A Bike Ride Before The Heat

It had been 10 months since my last ride. That is sad considering before that string of not riding started, I was riding outside 2-5 days per week up to October 2023. After that it was one excuse after another not to ride. I used so many of them, it is too long to list them. Yet today showed me the routine again, not only to keep the dogs safe while I am gone in HOT weather but one that I can use every time I ride with a new puppy.

Normal Routine For The Hounds.

Stella spent so much time laying in the sun on Friday she was exhausted by Friday night and decided to camp out in one of her five over night spots to sleep. Eventually during the night she ends up sleeping next to my bed right next to the doorway. She can then alert me when Heidi is heading to the patio door to be let out for her nightly middle of the night outdoor run. I cannot remember the last time I had a solid night of sleep. Nothing has happened outside the daily routine since my last post.

The sunrises are still great to see and they are so much different from day to day. I noticed this morning on my weather app on my phone, there is a 'snowflake' icon for next Friday. That will happen sometime before the sun rises Friday morning and will be gone soon after since the high temp that day is 40°. I am interested in seeing what kind of snow they get here, which is pretty light and not for long if it's their normal snowfall.

I have a couple of friends that continue to do their bike riding in the mornings when the temps are in the 40's but that is colder than I want to ride in. I've been waiting until 1pm-2pm to get on the road when the temperatures are above 53°. I found out yesterday that it doesn't make much difference in temperature from the ride I did on Thursday at 53° and what I did yesterday in 63° weather ... high elevation, mountain air is cold no matter what. It's winter no matter how nice and sunny the day is.

No complaints though about the weather from me or the crew. It is so much nicer than what we have experienced in Stella's last four years and Heidi's last eight. She continues to join Stella and I on the daily .57 of a mile walk. With her needing to check out every rock, branch, or desert weed along the way it turns out to be a little longer walk than Stella and I did alone. At least she is getting her physical exercise and a workout for her nose. She does have the better nose than Stella's.

As you can tell, they love that hot sunshine and spend most of their afternoons, or late mornings sleeping outside in the hot sunshine.

Although it's close to Christmas I have three doctor appointments this coming week. I finally get some blood lab work on Monday morning and will be on a water fast from Sunday night until I return home Monday morning after my appointment. Tuesday afternoon of all day's I have my first meeting with a cardiologist. I'll be interested to see if his opinion differs from mine and that of the MD I went to last month.

I'll let him know that I rode my bicycle a little over 30 miles yesterday, climbing a total of ~1,200ft. Plus reports show the heart is working "normal". The third visit of the week will be for another physical at the VA. I'll be anxious to see how much different it is compared to the one I had supposedly at the MD's visit I had last month. Past physicals I had years ago were much more detailed than I got last month.

I'm feeling a road trip today in the 'Wild West', so stay tuned.

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.

A Short Trip To Miller Canyon

I had seen the road sign "Miller Canyon Rd" every time I was driving south to the Coronado National Forest or down further where I could turn back north on Hereford Rd. It's a popular road for the local mountain bike riders and was part of the weekend ride a few weeks ago in honor of a young lady that had passed away too early in life. So today I grabbed a few cameras and drove down to see what I was missing. It is not as high nor as steep as Carr Canyon or Montezuma Pass but the road is narrow and in many places just one lane.

Turning off Hwy 92 I passed through a small residential area of very nice homes that had fantastic views.

It would be the first trip for the 2007 FJ but from the past FJ's I've owned I know what it can do in this type of terrain. It is the best 4x4 of all the cars and truck that I have. I started the morning by trying one more time to find the camera shop in town. I had a phone number this time and a better idea where it was located. Only one problem .. the number was disconnected and in that small shopping center there wasn't a sign that a camera shop ever existed. So I had four different cameras with me including the iPhone camera.

See if you can tell which camera took which photo.

As I pulled into the Lower Parking area there was plenty of room for RVs, trucks with trailers, and had restroom facilities. I am not sure if overnight camping was allowed but I did NOT see any signs saying it wasn't allowed. Based on the map I had, it was farther than I wanted to walk to the trails and possibly too much incline for my walking at this time ... so I took a few photos, hopped back in the FJ and headed to the top.

Believe it or not, that FJ hit the road for the first time in November 2006 ... 13 years old and only one owner before me. There is not a scratch or dent anywhere and it's very possible that it never drove off paved roads until I bought it.

I was not going to the top of this, it was just a closer view of what I took standing by the FJ.

Looking at this picture I have to wonder just how many different kinds of landscape do you see between the trees, wild grass, flowers etc.

At this point of the drive there was enough room to pull over and let a large truck towing a horse trailer pass by, coming at me. Up ahead I would have had to backup to a place I could pull to the side of the road. It wasn't scary steep but quite narrow at times.

From the way the map looked I didn't think this road was going to get too high in elevation. I did know for sure that I was not going to be driving along the side of the mountains straight ahead nor going to the top of them.

As I pulled into the Miller Canyon Upper Parking Lot, there was a U-turn with a sign for private property straight ahead ... or to the right of this picture. I didn't see a sign but the maps call that property the Beatty's Guest Ranch and Orchard. I did not see any entry or road leading to the Miller Canyon Recreation Area ... unless we are looking at the entry point in this picture.

Behind me and to the left of where I am taking this photo, all parking spaces were taken, leaving me no room to park and check out the trails. I had only two choices and that was to head back down to the lower parking area or head home.

If you can try to picture a 26'-29' Class C RV coming from the other direction. Luckily we were at a point I could slide to the right edge in the rocks to let her pass by. She would barely have enough room to make the U-turn at the top ... then again, she might have been too long to make the sharp turn back down the hill. Something tells me that wasn't the first time she had driven her motorhome up there.

I was able to go up and back down in 2-wheel drive. It just wasn't that steep and maybe two switchbacks at the most with plenty of room to turn out around the corner. It was the perfect weather to go hiking but I had done what I came for ... find out what is up here and take some photos. I'll come back another time to hike those trails at the top of the road.

Once you hit pavement it's just a short drive to Hwy 92. Those snowcaps you see are north of Tombstone almost 40 or more miles away.

When I walked into the house Heidi was nowhere to be found. She was outside sleeping in the sunshine but by the time I went back to get my camera, she heard me and met me inside. Stella on the other hand was sound to sleep in her crate. Once I opened the door she stopped as usual to get her collar put on then trotted outside. She wasn't finished sleeping and she loves the hot sunshine.

It took this with the patio post in the picture on purpose. I just wanted to show what a nice day it was. A little cool but still nice bicycling or hiking weather. I was/am going to take one more day off from riding. I am having very little if any pain at all in my lower back or right hip. Two of my bicycling friends feel that cycling will keep that hip loose and will help the healing process instead of causing any damage. Better to keep moving instead of being stagnant.

By the time an hour had passed, Stella had moved back inside because she gets too hot after about 15 minutes then came back outside to do the same thing she did before when she ended up getting too hot. It's a vicious circle I guess.

Here she is showing the the thoughtful process of a bloodhound sunbathing in the winter.  LOL

This is a zoom photo of Carr Canyon I think. If you look closely you can see the road in the center, switchback to the left and climb ... it would go behind what the photo shows. It is a road that I classify as 'scary' in some parts, 4-5  of them.

By the time I gave myself a haircut (13 years experience), Stella had moved back inside and was sleeping in the living room where it's nice and cool.

I'll end this post with some short notes, questions or comments ----

Those that use Blogger as your blogging platform, how do you like the "new Blogger"??? They are slowly changing it page by page. Is it time for me to install a new design??  (theme)

When I moved in June my old Dyson had been picking up dog hair out of the carpet for almost 11 years. That's a lot of dog hair. It was still working perfectly but more than a few people told me it was time for a new one. I waited until I moved before buying another Dyson. This time I went with the cordless model (can't remember the number) and that has really cut down on the time it takes to vacuum. Good purchase.

I have too many cameras.

I guess I should have NOT tried to save money when I bought the Nikon D3200 4 years ago and spent 2x or 3x as much to get a professional camera that does everything that I want. Instead I have spent too much money trying to save money. So I have two Nikon's and the small Canon G9X and EACH does one thing the best. Then the iPhone 11 camera improves so much it moves to the top of the list beating the DSLR's in everything but one thing ... 300mm zoom.

I replaced the D3200 with the D3500 because in the 4 years I've had the D3200 I've dropped it in a snow bank, had the wind blow it off a chair and bounced it a few times on my gravel driveway back in Indiana, plus it needed to be professionally cleaned. It looks like somewhere in Tucson is the closest place I can find to do that. Yet with the "Deal" at Best Buy this fall I could buy a new D3500 AND the 70mm-300mm lens I wanted for LESS THAN just the lens !!!

I am still not happy with the quality when using the 300mm zoom on the mountains from the patio. I am trying a different camera for that, "a loner" if you will, with 65x zoom and it is bringing in the mountains quite sharp and clear .... but that same camera does NOT take better pictures in low light, inside or even outside in the sunshine ... it has a "soft" picture quality.

Without any adjustments, the iPhone 11 camera I have now blows all of them away in picture quality ... except for the zoom.

I think I'll find a few camera shops in Tucson where I can sell some used equipment and get down to my iPhone camera and the camera that does well in max zoom. OR trade all that I have except my iPhone camera for something more professional that will do everything I am looking for in a sharp clear high quality photo. Stay tuned.

One thing good about blogs ... you can go back to any year you blogged, a lot of times on the exact date and see that things really haven't changed that much. I just found out this morning on this date just last year I woke up at 3:10am just like this morning. I also didn't get back to sleep in either year and got up to start the day a little after 4am. IN BOTH CASES, 2018 AND 2019 STELLA WANTED TO EAT HER MORNING KIBBLE WITHIN MINUTES OF WAKING UP AT 4AM !!!!  LOL

I was over on Wordpress this time last year claiming I was going to be more 'transparent' in my blogging and opinionated ... that didn't last long ... it was fun while it lasted but really not a good move. I came back here because it's free and Wordpress was wanting to charge me for a free account and they always had a limit on how many photos I could have in my account.

Their photos are better quality on the blog because they do NOT COMPRESS the photos like Google does on Blogger or in Google Photos. Bye bye sharp and clear when that compression happens to a photo.

(I hear the music for the ice cream truck that passes through the neighborhood every Thursday)

That music brings Stella out of a deep sleep.

So that's it for today. I am still debating on whether to take a 'short' bike ride today or hold off one more day. It's a confusing time for what to do.

These photos were taken with the following cameras/lenses:

Nikon D3500 / Nikon 18-55mm lens
Nikon D3200 / Tamron 18-200mm lens
Canon G9X
iPhone 11 Pro Max

Beautiful weather here in the 'Wild West' again today ... as usual.

No Surprises Just A Few Changes

There is one thing you can always count on with this blog, just like life, there is going to be changes. Sometimes those changes are not announced until after they are completed, others in the past were thought about outloud and sometimes they never happened. It's only been a couple of days since my last post but there have been a few changes taken place. Some of you will see them on my sidebar if you are not reading this from your phone. Nothing major, just put all the blog archives in a dropdown menu format. Moved some things around. Added a 'Followers" gadget.

It wasn't until I was clicking different links in the dashboard behind the scenes that Blogger told me to take a look at "the new and improved" blogger under the Stats section. I am assuming over these next few months they will complete their changes to Blogger without any announcement to blog users. It will be interesting to see what the new improvements offer. Maybe a blog design that I really like?

Doesn't bother me, I'll stay and float the way Google wants me to. Speaking of Google, I decided in my retirement years they could not find out much more of where I go or what I do on the internet. I have been stumbling around the 'world wide web' since the mid 1990's when I bought WebTV. I exported all of my bookmarks from Safari to my desktop in an html file, then made Google Chrome my default browser and imported the bookmarks from my desktop. Yes, I know I could click the link "import from the browser name" but that has never worked out as well as the way I do it.

I told you the other day how tired I felt on Sunday after riding my bike Saturday morning then hiking on Saturday afternoon and I would stop doing that. I'd do one or the other in one day but not both. I have followed that this week and feel good. Of course that cuts down on the blogging and "Other Adventures" because my thing is riding a bicycle. I enjoy that more than anything and as my fitness improves the further and longer I ride. You can read about those on my bike blog which is located on the sidebar or click here.

You have to look up in the upper left corner for the drop down menu to the sidebar choices and where the rides are captured in detail by a free app called Strava.

We are into the 4th morning of the new black lab puppy next door. Stella is still somewhat confused by what she hears. I've caught her a few times over by the fence sniffing the air and pulling in that smell of a puppy. He is adapting to spending his days outside. They have decide to keep their old pug outside with him and the doggie door locked shut. He is getting better but man that is a lot of alone time for a 8 week old puppy.

Another thing that has changed for most of you but not me ... is Daylight Savings Time. We in Arizona do not change time and although my longtime Phoenix resident friend tells me I am now on Arizona Standard time but all I know is when I look for game times on the ESPN website that equates to my games starting on Mountain Time. I also know that our walks in the morning are much later than sunrise. We need to get to warm up first, as the hounds no longer do cold weather.

Games?  You would not believe how much my tv viewing of games has changed since I moved here. Just as I suspected my addiction to watching game after game after game on weekends is basically over. The great weather almost every day, having sunshine, pulls me outside every day. Thus I find it hard to take the time to watch games live on tv as I am also finding it harder to blog every day at a certain time. So the "blog when you feel like it" is in full force and a great idea from blog readers.

Most to the times when I go out riding my bike which is now up to one and a half hours, or when I have errands in town to do, I have left Stella in her crate. But when it's perfect weather outside why not let her stay there with Heidi, put their water in the shade and they can enjoy outside instead of being inside. Then hope she doesn't howl to long or bother the neighbors that might be home as there are just a couple nearby.

When I left Stella this morning around 10am she was sound to sleep in the sunshine. I was gone for almost two hours and by the time I returned, Heidi was sleeping in the corner of the fence in the shade and Stella was standing at the door waiting for me to open it for her.

She had not only been sleeping, it got to hot for her and she did what all dogs do when they want to cool off ... dig until they hit dirt, circle around it then lay down and sleep. I am going to sweep off the patio but I am going to let that patch of dirt stay where it is. That is one spot that is always cleared out to sleep even when a dog bed or blankets are left in the shaded patio. As I walk behind the hounds along my fence line the majority of dog owners leave their dogs outside or they have doggie doors.

The water bowl did show that they had plenty of water to consume while I was gone. So again, a little change here and there. My sleeping habits have changed this past week. Heidi is having an upset stomach waking me up every two hours to go outside. It's good exercise for my hip to move quickly in the dark in the middle of the night to spring out of bed and catch up to her walking down the hallway. I need to get to the patio door first to let her out.

She hears the lab puppy next door.

I tried the old white rice and cottage cheese. That didn't work this time. Then I tried white rice and plain unflavored yogurt. That didn't work this time. I tried 50/50 kibble/white rice. That didn't work this time. I remembered back in 2015 my vet shocked me by writing "Famotidine 10mg" on a piece of paper and telling me to buy the generic brand at the drug store. THAT WORKED THEN AND IS WORKING NOW!!!

After a lot of thought I sold the road bike I crashed on. I did not sell it because I wrecked it in fact I tried selling it on Craig's List before I moved because I have never liked it. It always felt too big. Consequently I was never enthused too much about riding it. It didn't take long once I mentioned I was selling it on a bicycling Facebook group here in this area. I had offers that night. Monday I took it for a ride out to the roads I used before my surgery to see if I felt like keeping it.

Wednesday morning I had a gentleman stop by to pay me and also give me a letter to show the IRS of my additional donation to his non-profit disabled vets group here in town. We had a great 30 minute talk, swapping bike stores and injury stories. He has 11 bikes, is still happily married and has had a knee replacement on the same knee that had an ACL surgery 30 years ago. Still rides more than I have this year and will as soon as he recovers from his recent shoulder surgery.

I have a group of new friends in my age range, all have had hip or knees replaced, a cancer survivor and another older than I riding with a pacemaker. So slowly but surely I am coming out of my 'loner' shell and meeting new people with the same interests and increasing my group of friends. It's happening but not quite as fast as I expected it would.

While I was flipping through Twitter today catching up on all my sports news, OSDaily had a photo of the new watch face now available for Apple Watches. I picked up my iPhone and added this watch face to mine. I changed the four corner with what I wanted ... heart rate, temperature, strava icon for my bike rides and an activity icon to start my hound walks. It's also cool to see how much daylight I have left, which might come in handy on bike rides or late afternoon hikes. BTW I fixed the heart icon to where it shows my heart rate at all times.

The red dot at the top is letting me know I have new email or a new text.

Checking Heidi's bed the other day for any signs of her being sick I found this laying on top of her bed in the open. It didn't fall out of her blanket because she had that rolled up into ball. She doesn't have long hair so it's not something she picked up outside. The strange thing is, between the time I spend picking up hound poop and the number of laps I did during hip rehab I know my yard pretty good ... I've seen nothing like this in the backyard.

Any ideas? To me it looks like a bullet. Did she try to eat it and bring it back inside without me seeing her do it? I don't know.

Without taking hikes and not able to carry a camera with me on the hound walks because now Heidi goes with us almost every day. (another good change) .. I find that I don't have a lot of photos to use for the blog posts. So today I tried something different. Since I am a organizer freak and within my 100,000 photos in my Apple Photos Library file ... I have separate folders for each dog, each trip, each car past and present, etc ... you get the picture. (no pun intended) ... for each of of the categories every day I name the first photo of each ... such as Heidi and Stella ... yyyy mmm dd. IE: 2019 Nov 14

So when I do a search for just Nov 14 it pulls out 196 photos taken on that day in any year. So tonight to fill in some photo space, possibly bring up some past memories or favorites I have posted those photos below in no special order. I will say the range between the years 2012-2018, all taken on November 14th.

I admit that after September 15, 2018 the field in back never seemed right with just one bloodhound no matter how many walks Stella and I took.

Heidi has changed a little with the move to Arizona. She walks DAILY now that the temps are cooler. She had three favorite spots in the house that she likes to spend time sleeping and she loves the new bed I bought her. She likes to sleep in the sunshine on the patio and is exploring the yard more. Change has been good for her.

The doctor told me on October 22nd that I would start feeling better every day. There would be a bad day mixed on on occasion not because of something I had done but just part of the healing process. So far 22 days later that has been the case and this morning was the best I have felt yet. That comes after my longest bike ride since the surgery yesterday afternoon. I see him again on November 20th, hopefully for the last time until my year anniversary.

It would not be right not to tell you that I have too many cars but just the right number for me. So with a two car garage and two spaces in the driveway, things are pretty tight if I don't want to put two cars inside the garage. So I play what I call "Musical Cars". Today I moved the Mini Cooper out and put the FJ back inside. The new car sits out in front of the house at the curb like my neighbors do with the truck in the driveway.

I'll be using my truck on Saturday to load tables, 15 gallons of water, Gatorade and Lemonade in separate 5 gallon containers. There will be food for the bicyclist that make it to the top of Carr Canyon ... I'll take photos once I get up there. This two day ride totals 150 miles, three major mountain climbs then riding the gradual climb I talk about sometimes on Ramsey Canyon Road 10 TIMES for each rider .... It's a dedication to a young rider that was killed last December when the truck she was driving hit some black ice over by Elfrida AZ.

So all the bikes and all the cars are being used just as I planned. The hounds are happy where they live, love their residential walk, love their stone yard and the sounds of coyotes in the early morning hours before dawn. Yet Stella didn't know what to do about that owl sitting on our fence staring at her as he walked out this morning. By the time I grabbed the camera to get back outside the owl had flown away.

Things have or are changing for the better here in the 'Wild West'. 

(Late tonight I redirected my old domain name "houndsandotherstuff.com" to this blog.) You should NOT have to change any bookmarks but let me know if www.bhounds3.blogspot.com does not work for you. That should automatically redirect to the domain name. Since it is always good to have the Blog Title matching the domain name ... I'll be changing the title to his blog back to where it use to be and will change my "parked" blog on Wordpress to it's original name ... if I don't delete it.