Ron is half-way through mending the hole in a seam of Cynthia's backpack. I guess it is time to check the weather - rainy season seems to have begun. Today is OK, but most of the rest of the month afternoon thunderstorms are predicted. Time to go hiking at 2:30, the usual neighborhood route. We got sprinkled upon close to the lake and took shelter under a pine tree. After afternoon showers and a day of genealogy on computers, we went for a second walk to the lake and saw a couple of distant deer. Ron sent 7 emails to GEDmatch Bankston cousins; this time he selected people who had several kits, hoping for a better reply rate. Now time for bed: 10:20.
16 Jul: Happy Birthday to mee beloved weefee, SmoochSmooch. We finally slept better for the night and feel much more rested today. We have absolutely no intention of repeating yesterdays ten miles of hiking. We walked through our nearby neighborhood early, but the bird seed eating deer were not to be seen and the bird feeder was empty. Ron walked to City Market mid-afternoon for his favorite treat, frozen mango, and other foodstuffs. He has been diligently running triangulations with Bankston cousins for days now. Before long he will have to figure out what to do with the results. We walked over to Hoss Hoggs for Cynthia's gormet birthday dinner. The waitress almost choked when Cynthia asked if they had champaign. When we were set to leave, the rain came down in buckets. We walked our neighborhood loop again this evening and were delighted to see at least two bucks reasonably close (like 50 feet) in a thicker stand of young trees. There were another four deer there but too much shade to see antlers or not. Then we saw two bucks go into an equipment yard that we pass close to our motel. We were set to get to bed early when Ron decided to answer Cynthia's questions about footnoting her manuscript. That kept us up until midnight.
15 Jul: One more day to go before showering my love with I love yous. And we are nominally ready to go hiking at 9 AM today. We got out the door early and discovered it to be hotter than we imagined by the time we arrived in the forest about 10 AM. We walked again to Park Ave and back, our 7+ mile out & back. The "bear" was still in the same place. Turns out our "bear" was a tall char-blackened stump. Today Cynthia saw a sight I'd love to have seen. Momma deer jumped gracefully over a 12' high tree & shrubbery while fleeing from us. I saw the two youngsters scurrying away in the opposite direction through the underbrush. On our evening walk we saw three does, then two bucks, then a coyote, and on the return, we saw them all again. Today we walked 10 miles+. We will be ready for bed by 10 PM.
14 Jul: Countdown towards actual birth date continues as the excitement builds. And again we've sat at our computers while the heat builds until mid-afternoon. We walked about 7:30 and it was still hot enough to be a bit sweaty. Then Ron walked to City Market for frozen Mango as a treat. Tonight it is already 11 PM. So much for getting to bed earlier.
13 Jul: Monday the 13th is OK versus Friday the 13th. We straightened the room so that housekeeping could find the bed and the floor. Both are now much better, and we are ready to leave for hiking at the Continental Divide at 1 PM. But then we checked the weather and prospects for rain in the mountains, coupled with a nice breeze in town convinced us to hike in our usual place. This time we believe that we saw a bear, but it was too far away to be certain, and we were a little reluctant to go so far from the trail directly towards the large dark nearly-stationary object we saw. We ate at Boss Hogg's again. The explanation is that there was formerly a bar in the same building which was known as Hogs Breath. The bar is gone, but the signs remain. Ron grocery shopped both at Walmart and at City Market while Cynthia waited to be seated and waited to order. Ron returned from putting groceries into the freezer and refrigerator just minutes after the food arrived at the table.
12 Jul, Sunday: And again we sat at our computers until 3 PM, but then the forecast was 94 degrees, and we do enjoy our genealogy. Ron didn't even eat breakfast until well after noon and still hasn't finished his final two morning exercises. At least he finally ate his morning pills. At sunset Ron walked over to City Market and came home with groceries, then went for a long walk to the lake after it was too dark to see. The stars were really quite brilliant and the milky way was stepping on the tail of Scorpio. Lyra was directly overhead, and there were hosts of stars that should fit into some constellation.
11 Jul: And we slept well, awoke the third time after 9 hours, and are exercised, fed, and ready for the day. Thank God. Cynthia was disinclined to hike today but is hobbling around the room complaining of stiffness. It is 91 degrees and sunny with a forecast high of 94, a good day to take a break and work on mending, genealogy photos, and DNA. And now it is 7:45 PM and 88 degrees, still too hot, but we are running out of daylight, so walking we will go. Cynthia returned to the motel after 8 blocks, so Ron resumed and walked to the lake and back as usual.
10 Jul: Today we made it to the trail by 11:26, a bit later than yesterday and managed exactly the same hike plus an increment. Today's high was 91 degrees, and tomorrow is supposed to be up to 94 degrees. The breeze was warmer too, but we managed to enjoy our hike despite the heat. We were a bit quicker than yesterday, and Cynthia says it is because "we" didn't stop to talk to other hikers as much. The most exciting wildlife sighting today was a doe crossing the road close in front of us. Ron immediately scanned where the doe came from but did not see any youngsters following mama, so he looked at mama more closely and was quite shocked when he returned his view to the road and saw two tiny fawns right beside the road, right beside us on the motorcycle. That was shockingly too close, but those fawns were so tiny, perhaps only 18" tall, with ruffled and polka-dotted coats. We again dined at Boss Hogg's (one potato, two potatoes, third potato sweet.) And we both walked to the lake and back for the sunset, which was very nice with redish streaks of clouds throughout the skies.
9 Jul: Today we got in gear a bit earlier, perhaps because Ron slept for 7 1/2 hours uninterrupted. We rode to the end of the paved road and hiked into the National Forest for apparently 4 miles, then returned. It was a hot day with a high of 87 degrees again, but there was just enough breeze to make it cool enough in the shade. We did see one doe grazing on the side of the road before our hike, but that was the only wildlife we saw today. We ate lunch at Boss Hogg's Restaurant before shopping for groceries at Walmart. After an afternoon on the computer, Ron went for an additional walk at 8 PM while talking to friends on his cell phone. And now it is time for bed.
8 Jul: Ron is suddenly realizing that July is probably the month when he needs to send his pacemaker readings to the doctor. The technology is amazing: he holds a small device up to his chest, Cynthia synchronizes it with her cell phone, the device listens to his pacemaker and sends the report to Cynthia's phone which sends it to the doctor without so much as a phone call. We were slow to get up this morning, and it is hot outside by now. Fooey, we'll have to wait for 7 PM to want to go for our constitutional hike. Ron has been enjoying genealogy correspondence again today, but now he needs to eat and organize, perhaps concurrently. Our walk at 7:30 was ideal except that we didn't see any deer. It was cool, and the sun set before it blinded us.
7 Jul: Boy-o-boy, did we wear ourselves out again today. We were slow to rise, and now Ron is slow to bed at 11 PM. We rode out to our previously favorite location for a hike and discovered a hot day. The scenery was strangely different because we could now see far into the woods. Apparently much brush was cleared before a prescribed burn. We could certainly see the burned areas, but more unusual was seeing such a distance into the forest. Ron spent all afternoon answering a few genealogical e-mails. At least a couple of distant cousins should be happy. We walked for 8 miles today, and now we need our sleep. We did see several bucks on our evening stroll around the neighborhood. One had 7 points, and that wasn't the biggest one.
6 Jul: We were excited to eat again at the Two Chicks and a Hippy restaurant (click here) in Pagosa Springs but were sadly disappointed that the owner was not there and that the omelets were so full of oil that we couldn't eat them - and the waitress still charged us in full for those uneatable omelets !! We will always check for the owner before ordering again. Ron is so delighted that his computer finally came to life and connected to the web as well. Now he must ride to Walmart to forage for groceries. Sad to say that the Walmart here still has terrible management ordering frozen foods, so Ron will need to make a second trip to City Market for pretzels and frozen fruits. Wow, it is hot here !! 87 degrees and a forecast up to 90 in the next several days. The usual daily average for this week is 83. We walked to City Market after the heat died off at 8:30 and discovered minimal frozen fruits there also. Ron is happily munching on pretzels now, as we speak.
 |
| Sunset at Pagosa Springs on Sunday, God's testimony |
 |
| We walked to the lake in late afternoon |
5 Jul, Sunday: God certainly created a marvelously beautiful world, and we enjoyed a spectacular ride today. We checked out of the Doubletree hotel in Santa Fe just before noon. Our luggage is still too heavy. Ron was surprised that the brand new, huge Walmart did not have an auto service center. However, that put us in position to take the 599 bypass around Santa Fe, much quicker than going through town by any route. We waved goodbye to Lupe as we passed Calle Nopal. As we descended Opera Hill, the heat began to be oppressive, and when we passed Buffalo Thunder, we both breathed a sigh of relief that we had not booked lodging there; the 20-minute drive in the heat would have been a daily hardship. Ron remembered a Chevron gas station just north of Espanola, but that turned out to now be a Speedway. As we were about to wave goodby to highway 285, Cynthia nudged Ron's side to draw his attention to the Chevron station on that corner. Once there, Ron remembered that they provide free air on the side of the building and was able to fill his tires to the recommended 42 pounds. We endured the heat but could imagine relief under the clouds over the mountains ahead and to our right. We were soon under those clouds, the wind became fierce and the temperature dropped as low as 69 degrees. Shortly before we parted company with the Chama River, the clouds started leaking on us from time to time. Usually that ascent from the river valley is a motorcyclist's delight, but with the sprinkles and the wind, Ron opted instead to give his undivided attention to the roadway. The clouds and the afternoon sun provided incredible colors and highlights to the landscape as we approached Ghost Ranch (click here.) Sometimes a single mountain would be spotlighted vividly although everything else was in shadow. The reds were awesome, and the supporting cast of colors included every shade and hue imaginable. The sandy yellow walls of Echo Canyon (click here) were brilliantly lit against a shadowed background as we passed it. The sights were worth enduring that wind that was sometimes frighteningly strong. We passed through Tres Peidras headed towards an ominously black sky and stopped at Henry's Liquors and True Value Hardware store out of desperation, but alas, Henry's does not serve food. We ran head-on into those ugly black clouds at Chama, but fortunately our road (US 84) turned abruptly west, and we escaped with only moderate dampness. It was wonderful to no longer worry about rain - - - until we separated from US Highway 64 and headed directly towards a huge mass of obvious rain clouds with long streamers descending from them. Ron's peculiar memory reminded him that there was a roadside shack on this stretch of road, and we soon came upon it and stopped. Cynthia also remembered this little forlorn shack from the one other time we stopped there during a rain storm, and we discussed the likelihood of rain, even though cars passing by appeared to be dry. Before long raindrops disturbed the puddles, and Ron moved the motorcycle under cover as shown.
 |
| They had a room available for us !! |
 |
| Da masked Smooches |
4 Jul: Happy Fourth of July! We awoke far too early this morning at 4:45 and were unable to get back to sleep. We again enjoyed a wonderful afternoon lunch with Janie and her brother Paul at Harry's Roadhouse (click here.) Now, however, it is time for Ron to quit this blog and get busy packing. Although he was very focused, more packing remained by bedtime. As usual, it will wait until morning. Goodnight.
3 Jul: Apparently Ron consumed enough pretzels to sleep without awakening until 5:30 AM, and today he feels wonderfully rested. John & Linda did reclaim their car this morning, and Ron walked over to Santa Fe BMW to reclaim his motorcycle thereafter. We enjoyed seeing Tony again for a couple of hours this afternoon and managed to get to bed early after our typical evening walk along Arroyo Chamisa. The Fourth of July Mt. Rushmore speech (click here) and fireworks was truly inspiring.
3 Jul: Apparently Ron consumed enough pretzels to sleep without awakening until 5:30 AM, and today he feels wonderfully rested. John & Linda did reclaim their car this morning, and Ron walked over to Santa Fe BMW to reclaim his motorcycle thereafter. We enjoyed seeing Tony again for a couple of hours this afternoon and managed to get to bed early after our typical evening walk along Arroyo Chamisa. The Fourth of July Mt. Rushmore speech (click here) and fireworks was truly inspiring.
2 Jul: Because of the late evening, Ron was loathe to arise at 6:45 AM in order to ride the motorcycle over to the shop for service. Walking back at 7:30 was much less onerous. Shortly after 11 AM John and Linda showed up at the hotel in two cars so that we could go for a nice picnic and hike together up Hyde Park Road to the Little Tesuque Picnic area (click here.) It was a pandemicly appropriate BYO picnic, so everyone was happy with their meals. Our hike was quite industriously uphill until we reached the Aspen Vista road and continued on it at a more gradual grade uphill for quite a ways, 4.5 miles total. We arrived "home" at the hotel too tired to consider any other evening activities beyond blogging.
1 Jul: BirthDay Month begins (Cynthia turns 18 again on the 16th), and the Smooches had a delightful day starting with two hours talking to Jim May and ending with a marvelous dinner with Mark and Robin. Mark is a talented cook and Robin knows more spices to add to the salmon, veggies, and rice. Robin and Cynthia are both Myers-Briggs INFJ "introverts (click here,)" and they talked animatedly and endlessly. (But nobody talks more than Ron.) Then we stayed up far too late (1:30 AM) after Cynthia discovered that some of her Gmail is not being delivered because her "quota" has been exceeded - although she had 160 GB free space.
