Time To Explore The Local Area

Don't get me wrong, Monday as you see, was a very nice day ... cold but nice. At the end of the day it did feel like I didn't waste it away and got a few things done besides hanging out on the couch playing PGA Golf on the PS4. I did some things in town, one for the first time, but overall the hounds and I hung out on Monday right here on the homestead. Today isn't going to be a repeat of that. I planned during my second cup of coffee that I will grab a camera and check out some places today, that I have not seen yet.

The hounds are having to wake up at different times since my clock is a little off. Sometimes I am wide awake at 4am so we get up and other days I sleep until Stella is whining loud enough to wake me a little past 6am. Stella thinks and now Heidi thinks that 'wake up' time is now time for their breakfast whether it be 4am or 6am. Believe me, they are ready to eat as soon as they get back from their short trip outside no matter what time of morning it is or how dark it is.

It's dark when they both give me those looks, but I resist mixing up and always changing their feeding times while trying to keep it around 6am and somewhere 2-3pm in the afternoons. Stella starts howling anytime after 3pm if she has not been fed yet. My neighbor claims she has never heard Stella howl except for the times she is left outside while I am gone. She laughed about it so it's not a problem I guess.

You may or may not notice but I took these first eight photos with a different camera on Monday. I am slowly sorting out my equipment on which camera does what the best. Did that make sense? Ha Ha. If I could find a camera shop, I'd take cameras and lens in to trade for a different camera or even sell them but I cannot find a "shop" that has not gone out of business. I found one shop here but after 23 years in business, it closed. I found two 'shops' in Tucson in my online searches but neither phone number was connected. Recent comments under the Yelp reviews said both had gone out of business.

I've read where Al recently did some camera equipment haggling. Jon Katz does the same thing in upper state New York, so it's possible. I am guessing I'll have to make the 3 hour drive to Phoenix to do that. I'll put it on my 'to do' list for when I drive up there to see some friends later on.

Like I said in yesterday's post ... it was cold. The hounds were like me ... they'd like to do something outside (they sleep and me riding my bike) but don't let that bright sunshine fool you. It was still in the 30's as we approached noon. I went down to my new favorite cafe, the Ole' Cafe for breakfast and then for the first time since I have moved here I checked out the Safeway grocery store. I always used Safeway when I lived on the west coast from years ago but here it's not a convenient location.

It's hard to get out of their parking lot onto the main street of four lane traffic and most the time with all the other businesses in that strip mall, the parking lot is packed ... so I never bothered checking it out. I had not even got out of the produce section of the store where I was asking myself what took me so long? "I'm not going anywhere else for groceries."

When I got home and saw the higher prices after comparing the different store receipts I've kept just to do this comparison, I may not go there for anything more than their good produce. Three large grocery stores in town and each has one thing better than the rest. Isn't that typical of most businesses ... or cameras?

There are times that Stella shows me she might like another hound to keep her company or to play with. That's not going to happen. I remember the last couple of years or the last year when she and Sadie hardly played at all compared to what they did their first couple of years together. Heidi is somewhat independent and has never needed another hound to wrestle with or sleep with. Winston was interested in that, she wasn't.

Recently Stella's maternal instincts have come out every since the neighbors bought their 8 week old black lab. She has seen the puppy a few times when the neighbor lifts the pup up to me over the fence. Of course they were both interested in each other but it wasn't too long before Stella went back to laying in the sunshine to sleep. That puppy is doing very well and growing very fast. Smart and is leading his obedience class from what I am told. The pup was obeying verbal and sign commands from the 7 year old boy last weekend. I was amazed how well the pup was doing. Once again Stella looks that way when she hears the puppy barking.

Heidi wanted so bad to lie down in the sun and sleep but there was just enough cold air blowing slightly to where she decided that laying in the sunshine on the bedroom floor to sleep was the better option.

Speaking of heat .. it's quite a change to the utility bill (good) to have a gas furnace instead of electric heat during these cold days and nights. Surprisingly the vertical blinds do a good job keeping the cold air out of the house. I can tell a difference when I open them early in the morning. Consequently I don't open them as soon as I get up like I did in the summer.

Every since the doctor told me he'd like for me to lose some weight and his number was my goal from last year I've been re-thinking diets again. Long time readers know what happens when I start thinking about stuff. All that does is lead to too much analyzing, possibly new spreadsheets being made and ending up with confusion with information overload. With all my experience in doing those things for the same topic "what to eat" ... I've been proud of myself this time because I have not decided to go to one extreme or the other. In fact I just need to tweak a few things and keep doing what I am doing.

Of course it's hard to say what is the truth when you are reading articles online, even if it is a website from a doctor or dietitian. I guess that falls into "trust issues" I have based on what a couple of friends have told me but that's a whole different blog post. LOL

Over the years of doing this research and now getting an opinion in person from a MD I have found some consistent  things. A study of all the diets going on currently, lasted one year. During the year some diets were performing better than the others as the goal of all participants was to lose weight. By the end of one year all participants lost roughly 13% of their weight no matter what diet they used. After that first year and not being in a controlled setting most of the participants had regained all the weight they lost.

So when I started searching yesterday for the best diets for someone my age, that had a little exercise during the week, I found one thing that I had never seen before. It also makes me wonder if I really do need to lose weight just so my BMR the MD talked about, would decrease to 25%. A medical journal I was reading yesterday said a man of my age and height, weighs on average 199 pounds. I am below that. Also the average BMR was 29% and I am under that measuring just a tad under 27%.

Maybe pizzas, Ben&Jerry's ice cream and large cheeseburgers at The Diner are not really ba factors ... Ha Ha ... I can only hope.

Like I said in previous blog posts, before I decided where I was going to move I did a lot of searching for the averages in winter weather temps, amount of snow fall if any and did it rain a lot. Tornado? Hurricane? Typhoon? ... all kinds of weather. So when I settled on this town that I live in now I knew it would get in the 30's at night but by mid afternoon it would be sunny and mid 50's. I can definitely live with that compared to the Midwestern winters back in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

I was also told after I moved here by bicyclists I could ride outside every day of the year because the sunshine is hot enough that temperatures would feel warmer than they were. That might be true but so far I have not found that to be accurate. They DID warn me about the winds and that they would follow me to always keep me in a headwind when riding my bike and not getting those high speed tailwinds.

I HAVE found that to be true. So when I decided it was colder than I liked to ride outside I put one of my road bikes on the trainer to ride inside for 30-45 minutes a day. For those not familiar, notice the rear wheel sits up off the ground because the back wheel axle is connected to the trainer. The rear tire spins on the metal cylinder and that fan on the side is magnetic, where I can adjust the tension to make the ride harder besides just shifting to a larger gear.

You might be surprised just how good of a workout I can get in 30 minutes of riding with a few minutes at the start to warm up (slower pedaling) and the last 5 minutes to warm down (to reduce heart rate). It is tiring and I can change gears as I am riding just like on the road. It IS boring where some people ride in front of a tv or put ear buds in to listen to music. I've never wanted to do neither of those options.

So until I get enough nerve or until I quit being a whimp I'll be riding indoors and spending the days on local exploration trips with my camera and doing some hiking since my hip is getting stronger by the day. BTW ... the number of bicyclists riding by the house, people walking their dogs or their morning workout walks are almost zero, so maybe what I am feeling is just normal.  LOL

Let's see what the day brings here in the 'Wild West' today ... I'll blog about it later.

It's Cold !!!!

It's cold here in SE Arizona but if I were to compare 27° here with 27° in the winters back in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana it would not be close. Even on those days the skies were clear, blue and sunny the wind back in the midwest would cut you like a knife while we took our morning walks through the field. Here in temps like this, the daily walk was canceled Monday morning because all three of us have turned into bad weather whimps. We don't do much when it's cold during the day.

The difference in those winter days of temps in the 40's, one there is no snow on the ground and if I were to sit outside in the sun, it is so hot on my face it felt like winter was gone and summer was here again. We, the hounds and I, cannot wait for spring and summer to arrive. As you can see Heidi wasn't sure it was warm enough to lay out in the sun and nap next to the back of the house. She kept going in and out of the house as I sat facing the hot sunshine.

Stella also was a little confused. She really did want to sleep in the sunshine like she always does IF I AM HOME but when she stood in the shade she could feel how cool it was. I continued to sit in my ugly but comfortable patio chair with my camera nearby. I was going to test my equipment today and shoot photos with just one camera ... but I did sneak in a few photos with my iPhone camera.

While I was back inside fixing some low carb lunch ... do you know carrots are carb loaded? ... Stella decided it was warm enough outside for a late morning nap. Again I thought to myself "I wish she would enjoy the backyard like this while I am gone to town or riding my bike" but she has proven to me as recently as Sunday, she will not be comfortable in the yard if she knows I'm gone. She seems to think she can tunnel under the house from that one spot she started last summer. The one I keep filling back up.

Heidi had enough of the cool breeze as the wind picked up after 1pm. After my bike ride on Saturday I now know that winds 14-18mph that are gusty, is nothing to spend time in. Even if I cannot see the trees or brush blowing in some direction behind my house, that does not mean the winds are gone. Sunday the winds were so strong on my trip to Bisbee, all the flags I saw along the way were blown straight out with rippling force.

Once Stella got up to walk back inside, I slide my chair up into her spot on the patio. The temps on my face increased at least 20°. It didn't take her long to come back out, sleep and have some added back support with that rounded edge of the patio floor against her from head to tail.

She too got too hot ... but just like I did, she found out staying in the shade was too cold. I did my test on the shade by standing on the east side of the house in total shade to see if it was even possible that I might want to take a bike ride. It was freezing in the shaded yard and I went back to the sunny patio.

Within minutes she was back out in the sunshine while I snuck back inside.

Believe me, I am not complaining about SE Arizona winters. It is just what I expected it would be. It's just that I have found I don't want to put up with cold weather even when it's bright and sunny outside.

Other news outside of hounds and bikes ... I made the mistake a few months ago of downloading the Facebook app on my iPhone out of "convenience" and I knew then I had sold my soul to the devil. They would know everything I said on the phone, texted on the phone, emails I would send or websites I would visit. With that data collected they would pound me with advertising on the exact things I had talked about with friends, texted to friends or emailed.

It's not that I am bothered by that strategic advertising it's just the thought of how they can do that.

Since they have butted into my life and billions of other Facebook users or ex-users ... they still track you ya know after you delete your Facebook account??? ... the Ukrainians have decide to index my blogs and are now the leaders in traffic to my bike blog and this public blog on Blogger. The USA number of visitors are a distant second place when I look at the blog stats on the dashboard. I find it interesting that when I click a link many times it's a Blogger blog that had their last post in 2011 or 2013. Can anyone more knowledgeable than I, explain what they are doing?

I have been bopping around different internet browsers again. I use Safari on all my Apple devices like iPhone, iPad and the laptop. On my iMac I use Safari the most because of their security features built into their system. I only have a google account ending in gmail because I have a Blogger blog. None of my personal emails have gone through gmail for years. I use Apple's email system for that. I figure if the FBI cannot break into an iPhone or iMac without asking for Apple's help, then security must be pretty good.

I always get curious about stuff though so I wander around the internet, checking out the new and bestest Firefox. I like Google Chrome but rarely use it because I don't trust Google although after 24 years of being on the internet it is definitely too late to worry about what Google has on me.

So here I am on Safari with the same problem I was having last summer. They updated their OS the other day and now it works with my Blogger blog differently. When I sign into my blog, it takes me immediately to my blog dashboard. When I go back to my blog home page to read other blogs and to make comments ... Safari has logged me out !!!!

Yes ... I've unchecked cookies, I've uncheck 3rd party blah blah blah ... I have logged out of Blogger and back in ... I have turned off my computer and logged back in ... I have unchecked and rechecked those blocks that should not be checked so I can stay logged in on my blog when using Safari. I have all my settings set the way they should be for it to work ... it does not.

That is when I look at other browsers.

I had my Cox tv channels fixed sometime Sunday. They never notified me nor have they closed the ticket the made Saturday night when their tech department requested a service call. Sports Junkies, like myself, are still having problems "cutting the cord" as they say. I would but based on my cost analysis and the rising costs of these streaming companies that use to be free or low cost ... I am actually spending $30-$40 more per month now for what I need compared to "cutting the cord" to cable or tv.

I am watching less sports by the year and I found out the other night when I could not get the BTN channel due to a signal problem, I could follow the IU basketball game on my computer. I've known that for years but too lazy to learn how to do that streaming stuff from the computer to tv. I wasn't watching the game but watching the data of the game. I have watched IU football games this past fall on my computer when they were not carried on my Cox channels and the picture quality was just as good as my Sony tv.

Wow ... looks like I am rambling a little this morning and about very little actually.

My new addiction .... PGA Golf for PlayStation4.

I use to love playing this game on PS2 and PS3 but I never cared for Tiger Woods and his name was associated with the Sony EA Sports golf game, so I stopped playing it. When I got back in the mood to play games or Grand Turismo racing game, I saw a used copy of the golf game on the GameSpot store shelf with a different professional golfer's name on the cover.

Basically I have to have a lot of choices in life. From cars to drive, to bikes to ride, to food to eat and how to waste time. I'm not always in the mood to read books, never had the urge to paint, draw or learn to play an instrument. So this PS3 and PS4 games are just something else added to the mix of things to do. Plus like I have said before, I think "hand and eye coordination" are important to keep healthy as we get older. What better way to do that then play video games ... or Mahjong for time.

Now if I can find a Flight Simulator game and a Sim City game like I had on my PC ten years ago, I'll be set.

Sorry for the rambling and I admit I am surprised that I am going to post this as a real blog post.

Bright sunny skies and 31° while it's almost 9am here in the 'Wild West'.

Back To Normal

As I saw a similar view from my bed Sunday morning I knew with a sunrise like that, would lead to a great day. At the time I just didn't know how nice of a day it would be. Within a minute I knew I'd not be able to enjoy much of the day outside. My hip and waistline felt almost like the first week after surgery. Only this time I knew the cause and once again I was the culprit. It all started Saturday morning, more stiff and sore than normal. I had done something Friday afternoon that I guess I shouldn't have.

There are some mountains somewhere in there.

The wheels I ordered for the FJ came in on Friday, or let me say three of the five ordered arrived on Friday. Due to a UPS screwup the other two wheels were delayed. I was feeling great on Friday so I didn't think anything of it when I decided to drag a box weighing 63 pounds from my front porch, across and down the driveway to the back of the FJ. I would then break the banding and load each box that contained the wheel into the cargo area of the FJ. These will be mounted downtown.

Taken within minutes of the first picture.

I bent my knees and lifted the ~20# boxes (3ea) into the back of the FJ. Hours later that night sitting on the couch watching the Pac12 Championship game I knew I may have screwed up. It was getting harder each time I stood from the couch and I started taking some Advil not for the pain but to reduce the swelling that had to going on inside my hip and lower back. This was the exact muscle I had stretched a few months ago by making a mistake on a day I was feeling great. I knew what the plan of attack would be to fix it. I also knew it was going to take a couple or three days to heal.

With more sunshine you can see the reflection on the mountains. This picture was also taken within minutes of the second picture, all in a sequence of four.

Saturday didn't help because I spent a lot of time sitting on a comfortable soft couch watching the SEC Championship game, a basketball game and then the B1G Championship game Saturday night. I made a point of standing every 15-20 minutes but all that did was tell me how sore I was.

While the hounds were sleeping the day away on Sunday, I applied one of those temporary therapeutic heat pads to my lower back not he right side. I was going to keep that on all day, at least for eight hours and I was also going to spend a lot of time in bed, just like I did a couple of months ago. It must of worked because the sleep app on my phone also records detailed times for any siesta taken. I was catching up on a lot of missed sleep from the past two night.

By Sunday night I took off the heat pad and moved to the ice packs I had used the first month of rehab. I placed one under my lower back and the other to the side of the hip. Within minutes I could feel more relief. Movement of my leg was returning to normal without stiffness or pain. I could feel the improvement throughout the night each time I got up. Not only do I get up different times in the middle of the night but Heidi will at least once. We are both getting older I guess.

I could tell Sunday night that Monday was going to be a day of rain. WeatherBug app forecast confirmed my suspicions.

To see if my new iPhone camera would work like the advertisements I saw on tv last month, I held the phone up in the air in a pitch black bedroom and aimed it where I thought Stella would be sleeping ... right next to my bed. This was the result although I had to hold the phone camera still a few seconds for the auto flash and shutter to work properly. Not bad for a room that was dark.

I woke up at 4am when Heidi woke me up with her dangling tags as she shook her head. She was headed to the patio door to go outside and I always plan to get their first. I quickly got out bed and felt all the pain and stiffness was gone from my hip and lower back. I felt normal again as I walked fast down the hallway to catch up with her.

What happens if I don't hear her? Two options, Stella either wakes me up by whining to tell me Heidi is gone or Heidi will lay down by the patio door until I get there. Most of the time I do here her and get up.

Sunday I pulled one of her favorite blankets out of the closet and put it in the corner of the room. It's winter and she likes to have blankets in different parts of the house for a nap. You can see she preferred the blanket to be out in the middle of the floor instead of the corner. I have just enough room to step around it to sit in my desk chair. As long as she is happy I am happy.

Monday morning's sunrise didn't have a lot of sunshine. That's fine as I needed another day of rest before getting back on the bicycle. I will have to watch it though as the last two wheels are arriving this afternoon. Since they came from the same warehouse in Colorado there were be two boxes banded together. If I can catch the UPS driver in time, I'll have him load them into the cargo area of the FJ.

Duluth Trading Co finally shipped my order without telling me. They also sent it 2nd Day Air but that does not mean it was delivered on a weekend. Still nice to get another flannel shirt and a pair of Keen shoes I wanted. Plus Heidi will have a strap that connects her collar to the seatbelt the next time she is riding in the passenger seat. She and Stella have not been on a road trip lately.

For not doing much on Monday things got busy enough that I didn't have time to blog last night. The hounds slept more than normal and I sat outside watching the clouds developing into some afternoon thunderstorms. I never heard thunder but saw rain, not heavy. My friend in Phoenix sent me a text mid-afternoon telling me it was HAILING ???? where she was. I glanced at my iPhone weather for Phoenix and it was showing me it was 61° ... how could it be? Well last night on Twitter I saw what looked like a blizzard north of Phoenix.

The hounds were a lot like I was yesterday. I felt like doing something but didn't know what. Heidi would go outside expecting hot sunshine to sleep under but it was cool and overcast. When she looked at me wondering what was up, I had no answers for her. She would turn and head back to her favorite bed back in the corner of the bedroom.

I anxiously awaited to see that brown truck show up in front of my house with UPS on the side. I really wanted to get my last two wheels early enough so I could get them mounted at one of three tire stores here in town. I played a lot of Mahjong and some PS4 ... I'm not a big gamer but like I said, Grand Turismo is a favorite of mine. Honestly with those two games I have felt it helps with hand and eye coordination and that can't be a bad thing as I get older.  (Or that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it)

Stella was like Heidi. She was begging to get outside and take that daily nap in the hot sunshine up near the back of the house on the warm stone yard but not today. The later the day got the grayer the sky got, plus it was a cool 50's in the temperature department. She too turned immediately and headed back into the house to one of her many sleeping spots.

Those last two pictures were taken within 30 seconds of each other.

It was past 3:00 pm and UPS had not arrived. Between 2-3pm is their normal time but with Christmas two weeks away they are a little busy right now. I was going to be surprised if my wheels showed up before 5:00 pm. So I went back outside and watched the storm clouds get a little more intense to the west and north of me. I was back in my weather pocket where I live, where it's normal for all the intense storms to be around me and rarely on me.

It rained solid but not hard. No lightning or thunder as my young neighbors stood out in the rain trimming back one of their overgrown shrubs. I couldn't tell from my vantage point but it looked like what they were cutting and loading in their truck could be used for making Christmas wreathes. Why else would they be in the rain trimming only one of many overgrown shrubs?

A little after 4:00pm the brown truck showed up and by the time they had the 63 pound box with two wheels out of their truck, I had the back door of the FJ open where he could put it without me even touching it. After my bad back episode over the weekend from dragging and lifting those wheels into the FJ, I wanted the least amount of interaction with them.

After making three calls I found that Big O Tires was open until 6:00 pm and was looking for some action. One part of their problem is having only one entry that does not go directly into their parking lot while the business sits on one of the busiest intersections in town. Now I know it doesn't mean much to 99.9% of you but I've always wanted my first FJ back ... it was a 2007 Voodoo Blue with black wheels and rock rails. It came that way back in May 2014.

So with rock rails installed last week and the wheels last night, I now have what I've wanted every since I traded it. Those are the exact model of wheel the other one had. I haven't made up my mind whether to sell the brand new OEM wheels I took off or keep them. I have no plans of selling or trading this FJ so there won't be a need to give a new owner the option of different wheels.

Here is my first FJ I speak of ... I'll have a better picture of the new setup later today since last night did not have the best lighting for that picture with it dark and raining lightly. Current picture added Tuesday at 3:35pm MT.

My plans are to ride my bike today outside for a short one hour ride just to loosen those muscles up in my lower back and hip. They both feel like they can handle a short ride on fairly flat roads. I will make it a point to keep my ride to that one hour and not ride longer just because I am feeling good those first 15-20 minutes.

I found out this morning, since I was up so early (4:10am) and thinking clearly, that while coffee is being made I have time to do some basic exercises for my hip. Two of them were given to me by the doctor back in October. I haven't done enough of them on a daily basis and that may be some of the problems I am having right now. From now on it will be a daily routine to start my day.

I see 10 days of sunshine in my forecast and that is always a good thing for my mental outlook. Expect some posts this week about some local hiking or road trips ... I am in the mood to get back out on the road again, with my camera(s) in hand.

An early morning blog post from the 'Wild West' this morning.

The Sun Is Back

The weather channel on Tucson news last night said we had received 1.3" of rain and wind gusts as high as 53mph on Thursday and Friday. My friend in Phoenix sent me a live video of I-40 and I-17 closed due to blizzard conditions, her snowboarding plans in Flagstaff were cancelled. The news showed photos and interviews with owners that had large 5th wheels tipped over, trees blown down on top of houses ... so maybe what I witnessed the past few days wasn't the norm. It all came from that "bomb cyclone" off the coast of California. As you can see, none of that bothered Stella.

Whereas back in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana, I could always tell when then winds were high up on hill because the old house had storm windows that would rattle. I could hear the tree limbs blowing and only hoped they stayed on the trees and not on my house. Here about all I could hear was air getting into the vents leading to the roof and making noise. Thursday night while out I had my first encounter with tumbleweed blowing in front of my car ... it was almost as big as the front end of the RAV4 as I dodged it. This is a small sample that blew over the  fence and in the yard.

I didn't have any plans of riding my bike outside on Friday. I had at least one football game I wanted to watch and after that I spent time on Grand Tursimo 6. Moving from GT5 I have to start over. Although I am at the Professional Level of driving on GT5 I have to start all over from the Novice Level with slower small cars, drivers test to obtain license and experience enough to be able to enter races. I am moving through the different levels fairly quick. The graphics with each new update is amazing.

By late afternoon the wind was slowing down. The skies were breaking up all the cloud cover. The mountains that were invisible the past few days were back on the horizon with a little more dusting of snow on top. Still all mountain roads were closed. The visitor centers were closed. Hwy 92 south of me was flooded as well as Hwy 90 heading east to Tombstone or Bisbee. I have a feeling again, that this storm was not the normal winter storm or weather.

I moved the trash can from the garage black outside since it was safe and would not be blowing down the street, although it is a large container furnished by the city. The patio chair and blanket were returned to the spot on the patio. Although windy, no danger of blowing around the yard banging against the concrete block fence like I witnessed on Thursday. The hounds slowly migrated around the yard, checking on the new scent.

What they found were a few spots of standing water and Stella couldn't figure out why that small bundle of tumbleweed was in one of her favorite spots to sleep. I felt like I wanted to ride for a short time but good weather has spoiled me in my short time here and I found it really hard to change into bike clothes that would keep me warm and dry ... I'll try it today when it's back in the 50's mid afternoon.

I forgot to mention when I bought the new iPad Pro the other day, it came with one year of Apple TV for free. I don't need the box or remote as I can see all the games and movies I want to watch on any Apple device. I might have to expand my electronic knowledge and check that out. My iMac has a really good quality picture when it comes to watching college football games live when I can't get the IU games on tv.

This weekend is big for College Football. Throw out all of the won and loss records for the teams because when they are playing their rivals, many of them in-state rivals, games get exciting and come with a few surprises. My first game starts at 10am today but Stella and I will be taking our first walk since last Tuesday. Currently she is asleep in the corner of the computer room so she might not be excited about that walk until she sees me putting on a jacket and grabbing her leash ... THEN she gets excited.

By sundown last night I was feeling pretty confident of the weather forecast. It was going to be back to at least 10 straight days of dry weather, some partly cloudy and temps eventually reaching into the 60's as daily highs. I plan to have a big week of bicycling with a goal to get in over 100 miles of riding from Monday - Sunday. The hip feels cold damp weather. I wonder if that is going to be an ongoing thing for the rest of my life? Otherwise it is getting stronger by the day and I catch myself doing more movements in a normal way.

The overnight temps were dropping to the low 30's. I wasn't taking any chances and left the heater on automatic with the thermostat set in the low 60s. Even with cold temps this house made of tile floors and stucco covered walls does not get as cold as my older house did back in 'the tropics'. I never heard the heater turn on during the night. The hounds are back to sleeping through the night so I am now the only one getting up during the dark hours. Stella will let me sleep until 6:22am, about sunrise, not because she needs or wants to go outside but because she wants to eat !!!!  I have never had a hound in 32 years that loves food as much as she does.

A new day is breaking down by Bisbee and across the Mexican border on the right side of the picture. It does the mind good to see sunshine skies instead of howling winds and rain.

I took all of the photos on Thursday with my Canon 9X but compared to the new iPhone 11 Pro Max ... there isn't one. The iPhone camera blows the Canon picture quality away. You can see the differences between the two pictures below.

Well I have to get going here. After three days of being cooped up in the house I am wanting to get outside for a walk this morning almost as bad as wanting to get on a bike and just cruise around the neighborhood or town. Lots of football today so I'll see if I fit in some bike riding for an hour or so in the afternoon. There's always tomorrow if I don't ride today.

An interesting tidbit for those that blog or are computer experts ... let me know what you think. A few weeks ago I moved my old domain name from my Wordpress blog that I was no longer using, back to this blog where it originated. I tested and made sure the free Blogger domain name would still lead to the blog when clicked or typed by readers. Those urls are linked. Yet after changing the blog to the domain name dot com, my blog traffic has decreased over 50%. Some of the readers I don't see nor hear from since the change a few weeks ago. Any ideas? Maybe I'll park the domain name at GoDaddy and return to the free Blogger domain name for this blog.

Weather is back to normal here in the 'Wild West'.

Rain And Windy For 48 Hours

I knew rain was headed our way by noon on Tuesday so I went out on my bike two days in a row and covered a little over 28 miles on each ride. I've gotten spoiled by SE Arizona weather and although it will be my first winter here and much more warmer than back in the 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana, I can't wait for spring and then the hotter than hot summer. I did plenty of research before making the move so I know what to expect and the thing is, the hounds can take their walks and I get ride my bicycle outside year round.

You would have never known on Monday what would change so drastically by 12:30pm on Tuesday. About the time I thought the rain would stop, it was start again, or the wind would get stronger. The temps were also dropping fast. I found out that Heidi doesn't like the rain here any better than she did in Indiana and even Stella had no urge for the morning walk when the sidewalk and streets were wet. They both slept late or went back to bed as soon as the morning kibble was eaten.

Seeing Stella relaxing in the backyard on Monday I decided to leave them both outside while I took my late morning bike ride. Temps were barely over 70° and I wasn't planning on being gone more than a couple of hours. It is just amazing what she does once she figures out that I am not home. It freaks her out most of the time. She spent a lot of time trying to dig under the patio thinking that could be her escape route. She no longer stays outside when I am gone.

Heidi on the other hand is just like a cat ... totally independent and nothing bothers her. She is the perfect house dog and can be left alone inside for many hours at a time.

Monday night looked like the storms were going to get here a day early when I looked toward Bisbee.

In the southwest it looked even worse.

Tuesday morning it didn't look safe enough to take off riding my bicycle but the hourly forecast kept showing no rain until after 12 noon. I decided to take off around 9:00am and would have plenty of time to get home before it rained.

Stella continues to listen to the now 10 week old puppy next door howling for attention, but no one is home.

I had just changed from bike clothes to normal clothes after a shower when I glanced outside to see this. It was a little past 12:30pm on Tuesday and I had just made it back home in time. That rain is in the area I was riding just an hour earlier.

This morning I was hoping it would dry out enough make the roads clean enough to ride. The hounds had not taken a walk in two days and were getting restless if there is such a thing of a hound getting restless. They are not always couch potatoes.

Standing with Stella at the patio door I could see again this morning the hound walk was canceled until later today. We have taken the short walk to the mailbox every day between the breaks of rain. I was also getting restless. Once your body gets in better shape from riding a bicycle, it wants to ride all of the time until it gets tired and then feels like taking a day off. Today I was wanting to ride.

I had tried riding indoors on the trainer the other day but became bored after 15 minutes, plus my friend showed up a few minutes later. I wanted to ride outdoors sometime this afternoon. Would 47° be too cold? It wasn't when I rode on Whidbey Island 25 years ago so I should be okay today. The hounds? They were only interested in sleeping ... it's winter and they know it.

I pulled out the mountain bike, threw on a jacket and left my jeans on. I wanted to ride downtown to the bike shop and see if they had any winter bicycle gloves because starting next week I am going to need them if I still plan to ride outside ... and I do.

I rode for about 5 miles and got a ride back home from Mark the bike shop owner. He wanted to test drive a truck he is thinking of buying and I needed a ride because it was raining again. 47° and rain is not a great time to be riding a bicycle outside. The rainbow was a pleasant surprise when I got home and shows that sunny days are right around the corner, although they might be cool temperatures.

Monday and Tuesday was the first time I rode my bicycle back to back days for over 28 miles each day and for more than two hours per ride. At no time did I feel any hip pain or soreness and the next morning after each of these long rides the new hip felt normal. In fact unless I remind myself on purpose, I have forgotten all about the hip being replaced. I feel very fortunate for the quick turnaround with little pain.

The winds have finally died down. There are some breaks in the clouds with blue skies and the sunshine trying it's best to show itself, so good weather is just around the corner again. I was told today that this is the 'windy season' so to expect it every time I go out to ride.

Sorry that I don't have a trip to write about or more photos of the hounds but the hounds are pretty inactive during rains plus some of the trips we would like to take is affected by flash flooding if I were to drive off pavement.

I have a friend coming down from Phoenix tomorrow so I can install my truck bed cover on her Tacoma TRD Off Road pickup. Then after a short tour of the great little town we'll have some lunch at The Diner. I am in the mood for some of their extra hot chili and this time I'll take a couple of Tums tablets with me so I can get an early start combating what the chili will do to my stomach. Jalapenos I love, my stomach doesn't. LOL

A lot of the photos in today's post were taken with the Nikon D3500 and the 18-55mm lens. Just a few were from the iPhone 11 Pro Max.

BIG NEWS TODAY ... I almost forgot ... the replacement vertical blinds came in today. I picked them up and installed everything. That's it for the 'freebie' so from now on, Stella has to pay for them.

Winter has arrived here in the 'Wild West'.