Reminder to self: work on Duncan's package, and add info from Dawn Harvey.
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| Ron Beatty is Smooch with SmoochSmooch |
31 Mar: Good-bye March! The sun is shining and the Smooches will hike at one PM (after QQQ watching ends). Out in the real world, the darkness of hatred prevails at the worst level since the Civil War. This will not end well for any of us. Oh well, the sun is still shining, the forecast is a high of 58 degrees, and it is a great day to hike the Slim Shady Trail. It is rougher and rockier with more ups and downs. We really enjoyed meeting Bill and Liz, a delightful couple who hike! Liz even runs six miles a morning, in addition to hiking. Our enjoyment was wonderful, our accomplishment satisfying, and the mileage was 6.08.
30 Mar: The world turns, we are awake, exercised and fed. QQQ is again misbehaving. The cloudy skies mean hiking will be more comfortable today although the forecast high is 50 degrees !!. Oops, No, Cynthia stuck her nose out the door, collected a few snowflakes, and decided that she should keep her respiratory system warmer. She is approaching eight weeks of wearing a brace on her right hand to hopefully heal strained sagittal bands. This process takes six months, God willing. Ron is ever helpful, opening jars, etc. Writing and typing are nearly impossible. Ron continues clipping tree debris into fire starter. Zero miles.
29 Mar: We checked the markets, exercised and ate. QQQ is not behaving as forecast, so Ron is a bit stymied today. The forecast is 65 degrees warm. Our time would have been better spent hiking early since the sun is intense. Oh well, off we go. Wish us luck. Luck held! The clouds accumulated, the temperature dropped, and the wind was welcome at first but cooled us a bit too much later. We recorded 5.44 miles. It was fun to visit again this year with neighbor John who lives up the street, and to meet another neighbor, Laura, with her Sheltie.
28 Mar: Amazing that we bound out of bed at 6:30 AM to follow the DOW ticker three hours ahead of us on Wall Street. This was a successful QQQ day, with another potential success a few days ahead. Looks like Ron has completed all other projects, so James Lea is about to again gain ascendancy. Yay! Ron has rested for a month from his work on James Lea. 5.31 miles
27 Mar: And Ron is back to watching QQQ obsessively since it dropped this morning to 308, but we will wait a day or two hoping for better results. (That was a big mistake.) The box of clothing that Cynthia shipped from Texas arrived. Ron spent two hours outside clipping the downed branches into kindling. Now we are waiting for Cynthia to be ready to hike. This time we will remember to take water, carrots and an apple. Ron's calf muscles have been sore for three days now. They apparently are unused to the hills. We didn’t begin hiking until 2:00 PM and reversed our hike around the Big Park Loop achieving 5.88 miles today. We meet the nicest folks on the trail. A gray haired lady moved here a few years ago full time; when she said she was a Norwegian from MN, Cynthia said they were likely cousins because she is related to half of the Norwegians in MN. The lady clinched it when she said her grandmother owned a farm near DesMoines. There’s the proof!
26 Mar, Sunday: Another early morning for the ride to worship at Christ Lutheran Sedona at 8:30. This is an exceptional congregation. After we returned home and fed our faces, we hiked 5.79 miles. It is fun to see the water glistening as "streams" "flow" down the cliffs. Now we rest, although Ron decided to bake a sweet potato and clip some more of the tree debris in the yard just before dark.
25 Mar: We awakened to vivid sunshine for the first time in our first week in Sedona. Cynthia is ready to walk after she finishes coffee, so we plan to have a good time. We are 1.25 miles from the Bell Rock Trailhead with five hills to climb on the way back. The hills are minimal when we are energetic as we start, but they constitute quite the challenge when we return. Our total mileage today was 5.97 after hiking the Big Park Loop with lots of ups and downs, zigs and zags and bicyclists to avoid. Cynthia's goal is 4 to 7 miles a day for the next thirty days. As Ron was clipping tree branches into stackable sizes, he was amazed to watch a bobcat walk past within ten feet of him. The cat seemed entirely unconcerned and totally uninterested in Ron. This is not a big cat, not even as big as an Australian Shepherd. I've seen Maine coon cats that look larger with all of their hair. This bobcat is a short hair, and the tail is a bob.
24 Mar: Ron is ensconced at home watching for a good time to sell his latest QQQ option (No such luck today.) After exercise, oatmeal and mending, he took a break at 11 AM to ride back to Clarks, hoping to find their raspberries on sale at 2/$4 and was delighted to purchase 4 big clamshells. He also found the Ezekiel flaxseed bread that Cynthia now enjoys. He began trimming the tree debris in the yard, and Cynthia insisted that we visit a pharmacy in Sedona. The ride was pleasant enough except for the long line of slow traffic for a mile. The red rocks were not as vivid under these cloudy skies (that we seldom see here).
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| Ron with his little stream |
23 Mar: The sun is shining! A friend emailed Cynthia the news that parts of Sedona are being evacuated due to flooding. We are high and dry in the Village of Oak Creek, and Ron bought a lot of groceries yesterday in Cottonwood. We expect more rain or snow by tonight. Ron wanted to hike to see water flowing in any of the arroyos, and we did see a nice little stream after passing the Bell Rock Trailhead. The trail was mostly dry, but there was a bit of mud and occasional puddles. Our hike was 3.87 miles. At dusk two white-tailed deer visited the arroyo behind the house.
22 Mar: Housebound in the rain another day! This is our second day to arise at 6:30 AM to watch QQQ soon after the New York Stock Exchange opens. We saw wildlife in the backyard, not javelinas or deer, but couple of cute bunnies. When QQQ rose to 313+, Ron bought a 312 put and was very surprised to be able to sell that at a significant profit at 3:59 EDT, a mere minute before the market closed. Then Ron rode to Walmart in Cottonwood to stock up on groceries. In Cornville Oak Creek had flooded fields and the roadway providing very unusual scenery for Arizona.
21 Mar: Wow !! Whoever woulda thunk that it would rain without ceasing ALL DAY.!! Housebound in Sedona! The rain is forecast to stop late tomorrow afternoon. Maybe we will ride 50 miles to Cottonwood for cheaper groceries. In a week the desert should be blooming beautifully.
20 Mar: Our final leg to Sedona was on AZ 260 winding around the Mogollon Rim of Arizona (fun to see on Google Earth) to I-17 N to AZ 179 N into the Village of Oak Creek. 80 miles. Our first 70 miles through the National Forest were chilly at 39 degrees and again featured lots and lots of snowfields surrounding us. It was a relief to descend off the rim into warmer temperatures at Camp Verde. After we turned onto Highway 179 - - - Wow, Beaver Creek was a rushing torrent that we have never before seen. Access is at the Ranger Station via the Woods Canyon Trailhead (click here). Apparently the rain today is melting a snowpack somewhere up high. Interesting to know that Dry Beaver Creek merges with Wet Beaver Creek near the Indian ruins at Montezuma Well and the developed community of Rimrock. On a more mundane note, we shopped at Clark's (expensive) Grocery for things we will need in the next day or two until the rains stop. So strange to be trapped indoors in Sedona because of "continuing" rain for 36 hours per forecast.
19 Mar, Sunday: We plan to ride 97 miles to Payson, AZ this morning, leaving at 11 am. And we did get started at 11, but it was a tough ride with winds shoving us around and temperatures still cold at close to 40 degrees. The winds were forecast at 10 mph and turned into 18 mph with gusts to 37 mph as we rode. After we arrived Ron updated the blog and we walked around the neighborhood to Walmart to purchase popcorn. (And it is now time to pop more popcorn). The forecast for midweek promises rain and snow, so Monday we move on to our Vacation Rental in the Village of Oak Creek. Our route was N on AZ 260 towards Show Low, L on Woolford Rd (at Speedway gas station) -> S. Central Ave 1 mi to L on Whipple Drive .8 mi to L on Duece of Clubs 1 block to R on Clark/ AZ 260 (again) 88 miles to Payson, L on US 87 1 block to Comfort Inn.
18 Mar: If the roads are reputed to be dry by noon, we will ride to Show Low, Arizona today, God willing. And God was indeed willing! The route was US 60 W, 200 miles. It is surreal to see snow in the New Mexico desert. We were less cold, especially after we crossed the Continental Divide. Perhaps the mango and blueberry pie at Pie Town, NM warmed us up. It is surreal that we ate pie! But in our defense, we did eat egg white veggie omelets first. We arrived in Pinetop, AZ, seven miles from Show Low. It boasts four restaurants that claim to be fine dining. Ron walked 1.2 miles to Safeway for bananas, blueberries, and pretzels. There are several hiking trails, but we didn't check them out. Cynthia's new BMW passenger seat will arrive in Pagosa Springs, CO about the third week of July. Yay!!!!!!
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| Lots of snow in the desert, something seldom seen |
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| Our new motorcycle close to snow |
17 Mar: Happy St. Patrick's Day! With the luck of the Irish, we will arrive in Magdalena, NM, dry and not frozen to death, by late afternoon. No such luck, we arrived in Socorro, NM after riding 164 miles in sometimes freezing temperatures, often with marvelous views of snow covering the roadside, nearby mountains, and desert. One noteworthy view was of snow spotting the face of a red rock cliff immediately beside the road. It was 38 degrees when we left Roswell, dropping to 30 degrees after Ron opted to suffer the rough road through Lincoln and Capitan instead of taking smoother pavement into cloud-enshrouded and snow-covered Ruidoso. Poor Cynthia's back was already suffering from the miscue Thursday when Ron rode off a curb leaving a gas station. Strangely, the road was smoother between Lincoln and Capitan than before Lincoln or after Capitan. When we saw a snow plow heading east, Ron thought, Uh Oh, and indeed we soon found ourselves on roads where the fine rock had been spread to melt snow. Fortunately, there had been enough traffic to create "lanes" free from the rock. The roads were still damp in places and the temperature was below freezing, so we went slowly down mountain curves. Although it had snowed earlier all along the way, it did not snow on us. When it is 30 outside, subtract at least ten degrees on a motorcycle at 65 MPH. All of Cynthia's clothing is heated, so she was warm, except for her feet. Our seats are heated, and so are the grips on the handlebars. Fortunately, Ron had put on gloves when we stopped in Lincoln, but his face was very cold. The snow-covered roadsides and mountains were gorgeous, and as we neared Socorro, the fog-enshrouded mountain was surreal. The temperature was below 35 degrees all day until 30 miles from Socorro when it slowly rose to a balmy 42 degrees. Tomorrow we ride to Springerville, AZ, God willing. Today's route was simplicity itself: US 380 W to I-25 N to US 60 into Socorro and the Comfort Inn, 164 miles today.
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| Smooch and SmoochSmooch were younger once |
16 Mar: The forecast winds were daunting, 24+ with gusts to 40 mph, so we opted to sit in Roswell for a respite. No regular oatmeal; good thing we carry our own. QQQ is on the rise. By mid-afternoon, it is 306. How high will it go today? Ron is an investor with risk-taking genes, and he opted to sell his 304 option at a loss near the high for the day. Cynthia lost a quarter once and will never again gamble. Ron found Mom's Oatmeal on his shopping expedition. The choice for the rest of our trip is to ride in the cold or ride in the wind. If we wait for warmer weather, the winds begin to blow much harder.
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| daughter Julie and her Lamar |
15 Mar: Leaving Lamesa, Ron stopped for fuel and, while watching traffic, mistook a curb for a ramp, dropped off that curb and the jolt jolted Cynthia's back pain so much that she cried tears. The route from Lamesa, Texas to Roswell, New Mexico was quite pleasant with only moderate winds (as opposed to the horrendous winds two years ago - cf. this blog March 4-5, 2021). The Texas town of Brownfield is named for its peculiarly orange-brown soil, obvious in numerous newly-plowed fields. We arrived in Roswell before our room was ready and had to wait fifteen minutes to check-in. Then we immediately headed back south to the Cattle Baron Restaurant for salad bars, a baked sweet potato, and salmon, prepared deliciously. This route was even simpler: R on TX 137 to Brownfield, L on US 380 to Roswell. 171 miles today.
14 Mar: We were up way too early and left Fredericksburg on highway 87 toward Lamesa, TX. The interesting observation about today's scenery was that Spring regressed as we continued north and west until we found ourselves again surrounded by the dull, drab colors of winter. En route, we passed trees with new spring-green leaves and others covered with bright magenta buds. At the last minute, Ron decided to bypass San Angelo on loop 306 that he remembered from looking at the maps. Loop 306 is a misnomer; it bypasses 1/3 of the city, then disappears. Apparently, you need to know to take the US 277 for the other 2/3rds of the loop. After a very frustrating experience with the industrial outskirts of San Angelo and TX 208, we emerged on FM 2105 at US 87 and Pepe's Diner which had great food for us. We arrived in Lamesa and checked in to the Shiloh Inn at about 4 pm. Ron then walked to one grocery store and rode to two more in search of pretzels, blueberries, and bananas. Our route was much simpler: L on US 87 NW through Mason (40 miles) to L on TX 29 W (US 377) 30 miles to R on US 83 N (24 miles) to L on US 87 N (don't fall for Loop 306 bullshit at San Angelo) to Lamesa, TX. 284 miles today.
13 Mar: We checked out early AM and began our journey to Sedona, AZ by staying overnight in Fredricksburg, Texas after an enjoyable dinner with Casey and Lucinda, Cynthia's clergy colleagues. We had hoped to arrive by two PM, but due to all of Ron's last-minute "necessities," we didn't get out of Montgomery until 10:30 and arrived at 3:15. The bluebonnets were again spectacular, and one particular roadside was covered in combination with orange Indian paintbrush too. Also spectacular was one huge field full of yellow flowers. Ron always enjoys great conversation with Casey and never pays any attention to the conversation on the feminine side of the table. Blogging will continue on the journey as we are able. Our route was TX 105 W to Brenham, R on Blue Bell Road (2 miles) to L on TX 36 S (1 mile) to R on US 290 W through Ledbetter & Giddings (45 miles) to L on TX 21 W through Bastrop (12 miles) to R on toll road TX 71 W (30 miles) to US 290 W (again) to Fredericksburg (60 miles), L on TX 16 to EconoLodge (never again - mice). 217 miles today.
12 Mar, Sunday: We worked hard all day and made two trips to the storage locker. This will be a hard work day! We pack, move boxes to the storage unit, clean the condo, and drop off the car so Jon can car-sit. At 6:00 we are pleased with our progress.
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| Cynthia w/ granddaughter Zoe |
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| Fyn in foreground |
11 Mar: Tomorrow... Ron is being left without adult supervision for the third day in a row. Cynthia had fun at Zoe’s wedding shower, a high tea with a Bridgerton theme. It was off-the-charts elegant with fashionistas in hats, etc. Zoe looked like a fairy tale princess. A most hilarious moment was reading eight-year-old Fyn’s messages to her sister, the bride-to-be, “Don't worry about me. I will be fine. It is ok !!”
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| daughters Roxanne & Julie, daughter-in-law Tina |
10 Mar: Ron is spending another day watching hopefully for a QQQ recovery, despite the forecast. He is finally ready to begin the final packing the two boxes full of papers that came home in December. Precious little has been discarded/ recycled. Cooler today at 66 degrees now but 80% humidity here in Montgomery/ Houston. Cynthia had a girl's day with a pedi/many. Her haircut is now very short for hiking.
9 Mar: Cynthia is spending the day with her grandchildren in Bryan, Texas. Oh, Goodie, the bluebonnets and Indian paintbrush are blooming in abundance en route to Bryan. Ron spent the day putting his new AeroFlow nicknacks on the motorcycle, although he mounted the AeroWings in reverse and cannot remove them until the adhesive is totally cured on Sunday afternoon.
8 Mar: Another day almost like yesterday except we walked 8.72 miles. Yay for us! Cynthia moved more items to the storage unit. Ron is always crazy busy, and Cynthia's right-hand doesn't work in a brace.
7 Mar: The second best part of today was getting in our walk early while it was only 70 degrees. Of course, the best part was waking up! With Ron's very necessary help, Cynthia moved packed containers from the condo into the storage unit. Ron is achieving great progress for our departure. We had a second walk at 6:30 PM totaling 7 miles.
6 Mar: Ron is back to watching QQQ again, intermixed with straightening up his messes and cleaning the kitchen. (He should have sold for a small loss when it hit 303.76 instead of waiting for 304 and a tiny profit. 20/20 hindsight.) Cynthia already did the laundry before leaving to see Gina about the brace holding her fingers from bending. We are hopeful that the sagittal bands are healing, God willing. Cynthia scored points for the first "I love you" of the day, but Ron gets points for writing it on the blog for all the world to see.
5 Mar, Sunday: We awakened, exercised, ate, and are ready to go to church with minutes to spare. Ron is mending the zippers on his pants today. We ate a second breakfast of egg white omelets at Magnolia Diner - our romantic date for the month. Cynthia wants to wait until late to walk, but Ron might go twice again today.. (His weight has crept up to 176.2 this morning. Blood pressure 87/57 pulse 61.) today's blood pressure is an improvement over the recent 60/36 on 23 Feb.
4 Mar: Ron walked twice and talked with friends to and from the lake. He spent the afternoon clipping and filing his toenails - how did that ever become so difficult and so time-consuming? Cynthia packed and fed her face an egg white omelet with broccoli florets. Yuk. (She forgot to buy a bag of mixed veggies for her omelet.) Ron ate cornbread with salmon out of a can. Somehow Cynthia objects to that smell but doesn't mind the smell of salmon she cooks. Nephew Eric is having trouble with his RPM coins website again. Somehow it looks like Dreamhost is messing up his HTML as part of their conversion.
3 Mar: The morning started early since Cynthia had a fasting blood draw an hour away. She made it on time, but Ron stayed behind to tend his options garden and sold at 10:55 EST for another profit.!! Cynthia's Dr appointment at noon went well. Lab tests are excellent. Ron walked late after finding and recording Medicare statements. (Obviously an obsessive-compulsive disorder.)
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| Ron Beatty is Smooch with SmoochSmooch |
2 Mar: We are thankful for a beautiful life. Cynthia is packing in earnest. Ron is not, yet, but he did check his options first thing and bought another one. We walked the usual before noon, and Ron started mending his jacket and was watching his options intently after 2 PM when his contracts became "in the money." he even sold two of them for a profit. Eureka !! In the evening, we enjoyed a good meal at the Cosy Grape in Montgomery with Jon & Tina, old friends Jan & Jim, and new friends Bill & Tina. A fine time was had by all (even though Ron could not stop smiling despite the wonderment of our new friends). Cynthia had called ahead to find that the restaurant was entirely unable to cook anything without oil, so Ron took his own baked sweet potato to the restaurant.
1 Mar: Cynthia is off to discuss spiritual direction with Pastor Diane. Ron is slaving away with his various projects, having made yet another foray into the dangerous world of options. We will walk later today as it is forecast (correctly) to be another hot one. At about 2 pm, when it was obvious that his options were not going to pay off today, Ron called the Woodlands BMW to see if they could tune the suspension for a gentler ride for his beloved's tush, and the service scheduler said to bring it in anytime, so Ron rode the bike there promptly, and they did indeed adjust the suspension immediately (from Road and Auto to Dynamic and Min). Our exercise walk totaled 2.5 miles, but Cynthia achieved four miles with another walk.
