Stella Sees A Coyote

Saturday morning we woke up to the best sunrise I have seen since I moved here June 13 and that is saying a lot because it seems almost every day there is one that ranks at the top of the list of sunsets. I am ecstatic that I live in this area. That is looking towards Bisbee and the Mule Mountains to the left ... the mountain on the right resides across the border in Mexico. It was a chilly 42° Saturday morning but Stella and I got our walk in while Heidi stayed home in a deep sleep after her breakfast.

The only plans for Saturday were "Football Saturday" and I was going to change the handlebar tape on two of my bicycles because I did not like the color that came with two of the 'used' bikes that I have recently bought. The hounds would sleep, I would sit on the couch watching games with me standing up to stretch during commercials and walking outside in the backyard during halftimes.

It might be fall and each morning is on the cool side but by mid-afternoon it's up in the high 70's making it perfect weather. Some that know me have been sending me photos of 4" of snow in their backyard or screen shots of their weather from the Midwest. I do NOT miss Southern Indiana weather !!!

When I bought the 'used' 1994 LeMond Zurich a few days before my bike wreck and surgery, I never liked the black tape but that seems to be "today's" color in the bike world. I am not sure how I pick which color I want but I know for this bike it wasn't going to be black.

Looking through my 'downsized' storage I find a brand new box, never opened, handlebar tape in the exact color I want ... White. This bike will now look just like the Romic.

Before I even knew this bike was for sale, I knew if I had owned this Specialized Diverge Comp I would have taken off the lowest water bottle cage and I would change the handlebar tape to black. To me, this bike was meant to show those orange highlights just as they are on the frame, not to add to them. I found out later from the owner that the lowered cage wasn't for a water bottle but a small tool kit and spare inner tube in addition to what was under the seat ... for his 100 mile rides.

Water bottle cage removed and black tape. If the seat didn't cost so much I would buy the same model of seat in black.

With Heidi in her bed in back for most of the night sleeping, that meant Stella would get all the rest of the Greek God's Honey Vanilla yogurt and would eventually clean out the container like nothing was ever there.

Again this week I found out the long hours of sitting down, even with the short breaks of standing up and walking around, probably make my hip area sorer than anything else I do. I get up three or four times while putting a blog post together but the hip is getting more flexible with those side kicks out to the side. NOT hard kicks, NOT kicks at all but just lifting my straight right leg out to the side and upward a little.

This morning skies were entirely different. Every morning is different with most of the afternoons the same. I like the variety. At least I don't glance outside and see snow flurries passing the window and temps in the single digits. :)

Little did we know that we would see a very very curious coyote on our morning walk this morning. We had made the turn around the vet building and as soon as we got on the sidewalk Stella pulled out that 25' of retractable leash like she never did before.  Just like that it zipped out 25' and I had to hang on unless I wanted to be part of the sprint. It stopped her and when I looked ahead there was a coyote standing in the nice mowed grass of the vet building staring right at Stella.

It would trot away then stop and look back at us while Stella and I did a very slow walk. By the end of the street the coyote took off running in the brush when Stella got there I wanted to see what she would do. She tracked the ground, went the right direction then when I stopped her, she raised her nose to the air and sniffed the scent of the coyote that was there just minutes before.

That is now three coyotes we have seen in two different occasions in the last 4 months. They were howling/crying in the vacant land behind my house an hour or two before sunrise this morning.

The skies were darker than the iPhone camera captured ... That is Hwy 92 where the lights are.

When the hounds think they are minutes away from being fed morning breakfast ... here is a pretty normal sequence, minus the howls and barking.

By 9am I was headed for Montezuma Pass again for the third time since moving here. I was just there last week with the truck and now I wanted to see what the new RAV4 TRD Off Road (new model) would do in comparison.

Every picture you see of a road like this, it turns left or right and climbs 7° or more right after the turn.

At the top ... the RAV did fantastic and it's only All-Four drive. I never had to go to low S1-S3 to climb. It may have handled this drive to the top better than the 4Runner and Tacoma TRD Pro.

That road doesn't go all the way to the ground level, it will veer back into the mountains for almost 16 miles of climbing and heavy rock surface.

The past few posts I have mixed and matched photos from the iPhone and the new Nikon D3500. I have really liked using the 18-55mm lens the Nikon came with although I bought it for the 70-300mm. The iPhone Pro 11 Max takes the best photos I have ever seen for crisp sharpness and little to no editing.

Besides changing the handlebar tape on two bicycles I changed the blog "About" page and updated my "Bicycles" page this morning early. I cut the size of the About page drastically and still covered 8 years of blogging.

Just like the doctor told me on October 22nd, "every day from here on out your hip is going to feel better. There will be some bad days but not from anything you do or have done, it's just a normal process of healing." The hip joint takes 2 to 3 months to heal and I will pass the 2 month mark on the 8th of November. Some of the exercises hurt just a little but I know they are helping a lot.

A great day here in the 'Wild West' today.

Lazy Cool Days For The Hounds

Waking up to temps in the 40s now sets the trend. Sunrise keeps showing up later and with Arizona not changing time, the kids catching that first of three school buses in the neighborhood do that in the dark. I love that Arizona does NOT change time. Love it. Indiana use to do that a long time ago but now it's only Arizona and Hawaii that don't. Not only the cool temps have changed the routine a little but the two hounds have also. Both want breakfast as soon as we arrive in the kitchen first thing in the morning and they want it before I can start making coffee ... doesn't happen.

It's hard to believe that I am already at Day 53 for the new hip. Each day I can feel myself getting stronger. I might do something unintentionally, a move that was normal 54 days ago, and see that I can do that once again without feeling pain or soreness. I am doing the exercises the doctor gave me multiple times per day, I am doing most things normal but still following the first day protocol when sitting in and getting out of a chair or car.

Oh I almost forgot ... Heidi has decided to join Stella and I for the morning jaunt but just the past two days where it feels like "winter" ... she has reverted back to her Indiana Winters of hibernating and not starting her day until after 7am.

Yesterday it was cool enough outside that I thought it might be my first full day of me wearing jeans and a long sleeve shirt. There is one thing different 'out here' when it is cool and sunny. That sun at 4,700 feet is still hot and if you sit in it long enough you are going to get burned. The hounds as you will see in a few pictures, LOVE this weather.

It was only 60° sitting in that ugly patio chair enjoying a beautiful day when I realized the jeans I was wearing along with the long sleeve thermal shirt was too hot ... it was back to shorts and a t-shirt in a matter of minutes. Besides the dog walk, the walk to the mailbox, I still do laps around the yard and the other day for the first time I walked over 1 mile in one of my walks. I expanded my trek through the neighborhood to get to that point. I felt fine afterward, no soreness hours later nor the next morning.

I've been doing more driving around this week in town than taking trips. Today I am thinking of two options, both familiar places. I can take the new RAV4 TRD Off Road up to Montezuma pass to compare it to what the Tacoma did just last week or the 4Runner did in June. This time I would turn around at the top and come home the way I came for a shorter trip ... unless they were still doing some road maintenance.

The second option is head out to the San Pedro house again, walk further along the San Pedro river than I did last time since the ground will be dry instead of spots of mud. Or I could take one of their three or four other hiking trails that are all flat. If I do that I will definitely be using the two trekking poles I bought right before my bike accident.

When I am at home I leave the screen door propped open and the patio door open so the hounds can come and go as they want. I know some will be thinking "what about snakes or spiders" having a free lane into the house? So far after 4 months I have been pretty lucky and have not seen but one snake in front of my garage door, laying in the shade back in July or August. I do keep a close eye out for them, using the blacklight flashlight early in the morning or after dark before the hounds go outside.

You would think with the cool weather, sunny skies and the doors open for easy access that Stella would have the perfect place to stay while I am away from home either running errands or driving to Tucson's REI for a look and some winter clothing. By the way, REI was the first time I climbed up and went down a LOT of stairs since my surgery. It was hard going down as you lead with your bad foot ... I had to take one step at a time, holding the guardrail all the way down ... taking no chances.

I will show you why at the end of this post that Stella does not get "free range" like Heidi does. Heidi is really enjoying her time outside and spends the majority of day out there after 10am when that sun I talked about earlier is warming her up and probably making those old joints feel much better. So far she has not shown any signs of hip arthritis or stiffness. The supplements seem to be enough from the Fromm Gold for Large Breeds dog food. Yes, once I got the okay from the doctor to lift a 33# bag, I was back downtown buying the Fromm food instead of buying Diamond Naturals on Chewy.

As long as I am around, Stella is fine and will sleep either in the shaded patio or out in the middle of the yard. Is the lack of landscaping cutting down my chances for snakes and spiders? I follow a Facebook group of Cochise County Wonders ... a place where photographers can post their pictures ... professional or everyday people that like to take pictures. Believe me, there are plenty of snakes and spiders in this area yet I have not had any neighbors report seeing them recently.

I keep forgetting to vacuum that small strip of weather stripping between the patio and door jam. That soft material is a dog hair magnet apparently, that is 4 months worth of dog hair you see there. I will get that cleaned today.

Hint:  See those small scratches on the patio floor just southeast of Stella's leg???

The problem with the later arrival of sunshine and Heidi already falling into her 'winter mode' is that our walk is later. That puts us in the range of people driving to work, some arriving at the vet building we walk behind and around or the street that was vacant this summer where Stella could explore every inch, now has a little traffic pulling into the business building we pass which is more vacant than filled.

Since I am jumping all over the place from topic to topic I will say what many of you may have already experienced. Once that first trip to a hospital for any reason or seeing a doctor for any reason is made, it opens up the flood gates to my mailbox for all kinds of Medicare Supplement Insurance whether you already have it. Bills are mixed in with the Medicare reports that show charges submitted, what was paid and what I "might" have to pay. This was expected and something I never wanted to go through after hearing the nightmare stories from my dad and a couple of friends.

To give you just one example of kaos causing me to get on the phone for more minutes or hours than I want, causing me to spend time that I don't want to spend trying to sort out and correct mistakes .... make sure your paperwork from the doctor or hospital has your first name matching what is on your Medicare card. That's a key piece of information there ... what a mess !!!!

I specifically gave them my 'official' first time on purpose in the ambulance, to numerous people with clipboards in the emergency room and even gave them my drivers license when asked to show them my 'official' first name.

But just like toward the end of my working career, "attention to detail" seems to be unheard of. It drove me nuts then and is driving me nuts now as I sort through billing errors because they put my name down as Steve instead of Stephen. Yes they will and have corrected that in some cases but it is a constant battle now and I am the one that has "attention to detail" with my phone nearby ready to dial and talk to someone.

I never wanted on this "medical train of crap" but I have been assigned a seat whether I want to go or not.

Of course this medical kaos is far from the hounds thought process ... they want food, sunshine and sleep ... so they are in a perfect situation. Heidi has taken more walks out here even with me out of commission for a while, than she had in years back in the field in 'the tropics'. As she gets older it has to help that there are no steps except an inch or two as she steps off the patio.

This is heading back toward the Huachuca Mountains from Benson the other day. I broke one of my rules of taking a picture while driving  but that car up ahead was the only car in view in front and in back of me. The hounds were back home so I thought I could take a chance that lasted less than a minute of distraction. I know, accidents can happen in seconds and I personally have been a player in a couple, but with a straight road and little traffic I couldn't resist. Of course I could have chosen not to put it on the blog I guess but then you would have missed that great mountain view up ahead.

Over the past month with the day time temperatures cooling off in the early morning I thought the perfect place for Stella to stay was in the backyard. She would have water in the shade, a shaded patio if needed and plenty of sun to lay out in to keep warm. I would NOT be leaving the doors to the house open because of her tendency which I will mention here.

I don't like putting her in the largest crate possible inside the house when I leave. I don't like locking the two of four small Blinks padlocks to keep the crate together because she is strong enough that she has created space with her nose between the edges of the door and sides trying to bust out. All four padlocks are locked in key locations.

But she walks in on her own when I say "I gotta go". I've caught her sleeping inside the crate when I return home. It is the only way I can keep her safe and my house in place while I am gone.

Due to those scratches I now have a job of repainting the patio around all the phone calls I am having to make now ... doesn't make me happy at all. But she is who she is and I am use to it after 4 years and 2 months of picking her up in 2015. I love that hound no matter what. I am the only owner that has not given her away nor will I ever give her away.

The thing is this is proof of what I am going to say. If I have the door shut, she tries to get out of the backyard like she does the crate. It is NOT that she wants to GET IN to anything, she is wanting to GET OUT from where she is.

If I were to leave the doors open like I do for Heidi, I'd come home to having my vertical blinds tore down AGAIN on the front windows in the living room because she would be trying to GET OUT. She would (hasn't yet) bite the round door knob so hard in an attempt to open a locked door that happens to have a deadbolt. So I'd be replacing the door.

So that is why, even though it is so tempting to let her run the house like Heidi when I am gone I can't. I can't take that chance. She has lulled me into giving her chances before and they always end up disasters and I am not going through that out here.

Yes I could give her "doggie downers". I tried some meds the vet gave me in June and by the time the end of the bottle was gone I was still replacing vertical blinds in two different rooms and a hit to my checkbook. I am in and out of the house multiple times every day it seems now that I am healthy. Personally I don't want a dog 'zoned out' all the time to cover the multiple times I leave the house so the meds are not an option. The large black crate for large breeds worked for all the hounds I have had since 1987 when they were puppies. They were only given the run of the house after they showed signs I could trust them. But the bloodhound breed was the only three dogs that showed any kind of damage while I was gone.

It's because they are trackers by nature, more than any other breed of dog, and they get bored when left alone. That is why things get destroyed and they find things in places I may have looked for years and shows you by destruction they found something you could not.

No worries though ... things really are great, I'm feeling better every day, it's great weather and I love this area. I am seriously thinking about stepping up and sitting on my bicycle seat today just to see how that feels. IF I feel good enough to pedal, I will do it very slowly and for no more than 5 minutes no matter how good it feels. The doctor gave me approval to do that back on October 22nd, "when you are ready."

Time to feed the hounds, wait 30 minutes and then take our morning walk here in the Wild West.

The Hounds Go On A Road Trip

I knew on Wednesday night what I planned on doing today. I just didn't know if the hounds were going with me or not. I am sure they enjoy being around me and probably like smelling all the new scents with the windows partially down ... but long narrow gravel mountain roads sometimes isn't the best thing for them. Add on 20+ miles of narrow asphalt road that is hilly and curvy and it makes you stop and think if this was the best trip for them.

We were back to the normal routine though of two months ago with the hounds fed first, I get a cup of coffee and even in 52° weather Stella and I headed out for her daily morning walk a little before 7:00am. We had missed both school buses by then and traffic wasn't bad yet. We have to cross one street to get to the main part of our walk.

Once we cross the street at the end of our block we can see the sunrise and have a paved alley to walk in. We will circle Stella's vet at the halfway point of this section but not the total walk.

If I didn't know better I think she enjoys this walk more than the field back in 'the tropics'. She has enough things to sniff and identify, a paved surface that she likes to trot on and 25' of freedom taking her walk in town.

As we got closer to the turn up ahead she started to realize where she was. She had walked this same area directly behind that building before her surgery August 25th.

Yes Stella that is the same parking lot that you have walked three different times before entering the vet office. You never had to pee.

When we walked earlier in the summer she would have the whole street to walk in but at that time we were walking an hour or more earlier than now. I needed to make sure I could keep her out of the way of the two cars that passed us.

For a longer walk we have taken that dirt path to the right but with my new hip getting in shape and only her second day of walking we took our normal way and curved to the left on the paved surface. The walk totals about .67 of a mile.

When we returned Heidi acted as if she had missed out and was looking to walk. Under my current condition I want to walk just one hound at a time, so I grabbed Heidi's leash left Stella in the house and took off. We cut Heidi's walk short through the parking lot before getting to the vet's building. By the time she gets back home she has had enough and is dragging those last few steps.

Yes, I've been there before but at the time I didn't have the time to take the photos I wanted to at the top of the pass. I had to leave earlier than planned that day. I also didn't get a photo of the Visitors Center or the sign at the entry of the Coronado National Forest.

The plan was to go to the top, get my photos and then come back down the same way. That is the more exciting way with narrow gravel switchbacks. Plus it would be the shortest way back home.

While I was out preparing the back and passenger seat for the hounds to occupy, Stella evidently thought she wasn't going and would be staying in the backyard while I was gone. She is smart enough to lay in the shade at least.

Little did she know that I had placed a tarp over the back seats that was folded down, then a thick layer of multiple Mexican blankets. All Heidi needed was her Mexican blanket on the passenger seat to ride.

She was also preparing for me to leave by myself. She had already found her morning sleeping spot in the computer room and was a little disturbed that I woke her up to let her know she was going with me.

Of course Stella is always ready to go for a ride. She is hopping up and down at the sight of her 6' red leash. She seemed pretty happy with the backseat and the windows rolled down enough to let her move her head but not open wide enough for her to jump or fall out.

Heidi will ride okay but I cannot really say she enjoys these mini road trips.

It is rare, very rare to have someone around to take a photo with me in it. I was shocked how fat I look after I downloaded the photo. This morning the scales showed I had gained only 1 pound since I wrecked my bicycle, at 187 pounds. I am wanting to get around 170 pounds and with another surgery in the future I might just reach that goal without working out. I'd rather workout though.

When I pulled in to take a photo of the sign a Forest Ranger was parked there. He asked if wanted him to take a photo with me in it. We had a nice talk about the area, very informative.

You can barely see what looks like a train track running horizontal across the middle of the photo but that is actually the border wall between the USA and Mexico. The ranger did tell me that I can hike the train tracks that parallel the San Pedro River so I might have to put that on my list of hikes to do when my hip is a little older than 46 days.

Stella was positive there was food inside that visitor center just for her and was a little disappointed she had to stay in the truck while I took a couple of photos that I didn't take last June.

Coronado NF Visitor Center.

There are some very narrow parts of this road and that is why I don't have any photos of them to post. It was unsafe to stop the car just to take photos from the drivers seat. I did meet a couple of large trucks coming down the pass and one truck was taking up most the road as to Forest NP employees were doing some road work.

Some of the switchbacks were just as bad as Carr Canyon Rd but not as high. I guess it wouldn't make much difference if you fell 500' or a 1000' if you drove over the side of the road.

I made it to the top and unlike last time I had the place to myself and I could spend all the time I wanted taking photos. There was a car with New Mexico plates but most likely they were hiking the trail, where there was a "no dogs" sign at the start of the trail.
 

It is beautiful up here, quiet, clean air and not a sound anywhere.

This is the road we drove to get to the top.

I'll come back sometime without the hounds but at this time I don't think climbing a lot of steps is a good thing for my healing hip.

Going down the 'backside' or west side of the pass, there are not only a lot of pullouts to take photos or turn around but there are a zillion dirt roads turning off on each side of the road. Again, without the hounds there are a lot more roads to explore.

It wasn't that deep and it had not rained in a while so I decided to pass the sign behind me that warned me not to enter this area in flooding conditions.

Around 22 miles straight of gravel dirt road, with a lot of rutty, rocky bouncing with 15 mph speed limits. I met my second border patrol up ahead and we both drove this road 10-15mph due to the surface.

Yes a familiar sign for those that read about this trip in June.

Parker Canyon Lake ... I swear the sign said 1/2 mile to the left when we are at the T for Hwy 83. It seemed like we drove forever to get to it.

With the hounds in the truck I moved down the sidewalk to get a better look at the lake but when I saw this many stairs I wasn't sure I'd make it back up ... funny, the doctor told me I could do all normal stuff and walk a lot if I was not swinging my bad leg out to the right a million times per day. But a little voice inside my head told me that it wasn't time to attempt that many steps. I turned and headed to the truck.

There are those words, truck, car, FJ, Mini ... what can I say. I like cars and trucks. I have had a ton of them since 2000 or the past 20 years. Always before I had no more than two and most of the time only one. So for those readers that pay real good attention to what I say and what is in my photos will realize we are driving a truck today .. a Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro .. and no, it's not new ... I wouldn't spend that much for a pickup truck.

You would not have read about it on the blog back in May but on the 4Runner Forum and the Tacoma Forum you would have seen I was trying hard in May before my move to AZ, deciding between the two. Both were TRD Off-Road models. I'll not go into the reasons why I chose the 4Runner over the Tacoma in May nor why I bought this a few days ago at the local Toyota dealership. Yes ... I still have the white FJ, I am never getting rid of that nor am I getting rid of the Mini Cooper either.

Before you think that is too many cars just remember how many friends do you know that have a car, a truck, an RV or a couple of ATVs and the trailers or toyhaulers to carry them. Or if they only have a couple of nice cars but travel throughout Europe or the USA ... we all like our own toys. Personally I like having different vehicles to choose from.

There are days I want to take it slow so the FJ it is or even this Tacoma. There will be as in the past, days I need a truck to haul landscaping stuff, stone, mulch, or dirt .. the Tacoma is good for that. There are days I want to take chances and drive fast as hell willing to accept and pay for a speeding ticket if caught ... different vehicles for different moods.  Ha Ha

I'm tried today ... baseball is on in an hour ... I need food, I've done all the walking I need to do today and I am thinking of taking a "day off" tomorrow and give my hip a rest day.

A GREAT day in the Wild West.