October 2020 began with a Brrh

31 Oct:  Cynthia leaves tomorrow for Texas, leaving Ron without adult supervision for a month.  The forecast calls for sixty degree, sunshiny weather with 15 mile an hour wind.  We successfully completed two long walks, plus getting all of our packing done.   Don and Ann S joined us for a long conversation over 2 PM lunch at Los Amigos. 

30 Oct:  Glorious sunshine and warmer temps helped us enjoy our last two days at Mariners Resort with two long walks.  Unbelievably, Ron’s mac rebooted this evening just before bedtime.  He was desperate enough to research a fix on the internet and found a good candidate.  Cynthia tried blessing it, but Ron’s threat did the trick.  

29 Oct:  Hurricane Zeta sent moisture to Illinois.  We managed to stay dry during a three mile walk trying some of the fitness opportunities.  Cynthia cannot lift her body with her arms on parallel bars.  Ron was successful on everything (for limited definitions of successful).  We will be at Lake Carlyle another 4 days.  After lunch at Los Amigos, we are back home eating popcorn and doing computer stuff.  The WiFi is on, sort of.  

28 Oct: Cynthia tracked 7.8 miles total for two great walks.  Nephew Eric, wife Denise, grandnephew Kyle and grandniece Erika joined us for dinner at Los Amigos. The WiFi is down and Ron's computer also went down before dinner, just as he was feeling hopeful to finish the indexing of Volume 7.  

27 Oct:  Tomorrow Ron needs to get out for blueberries and pretzels (now that his stomach has receded satisfactorily). Cynthia tracked 8 miles total for two great walks.  

26 Oct:  First project this morning after exercises and oatmeal was to pack the box Cynthia wants to ship back to Texas (so that she doesn't have to carry luggage through the airport).  The BIG surprise was that we were able to ship it via UPS at the local NAPA auto parts store.  Our Carlyle Lake dam walk was more pleasant this morning without the winds that have made the last several days less so.  Cynthia's feet held up well despite keeping a rapid pace in order to arrive promptly at noon+02 at Los Amigos for lunch with Ron's high school friend Dick.  Unfortunately we did not get to meet Ruth Ann (who had a crush on Dick in 4th grade).  Dick certainly has plenty of interesting stories to tell and claims to have several kids, all students from abroad thanks to Rotary International.  Apparently the feeling is mutual.  His father lived to be 92 years old, so we encouraged him to consider taking his good genes to the Pritikin, hoping to improve upon his father's outstanding record.  No second walk this evening as the rains continued and continued. - until bedtime (i.e. now).

25 Oct, Sunday:  Lake Carlyle is chilly again, starting with 48 degrees (after exercises and breakfast).  Sad part is that today's high is forecast at 50 degrees.  Ron is starting the second phase of edits to The Colonial Records Volume 7, installing the index markup before making corrections that will change the pagination.  We did enjoy a pleasantly cool and a bit windy walk below the dam crossing General Dean but turned around early (due to foot pain) and came back to Los Amigos for lunch.

Saturday fishermen on Kaskaskia River below Lake Carlyle

24 Oct:  We awakened today to a temperature (after breakfast) of 43 degrees plus a 9 mph wind.  WOW, winter has jumped into our neighborhood.  Talk about a rude awakening.  Our walk across the dam, around the Chipmunk circuit, out & over General Dean bridge, and back was much more pleasant with so much less wind than yesterday.  Interesting to see so many folks fishing along the river.  Lunch at Los Amigos left us both stuffed, but Cynthia has already requested popcorn to satisfy her munchies.  Ron went out for a chilly ride to get foodstuffs to tide us over until the 1st and later for a second walk just after dark, made more enjoyable by a long phone conversation with Sock.

Fall is glorious now at Lake Carlyle

And here is another example.

23 Oct:  The temperature has again skyrocketed in the room, but the forecast is for falling temperatures all afternoon from 73 degrees now to 39 degrees overnight.  We walked across the dam pursued by a stiff, cold wind, around the cute little Chipmunk Trail, and back into a strong, cold headwind.  It was a relief to change directions along the river to the General Dean suspension bridge, over it, and back to the dam, but there the wind returned for the rest of our walk to Los Amigos.  What a surprise today to discover Volume 7 final manuscript awaiting my attention after lunch.  Now the work begins in earnest until Nov. 1.   Just before dark Cynthia declined an invitation for another walk, saying it was too cold.  Ron walked the length of the dam talking to Don on the cell phone, but his phone-holding hand became very cold.

Smooch and SmoochSmooch (in collar)

And we are happy!  See -> -> ->

22 Oct:  The temperature has skyrocketed in the room.  Time to go for a long walk before the day heats up, crossing the dam, circling the Chipmunk Trail, and crossing the bridge over the Kaskaskia.  It was a good day, a warm walk and we decided to stay indoors until twilight before our second walk across the dam today.

Hudson watching daddy in snow

21 Oct:  The pavement was wet when we arose, but no rain is forecast for the day here; a high temperature of 62 degrees.  The challenge for today is to get the room ready for the housekeepers.  Done, over and out.  Now to buy more groceries, then go for a walk.  Today we discovered the Chipmunk Trail, a cute little half-mile trail through the woods and across several tiny bridges on the other side of the lake.  But, we can be thankful it is not snowing like in other parts of the country.  Here is a cute picture of two-year-old Hudson wistfully watching his daddy, Brett, blowing snow.

20 Oct:  Another morning at Lake Carlyle dawned cold and foggy, but by the time we finished exercises and breakfast, the skies had cleared. With luck it will be somewhat "warm" by the time we walk to Walmart for flu shots.  The long part of our walk this morning was to the Post Office in downtown Carlyle, and we walked four extra blocks because our directions were to turn after CVS instead of before it.  We lunched at Los Amigos and were told that we had run them entirely out of mixed veggies, and we were served the last two baked potatoes.  They promised to shop tomorrow in order to continue feeding us.  At 3 PM, the thunder rumbled and the rains came right on time, but they were gone in a flash.

19 Oct:  Good God, did the temperature ever change.  Our walk across the dam was dam cold this morning.  The color radar forecast gives us until mid-afternoon before showers begin, but I doubt that Cynthia can be convinced to go outside again in 45 degree temperatures potentiated by 30 mph winds (unbelievable that www.weather.com says the winds are only 9 mph).  Her stomach did convince her to go outside all the way over to Los Amigos for our usual lunch (less than 100 yards).  The first baked potato was small, so Ron ordered a second, which was quite large.  He is now waaay too much over-full, similar to Thanksgiving dinners while his mother was still alive.  And moisture did indeed fall from the skies beginning around 3 pm.  Regardless, Ron is preparing to go for his second walk of the day & talk on cell phone across the dam and back.  First half of crossing the dam (talking to Clarence) was windless, second half was windy; all of return (talking to Ed) was misty and wet.

18 Oct, Sunday:  We awoke (Thank God) at Mariner's Village, exercised, ate, and are now using our computers before we head out for a morning walk.  We need to get our two walks in early since rain is forecast to begin around 3 PM until midnight.  Walk #1 was the length of the dam plus crossing the Kaskaskia on the General Dean Suspension Bridge (click here) and return to Los Amigos for our standard veggies, salad and potato lunch.  Now Ron needs to gather foodstuffs supplies at Walmart before the rains come.  Offta, and with the rains came naptime.  Later.  Editing Volume 7 index again - more issues.  Time for beddie bye.  G'night.

17 Oct:  Surprisingly windy today here at Lake Carlyle.  We've exercised, eaten and walked across the dam and across the Kaskaskia River (click here) suspension bridge that was closed yesterday.  Don and Ann came to visit us at 2 PM for a lunch at Los Amigos and stayed until 6 PM catching us up on the events of their lives.  Ron repeated the morning walk again at dark and is fading fast now that it is 10:30 PM. Goodnight.

16 Oct:  Lake Carlyle really is beautiful at this time of year without any crowds except for the birds on the lake.  After exercises and breakfast we went for our typical morning walk and received a call from sistah Carol saying, "Surprise, Bill and I are enjoying the views from the marina."  By this time Cynthia and I were near the bridge over the Kaskaskia River, far from the hotel.  We agreed to return ASAP but were stymied by a "bridge closed" fence, so we had to retrace our steps on the eastern side of the river.  By the time we met up with Carol & Bill, everyone was hungry, so we repaired to Los Amigos for lunch.  (Carol bought - Than You, Carol.)  Everyone enjoyed their meal, so we can agree with the reviews that it is a good place.  Afterwards, we all walked to a mid-point on the dam where a picnic table sits, whereupon we all sat to enjoy lovely views, birds flying & swimming, a brisk wind, and lively conversation.  (Bill and Ron are in competition to see who can say the funniest things.  No one wins, but everyone smiles.)  After they left, we returned to our room and our computers.  Now Ron can go to Walmart to get the popcorn as promised.  Done, 10:15 and time for bed.  Goodnight.

15 Oct:  Carlyle, Illinois:  We are staying at the Mariner's Village (click here) at Lake Carlyle (click here), and we were quite surprised this morning to see a wet parking lot.  After eating our oatmeal breakfast and sending in the pacemaker reading over the ether to Dr. Dougherty, we went for a nice long walk 4.8 miles across the dam to the restroom there and back to Los Amigos (click here for Facebook page) for a repeat of yesterday's lunch.  Ron's Macbook Pro continues to refuse to boot for the second entire day despite perhaps 40 retries, so he used Cynthia's computer to reply to a couple of dozen e-mails.  Then we went for a second, shorter walk across the dam and back, including a climb up the dam from the road below because Cynthia had suggested that we needed more regular aerobic exercise.  After dinner of oatmeal, Ron continued to respond to e-mails and restart his computer.  Hey !!  It came up immediately after I wrote that it refused to boot.  Whoopie !!  I guess it pays to embarrass it before the entire world.  So now it is time for Ron to go on a third walk and talk, this time to Ed.  10:17, time for bed.  More tomorrow.

14 Oct:  The ride from Litchfield to Carlyle (east on Illinois 16 to south on Illinois 127) looked innocuous enough on the map, but the wind made the ride far less comfortable.  Sometimes the crosswind was left to right and others it was right to left.  Sometimes it seemed quite light and others it was somewhat fierce.  Even long sweeping curves present a challenge to composure when a strong wind gust hits in the middle of the turn.  We checked in to the hotel, delighted to recognize our hosts from October 2018, and immediately headed over to Los Amigos, a new Mexican restaurant next door.  We ordered large salads with grilled veggies and a baked potato each and were delighted that it satisfied our diet so well.  Then we rode over to Walmart for groceries, and Ron plugged his computer into the wall socket.

13 Oct:  Mt. Olive, Illinois is the closest town to Ron's sister in the hinterlands of rural Illinois, and we rode the motorcycle to her house soon after breakfast.  Litchfield Trail wasn't so bad despite new rock chip, but Panther Creek Road was not rendered any smoother by the chip and there was a surplus amount in the middle of the road awaiting a grader.  Cynthia dismounted at Carol's driveway for an eight-tenths mile walk in preference to riding on gravel.  (Ever since our New Mexico escapade in May of 2018, she has been terrified of dirt roads.)  We walked to Carol's pond to feed the catfish.  (I throw in one pellet at a time to watch, whereas Carol throws in half the jar at once.)  Carol fixed us baked potatoes upon request, and she and Bill joined us later for dinner at Ruby Tuesday.  Not only that, but Carol and Bill gave Cynthia a ride to the restaurant so that she didn't have to endure the insecurity of riding the motorcycle on a gravel driveway.  Me, I took Panther Creek Road the other direction into Mt. Olive so that I wouldn't have to ride on newly applied rock chip.

12 Oct:  We left Keokuk, Iowa early, continuing south on US Highway 218 briefly until we crossed the Mississippi on US 136.  It was quite the surprise that this took next to no time.  Then Ron began looking for a quick turn onto Illinois Highway 96 south.  Once we were headed south, the wind from the west became quite strong as we continued to US Highway 24 east to I-172 bypassing Quincy and becoming I-72.  Ron began to think that he had missed the turn for Illinois 100 south when it finally came into view.  Then IL 106 east to Hillview Road south.  The wind was quite the nuisance, especially near woods that reflected it so that it shoved us to the west.  Then Illinois 108 east to I-55 south to Litchfield.  After all these turns we arrived in Litchfield in time to have dinner at Ruby Tuesday with Bill and Carol.  The biggest surprise was that the Ruby Tuesday in Litchfield, Illinois had their salad bar open and well-stocked.

11 Oct, Sunday:  So we got up early, exercised, ate, packed and left Ottumwa too late to arrive at the Methodist Church in Keosauqua on time for the 9 AM worship service, so we tried staying on US 34 all the way to Fairfield before turning south on Iowa 1, and it was quicker and smoother as we had been told, so we were only about five minutes late.  Doris was playing organ, and we tried to sneak in late without being seen, but the minister and cousin Marvin embarrassed us (slightly) by introducing us to the congregation.  The sermon encouraged us to pray frequently, but my interpretation was that frequent prayer will keep us mindful of God's presence in our lives and will improve our relationships with other humans.  After services, Sharon Beatty asked if we would like to see the original Benjamin Beatty house where she now lives.  We agreed immediately after she promised to drive us out there in a car and return us to Marvin's house in the country, thereby saving us from riding the motorcycle on two long gravel roads, eating the dust of every passing motorist.  Sharon's husband Melvin is a wonderful character.  We thoroughly enjoyed meeting him and getting to know Sharon a bit better.  True to her word, Sharon and Melvin drove us to Marvins where we got to watch Philip park a tractor and wagon in the middle of the front yard and witness Doris's reaction to this all-too-common occurrence in her life.  Holly and Jonathan came by to visit with us, and he is a much-older, much bigger 7-year-old now, and not quite so active as he was two years ago.  Doris fed us some veggies before Marvin then drove us out to Lebanon to see cousin Ken's new home.  Ken is finishing the interior himself, and it looks to be a wonderfully comfortable place for a bachelor to live in the country.  All that work has him looking very thin and fit and happy.  The open loft is accented by 8x8 beams salvaged from a barn somewhere nearby.  The second-floor deck has wonderful views of fields and woods.  Ken really surprised me by saying that he no longer plays video car racing games.  Marvin returned us to our motorcycle parked by the church, and we were early enough for cousin Scott and Nadine to join us for dinner at the 1st Street Grill.  As it was getting dark, they drove us out to see their property, but it was too dark to see much of the gardening work and they returned us to town quickly so that we could ride south on Iowa Highway 1, east on Iowa Highway 2, south on US 218 to a Hampton Inn in Keokuk, Iowa.  After dark, Ron makes it a point to stay close behind another vehicle through deer country.  If my headlight is not illuminating their license plate, I need to move closer.  

10 Oct:  We arose no earlier in Iowa City, did our morning exercises and again enjoyed lots of oatmeal with berries, thanks to Nola's cooking.  Ron enjoyed sudokus from a book of Vic's.  (Hotels are not generally supplying newspapers now, and Ron is sudoku deprived.)  We thanked our hosts, packed and were on the road an hour later than Ron had hoped, so he decided to call cousin Marvin from Walmart.  When we stopped at Walmart for MSM, Ron decided to resume riding promptly instead of calling cousin Marvin and to instead call from Washington, Iowa, but Iowa Highway 1 just passed through a brief corner of Washington, so the call was postponed until Fairfield.  In Fairfield, the most appealing restaurant turned out to be Mexican, unable to meet our diet, and we missed the Subway as we left town on Highway 1.  (Apparently Subway is on a different "Main Street.")  By the time we arrived in Keosauqua, it was two PM and time to feed the diabetic weefee.  The town was crowded with tourists for the annual Keosauqua Fall Festival and the Van Buren Scenic Drive Festival.  We saw lots of motorcycles in town, and the 1st Street Grill was crowded with one table left for us in a corner.  The restaurant actually did a fine job of feeding us with a good salad for Ron and vegetable wrap for Cynthia.  After ordering, Ron attempted to call cousin Marvin but found no Verizon signal there, outside, by the river, or anywhere within a couple of blocks.  The waitress recommended right beside a window, but that didn't work for Ron either.  This was quite a disappointment because Ron had promised to call Marvin much earlier.  (And it is harvest time.)  Only one of Ron's cousins in Keosauqua lives on a paved road, so we went to visit Rex, Suzie, and daughter Brigette.  (Ron had to ask directions from another resident after failing to find the house where he kinda sorta remembered it.  The house was on top of the hill, not at the foot.)  Everyone was cheerful and healthy although Susie has had a number of health problems in the last couple of years.  We also met two of Brigette's kids who are probably in high school.  The closest accommodation that Cynthia has liked was the Hampton Inn in Ottumwa, and we rode north on Iowa 1 to a left on Iowa 16 through Selma (where Ron's father was born) and through Eldon (where ancestor Jesse Nicholson is buried) to a left on US 34 into Keokuk, then had to stop to find an address since my GPS does not show that hotel.  After settling in at a familiar Hampton Inn in Ottumwa and eating at Subway across the street, Ron called Marin and apologized for not calling earlier.  Marvin said that church was holding services and seemed pleased that Ron and Cynthia would see them there in the morning (9 AM = way too early).  The route from Iowa City was simplicity itself: I-80 west to US 6 exit south to Iowa Highway 1 to Keosauqua.

Ron, Vic and Nola at Coralville Reservoir

Herbert Hoover Presidential Library

9 Oct:  Iowa City:  We awoke late, arose late and exercised as usual before venturing upstairs to discover  that Nola had cooked old fashioned Quaker oats for us and had fruit to go with.  Vic and Nola took us out for a hike on the Coralville Reservoir Trail amidst the glorious fall scenery.  They are bird watchers and never go out without binoculars (but we saw no interesting birds).  We returned home for a great lunch, then off to the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and birthplace.  Surprisingly, the Library and visitor center were closed although the houses were open and park rangers provided a short guided tour.  We saw both the tiny house where Hoover was born and the plot where he is buried plus a reconstruction of his father's blacksmith business.  We realize how rich we modern Americans are when we see that a family of five lived in two very small rooms in 1900 (14' x 20' = 280 square feet total for 2 rooms, 2 adults and 3 children).  For dinner, Nola made awesome salmon topped with balsamic vinegar sauce and fresh berries.  Yum, Thanks Nola.

8 Oct:  The ride to Iowa City was uneventful.  Ron chose to take I-35 from the hotel until old US Highway 6 veered north 20 miles east of Des Moines.  US 6 was much quieter and more pleasant over rolling hills although the spectacular fall colors we had enjoyed in Minnesota were less frequent in Iowa.  A stop at the Amana Colonies for Amish sauerkraut and pickled beets was a disappointment because that was the entirety of what we could eat (although that is a wonderful combination).  We arrived at Vic and Nola's (off Debuque Road) in time for Cynthia’s first ever enchilada (and a delicious one using a Pritikin recipe with sweet potato, spinach and black bean filling).  Nola is an awesome cook, and Vic has a million entertaining stories from his 30 years of medical practice.  En route Cynthia was meditating that "Politics has become the religion of hatred.  Hatred is a cancer that eats one’s own flesh."  It is insane.  

7 Oct:  From Urbandale, Iowa, we rode west and south about 10 miles on I-80/ I-35 to Mills Civic Parkway to visit cousin Sandy in East Des Moines.  Sandy is delightfully cheerful as always, and she even fed us an afternoon snack.  We all walked around the tiny lake near city hall and thoroughly enjoyed sculptures and colorful red maples and burnt-orange sugar maple trees (even sometimes with hot pink highlights).  As we started back to the hotel, we saw the bright white tail of a whitetail deer bounding into the woods.  We had hoped to visit Cynthia's classmate Carol, but her independent living facility mandates a 14-day quarantine if she leaves the property, and visitors are not allowed on the property.  What ever happened to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness?  I guess the same forces that long ago mandated motorcycle helmet laws (which I hate) have grown more powerful.  Since we had such a lovely visit with Sandy and had no possibility of seeing Carol, there was no reason to stay an additional day in Des Moines.

6 Oct:  Northwood, Iowa:  We need to pack and leave before noon.  Done.  Upon Cynthia's request, we stopped in Nora Springs to see her niece Penny, who suffered cancers of various forms and is missing most of her left jaw.  Penny is living with her sister Paula and is speaking much better than two years ago.  As we prepared to ride away, Penny asked for a motorcycle ride.  Ron agreed after asking if her leg is strong enough to get on the bike.  She assured me that it is strong enough, but the problem was controlling the other leg, which was tough to get over the seat.  Cynthia has prepared me for a passenger balancing precariously on one peg, and Penny managed to eventually get seated properly.  We rode through town two different ways and back to the house without incident.  Penny was thrilled but tumbled to the ground while Paula helped her get off the bike.  (Cynthia got a great video of that fall.)  Thankfully, she is well!  As we rode south in Iowa, a large pheasant flew up right in front of us, and we missed it by about a foot, a GREAT view of pheasant in flight about a foot away from the top left front of the fairing (windshield).  We took Iowa 105 east to US 65 south to East State Street in Mason City east to business US 18 east to Nora Springs (and were lucky to discover the Ponderosa Trail subdivision).  Then we took Zinnia Road (county road S70) south to county road B47 west to US 65 south almost into Hampton (including a detour to county road S43), turned right on Iowa Highway 3 west (which was a rough road)  to US Highway 69 south through Ames and Ankeny into Urbandale, Iowa where we got on I-35/ I-80 west to the Hilton Garden Inn.  This was a very nice, very uncrowded route, but it was a windy day, seemingly far windier than the 11-15 mph forecast.  The bonus was discovering a Texas Roadhouse restaurant immediately adjacent to the hotel and further discovering that they served baked sweet potatoes, a favorite for us on this diet.

5 Oct:  We woke up early despite going to bed late.  Jane at 9 AM, Annie at 11, hiking until exhausted, dinner and collapse are on the schedule for today.  Ron and Richard had a great deal of fun conversations discussing "guy" things.  We assume that Cynthia and Jane did not discuss guy things.  Dave and Annie showed up promptly before 11 to take us to the Lime Creek Nature Center (click here) for a lovely hike with Connie and Heather, during which Cynthia and Ron mistakenly thought that the girls were going off to "La Femme Toilette," and consequently became totally separated from the group and thereafter became totally lost without any clue as to location or direction other than picking the most likely trail underfoot.  Eventually a bicyclist, the only other person we ever saw, gave us simple directions that allowed us to find the correct parking lot.  4.4 miles according to Cynthia.  Annie and Dave were waiting for us at the parking lot, and off we all went to Subway for lunch.  Now poor Annie has to rush through preparations for dinner whilst I type on this computer.  Usually Ron tells people that they cannot cook for us because our diet is too restrictive: no oil, no butter, no fat, no cheese, and no salt, but Annie cooked a magnificent meal for us two years ago, and I am looking forward to stuffing my face again tonight.  Face happily stuffed, now we need to retire to rest our tummies.  Annie again cooked a magnificent meal for six (Ann & Dale, Annie & Dave, Cynthia & Ron) and used her guest Corelware (click here).  Ron thoroughly enjoyed the dishes that were made specifically for his diet.  (He did share.)  The discussions about fine china prompted Ron to reflect that no one uses china any more because no one cooks any more, hence the younger generation has no use for the parental china when serving carry-out meals.

4 Oct:  Who knows what tomorrow brings?  At least we woke up well rested and ready for our morning exercises and breakfast.  Looks like we will spend most of the day working on computer projects followed by an evening visit with Ann 'n Dale, God willing.  Thanks to cousin Charleton, Ron has just found out about the Rambo Mansion in Rock Hill, South Carolina (click here for video tour).  We arrived more than an hour early to revisit all of Cynthia's memories of Swensrud Park, which sits just below her childhood home.  Our picnic at the park with Ann & Dale, Tanna & family was lovely, even with an energetic two-year-old and her five-year-old brother making use of every slide and climb on the playground.  However, it did get too cold for nearly all the adults by 6:30, so we brought our celebration of friendship to an early ending.  Tomorrow is another day.  Good Grief, how did it get to be 10:42 already.  Goodnight.

3 Oct:  In Northwood, Iowa, today dawned early for us and cloudy too.  We miss our Western sunshine, but it is good to be seeing familiar faces and sights.  We rode the 9 miles to town at 10:20 AM and 47 degrees, Brrrrh, and visited with a couple of Cynthia's cousins (everybody in Northwood is Cynthia's cousin) at the "creamery" being restored at 611 Central Avenue (Iowa Highway 105).  Our excitement of the day was provided by medivac helicopter which landed smack in the middle of the street.  Afterwards we walked around the Northwood cemetery, taking in the sights.  The cemetery walks in Butte were much more pleasant since we did not know anyone buried there.  4 PM sharp, we assembled with 6 of Cynthia's classmates (plus 4 spouses) for a fabulous, fun evening of dinner, drinks, and a tiny bit of conversation.  Present were Annie and Dave, Vic and Nola, Jerry and Betty, Myra, Laverne and Cynthia and Ron.  At 9 PM, the last of the stragglers straggled out of the restaurant and headed home.

2 Oct:  Annie brought us an amazing vase of flowers and wonderful homemade, homegrown foods, and left without saying hi because there was a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door !!  (Annie, that sign is meant for the housekeepers, not friends.  Y'all hear !!)  Cousin Ray showed up at the stroke of noon and drove us inside a heated car to Subway for another veggie sub, a wonderful warm trip to town with good company to boot.  We talked genealogy, covid and politics (since we agree).  Personally I think that it is great that the president has covid, and I feel confident that he will recover fine without undue discomforts, thereby proving that he walks the walk and that most of us will be among the 98% that recover without problems.  VERY amusing that after all the trash talk about President Trump, the stock market has experienced a major fall due to the announcement that he has covid.  Tonight we walked over to the Diamond Jo casino restaurant to meet cousin David.  No telling what he has been up to since we last saw him two years ago.  He and Pat did tell us lots and lots that they have been up to, but my memory isn't good enough to repeat all that.  We all enjoyed our conversation and the good food there at the Woodfire Grill.  Dave gave us a parting gift of CDs that he has made of his music.  A multi-talented individual, he teaches history in high school, has played in bands all across the states of Iowa and Minnesota, and enjoys being a re-enactor of pioneer festivals (and he looks the part with a huge long scraggly beard).

1 Oct:  Eagan, Minnesota:  After packing our bags and loading the motorcycle ASAP this morning, we rode through very chilly temperatures (51 degrees) to Hasting, Minnesota, where we enjoyed our second windowside visit with Greg for nearly an hour before we lunched with Donna, again at Perkins.  The ride southward through the Minnesota countryside was punctuated by a stop to see the Valley Grove Lutheran Church where Cynthia preached at one snowy midnight Christmas service in 2007.  The skies were threatening for much of the day, and we rode through winds and light rain on I-35 after passing through Faribault.  About 20 miles from the Iowa state line, the skies looked too dark dead ahead, so Ron opted to exit the interstate when he saw a sign indicating that an alternate I-35 route was somewhat east of the interstate.  This kept us out from under the darkest skies but did not keep us entirely dry.  When that county road 26 came to a T intersection, Cynthia piped up, "US 65 is right there," so we rode into her home town of Northwood in a light rain and immediately parked the bike, looked for an open restaurant, and found Subway.  Ron was a bit shocked to discover that his hands were BRIGHT red from the cold rain.  By the time we finished our vegetable sub, the rain had stopped, so we walked about town briefly, visited the house where Cynthia had lived and talked with the new owners, a couple whose husband had also grown up in that house.  We were able to ride to the Holiday Inn Express beside Diamond Jo Casino without difficulty (except for still being cold - high temperature all day was 51 degrees).  Ron plugged the Macintosh into power and was delighted that the machine rebooted successfully without excessive restarts so that he can resume working on the index for Volume 7.  Our routing for the day began at the Hilton Garden Inn in Eagan and proceeded east on Cliff Road (county road 32) to Blaine Avenue (county road 71) south to 117th street east to US 52 south to Minnesota 55 east to Hastings.  From there we rode south through town to Vermillion Road (county road 47) west to Northfield Boulevard (continuing county road 47) southwest into Hampton, MN, L on US Highway 52 south to a R on Minnesota 56 south to R on county road 31 west to L on Minnesota Highway 246 south to county road 30 (160th Street) west to Valley Grove Church.  From there we continued south on 246 briefly and continued straight onto Kane Road which led us to county road 20 through Faribault to I-35 south towards Northwood, but we soon exited after rain (maybe Ellendale) and continued south first on county road 26 and later on US Highway 65 into Northwood, then Iowa 105 west to the casino and our lodging.

September is for falling leaves and chilly rides

30 Sep:  In Hasting, Minnesota, we enjoyed a windowside visit with my former college roommate Greg for an hour before we lunched with Donna at a Perkins then rode up Minnesota 55 to Minnesota 3 (which IS Robert Trail) towards Sunfish Lake through incredibly strong winds and light rain to Robert Trail to visit Y-DNA cousin Lance and effervescent wife, Shelley.  Even though Ron has tons of experience riding motorcycles, those winds were unnerving, especially with the rain included.  Shelley cooked a marvelous meal of Minnesota wild rice, chicken in parchment, and baked sweet potatoes caramelized to perfection.  We like our new cousins.  Lance entertained us with pictures and books and spreadsheets from his basement catacombs.

29 Sep:  Eagan, Minnesota is our goal today, a 45-minute ride on Interstate 494 bypassing Minneapolis.  At the Hilton Garden Inn there, we should meet cousin Lance for the first time.  He promises to be a whole lot of fun.  (But maybe not quite as much fun as a healthy, energetic 2-year-old boy.)  In Butte, Montana, where sunshine is the norm, when we looked at weather forecasts a mere week ago, it was supposed to be in the high 60s and low 70s here and now.  Instead it has been perpetually cloudy with highs in the low 60s and high 50s.  Hey, at least the rain has been well timed in the late afternoon, and there has not been any snow YET.

28 Sep:  Medina, Minnesota for one more day.  Roxanne flew home, but we are awaiting Cynthia's newest found first cousin Kathy from Benson, MN.  (And we passed through Benson twice on our route from Butte, once intentionally and the second time because of a wrong turn on Minnesota Highway 9.)  Kathy is a delight, and we thoroughly enjoyed our time together.  If anyone finds a photo of Charlie Rinker, aka Harry Bernard King, Kathy would love a copy.  After she left, Cynthia and Ron walked the circle that Bluebell Trail makes and arrived home just as sprinkles were falling.  Cynthia took several pictures of the rainbow that expanded across the sky and grew pronouncedly more vivid as we watched.  Again this evening, Hudson displayed amazing energy as only a 2-year-old can.

2-year-old Hudson pushing his stroller uphill

What a wonderful rainbow for a cloudy day

27 Sep:  And we did indeed awaken early enough to get to the church on time.  Hudson behaved as well as can be expected for a 2-year-old boy, so everyone was pleased, especially Cynthia, a very, very proud great grandmother.  If you'd like to see the video, click here for the church service including Hudson's baptism on U-Tube.  (The baptism begins 31 minutes into the service.)  After the service Cynthia had arranged with Annie to provide a meal for 15 at home, although only the immediate family of six showed up.  Hudson was able to move from lap to lap eating all visible fruit from every plate.  It was fascinating to watch him cram more and more food into his mouth without ever apparently swallowing.  We merely assume that the drainage into his stomach was similar to the drainage down his front.  Afterwards, Cynthia and Ron walked (waddled) around the neighborhood, enjoying the fall colors and nicely kept lawns.

The Smooches are often told that they are so cute

Brett, Hudson & Jenn dressed for church baptism

26 Sep:  Medina, Minnesota at grandson Brett's house, entertained by 2-year-old Hudson, tantrums and all.  Air quality in Butte has been "Great" all day today.  Ron took this opportunity to visit with his sister-in-law Carolyn, who lives near Bossen Park in Minneapolis (click here because nobody knows where Bossen Park is located).  While on Crosstown Highway (Minnesota route 62), Ron was delighted to still see vivid fall colors and to see a couple of airplanes fly close overhead to land at the airport.  They are BIG at that distance.  We visited outside for a couple of hours, catching up on Carolyn's father's condition, her siblings, her previous job, her current activities curtailed because of covid, etc.  As he prepared to leave, raindrops at Carolyn's house prompted Ron to wear a rain coat, and occasionally more raindrops reminded him that the raincoat was good idea until he arrived on Blue Bell Trail.

25 Sep:  Waubay, Minnesota is where our ride began without much color other than ripening grains and grasses, but then suddenly we were back into more varied scenery and our fall colors returned to please our palettes.  After entering Minnesota on US Highway 12, we then navigated through a variety of state and county roads to Minnesota Highway 55 that kept us in countryside all the way to our turn onto Arrowhead Drive.  And we ended our riding day early at grandson Brett's house in the outskirts of Medina. The commotion of greeting was enhanced by the fierce barking of Bret's two dogs.  Fortunately no one was eaten.  Roxanne was in a dither, trying to keep tabs on 2-year-old Hudson while rearranging furniture in her head.  Cynthia pitched in with the decorating/ arrangements, the handyman was instructed to move the bed from the basement to the second floor and the one on the second floor to the basement.  The delicate girlie types instructed the manly masculine types to more this furniture here, there etc. until the basement bedroom was declared to be "good."  Then we all piled into the cars and drove to the adjoining village of Excelsior for a delicious dinner, followed by a quart of sorbet from the Wisconsin Farms (advertising "if you want nutrition, eat carrots"- click here).

24 Sep:  Tonight we are near Waubay, South Dakota, surrounded by lakes.  No mountains today, but the scenery on Highway 12 continues to be spectacular with golden yellows and occasional reds, oranges, and purples mixed in.  We ended our ride at 200+ miles at the Circle Pines Motel, highly rated by undiscriminating fishermen (click here).  Still, it was clean, cheap and quiet.  We walked around the motel to Dog Lake and along the lake shore and dirt road for a mile or more.  Consequently, we slept well, despite crowding together on a full sized bed.

23 Sep:  This morning in Miles City, our hostess greeted us warmly and served a suitable breakfast for our diet that filled us quite well.  Only when Cynthia asked about paying for our lodging did she bother with those details.  All of the reviews that lauded her hospitality and generous breakfasts were accurate.  She is the real deal.  Today on US Highway 12 we engaged in another scenic ride with mountains and varied terrain eastward across the southwestern corner of North Dakota into South Dakota to the Dakota Countryside Inn (click here) in the middle of nowhere, SD.  (Nearest town is Watauga.)  Again the sporadic fall colors were predominately yellows with a few oranges and roses thrown in as accents.  It is remarkable how the usual green vegetation highlights the sporadic fall colors.  We enjoyed a walk for about a mile along the gravel road next to the Inn but stopped short of the terminal driveway.  This is a very peaceful part of South Dakota.  Our host is a very thin, pleasant farmer whose wife told him that she was going to open a B & B-type hotel, so he decided to join her and moved five miles to do so.  Sadly, she has had a stroke and can no longer use her left hand that drew the architectural drawings for the hotel.

22 Sep:  Tonight in Miles City, Montana after a marvelously scenic ride on I-94 from Billings, Montana. As we passed by Livingstone and Big Timber, we thought of Seth and wife who grew up on Montana ranches north of those towns. And the ranches we saw were really vast! It is harvest time, the golden, newly-mown hay fields stretched to the horizons. It was equally fascinating crossing the Yellowstone River many times, and riding past the junction of the Big Horn and Yellowstone, thirteen miles west of the famous battlefield known as Custer’s Last Stand. How timely, after recently reading the incredible NY Times #2 Bestseller, Killing Crazy Horse (click here). Cynthia captured a photo of the Rosebud memorial. The ride was cool until we neared Miles City, our destination for the evening, and then it got hot. And how fun to have lunch sitting at the soda fountain in an antique shop that formerly was the old Woolworth’s Store in town. Their restaurant is called, Remember When Cafe (click here)! Our lodging for the evening is in the Horton House, a historical B&B (click here). Strangely, our hosts never appeared to ask us to check in. We arrived early and their hired helper gave us a key and combination.

And this is what we saw as we rode eastward

All decked out and ready to ride !!

Our friends at the Copper King

21 Sep:  After one last breakfast at the Copper King and photographs with our delightful servers (right), we expected to leave "early," or at least prior to official check out time of 11 AM (Cynthia chuckled at the foolish notion that we might leave by 11:00), but Ron did it, got all packed and in motion before 11AM !!  The ride started south on Montana Highway 2, and after several miles, we were worried by a sign that said "Road Construction - Motorcycles advised to seek alternate route."  We continued for 20 miles, being wary for any sudden change to gravel, through Thompson Park (click here) and past an "End of Construction" sign without ever seeing any evidence of road construction in the last several years.  Then there was a Detour sign pointing left.  Again we continued cautiously until we arrived in the town of Whitehall where we turned right onto I-90 east.  (What peculiar signage.  It must be a Montana insider joke.)  We arrived in Billings about five PM, in time to enjoy a lovely dinner at the Windmill Restaurant (click here), one that we enjoyed so much when we stayed in Billings in 2018.  

20 Sept:  We leave tomorrow.  Still a tiny bit smoky, but air quality is almost "Good."  Everything looks good for a hike up the Maud S. trail today.  Thank goodness we did get one final good hike up Maud S. before leaving Butte, and we were both surprised by our speed and stamina.  Cynthia exclaimed that her knees, feet, back and legs felt wonderful.

Sunday Offering 

To live we need air to breathe, food to nourish our bodies, and safety to survive.  Beyond the basics, every human longs to satisfy the sex urge, and CRAVES being appreciated. To recognize this is key to relationships, and it speaks personally to how we live out our lives  in Christ. Listen with your heart to these words. 

Galatians 2:20-21Revised Standard Version

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification[a] were through the law, then Christ died to no purpose.

19 Sep:  It seemed obvious to me and my sister in April.  Why did it take the media so long to tell the public that obesity is the greatest risk factor for coronavirus death (click here)?  Air quality is "Good" in the rain this morning, but we are not about to walk until the drizzle stops.  Cynthia tried to fix the font size in this blog, but Ron had to do it to avoid spousal frustrations!  Now at 3 PM the rain has stopped, so we will (and did) walk to the Montana Club for food and stop at Walmart on the return trip for blueberries and raspberries and anything else we can eat with only one evening, one day and a breakfast left before departure.  Rain again forestalled our attempt to walk this evening.

18 Sep: More smoke; air quality is "Unhealthy" again but has improved to a smig above "Unhealthy for sensitive groups."  We walked the cemetery and picked up shreds of plastic flowers everywhere, our new preoccupation while walking.  Again we walked to The Montana Club for dinner and walked the cemetery a second time just before dark.  Ron is "perfecting" concordances in preparation for indexing Volume 7 of the Colonial Records of the Swedish Churches of Pennsylvania.  Lots of tedious work for those of us who love tedium as a change of pace from normal over-activity.

17 Sep:  Smoky again today - this is getting tedious; air quality slightly less "Unhealthy."  Looking for the positive, we probably don't need sun screen today.  We walked the cemetery and enjoyed another fine, fun conversation with the superintendent and a short one with one of the Forest Service fire fighting helicopter support crew.  Sad news today that Ron's former boss Kurt has passed away.  One final cemetery walk today, and we picked up shreds of plastic flowers which we left in a bag on the superintendent's steps.

16 Sep:  Smoky again today with no relief in sight until Saturday.  Air quality is "Unhealthy," but we walked the cemetery, took an hour break, then walked to The Montana Club for salads.  We've already walked 5.7 miles today by 3:34.  We went out for another smoke inhalation therapy this evening, total miles for the day 8.5.

15 Sep:  Smoke today in Butte started with "unhealthy for sensitive groups" and about noon moved into just plain "unhealthy."  Thank goodness Ron is an insensitive.  Our morning walk provided us our minimum daily requirement of smoke.  Then Ron rode the motorcycle to the Post Office to mail additional letters and cards (12 mailed to date).  We again walked to The Montana Club for salad, salmon and a baked potato.  Now it is 8:17 in the evening, and we forgot our after dinner cemetery stroll.  Ron still went for a quick stroll about the cemetery after dark and hopes that his conversation on the cell phone did not disturb the residents.

14 Sep:  The smoke is still bad although we've improve through "unhealthy" and "unhealthy for sensitive groups" to "moderate"after noon.  We can again see the mountain with the "M" for Montana Tech (just barely).  We walked the cemetery and rode the motorcycle to Walgreen's for a prescription then to The Montana Club for lunch.  We walked a second time in the evening once the temperatures dropped a bit.

13 Sep:  Gosh, has it ever gotten smokey here in Butte.  Apparently there is a fire just beyond the mountains, and the winds must have wafted some smoke westward to us.  So we opted to hike the cemetery instead of Maud S.  Amusing to see a horizontal line across the mountains; above is more smoke, below is less smoke.  Air quality here is supposed to be good, but we can smell the smoke in the air.  We walked to the Montana Club for lunch, and the smoke is heavier.  Ron looked for the source on the web but didn't find anything helpful.  It is time for our evening walk in smoke that has caused air quality to become just plain "unhealthy."  Let's hope that cooler air overnight causes particulates to drop out of the air.  Nine miles walking today.

12 Sep:  Every new day comes so quickly now: obviously time is accelerating.  It is now 4 PM, and we've been waiting since breakfast for housekeeping to clean the room.  Ron has been reviewing cell phone calls to label many "nuisance" and to discover (via Google) a couple of useful phone numbers.

11 Sep:  How did the rest of the 10th disappear?  We hiked Maud S. early and enjoyed lunch at the Montana Club.  Ron continued going through his address book and has sent another 43 emails addressed with blind CCs.  If I have your email address, you should have gotten a copy of the annual letter.  Now I need to send a few more snail mail letters, and I will be caught up with correspondence.  Oops, the snail mail count is 39 letters.

10 Sep:  And another cool start to our day, but we will walk the cemetery early (i.e. before noon).  And then we walked to dinner and again walked the cemetery just before dark.  Ron spent the entire day going through his address book and emailed the annual letter to 48 correspondents.

9 Sep:  32 degrees in Butte, Montana after breakfast - - - but it is supposed to reach 70 degrees today.  Our efforts to finding cooler weather for hiking certainly succeeded beyond our wildest imaginings.  Cynthia promises to be ready to hike up Maud S. by noon.  Life is good.  It is noon, time to visit Maud S.  We hiked 2.5miles to the Vista and enjoyed seeing Our Lady of the Rockies closer again.  Why does the uphill seem harder each time we go?  In the evening we again walked the cemetery for 8.4 miles total today.

8 Sep:  dawned even colder, and after breakfast Ron walked around the hotel and found ice on the seat of the motorcycle.  After sending a couple copies of the annual letter (below), Ron decided that it was too cold to inflict a motorcycle on da poor little weefee to get to the Maud S. Trail, so we limited our walk to 2.5 flat, flat, flat miles around the cemetery.  (And it was cold.)  We walked to the Montana Club for typical afternoon meal of huckleberry salad and steamed veggies for Cynthia and two baked potatoes with lotsa pepper for Ron.  Then in the evening we walked the cemetery again for a total of 10 (flat) miles today.

7 Sep:  dawned a bit chilly in Butte, Montana, and a brisk wind blew in colder air and snow by noon.  We walked around our convenient cemetery very early, but cut our walk short when raindrops hit us in the face.  After fussing with Google sites for an hour, Ron decided to walk to Walmart for frozen mango and blueberries.  Sister-in-law Carolyn reports that the rioters in Minneapolis are nowhere near her.  Sister Carol reports that new DNA matches are providing much food for thought.  Ron is now shivering as he eats his frozen mango.  It is time to mail his annual letter, dated September this year.  The walk this evening through the cemetery was again wonderful because of the dusting of snow on the mountains and the mama with two baby deer watching me walk by.  It was amusing to see that all three heads tracked me identically.

This annual letter comes to you from Butte, Montana on September 6th, 2020.  Ron and Cynthia report that life continues with the same old same old - hike, health, travel by motorcycle, no fat, no oil, no butter, no cheese, no salt.  We no longer own a house or a car, just a motorcycle, and we fill our days with hiking, genealogy and travel.    One of the ironies of aging is that we need a daily exercise routine to stay fit enough to enjoy the activities of daily life.

If you'd like to know all the gory details of our daily lives, check out our blog by Googling "Where is Ron."  Our blog shows up first.  The URL is whereisronnow.blogspot.com.

Once again we are delighted to be among the living - - - and we are feeling Younger Next Year (click here) after reading the book and going to the Pritikin Longevity Center four times in the last two years.  Our 2019 adventures began in late January when the motorcycle driveshaft broke on I-10, 30 miles west of Mobile, Alabama, as we rode towards the Pritikin Longevity Center in Miami.  BMW Roadside Assistance rescued us with a tow truck, and the driver even dropped us off at our hotel.  We were both sick for the next three days, but when we recovered, the repair shop was still waiting for the driveshaft, so we rented a car and drove to Miami, arriving at the Pritikin as scheduled.  Cynthia checked in and I rode further south to visit friends in the Florida Keys.  That ride over all those bridges out to Big Pine Key is really lovely in the off-season, and those tiny key deer are just too cute.

Again our stay at the Pritikin provided us results and new exercises.

After our month at the Pritikin, we again rented a car to retrieve our motorcycle from Pensacola.  Then we rode south through Mexico Beach and were astounded by the hurricane damage there.  Whole forests of pine trees were snapped off 30' above ground for miles and miles.  The first floor rooms of the Hotel Governor, where we love to stay, 30' above the normal high tide, had been demolished by the storm surge and waves.  Most houses between the roadway and the gulf were entirely gone without a trace.

We visited friends as we rode north to spend 3 months in Mt. Airy, PA, a suburb of Philadelphia.  We spent most of our time in the basement of the Lutheran Archives, working with Peter Craig's collection of books and papers (genealogy).  Mt. Airy is fun for us, and the weather stayed mild enough for us to walk the mile to Chestnut Hill for lunch every day at Fresh Market, a grocery with a nice salad bar.

After summer heated up, we hustled north into Vermont to cool off and spent the next three months hiking - except that Cynthia's children mandated that she fly to Houston to celebrate her birthday with them.  She came back from the flight with a cough that soon turned into bronchitis, then into pneumonia, which led to a shingles affliction that lasted a month.  We were compelled to leave Vermont, just as the leaves began to turn fall colors because we had booked the first 2 weeks of October at the Pritikin to take advantage of a seasonal discount.  At least we did see a few marvelously colorful displays of leaves in Vermont and New York before outrunning fall south, and we enjoyed a bon voyage Pasta Loft party with MIT friends.

Samantha and Adam's wedding in Texas in November was a joyous occasion, vindicating our early arrival in Texas, long before our scheduled doctors appointments the first week of January.

2020 will go down in history as the year when pandemic paranoia gripped America, when wearing face masks and social distancing became mandatory.  Cynthia and I were lucky to arrive in Sedona mere days before the ___ hit the fan.  We were able to walk from our vacation rental house to the Bell Rock Trailhead for the first six weeks and then from a second rental to the Sugarloaf Trailhead for the next month.  Those red rock mesas are just so spectacular.

Then we spent two weeks at the Grand Canyon with only a few other early arrivals.  Imagine getting to see and hike the Canyon without crowds.  Awesome !!  Ron was even able to hike down the Bright Angel Trail to the second rest stop (3 miles distance and 2100 feet elevation) in 1 1/2 hours and back up in 2 - - - giving him confidence that his heart is A-OK.

Next we visited friends in Santa Fe for a couple of weeks and were able to see nearly everyone in outdoor settings deemed "socially distanced" and safe from pandemic propagation.

Seeking cooler temperatures, we spent a month in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, hiking every day, and now another month in Butte, Montana, hiking the Maud S. Canyon Trail every 2nd or 3rd day except when the air was contaminated by California wildfire smoke.  We have really enjoyed staying at the Copper King Hotel and Convention Center in Butte.

Before long we will ride across South Dakota to Minneapolis so that Cynthia can baptize her 2-year-old grandson.  Then back to Texas, visiting friends and relatives along the way.

I continue to tell people that I had the perfect life as a bachelor, but leave it to God to improve upon perfection.  And I continue to tell Cynthia that I love her just the way she is.

6 Sep, Sunday:  Another day with a smoky haze from wildfires.  At least this time it is local fires.  After our morning walk, it is finally time for Ron to get productively busy, so he wrote his 2020 annual letter in order to send a few snail mail letters this month.  Next project is to print one.  Then I need to lambast Google for the travesty they are inflicting upon their web site users when they "convert" to "new sites" November 2021.  We walked to The Montana Club for lunch of salmon and asparagus; Ron had baked potatoes.  After fussing with Google sites, Ron walked around the cemetery for half an hour.  Now time for bed.

5 Sep:  Today is forecast HOT, so we hustled through exercises and breakfast in order to hike the Maud S. Trail early - but it was already hot.  We persevered and hiked to the viewpoint despite feeling that the hike was more strenuous than ever.  We stopped at the Montana Club for lunch and walked around the cemetery in the evening.

4 Sep:  And here it is already the 4th of September.  How did that happen?  We walked our favorite cemetery twice today and bought lots of groceries at Walmart.  Ron was successful at avoiding work of any nature.

Ron did NOT realize that the bike is so clean.  Angenieta must have a magic camera.

Isn't Cynthia a beauty ?  SmoochSmooch, I love you.

Angenieta photographed our heels

Lost Trail Pass ?

Informational rest stop

3 Sep:  Today we rode from Missoula back to Butte after Big Sky Motorsports installed the diaphragm in the front brake fluid reservoir and after we met the nicest couple at the Montana Club near the HGI.  Angenieta is quite the vivacious motorcyclist.  She just had to ask about us, and believe it or not, Ron was able to respond to this young cutie at length.  Our route was south for 80 miles on US 93 through way too much traffic and population and heat, although the surrounding Bitterroot Valley appeared quite agricultural and scenic.  Then we started climbing up to the Lost Trail Pass and stopped at the informational rest stop explaining that Lewis and Clark might has crossed about here when they were lost on their way to the Pacific.  In contrast, we were not lost and turned east on Montana Highway 43 towards Wisdom - and we recognized Wisdom when we arrived.  We had stayed at the one little motel at the edge of town and ate at the one bar in town some previous trip.  (2 Sep 2010 according to the blog)  We both remember an awesome sunset (not mentioned in the blog).

2 Sep:  We checked out of the hotel for the day, but the manager told us to leave our luggage in the room since we are returning tomorrow.  WINDY.  WOW was it ever windy !! as we rode from Butte to Missoula, 118 miles of being blown mostly sideways or sometimes noticing the abrupt loss of speed when the gust hit us directly from the front.  At times it was a struggle to remain confident that the bike would stay on the road.  All's well that ends well, and Cynthia checked into the hotel, Ron rode to the motorcycle shop despite the GPS misleading him, and the shop was able to change both tires easily.  The  lounge was occupied by another motorcyclist working remotely for his job with Verizon, and our conversation made the time vanish quickly.

1 Sep:  Let's see if Ron can figure out the font that he likes without copying from yesterday.  OOOh, I like this, Times - Large.  We are up, exercised, fed and digesting, preparatory to filling the motorcycle tires with air and hiking.  Walmart Auto Center cooperated by providing air and we hiked the Maud S. Trail again today.  It seemed more strenuous uphill than on other days, but the downhill was a breeze.  Lunch at The Montana Club and too many things to do before bed time.  Goodnight.

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.