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'.

Photos From A Year Ago

The day looked promising but I knew after seeing the 10-day forecast last night that soon after our lunch, the gray thunderheads would be moving in with rain in the forecast. That still gave all three of us time to do what we do ... hound walk, biking, hounds sleeping, me reading. Since I did not have a lot of photos to choose from today I went back into the library to August 21, 2019 and pulled some photos from a year ago. Big difference eh?

Once again Stella was highly active for some reason. She trotted from the time we were on the street all the way down the block to the vacant land across the street. Then she would spend time with her nose pressed to the street or ground identifying scent ... bounce up and start running to get ahead of me. I stopped her hip supplements a few weeks ago as a test. I'm not sure what game she is playing now ... but she is enjoying her walk.

As soon as we got back from the walk and I had a cup of coffee enjoying the mountains to my right, I decided I was riding in plain clothes today on the mountain bike. I'd still take two water bottles with me just in case I decided to ride longer. I was only going to follow the bike path around the west side of town and then come back home on the east side ... but with me plans always change.

This is the best photo I have taken of the Aerostat. I am back in love with my older Nikon D3200.

I ended up riding out toward the canyon again like I do most days only today I wanted to force myself to go slow. I wanted to keep my heart rate in zone two as they call it. For me that would be around 118 bpm. I can see that information on my Apple watch using the Strava app while I am riding. That app also records my distance, time, speed, and heart rate as I am riding.

I ended up riding a little past 25 miles and had a hard time keeping my heart rate below 118. There are too many gradual climbs where even in low gears, fast pedaling, the old ticker jumps up to 130 bpm pretty easy. My plan this week is to ride a total of 6 days by riding slower, less effort, and enjoy the scenery.

I had just opened the door for the hounds to take a break outside, at their request. A loud clap of thunder filled the skies as I was looking at the sunshine over the Mule Mts two photos up. To my right is where all the noise was coming from. I tried by holding the camera shudder halfway down to time the next lightning strike but it never happened.

As time passed the darker it got, the temperature dropping and rain everywhere but my house. It's almost the end of August and I have not seen too much of the 'infamous' monsoons I was warned about. All the locals told me "you are just in time for the monsoons" when they found out I had just moved here. Either way is good with me. I love living here ... no bugs ... no humidity ... beautiful skies ... friendly people.

So here is the start of the photos from last year to the day ... August 21, 2018

Looks like the skies were getting ready to rain there too.

While I have moved from the kitchen cooking an actual meal of steamed veggies and brown rice/lentils for lunch, both hounds followed me from room to room. The living room to catch some sports news and finding out that my Reds game had already been played at 9:30am my time. When I came into the computer room to check some things on the computer both hounds followed me and plopped down in their corners of the room for more sleep.

Stella seems to be use to the louder than normal thunder now ... she sleeps through these kinds storms. They have never bothered Heidi.

I moved back in the book Going Back to Bisbee. It's a slow read but a fantastic history lesson of this area. Now if it were the winter I'd be more motivated to read but in great weather, even when it's high 90's it just hard for me to sit still long enough to read many pages at a time.

Stella's light snoring is making me feel like a siesta for me is right around the corner here in the Wild West.

The Hounds Battled Rain Today

With the light inside the house turning dark with the sound of loud thunder we knew the storms had arrived. Stella didn't get her morning walk, Heidi continued her daily morning nap. You would think by now I'd be use to this kind of spring weather but it sure seems like the amount of rain increases each year. The hounds and I did our best to move through the day though.

Heidi didn't wait until lunch to get up. She showed up unexpectedly next to my desk chair and that is a sign she needs her professional doorman to let her outside. Light rain but when you have to pee you have to pee. She wasn't out long. She was awake a few hours earlier then her normal time.

One is trying it's best to bloom ... the other, no signs of stems with bright yellow on the end

Once Stella saw that Heidi was brave enough to test the very light rain, she had the same plan as the other day ... curl tightly around the corner of the house, stay close to the house on the dry river rock and she'd be safe.

As the afternoon progressed it rained longer and harder while I watched the Reds on TV playing in sunny New York. When it rains as much as it has lately, that gives me a lot of time to think about all the movement in the air and passing through my brain cells. I have a feeling it's going to be an exciting summer.

By late afternoon, the rains stopped, the skies brightened up a little and it seemed like we could get a walk in just as soon as I put on my rain boots. Heidi din't have interest in walking in the wet field .. but Stella did.

Some ATV tracks, probably from the owner of the field that lives in that house you see at the top of the photo.

He did follow our path a little and then turned to the far right hand corner before turning around and heading for home.

Stella seemed to be in deep thought today while she walked. I wonder if she was mulling over all the questions I have been asking her these past few days.

One step at a time, slow enough that each step with a curled paw is caught by the camera like stop action. You cannot walk much slower than that.

By the time Stella and I stepped into the yard I could see Heidi at the far edge of the yard over by the bank eating tall wet grass. I am beginning to wonder of my 4-star rated dog food is missing some minerals or other nutrients, since both hounds have been eating more grass than normal in the past few weeks.

It's cool and nice enough weather to sit outside and sort out all of the thoughts lingering in my head. There's a lot going on and the hounds can sense something they just cannot figure out what it is. Really, nothing to announce.

I am back to needing to get to the store but I have enough food to keep me home. Am I really that lazy? Whatever happened to that news of Amazon drones delivering packages to the house. I figured when they bought Whole Foods and their new drone delivery plans that my shopping days were over. They could drop their pallets of food out here in the back.

It's May already in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana, hard to believe. It wasn't 30 minutes after I posted this, it started to rain again. It's a good thing that Stella walked when she did, in between rains.