Ride September South

30 Sep:  The ride from Vermont to Miami leading fall south is over!  Fall was left behind not long after we saw the last of New England.  Pennsylvania had magnificent, brilliant Sumac bushes near Lehigh.  Once we arrived, a day early, we enjoyed a lovely weekend.  Monday, we met with our respective doctors who told us bronchitis and pneumonia are gone. The residual nasal congestion will soon go away.  Rons weight is too low at 170 lbs.  He is eating heartily.  Cynthia was delighted she had not gained weight after six weeks of inactivity.  

29 Sep, Sunday:  And we are enjoying Pritikin now to Oct. 13th, unless we decide to stay an extra week. Love it here!  

28 Sep:  We backtracked up US 1 and FL 997 from Key Largo, FL to Pritikin in Doral, FL.  Yikes!  We arrived a day early!  But how fun to discover friends from our visit in February: Charles is here with a new friend and a very slim Brian is still here!  YAY!  

27 Sep:  The view from our balcony is lovely,  but we must change rooms because we didn’t book two nights fast enough.  Today we rode down US 1 across all those bridges over various channels to Big Pine Key to visit Ron’s friends Greg and Cindy.  They entertained us with conversation about friends, described changes since the hurricane, including less commerce, and fed us a very nice Pritikin-perfect meal of salads and salmon.  Our bags were moved to the new room, which has a partial ocean view -- from the balcony - if you lean out far enough. 

This is that faded sunset in Key Largo

26 Sep:  After the first dozen stop lights, US 27 south from Lake Wales turns into a very comfortable and pleasant ride all the way to FL 997 which continues due south and skirts the entire Miami metro to the west.  After a decent lunch at the Miccosukee Casino, we continued down Krome Avenue (997), which is being widened to 4-lane.  The traffic flowed better through the road construction than ever previously.  997 ends south of Homestead, merging into US 1 traffic, the only route to and from the Keys.  We arrived at the Hampton Inn in Key Largo in time to luxuriate on the balcony with a view of Tarpon Bay.  Cynthia was delighted to get a laundry done where the laundry room also has a nice view of the bay. The sunset was so glorious we failed to reach for the camera until it faded.

25 Sep:  We left Jekyll Island on US 17 south and decided to ride down I-95 in the "early" morning in order to make miles in the cooler morning and were delighted to find the traffic less crowded than usual.  Once we entered Florida, we turned right on FL 200 to Callahan where we continued south on old US 301 and were surprised to find traffic a bit heavier than on I-95.  As we approached Ocala and noon, Ron consulted with the GPS and determined that these is a Ruby Tuesdays in Ocala, so of course we aimed for that and enjoyed wonderful salads.  Cynthia took it upon herself to renew Ron's driver’s license last February, but the new license was sent to a Post Office box in the Florida Keys that he no longer owns, so we needed to get a replacement license, and to that end we stopped at the Motor Vehicles Office in Ocala after lunch.  The Ocala folks were very friendly, efficient and fast.  Less than an hour later, after answering a couple of questions (SSN, address, etc), Ron emerged with a brand new photo ID.  We continued south on US 27 until we saw the signs for County Road 33 (which bypasses a ton of Orlando traffic on the road less traveled) and eventually reconnects with US 27 until we paused for the night in Lake Wales, Florida.  Ron delighted in remembering that Vince and Mona rode their Harley to breakfast with us in Lake Wales a couple of years ago.  At night when Ron pressed the backs of his hands on the sheets, he was surprised to feel a burning sensation.  We have ridden from Vermont to Maryland to South Carolina to Georgia without the sun bothering his bare hands at all, but the Florida sun burned his hands in only one day - and they are painful.  (He later read the prescribing information for the doxycycline and discovered that it can increase sun sensitivity - i.e. stay out of the sun, and that it should not be taken with a multivitamin, and that it should not be taken within an hour after a meal.  Oops.  And, after the catastrophe with azithromycin, Ron had told himself that he must ALWAYS read the prescribing information before taking pills.)

The sunset view was marvelous from our balcony

24 Sep:  Dick joined us for breakfast and promised to tell everyone else that he was right to think that we wouldn't get out of town yesterday.  We did leave Columbia, SC soon after breakfast and rode south, first on I-26 around Columbia, then onto old US 321 through North, then Norway, then Sweden, then Denmark en route to Garnett, SC and SC 119 (a pretty, quiet road) into Georgia to GA 21 south to I-95 south 46 miles to GA 520 east onto Jekyll Island, Georgia (after paying $8 toll.)  We splurged on a lovely suite at a Days Inn, a Wyndham Property, with a view of the Atlantic Ocean from our room.  The balcony is a very pleasant, peaceful place to lose oneself in mindlessness (saith Cynthia.)  Unfortunately we were advised to eat at the Sunset Diner, which was unable to feed us satisfactorily.  The Wyndham hotel looks to have a fine restaurant that would have been a great choice.

23 Sep:  We were supposed to leave Columbia today, but first Ron took Cynthia to Urgent Care to see if her developing cough was of concern.  It appears that Cynthia gave her bronchitis to Ron who kept it for a month and has now returned it to her; she has a new prescription for antibiotics.  Good grief !!  Ron ultimately packed his 4 computers and stuff at Greg’s and shipped it to Texas, but it was six PM when he returned to the hotel.  Ron was ready to go to Denmark (SC), but Cynthia asked, "What can we eat in that tiny town," so Ron instantly decided to stay another night at the Hilton Garden Inn and eat at Ruby Tuesdays one more time.  

22 Sep, Sunday:  Ron enjoyed breakfast at Lizards Thicket with Dick and Clark & Elizabeth (who brought the Carolina Reaper hot sauce for his fish & grits.)  He will pack his stuff that has been languishing at Greg and Donna's house here for years and ship it to Texas.  At breakfast Dick stated that he had had pneumonia and would not have gotten over it without antibiotics.  This convinced Ron to go to ER, where he was diagnosed with bronchitis. The entire gang met for dinner tonight... and Mary brought contraband (carrot cake) to Cynthia who quickly gobbled down three pieces!  

21 Sep, Temperatures in the high eighties will prevail as we ride from Raleigh, NC to Columbia, SC to pack Ron’s stored stuff and ship it to Texas.  We had a lovely dinner with friends at Ruby Tuesdays in Columbia, SC. 

20 Sep, Raleigh, NC and the Archives 1.2 mile walk. Lunch at the Daily Planet, a Farm to Table Restaurant.  Ron is Photographing deeds and the 1771 Petition to form Caswell County, NC.  The signatures are original. We had dinner at TavernaAgora, another Mediterranean restaurant in a lively downtown Raleigh with Cheri and Mike M.  Cheri is from Elk Horn, Iowa; she remembers Cynthia as her Red Cross swimming instructor. 





19 Sep, Roxboro, NC to Raleigh, NC and the State of NC Archives; date night dinner at Vidaro’s Greek Restaurant was divine. 

18 Sep, Mount Airy, MD to Roxboro, NC and the Innkeeper.

17 Sep:  Fishkill, NY to Mount Airy, MD and the Sweet Retreat.  This was our least favorite roads of the trip.  While it is wonderful to ride through Delaware Water Gap, the road is old and reminds one of old clack-clack-clack railroad tracks.  Then the traffic on US 33 southeast was so heavy that Ron bailed on PA 5xx and rode west to rejoin US 17 

16 Sep:  A good night’s sleep put us in in the mood for oatmeal at Irja and Mike’s lovely home.  Highlight at breakfast was the company which included BD.  Irja is quite the gardener!  And off we rode for another day of leading fall south.  The sumac along the Taconic Parkway was astoundingly vivid.  We arrived in Fishkill, NY at 5:30 P.M. and decided to call it a day.  

Our us
ual Pasta Loft regulars.

15 Sep:  As usual, packing took longer than expected, but Ron had a driving shortcut in mind.  Our ride (on highway 4 East, to I-89 South) was occasionally peppered with brilliant red, gold, and orange colors amidst Green Mountains foliage; it was lovely to see these vivid reminders that fall approaches rapidly here.  We arrived at the Pasta Loft only ten or fifteen minutes late.  What a lovely time we had visiting with friends!  Thanks to B.D. for the photo.  We spent the night at the Doubletree in Nashua. 

Hudson, newest great grandson

14 Sep, Saturday,  The jigsaw puzzle beckons.  It is a cloudy, windy, and cold day.  And we have packing to do, once the puzzle is finished.  Baby Hudson (right) is so adorable! 

13 Sep, Friday the 13th and a full moon?  Anyone superstitious?  Not us! Our boxes are now shipped to Pritikin in Miami and home in Texas.  Time (Sunday) is drawing near for the ride south from Killington, Vermont to Nashua, NH, for the MIT alum pasta party.  The sun was shining brightly for our three-hour hike on the Sherburne Pass!  Ron handled the hike better than Cynthia, who is still short of breath a lot.  After the hike, Ron rode to the market in Killington for cough drops.  Ron's cough is better today and the nose hasn't bled again.  Reggie, the chef, brought some delicious ground cherries for us to eat.  The full moon is glorious! 

12 Sep, Thursday.  Ron awoke at midnight with a nose bleed that prevented sleep for two hours; later, he awoke drenched in sweat again.  The cough seems to have improved.  Rain is preventing our morning hike, so off to the jigsaw puzzle it is!

Alexander and aunt Cynthia

11 Sep,  Dense fog greeted us as we rode east towards Hanover, NH for lunch at the Hanover Inn with grandnephew Alexander, a brand new freshman from California at Dartmouth College.  He is an exceptional, talented young man who at age 18 has already sung at Carnegie Hall.  

10 Sep:  Tuesday is a chilly day in Killington!  We hiked to the roots to do more repair before lunch.  Ron still has lingering cough and headaches, but they are diminishing.  One has to wonder what is next.  After lunch, we rode into Rutland for Cynthia's girlie maintenance pedicure and manicure. About 4 pm we returned to the room, Ron took another dosage of cough syrup and we again napped for an hour.  If you wonder that we never mention food in this blog, it is because our diet is soooo very predictable.  Ron has an egg-white veggie omelet with oatmeal and fruit and Irish soda bread every breakfast; Cynthia has oatmeal and fruit and bites of Ron's soda bread.  Lunch we share a sorbet "appetizer," and Ron has a large spinach salad with broccoli and "colorful" vegetables, Cynthia has hummus with veggies, and we share a "dessert" order of Irish soda bread.  Dinnertime, we each have a baked sweet potato, and Ron has additional baked potatoes.  GMC 3 hrs cleaning water bars and filling tree roots.

9 Sep:  A happy hiking day, although Ron still had a headache.  We hiked 3.5 miles while doing trail maintenance.  Ron 'allowed' Cynthia to move rocks up the trail to fill in tree roots.  Ron cleaned out the runoff into water bars and moved it onto the rock-filled roots making nice steps out of the obtrusive roots.  After returning to the room, we laid down for a nice, 2-hour nap, and Ron slept an additional 2 hours.  He awoke feeling almost normal.  GMC 3 hrs cleaning water bars and filling tree roots.

8 Sep, Sunday:  Well, the Robitussin helped sleep without coughing, but Ron awakened every hour, so he is still lethargic this morning.  However we have breakfasted and Ron is ready to hike, but Cynthia is busy packing to be prepared for next Sunday's departure.  Ron is considering jigsaw puzzle while she packs.  We hiked from Gifford Woods State Park on the Kent Pond Trail to Thundering Falls and return 5.7 miles!  Our lungs and legs are very slow about regaining strength.  Ron had a nice nap!  Happy  Grandparents Day!

Mushrooms! 

Mushrooms, closer!

7 Sep:  We decided to again hike the Sherburne Pass Trail without trail maintenance, but Ron is feeling a bit stronger, so Cynthia lagged far behind at times.  Cynthia's long sickness leaves her tired more quickly now, so we cut our hike short of the ski run to help her recover.  Cynthia walked off-trail through stinging nettle, so Ron found jewelweed, a woods medicine that immediately took care of the stinging.  Lunch was great; Reggie, the chef, makes the best tomato fennel soup for us without oil or sodium!  After we returned to the room, Cynthia left to get WiFi, and Ron decided that an afternoon nap sounded like an attractive option.  After the nap he rode into town to buy Robitussin and cough drops (bananas and grapes too.)  Cynthia enjoyed marvelous piano and banjo music in the lounge.  The pianist is overcoming an old, out-of-tune-piano with exceptional keyboard mastery.  Then dinner and to sleep early.  Hmm, Cynthia said she put pictures onto the blog, but I do not find them.  I'd better see if my copy now predates her additions - it did; I fixed.

Fall Foliage Arrangement  by Ron

6 Sep:  That headache is still a bother, but the cough is subsiding, so we won't complain excessively.  We did breakfast as usual and then hiked up the hill.  After yesterday when Ron was unable to hike at a satisfactory pace to catch Cynthia, today he decided to hike without trail maintenance.  Somehow it seems surprising that fall is appearing already in new, more colorful leaves cluttering the trail (see photo.  We were back in time for lunch, after which the jigsaw siren called and Ron succumbed.  By dinnertime, the new puzzle had displayed its primary characteristic: it will be impossible to place pieces by anything other than mere shape; the colors change too abruptly to follow color or patterns.  Dinner was a lovely event with new hiker friends, Tom, and his nephew, Josh, both United Methodist pastors. Serendipity. 

Rock Garden View From Breakfast Room

5 Sep:  Well, phooey, Ron awakened with a bit of a headache again, that hadn't gone away after breakfast, so he laid back down in bed to rest & sleep a little.  We requested and Reggie baked us sweet potato pancakes.  We also ate the sorbet appetizer, so after lunch, we were both overfull, and we again went back to bed to digest.  Finally, at 5 PM, we managed enough energy to cross the street to add to Ron's chosen compost spot.  (Cynthia had not previously seen the derelict buildings across the road.)  We hiked up the trail for about an hour.  Dinner is done, and we can hardly wait to go back to sleep.  The bad news is that there is lots more to add to the Likens package, discovered while looking at the previous Cock package.  GMC 1 hr water bar cleaning.

4 Sep:  Cynthia hasn't yet learned to keep the desired (larger) font by copying from last month, so you see how "out-of-it" Ron has been this past ten days.  (Four days of microprint.)  Today is exciting; Ron hasn't had a headache since morning exercises, and he is beginning to believe that he is thinking clearly again.  Likens package number one is finally coming to completion after a week of foggy thinking.

3 Sep:  Fog blankets our afternoon view.  Our brains are foggy, too.   Perhaps another day of rest and recuperation will demonstrate if we survived.  Only twelve days left to hike?  Plans are being made for our departure on 15 September to meet the MIT alum at our favorite Pasta Loft restaurant in Milford, NH.  Cynthia has already booked a nearby hotel in Nashua!

2 Sep: is a rainy day; we slept late.  After getting exercised and oatmealed we slept again.  How fun to look at Ancestry DNA Thru-Lines and then read Roberta Estes' blog: Ancestry's AI Thru-Lines are not TRUE lines.  The cousin matches come from Ancestry public trees.  After lunch, Ron slept again.  Granddaughter Lauren became engaged this morning.  YAY!  Congratulations to Lauren and Tyler.  They will marry in Cozumel, Mexico in 2020.

1 Sep: is a challenging day for Cynthia; it is filled with warm and wonderful memories of an outstanding son who died too young.  Rest in Peace, Scott!  Ron and Cynthia hiked 2.7 miles around Kent Pond without incident.  Yay for us!  Tomorrow we will be weller but wish we were weller sooner than soon.

Sunday Offering: 

The bumper sticker on the car says, Peace.  The hiker’s tee shirt has Peace written in several languages.  Where do they get the peace they offer?  Do they really mean it or is this a leftover 'trip' from the sixties?  Where do you go to find peace?  Finding real peace and giving peace is key.  How do YOU give peace to a troubled world?  The first clue is to find the right peace and then to give that peace away.  That is where we actually make a difference instead of sharing platitudes.  Jesus, in the Gospel of John, offers his peace.  He offers us HIS VERY OWN peace.  He leaves it with us to give to those who are fearful and frightened.  He spreads it around generously.  Come, let us receive and share the peace of the Lord: The Lord be with you!!!

John 14:27-31 Revised Standard Version (RSV)
27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

August Hikers We Are

31 Aug:  Yesterday's exciting day is being repeated.  We are not yet well enough to take a hike or a walk!  Our friends and family suggest we rest.  Good idea!  Ron won a quarter bet with Oke; he does not have an elevated body temperature tonight.  Cynthia threatened to give him an ice bath if he still had a fever.  Her body temperature is 95!

30 Aug: Here we go for another exciting day recuperating sitting in our room.  Tomorrow we should be ready to take a light hike.

29 Aug: I think we will survive!  Ron ate breakfast and lunch.  Reggie made us sweet potato pancakes for brunch!!! 

28 Aug: Ron's fever broke in the night.  He is doing his stretches!  But after eating he went back to bed.  The sun is shining, the weather forecast for the next three weeks is fantastic hiking weather: no rain, with cool temperatures.   We met Kayla R. who is hiking the Long Trail and Jarhead who is hiking the AT a second time but he doesn't know why.  Ron had a good answer for him to ponder.

27 Aug: Cynthia is healing; Ron is sicker.  To be updated when we are weller!

26 Aug: Ron spent the day in bed with a fever. 

25 Aug:  Ron hiked to Jungle Junction and removed the huge tree that had fallen across the trail.  He returned fatigued. Cynthia is on orders to rest for a few days. Shingles are healing.  Cough is better.  The wait staff asked how she slept; they were startled and they were greatly amused when she replied, "Cocaine in the cough syrup caused me to sleep well."  Ron got a huge laugh by correcting, "Codeine, not cocaine!"  

24 Aug:  Ron spent the morning finishing the "world's most difficult jigsaw puzzle."  It did not live up to the advertising; Oke was very disappointed that I finished it in only 2 days, all 300+ pieces.  Ron decided to rest his knee to see if the new, minor pains will go away.  (That is his excuse for puzzling all day, and he is sticking to it.)  Oke has already produced another puzzle from his yard sale collection, but Ron thinks it is time to get back to work on the Likens package.  Besides we want to leave the Jackson Pollock painting puzzle out for Wannie and Chris to see.

23 Aug:  Yuk!  Another trip to ER in Middlebury, Vermont.  The good news is that the x-ray showed the pneumonia is gone, but Cynthia still relapsed acute bronchitis.  She was given a steroid breathing treatment, plus four new prescriptions and Lidocaine patches for shingles.  Oh my!  

22Aug: Smooch's coughing resumed! So did puzzling.  

21 Aug:  Eureka !!  Little Smooch is returned to the Inn at Long Trail and is somewhat healthier than before Aunt Jo's birthday party.  A good time was had by all.  Ron rode through 30 miles of rain to arrive at the Rutland airport 10 minutes late.  In that 10 minutes Cynthia had already ordered a lunch from the restaurant, so Ron was able to jigsaw puzzle for three hours while Cynthia napped and we waited for the rain to stop.

Aunt Jo and Cynthia

Sisters Merrilee, Cynthia, Bonnie and Bob Photo-bombin

20 Aug:  After Wall microwaved frozen cooked steel-cut oatmeal for me, we chatted until nearly 10 AM so that rush hour might have dissipated before I rode into Boston to see Richard again.  His computer files had problems that I was able to partially fix for him before it was time to get on the road toward Gill.  Margie had recommended the Red Lentil, and it was close, so I ate a salad before spending 15 minutes driving 2 miles around Fresh Pond leaving Cambridge.  The ride out Route 2 to Gill was long and crowded besides heading directly into the 6 PM sun, but it was great fun to see Rick and listen to his enthusiasm about remodeling.

19 Aug:  Richard seems less capable and more confused than previously.  Perhaps that recent seizure caused more damage than the stroke four years ago.  The evening with Wall and Irja was also wonderful.  We sat and chatted until late.  They fed me ratatouille on top of my old leftover potatoes.

18 Aug, Sunday:  Little Smooch flies off to Sacramento today to enjoy a family birthday party for her 91-year-old Aunt Jo.  Ron will ride to visit Margie and Richard, Richard in Watertown, Wall and Irja, Richard a second time, Rick before Little Smooch returns on Wednesday.  And all went according to plan although Ron was not pleased with the amount of traffic he encountered.  It was indeed wonderful to see Margie and Richard; the best news is that Richard is experiencing less back pain now.

17 Aug:  Time for the ride to Piermont, NH to an MIT Club of New Hampshire gathering.  We had a great time at a lovely location overlooking the Connecticut River into Vermont. 

Connecticut River Bend 

 Thanks to Don and his lovely wife for their hospitality!  The pizza was marvelous.  

Sherrie, Rick, and Ron

16 Aug:  Lots of rain last night and an astoundingly loud crack of thunder at 1:37 AM.  Ron examined the pavement this morning, half expecting to see a burned spot from the lightning strike.  This morning Ron indulged in more puzzling followed by emails to friends hoping to set up visits while Cynthia is off to Sacramento.  

The Puzzler

This afternoon we will ride into Rutland for another prescription.  The rain is supposed to return after 4 PM, but it waited until after midnight, so Ron was able to hike and hoe again today.  GMC 2 hrs old AT hoeing water bars clear.

15 Aug:  Its a sad day in Mudville.  Cynthia has lost a week of hiking due to pneumonia and now she has shingles.  The pneumonia is greatly improving because the new RX is working faster.  The shingles rash is still putting forth blisters, and it is very painful at night.  In six months it is possible to get a vaccination against having a return bout.  Cynthia had a girlie two hours getting girlicued while Ron mended socks.  Yikes, time is flying fast.  We are down to one more month to enjoy our friends and Reggie's awesome food at the Inn at Long Trail.  About 5 PM Ron pulled himself away from the jigsaw puzzle and the SCS  package to go out and move dirt and rocks.  GMC 2 hrs old AT moving dirt & rocks.

14 Aug:  Cynthia's departure for Sacramento is nearing rapidly. She will see the doctor on Friday to be certain she is well enough to travel.  Oops, no; last night she read about shingles, decided that her rash and pains fit the description, so today we rode through 4 episodes of road construction to get  to the recommended ER in Middlebury, where the doctor took one quick look and confirmed "classic shingles."  He also ordered an X-ray and was surprised that her pneumonia doesn't look as bad as it sounds.  The doctor was surprised that her inhaler is already almost gone, so had her show him her use of it, and corrected her procedure.  The idea is to breathe everything out of the lungs, then squirt the inhaler while inhaling.  That way the albuterol gets into the lungs instead of coating the mouth.  We filled the two new prescriptions at CVS and ate our usual late lunch at the Inn.  Cynthia is OKed to do whatever she feels like doing, so the trip to Aunt Jo's birthday party is A-OK.  Ron is off to move dirt & rocks until 7 PM dinner time.  GMC 2 hrs old AT moving dirt & rocks.

13 Aug:  Somehow Cynthia was able to sleep through the night without much coughing.  Life is getting better again.  Reggie flipped sweet potato pancakes for us at lunch; that and sorbet and salads was a delightful lunch.  After lunch Ron returned to the trail with his hiking hoe for a couple of hours of hoeing water bars clear.  GMC 2 hrs, old AT hoeing dirt.

12 Aug:  We woke up at the usual time although neither of us slept particularly well, Cynthia due to coughing until 1 AM, me for that reason and too many trips to the bathroom throughout the night.  Regardless, we both awoke with optimism, but Cynthia's coughing continues to plague her, and Ron's knee is still not quite right.  So we spent the day in our room at the Inn working first on her Harry King paper until tedium set in, and then Ron worked on the Likens package again.  This inactive lifestyle does NOT suit our psychologies and tomorrow is supposed to be a rainy day.  Regardless, Thank God; it is a wonderful miracle to be alive and functioning.

11 Aug:  The sun is shining on the lovely rock garden visible from the dining room at the lodge.  The bagpipes playing on the stereo are not the most pleasant, but it goes with the territory.  The inn was full this weekend; people drive from all over to hear live Irish music and enjoy the food at the Inn.    Our sleep was good.  We are rested and Cynthia is coughing somewhat less.  Imagine... it is already 11 years ago in August Ron & Cynthia embarked on a 30-day research trip!  And we had so much fun that the trip never stopped.  Thank God!  And we do thank God daily for the miracle of creation, for our relationship, our families and our friends.  In all things give thanks!  At 11 AM Ron went out with trowel and plastic bag to move dirt.  At breakfast and lunch we have cut back a smidgeon to attempt to cut our weight back an equal amount.  Ron spent the afternoon working on the Likens SCS package.  GMC 4 hrs on old AT, moving debris from water drainages to roots, rocks, and water bars.

10 Aug:  Cynthia's coughing worsened last night so after breakfast Ron asked if she wanted to go to ER.  Cynthia almost said no, but weakly agree to go.  And then it rained briefly.  Rutland ER before noon was amazingly fast; we were checked in, nursed, and doctored in no time.  The doctor asked a few questions, froze her chest with a cold stethoscope, and diagnosed bronchial pneumonia.  My beloved is now medicated with doxycycline (an antibiotic) and an inhaler.  Then the trauma cases arrived and we waited 45 minutes to see our nurse again for instructions and prescriptions for 21 days of antibiotics.  No hiking this week for the girl, doctors orders - and gentle hiking thereafter until the condition is quiescent.  Ron went out for a late slip and slide on the wet trail, and we were again stuffed full after dinner.  The pickle bucket for dirt & rocks seems to be too heavy and is likely the cause of Ron's knee pains.  GMC 1 1/2 hrs on old AT, moving debris from water drainages to roots and rocks.

9 Aug:  We awakened feeling much better this morning.  Cynthia is coughing much less, and Ron's knee seems "fine."  Soooo,a-hiking we will go, albeit cautiously to see how we do with actual movement.  Woo Hoo!  We survived 5.24 miles round trip.  Ron carried the hoe and cleaned out water bars.  Cynthia wore her new Hoka hiking shoes and declared them a success.  However, after dinner Cynthia's cough worsened and she felt miserable.  Thanks to cooler temperatures, we slept reasonably well, although Ron has gained a couple of pounds, so decided not to eat fat-free salt-free pretzels, and consequently awakened frequently throughout the night.  GMC 5 hrs on old AT, hoeing debris from water drainages.

Eric and Emily's Wedding November 2018

8 Aug:  RAIN - throughout the early AM whilst we slept.  Now that it has stopped, Ron would love to go examine his water bars, but his "bad" knee developed a surprisingly sharp pain late yesterday which persisted overnight until morning exercises.  Now it feels "peculiar" but without actual pain.  Either Ron has become more "mature" or he has developed one tiny shred of common sense because he decided not to hike on the wet rocks and roots today.  Instead, he will go back to work on the Likens package.  Eric's wedding photos arrived today; pictured here is one of the family but missing several of the adult grandchildren who were out of state or out of the country.

7 Aug:  We tried to hike today, but the humidity sapped us both, and Cynthia's cold w/ shortness of breath motivated us to call it quits early.  We were back at the Inn before 11:30 (as opposed to days when we don't get started before 11:30.)  The future track radar shows pop up thunderstorms in the area at 1 PM and steady rain beginning at 4 PM.  Ron is convinced that he would hike & maintain trail if the humidity were less oppressive, but instead, he is thankful for the opportunity to work on SCS packages.  Cynthia fell asleep for an hour before lunch, and after lunch Ron revived and spent 3 hours moving dirt from water drainages to water bars, getting wet only from sweat - no rain.  We were joined for dinner at 7 PM by Scout and Sailor, who had finished their hike by following the white blazes to Cooper Shelter and the blue-blazed, steep, rocky trail to Killington summit for pleasing views.  Fun conversation; Ron is always pleased when everyone laughs at his jokes.  GMC 4 hr moving debris to bolster water bars.

6 Aug:  at the Inn at Long Trail (click here).  Today is that "another day" promised yesterday.  And we hiked another hike (imagine that) whereupon we met a couple of hiker girlies at Thundering Falls, Scout is from Houston and Sailor from Philadelphia.  They decided to do a section hike, their first-ever camping trip longer than four nights and started in Gorham, New Hampshire to do the Whites, the toughest part of the AT.  They took along a friend on her first-ever camping trip.  On top of Mt. Monroe, the friend said she was done and that this was nothing like she imagined.  However the wilderness is quite unforgiving and the next airlift off the mountain top was too expensive to consider, so she continued to the end of her program and left, as planned, in New Hampshire.  Scout and Sailor had a blast and intend to do Maine as their next section.  As Cynthia and Ron were hiking back to our parking lot, a group of six people passed us, one of whom was Charlie from years past.  He told Ron that he (Charlie) was now official maintainer of that section of trail and asked Ron's opinion of the trail.  Ron replied that when they first hiked the trail this year, he was disappointed ... because there was no maintenance for him to do.  Then he showed Charlie the spot where he had scooped debris from a water drainage and the rocks and roots in the trail where he had transferred the debris.  It is now after our 4 PM lunch and Ron succumbed to another siesta.  We had dinner with Scout and Sailor at the Inn and hope to see them again tomorrow after they wrap up their section by slackpacking to the top of Killington and return to the Inn via gondola and bus.  GMC 5 hrs on AT, moving debris from water drainages to roots and rocks.

5 Aug:  Here we are on a beautiful Monday morning with the sun shining brightly despite mass murders over the weekend: the same circle of blame continues to swirl: the Democrats are blaming Trump for mass shootings in El Paso and the Republicans are blaming mass shootings in Dayton, OH on the Democrats, while Baltimore records its 200th shooting of the year and Chicago's record is equally high.  When will we wake up to the discovery that Hollywood violence in movies and video games affects our children?  We have a law: Thou shalt not kill/murder; let's take our children to church to teach them to love God and to love our neighbors.  Let's take the Gospel into the neighborhood and be the presence of Christ.  Lord have mercy!  In the meantime-and in-between-time, we are going hiking.  Ron's position is simple.  Do you remember that the press declared God is dead back in the 70s?  Now we are reaping the harvest of a God-less society.  I hope you are enjoying your freedom from the oppression of religion.  However, this blog is usually a-political, so we now return to our usual programming.  We both slept well but woke up ill rested.  Mondays we allow the cleaning crew into our room, so Ron had to organize his messes before breakfast.  Breakfast was terrific as usual.  Our hike today was a struggle for us both.  Cynthia's cold is doing well but its presence took a toll on her energy.  Ron continued to be worn out; his muscles complained about many of our usual steps and hills.  His hiking hoe required more effort than usual and catching back up to Cynthia was harder than usual.  Oh well, tomorrow is another day !!  GMC 5 hrs, old AT cleaned out debris & scratched new water bars.

4 Aug, Sunday:  How fun!  Lunch with TreeTrunk and Joe was a delight.  TreeTrunk is a friend of a friend of friends of ours.  Ron visited TreeTrunk at the Yellow Deli last night and invited him to do lunch with us at the Inn at Long Trail.  We had an intellectually and theologically stimulating conversation that invited Joe to reveal his life as a pastor.  Serendipity.  TreeTrunk is known among other hikers on the trail for his watercolors, and he posts them onto his TrailJournals web site every few days (click here.)  After his day's activities, Ron was beaten.  Immediately after breakfast, he ascended towards Deer Leap with his hiking hoe in hand until he found clogged water bars to hoe, hoe, hoe.  Within an hour TreeTrunk and Joe showed and exclaimed that in my straw hat with a hoe in hand, I looked to be a ringer for a Twelve Tribes member (ala Yellow Deli click here.)  After a hamburger and a couple of beers TreeTrunk and Joe opted to return to the trail, so I accompanied them uphill and downhill in order to show them the memorial cross with a view someone placed slightly off trail and to guide them over the "old trail" that is a quarter mile shorter and absent the five mud pits that the new trail has created.  Cynthia felt pretty miserable, so Ron hiked up the Sherbourne Pass Trail moving with bucket and trowel moving the dirt to improve conditions.  GMC 4 hrs, old AT, moved dirt (& one heavy bucket of rocks) from drainages to better locations.

3 Aug:  YAY!  Cynthia's grandnephew, eleven-year-old Tyler B., pitched the winning game for the USSSA Far West Coast team against the USSSA Atlantic team to take home the national trophy (Little League baseball) last night in Melbourne, Florida.  Congratulations Tyler!!!  Cynthia is doing a zero (no hiking day) after catching a cold besides the sore feet and painful bursa.  The feet are improving, so once the cold goes away she is back on the trail.  Nurse Ron stayed home to care for her; isn't he special!  Murray's sister celebrated her fortieth birthday at the Inn with a huge group of friends dressed in costume.  Apparently, they will hike in costume to astound other hikers.  Ron continues to accomplish many minor projects previously delayed by his jigsaw obsession.  Ron also zeroed today.  He rode into Rutland to buy Robitussin for Cynthia, mail a couple of letters, and look for hiker "TreeTrunk" at the Yellow Deli.  He was successful on all counts and scheduled a couple of beers with TreeTrunk at noon tomorrow.  What a fun night we had dined with Lightning and Anchor!  She is Irish from Omagh and Belfast, two of the Irish towns we have seen.  He is a triple-degreed motorcycle mechanic who retired after taking the advice of a computer geek friend to buy Bitcoin.  Good grief, Charlie Brown, it is 10:54 already.  Where does the time go??  Goodnight.

2 Aug:  Cynthia's feet improved after icing and Ibuprofen, so we opted to hike across the street and did a comfortable six miles.  It appears that the pain might be related to hiking too fast and hard, so slow and easy wins the race.  Ron is nearing completion on the jigsaw puzzle but feeling a bit guilty that he is not working on more urgent projects like the index, packages, James Lea, and Harry King.  Reggie is such a good cook, and the Inn caters to our dietary needs.  We love this place almost as much as the Pritikin, and Vermont has better mountains than Florida.  Ron's new passport arrived, so he again has a valid ID.  GMC 5 hrs on old AT, hoed dirt out of water bar spillways to bolster water bars. 

1 August: at the Inn at Long Trail (click here).  Birthday month is officially over for this year.  We will find some other reason to celebrate this month, although, today poor little SmoochSmooch has very hurty feets.  She is icing them and taking ibuprofen.  Today's hike was the usual "easy" hike around Kent Pond to the Thundering Falls.  As we began our hike from Gifford Woods State Park, we enjoyed talking with Jack, a 68-year-old thru-hiker from Alabama, especially interesting since he shares our skepticism about the "news" being fed to the American public.  (Cynthia's brother-jn-law has published an article explaining that global warming can be accounted for by the normal variations in the earth's orbit.  My comment is that his article is destined for obscurity because it cannot be used to bash Trump or to sell politically correct products.  Call me cynical if you wish, but I think that the American public is being duped by the owners of the media.)  Soon after we wished Jack well and parted ways, he slipped on a slick root, fell and bashed his shin on a rock.  His injury was exceptionally painful and swelled immediately.  Cynthia was a bit slow hiking, but after she took her shoes off at "home," her feet hurt so badly that she could cry.  Ron is forming the opinion that the radical change in weather from hot & humid to cool may be contributing to her arthritic pains.  Cynthia started this post thusly, "Not really are we August hikers; instead we are tired."  And ended by stating that tomorrow she is going to rest (although she just told Ron that she intends to hike albeit slowly.)  GMC - 3 hrs on AT, moved stones and dirt.

July... Her Birthday Month

31 Jul:  at the Inn at Long Trail (click here) will mark the end of Her Birthday Month.  Happy, happy birthday to my beloved SmoochSmooch; may you have many, many, many more.  I love you.  We have enjoyed and exhausted ourselves hiking this month.  The good news is that we were able to do more at the outset this year.  We slept well, enjoyed a leisurely breakfast followed by more puzzle mountains, and were ready to hike at 11 AM.  After a good night's sleep, Cynthia is raring to go hiking again, but we will limit our exposure to three hours because pop-up thunderstorms are forecast at 2 to 3 PM.  We hiked to the sinkholes after Cynthia clobbered Ron with a brick sized piece of wood she threw off trail with strength and vigor, point-first directly into Ron's shoulder.  He decreed, "no more trail maintenance" to protect himself from the WeeFee's errant aim.  The heavy, pointed wood bruised his shoulder, which will likely be sore for a week.  Regardless, he loves her just the way she is - although it might be nice if she learned to look before throwing.  Reggie has created a passion fruit sorbet at the Inn which is terrific.  His previous sangria sorbet was also amazing.  We really, really like Reggie although there isn't room on the motorcycle to adopt him, despite his enthusiastic appeals.  We consider both the sorbet and the Irish soda bread to be desserts.  (Ron, the incorrigible, has taken to ordering sorbet first as appetizer and later as dessert.)  The last sudoku and the puzzle mountains are done.  All that is left is a bit of sky.  Puzzling trumped SCS packages.  GMC 3 hrs, cleaned several water bars by digging debris out to enlarge the existing water bars.

30 Jul:  Oatmealed, the exhausted Smooch family plans to hike three times to the Inn today, maybe 25 yards total.  Mr. Smooch is already back in bed.  It felt good to lie down and take a brief nap.  Except for discomfort in his hands and wrists, he feels quite good after that rest and nap.  Lo and behold, someone started a100-piece jigsaw puzzle in the Inn.  Ron put together the lake as his initial contribution.  Now he is finally set to resume working on the Likens package for the SCS.  We did have a lovely quiet day until we walked to the pub for dinner; a spoiled infant's ear-piercing screams were severe enough for us to flee the pub (as did ALL of the many other customers); Ron returned to the jigsaw puzzle and Cynthia fled to the lounge.  Ron mused that this was probably the main reason that women and children were prohibited from entering bars in the good old days.  From the highest heavens, thunder roared louder than the screaming toddler, preceding one of the heaviest deluges Cynthia has seen in a long time.  (Ron was oblivious, puzzling.)  The electricity may go out??  We may not get dinner??  Fifteen minutes later, the rain stopped.  The toddler and her overwhelmed parents left the pub, so we were able to eat in the now-empty pub.  Ron returned to work on the mountains in the puzzle.  After some progress, he allowed his conscience to force him to return to consider the Likens package, but then we stay up far too late.  Cynthia said good night at 11:30, Ron got to bed an hour later, and Cynthia got points for first "I love you" of the day while Ron was being ever so quiet to avoid waking her.  Total for the day: 195 steps.  Good night.  

29 Jul:  Heaven forfend, the housekeepers arrive today.  Ron has to straighten up again already.   Two tired, exhausted puppies survived an eight-mile hike from Killington Peak after taking the Gondola to the summit.   The gondola ride was as scenic as remembered, the view at the summit was as expansive as ever, and we dodged the "off-limits for construction" signs to take the boardwalk (catwalk) around to another ski lift and access to Coopers Shelter.  Someone else has been up there doing trail maintenance and cleared a couple of water hazards.  Ron removed 10 trees and created/cleaned three water bars.  GMC 7 hrs, sawed & removed 10 small trees, moved detritus from 3 water drainages put to bolster water bars, and created another.

Killington Peak

28 Jul, Sunday:  Will we rest today?  Sort of.  We hiked to the sinkhole on the Sherburne Pass Trail and cleaned water bars.  Cynthia was quite proud of cleaning out water-logged branches from an older part of the trail.  Ron preferred having the logs disintegrate and build up the old trail.  But she isn't going to move them back.  She likes clean and neat.  The heat & humidity is back and our room is not air-conditioned.  Ron is almost finished with the 30 sudokus that Oke gave him but still needs to show Oke the peculiarity in the last of them.  GMC 4 hrs, moved detritus from water drainages onto water bars - Sherbourne Pass Trail aka old AT.

27 Jul: Easy Peasy?  The Kent Pond hike to Thundering Falls is an easier, familiar hike, but it wasn't easy peasy, because we weren't rested enough from three days of tough hikes.  Ron cleaned out water bars and moved the dirt to build up the trail over several large tree roots. At least one fallen tree was removed.   Wynken and Blynken agreed to Nod early and sailed off to bed after another exhausting day.  Unfortunately, Cynthia awakened at 5:45 and didn't get back to sleep.  GMC 4 hrs, moved dirt from water drainages onto water bars, rocks & roots, AT.

First cut did not drop, but second one did.

26 Jul:  After yesterday's tough hike, we shoulda taken it easy, but we did not.  There was trail maintenance to be done, fallen trees to be removed, water bars to be cleaned out and new ones to be built.  Our hike to Jungle Junction (7.2 miles roundtrip) was exhausting.  The weather is pleasant, that helps.  The mosquitoes are not pleasant, but the straw hats really help keep them out of our faces. The view from the ski run was quite lovely.  The Inn at Long Trail is a terrific place to stay; they feed us hearty meals we can eat.  Cynthia's hiking goal at the end of two months is to be able to hike ten mile days without exhaustion.  GMC 6 hrs, sawed & removed 2 12" diameter trees, moved rocks, remodeled water bars & stream exits - old AT.

view from ski run, 2 miles uphill

25 Jul: Oh my!  The Deer LeapTrail to Kent Pond was only 4 miles; even the downhill was even tough.  But, that uphill return was almost straight UP!  The trail starts over a very rocky section that is quite a challenge.  Thereafter the idiot trail maintainers throw brush into the water drainages in some misbegotten idea that hikers cause erosion.  (It amazes us that the maintainers don't maintain the trail, and instead throw brushy trash along their "official" route to force hikers into a muddy messy caused by their lack of maintenance.)  GMC 5 hrs, sawed a couple of trees, moved brush out of water bar channels, moved several rocks - Deer Leap Trail & AT.

24 Jul:  Another day of hiking up to the ski run.  Ron carried his hiking hoe to do stream-bed maintenance and cleaned out several water bars.  GMC 5 hrs, hoed open & improved a dozen water bars - old AT.

23 Jul:  We woke up!  Yay!  As soon as the rain stopped we hiked the Kent Pond Trail.  It is our best choice when the trail is sloppy.  Probably more than a dozen hikers were hustling northbound on the A.T., while we passed only one southbound hiker.  We really enjoyed a visit with Dana G., a Long Trail hiker.  The best part of hiking is the people we meet!  Thundering Falls surprised us by looking no different than two days ago before a full 24 hours of rain.  Ron thoroughly enjoys trail maintenance (as well as stream bed maintenance), so he carried a sack to transport loose rocks uphill to drop into puddles to improve the hike (more weightlifting that is supposed to be good for oldsters.)  Ron finally forced himself to leave a few sudokus for another day and inserted the index into Volume 7 of the Colonial Records.  It appears that his notes were adequate and accurate.  Next step is to refine the index.  Either that or work on the newly ordered Likens package for the Swedish Colonial Society.  GMC 5 hrs, placed rocks in puddles - AT.

22 Jul:  Light rain.  Light rain ALL day.  Cold rain.  We chose to do no hiking.  Even Ron decided against going outside to get cold and wet.  Oh, well, God is blessing the earth.  Hansel and Gretel, a delightful hiker couple from Germany, joined us during dinner.  We like their unique trail names!  And we became new great grandparents of Caleb Eugene, 11 pounds and 1 ounce at 8:11 PM.  Caleb joins sisters Abigayle and Elanore.  Ron focused on sudokus almost exclusively ALL day.  These new sudokus are very difficult, and Ron now has one more sudoku with mistakes to correct.

21 Jul:  The Inn at Long Trail (click here) is experiencing the hiker "Bubble" on the A.T. combined with more traffic on the Long Trail.  This means the Inn is very busy, but Chef Reggie still manages to prepare food we can eat.  He made hummus without oil or sodium, and a really delicious Sangria sorbet.  Every evening we have baked sweet potatoes, steamed veggies, and high fiber Irish Soda Bread.  Three or four times a week he prepares salmon for us.  Today Ron hiked to Jungle Junction (7.26 miles roundtrip) alone and removed a couple more fallen trees from the trail.  He accomplished this herculean task in three and a half hours.  He thinks he survived.  Cynthia is astonished at his hiking speed, and his energy level is amazing. Cynthia did a Zero (a day without hiking).  She completed two essays for the #52 Ancestor Challenge in addition to submitting a Bankston YDNA project to a genetic analyst.  Tomorrow we might do another big hike.  We are discussing hiking southbound (SOBO in trail lingo) from Harper's Ferry next spring, but Cynthia asks, "Are we really in the condition to hike southbound in the spring?"  Check back in two months after we hike for a month and spend another two weeks at Pritikin.  Ron overheard hikers introduce themselves as Hansel and Gretel, so he wandered over to chat a few minutes.
Ron's stats: to the resting rock 21 minutes, to the sinkholes 36 minutes, to the ski run 61 minutes, to the shelter 80 minutes, to Jungle Junction 90 minutes.  That meant that he could enjoy sawing for nearly an hour.  Murray's Stiehl saw is only two teeth bigger than the bigger tree.  Both trunks were five feet long, and Ron was anxious that he might not be able to move them, but weight lifting is reputed to be good for older folks, and he was able to turn both logs end-over-end without hurting himself.  GreenMountainClub 3.5 hrs sawed through & removed two 14" trees from old AT (Sherbourne Pass trail.)

20 Jul:  Again, this morning, we are sitting in the restaurant of the Inn, Cynthia with Mac and Ron with sudokus in hand, both feeling exhausted and mighty sore from that ambitious seven-plus mile hike yesterday.  Onward and upward, we (Cynthia) are each hoping the other would say we shouldn't hike, but we will.   We chose the Kent Pond Trail to the Thundering Falls Trailhead because it doesn't have a big elevation gain.  Ron sawed through four small trees that had fallen across the trail.  Our 5.82 mileage seems insignificant in comparison to our exhaustion!  Reggie, the chef, prepared hummus without any oil or sodium for Cynthia.  YUM!  And the sorbet is wonderful.  GMC 5 hrs, sawed & removed 4 small trees from AT.

19 Jul:  We are sitting in the restaurant of the Inn with Mac and sudokus in hand, marveling at the garden view out the windows.  Patty and Murray have created a colorful tiered rock garden, and in the middle is a sculpture of a hiker with a heart.  Aweeeee!  Today's forecast is high heat and humidity.  The cloud cover, along with significant elevation gain and a lovely cool breeze made it a wonderful hike.  The stretch from the ski run to the junction is rough with roots and rocks.  According to Cynthia's Apple Watch, we hiked seven-plus miles.  We reached Jungle Junction where the A.T./ Long Trail and the Sherburne Pass Trail converge.  Ron sawed a few trees that had fallen across the trail, and he gave up on one and ignored a couple of others too.   GMC 6 hrs, sawed & removed 3 trees from old AT.

18 Jul:  We are going hiking since rain is not dominating the forecast.  And a few hours later, we are home after exhausting ourselves; six days of not hiking or walking took a toll.  Or maybe age is catching up with us?  We met a lot of hikers; 'Sunnyside Up' is a lovely girl from Martha's Vineyard who hiked most of the trail last year and is back at it again.  Ron didn't wear a tightly woven long-sleeve shirt, so a billion mosquito's proboscis dive-bombed into his back.  He looks like a case of the mumps.  We like the idea of doing a southbound A.T. hike next year starting at Harper's Ferry - maybe... just maybe.  Granddaughter Zoe landed in Thailand for summer work at an elephant sanctuary and teaching ESL; she is officially a freshman in college. YAY!  And granddaughter Corrie is 41 weeks pregnant with Caleb.  YAY for babies.  GMC 5 hrs, water bar maintenance on old AT.

17 Jul:  Inn at Long Trail, Killington, Vermont:  We may have slept nine hours.  It rained all night and all day.  Cynthia worked on her DNA article, plus updating the Bankston DNA for further genetic analysis.  Ron worked on Sudokus all day until he was bleary-eyed and then some.  Getting old is hard work, so mid-afternoon, we took a nap.  At 6 PM we enjoyed a light dinner of potatoes and salad before returning to our sudokus etc.

16 Jul:  BIRTHDAY !!  We celebrated by napping for three hours.  Okie has a lot of Sudokus for Ron, plus a puzzle!  Imagine that.  Cynthia had lots of text and email birthday wishes that made her very happy.  Annie sent a fun package of notes, watercolor greeting cards, a Norwegian recipe card, a protective cross to carry with us on the bike, and a photo of Cynthia at age 13.  Cynthia sent a photo of the photo to granddaughter Zoe and asked who it looked like.  Zoe said, "DAD!"  Son Paul said, "I don't ever remember having hair like that."  That just shows that even Paul is becoming forgetful.

15 Jul:  Cynthia is awake at 1 AM, 2 AM, 3 AM and finally out of bed at four AM.  The alarm is set for 5 AM.  Oh well.  The 7:40 AM  flight out of Houston was on time; Ron arrived in Rutland in time to put ten or twenty pieces into the very colorful jigsaw puzzle they have out to entertain those of us who puzzle.  The Smooches are happily reunited, fedified, and ensconced back into "our" room at the Inn at Long Trail.  And a good time was had by all.  The puzzle of the day is to wonder why the GPS decided to route Ron west on NH 124 to US 5 S to Keene to NH 12 N to finally get to NH 123 west into Vermont rather than merely turning left on 123 at the start.  Oh, now that I try it on Google maps, the difference is only ONE mile.

14 Jul, Sunday:  Ron is breakfasted and about to ride to Watertown to visit Richard one more time before riding to Sharon, NH to visit Margie and Richard.  The ride to Sharon was lovely, leaving Watertown via Bedford Road out to I-95 north for six miles to MA 225 back to Dave's house to pick up luggage and say goodbyes, then continuing out 225 until MA 110 N to 119 N to Townsend, MA where a bumpy road connects to NH 124 N to NH 123 N to Jarmany Hill Road.  Cynthia (in Texas) is going to worship at Grace Lutheran followed by Brunch with grandchildren. Tonight, she will drop off the rental car at the airport and overnight at a hotel nearby because of the 6:30 AM check-in for the flight to Smooch!  Mmmmm! and Mmmmm2 !!

Mom between her two boys

13 Jul:  Carlisle, Mass.  Already since it is 1 AM again.  Today's plan is to see Maggie in Hingham.  In the meantime-and-in-between-time,  Jul 13 in Montgomery, Texas, Cynthia is missing Ron.  Family and friends created a hilarious video of her life and happy birthday wishes.  Ron also made a very hilarious video singing, ”Good Morning to You!”   Ron is so proud of himself that he didn't accidentally give away the surprise party by blabbing something inappropriately.  The first part of the ride to Hingham was fine, being the normal route: MA 225 S & E, but once Ron turned onto on I-95, the fun soon departed as the traffic was very heavy and there were several stop-and-go slowdowns that left him baking in the direct 

Jon and Kiira

sunlight.  That is the price you pay for taking the major Boston circumferential I-95 (formerly 128.)  Once he turned the corner onto I-93 N and MA 3 S, the riding again became more pleasant, and it was satisfying to see familiar landmarks from previous visits.  While Maggie was coming down to the entrance reception area, Ron struck up a conversation with Mary Ellen, who was doing 15-by-15 sudoku on the computer.  It was quite a surprise to discover that she is a retired MIT civil engineer whose 

Cheryl and Fyn

favorite job included blowing up 
bridges and dams.  The entire afternoon was delightful, and it was well worth suffering in the sun through traffic to get to Linden Ponds.  The ride back to Watertown to see Richard in the evening was better as regards traffic and sunshine, but the choice of MA 16 was a poor choice with typical big city roads in terrible condition.  Richard seemed more lively and cheerful and motivated than yesterday, but it was because he had hatched this idea that Ron could take him via motorcycle to nearby Fresh Pond where the "Jovians" had set up a timing booth that could transport Richard

Mee beloved WeeFee

 back in time to 2015 before his stroke - which would recover the function of his left hand.  The nursing staff would not consider it, and it would require his doctor's and his guardian's approvals.  No surprise there, but Richard had really hoped that it would work and was severely disappointed.

Cynthia and kids

12 Jul:  Today went very well.  At 6 AM it was raining, so it was easy to fall back to sleep.  At 8:30 AM the phone rang, but Ron thought it was his pill alarm, and it was still raining.  After morning exercises and a goodby to Kris, Ron was able to enjoy his morning oatmeal without feeling rushed to be out and about on wet roads.  By 11 AM the roads were dry and the ride to Watertown was pleasant and easy.  Richard was in the lunchroom when Ron arrived, and after lunch, asked to see the motorcycle.  Peg rolled Richard out the door and left Ron to roll Richard back inside later.  After 45 minutes, Richard told Ron that this was the longest he had been outside in a preceding year.  Formerly a good-hearted volunteer had come once a week to spend time with Richard and to take him outside on good days, but Richard hasn't seen that volunteer in a year.  About 3 PM, after a surprising rumble of thunder, Ron said good-by for today and rode to Whole Foods for luncheon salad again.  The plan was to then ride to Bob & Rachel's in Arlington for dinner, but rain intervened, so Ron ate half of the salad at Whole Foods and the other half at Bob & Rachel's after Aletta left.  It was a surprise and a delight to see Aletta and her new puppy.  It was very wonderful to see Bob, Rachel, and Aletta again for such a relaxed, comfortable visit.  Now it is again 1 PM and time for bed.

11 Jul:  Carlisle, Massachusetts.  Day one without adult supervision.  Since the motorcycle had only 11 miles worth of gasoline in the tank, it seemed a priority to find more gas, but also seemed unnecessary (to Ron) to go out of the way to get it.  By the time Ron stopped at the Shell station in Bedford, the gauge was reading only one mile left until empty.  Ron did spend all day with his crippled friend Richard at the Watertown Health Center today.  Around 3 PM Ron rode over to Whole Foods for a huge salad lunch and frozen fruit bars dessert.  Richard asked Ron to find him a pair of cotton athletic shorts, and TJ Max had those.  About 7 PM Ron rode back out to Carlisle and stayed up talking with Dave until after midnight.  (Smooch to Ron in Mass from a wide-awake Cynthia in Texas at 5:30 AM)(And Smooch back from a very sleepy Ron in Mass at 1:19 AM.)

10 Jul:  More sorbet, but no so many awakenings last night, although Cynthia complained of too many.  We breakfasted at our relaxed normal 9 PM and Ron continued packing.  The two packages we are leaving here are bulging.  The motorcycle will be packed more lightly than usual, and we are ready to eat lunch at 1 PM.  Today Ron is pleased to report that his sore legs seem to have vanished with the additional exertions of the last two days.  We had thought to hike a bit today, but Cynthia has a blister under one toenail and decided against a hike today.  The plan is that Cynthia will catch a 4 PM flight out of Rutland for Houston via Boston to celebrate her birthday with her children in Houston.  Don't be surprised if Ron fails to blog for a few days. ( Cynthia’s flight at four was on an 8 passenger puddle jumper from Rutland to Boston; after a three-hour layover, the United Fight took off against one of the most incredible sunsets arriving in Houston at 11:21 PM.  She made the mistake of watching TV newscasts on the flight. Not good. .  

9 Jul:  More sorbet and another night of multiple awakenings.  Since our legs feel good, we decided upon a longer hike to the ski run again today, and Ron found another few trees to saw and remove from blocking the trail.  Cynthia took a couple of photos of the tree that is blocking the trail to show Murray.  Tonight we made the tentative correlation that evening sorbet might be interfering with our sleep - after Ron ordered and ate a second bowl.  Ron did remember to call Dr. Dougherty's office and discovered that TODAY is the day to send the remote reading of his pacemaker to the doctor.  (done)  Now pardon me while I get busy transcribing the route to Gill and Carlisle and Watertown onto paper in preparation for tomorrow.  GMC 5 hrs, sawed & removed 3 trees from old AT.

Maybe that was a pry log

8 Jul:  We decided upon a shorter hike today to allow our legs to recuperate a bit.  Hiker Ron borrowed Murray's super sharp Stihl hand saw and sawed five fallen trees to remove them from the trail.  He was tired/ exhausted!  Imagine that!  We were in bed plenty long but woke up multiple times.  Perhaps sorbet is not a good night time dessert.  GMC 5 hrs, sawed & removed 5 trees from old AT.

First of several cuts to remove most of the tree

View from ski platform

Ron is hilariously funny!

Hiker Ron in front of A.T. white blaze

7 Jul: Which trail do we take today (after nine incredible hours of refreshing sleep)?  The Kent Pond Trail it is!  The day is delicious; great weather, a cool breeze and low humidity made it awesome.  We stopped along the lakeside a couple of times to enjoy the water.  Ron was quite surprised that the trail appears very well maintained.  We made the entire distance to Thundering Falls again.  GMC no maintenance yet - no tools.

Tyler B. All America West

Grandnephew Tyler B. was named to the Little League All America West, playing in national playoffs late July. 

Sherburne Pass Trail Before Deluge

6 Jul:  We have another few days of hiking before Cynthia departs on July 10th via Cape Air for Boston to Houston for yet another 18th birthday party.  Then Ron will be without adult supervision for five whole days until she returns.  At his age, we doubt that he will get into much trouble.  We are extremely proud of ourselves for two days of industrious hiking.  We made it to the ski run for another six-mile day.  Ron rested there, hat overhead.  The view was lovely but obscured a bit by low clouds that forecast rain.  (As did the approaching thunder.) The trail was nice and dry until the rain came when we were about thirty minutes down the mountain.  Dinner tonight at Rosemary’s Restaurant was delicious!  

Hiker Ron Resting

Mountain View of Deer Leap (white spot)

Thundering Falls and Cynthia's Finger

5 Jul at the Inn at Long Trail, Killington, Vermont:  Cynthia and I arrived in Vermont yesterday and discovered immediately, to our dismay, that we no longer have legs accustomed to hiking.  Our legs get so tired so quickly on these hills !!  But today we persevered today up and downhill for nearly  16,000 steps according to Cynthia's FitBit - 6.34 miles.  We are tired puppies, but we ate well and plan to sleep early and long.  After all, tomorrow is another day.  We hadn't actually planned to get to Vermont this early, but the heat in Philadelphia last week convinced us to hustle up here without dallying around to enjoy sweaty sightseeing.

4 Jul:  Happy Independence Day!  Hurray, today we intend to get to the Inn at Long Trail, God willing.  That will be worth celebrating, too.  Then we can go hiking uphill.  Wynn:  Today's plan is the Taconic State Parkway N to R on NY 295 E to L on CR 5 N to R on NY 20 E to L on NY 22 N to R on NY 7 N into Vermont where it changes to VT 279 to L on US 7 N to R on US 4 E to Killington and the Inn at Long Trail (click here.)  Oh goodie, I just wrote a statement that I just love, "I'd rather live fully by eating healthy rather than live poorly by eating richly."  Warning: You will see this repeated often in the next year.  And now I've come up with a suitable alternative statement,
"You can choose to eat healthy to enjoy life fully or to eat richly to enjoy life poorly."  Well, the ride to Killington went without a hitch, except that it was a bit hot all day, 90+ degrees.  The few times we saw 86 or 84 degrees seemed downright cold.  The highways in New York were busy without long vistas, but Vermont corrected that with less traffic and nice mountains up close and personal all the way to the Inn.  Thank God.

3 Jul:  Another snoozy morning, but tomorrow we need to arise earlier, so tonight we need to get to bed earlier.  After Ron's huge breakfast of omelet and multiple bowls of oatmeal with pineapple afterward, we walked the 1.3 pleasant miles to the Post Office to mail one letter to Don C. and the key to the Archives back to Lisa.  On the return trip, Ron bought a loaf of sourdough bread for the salt,  (He was a bit dizzy this morning from low blood pressure.)  Then we decided to stop at Charlie Brown's for their salad bar, which surprised us by being one of the best we've seen.  Maybe that is why the Ruby Tuesday here closed.  This afternoon, we lazed about the room and computered.  Ron is considering the index for Volume 7 after finishing these trip descriptions, but it is now 8:39 after our evening walk.  At least I have finished documenting our routes for Wynn.  (I hope she can follow our routes although the ones on Jun 24 in the city will be a challenge.)

2 Jul:  YAY!  We slept for over eight hours! YAY!  This Hilton Garden Inn offers a pleasant stay for a couple of days.  After being lazy and computering all day, we walked around the neighborhood and then to Charlie Brown's for salmon and baked potatoes.  They did an excellent preparation of the potatoes, and Cynthia declared the salad good.

1 Jul:  Birthday Month.  Little SmoochSmooch turns 18 again this month, and she celebrates all month long.  Poor old Smooch is worn out by August.  We began the heralded birthday month by riding towards our Killington, VT destination to enjoy three nights of R and R at Fishkill, NY.  The ride was particularly cool and enjoyable going through the Poconos and the Delaware Water Gap (click here.)  We started north on Maryland 27 until turning L on MD 30, then R on MD 86 which turns into PA 516 at the state line.  We stayed on 516 too long, too close to York before heading over to I-83 N to bypass York, then US 30 E to the Ruby Tuesday past our turn, so after lunch we backtracked to go North on US 222 and missed getting onto I-78 early enough to pass by Bethel, so missed opportunity to see if Popeye was home.  (I forgot that Bethel is further west and that we need to pass close by Harrisburg to get there.)  It was great fun to see Kutztown up close on 222 and remember my Uncle Vint.  Eventually, we found PA 33 N and US 209 N to Shroudsburg  and through the Delaware Water Gap (so cool in the shade) and then I-84 E across the Hudson to Fishkill (click here) and our Hilton Garden Inn where we've enjoyed doing less for a couple of days, 284 miles total today.  The GPS threw me for a loop because it wanted me to return west across the Hudson - after reflection, I realize that I set a map waypoint on the bridge, and the GPS must have placed it in the westbound lane.