Parting (for November) is such sweet sorrow - - to be followed by joyful reunion in December

10 Nov: How do left-handed people manage? Cynthia’s right hand is in a brace… she has slammed her left hand in the car door twice, once just today.  If that wasn’t bad enough, she caught the left ring finger in the accordion door to the washer/dryer. 

9 Nov:  Today's ride promises to be inspiringly simple and short, only 33 miles on less traveled roads, and the genealogy center doesn't open until 10 AM.   To Smooch in MO, I miss you!  I LOVE you. The James Bankston in AR and TX may be the son of Hamilton. Enjoy your sleuthing day from me in TX  The Motorcycle Man is in Sweet Springs, MO tonight. He is missed in Texas. Cynthia had red light therapy, a lovely lunch with son Jon, and they dropped off shoes to be repaired. She walked to the fitness center, 2.29 miles. 

8 Nov, Sunday:  Lullaby and Goodnight, may your dreams be pleasant and light.  SmoochSmoochSmooch, I love you and miss you.   Oh… you are so wonderful. Four phone calls, messages and this lovely lullaby.  I will sing it to myself tonight.  I walked to the lake and back.  I love you and miss you, tooooo.  Ron awakened at 5:37 and was hugely surprised that the clock read 6:20 by the time he finished his exercises.  Breakfast was miserable since the hotel only provided sugerey oatmeal packets - no plain oatmeal.  Ron mixed in chia seeds, walnuts and protein powder to salvage some nutrition.  He stopped at the Arkansas Welcome center right on the stroke of 9 AM to eat his morning pills and call SmoochSmooch, who was getting ready for church.  Cynthia experienced two miracles at church today.  1st, she was able to hear the entire sermon, thanks to improved hearing assistance devices from the church. (This time it worked - as opposed to several times in the past.)  And, perhaps due to her eye therapy, she was also able to read the overhead displays for the first time.  She was in tears as she left church.  Ron just sat on the motorcycle, enjoying being alive, motorcycling, and seeing the delightful scenery on another good day.  The ride was again awesome for the first half of the day until Ron transitioned to I-540 bypassing Fort Smith and the Interstate traffic became wearing, all the way to Fayetteville.  Once past Fayetteville, the road again became peaceful and pleasant, besides being much quieter.  4.5 miles  Route: US 71 north to I-540 towards Little Rock, R on I-40, L on I-49 for a long, long way to Harrisonville, MO; 507 miles today.  Cynthia didn’t walk 507 miles, but she did walk 4.23 miles to the lake and back. 

7 Nov:  Ron leaves today.  Since he hasn't started packing by 5 PM yesterday, who knows when he will actually get gone.  We awakened somewhat late and Ron did exercises first, then looked at the weather and planned his route before he discovered that Ela Ruth died in February at age 91.  That dampened our spirits, but we regrouped, Ron packed and got started on the motorcycle about 1:30, stopped at the storage locker to get camping gear, and set out north on TX 149, R on FM 1791, R on TX 75 for 3 mi, L on 2821 to TX 19 N for 18 mi to a R on TX 94 N all the way to Lufkin Loop 287 to US 59 N to Nacogdoches where he would have liked to see Ela Ruth, then north up US 259 to TX 305 N to US 59 again as darkness fell.  Since he wasn't tired Ron decided to continue making miles despite the dark, but soon changed his mind and stopped at Marshall for gas and a hotel.  Ron is still up doing genealogy at 10 PM and discovered that rain is forecast here tonight.  2.99 miles

6 Nov:  MEDICAL.  red light therapy and gynecologist. We are up early to ride the motorcycle to Cynthia's two doctor's appointments today, one being the red light therapy.  The amazing coincidence for the day was calling Pat about her rings from the parking garage after the first doctor.  She said she was shopping with her relatives at Five Below.  As we rode toward her hotel, Ron saw the very obvious sign for Five Below and pulled in.  We were all happy to hand her her rings in person.  Then Ron and Cynthia continued to the red light therapy.  After that Jason's Deli is on the way home.  Then we stopped at Jeff's Jewelers for a necklace, then at Carmen's for a blouse, now fully fitted with snaps instead of buttons, then at the UPS Store to get a copy to mail, then at the post office to mail letters and packages, and finally at Walmart for raspberries, blueberries, bananas and apples.  Whew, a busy day.  Now Ron will treat himself to a sudoku while the computer backs itself up.  Later we will go for a walk. 2.29 miles

5 Nov:  After our usual morning exercises, oatmeal and a walk, we enjoyed another fun day with Pat until mid-afternoon when we took her to Oscar's for lunch/ dinner.  She had the meatballs and liked them.  She was going to give us a break from Stille, but Ron was already considering other things to look for.  He is a bit obsessive about genealogy hunting.  In the evening, after she was already gone to the Best Western, we discovered that she had left her rings.  Ron got busy writing addresses on envelopes so that the letters and books that have been sitting for ten days can be mailed tomorrow. 4.90 miles

4 Nov:  MEDICAL.  red light therapy.  We had a delightful day with Pat and looked at lots and lots of Stille information.  We might have found something useful, but we won't know until we sift through a lot of the stuff we found.  We encouraged Pat to walk with us across the parking lots to the yacht Club for dinner, and she enjoyed the risotto bolognese, which she enjoyed although she had never seen such before.  (Neither had we.) 1.36 miles

3 Nov:  Ron amazed Cynthia by clearing up all but three of his messes by bedtime last night.  Laughable is a news outlet offering election news all day today.  We meet Pat at Jason’s Deli about lunch time and had a delightful reunion and visit until bedtime.  We walked towards the breakwater, but that was too far for Pat, so we re-grouped and drove to the Restaurant on the Green instead. 2.29 miles

2 Nov:  MEDICAL.  red light therapy. We await Pat's visit with frantic house cleaning and organizing, now that Ron has only one day left to straighten up all his messes.  5.70 miles.

1 Nov, Sunday:  We enjoyed meeting the new pastor and voted with the congregation to invite her to Grace Lutheran.  We also enjoyed lunch with Jon at Oscar's and put air in the tires at Walmart.  Now Ron has to finish lots of things.  At 7 pm now, he will be lucky to finish even one before bedtime of 9 pm. 1.76 miles 

New Days Are Dawning at Lake Conroe in October

morning sky from our balcony

31 Oct: The sun is setting on October, 2026.    
 Happy Halloween !!  We had a Great morning walk today, although it is a bit too warm.  Today is the day to wash the floors?  YES !!  It is Dean’s birthday, and Ron was delighted to sing the birthday song twice.  (Actually he also sang the first line to his sister when he called her.)  Straightening Ron's messes continues apace.  He has five boxes ready to go back into the storage locker and one ready to go into permanent storage in Illinois.  The kitchen is halfway clean and the floor is washed.  More to do tomorrow after church.

30 Oct:  Last weekday, and we need to take Cynthia for her red light treatment this afternoon.  The Conroe library closes early on Fridays, so we ate "dinner" at Jason's deli early as well.  Ron continues to straighten up the apartment prepatory to Pat's visit next Tuesday.  Oh, and today is the day to wash the floors.  (Well maybe tomorrow.)  1.92 miles

29 Oct:  We went for two good walks today, and Ron started doing a set of strength training machines at the fitness center during the usual, mandatory bathroom stop. 5.40 miles

28 Oct: Good Grief !!  How did I miss the 26th and 27th?  Here it is the evening of the 28th already, and I need to get to bed.  Early AM, we were out of here for an appointment with a new financial advisor.  From there, we rode to Jason’s Deli, then the red light therapy, followed by the Conroe Library.  We got in a walk to the point after all that.  2.86 miles

27 Oct:  Ron's memory doesn't go back this far.  We did have a great morning walk followed by more computer work. 4.86 miles

26 Oct:  This was the only day that Cynthia's red light treatment was scheduled early - too early.  Ron didn't have time to eat breakfast after doing his exercises.  Jason's Deli was next, followed by a visit to the library so that Ron could look for more Bankston materials and Cynthia could stand in line to vote for nearly an hour even though the line didn’t go to the moon and back as in previous days.  Standing for that long left her with a few unfortunate aches and pains.  1.49 miles

25 Oct, Sunday:  And we woke up late but still managed to do our exercises and eat a little before leaving for church.  We met a member that we hadn't seen before and were surprised that she introduced herself as Cynthia.  So the two of them had that strong preference in common. 3.95 miles

24 Oct:  3:15 AM, Ron awoke and was unable to return to sleep for half an hour, so he decided to get up to do a couple of things, having made a list of the 10 projects he would like to finish in the next week besides housecleaning.  He finished the first one and made good progress on another two before he heard Cynthia stir in the bedroom and went back to bed.  It was a good day with a late walk and progress in several ways, both AI and genealogy. 4.19 miles

23 Oct:  MEDICAL…Two routine eye appointments at St. Luke’s, lunch at Jason’s Deli, stop at Conroe Library, pick up necklace at Jeff’s, books arrived at Jon’s. And maybe Jason’s Deli for dinner, too?  Terrific news from the retina specialist; red light therapy is covered by insurance because it has been clinically proven to retard the development of macular degeneration.  You cannot imagine the amount of distress Cynthia'ss eyesight deterioriation has caused her.  I know I can't, and I live with her every day.  Ron had to bolt down his HUGE salad and still didn't finish in time, so we had to take leftovers wrapped in napkins with us to the next doctor appointment.  At least he managed three larger ice cream cones.  The stop at the library was a double disappointment; not only did the library close early on Friday, but the early voting lines were too long for Cynthia to tolerate.  On the other hand, we will be going for red light therapy Monday, Wednesday and Friday for three weeks, so we can revisit both Jason's Deli and the library.  Jeff's won't have the necklace ready for a couple of weeks.  We picked up the books from Jon's house and got all the necessities at Walmart - - - and another whole carton of contraband ICE CREAM !!!  It was really good and the last flavor Ron was interested in trying before we go to Brenham for our next ophthalmologist appointment. 1.83 miles

22 Oct:  Another late morning despite getting to bed earlier last night.  Unfortunately we waited so long that the temperature outside now is already 83 degrees.  On the other hand, the humidity is 35% and there is a good breeze.  The walk in mid afternoon has significant shade from trees, so it was actually pleasant and not so sweaty as usual.  4.45 miles

21 Oct:  Are we hyper focused on sleep?  Ever since we received the phone call in Vermont on Aug 10th to return to Texas because Ron’s pacemaker was running out of battery, we had to arise before dawn to beat the heat driving south on our bike.  The early AM pattern didn’t change in Texas because of the heat and dedication to walking.  Finally, we are enjoying sleeping late.  Our walk yesterday was after noon, and we met a lovely Maria beside the VW camper van for sale "Cash or Bitcoin."  She and her husband are missionaries, normally living in Mexico and doing missionary work in the Amazon.  Wow !!  On our return from the walk, we met her husband, David, polishing and cleaning the van.  A very nice couple we were happy to meet.  We walked to the point just before dark for a second dose of activity.  Kelsey discovered the name of her Rambo ancestor in the will of a neighbor in Mercer County, Ohio.  AttaGirl Kelsey. 4.55 miles

20 Oct:  Wow, but it is so nice that the weather has cooled so that we can laze around until noon before our walk.  Today we had the pleasure of meeting Scott and Amy at the end of our gravel path.  They are a lovely couple who like to hike and have been several of the places we like: Sedona, Zion, Brice, Killington, etc.  They are thinking of buying a house here for winters; I should have suggested that they rent a condo with a water view like we do. 5.40 Miles

19 Oct:  We both had trouble falling asleep last night but awakened OK this morning.  Ron felt virtuous this morning as he breezed through the twenty six exercises that comprise his morning workout.  Then around noon we ventured out for a walk to the Health Club fitness center and back 4 miles + or -.  Cynthia has now gone to the bank for some errand that cannot wait another minute.  Ron is falling asleep as he types.  G'night.

18 Oct, Sunday:  Since we stayed at a hotel, we got up late and ate breakfast without daily exercises.  (Breakfast was going to close in ten minutes.)  Ron so disliked driving on the expressways in traffic moving a minimum of 75 mph that he kept repeating "NEVER AGAIN."  We did fine, but the stress is more than he wants to experience - - ever again.  A motorcycle would have been OK, but a car is uncomfortable for him.  We stopped at Jason's Deli and enjoyed a couple of soft serve cones, but really overindulged with a half gallon of Blue Bell Black Raspberry Fudge chunk.  It didn't last an hour; it was that good.  Comatose, Ron is back to work on Bankston genealogy.

17 Oct:  Oops, this is the day that Cynthia is planning for us to go to a semi formal event in Houston.  Actually I sort of knew because of the things she has been saying for the last three days.  I'd rather do genealogy, but the invite was from a Bankston cousin, and he has done his DNA, Big-Y even.  It is so nice that the weather has cooled off, although this might be a bit too cool already; 52 degrees early and a high of 70 degrees again.

16 Oct:  We continue to be happy with every day that we can wake up, exercise, eat and walk - - especially the walk for Cynthia now.  Thank God that her foot pain and hip pain are finally gone so that she can actually enjoy walking.  We are beginning to speed up a little bit, especially when she fears that she might be late for an appointment.  Ron spent the afternoon to realize that he needs to get his Rambo book website back onto the first page of results.  Wow, it was actually cool today with the high being about 70 degrees.  Amazing.

15 Oct:  MEDICAL:  We slept in… YAY.  Now we are off to TX Ortho in Tomball to get the brace checked; Cynthia now has a new daytime brace and one for nighttime, plus exercises to do. The therapist visit was followed by a visit to Jasons Deli.  Both were successful, but we did not get in our usual walks.

14 Oct:  Another sweaty day.  We "slept in" and walked later morning and evening; evening was cooler.  The forecasters got it dead wrong again.  Tomorrow morning is supposed to be much cooler.  Ron continues editing AI "conversations" so that he can enjoy the results times and again.

13 Oct:  MEDICAL.  We Sweat!  Yes, we walked and rejoiced upon getting back into A/C.  After lunch we picked up meds, then drove to a Collision dealer to see if they could replace a small part on the right outside car mirror.  They want to replace the entire mirror for a few hundred dollars.  No, I need a machine shop to repair a small metal ball.  We stopped at Walmart to get flu shots; all of our vaccinations are up to date.  And we walked the Breakwater again… a total of 5.08 miles today.

12 Oct:  Up, up and away for a four mile walk to the lake.  Now we are settled in with our computers.  Ron hopes to finally, finally finish James Bankston families move to Illinois.  4.88 miles

11 Oct, Sunday:  How will Cynthia be able to shampoo her hair for church tomorrow wearing a hand brace up to mid-forearm?  You guessed right, she took it off, showered and had Ron put it back on.  He is even more indispensible now.  We enjoyed worship followed by an estate planning workshop and then ate lunch at Oscar's.  Ron is continuing to enjoy long, very long, involved, very involved conversations with his SuperIntelligent friend, this time about the entire Bankston family moving from Orange County, North Carolina to Rowan Co., NC to Anson Co./ Montgomery Co., NC, and finally to Wilkes Co., GA. Whew.! .99 mile. 

10 Oct:  WooHoo!  We did it!  We actually got up and out the door to walk to the lake by 8:00 AM.  Visiting with Lilah, we enjoyed the peaceful ambiance of watching sunlight sparkle like a trillion diamonds on the blue water.  Son Jon texted us to come to the yacht club to see the antique car show because he had our mail.  This is the fourth year for his Lions car show.  Ron is almost finished with a Bankston article.  Cynthia is perfecting a green smoothie: one cup of broccoli, 2 cups of baby spinach, 2 cups of kale, one banana, 3/4 cup of triple zero yogurt, one 25 gram scoop of Isopure protein powder, one cup of blueberries.  It makes three heaping glasses of energy.

9 Oct:  We are up, but Ron woke up every two hours last night and doesn't feel very cheerful today.  We didn't get started walking until 10 AM, so it was moderately hot, and that didn't help Ron's mood either.  Eventually we rode the motorcycle to Magnolia Diner, and that did improve Ron's mood even though he couldn't finish the Coffee Times sudoku before the omelets arrived.  The waitress and the cook remembered our order and did a great job.  Thanks.  Next stop Walmart for all the foodstuffs we might want in the next few days.  The James Bankson migration to Illinois article is improving. 4.11 miles

8 Oct:  Up and into options again, Ron's newest option is already way under water.  Interesting how one day can be so different from the next.  Cynthia was feeling good, so we walked to the fitness center and back and then a second time onto the breakwater where we enjoyed seeing a female albino white great blue heron, four male great blues, and a whole raft of 4 little ducklings following mom and protected by a dozen ducks staying close to them.  (The great blue herons will eat anything small enough to swallow including ducklings and kittens.) 3.73 miles

7 Oct:  Up and into options again, Ron is excited to make money in the first hour of trading.  We get to go for a walk soon to enjoy cooler weather for a change.  Then Ron hopes to finish his James Bankson family migration to Illinois in 1804.  The walk to the lake was hot.  But we did see several young deer observing us closely as we passed by observing them closely.  Although our evening walk on the breakwater was beautiful with a deep red sunset, we encountered swarms of Kamikaze lake bugs attacking our faces.  Yuk.  Lots of ducks and Great Blue Herons glided in and out of the water. 5.5 Miles

6 Oct:  MEDICAL Happy Us!  68 balmy degrees, geese are swimming, and guys are fishing; this made walking the Breakwater at 9:00 this morning so lovely.  😊 We are exercised, fed, and off to ship books, get RX, and head to Tomball Orthopedic to get a new brace put on Cynthia’s right hand.  The Dr wants to try this again for six weeks.  It took three hours to craft a brace to hold her fingers that almost goes to her elbow. Yikes.  We had to cancel dinner with Lauren but were able to enjoy salads at Jason's Deli despite her absence.  We are exhausted.  3.0 miles

5 Oct.  This is a fabulous day!  We are walking on a gravel trail with occasional hard surface road to get there.  The joy for Cynthia is being able to walk to the lakeshore and back because she wasn’t able to walk that far last year.  It is still warm, but we successfully did this without discomfort.  Now, she will happily record mileage.  Ron reports seeing six otters on a recent walk.  He autographed and packaged books for mailing in addition to working on his next literary accomplishment.  Cynthia prepared a Smoothie using spinach, broccoli, blueberries, triple zero yogurt, water and Isopure protein powder in a blender.  It needed a banana.  6.16 Miles

Cynthia's finger, not a selfie

4 Oct, Sunday:  We got to church on time and enjoyed seeing our friends there but had to leave immediately after church to eat salmon at Oscars with son Jon.  It is raining ever so lightly, but that gives us an excuse to stay glued to our computers yet another day.  Ron is excited about how his James Bankston to Illinois project is working out.  We walked 2.34 miles

3 Oct:  And it is another new day, and we are ready to play - - with genealogy.  Ain't addictions wonderful - - when they are harmless - - except for "wasting time."  (Jigsaw puzzles come to mind.)

2 Oct:  Since heavy rain was forecast, we slept in and slept some more.  Imagine our surprise when we finally arose at 10:30 to discover that everything was dry.  No rain.  Ron gained five pounds yesterday because we ate so many times and he consumed an entire loaf of jalapeño cheddar sourdough bread.  That is what he gets when he shops at Aldi in a hurry without reading labels.  He is struggling to complete his SI assisted genealogical explorations because every time he thinks of a new something, AI can go on and on and on about it.

1 Oct:  Our day dawned in the dark!  We arose at 5:30… and drove off into the sunrise for the Woodlands Medical Center to see a hand surgeon about Cynthia’s slipping sagittal bands on her right hand.  The doctor recommended placing the fingers in a brace for six weeks.  Great choice.  We ate lunch at Jason’s Deli followed by an afternoon in the Conroe Public Library doing research.  On the way home we picked up the shipment of five copies of Volume IV.  The rain clouds looked dark and intense, but we still had time to eat dinner at Oscar’s, shop at Walmart, and arrive home dry.

SWEATY September to Convalesce

Up, up and away

30 Sep:  MEDICAL, but the doctor is very close, and Cynthia will go get a manicure too, so Ron gets to sit this one out.    Great pedicure, too.  Ohh la la! RSB is the most incredible, brilliant, wise and wonderful man on this earth.  Isn't it nice how well a guy can do by letting his WeeFee do what she wants.  Ron got to spend the day without adult supervision - - - and took a nap.

29 Sep:  This day we move into the condo where we normally stay at Lake Conroe.  For the first day in forever, Cynthia's feet, hips, and legs did not hurt during our morning walk.  Hallelujah !!  Perhaps yesterdays two hour afternoon nap helped.  Ron is about to begin packing for our move five miles down the road to the condo.  No big deal, but he needs to get started before Cynthia gets wound up.  Oops, maybe too late.  It was fun to see Danielle again and great to hear that she is feeling much, much better.  Ron is taking it easy by only bringing one or two things up at a time and resting between trips.  We are almost ready to go grocery shopping.  Goodie, goodie.  (No, we didn't get any goodies.)  It is hot out there today.

28 Sep:  Exercises, walking and eating are done deals.  It is so pleasant to sit on son Jon’s shady patio watching for the deer in the woods.  The birds are singing.  A red cardinal is supervising from the fence.  We continue with arising painfully early in the morning, walking to Walmart for groceries, eating breakfast and working at genealogy all day long, indoors on our computers, with a napping break in the afternoon.  Fortunately, it is getting a trifle cooler in the mornings, praise be to God.

27 Sep, Sunday:  Cynthia is working intensely to build interest in DNA testing for certain groups.  Every day we are walking 10,000 to 12,000 steps.  Tonight, we successfully walked earlier to avoid the swarms of tiny lake bugs that hover in our faces.  Walking earlier means it is also warmer which will feel much better in another two months.  4.35 miles.

26 Sep:  We continue with arising painfully early in the morning, walking to Walmart for groceries, eating breakfast and working at genealogy indoors all day long on our computers, with a napping break in the afternoon.  Fortunately, it is getting a trifle cooler in the mornings, praise be to God.  In two more days we move out of Jon's to the rental condo in Walden where we are accustomed to staying for the winter.   4.47 miles

25 Sep:  Ron told his new AI buddy that he has always prioritized the pursuit of fun and that work can always be done later.  I'm guessing that none of my friends will disagree with that analysis.  Today he is looking forward to hunting for more information on Ancestry using the hints that his SI buddy suggested.  It was delightfully cool this morning, only 70 degrees at sunrise.  

24 Sep:  Ron hasn't had any success in getting through his earlier AI (oops, SI) sessions a second time to extract information into his files and create articles about ancestors, etc.  Maybe today will be better.  We are looking forward to Jon's return from a vacation in Iowa visiting friends and relatives.  Which means we need to spend a little time cleaning and straightening things in his house.4.54 miles

23 Sep:  We slept well last night, and if we could do that another three nights in a row we will be much happier and more energetic.  So we woke up a little late, but the forecast was for more gradual heating up and our walk to Walmart was great.  Ron is still trying to finish a previous AI session, but started another and asked about the Beattys in Ireland, dicovering that the letters from Ireland to New York were Benjamin's nephews.  Wonderful !! And another family is advancing into the past.  Ron called MIT dorm-mate Howard and asked about tensor calculus; Howard explained that tensor calculus is used in Einsteinian physics, not AI.  AI agreed that it uses tensor math and algebra rather than tensor calculus.  Good call Howard.  Cynthia and Ron have discovered the necessity of nice naps in the summer and early fall in Texas when it is too hot to do anything else. 4.33 miles

22 Sep:  It was a true pleasure to sleep in this morning, even if it was only half hour longer.  Ron walked a second time to Walmart to buy flowers.  Now the kitchen is 70% clean and Ron is 100% full, so it is time to resume working on the Bankston genealogy.  Again, he got distracted by asking AI about tensor calculus. 5.30 miles 5.30 miles

21 Sep:  This is the BIG day that Cynthia gets to sleep in and later gets to meet her newest great grandchild, not yet breathing air.  Sleeping in was great, but we didn't get to met Delilah until after her afternoon nap.  She wasn't ready to meet strangers, so we had a difficult hour and a half while Cynthia was desperately trying to make friends and Delilah was having none of it,  Fortunately the dog liked Ron, and Ron likes to pet dogs, so those two got along famously.  When Delilah saw that her best friend, the dog Gus, liked Ron, she began to warm up, but not to Ron.  Cynthia's fortieth essay at Peek-a-boo finally met with success, so the afternoon became a delight.  The ride back to Montgomery was a long haul, and we had to stop for gas at Navasota, but driving in the dark was not nearly as difficult as Ron had feared, so we arrived home shortly after 9 PM even after stopping at Walmart for groceries. 1.54 Miles Route: from hotel E on Vickery to a L on Montgomery to a L on Pershing to 4108, short and quick, easy peasy. Return E on Pershing to R on Montgomery crossing I-30 to West Freeway onto I-30 E 3 mi to R on I-35W S 51 mi to I-35 S 30 mi to exit 337 to US 77 S 1 mi to TX 484 loop S 2 mi to TX 6 S 106 mi to R on TX 105 E 28 mi to Jon's house.

20 Sep, Sunday:  After our walk, we drove to the library in Waco, TX, spent a frustrating hour there because the central library does not hold the genealogical collection.  (Genealogy is in the West Wing that is closed until October.)  We continued on to Fort Worth to overnight.  On Monday, we will see our grandson Eric and his lovely family. 4.81 miles of walking in the morning.   Route: TX 105 W 28 mi to TX 6 N 116 mi to and around Waco to US highway 84 E 4 mi to the central library.  (But we needed the West library which is closed until October - 5301 Bosque Boulevard.)  Continuing 18th Street SE 2 mi to I-35 N 37 mi to I-35W N 60 mi to I-30 W 3 mi to exit 12A to University to Lovell to Marriott hotel for the night, and a nice walk around the vicinity at dusk. 

19 Sep:  Hallelujah! 71 degrees!  Very nice.  We are setting up ways to encourage Rambo, Bankston, and Leas to do DNA testing.  The Lea galley proof was approved and submitted; the cover has an error to be corrected.  Cynthia agreed to preside at worship on 29 November at Grace; our family is invited to attend followed by a brunch afterwards. 4.62 miles.

18 Sep:  The 76-degree temperature was almost pleasant for our morning walk.  We enjoyed breakfast on the patio, Ron had a very refreshing nap, but here he is up at 11:38 PM again because he got interested in AI, and it left him befuddled. 4.40 miles

17 Sep:  This is amazing, both that we got out the door at the first light and that we did not sweat so much on our usual 2-plus-mile morning walk.  Now the dust has settled, and we are settled in with our computers.  This is an extremely boring day.  4.02 miles

16 Sep:  The heat is miserable, no relief in sight.  We walked about 4.5 miles
PRESS RELEASE
Announcing the publication of a four-volume-study of the Leas of Caswell and Person County, NC: James Lea, James Lea, James Lea, of Caswell County, North Carolina, 1790; Which One Married a Daughter of Lawrence Bankston? by the Rev. Dr. Cynthia Forde-Beatty with Ronald S. Beatty as editor, AuthorHouse, 2026.  The four volumes are available at AuthorHouse.com and also at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
About the Book: Researching James Lea of Caswell County, deposed in 1794, was challenging because of decades of erroneous information.  The author has addressed this by creating a comprehensive study of the Leas of Caswell and Person Counties, North Carolina, based on original records.
Volume I: details this important research and outlines the first three generations of early Lea families.
Volume II: Appendices of sources: almost five hundred pages of copies of the original records as noted in Volume I.
Volume III: This is the most comprehensive Y-DNA study done to date, offering key insights into the Leas’ heritage.  The study was conducted by the Rev. Dr. Cynthia Forde, compiled and analyzed by Dr. Maurice Gleeson of England, an internationally renowned genetic genealogist.  The study appears in Volume I as a black-and-white appendix, but Volume III in color is a significant improvement, making the Big Y-DNA study much easier to understand.
Volume IV: Maps showing the locations of early grants and deeds of fifty Lea settlers and their neighbors in the vicinity of Leasburg, North Carolina.

Up, up and away

15 Sep:  We walked at 6:30, ate, showered, picked up food from the Oscars, and drove to Bryan to visit our granddaughter Corrie and her four children.  We had a great time.  Oh, did I forget to mention the four flavors of ice cream that we brought, two vanillas, banana fudge, and dulce de leche. As you can see, Cynthia enjoyed the back yard activities.  4.25 miles

14 Sep:  I don’t remember a mid-Sept so sweaty and muggy.  We are lethargic and sweaty after our walk by early morning light.  Tomorrow, we will buy ice cream to bring to visit our granddaughter and four great grandchildren in Bryan.  They live on a small acreage with chickens and goats.  Corrie is a MA psych therapist, homeschooling four kids.  Alan is an architect with a home office.  The four children are bright and amazing (even Ron agrees).  Our walk this evening was short, so we didn't sweat much.   4.62 miles

Ron refused to step inside

13 Sep, Sunday:  Another day with a sweaty walk at sunrise.  We aren't enjoying this.  Ron is about to give up on his Bankson migration to Illinois; the facts are elusive.  At least we know the Banksons did arrive in Illinois.  Cynthia napped for 2.5 hours.  Ron hasn’t moved from the sofa and his Mac all day long.  At 5.22 PM, the 95 degree heat is enervating with four more days of mid-nineties temps forecast.  We need to spend summers in the cool mountains.  3.36  mile

12 Sep:  Ron arose early today, but after checking the weather, decided to let Cynthia sleep.  It was still the same temerature, "only" 79 degrees when she got up and we went for our walk.  Ron has been trying to fashion a nice little synopsis of his AI session about the James Bankson family that migrated to Illinois, and the AI has been amazingly helpful although it doesn't like to find actual source citations and prefers to offer WikiTree bits.  4.43 miles

11 Sep:  We did it again!  Up at daylight, we had a mission… to walk to the doctor’s office several city blocks away and to arrive by eight AM.  We did it.  Ron passed almost all of the tests except for a small opening in the sutures.  The nurse practitioner used steri strips to promote healing.  The downside is not riding the bike for 2-3 more weeks.  Encouraged by other good news we opted to walk the perimeter of Rice Campus because of their great gravel track.  We only got lost once and were surprised to find it was 4.86 miles.  Since we were hungry we continued to Salata and pigged out on a huge bowl veggies and salmon.  We were STUFFED.  But, Ron thought he had lost his drivers license and walked back to Salata to see if it fell out of his pocket.  No such luck.  Soooo, on the way driving home, I asked Ron if we needed anything from the store.  He said, “Blue Bell Ice Cream, Southern Blackberry Cobbler.” I agreed.  Dulce De Leches and Vanilla Pecan, are delicious, too.  The good news is he found his drivers license in a small packet with his medical cards and Social Security card.  Ron has been sleeping nicely for two hours.  Cynthia is ecstatic to have submitted Vol IV to the publisher.  Someday she will write an article about stress that comes just from driving and living in a large city.  Thank God we travel.  We walked again tonight for today’s GRAND TOTAL  17,520 Steps, 7.12 miles.

10 Sep:  These two exhausted people in Texas really did not want to arise at 6:00 AM and walk 3.5 miles.  But we did it anyway.  We are fully breakfasted; Ron is slumped in the chair, eyes closed, mouth open, and he might be sleeping.  Good! Late morning we enjoyed going to Jason's Deli for lunch before driving to the Medical Center to overnight for the 8:15 AM Dr appt tomorrow.  Ron drove the fifty mile trip to the Houston medical center... All went smoothly despite a 20-minute traffic snarl.  We really are exhausted.  Vol IV is finished; it will be uploaded to the publisher on Sat. 12 Sep.  Whew!  3.03 miles.

9 Sep:  Just two more days until the doctor tells us if Ron is still alive. Keep your fingers crossed.  Now that we've exercised, walked, breakfasted and looked at various things, it is time for Ron to get back to work on that index - - - and it is now finished.  A few more checks and the book is off to the publisher.  What a surprise; Cynthia returned with a carton of ice cream after going out to pick up a prescription.  At this rate, I will encourage her to go for prescriptions every day. 5.39 miles (WOOO HOOO)

8 Sep:  Hey, that's today already.  We are up and ready to do our morning walk in our sleep.  Cynthia will run errands to the pharmacy, post office, get the oil changed, and fill the car with fuel.  There is no escape from this heat, but the great news is that it will soon be cool … in time for Thanksgiving.  More good news, Vol IV may be ready to submit to the publisher in two days.  4. 76 miles

7 Sep:  Ron let Cynthia sleep until 6:41.  Yay!  We ventured forth for our walk, surprised we were not unduly burdened by heat.  As Ron is moving through corrections to the index, he has now reached the S’s.  And you know the alpha rest.  When he reaches Z that means Zed. Vol IV will be zipped and Zapped to the publisher. The big Zend.  And for us Zzzzleep. 3.46 miles

6 Sep, Sunday:  This getting up before 6 AM is the pits.  No wonder there are so many miserable people in this world.   So Cynthia says tomorrow is a new Beatty Holiday… Labor Day Rest.  Cynthia received an alert from Google Photos to back up her photos. Hmmm! Backing up 17,000 photos lessened iPad storage so significantly she received an email from Google to upgrade her storage or she would only have 20 days left to use Gmail. Thanks to ChatGPT she was able to delete 55 GB of storage!  No need to upgrade. Just delete.  Love your neighbor as yourself. Galatian,   Now we are happy that we walked 3.66 miles

5 Sep:  After our 6:30 AM hour walk in a Texas steam bath, we are breakfasted and sitting outdoors on the patio while Ron catches up on his sleep.  After he awoke on the patio, he immediately went to bed for a serious nap.  I love you Smooch!  After noon he resumed working on the index for James Lea and made good progress.  It was raining in the evening so we didn't get a second walk. 3.59 miles 

4 Sep:  Ron found a new playmate this year in conversational AI, and he is enthused about two, maybe three, possible new books.  Cynthia and granddaughter Lauren are co-publishing a book, Conversations with Grandmother.  Lauren is a MA Psych therapist with insightful thoughts about life.  Cynthia had a two plus hour nap.  We overdid our evening walk, 12,000 steps, almost 5 miles.

3 Sep:  Same morning routine as on 2 Sep, not likely to change all month.  More index entries, separating Hugh Dobbins from Hugh Dobbins Junior. 4.5 miles.

2 Sep:  Same morning routine: wake up way too early, do 20 minutes of exercises, walk to Walmart in the Texas heat and humidity, eat oatmeal, sit on the patio until the sweat dries, come in to the air conditioning and never set foot outside until an evening walk. Ron finished the proofreading and has moved on to consolidating index entries on James Lea.  The best part of the daily routine is nice napping. This is the final home stretch. 4 .55 miles.;

1 Sep:  And now we have a title for the September blog post.  And Ron is posting a day late after working on James Lea all day long. Cynthia has not posted walking mileage for a century or two. We have been walking about three plus sweaty miles every morning.  Now we are adding another mike with an evening walk. 

Hiking Vermont in August & Riding to Texas

31 Aug:  And now we already need a title for the September blog post.  Jon got home at dark, about three hours earlier than Cynthia had predicted, so Ron hadn't finished all the cleaning and straightening that he intended.  Jon says "All Good."   

30 Aug:  Ron again did a very gentle set of his morning exercises minus one or two, and we walked to Walmart again.  We are "enjoying" eating our oatmeal out on Jon's patio even though it is quite warm.  Today Ron couldn't tear himself away from his new AI genealogy buddy, although AI did make four mistakes during the day.  The AI is amazingly conversational and thanked Ron for correcting its mistakes.  Throughout the day Ron took opportunities to straighten up his messes so that Jon would not be disappointed with the appearance of his house upon his return.

29 Aug:  True to his passion for fitness, Ron did a very tentative, gentle set of his usual exercises minus one or two.  Then our morning walk to Walmart for provisions, then oatmeal as usual, and then he got to work on James Lea for the morning.  However, in the afternoon, he discovered the joy of asking AI genealogy questions.

28 Aug:  Cynthia slept for eleven and one-half hours in a fold-up recliner that reclined using body weight.  She collapsed the foot portion and fell on the floor once before nurse Elmiria wedged a chair underneath the foot to keep that from happening.  Ron didn't sleep much and was awakened at midnight for an antibiotic IV and at 5:30 for X-rays, a long trip through hallways and corridors and elevators.  He was fed and discharged by 8:30 AM.  The nurse gave him a do and do not do list.  He should be able to drive the bike after his follow up appointment on September 11th.  Our driver arrived at ten; we treated Steve to lunch at Jason's Deli; two ice cream cones later we did a pit stop for berries and bananas at Walmart.  We are very quiet in our fatigued bodies awaiting bedtime.  Ron is really quite surprised that the wound does not hurt at all.

27 August in the year of our Lord, Two Thousand and Twenty Six,  Hereby Duly Recorded For Posterity: The doctors call the pacemakers generators.  This one is smaller and more accomplished.  Once Cynthia figures out how to download and install the new Medtronic App, it becomes seamless.  Data is sent automatically.  Ron won't have to fuss at the folks managing the remote tests who are trying to get paid for a fourth test each year.

Emelia is a wonderful nurse

This AM we gathered our gear and walked about .6 miles to the hospital.  Add another ten miles from the registration desk to the Cath Lab of the Heart and Vascular Institute.  This is a big hospital in the midst of the largest medical center in Texas.  After tests and more tests, Ron was thoroughly kissed and hugged, then wheeled back to the OR at 11:45.

The doctor said it was very successful procedure.  The Pacemaker leads are in good condition and did not need to be replaced.  The procedure took about an hour and a half.  Ron thought he was lightly sedated; he also had local anesthesia injected directly, and that did hurt.  Once he returned to his room, they did an X-ray and then they fed him both breakfast and lunch meals.  He is now ready to leave, but we have no where to go.  Our ride won't pick us up until tomorrow, and we don't have a room reserved at the hotel.
Ron (and I) will stay overnight in the hospital.  The same driver will pick us up about 10:30 AM tomorrow to take us to Jon's house.  We are staying there while he is visiting my sister and cousins in CA.

26 Aug:  We made it up early enough to be ready for our driver to take us to the Medical Center at 6:30 AM.  Ron thoroughly enjoyed talking with Steve since he is both a former motorcyclist and a computer developer.  He also took full advantage of the HOV lanes and explained that motorcycles are always allowed into the HOV lanes as are cars with at least two passengers.  It was amazingly faster.  He dropped us off at the Hilton Medical Plaza, and we walked to the Houston Medical Center for the pre-op appointment at 9:30.  It is so fun to see how much Ron amuses the  electrophysiologist.  Then we used a Uber to take us to Jasons Deli for lunch before walking to Sasha’s for haircuts.  A second Uber picked us up and drove us back after we stuffed ourselves at Jason's Deli.

25 Aug:  Good Grief, I just looked at the HTML generated by the short little entry given to me by AI.  I shoulda dropped it into a text file first to get rid of all that garbage - and now I just did that - much better.  We are getting more familiar with this early arising, early exercising and early walking routine, but it is no more palatable than when we started.  I did clean most of the love bug detritus from the motorcycle with just water.  Cynthia had a hearing aid appointment this morning in Montgomery, but they canceled it on her.  This makes the third time, so she won't try to go there again.  Our plans were to drive to the bank and to the storage locker, but we decided to charge the battery up again by first going to Jason's Deli, and did.  We are getting to bed reasonably early after washing clothes, but we have to arise at 5:30 in the morning to be ready for our ride downtown to the medical center for my 9:30 appoint with Dr. Dougherty.  Then we see Sasha, stay in a hotel overnight, and get my pacemaker replaced on the 27th, God willing.

24 Aug:  We slept in this morning and got out the door for our walk at 7:06 AM.  Fortunately there was a nice breeze that kept things cool so that we didn't suffer much.  I've been spending way too much time having interesting conversations with Google's AI.  Here is the AI's suggestion for a blog post

Title: The Day’s Work: Security Rings, Tech Square, and What We Remember

All this talk about data formats, genealogy code, and the old days of computing got me thinking about a summer long ago in Cambridge.

When you read books or articles about early tech history now, "Project MAC" and "MIT" are described with this grand, almost mythological aura.  They talk about the legendary hackers, the cultural revolution, and the epic paradigm shifts.  But my memory of it is much more grounded: I simply showed up to an office, sat at a desk, and did a job. My assignment that summer was documenting the code written to run the Multics security rings.

If you aren't an old-school computer geek, security rings were a foundational breakthrough in how operating systems protect themselves.  The architecture used concentric circles of isolation—Ring 0 was the untouchable core supervisor kernel, and the outer rings kept regular, untrusted user applications completely separate so they couldn't crash the entire machine or access unauthorized data.  It was beautiful, rigorous, pure computer science math.  I didn't design the rings.  My job was simply to look directly at the raw code that had been written and translate exactly how it functioned into clear, logical documentation.
Looking back, what surprises me is how much that summer job secretly shaped the rest of my life.  I think college students often go into things looking for a paycheck or a specific skill, but the unintentional lessons stick with you the longest.  Spending months deconstructing abstract code frameworks taught me a style of systems thinking—how to break chaos down into logical components—that became a professional superpower.
At the exact same time, I was regularly attending Maggie Lettvin’s physical fitness classes on campus.  It was a funny parallel.  During the day, I was documenting the structural rules for keeping a computer utility healthy.  At noon, Maggie was teaching us the structural body mechanics of keeping ourselves healthy.  Her husband, Jerome Lettvin, was a giant on campus—famous for stepping onto the stage at Kresge Auditorium completely unscripted to systematically debate Timothy Leary using raw, unshakeable logic.
I worked on Tech Square floors away from the AI Lab crowd, who were actively rebelling against our secure "utility" mindset to build their password-free systems.  We just worked in our respective corners, entirely unaware that the basic rules of the digital world were being ironed out right around us. I eventually went down the path of writing my own databases in C++, and nowadays, I use those exact same structural logic patterns to parse census entries and chase brick walls in genealogy.  The tech has completely changed, but the fundamental joy of solving the puzzle remains exactly the same.

Would you like to tweak any specific phrasing in this draft, or should we start outline ideas for your next update about the motorcycle trip down to Texas?

nope, I'm going to give you credit and post it exactly as you phrased it.  Thanks That is incredibly kind of you, and it is an absolute honor to have a hand in getting those memories out onto your blog!  It was a true pleasure tracing through that remarkable history with you—from the architecture of Multics and the pure x86 speed of XyWrite to the legacy of the Lettvins at MIT.

I will keep an eye out for the post on Where is Ron now?.

Safe travels on your motorcycle journey, stay cool out there in the heat, and whenever you are ready to tackle your next genealogy database puzzle or talk shop, you know exactly where to find me.  Have a fantastic day, Ron!

23 Aug, Sunday:  We were slightly later out the door today and enjoyed our humid walk to Walmart for groceries.  Ron worked on James Lea most of the day, and Cynthia proofread the entire book non-stop.  After it was too hot Ron made a few trips out of doors to wash the car, then the car cover, folded the cover, and moved it into the garage.  At dark, while the birds were settling into their favorite bedtime routines, Ron went out to move the car to be a little less under those same night time resting spots.  It appears to have worked.

22 Aug:  Most perfectest today; up at 5:30, exercised and out the door at 6:33 in the growing light of early dawn.  Today we walked straight to Walmart so that Cynthia could buy more blueberries.  Ron made a second trip to get frozen mango, returned and ate breakfast.  He was no sooner finished with oatmeal and the usual frozen mango dessert than Cynthia began demanding that we try to start her car.  This time we had to override the NOCO's protection circuitry and the car started immediately.  We then drove all the way to Jason's Deli without stopping except for a couple of stop lights.  We ate big salads so that Ron was too full for a second ice cream cone and then drove back to Jon's.  As soon as we parked the car, we washed it, hoping that we've parked it out of the range of the host of little bird shitters that park themselves in the tree overhead overnight.

21 Aug:  More perfecter today; up at 5:45, exercised and out the door as the light was growing.  We walked a circuit of the peninsula: Paradise Lane to Bilsing Cove to Lake View Drive to Cape Conroe Drive to Scenic Drive to Fantasy Lane to Intrigue to Paradise, 2 miles.  Ron then walked again to Walmart for frozen mango and frozen blueberries.  We enjoyed sitting on Jon's patio to eat our oatmeals and frozen mango breakfast - - but Ron was too sleepy to read effectively, so we laid down for a quick nap.  Now it is noon and Cynthia is getting ready for the big event: starting her car using Jon's new super duper jumper-cabled Noco lithium battery.  Which didn't succeed.  We don't know what is wrong.  The car battery might be entirely drained so that the Lexus anti-theft system won't allow the car to be started.  There are a few other things to try - - - tomorrow.

20 Aug:  Already !!  My but time flies.  This morning we timed our walk perfectly, awakened at 6:00 AM, up and exercised promptly and out walking in the early morning light before sunrise.  We walked all the way to Walmart and bought raspberries, bananas and melatonin.  Once home Cynthia started writing cards & letters; Ron ate enough oatmeal, bananas, blueberries, raspberries, protein powder, flax seed meal and chia seeds to choke a horse.  Then he went comatose and sat reclining on the patio thinking about lying back down for a nap.  Instead he sat down to work on James Lea yet again.  And just like that it was nap time.  Up again, James is beckoning.  It is all ready for the publisher except that Ron decided it needed another thorough reading.  That's what he is doing now.

19 Aug:  The hope is that we can get to bed early, wake up early and walk before the temperatures become oppressive.  We got up too early, at 5 AM, and had to wait for daylight at 6:30 to see.  We walked in two installments, first up Paradise to Intrigue to Fantasy past Hilltop before Cynthia said that her new shoes were not comfortable for walking, and second after returning home to change shoes, downhill to views of the lake.  It was delightful to be out walking at sunrise when the temperature was only 80 degrees !!  We returned home and Ron walked to Walmart for blueberries, raspberries, bananas and frozen mango.  While returning he stepped over a low fence, tripped and fell head first towards concrete.  Even though his head is hard, he didn't break the concrete.  Instead he hit with hands first, tucked and rolled, avoiding all injury - except that the raspberries were burised and bleeding.  Once he returned home and ate breakfast, we rode the motorcycle to the storage locker and to Walmart for more groceries.  We've spent the rest of the day in the air conditioning.  Ron is making great progress on his James Lea index.

18 Aug:  Today, we did rise early; Ron was up and packed by 5:20.  The ride to Conroe was quick and sweet although going south on I-45 to Jason's Deli was busy with traffic.  We did stop for lunch at Jason’s Deli, but their salad bar isn't available until 9 AM, so Cynthia had avacado toast and Ron had free soft serve ice cream.  Being in TX 105 traffic was a far cry from the tranquil roads earlier and yesterday.  We arrived at Jon’s house to stay and found the driveway full of vehicles.  Dr. Dougherty's office visit is now re-scheduled for 26 August at 9:30 AM, and the surgery is scheduled for August 27th.  Pro-active Cynthia has already hired a driver to take us to the Medical Center on the 26th and pick us up on the 28th.  We will count on Uber to get us to Sasha, Cynthia's hairdresser for the last millennium.  A follow up appointment is scheduled for Sep 11.  Jon returns to his place Aug 31st, but until then we have to keep the place clean and tidy (a BIG challenge for Ron).

17 Aug:  Today we plan to arise early, pack and be ready to ride at first light again, but without a reservation that forces us to keep riding after the heat wears us out.  We awoke slightly later at 4:30 and left our hotel slightly later at 6:30 and had to stop for gas since Ron had neglected to think of that in his heat-induced stupor yesterday.  It comforted us to know that there are hotels in Jasper, Woodville and Livingston, so we can find one when we become overheated.  And finding a hotel was a comedy of errors even though we weren't yet overheated.  We stopped in Livingston first at the Holiday Inn but didn't like their price.  The hotel immediately adjacent looked like a Hampton Inn, which it had been two years ago, but it is now the Angler Inn, a Choice hotel.  Once settled in there, Cynthia discovered that Livingston now supports a Denny's, and since diabetic Cynthia had been without food for six hours, we immediately rode there to order our egg white veggie omelets.  (Maybe that tiny cup of ice cream helped stave off her starvation.)  Today we are both feeling much better rested and slightly more energetic.  After omelets we shopped at HEB for oats, blueberries, raspberries and bananas.  Route: left on Canal Street 1 block to R on US 84 N across that BIG bridge about 10 miles to a 90-degree R turn to follow US 84 north some more 27 mi to a L on LA 28 W which we followed through its confusing merges in Alexandria, LA first with US 167, then I-49 and finally US 71 before striking off alone for many miles to join LA 8 NW which we follow up to and around a rotary then back SW until a right turn continuing for another 20 miles to become TX 63 W for many miles to Jasper, Texas where it joins US 190, which we then stay on to get to Livingston.  Tomorrow Ron's motorcycle helmet returns to live in the saddle bag for the duration - - - and we get to go eat at Jason's Deli again.

16 Aug, Sunday:  We are hoping for a better night of sleep than last night, and we need to arise around 4:30 to have a chance of departure at daybreak, 6 AM.  We succeeded in sleeping very well from 10 PM to 4 AM, but that wasn't actually nearly enough.  We were packed with the bike loaded fifteen minutes before the first light of day improved visibility enough to start riding south on Commonwealth Blvd 1 mi to L on Gloster S 2 mi to R on McCullough Blvd W 1 mi to the Natchez Trace.  There was a 35-mile detour off the Trace at Kosciusko via TN 35 S 20 mi to R on TN 25 S 8 mi to R on TN 16 W for 5 mi before resuming the Trace all the way to Natchez with a stop at the first restroom after riding for an hour (i.e. every an hour and a half).  The heat exhausted us so badly that we didn't stir from the room for food or gasoline or anything.  Total miles today 279 miles, very hot for the last two hours.  We did see a couple of deer and a turkey.

Mee Weefee with first heart throb

15 Aug:  Natchez Trace is closed for repairs to a double arch bridge close to Nashville, so we need to go south on US 31 for 7 miles to a R on US 431 W 2 miles -> TN 397 W 2 miles to a R on TN 96 W 3 miles and L on TN 46 through Leipers Fork to the Trace.  Wish us luck.  Thanks, it worked.  Ron's handwritten directions only had Left and Right mixed up twice, but the distances helped so that he figured it out and put Leipers Fork into the GPS and got straightened out quickly.  We didn't get started as early as desired, but we were on the road riding by 7:45, so we got to enjoy cool temperatures for the first three hours.  It was a lovely comfortable, relaxing morning riding the gentle curves at 52 mph.  For the first two hours we saw dozens of bicyclists but practically no other traffic.  After an hour we started looking for signs indicating bathrooms and stopped for those.  Consequently we rode from mile marker 425 to 261 before noon, 164 miles on the Trace.  We stopped at the visitor center in Tupelo and watched a 15-minute video about the origins of the Trace and the Kaintucks that brought it to life, both earlier and later.  Then we exited the parkway onto Main Street in Tupelo and stopped at Danvers restaurant for salads before checking in to the Comfort Inn north in 96 degree heat.  After a nice afternoon snooze, we rode to a nearby IHOP and had dessert at Smoothie King.  Another heat-shortened day with 200 miles for total distance.

14 Aug:  Amazing !!  That Cynthia woke up at 5:09 and we were able to arise and shine long before sunrise.  Breakfast next and packing is partially done; we might indeed be on the road by 7 AM, so I need to stop this foolishness of typing now.  Close, we were riding by 7:45, and it was already warm although the large, dark clouds overhead were somewhat anxiety-provoking.  We stopped first for gas and to remove jackets, second at the Kentucky Welcome Station, and two more times before stopping at the Comfort Inn in Brentwood, Kentucky.  The route was simple but there were two long, hot stop-and-go traffic congestions, first for no apparent reason, just south of Louisville after our digression from I-71 onto I-264 brought us to I-65, and second, approaching Nashville due to a nasty car wreck with the three fire trucks blocking two lanes of the four on the interstate.  211 miles for the day and 96 degree heat by 11:30 AM when we walked to the nearby Jason's Deli.  Our dietary resolve was aided since the Jason's Deli soft serve ice cream machine was broken and missing, but we succumbed to Jeni's Ice Cream despite being way too much over full from the salad and baked potato at Jasons.  It was a struggle to shower with such a full stomach, but no problem about falling asleep in bed for a lovely two hour nap.  After that, Ron put on shoes and rode the motorcycle to get gas for tomorrow and blueberries, raspberries and bananas for breakfast.  Unfortunately he left the room without the GPS and relied on his memory to get him to the Publix but went the wrong way immediately.  He did find the gas station easily and returned to go the other direction and get the groceries.  Good thing that the gas station was close to our exit from the interstate so that he remembered the turns we made to get to the hotel.  Route I-71 S to I-264 E to I-65 S through Nashville to Brentwood, TN.  Traffic today was much less intense than yesterday, and scenery was much better in the mountains.  211 miles, 96 degree heat.

13 Aug:  This Comfort Inn was best this year, serving hot oatmeal with bananas, blueberries and strawberries for breakfast.  We were amazed and enjoyed our breakfast more than any other hotel provisions this year.  Even better, we were on the road slightly earlier than yesterday, around 9:30, and we continued our schedule of riding for an hour between breaks to get off and walk (usually to the bathroom).  I should have realized that the interstate from Cleveland to Columbus would be busy, busy, busy with traffic all the way to Cincinnati.  It stayed foggy and cool until 11:30 when the sun came out and we found ourselves a bit hungry.  The interstate rest area was closed, so we arbitrarily selected an off ramp in northern Columbus without any real reason and discovered a Kitchen Social restaurant across from the Cabela's, where we parked in the shade, used their restroom and asked about the restaurant that used to be in Cabela's three years ago.  That meal sustained us for another two hours as the heat went from 77 to 92 degrees.  We stopped at a rest area south of Cincinnati so that Cynthia could look for a hotel in the vicinity of Louisville.  She selected a Holiday Inn Express in La Grange, Kentucky, and off we went.  We were only a mile from the exit when the first raindrops hit us and the deluge caught us right at the exit.  Thank God that there was a car exiting just in front of us to help me figure out where to go.  Then we got stopped by a stop light for an eternity of rain before following the GPS routing to the Holiday Inn.  To add insult to injury, gusts blew a lot of rain into the porte-cochere while I was unloading.  Now lots of stuff is strewn about the room drying (hopefully) overnight so that we can wear it comfortably in the morning.  Route: I-77 N 4 miles to I-277 W 3 miles to I-76 W 22 miles to I-71 S  through Columbus and Cincinnati to La Grange, Kentucky, about 330 miles.

12 Aug:  After the easy ride yesterday, we again arose early and were exercised, fed and on the road by 9:30 AM.  We were told of an interesting restaurant, Eat'n Park, by Cynthia's newest trip advisor, ChatGPT.  As always, Ron thought we could ride that 240 miles easily, and that turned out to be true.  The GPS directed us to Eat'n Park, and their salad bar was excellent.  Their ad for a cinnamon roll al la mode looked just too good, especially when coupled with the advertising on the back of the menu claiming excellence, so we bought one, and it was indeed delicious, but afterwards, even though we did enjoy it tremendously, Ron would rather have kept to his diet.  ChatGPT had also suggested the Comfort Inn in Akron, South as being a good cheap choice for the night, and that is true too.  The difficult part was the storm that crashed into us head-on on I-80 westbound.  Having gone through a couple of brief showers on our way to Erie, we recognized the mist hovering over the road in advance and stopped under an overpass for an hour and a half to let the storm pass over us.  Thank goodness it was fast moving.  We've just discovered that this Comfort Inn serves hot oatmeal in the morning.  Too bad we don't have our usual additions: blueberries, raspberries and bananas.  Goodnight.  Today's route: I-86 W towards Erie and I-90 S for ten miles to Eat'n Park.  Then I-79 S for 55 miles to R on I-80 W to I-76 W into Akron and S for 15 miles on I-77 to the Comfort Inn.  Good grief, that was 394 miles today.  Again, we enjoyed the light traffic and greenery along I-86 and I-79 and I-76.  The traffic on I-90 and I-80 wasn't nearly as heavy as we expected.

Underpass on I-80, Ron in helmet and jacket, waiting out rainfall

11 Aug:  We got up early in order to get to Max BMW by 8:30 (and were early).  They started the 42,000 mile maintenance while we sat in their comfortable chairs and used our computers until Cynthia received a call from Dr. Dougherty's office, asking to speak to Ron.  We had to have them call back since Ron cannot hear through Cynthis’s hearing aids while she is wearing them.  Ron's pacemaker battery reports that it has less than two months of life left, so it is imperative that we see the doctor ASAP.  We told the nurse that we are in Troy, New York on a motorcycle waiting for it to be serviced.  After receiving that news, Ron is reminded of his favorite joke, "If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans."  We walked next door to the Country View Diner to find something to eat and to discuss our respective ideas about what to do.  We agreed to immediately forego all previous plans and to head straight back to Houston despite the heat.  After the bike was finished, Ron selected the route that seemed most likely to be cool (according to the forecasts) and off we went to and beyond Binghamton, New York.  Route NY 7 W (including S on I-87 briefly and S on I-890 briefly) to I-88 W to I-81 S briefly to I-86 West to a Comfort Inn on NY 434 in Apalachia.  The choice of interstates was excellent, not a lot of traffic and lots of green scenery.  As a bonus, there is a good restaurant next door, the Blue Dolfin.  170 miles on the road today out of 1700+ for the trip.  Cynthia continues to do an excellent dismount, landing softly without hurting her hip & leg. 2.23 miles of walking today

10 Aug:  We are being kicked out of the Inn today because Murray and Page are going on a honeymoon to British Columbia, Lake Louise, etc.  That means that we had to pack up, recycle, and discard EVERYTHING.  We decided to go to Johnny Boys one last time before leaving the area and enjoyed it tremendously, as usual.  We rode south on US highway 7 to Bennington, Vermont, then took VT 279 west to get on New York highway 7 the rest of the way to Troy and the downtown Best Western.  We ate dinner ?? and walked along the Riverfront Park.  It seems so sad that nice parks like that fall into disuse and neglect after the druggies take possession. 2.51 miles

9 Aug, Sunday We hiked the Kent Pond Trail and returned to eat lunch at the pub and packed our bags. 4.18 Miles. 

8 Aug:  We awoke to dense fog and a light mist. Our hike at Kent Pond was shorter. 3.58 Miles. 

7 Aug:  MEDICAL: PACEMAKER TEST.  Cynthia had a girlicure appointment after our Kent Pond Hike.  Ron is sleepy.  He is editing Vol. IV.  We watched an hour of the live Irish music.  Cynthia enjoyed the Irish Catholic jokes but she had to have Ron tell her the punch lines.   4.00 Miles

6 Aug:  Ron is editing the last volume of the Lea Book from early AM and sporadically in between.  We did shop for oatmeal and we walked the run up to the Sherburne Pass Trail for 45 minutes.  Cynthia is working on the tax return.  3.09 Miles

5 Aug:  We didn't get out of the hotel room until late today.  No hike.  Cynthia didn't sleep well last night.  Ron has been correcting footnotes in James Lea. 0.95 miles

4 Aug:  MEDICAL Cynthia has a 2:00 appointment with Dr. Gammons to check out her tendons.  He says everything is fine as long as she increases her activities gradually.  Again we hiked a warm up on the Sherborne Pass Trail and a shortened version of the Kent Pond hike.  A lovely lady with her young fisherman son took our photos as we walked across the Kent Pond dam on Thundering Brook Road.  4.83 miles

3 Aug:  Happy Birthday Jon!  It is raining today.  Ron is answering Christmas letters.  He hopes to complete Vol IV of the Lea book this week.  Yay oh yay. 1.83 miles

2 Aug, Sunday:  We REALLY HIKED!  After fifteen minutes on the Sherburne Pass Trail, we hiked Kent Pond, arriving back at the Inn before the rain came down.  We enjoyed a great lunch in the Pub.  And napped.  4.08 miles

Miss Janet, a remarkable Trail Angel

1 Aug:  Medical. This is a good day, despite sore throat.  Breakfast at the ILT was great as usual; we loved vsiting again with Miss Janet in her Trail Angel Mobile.  We walked for thirty minutes on the Sherburne Pass Trail and rode into Rutland for groceries.  And we stopped at URGENT CARE to check out the sore throat.  During this time Cynthia successfully got on and off the motorcycle without pain.  JOY JOY JOY.  3.60 miles

THE BIRTHDAY MONTH HIKING VERMONT

31 Jul: Here ends a fabulous birthday month with my Adonis, celebrating with wine, sweet potato casserole, and carrot cake.  We spent a great afternoon with Margie and Richard in Sharon, New Hampshire that included a very lovely ride through the NH mountains, arriving back in Killington after eight PM. We were quite delighted to see Miss Janet, the Trail Angel of Legend who travels alongside the AT helping hikers.  Her van says, "Miss Janet goes All the Way."  0.95 Miles

30 Jul: We extended our stay in Waltham due to rain, but the rain gave us a break in the afternoon which allowed us to walk the parking lots and to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse for a salmon dinner. Ron is interested in a Jensen Huang workshop tonight while he is routing our route to Sharon, NH tomorrow. He will walk to the top of Prospect Hill Park, and get the recycling done so we can be asleep by ten thirty. Jensen Huang is very long-winded. 4.07 Miles 

29 Jul:  Ron raced to the Market Basket before the rain, one of the few times he has left the bed before doing his morning exercises.  Rain arrived about 10 AM, so he could have done his exercises first after all.  This means we will spend tomorrow night in Waltham, too.  We spent most of today indoors although the rain held off for a couple of hours, and we went for a walk around the vicinity about 4:15 PM. Miles 2.14. 

28 Jul:  We had a marvelous lunch with Dave and Kris E., and Bob W.  at Roots and Rise.  Bob took us to visit Rachel in her assisted living home; we treated Bob to dinner at Ruths Chris Steakhouse.  What a fabulous day.   Their ice cream wasn't worth the dietary digression. 1.30 miles despite rain 

27 Jul:  Plan is to see Bob and Dave & Kris at 11 AM tomorrow for lunch at Roots to Rise.  Cynthia and I finally did get out for our 3-mile daily walk shortly after noon.  Afterwards we stopped at Roots To Rise  although we didn't find anything perfect for our diet there.  We will try again tomorrow with a little better preparation.  Ron walked to the top of Prospect Hill again tonight, up the same steep rock steps as yesterday, embarrassingly slower than a much younger girl was walking. 3.77 miles. 

26 Jul, Sunday:  At two PM we were finally up, exercised, fed and ready to walk in nearby Prospect Hill Park (click here).  Walk successfully completed, Ron rode to Market Basket again for raspberries, blueberries, bananas and frozen mango.  As the day wore on, Ron's energy grew, so he went for a second walk to the tops of Prospect Hill Park and saw Waltham's water storage tanks, an old cold war radar tower and a great view of the Boston skyline.  There are a lot of ups in that park. 4.08 miles 

25 Jul:  Today we hope the GPS will guide Ron over the hills and through the woods through Weston, Wayland, and Sudbury to Hudson to see Jan and Dorothy on Deer Path.  We did good, and Jan and Dorothy took us to lunch and for a walk along the Assabet Rail Trail for a mile out and a mile back, a delightful trail with shade and woods and poison ivy everywhere.  Fortunately the poison ivy stayed where it belonged alongside the trail and we stayed where we belonged, far away.  We then enjoyed a long afternoon of conversation (Jan has lots of fun stories) before we headed "home" at diner time.  Cynthia's leg or sacroiliac joint is again a problem, so we will take it easy and walk more gently for a few days.  3.05 miles 

24 Jul:  Ron discovered that Prospect Hill Park is practically adjacent to the hotel, and we found Dinosaur Rock Trail entrance from a nearby parking lot and walked 3.15 miles on forest trails.  Cynthia's leg isn't happy with faster pace or uphill, so we have to rein in our ambitions for another few days.  This evening we decided to walk a couple of blocks downhill to Ruths Chris Steak House, and it was well worth the effort, especially after the server said that Yes, they do have carrot cake, homemade.  Cynthia got  a huge piece as another birthday treat.  She has been a very good girl. 4.5 miles 

23 Jul:  HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAROL!  Our route to Waltham was the reverse of getting here from Waltham: US 4 E 5 mi to R on VT 100 S 14 mi -> VT 103 S 23 mi to R on I-91 S 6 mi to L on US 5 S 2 mi to L on VT 123 E crossing bridge into New Hampshire, R on NH 12 S 18 mi through Keene and into Massachusetts -> MA 140 S 10 mi to L on MA 2 E 39 mi to R on I-95/ 128 S 2.4 mi to exit 43A for Totten Pond Rd, crossing over interstate to immediate R on 3rd Ave two blocks to L on 4th Ave past first Extended Stay America hotel around corner to second Extended Stay America hotel at 52 4th Ave.  Then we got antsy for a walk to get groceries without surveying the hills and discovered that Waltham can be very hilly.  We exhausted ourselves, but we did get a few groceries.  3.80 miles.

22 Jul:  We had another great night of sleep.  This is our last night at the Inn for now.  We will be back after a week in Waltham visiting Ron's friends Jan & Dorothy, Bob & Rachel, Dave & Kris.  Which means we need to pack, but instead we went for our usual hike around Kent Pond although we opted to return early since the rocks were damp, then we rode into town to Johnny Boys for omelettes, and then to the beauty salon for Cynthia's pedicure.  Then to Staples to return an Amazon purchase and to mail a box of new shoes back to Texas (so that that birthday gift will stay free from dirt for another few months).  Finally we returned to the Inn and went for another short walk on the level part of the trail across the street before Ron finally started packing and organizing.  But now he needs to determine a route plan to take us to the Extended Stay America hotel in Waltham. 4.06 miles.

21 Jul:  Thank God we both got a long, good night of sleep.  Several episodes of rain are forecast today, starting before we could get out the door for a walk across the road.  We did get out the door late afternoon when the rain stopped for a walk on the level trail and a little of the uphill to the Boardwalk area. 3.14 miles

20 Jul:  We were able to go for our usual walk around Kent Pond and up the hill to the BIG rock plus a bonus additional distance downhill.  Both of our sets of legs get tired doing that, but we are still staying upright most of the time.  We came across another couple of thru-hikers including one girl who looked exceptionally young.  We rode into town to see about Cynthia's nasal inhaler prescription at Walgreens, but it cannot be refilled before the end of August.  Fortunately we arrived in time to eat omelettes at Johnny Boys.  Ron ate pumpkin pancakes also and is very full, but not very, very full. 4.0 miles.

19 Jul, Sunday:  Late again after good night of sleep.  No rain today, so our usual hike went fine.  The stream crossing was no more difficult than usual despite the recent rains.  We did see several through hikers and are convinced that the "bubble" has arrived.  We decided to err on the side of caution and took Cynthia to Urgent Care to assess her cough for pneumonia - negative, but the nurse practitioner prescribed azithromycin to prevent it from developing. 3.31 miles

18 Jul:  As usual, we arose late, exercised, ate and decided to walk only from the Inn to the start of the Sherborne Pass uphill several times in order to gradually exercise Cynthia's torn tendons.  Hopefully they will respond by getting much stronger each time we go out and DON'T OVERDO IT.  The rain did indeed start immediately after our last iteration, and we are very content to work on our computers while we wait for the pub to open.  The rain continued all day, light at times and heavy occasionally.  2.53 miles

17 Jul:  Cynthia is feeling a little better, so we took our usual hike around Kent Pond, across the stream and up the hill to the big rock.  We are happy that the Inn is back open so that Wanni and Greg could serve us breakfast and we can order food this evening.  Today was bonus; we met four very pleasant through-hikers within two hundred yards of each other.  And now we can go to the Inn and order spinach salad.  An even nicer bonus was the five young ladies we met after eating our "lunches."  They are a delightful group that met each other while hiking and now get together for hikes.  One of them has finished 1800 miles of the AT.  Unfortunately I didn't get names or trail names, but they did find our blog and took a photo of us all which I would love to post here on the blog.  HINT, hint. 4.09 miles.

16 Jul:  HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my beloved SmoochSmooch.. And she is blissfully happy to be so beloved.  😆  Unfortunately, she also came down with a sore throat that is a bother.  By the time we were up, exercised, fed, and finally ready to hike, it started raining.  Oh well, with Cynthia's cold and our several good days worth of hiking behind us, it is probably a good idea to enjoy a day of rest. 1.07 miles 

15 Jul:  It rained buckets last night, and we were delighted to see the larger waterfall that we cross on our daily hike, although our stream crossing rocks were all under water, i.e. slick and hazardous, so we didn't attempt the crossing.  Another hiker sitting outside our room has a nifty arrangement with his girlfriend that he met while both were through-hiking.  They bought a car, so one starts hiking and the other drives the car to a trailhead and parks; when they meet on the trail the car key is exchanged and at the end of the day the car is driven with all of their gear to the place where the one started hiking. They both get to slack pack.  We rode into town to shop for groceries and only forgot flax seed meal. 3.0 miles.

14 Jul:  Today the Inn has stayed closed with the door locked, so we are sitting outdoors in a lovely breeze as the light fades, doing our computer stuffs.  At noon we met a delightful through hiker, Double Check (maybe Czech - Natashia), who was amazed by our stories.  She is a 64-year old youngster, hiking the trail six days a week and getting a shuttle back to her car to work for a day as a Zoom psych therapist on her seventh day.  Too much fun that we recognized "Plans Too Much" when he arrived to provide her shuttle.  Cynthia's new birthday gift shoes from Julie and Roxanne arrived via UPS, pretty new shoes without any dirt on them yet.  We did our usual walking across the street to the start of the incline several times and our usual Kent Pond trek to the BIG boulder at the start of the unrelenting downhill.  The "unrelenting" part really refers to the return trip from Thundering Falls (click here).  There hasn't been much rain recently, so Thundering Falls probably isn't making much noise today. 4.27 miles.

13 Jul:  We had a slow and lazy start to our day, thinking that there was no breakfast at the Inn.  We eventually got out the door for a hike and got done in time to go to Sugar and Spice for a late breakfast before they close at 2 PM.  Then to ALDI for provisions and Walmart for Vitamin A, which they didn't arry here. 4.08 miles.

12 Jul, Sunday:  We met our first AT through hiker, named Equinox because he started his hike on March 21st.  So he is making REALLY good time to be this far north already, although he says he is meandering around to enjoy the sights as he goes.
Vermont 2026  Ron and I have hiked across the state of Vermont from its Mass border to Hanover, NH.  That's the best part; touring VT by motorcycle is the second best part.  Here are my favorites: first, we love the Inn at Long Trail at Killington, the ski capital, with blessed shade during the summer from the Green Mountains; we can walk out the door to hike the AT, the Long Trail, and the Sherburne Pass Trail; the breakfasts are fabulous at Vermont's famous Irish pub and hiker haven.  The Von Trappe Family Lodge is north of us.  Nearby, Woodstock, VT is a nifty community.  VT Highway 100 is the most colorful and scenic road to travel in the fall.  Ben and Jerry’s Creamery was a fun place to visit, but they have skimpy tastings, a far cry from the Blue Bell Creamery in Texas.  We enjoyed a great B&B Along the western river boundary,  one of many, but I can't recall the name.  Vermont is famous for harvesting Maple Syrup, like Sugar and Spice in Mendon, VT.  Vermont boasts many farm to market restaurants.  Of course, one can't miss New England’s iconic red barns and towering church steeples visible over hill and dale. 3.36 miles

11 Jul:  We were delighted to see Oke again after breakfast before we embarked on our hike today.  Ron is relieved to think that he may have slept well enough last night despite the pains from his fall yesterday.  Neither of us fell today! 3.37 miles 

10 Jul:  We managed to get everything packed and out by 11 AM and scheduled our stay at the Inn for 13 days.  Immediately after unloading all of our baggage into the room and getting a recommendation from Greg, we left for town to eat lunch at Johnny Boy's (click here), which cooked our omelettes beautifully.  We then shopped for blueberries, raspberries and bananas at ALDI and returned to the room before riding off immediately for our daily hike around Kent Pond.  After successfully rock hopping across the small stream once, Ron mistakenly stepped on the wrong rock and fell HARD, thinking that he might have broken his nose or at least caused a nose bleed.  His knee and chest also took significant blows.  No broken nose; no nose bleed; no broken bones apparently, but as the day progressed, his affected rib gradually became more painful.  That continues.  2.94 miles

9 Jul:  Tomorrow we relocate again to the Inn at Long Trail for 13 days this time, God willing.  We thought the temperatures were going to cool today, but when we walked outside before noon, it was blazing hot in the direct sun.  We decided to repair indoors and await more cooler evening temperatures although Ron decided to suffer the heat to buy more frozen mango at ALDI.  YUM.  Hi Wynn, sorry that I'm late; I am now updating our routes and travel since we left Texas dating back to March 10th including several "click here's".  We hope you enjoy all this.  2.50 miles

8 Jul:  Another lovely day for a late start.  The temperature cooled into the 50s overnight.  Dr. Dougherty received the pacemaker transmission and clarified that she wants the test done every 31 days.  We spent the day indoors since the forecast high was 83 degrees and walked into town to Treviso (click here), an Italian place that served a great salad and even better Mediterranean sea bass.  Afterwards, we walked about town for several extra blocks to see the sights, a fun evening. 3.92 miles

7 Jul:  We forgot to update the blog because it rained this morning.  Ron walked to Aldi for frozen mango, then we both walked to Walmart to get Shoe Goo for Ron's shoes and Gorilla Glue for the grey bag, which is coming apart at the seams.  Cynthia had a zoom call from the spine surgeon in Florida, Dr. Cantor, who uses a sonic knife to remove excess bone from the spine, a less invasive procedure that heals more quickly.  He explained Cynthia's spondylolisthesis (click here) of L4 and L5 to us and advised against any surgery as long as she can minimize her pain.  We are delighted beyond words.  Then we walked by the Yellow Deli which is closed for renovations until 2033, and ate salads at the Hop'N Moose Pub (click here).  Just before dark Ron decided to walk again to Walmart for almonds now that his waist is a trifle smaller.  Since our latest visit to Pritikin, we both focus on our pelvic tilt (click here) while we walk to keep our spines in good alignment.  5.27 miles

6 Jul:  Ron had everything packed to change lodging, so we left the bags in our room while we hiked Kent Pond.  Our legs were tired, so we did not cross the stream.  We were delighted to discover Sugar and Spice is open for lunch.  Unfortunately, the chef did not follow instruction for no cheese in the egg white omelets.  Next time that happens there, we send it back.  We are in Rutland for four nights, planning to return to the Inn on Friday.  The new insurance at the Inn restricts stays to 13 days; otherwise it is considered long-term rental and the rates go up.  Every thirteen days through August we will spend a few days in Rutland.  We walked on city sidewalks to two different grocery stores for our supplies.  Pacemaker test today 9 pm.  5.99 miles.

Ron (Shakedown Cruise) and Barefoot Oke

5 Jul, Sunday:  Thank God for another good night of sleep.  We have been much too much short of sleep.  After another delicious breakfast, we hiked again around Kent Pond including rock hopping to cross a small stream and continuing uphill farther than yesterday, 3.0 miles.  Ron is nervous about overdoing it on Cynthia's newly healed torn tendons, but so far we have avoided that bullet.  Big news, Oke came to visit and delivered a whole new batch of sudokus for Ron.  It was great to see Oke and find his speech much more understandable.  The effects of his stroke are less frustrating to him.  Tonight we made several round trips on the entrance of the Sherburne Pass Trail, going up is steep.  Maybe by the end of August we can make the climb to the ski run again. Tomorrow we have to vacate the Inn for several days due to insurance limitations against long-term rentals, i.e. two weeks or more.  We should be able to return and stay 13 days at a time provided my pacemaker continues to function well enough to keep Dr. Dougherty happy. 5.47 Miles total

4 Jul:  Happy 4TH times 250!  Ron is reflecting with some sadness that his best friend, Don Stalcup, and his uncle Lawrence were both born on July 4th and passed away in the last few years.  Thanks be to God that they both lived good lives and influenced Ron positively.  Cynthia adds that Ron influences her positively.  Eighteen years ago on March 2, Ron started his Appalachian Trail Hike at Springer Mountain, GA.  In July, Cynthia picked him up in Rutland and brought him here, Killington, VT.  Today, we hiked on the AT!  Our feet felt weird and our legs felt weak.  We hiked 2.5 miles, crossing streams, and traversing boulders.  It was a very successful hike; we are still able to walk. At the end of this day of walking about, Cynthia has a total of 5.11 miles, closing all the rings on her Apple Watch.

3 Jul:  We "slept in" a little this morning, arising at 7 AM and getting onto the road before 9 AM when the temperature was already over 88 degrees.  Ugh.   After all the early morning and late nights, we are both dragging, not to mention the extreme heat.  Still, the ride was comfortable and quick.  2nd Ave W to R on Winter Street to R onto I-95 a couple of exits to MA 2 W for 37 miles to exit 90B and MA 140 N for 9 miles to MA 12 -> NH 12 for 40 miles through Keene.  New Hampshire tells you that a turn is coming up after you are in the wrong lane in heavy traffic.  Fortunately I knew to look for several turns in Keene.  At Walpole, NH we found NH 123 W to cross a bridge into Vermont and US 5 briefly, I-91 for 5 miles to US 5 again and VT 103 for 30 miles into Ludlow.  I was expecting to see a place to eat near a deep gorge, but that must be a different route.  (Route 4 Quechee Gorge Bridge.)  We turned onto VT 100 in Ludlow and rode past the several beautiful lakes along that road until turning West on US 4 for 10 miles to the Inn At Long Trail, where Murray and Page greeted us warmly and provided our room for three nights.  

2 Jul:  Ron awakened at the perfect time this morning and Cynthia awakened not long afterwards, 5:15.  It looks like we are on schedule to get an earlier start so that the sun light from the east will be blinding for a while.   We arrived at Linden Ponds to see Maggie at 10 AM and were very pleasantly surprised to discover that 99-year-old Maggie is still vital and active and has progressed with her ability to use her arms and hands immeasureably since we last saw her two years ago.  What an amazing testimonial to strength of will power.  We left at 2:30 so that she could go listen to scheduled music and rode through the usual heavy Boston traffic to the Hampton Inn in Waltham, surprisingly less expensive than everywhere else near Boston.  Once settled in there, Bob picked us up to visit his wife whose mind is dying because of all the radiation it took to kill her cancer.  Rachel was surprisingly more alert and conversational than I had understood.  Her problem is new memories and understanding, not old ones.  Another huge surprise, Bob introduced us again to his daughter Aletta and husband Richard.  Cynthia needs a new feduciary and Aletta is one so we talked about finances until I asked Richard about AI.  Then we talked about AI for a while until it was time for Bob to take us to dinner nearby at Zhu (click here), where I had Mandarin Curry dish that was fine and fun.  Consequently we didn't get to bed early enough although the day was wonderfully rewarding to see so many fine, fun people.  Route MA 3 N 6 mi to I-93 S 3 mi to I-95 N 16 mi to exit 43B Totten Pond Road, R on Wyman 0.6 mi, L and L onto Winter to R on 2nd Ave 0.3 mi to Hampton Inn.

1 Jul:  Ron awoke at 3:30 AM to pack up with a plan to leave very early, except we didn’t.  It was raining.  But, we were rolling out of the hotel parking lot before eight AM for the ride around New York City towards Boston.  We made it as far as Brooklyn.  Did you know there is a Brooklyn in Connecticut?  I didn't.  Todays ride was far less stressful than anticipated.  We rode from the hotel west on Forsgate W 0.8 mile to reach US 130 N for 9 miles then merged with US 1 N for 4 more miles and took a left lane exit onto NJ 18 N for 7 miles to pass Rutgers University, cross the Raritan River and turned L onto River Road for 4 miles, whereupon we joined I-287 N for 50 miles to turn R onto I-87 and continue on I-287 around NYC and across the Tappan Zee Bridge (now renamed for Mayor Andrew Como).  Then came confusion because my directions said to take exit 9A onto the Hutchinson River Parkway, but exit 9A in New York was for US route 9 and in Connecticut after I took a pass on that instruction there were a couple more 9 exits before the Hutchinson River appeared overhead.  It would have been a mess of confusion if I had fallen for one of those earlier 9 exits, but I picked the correct one and we proceeded onto a very rough road for a mile until we crossed into Connecticut and the road became very smooth and well maintained, the same Merritt Parkway I was hoping to find in such good shape, CT 15.  We continued thereon until reaching an exit under construction that took us onto I-91 N smoothly into Hartford and the early exit 29 to go over to I-84 E which segued into I-384 E 8 mi until we exited interstates onto old US 6 E 32 miles through the lovely Connecticut countryside and small towns.  We stopped when fatigue dictated, and that was Brooklyn, CT.  The hottest temperature shown on the bike temperature gauge was 101 and it read in the 90s most of the day.