August... Rolling North On Two Wheels

31 Aug:   And tomorrow was indeed another day: today, and today dawned drizzly in Butte, Montana.  At noon-thirty, the weather is drying out a little.  We walked to The Montana Club for salads for lunch and are back to preparing for our departure Wednesday morning towards Missoula to buy new tires for our baby blue motorcycle.  Ron putzed with recycling before discovering that there is no recycling center in Butte, even though it is at the intersection of two major Interstate highways.  Then we walked the cemetery again in the cold- and getting colder.  And Cynthia wanted a baked potato dinner at the Rib & Chop House.  While we were waiting Ron witnessed such disorganization by the hostess seating people that he got disgusted and told Cynthia to call him whenever she was finally seated.  She has called, so I am on my way back down even though I don't feel inclined to eat anything.  And except for the cook, service for the rest of our meal was similarly incompetent.  I left an $0.84 cent tip.  Today Cynthia made reservations here at the Copper King after we return from Missoula until September 21st.  It is cool here, and we do like hiking the convenient cemeteries and the Maud S. Canyon Trail, so this will be an excellent option until time to head directly towards Minneapolis.  Ron started trying to figure out a route and lodging en route, especially across South Dakota, where finding hotels is more of a challenge.  He had to change the route in order to find acceptable lodging no more than 300 miles apart.

30 Aug, Sunday:  So now we have seen quite the selection of font sizes, tiny, reasonable and nearly huge.  Cynthia has been napping, but I'm guessing that her "feed me" alarm will be going off momentarily.  We hiked this morning to Walmart for groceries, and Ron is now enjoying frozen mango as he types.  It has taken him three days to get caught up on emails and this blog, but he can now consider what else to do before we leave Butte - only three mornings hence.  At 4;30 we walked the mile or so to The Montana Club for lunch of salmon, salad, steamed asparagus, broccoli and a baked potato.  In the evening we again walked the cemetery for a half hour to take it easy on Cynthia's hurty feet.

Maud S. Canyon Trail map

Sign pointing to Continental Divide

We hiked up really high today

29 Aug:  Today we hiked the Maud S. Loop Trail up to a junction where we continued uphill towards the Continental Divide but stopped about a half-mile short of reaching it when the trail became steeper with gravelly inclines that made it quite a challenge.  In two places going back down, Cynthia squatted onto her heels to scoot down.  The loose rock is like ball-bearings under her shoes.  As we ascended, we met Paul, a Butte resident who had bicycled all the way up to Our Lady of the Rockies (click here).  We all decried the social unrest, radical left, and "news" media who are trying to purge our country of capitalism and plunge us all into socialism.  (Socialism means that you either join the Socialist party to work for the government or live on welfare.)  Our mileage totaled 11.5 miles with about a 1500 foot elevation gain.  (Cynthia's feet are tired and upset with her.)  Ron and Cynthia walked the cemetery at sunset.  Now that the air has been clear for a couple of days, we are considering returning to Butte after getting new tires Missoula.

28 Aug:  Ron likes the larger font.  He is astounded that the smaller font survived this long because it means that he hasn't updated the blog in nearly a month.  (Don't bother to look, it is gone now.)  Today has been more relaxed because he doesn't have a clue what he wants to spend his time doing for the next four days before we leave to hit the road again on Wednesday.  For now, this blog is a great choice, especially since Cynthia has abandoned me while getting a manicure and pedicure (and God knows what else).

27 Aug:  Yesterday seems so long ago that Ron cannot remember anything about it.  Oh, memory is returning, we woke up to a light rain and putzed around in the room after breakfast until late morning.  Since the air quality was again "good," we rode the motorcycle a couple of miles to the Maud S. Canyon Trail (uphill for two miles and 1000 feet of elevation gain).  Cynthia was delighted that she had the strength and energy for that uphill challenge; Ron discovered that his energy was weak.  Afterwards we ate our usual salads at the Montana Club.  (We have apparently given up on the Rib & Chop House after Cynthia's unacceptable shrimp dinner - although we will probably continue to eat their superior salmon.)  Ron went for a second cemetery walk at dark and talked for an hour to his friend Ed.  Finally he stayed up until 1 AM answering long-neglected emails.

26 Aug:  Butte, Montana.  And Ron is finally back on-line !!  He hasn't been for the month due to working on the next SCS package and fearful that the hotel internet would throw his computer into somewhat permanent never-never land.  (And it did just that !!)  Now he has successfully backed up the computer and sent the package off to the SCS member, so he can breathe a sigh of relief and start answering some of the more than 50 emails that have stacked up.  The good news is that Cynthia and I are still "sheltering" successfully despite being in a hotel and eating breakfast and dinner in a dining room ... at least we don't think we are any sicker than usual, - no covid-like symptoms so far.  And we are still walking a couple of times a day despite the unhealthy air thanks to California wildfires, raging out of control almost like America's younger population that is "entitled" to riot and loot and burn to their heart's content, protected by their assurance that the police don't dare interfere with this inalienable right.  One of these days a whole lot of them are going to wake up in prison wondering how and why did they get there.  The highlight of our day was seeing a fawn enter through the cemetery gates and walk around paying her respects to the people buried there.  This fawn was about as little as a mule deer can be, and she seemed very puzzled by the two-legged characters watching her.  Somewhat later she ran out in the opposite direction and crossed the street without looking both ways for traffic.  By then we had noticed the big, friendly, curly-haired black dog that a lady was "walking" without a leash.  Apparently the little deer wasn't interested in making new friends.

25 Aug:  Hiking it tough in this smoke, so we are stuck walking the cemetery twice a day (level ground).  Our walk this morning was punctuated by seeing a large red fox streaking through the cemetery a couple of rows away.  His tail extended straight behind him with a white chevron at the tip.  Today the smoke was diminished by a blessed rain after a huge wind.  We ate dinner in at the Montana Rib & Chop House adjacent to our hotel.  Amusing that the restaurant web site shows the butte near Montana Tech with its "M" prominently displayed; amusing because the restaurant is so far away that the M is obscured by the smoky haze on many days recently.  Cynthia listened to speeches tonight while Ron walked the cemetery.  He was quite surprised to find several trees or large limbs in new places; the tree next to the cemetery office was entirely uprooted but fell without damaging either office or tombstones. 

Sunset amidst wildfire smoke

24 Aug:  We had one walk and a long nap.  Yes, this is boring to our readers, but we were delighted with our afternoon nap.  Ron is knee-deep in the SCS project (as he has been for three months now - which explains the absence of details in WhereIsRonNow), Cynthia mailed her article on DNA to the editor, and we fussed over the increasing smoke from California.  Ron went for a second walk after dark despite the smoke.  His conversations have also been neglected, so he caught up with a few of his walk-and-talk regulars.

23 Aug, Sunday:  Cynthia is lining up the winter reservations.  She is in charge of her high school class reunion on 3 October.  All of the letters were mailed and food is ordered. 

22 Aug:  Our hikes are totaling nine to ten miles a day flat-land as we hike the cemetery due to heavy smoke from the California wildfires. 

Boss Hoss motorcycle, V-8 engine

21 Aug:  After our walk up Maud S. to the Butte overlook, we returned to the Montana Club and discovered an unusual "Harley" in the parking lot.  After eating we exited to see the rider talking with a friend, so we walked over and introduced ourselves and were quickly corrected to learn that we were looking at a Boss Hoss motorcycle whose rider was returning to Portland from Sturgis.  His Boss Hoss has a Chevy small block V-8 engine (a 509).  He says it does 0 to 100 MPH in three seconds. 

20 Aug:  Our morning walk through Holy Cross Roman Catholic Cemetery was three miles in an hour and 45 minutes.  We stopped in the office to learn why there is a huge lot of babies ... most without headstones or names (because they were not baptized).  Another huge field of unkempt graves is due to burial without paying for perpetual care, or they were indigenous.  So much for Christian care of the poor.  In the late evening we repeated the walk for another three miles.  Cynthia foreclosed on a house she sold and she owner financed.   She got the furniture back, and it was moved out of the house today to the storage unit.  

19 Aug:  Wow! We hiked the Maud S. Trail to the Vista, a thousand-foot elevation gain (actually 930 feet gain), plus the evening walk for a total of ten miles.  YAY for us.  This was after an early AM ride to Summit Labs for a fasting blood sugar test.  We arrived at the labs in the morning just before they opened and were back to the hotel in time for breakfast.

This is Our Lady of the Rockies

View from Maud S. Trail to valley

18 Aug:  This was our designated day for hiking on the bike trails near the Montana Tech College. But when we arrived, the parking area indicated by Google Earth required a Blue Decal, and classes had already commenced.  So we parked in the nearby lot for the World Museum of Mining (click here).  Curious, we paid $8 each admission and entered the compound full of recreated buildings and shops full of authentic artifacts from the days gone by when Butte was a bustling city full of deep shaft miners.  Due to covid we were required to wear a mask whenever within eighteen inches of any window worth peering into.  Cynthia found the mining museum spectacular and promised to post photos.  (Oops.)

17 Aug:  And today we hiked the Maud S Trail again.  Cynthia's feet and back seem to be tolerating hiking this uphill grade every other day without undue complaint.  We have decided that we really like this Copper King Hotel & Conference Center and being close to both cemeteries and the Maud S. Canyon Trail.

16 Aug, Sunday: We must have rested on Sunday, except for our twice walks of six miles.  Ron is working on a package of materials about Israel Peterson for a Swedish Colonial Society (SCS) member. 

15 Aug:  Hiked the Maud S. Canyon loop trail, with 1000 foot elevation gain...  two TOUGH miles up and two steep miles down.  The downhill trail had many short, steep sections with treacherous footing on loose gravel, so we promise ourselves to never do that again.  Tonight we walked through the very large Holy Cross cemetery across the street.  It was a pleasant walk in a diversely maintained cemetery.  Some parts were watered, mowed and green, another part was untended, parched and broken, yet another part had tiny plots, and yet another mere flat stone markers.

14 Aug:  We hiked to Staples to pick up the invitations printed on party paper, ate lunch at the Montana Club, and boogied back to the hotel.  Cynthia stuffed envelopes and got them into the mail.  Classmates are now fully informed about the upcoming extemporaneous reunion Oct 3 in Northwood.

13 Aug:  We checked out of the Hampton Inn in Butte, rode three miles south, and checked in to the Copper King Hotel & Convention Center.  We asked the desk clerk (also hotel manager) if there were good hiking trails nearby, and she told us how to get to the Maud S. Canyon Trail.  After unpacking, we followed her directions and hiked the Maud S. Canyon Trail as far as we dared for our first steep hike in a week, almost to the panoramic Vista overlooking Butte.  In the evening, we rode to the downtown historic district and walked an additional mile or two, starting with a "tour" of the grand old Hotel Finlen.  (We asked to see a couple of rooms.)   As we walked and read historic plaques, we became more familiar with the colorful history of Butte.  Besides seeing the gigantic open-pit copper mine north and east of town, we were able to walk right up to the fences around several "headframes" which lowered miners into the underground mines and brought the ore to the surface.  Butte has a plethora of old buildings with historic markers in varying stages of decay.  Several look to be very well cared for, but they are the exceptions.  I just read today that Butte is a very, very dangerous US city.

12 Aug:  We departed Bozeman via the same Baxter Lane and backtracked to take Montana Highway 84 west until we intersected US 287 north towards Sappington, Montana according to the map.  Cynthia is a Sappington descendant, so Ron thought it would be fun to show her the namesake town - but there was nothing there.  Population must be zero or less unless you count cattle.  Google Earth shows me that there is indeed nothing there - except for one large milling complex.  No houses, no residences.  Fooey.  I was still expecting to find something of a town when we came upon Montana Highway 2 which would take us to Butte, except that when highway 2 crossed Interstate 90, I changed the routing extemporaneously right there for a quick and easy entry into Butte. 

11 Aug:  We enjoyed breakfast at the Bunnery, but the wait was long and the service was slow, drawbacks of a popular place in a tourist town.  We continued on US 191 right on through The Tetons.  The only delay was an interminable line at the entrance station.  Ron was surprised that the lakes were not as big nor the mountains so impressive as his memory.  After enjoying few delays and light traffic for a couple of hours, it was a huge disappointment to run into another interminable line.  Ron was convinced that the stupid tourists were each in turn stopping in the middle of the road to get out of the car and take a picture of some unique wildlife (like a chipmunk).  (Cynthia read that one lady was gored by an irate momma buffalo for approaching her little calf too closely this year.)  As it turns out, the line was to go through the Yellowstone National Park entrance station. Since the parks are practically contiguous, I had expected to have to endure entrance lines once.  Fortunately for the rest of our very enjoyable ride through the parks, no one saw any wildlife so we were not forced into yet another interminable line by the photo-crazy tourists.  We stayed on 191 through West Yellowstone and came to a stop due to road construction, chip sealing (click here).  Continuing north after riding through that loose gravel we came to another episode of chip sealing before clear sailing up to pass the junction with Colorado 84 and on to Baxter Lane that took us in to the northern edge of Bozeman where our hotel was located.  Baxter Lane was a sweet, untrafficked alternative to the main highways through town.

10 Aug:  Rock Springs provided us about the most deplorable breakfast we have been fed on this entire trip, so we left with a poor opinion of Rock Springs and continued north on US 191 into Pinedale, Wyoming where Cynthia decided that the Heart and Soul Cafe looked good.  (After that long without eating, anything looks good.). The restaurant was actually able to provide us good food.  We were quite well pleased.  US 191 took us through the mountains into Jackson, a town full of tourists.  Cynthia was very proud of herself to use points to book the night at the Hampton Inn.  (Otherwise prices are outrageous.)  She also won the competition to find a suitable place for us to eat: St. Genevieve (click here), a quite excellent restaurant.  Pearl Street Market is supposed to have groceries, but it is more akin to a yuppie convenience store.  We did get bread and blueberries there.

9 Aug, Sunday:  We left Grand Junction on Interstate 70 west for several miles until we could turn north on Colorado 139 towards Rangely, Colorado.  (Granted, few people besides Ron have ever heard of Rangely.)  There are impressive emerald-green fields on both sides of Colorado 139 as we headed north up a slight grade.  That lovely emerald green stops abruptly as if cut by a knife - when the irrigation systems end.  One side of the fences was lush green and the other side was parched brown desert sands and plants.  The rest of highway 139 isn't a scenic wonderland, but it is a good route towards cooler northern vacationlands.  We enjoyed a surprisingly nice lunch at the Main Street Cafe in Rangely.  After lunch we saw the backsides of two pronghorns quite close to the road (Colorado Highway 64) and enjoyed marvelous views as we sped through those desert landscapes on US 40 into Utah.  Our goal for the day was Rock Springs, Wyoming (click here), so we stopped only briefly at Vernon, Utah and turned north on US 191 towards the Flaming Gorge Recreation Area.  We were surprised to find ourselves on top of the world, and the hurricane force winds also surprised us.  It was a struggle to ignore the force of the wind in my ears.  The motorcycle was able to absorb the wind without much more than occasional deflection.  It was awesome indeed to look in any direction and see other plateaus and mountains at the same elevation or lower.  By the time we arrived at Rock Springs, Cynthia was starved, but the only good option was to buy rolled oats, berries and veggies at the Smith's market in town.  This was the second day that Ron's butt got tired of sitting.

8 Aug:  We didn't need a particularly early start to ride from Ouray to Grand Junction, passing over Grand Mesa, but since the weather at elevation can be unpredictable, we started somewhat early.  The early part of the ride on US 550 through Montrose was a bit warm.  In Delta we turned east on Colorado Highway 92 for several hot miles, but as we rode uphill north towards Grand Mesa on Colorado Highway 65, it became downright chilly.  Having just been warm, we felt no need to stop for warmer clothing.  Grand Mesa is a wonderfully scenic vacationland (click here) close to Grand Junction.  We enjoyed incredible views ascending the twisty roads (which so many motorcyclists love - including Ron).  I had forgotten that Grand Mesa also has gorgeous lakes besides the mountains, forests and twisty roads.  We stopped only at the visitor center because it was mid-summer and everybody and their brother were out vacationing with no coronavirus concerns to dampen their enjoyment of the outdoors.  Besides, the roadways were relatively uncrowded, so the ride was delightfully free of slow pokes.  As we descended the other side of the hill, the heat returned to relieve our chill and we were soon overdressed (having donned more clothing at our rest stop).  Once to the river at the bottom of the hill, the roadway entered into a deep gorge that was even more awesome; river and greenery on one side and ahead, perpendicular rock walls on the other side and ahead.  This canyon continues for about 10 miles !!  Here the slowpokes don't bother Ron as he prefers to gawk at the scenery and admire those impressive, sheer cliffs up close and personal.  Once we exited the canyon and joined Interstate 70, we ran into oppressive heat and heavy traffic, but there is no convenient alternative into Grand Junction.  At least that stretch of Interstate 70 is quite scenic, being built as an elevated above the Colorado River at times.

7 Aug:  Ouray, Colorado.  We hiked the flats today, and as we passed through downtown approaching our hotel, we saw two bucks!  Both were still in velvet.  The smaller one looked a little scrawny and desperate, but the larger one was a fine specimen with six points.  It was indeed to a surprise to see these bucks walking right through a residential area two blocks from the highway and downtown.  We liked the Bon Ton so well that we ate there again this evening.

Cynthia takes flattering photos

Ouray is NOT a big place

The San Juan mountains in Ouray.

6 Aug:  The adventurers hiked three miles straight up to God, starting in town at 8000 feet elevation and walking up the steep Box Canyon trail to Ouray's Perimeter Trail (click here).  The photos are from that hike.  A widowed classmate asked if Ron is looking for a second wife... he looks so good.  In the evening we walked again, this time through town to enjoy a more nearly level pathway.   There is a koi pond as part of the hot springs/ swimming pool in town and we discovered a veritable humming hive of activity near a house with multiple hummingbird feeders on the front porch.  Ron had been curious to see if a multitude of hummingbirds perch at dusk on the same electric wire across the street as in previous years, but apparently they've changed to a different evening "hang out."  In the evening, we thoroughly enjoyed an excellent dinner and great service at the Bon Ton; the swordfish was awesome. 

This is the "river"  in Box Canyon.

5 Aug:  And we are off.   We rode west on US 160 into Durango and ate breakfast at Jean Pierre's again.  That part of our trip was through typical Western ranchlands tucked into the forested mountains.  Then we continued north on US 550 through entirely different scenery, crossing three high mountain passes, and arrived in Ouray late afternoon.  The local grocery sold us fruit and veggies, and we had just enough time for a good walk around town - uphill and downhill at 8000' elevation.   Ouray is magnificent, but it is almost impossible to find a place that will feed us a breakfast that we can eat (no oil, no butter, no fat, no cheese, no salt) - so we used hot water from the coffee pot to cook oatmeal.

4 Aug:  D-day minus one (Departure day).  Up, exercised, and fed with mandatory correspondence completed, it is time for our morning walk.  Ron feels relatively confident that he will be packed and ready to roll first thing tomorrow morning - off through Durango to Ouray, about three hours and two high mountain passes away over the "Million Dollar Highway." (Click here for accelerated U-Tube dashcam ride.)  Don't worry we won't travel as fast as it appears in that U-Tube.  Afternoon thunderstorms are forecast, so we want to get a very early start.  (That means 10 to 11 AM to us.) We were lucky this evening to have Dan join us for our walk again.  It was really quite dark by the time we finished (8:58).

3 Aug:  Ut oh, our departure date is only two days away.  We walked our favorite to-the-lake route and return in the late morning, and it was really quite warm.  Then Cynthia indulged in a manicure before we ate lunch of sweet potatoes at Boss Hogg's, and now Ron is returning to his tasks preparatory to packing the motorcycle.  During our evening walk to the lake & back, we saw the five bucks, a forest of horns again.  Ron was delighted that they were available to see us off so close to departure.  Cynthia retired early tonight, so we did not stay up past midnight reviewing her "Harry Bernard King" article for the NGS Quarterly.

2 Aug, Sunday:  And the birthday month came to a successful close.  We can hardly wait to see what next year will bring for birthday presents.  Our hiking total today was seven miles in two walks, and we saw our favorite five bucks with antlers in velvet - twice !!  In the morning, they were resting in woods on the eastern side of our neighborhood, a proverbial forest of antlers, and in the evening, they were grazing close to the street on the western side of the neighborhood.  Cynthia took video on both occasions but hasn't cropped a photo out of the video.

1 Aug:  The views crossing the Continental Divide take your breath away, and massive thunderstorms an arm's length away will do the same trick.  We had a beautiful ride over Wolf Creek Pass through South Fork to Alamosa to visit with Becky and Doug for the afternoon before heading back towards a beautiful sky full of grey clouds and streamers of rain descending in torrents.  The lucky part is that all of this that captured our full attention and imagination was slightly to the left of the northwest bound route we were riding (US Highway 160).  We did pass under a few of the leading streamers and experienced a brief spattering of raindrops.  We passed through those before we arrived in Del Norte and turned to a due west heading just north of that same thunderstorm system.  In twenty minutes more it was apparent that we had dodged that bullet.  Thank God.  We arrived in Pagosa Springs early enough to eat dinner at Boss Hogg's before our usual evening walk.  And this walk was special in that we picked up a stray homeowner to keep us company from his new home to the lake and back.  Even more special was that he (Dan) was born in Conroe, Texas and still lives in that part of Texas.  Pretty much a small world any more.

July, Cynthia's birthday month!

31 Jul. Whaaaat? We are out of the birthday month?  Oh, no! The last day of the spectacular month was momentous. We rode to the National Forest and hiked nearly eight miles on a gorgeous day followed by dinner at Boss Hoggs, and yet another 3.5 mile walk to the lake and back.  Tremendous progress is being made on the DNA article for the NGS Quarterly.  After all, tomorrow is another month. 

30 Jul:  In contrast to yesterday, we awoke at 6:45 and had to rush through exercises and breakfast to get the motorcycle moving towards Durango by 8:30, stop for gas, and arrive at Spine Colorado by 10 PM for Cynthia's cortisone injection into her irritated hip bursa.  Afterwards we ate a marvelous egg white veggie omelet breakfast with sourdough toast at Jean Pierre's bakery.  Cynthia has already dropped off into a nap this afternoon.  The doctor recommended against walking today, so Ron walked alone both faster and longer than usual.

29 Jul:  And we were able to sleep in until 7:45.  Nice.  But now Cynthia is in a fluster, rushing to be ready to walk to her hair dresser appointment.  We had a good morning walk, although it was too warm, and arrived back at a poor time (noon-thirty) to go to Boss Hogg's, so we waited an hour and went early afternoon to get better, quicker service.  And our timing was excellent since it rained while we were eating.  After eating his veggies in the afternoon, Ron walked to City Market for blueberries, grapes, pretzels and frozen mango.  Then we walked to the lake through the neighborhood a second time before dark.  Ron wants to see the bucks with  the tall antlers again, but they are not cooperating.

28 Jul:  Ron finally stayed asleep most of the night.  For those of you who complain about waking up at night to relieve your bladder, Ron woke up at 12, 1, 2, 3, 4:30 and 6:30, which is fairly normal if he doesn't eat a lot of pretzels before retiring.  You can understand his pretzel obsession.   Our morning walk was cool and pleasant as was our typical luncheon at Boss Hogg's (click here. or click here.)  Our afternoon neighborhood walk was a little warm in direct sunlight, and we napped away an hour of the late afternoon, causing us to begin our evening walk late so that we turned around early in order to avoid walking after dark.  9+ miles today.  Again we stayed up, this time until midnight-thirty, editing Cynthia's Harry King article.  Cynthia appreciates walking three times since her body accommodates that much easier.

27 Jul:  Ron is not doing such a good job of transitioning from DNA to SCS packages, but he is confident that today is the day.  Five PM and Ron has answered several emails and chatted with a few people.  We walked through the neighborhood once and were heading out on a second walk when the first several raindrops hit us.  They were the first of not very many, so maybe we shoulda kept going.  Instead we decided to wait an hour which has now turned into two hours with increasing rain.  On the upside, Ron is struggling to stay awake as he finally begins work on the next SCS package.  Then Cynthia asked him to review her Harry King article, and we stayed up until 11:30 enjoying the thrills of chasing footnotes, rounding them up and getting them into their proper pens.

And here you see the beauty of answering "nature's call" in nature

26 Jul, Sunday:  Thank God!  And we do!!  Our usual routine with morning walk was punctuated by seeing a quick brown fox sprint across the field for a quarter-mile and cross the road far in front of us.  That and we saw several deer.  The drivers of the two tractor-trailer rigs parked across the street were buddies who threw a barbecue right there in the parking lot for their friends in town.  During one trip downstairs to the freezer to retrieve frozen mango for a treat, I detoured through the courtyard to chat for an hour with a very interesting guy who builds Morton buildings because he likes the work and likes to satisfy customers. Our second walk also went well although the color radar showed rain 10 miles to our east and 10 miles to our west.  We had a moment of hilarity when Cynthia took a bathroom break in the bushes and discovered a deer that was just as surprised as she was.  When we were ready to take the third walk those promised thunderstorms finally showed up here.  Cynthia is still celebrating 8+ miles walking today.

25 Jul:  The forecast was horrendous, but the reality was mild and pleasant.  We saw a group of four bucks with TALL antlers, still in velvet, during our morning walk.  It was peculiar to see such tall "sticks" from each head in the grass.  Afterward, we enjoyed eating salmon with potatoes at Boss Hogg's.  Jamie was our waitress again and explained that there is no "baked sweet potato" button on the order menu, so she has to punch "baked sweet potato fries" and tell the cook that those are actually supposed to be baked sweet potatoes.  Our second walk, mid-afternoon, was supposed to be rain-shortened, but wasn't.   The forecast was 100% chance of rain; reality was no rain.  We are now discussing the third walk.  Either that or Ron has to resume working on a Swedish Colonial package.  Ugh.  And we managed a rain-free third walk totaling 11.5 miles, 26,000 steps for our daily total.  Cynthia is celebrating.

24 Jul:  And the birthday celebrations are over; a song is sung beautifully in two-part harmony.  GEDmatch.com is still down, so Ron is accomplishing a few other tasks recently, including mending 101.  Our usual neighborhood walk went by without a hitch (or rain), and afterward, we enjoyed another luncheon of potatoes at Boss Hogg's.  Ron laid down for a nap during this afternoon thunderstorms after too many nights without adequate sleep.  Our evening walk was cut short by thunder and approaching ugly black clouds.

23 Jul:  Happy Birthday to Sistah.  A phone call and birthday song is sung early.  Looks like a good day for a longer hike in the National Forest, but tomorrow and Saturday forecasts call for an 80% chance of rain.  Our hike was delightful even though our single wildlife sighting was one grey squirrel with a bushy tail.  We picked the one mushroom we've seen for the mushroom-hunting owner of the motel but gave it instead to his daughter-in-law's cousin for her husband because she was at the desk when we got here.  Oh, and Jamie asked to know our names to tell the kitchen staff who know us by our order.  The chef even came out to see us in the last two days.  We walked to the lake and back again at 7:30 and are getting ready for bed early tonight.

22 Jul:  We awakened early, exercised early, ate our oatmeals early, and now Ron is quite disappointed that GEDmatch.com is not yet recovered from its latest "maintenance" that has lasted three days now.  Oops, they sent Cynthia an email revealing a security breach.  No doubt thousands of users will be scared off.  We had a nice walk through the neighborhood to the lake and back, 3.5 miles according to Cynthia's Apple watch.  Then we ate potatoes for lunch at Boss Hogg's, and now we are back to computers on a slooow internet.  And now we've finished our second walk to the lake and back.  Sunset was a multitude of various grey clouds with faint pink highlights.  We even saw a couple of deer.  We've had rain for the last couple of days, so we should start seeing more flowers and greenery soon.

21 Jul:  Is today.  We woked up, ate breakfast, did email chores, and decided to walk through the subdivision because the forecast was too hot.  Somewhere along the walk, the clouds covered the sun, and our normal subdivision 3.5 miles to the lake and back was quite pleasant, even though we did have to dodge the road grader and gravel truck.  Why are those big 18-wheel gravel trucks built like a bridge superstructure?  (Technically it is called a semi-trailer bottom dump truck, and it can dump the gravel in a long window instead of a heap.)  Ron walked to City Market so that he could fill up with frozen mango before we walked to an early dinner at Boss Hogg's.  Now he is so full as to burst.  In the evening (7:36), we walked again to the lake and back, seeing five bucks in velvet along the way.  One had ten points, one had eight, two more had six points, and the last one wouldn't tell me how many points.  Sunset was nice although the clouds blocked most of it.

20 Jul is yesterday, and I fell on the mud slicked trail.  Yup, because of the heat, we decided to ride to the end of the Piedra Road pavement and hike on the Turkey Springs Trail in the National Forest.  We hiked along at a good clip to our first sitting log, then past the Jack gravel road, then to the gate and the second sitting log, but by then the thunder and storm clouds were presenting convincing arguments for a retreat.  Our retreat was not early enough or quick enough and raindrops soon increased in frequency so that we took shelter against a ponderosa pine and inside a plastic rain poncho.  That worked marvelously for the half-hour until the raindrops became less frequent and we decided to continue to the motorcycle and get home while the gettin' was good.  As we hustled down the final steep slope of the trail Ron stepped onto very slick mud and landed BOOM on his butt and back.  It was sooo quick that he hardly realized what was happening before his head bounced off the hard ground.  The mud on his pants was quite the sight.  WoooHa.  We rode back into town on wet roads and straight to Boss Hogg's for sweet potato, baked potato, & veggies dinner.

19 Jul:  Disappeared somewhere, somehow.  We think that we walked twice around the neighborhood to the lake and back for a total of eight miles.  We cannot think of anything else done two days in the past.

18 Jul:  Ron is excited to see if any of the Bankston cousins replied.  Out of seven emails sent, five have replied, and Ron is already way behind, having answered only two.  We did walk twice and were inside for the heavy afternoon downpour, and we ate dinner of salmon & potatoes at Boss Hogg's.  The dusty neighborhood roads are no longer dusty and thankfully not muddy either.

17 Jul:  Something we ate prevented us from sleeping well last night.  We were both up to the bathroom frequently for the first two hours.  Fortunately last night Ron had the brainstorm to use the slippery bedspread to cover the curtains.  It worked perfectly to keep the room dark even after sunrise.  So now it is nearly noon by the time we've finished our oatmeal & berries breakfasts.  Ron is half-way through mending the hole in a seam of Cynthia's backpack.  I guess it is time to check the weather - rainy season seems to have begun.  Today is OK, but most of the rest of the month afternoon thunderstorms are predicted.  Time to go hiking at 2:30, the usual neighborhood route.  We got sprinkled upon close to the lake and took shelter under a pine tree.  After afternoon showers and a day of genealogy on computers, we went for a second walk to the lake and saw a couple of distant deer.  Ron sent 7 emails to GEDmatch Bankston cousins; this time he selected people who had several kits, hoping for a better reply rate.  Now time for bed: 10:20.

16 Jul:  Happy Birthday to mee beloved weefee, SmoochSmooch.  We finally slept better for the night and feel much more rested today.  We have absolutely no intention of repeating yesterdays ten miles of hiking.  We walked through our nearby neighborhood early, but the bird seed eating deer were not to be seen and the bird feeder was empty.  Ron walked to City Market mid-afternoon for his favorite treat, frozen mango, and other foodstuffs.  He has been diligently running triangulations with Bankston cousins for days now.  Before long he will have to figure out what to do with the results.  We walked over to Hoss Hoggs for Cynthia's gormet birthday dinner.  The waitress almost choked when Cynthia asked if they had champaign.  When we were set to leave, the rain came down in buckets.  We walked our neighborhood loop again this evening and were delighted to see at least two bucks reasonably close (like 50 feet) in a thicker stand of young trees.  There were another four deer there but too much shade to see antlers or not.  Then we saw two bucks go into an equipment yard that we pass close to our motel.  We were set to get to bed early when Ron decided to answer Cynthia's questions about footnoting her manuscript.  That kept us up until midnight.

15 Jul:  One more day to go before showering my love with I love yous.  And we are nominally ready to go hiking at 9 AM today.  We got out the door early and discovered it to be hotter than we imagined by the time we arrived in the forest about 10 AM.  We walked again to Park Ave and back, our 7+ mile out & back.  The "bear" was still in the same place.  Turns out our "bear" was a tall char-blackened stump.  Today Cynthia saw a sight I'd love to have seen.  Momma deer jumped gracefully over a 12' high tree & shrubbery while fleeing from us.  I saw the two youngsters scurrying away in the opposite direction through the underbrush.  On our evening walk we saw three does, then two bucks, then a coyote, and on the return, we saw them all again.  Today we walked 10 miles+.  We will be ready for bed by 10 PM.

14 Jul:  Countdown towards actual birth date continues as the excitement builds.  And again we've sat at our computers while the heat builds until mid-afternoon.  We walked about 7:30 and it was still hot enough to be a bit sweaty.  Then Ron walked to City Market for frozen Mango as a treat.  Tonight it is already 11 PM.  So much for getting to bed earlier.

13 Jul:  Monday the 13th is OK versus Friday the 13th.  We straightened the room so that housekeeping could find the bed and the floor.  Both are now much better, and we are ready to leave for hiking at the Continental Divide at 1 PM.  But then we checked the weather and prospects for rain in the mountains, coupled with a nice breeze in town convinced us to hike in our usual place.  This time we believe that we saw a bear, but it was too far away to be certain, and we were a little reluctant to go so far from the trail directly towards the large dark nearly-stationary object we saw.  We ate at Boss Hogg's again.  The explanation is that there was formerly a bar in the same building which was known as Hogs Breath.  The bar is gone, but the signs remain.  Ron grocery shopped both at Walmart and at City Market while Cynthia waited to be seated and waited to order.  Ron returned from putting groceries into the freezer and refrigerator just minutes after the food arrived at the table.

12 Jul, Sunday:  And again we sat at our computers until 3 PM, but then the forecast was 94 degrees, and we do enjoy our genealogy.  Ron didn't even eat breakfast until well after noon and still hasn't finished his final two morning exercises.  At least he finally ate his morning pills.  At sunset Ron walked over to City Market and came home with groceries, then went for a long walk to the lake after it was too dark to see.  The stars were really quite brilliant and the milky way was stepping on the tail of Scorpio.  Lyra was directly overhead, and there were hosts of stars that should fit into some constellation.

11 Jul:  And we slept well, awoke the third time after 9 hours, and are exercised, fed, and ready for the day.  Thank God.  Cynthia was disinclined to hike today but is hobbling around the room complaining of stiffness.  It is 91 degrees and sunny with a forecast high of 94, a good day to take a break and work on mending, genealogy photos, and DNA.  And now it is 7:45 PM and 88 degrees, still too hot, but we are running out of daylight, so walking we will go.  Cynthia returned to the motel after 8 blocks, so Ron resumed and walked to the lake and back as usual.

10 Jul:  Today we made it to the trail by 11:26, a bit later than yesterday and managed exactly the same hike plus an increment.  Today's high was 91 degrees, and tomorrow is supposed to be up to 94 degrees.  The breeze was warmer too, but we managed to enjoy our hike despite the heat.  We were a bit quicker than yesterday, and Cynthia says it is because "we" didn't stop to talk to other hikers as much.  The most exciting wildlife sighting today was a doe crossing the road close in front of us.  Ron immediately scanned where the doe came from but did not see any youngsters following mama, so he looked at mama more closely and was quite shocked when he returned his view to the road and saw two tiny fawns right beside the road, right beside us on the motorcycle.  That was shockingly too close, but those fawns were so tiny, perhaps only 18" tall, with ruffled and polka-dotted coats.  We again dined at Boss Hogg's (one potato, two potatoes, third potato sweet.)  And we both walked to the lake and back for the sunset, which was very nice with redish streaks of clouds throughout the skies.

9 Jul:  Today we got in gear a bit earlier, perhaps because Ron slept for 7 1/2 hours uninterrupted.  We rode to the end of the paved road and hiked into the National Forest for apparently 4 miles, then returned.  It was a hot day with a high of 87 degrees again, but there was just enough breeze to make it cool enough in the shade.  We did see one doe grazing on the side of the road before our hike, but that was the only wildlife we saw today.  We ate lunch at Boss Hogg's Restaurant before shopping for groceries at Walmart.  After an afternoon on the computer, Ron went for an additional walk at 8 PM while talking to friends on his cell phone.  And now it is time for bed.

8 Jul:  Ron is suddenly realizing that July is probably the month when he needs to send his pacemaker readings to the doctor.  The technology is amazing: he holds a small device up to his chest, Cynthia synchronizes it with her cell phone, the device listens to his pacemaker and sends the report to Cynthia's phone which sends it to the doctor without so much as a phone call.  We were slow to get up this morning, and it is hot outside by now.  Fooey, we'll have to wait for 7 PM to want to go for our constitutional hike.  Ron has been enjoying genealogy correspondence again today, but now he needs to eat and organize, perhaps concurrently.  Our walk at 7:30 was ideal except that we didn't see any deer.  It was cool, and the sun set before it blinded us.

7 Jul:  Boy-o-boy, did we wear ourselves out again today.  We were slow to rise, and now Ron is slow to bed at 11 PM.  We rode out to our previously favorite location for a hike and discovered a hot day.  The scenery was strangely different because we could now see far into the woods.  Apparently much brush was cleared before a prescribed burn.  We could certainly see the burned areas, but more unusual was seeing such a distance into the forest.  Ron spent all afternoon answering a few genealogical e-mails.  At least a couple of distant cousins should be happy.  We walked for 8 miles today, and now we need our sleep.  We did see several bucks on our evening stroll around the neighborhood.  One had 7 points, and that wasn't the biggest one.

6 Jul:  We were excited to eat again at the Two Chicks and a Hippy restaurant (click here) in Pagosa Springs but were sadly disappointed that the owner was not there and that the omelets were so full of oil that we couldn't eat them - and the waitress still charged us in full for those uneatable omelets !!  We will always check for the owner before ordering again.  Ron is so delighted that his computer finally came to life and connected to the web as well.  Now he must ride to Walmart to forage for groceries.  Sad to say that the Walmart here still has terrible management ordering frozen foods, so Ron will need to make a second trip to City Market for pretzels and frozen fruits.  Wow, it is hot here !!  87 degrees and a forecast up to 90 in the next several days.  The usual daily average for this week is 83.  We walked to City Market after the heat died off at 8:30 and discovered minimal frozen fruits there also.  Ron is happily munching on pretzels now, as we speak.

Sunset at Pagosa Springs on Sunday, God's testimony

We walked to the lake in late afternoon

5 Jul, Sunday:  God certainly created a marvelously beautiful world, and we enjoyed a spectacular ride today.  We checked out of the Doubletree hotel in Santa Fe just before noon.  Our luggage is still too heavy.  Ron was surprised that the brand new, huge Walmart did not have an auto service center.  However, that put us in position to take the 599 bypass around Santa Fe, much quicker than going through town by any route.  We waved goodbye to Lupe as we passed Calle Nopal.  As we descended Opera Hill, the heat began to be oppressive, and when we passed Buffalo Thunder, we both breathed a sigh of relief that we had not booked lodging there; the 20-minute drive in the heat would have been a daily hardship.  Ron remembered a Chevron gas station just north of Espanola, but that turned out to now be a Speedway.  As we were about to wave goodby to highway 285, Cynthia nudged Ron's side to draw his attention to the Chevron station on that corner.  Once there, Ron remembered that they provide free air on the side of the building and was able to fill his tires to the recommended 42 pounds.  We endured the heat but could imagine relief under the clouds over the mountains ahead and to our right.  We were soon under those clouds, the wind became fierce and the temperature dropped as low as 69 degrees.  Shortly before we parted company with the Chama River, the clouds started leaking on us from time to time.  Usually that ascent from the river valley is a motorcyclist's delight, but with the sprinkles and the wind, Ron opted instead to give his undivided attention to the roadway.  The clouds and the afternoon sun provided incredible colors and highlights to the landscape as we approached Ghost Ranch (click here.)  Sometimes a single mountain would be spotlighted vividly although everything else was in shadow.  The reds were awesome, and the supporting cast of colors included every shade and hue imaginable.  The sandy yellow walls of Echo Canyon (click here) were brilliantly lit against a shadowed background as we passed it.  The sights were worth enduring that wind that was sometimes frighteningly strong.  We passed through Tres Peidras headed towards an ominously black sky and stopped at Henry's Liquors and True Value Hardware store out of desperation, but alas, Henry's does not serve food.  We ran head-on into those ugly black clouds at Chama, but fortunately our road (US 84) turned abruptly west, and we escaped with only moderate dampness.  It was wonderful to no longer worry about rain - - -  until we separated from US Highway 64 and headed directly towards a huge mass of obvious rain clouds with long streamers descending from them.  Ron's peculiar memory reminded him that there was a roadside shack on this stretch of road, and we soon came upon it and stopped.  Cynthia also remembered this little forlorn shack from the one other time we stopped there during a rain storm, and we discussed the likelihood of rain, even though cars passing by appeared to be dry.  Before long raindrops disturbed the puddles, and Ron moved the motorcycle under cover as shown.  

They had a room available for us !!

We had packed the remaining lettuce, spinach and half a baked sweet potato, so we had a picnic to make the best of our captivity.  After about ninety minutes the rain stopped, and we resumed our ride to Pagosa Springs.  We encountered rain and wet roads for about four miles of the remaining 24 miles, but the road dried out entirely long before we arrived in Pagosa.  We ate at the Hog's Breath Saloon & Restaurant and recognized our waitress.  A different prominent sign names it Boss Hogg's Saloon.  We hiked through the subdivision and on the bicycle path to the lake and got rained on again on the way home.  Cynthia took pictures of the lake and of the sunset clouds.

Da masked Smooches

4 Jul:  Happy Fourth of July!  We awoke far too early this morning at 4:45 and were unable to get back to sleep.  We again enjoyed a wonderful afternoon lunch with Janie and her brother Paul at Harry's Roadhouse (click here.)  Now, however, it is time for Ron to quit this blog and get busy packing.  Although he was very focused, more packing remained by bedtime.  As usual, it will wait until morning.  Goodnight.

3 Jul:  Apparently Ron consumed enough pretzels to sleep without awakening until 5:30 AM, and today he feels wonderfully rested.  John & Linda did reclaim their car this morning, and Ron walked over to Santa Fe BMW to reclaim his motorcycle thereafter.  We enjoyed seeing Tony again for a couple of hours this afternoon and managed to get to bed early after our typical evening walk along Arroyo Chamisa.  The Fourth of July Mt. Rushmore speech (click here) and fireworks was truly inspiring.  

2 Jul:  Because of the late evening, Ron was loathe to arise at 6:45 AM in order to ride the motorcycle over to the shop for service.  Walking back at 7:30 was much less onerous.  Shortly after 11 AM John and Linda showed up at the hotel in two cars so that we could go for a nice picnic and hike together up Hyde Park Road to the Little Tesuque Picnic area (click here.)  It was a pandemicly appropriate BYO picnic, so everyone was happy with their meals.  Our hike was quite industriously uphill until we reached the Aspen Vista road and continued on it at a more gradual grade uphill for quite a ways, 4.5 miles total.  We arrived "home" at the hotel too tired to consider any other evening activities beyond blogging.

1 Jul:  BirthDay Month begins (Cynthia turns 18 again on the 16th), and the Smooches had a delightful day starting with two hours talking to Jim May and ending with a marvelous dinner with Mark and Robin.  Mark is a talented cook and Robin knows more spices to add to the salmon, veggies, and rice.  Robin and Cynthia are both Myers-Briggs INFJ "introverts (click here,)" and they talked animatedly and endlessly.  (But nobody talks more than Ron.)  Then we stayed up far too late (1:30 AM) after Cynthia discovered that some of her Gmail is not being delivered because her "quota" has been exceeded - although she had 160 GB free space.

June on Two Wheels

30 Jun:  Ron has two inspirations to help "Black Lives Matter" and he has put up a web page (click here.)  

Number one is for all those black professional athletes who are interviewed after every professional game to start their speech by first encouraging everyone to get an education.  Those athletes can help make Black Lives Matter with inspirational words such as "Study and get an education.  I would not be where I am today if I had failed to get an education.  I thank all my teachers and coaches who pushed me to get an education."  

Number two is for every TV show featuring black performers to end their show with similar statements.  How many of you remember the "Red Skeleton Show?"  His final words, "God bless" left an indelible impression.

We had a nice visit with Nina at Harry's Roadhouse.  Although we were unable to sit in their patio garden, we did sit in the adjacent open-air porch.  Conversation was preoccupied with distress over the current situation in our country, but at least we three agree on the problems and causes.  The biggest problem is that the media is brainwashing Americans by repeating slogans and falsehoods endlessly.  We can all agree that some of the media channels are lying - because they report "news" with which we disagree - they must be lying.  (None of the channels actually report news anymore; it is all opinion.)  Why can so few of us imagine that our cherished media is also lying?  Another problem is that the media is encouraging hate, encouraging people to hate the opposition.

29 Jun:  Up, xercized, et, and ready to go visit, but when Ron called Lupe, she said another day would be better, so Ron can do his mending until 1 PM when we go see John and Linda.  After replying to e-mail from a friend, Ron Googled coronavirus BMI and found a great article (click here.). One article said that 78% of coronavirus deaths are people who are overweight or obese.  Another suggested that the most severe complications are among people who are overweight or obese.  Another said that hospitalized patients were most likely to be overweight or obese.  Another said that the young patients dying in a hospital were all overweight or obese.  So why does our vaunted media refuse to publish such alarming news and fail to strongly advocate a healthy diet and exercise?  Follow the money: who pays for advertising?  Ron concludes that our news and media has sold out to the "fast food industry."

28 Jun, Sunday:  We both slept wonderfully well despite the late hour of retiring.  We had to rush through our exercises in order to order breakfast before the 9 AM cut-off.  After eating we walked over to Arroyo Chamisa for a good walk on the asphalt pathway for a couple of hours.  Ron's sister relayed the exciting news that a cousin sent the will and probate of Nicholas Faust, a newly discovered ancestor, father of George Rambo's wife Maria Fist.  It is now 1 PM, and we are Staying At Home (in the hotel) until 3 PM when we can visit Michael and Claire for a couple of Social Distancing hours and then meet Mike and Maria at Radish and Rye for a Social Distancing dinner.  The hard part is that Cynthia has a dickens of a time trying to read lips through face masks.  Amusing that social convention now requires everyone to cite their precautionary habits of the last several weeks before friends can relax about pandemic paranoia and remove face coverings while maintaining a respectful 6 to 8 feet distance while conversing in the open air.  Fortunately, we all relaxed enough to see smiles and read lips.  The conversations were quite lovely and seldom touched on the disgusting political or societal events surrounding us all.  Children and grandchildren and even great-grandchildren held center stage.  Ron got to bed late (11:30) after walking while eating pretzels until turning around and walking while talking on the phone.

27 Jun: Today's delightful visit was with Charlie & Sam and Mark at the outdoor patio of Harry's Road House.  Cynthia and I arrived as Mark was parking his blue pickup in our favorite spot under a shade tree.  He left room for us, so fisticuffs were avoided.  Despite the grim news nowadays, we enjoyed our familiar humorous slants on everything.  Charlie had been in Richmond, Virginia during the latest reported protests and reported that they didn't see any unrest - thereby confirming Ron's belief that the media is full of lies and exaggerations.  Mark had a raft of new photos from the distant past to show Charlie.  Ron found it amusing that Charlie and Mark kept their face masks on until food was served, then forgot to resume face masks after eating.  The waitress failed to tell us that our omelets came with toast and potatoes, so Ron was stuffed by the time he finished both plates and the pancakes.  It was very good and tasted mostly oil-free.  Our waitress was the sourpuss, but after we finished eating, I asked the Maitre-d' if he needed our table.  The waitress said they needed it, but the Maitre-d' said they were not busy, so we stayed reveling in the conversation for three hours.  By the time we left, it was too hot to walk, so we waited until 7:30 to go for a short walk.  After discovering that we did not bring water, we returned to the hotel, and Ron resumed walking alone, talking to Janie until after 9.

26 Jun:  We did not realize that we had to order breakfast before 9 AM and were ten minutes late, so we had to eat our own oatmeal and berries in the room.  Google showed Ron the Villa Linda Park beside the Mall as a good place for us to walk, and we enjoyed walking for an hour and a half through the chain-link-fenced bedroom of dozens of (absent) homeless folks.  After misdirecting someone from Albuquerque, we discovered the improved part of Villa Linda Park on the other corner of the Mall.  After finishing our refreshing walk, we drove over to visit Tony in his back yard wearing our masks.  Tony is following strict orders from his children to Stay Home, Stay Alive, Social Distance, Wear Masks, etc.  It was fun to see Tony showing amusement with his eyes, even if we could not see his lips smile.  We enjoyed dinner at Harry’s Roadhouse again followed by another walk.  Santa Fe is fearful.  

25 Jun:  Ron took the bike to the Santa Fe BMW shop where they confirmed that the stuttering indicates that a coil needs to be replaced, now scheduled for July 2.  The afternoon was marvelous at Harry's Roadhouse eating on their lovely outdoor patio adorned with hollyhocks, etc. and enjoying great conversation with Janie, her brother, Paul, and Mark.  We all decided that we had beaten the dead horses of politics and viruses to death and need not revisit those conversations again while we are in Santa Fe.

24 Jun:  Up! Up! And Out, by 11:14 AM.  The projected ride from Gallup to Santa Fe was 2.5 hours, but we took roads less traveled, arriving 5.5 hours later, with Cynthia being thirsty, hungry, and tired.  North on US 491 (14 miles) to R on Navajo Service Road 9 E (40 miles) through Standing Rock to Crownpoint to L on NM 371 N (3 miles) to R on NM 57 Navajo Service Road 9 E to NM 197 (but here Ron missed the unmarked turn onto the unlabeled Torreon Mission Road) so we continued 30 miles extra to Cuba, NM, R on US 550 S another extra 20 miles before Ron found a Dollar Tree and on to L on I-25 N to Cerrillos Road into Santa Fe and the Hilton Doubletree.  After we turned onto US 550 in Cuba, Ron was looking for any safe place to pull over to feed Cynthia a Fiber D'lish bar, not knowing that she was overheated, but once we stopped at the Dollar Tree half an hour later, Cynthia was overheated, woozy and disoriented.  She refused the Fiber D'lish, used the bathroom, drank some water and felt feeble.  We resumed riding, and as the water re-hydrated her, Cynthia began to feel much better so that she was good to go to the hotel by the time we arrived in Bernallio.  For an early dinner that afternoon at the hotel, Cynthia celebrated survival with a glass of wine!  While en route to Wally World for groceries, Ron stopped at Santa Fe BMW to get an appointment for a diagnosis for ten-thirty AM tomorrow.  

23 Jun:  Today's plan is to check out as early as possible (for us) and hit the Indian highways towards Santa Fe.  Wish us luck. 11:14 AM, we are packed and checking out. The forecast is a high of 88 at Flagstaff and 94 at Gallup, NM on our five to six-hour ride.  The Indian highways have usually very light traffic and today was no exception.  I recall one gas station between Flagstaff and Gallup, to use a restroom.  We won’t need to fill the gas tank until we reach Gallup.  We did exactly that and arrived by 7:39 PM. The views riding across the reservations are amazing.  Wynn, the Indian highways show up on Google but not on US roadmaps.  Arizona 64 S from Tusayan to US 180 E to Flagstaff, L on Forest Ave becomes Cedar becomes Lockett to R on N. Fanning (2 blocks) to L on US 89 N/E to R on Townsend-Winona Road to L on Leupp Road aka Indian Route 15 to Indian Wells (80 miles), L on AZ 77 (3 miles) to R on Indian Route 15 to Burnside, R on US 191 to AZ 264 through Window Rock to US 491 S into Gallup, R on W. Mahoney to the HGI at the I-40 interchange.

22 Jun:  Up, exercised, fed, and preparing to hike while also preparing to recycle to go.  We saw an elk as we rode into the park, first elk in three days.  It was HOT, so we took a short walk through the woods from the Village Market to the Rim Trail and returned when we came to the "Greenway" that doesn't show on Cynthia's phone GPS.  Not a very industrious day for hiking, but we both felt that the heat necessitated a bit more caution, given the last couple of days.  For once, by bedtime, Ron is nearly all packed and ready for tomorrow.  The motorcycle is still stuttering, but there is no dealer within 200 miles, so we will hope for the best and ride 500 miles to Santa Fe.

21 Jun:  Tomorrow.  We wonder how Cynthia will feel after yesterday's hike.  She said she feels great but is taking a day of rest with the DNA Painter.  And how will Ron feel after hiking three miles down into the Grand Canyon on the Bright Angel Trail?  He felt great after hiking down and great again at the 1 1/2 mile mark coming back up, but soon after resuming uphill he hit the wall and was progressively wearier despite following a beautiful young female athlete, heptathlete Lauren Doll.  Lauren had hiked down to the three-mile rest stop with her mother, who turned around there while Lauren continued down to Indian Gardens with another few people they had met hiking.  She came up to the three-mile rest stop and water station just after Ron and left just 5 seconds ahead of him.  Ron had no problem keeping up with her pace for that first mile and a half, and she was quite surprised that he could keep up.  Imagine that Ron was able to talk uphill the entire time following a fast-moving female !!  At the 1 1/2 mile rest and water stop, Lauren noticed three mountain sheep on a rocky precipice.  They were hard to see and to identify there, but shortly above that stop, Lauren pointed them out again, and it was easy to see that they were mountain sheep, not goats.  Ron's legs began to tire significantly after another half mile uphill and his pace began to slow.  Fortunately, that area of the trail demands that one stop to look at the scenery every hundred yards or two, or at least that is what Ron told Lauren.  About a half-mile from the rim we stopped to visit for 10 minutes with Lauren's mother, another lovely lady.  Ron recovered completely and was able to resume hiking rapidly uphill.  Now, however, after sitting in the room and eating a meal, he may never be able to move again.  The statistics were 1 hour and 30 minutes down to the 3-mile rest stop versus 2 hours back up to the rim.

20 Jun:  Ron awoke at 5:30, well-rested, and was unable to get back to sleep.  We are up, exercised, pilled, and preparing for our day of hiking.  Ron is realizing that departure is only three days away and he had better begin by taking recycling elsewhere.  We hiked 4.5 miles to The Abyss and encountered two delightful, young, hopeful and bright, actresses and their marvelous dad.  Ron will expound on this terrific family after eating.  Unfortunately, Ron's forgettory is much better than his memory, so he remembers that the father's name was Rob and the younger daughter was Lisa, but he cannot remember the name (Allie?) of the 20-year-old dyslexic math and science whiz who intends to go to MIT after beginning for a couple of years at Cornell.  Agreed that the entire family was delightful and the kids DNA is going to be quite a thorough mixture, dad being half Kenyan and mom being half Chinese.  Cynthia had not felt well early AM, and then became nauseous at the Abyss with a headache and threw up.  She rode back to Canyon Village in an ambulance, after being fully checked by paramedics.  Her blood sugar was elevated, suggesting dehydration.   Ron was freed to hike back to Canyon Village at an aerobic pace.  The motorcycle has started "stuttering" at times, suggesting an ignition problem such as a bad coil.

19 Jun:  And we hiked close to seven miles today on a mule trail along the south rim, east of the South Kaibab Trail, and we met a lovely family with friends in a delightful picnic area.  We saw one mule deer and one elk.  Ron has been curious about the number of deaths in nursing homes and Forbes published an article saying that at least 42% of all deaths occurred in nursing home populations (click here.)  In some states that figure was 70% of all reported deaths.  Once we arrived home, we both fell asleep over our computers.  The hotel WiFi is abysmal; Cynthia is very frustrated by the internet, trying unsuccessfully to work on several projects.  Ron posted 2020_March_annual_letter to his website and wrote another letter informing Santa Fe friends that we expect to be arriving there on June 24th.  Cynthia immediately booked a room at the Doubletree because their rates are within our price range, thanks to lower tourism this year.  Since it is a Hilton property, they will allow us to cancel daily up to 24 hours before the reservation.

18 Jun:  And our room in the Red Feather Lodge is now entirely freshly cleaned and sanitized.  (The hotel has suspended housekeeping for "stay-over" guests due to coronavirus concerns.)  Our housekeeper looked to be Navajo, and yesterday Shannon said that coronavirus is affecting the Navajos so severely because the young folks go off the reservation and bring coronavirus back to their multi-generational homes.  So perhaps the key to the much greater impact of coronavirus on ethnic populations is as simple as their preference for multi-generational living, a preference that provides desirable benefits to all - except during coronavirus.  We got out of the room and off to hike at 2:30, so by 4:30 Cynthia was ready to turn around, and Ron offered to agree if she would "let" him hike down the Bright Angel Trail for a half an hour.  At 5:25 I started rapidly downhill and enjoyed conversation with a young female park ranger whose mission suddenly appeared in the form of a very tired and overweight couple who needed help to get to the rim.  When first I thought that perhaps half an hour had passed, only 15 minutes had elapsed.  I thought my cell phone had lost signal and stopped keeping time, so I asked another person; only 15 minutes - WOW.  At 5:55 I stopped to zip off my pants legs, remove my shirt and hat, and drink a cup of water.  Then I hiked rapidly uphill, breathing hard for 33 minutes to return to the rim by 6:33.  My opinion is that this 73-year-old is in pretty good condition.  In another few days, I might be tempted to go down for an hour.  The Canyon is so awesome, and the descent provides another dimension to its impressiveness.  Amusing to enjoy getting "up close and personal" with rocks.  While riding "home" today we saw three mule deer, one was a little guy with velvet-covered antlers, two elk "kissing," and four free-range horses.  Pill alarm has rung; time for bed.

17 Jun:  We did ride to Williams, AZ, and arrived at 10:30.  The wind was terrible and there was a lot of traffic headed north, so the Grand Canyon is getting busier.  Cynthia did get her document notarized and mailed ASAP.  We did save money on groceries, but the gas was still $3.29 per gallon for premium.  Ouch, no savings there.  After returning by 3 PM, we didn't hike very far, despite good intentions.  Instead, we sat on the first convenient shady rocks after the steep uphill beyond the Hermit's Rest shuttle bus terminal.  Before our breathing was back to normal, a lovely young female asked if we went to MIT.  (We were both wearing MIT ball caps.)  Katherine graduated from MIT in materials science in 1998.  She is a substitute teacher for the school at Grand Canyon Village, which boasts about 300 students total enrollment.  The other young lovely was Shannon, a Navajo who works for Xanterra in the Canyon.  They both love the Canyon and enjoy living in a place that makes hiking as easy as walking.  We had a delightful conversation with these two for nearly two hours !!  We covered a whole range of subjects, and Ron told several of his favorite stories.  (One has to wonder how many stories he could tell if his memory were better.)  Katherine's husband, Steve, is an overachiever athlete who has run to the river and back in slightly over 3 hours and has run rim-to-rim-to-rim (42 miles) in a comparably short time.  Cynthia was curious to know how Shannon had escaped from becoming another typical reservation "statistic," and Shannon gave entire credit to her coach.  Both girls played basketball in school, but they haven't played a game since meeting each other.  These two delightful mothers made our day.  Our evening afterward was short and sleep was very welcome.

16 Jun:  Did we sleep well or not?  We did sleep well, woke up late, and were out the door to hike at 1 PM.  We parked in a different spot in the same picnic lot close to the Yaki Point Road and were astonished to see Alex and his son again at the parking lot.  They had quite the adventure, hiking to the river before the son started experiencing cramps on the return.  They slept out along the trail at times and had just emerged when we parked.  Both were euphoric on their achievement.  Cynthia and I again walked through the woods on a well-worn path to the South Kaibab Trail.  Then we followed the rim trail for a couple of miles to Mather Point and beyond before returning.  Fortunately, it was a "cool" and windy day, so we enjoyed a great hike and met a new teacher, 30-year-old Will from Georgia who teaches 3rd grade and loves it.  His first six months were in an Atlanta ghetto school and that was trying.  Four of sixteen kids were willing to learn; the rest were constantly behaving badly.  Will agreed with Ron's perplexity about the rioting ghetto folks who refuse to educate themselves to qualify for better jobs and who waste government money on liquor and drugs while neglecting their children for whom that government money is nominally intended.  Then they riot and loot and burn all the businesses that provided jobs.  It is a really messed up system that pays people to raise large families of neglected children who refuse education and refuse to behave.  After our hike, we resupplied at the grocery store and saw two elk as we left the park and three big bucks in a lot across from the hotel.  8:28 now, we are preparing for bed early tonight.  Amazing, tonight I found a no-nonsense article from the Boston Globe about the correlation between overweight and coronavirus hospitalizations and deaths (click here.)

15 Jun: let's hope for a good night's sleep.  Exercised, oatmealed, and we were off to the South Kaibab Trail.  Parking was limited, and parking in the shade was almost non-existent.  Creative genius Ron parked across the front of the cars, but still within the parking area.  Getting out again was a challenge, but he did it.  We met a delightful newly-wed couple, Mark and Cindy Lou Who, from Phoenix, plus a couple more folks interested in Ron’s adventure stories about previous hikes before we started down the trail.  We stepped aside for a couple of younger guys to pass us, and instead, Ron fell into rapt conversation with Alex, the father.  Cynthia could not keep up the pace and turned back after 15 minutes while Ron continued hiking rapidly downhill with Alex and son for another thirty minutes or more.  Neither of us had trouble with the return.  Ron was delighted to discover that his legs and breathing were normal for his entire rapid uphill return.  Apparently, he has acclimated to the altitude here (7,000 feet.)  When it is cooler, we will try it again.  Maybe we won’t park the bike in the same place.  After a lovely salmon dinner at the Grand Hotel across the street, Ron became fascinated by Sistah Carol's multi-colored chromosome chart from DNA Painter until 10 PM.  Differently colored segments indicate DNA from different great grandparent couples.  All this through analysis of cousins who match, some of whom know their ancestry too.  About 1/4 of Ron's DNA is already mapped to specific ancestral couples.  Sistah Carol is pretty amazing (even if she did abuse poor little brother Ronnie when they were younger.)

14 Jun, Sunday:  Sunday was mere minutes away when Ron realized that he had better get to bed ASAP ... except it didn’t happen until two-thirty AM.  We are so slow-moving and groggy today.  It is nearly noon, and Ron still hasn’t eaten breakfast.  Well, those two cousins that he e-mailed last night sent new messages, and Ron felt compelled to reply again.  We finally exited the room after three PM.  We went for a short hike that turned into a fascinating five-mile hike because we met a lovely young couple.  Julianna was wearing a shirt with a Montgomery County, Texas Logo.  How much fun we had walking the Timeline Trail with them back to their car.  After returning to our motorcycle and buying a fresh supply of carrots, etc., we exited the park, scanning the forests for elk.  We have been seeing one or several every day, and today was no exception.  Two elk were grazing the shoulders of the road as we passed the entrance station.  Our hotel and the park seem a bit busier today.  Perhaps our secret about the Park being vacant is getting out.

13 Jun:  Another slow start to our morning.  Another day without the usual crowds at the Grand Canyon.  After mandatory exercises and oatmeal, Ron mended underwear briefly (pun intended) and recovered this June blog that Cynthia accidentally deleted.  Now we are prepared to go hiking, and Cynthia agrees that Hermit's Rest is an appropriate direction for today.  That asphalt pathway is rough and uneven, which seems better for Cynthia's osteo-athritic feet.  She is quite amazed that taking MSM stops arthritic pain.  We successfully hiked 8.1 miles, roundtrip, reaching the Mohave Point on the Rim Trail.  Beyond Hopi Point, the rim trail becomes a nice, smooth rock and sandy gravel trail, an entirely different, natural experience compared to the asphalt pathway previous to Hopi.  The Canyon is indescribable; the color changes as light and shadows move and reflect on the mountains.  How fun to see Gwen Frost again, and today she wore a found gown!  Dinner tonight was a baked potato and sweet corn at the Yippee-Ei-O Steakhouse; we won’t return. And again Ron is up too late, this time researching the Watts riots to find out if the Watts neighborhood ever recovered.  The answer appears to be no, things are about the same or worse.

Jean Francois' newest home (Ron & Cynthia in foreground

Ron & Cynthia - photo credit to Jean Francois

12 Jun:  Today we exercised, oatmealed, and again rode east to Navajo Point.  Forecast was for a hot day, but instead, it was pleasant, windy, and warm.  We parked and retraced our steps eastward, following a sketchy trail that bypassed the barricade on the road.  Ron suddenly realized that the Desert View Watchtower (click here) was closed to traffic, but nothing had been said about foot traffic, so we walked the 1.5 miles there and back.  Ron has been saying all week that the news, media, and press is not reporting the news you can use, meaning that the Grand Canyon National Park is nearly vacant.  Most of the time it feels like we have the Park entirely to ourselves.  Well, at Desert Watchtower, that was literally true; we saw absolutely no one and no sign of anyone for an entire hour.  We stopped again at Lipon Point and fell into a delightful conversation with the one other couple who had parked their painted bus and traveling home there.  After we returned to our Red Feather room, Cynthia exclaimed, "Jean Francois is famous !!"  Our new friends are indeed noteworthy.  You can read all about him on extremeart.com (click here.)  And Rachel is a dream come true for him, exactly as Cynthia is for me.

The Smooches at Grand Canyon

Is my hair really THAT white now?

Ron and Cynthia at the Hopi Point in the Grand Canyon

11 Jun:  We had a marvelous day hiking the paved rim trail to Hopi Point where the photo was taken (left.)  (The many videos that Cynthia has been taking cannot be uploaded to the blog.  The Red Feather Wi-Fi is even slow uploading simple photos to the blog.)  We met a delightful young woman named Gwen Frost, a poet from Portland and an adventurous young woman who is traveling by herself.  She has published a book, Somewhere Between the Stem and the Fruit, a must-read.  Gwen was bicycling out towards Hermit's Rest and found it hard to tear herself away from our conversation.

10 June:  At the Grand Canyon, oatmeal made in the microwave works since there are very few restaurants open.  After hiking along the east rim, Ron ventured down the very steep Grandview Trail towards Horseshoe Mesa just long enough to get winded on the return.  Cynthia stopped short of any real descent.  Ron loves telling people about his first experience hiking on this trail in the 1970s.  We crammed lots of fresh veggies and fresh fruit into the room refrigerator.  The Canyon Village Market in the National Park is better stocked and less expensive than the Tusayan General Store.   Strange to have a warm day immediately after such a cold yesterday.  We are also enjoying seeing the same blooming cacti that we learned to love in Sedona.

9 Jun:  Breakfast at the Best Western cost $60 for two omelets and a bowl of fruit.  Now broke and well-fed, we are off on the motorcycle (fully bundled against 60-degree temperatures) to the Grand Canyon for sightseeing, hiking, and groceries.  Our first Grand Canyon experience was riding the road out to Navaho Point near the east entrance to the Park.  There was wonderfully little traffic and no Park Rangers en route, so Ron had a fun time with all the twisties.  Navaho Point overwhelmed Cynthia with colors and textures, a multitude of shades of red, rose and green laid down on a patchwork canvas of immense size and depths.  Towards six PM, we rode within 10 feet of an elk as we left Grand Canyon Village en route to shop for groceries at the Canyon Village Market.  Life is grand !!

8 June:  What a day!  Yuk, our lodging for this evening canceled because they don’t have their restaurant open yet.  Cynthia quickly found another hotel twenty-five miles closer for only ten dollars more a night.  The trip to the Grand Canyon started poorly with a stop-and-go traffic jam on I-17 in the middle of nowhere (due to a brush fire) for 3 miles before we could exit at Black Canyon City.  Ron discovered a parallel road heading north which appeared to bypass most of the stopped traffic - - - until we encountered the Deputy County Sheriff standing in the middle of the road who told us that the fire was at that next entrance ramp, so it was now closed.  We returned to the Rock Springs Cafe and enjoyed a great southwestern salad.  By the time we were ready to leave Ron decided to return to chat with the deputy again, and we were pleasantly surprised to find that entrance ramp now open, whereby we avoided twenty minutes of very slow traffic.  We had much cool temperatures for the remainder of our ride to the Grand Canyon.  And then the wind whipped up strong with cold blustery blasts necessitating jackets.  Today Flagstaff really seemed to be the coldest place in the US of A.  We ate a hearty breakfast type dinner at Denny's and thereafter hooked up Cynthia’s heated gear.  With the sun blinding our eyes, we ventured forth once again northward and westward.  Highlights of that Arizona highway 80 were seeing a large mule deer cross the road ahead of us, and he was still standing in the forest nearby when we passed by.  Even more fun was to see an ungainly moose galloping across the road.  Ron didn't watch da Moose as well as he could have because he was alert for others following him.  We arrived in Tusayan close to dark, both cold and tired.  Our hotel has a 20% occupancy rate. 

7 Jun, Sunday:  The Smooches Reunited.  Whoopie !!  Cynthia’s flight to PHX was delayed an hour in departure.  Ron had time to arrange a few delights in the room to welcome his beloved WeeFee home.

Da Beautiful WeeFee all dressed up

Paul, Jon, Rox, and Julie surrounding Mom

Mom & Julie

6 Jun:  Ron again spent the day mending up at the top of Mt. Lemmon, and amused himself for another hour hiking around the summit trails and down hill for quite a way.  Upon the return, he realized that he is no longer in the kind of shape it takes to hike at those altitudes easily.

Cynthia had dinner with her children, and a fine time was had by all.  (The pictures tell the story.)  

Adam, Samantha, Cynthia, Jon and Steven at the Yacht Club

5 June: Friday, Cynthia boogied to the CPA in Hempstead to pick up bank records.  Dinner tonight with Jon, Tina, and Grandchildren Steven, Samantha and Adam. 

4 Jun:  Again Ron did not sleep very well.  The pine straw helped, but the night was cold and much windier, so his sleeping gear was inadequate.  Sleep was also hampered by rain.  RAIN in Arizona, who ever woulda guessed.  Well, the elevation was nearly 8,000 feet, so climate is different there.  Ron spent the day with cousin Jim W. in Sierra Vista, AZ.  He does not have access to internet for his computer.  
Cynthia had a doctor appointment and drive to see Sasha for a haircut. 

Great grandmother and baby Blair

3 Jun:  Ron slept on Mount Bigelow near a University of Arizona observatory last night, but the foam pad wasn't soft enough to allow a sound sleep.  Once he awoke and began exploring, Ron discovered that his camping spot was 100 yards downhill from the observatory at the entrance to Bigelow Road.  He could have saved all that stressful gravel road riding by parking ASAP.  He also hiked to the top of Mt. Bigelow to see the communications antennas there.  Soon he was joined in his camping spot by a kindred spirit in David, a computer whiz and entrepreneur who is looking to change his life similarly to the way Ron has previously lived his life.  We had fine, fun conversation until David's father showed up on a bicycle from Tucson.  Ron then moved his camp to a new location with some pine straw for better padding.
Cynthia, in Texas at Jon and Tina’s house, tossed and turned.  We sleep better together.  Cynthia had an appointment with Bambi, followed by lunch with granddaughters and new baby Blaire, plus a trip to the pharmacy and the audiologist. 


2 Jun:  After breakfast at IHOP, the hotel shuttle ferried Cynthia to the airport, where she took off on two wings and a prayer to Houston town.  Sneaky Ron accompanied her on the shuttle, then put a lovely card into the mail, hoping that it would arrive while she was at her son Jon's house in Montgomery, TX.  He then rode south in 105+ degree temperatures (crazy at this time of year) to Mount Lemmon northeast of Tucson.  En route he planned to stop at Walmart and buy a sleeping bag and foam pad, perhaps a tent.  He found a Walmart north of Tucson and spent $30 on sleeping bag, foam pad and liner, but the tent was too expensive.  The bonus was discovering a Whole Foods where he bought veggies for dinner and for the next two days.  Once he arrived at Mt. Bigelow Road, a dirt road, Ron gingerly maneuvered his huge motorcycle up hill and down and around a few corners until he found a less occupied area and a nice wide parking spot.  Then he walked up a steep hill to find a nice level camping spot, home for the night.  By the time he had hung his "bear bag" it was dark enough to go to sleep.  The plan is to ride further south to Sierra Vista, AZ on Thursday to visit cousin Jim W.  The media has done a terrific job of making everyone paranoid, so that, even though we are among the healthiest people on the planet, most people are too paranoid to see us face to face. 

1 Jun:  The news of continuing mass looting and pillaging, masquerading as "justifiable" black rioting, caused sleeplessness and anger.  Ron is convinced that most of these stores will never reopen and that blighted area will just become more urban ghettos.  How can everyone be so stupid from the "rioters" aka looters to the mayors who told the police to allow them to "express their anger" without using force to stop them?  This is a very disturbing precedent.  It is Ron's guess that those emboldened "rioters" will next be looting private residences.  No problem as long as they leave the mayor's home alone.  After packing up we headed out on two wheels to Phoenix, arriving in 106 degree temperatures.  Our favorite restaurant, Ruby Tuesday, was not open so we munched on spinach, carrots, and popcorn until the hotel shuttle whisked us to IHOP for omelets.  

After SCLC initiated its Chicago Campaign that fall, Martin Luther King asked an audience there: “What did Watts accomplish but the death of thirty-four Negroes and injury to thousands more?  What did it profit the Negro to burn down the stores and factories in which he sought employment?  The way of riots is not a way of progress, but a blind ally of death and destruction which wreaks its havoc hardest against the rioters themselves” (King, 12 March 1966).