A Spur Of The Moment Hike On Monday

With the hot sunshine out every day with cool temps, the hounds have been spending most of their time sleeping on the warm stones in the backyard. They rotate back inside once they get too hot. The weather has returned to beautiful with morning temps in the 30's. I'll take that with no complaints because I am not experiencing windchill temps below zero and no ice or snow. There has not been a lot going on ... but yesterday I took an impulse trip back out to the San Pedro River and hiked almost 4 miles in the late afternoon.

It's good to know that with each sunrise we are heading toward spring where the sun will start rising earlier, the hounds will get their daily walk in the morning right after my coffee and not in the afternoon. Then I will bike in the mornings right after we get back from the hound walk. I find it hard to ride in the afternoon because I am always finding something else to do. I don't have any projects going on like I would have in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana. I don't miss the house maintenance and lawn care or in some cases, shoveling snow.

My move from Cox Cable Tv to Apple Tv and streaming Amazon Prime Video along with YouTube tv has worked out better than I expected. I have all the same sports channels I had on cable. I have more movies to choose from that are free on Amazon Prime Video and the programing on Apple Tv is not large in numbers of shows but the ones they have are great, from what I have seen so far.

I stayed up all night last night watching all 10 episodes of For All Mankind, getting to bed at 5am just after I fed the hounds. A few hours of sleep I was up and felt normal except for the concept of time ... it did not feel like 11am. I still have plenty of time to get in a bike ride today after hiking yesterday afternoon. With high 40's and possible rain in the forecast this week, I have to get outside when I can.

After the holidays of not seeing a lot of the Aerostat, it was back in the air yesterday. For some reason because of that, it felt like everyone was back to work when I saw it. Combine that with the increase in early morning traffic in the neighborhood, I could tell it was a 'work week.' Less cars in the driveways and more traffic on the city streets and highways. Things were back to normal.

One little sign I have noticed that my hip continues to heal after it's 4 month anniversary, there is no soreness or stiffness in front of the hip or the socket when I get up out of a chair or the couch. I am also able to get in my cars and truck the 'normal' way now, without facing my back to the seat and sliding in that way. I am also catching myself getting in and out of bed the normal way again, instead of sitting on the side the bed and swinging both legs around on top of the bed.

Small things but big differences.

I still want to take a tour of the inside when it's anchored but there is a zero chance of that ever happening.

Stella likes to check out the temperature of the sun numerous times during the day before she decides whether to sleep outside. She continues to sniff the air or perk her long hears up for any signs of the black lab puppy next door. We hardly hear the puppy anymore as it gets older. It is tall enough now that when it jumps up on their flowerbed on it's back legs and leans against the fence, I can reach over and pet it. Stella can only smell the puppy but can't see it.

I'm noticing in my Blogger traffic stats that when I blog less, the spam comments increase and bot traffic from the Ukraine takes over the lead of all readers.  The other day the number of visits from the Ukraine tripled the number of visitors from the United States with Canada being a distant third place.

With the return of the great weather I honestly thought I'd be riding my bike outside every day this week. I still can get in a lot of riding this week but yesterday I couldn't make up my mind if I wanted to or when to ride. Of course if I wait the temps will get warm as it gets later, but the winds increase. 11am seems to be the best time for both worlds to ride. It's not too cold nor windy and I can get home before the winds pick up.

Yesterday about the time I was going to change into bike clothes I had an urge to take a local drive, just to drive. But by the time I was almost walking up the hounds to get ready to leave, I changed my mind. I didn't want to drive just to drive ... I wanted to go hiking.

I had joined the hounds off to the left of them in this photo soaking up my own sunshine. So it was close to 2pm when I decided I was going to get out and do something. Like I have said before, this area is fantastic for doing things outside and the trails or bike paths/lanes are all close to the house.

By the time I had loaded my small backpack with water, changed shoes and grabbed my hat, Heidi had moved inside to the coolest part of the house to continue her afternoon siesta.

When I want a flat trail and quietness, the San Pedro House/River area is the place I like to go. As I pulled into the parking lot I was the third car and one of the other two belongs to the host at the San Pedro House. I was going to have all this vacant land and trails to myself. People were back to work, kids were back in school ... perfect weather with cargo shorts and a flannel shirt. I was going to start my normal path but had a different plan where on the way back I would make a right turn and head for the river, then circle back to the house.

I was walking at a pretty good pace because I wanted to get some miles in for hip exercise and I wanted to get back to the car before they close the gate out by the highway. I wasn't sure what time they do that so I wanted to get back to the car and on the highway by 4pm. I found out later the gate stays open until sundown. I can explore new territory next time even if I have a late start.

I was traveling light, with only a small pack for water and my iPhone. I took my trekking poles for this one spot I would need them but carried them most of the time and didn't need to use them on the trail. My heart rate was up to 109 bpm in no time and never went over 112 bpm. That's a nice range on the bicycle to get in shape without a lot of energy used. I am seeing higher heart rates on my recent rides and find it hard to keep it in the 117-120 bpm range.

While walking the trail I could see all kinds of signs for the past weekend traffic. Horse shoes marked the trail in only one direction, mountain bike tires, ATV tire tracks and multiple hiking boots or shoe soles. With all the fresh prints in the dirt and sand I could tell it has been a busy weekend with people out here.

If I were to ride my mountain bike anywhere off the pavement this area would be the place. With the new hip I cannot fall again unless I want to see my surgeon back in the operating room. He reminded me of that during my last followup appointment. There are only a couple of places with loose sand where I might have problems keeping the bike up but 99% of the trail is hard packed dirt, a few rocky areas but very safe for me.

Here I am heading east toward the San Pedro River or that group of trees on the horizon, left side of the picture.

There are many trails out by the San Pedro House, with a few that I have not hiked yet. No hills to climb, very little elevation change and a dry river bed I'd like to follow sometime. Walking miles in that soft sand would be pretty good exercise ... but the quietness is what I like the most in this area and of course the scenery.

It will be a lot different in a few months on this bench. The temps in the late afternoon will be over a 100°, yesterday it was 62° and sunny. That's the Coronado NF on the far left ... then Miller Peak at the highest point with Carr Canyon next to it. I love the mountain views that I can see in any direction.

Other than what you see here in these photos, not much else has been happening. I think this is the first time since I moved here in June where days feel like they are back to normal. Routines are relaxed, the schedule for doing things is wide open. With great weather, less tv time and less house/yard maintenance, I have time to do all kinds of different outdoor activities. Just as I expected.

I am going through a 'down period' for blogging though. I find it really hard lately to come up with the words, entirely opposite from the times I cannot stop talking/writing. I've noticed on sidebar blog list more bloggers are post less frequently. Some of them have moved to Instagram possibly, or making money on YouTube. Some have just stopped. I remember a few years ago I had 53 blogs listed and most of them were blogging on a regular basis.

I knew once I moved out here I'd be blogging less because there is just so much to do compared to where I lived before. Better year-round weather, more time available during the day and new activities. The hounds have settled in too but their routine hasn't changed that much, just more time outside per their choice. Heidi even leads the walk some afternoons and actually gets excited now when she hears the word 'walk' or sees me taking the retractable leashes out of the closet.

That's the latest update from the 'Wild West'.

The Hounds Are Ready For 2020

What can I say? Life has been busy around here with normal stuff and some days I run out of time. I guess with us being here almost 7 months, life is back to a normal feel and a routine. I never make goals for the new year but I do see some things already changing within the first few days. All good stuff. It's also one of those times I am becoming a little bored with blogging and find some hikes and trips are good without taking photos. Someone told me once "the best pictures you will take will be the ones you don't." Although with a lack of adventure there is some news or updates really.

Heidi and I both had annual checkups including blood lab work. She is a healthy 10-11 year old basset with a waistline the vet really liked seeing. My lab work came back better than I ever expected with low cholesterol, normal blood pressure and a PSA count below 1. There was nothing on my blood lab work that was above the limits. I guess the labwork confirmed my diet of "moderation" and an occasional splurge is working okay. I set up an appointment for the same physical next year before I left.

My vet called me yesterday, or the administrator for the vet clinic. She was wanting to know what my complaints were about with Heidi's visit. I never mentioned their clinic name by name but they tracked me down by a comment I made on Facebook. Imagine that!! I'll just say that nothing turns me off more than a vet clinic trying to "up sell" me when I know my hound is healthy and all I want is the annual checkup and a rabies shot that is required by law. Nothing else.

With blue skies and higher afternoon temps I am still riding my bike inside on the trainer but plan an afternoon ride today with the temps in the 60's. There will still be a cool breeze but it will be nice to get back out on the road after a week or so.

 A zoomed in look over towards Tombstone. I finally decided yesterday I'd wait for a parking space and walk among the crowds to see Tombstone up close for the first time. For me, too many people and everything was overpriced. I took only a couple of photos and then deleted them when I got home. I'll try to back when few people are there.

Stella has a new nighttime sleeping routine. It's always been these two spots to sleep most of the night. This is one, the other is just to the left of the photo where she is next to the bed, against the wall next to the door. The new routine ???? She will sleep in the area where she can dig and move any shoes that might be in her way. The other morning I found she had slept on two pairs of shoes and a pair of hiking boots. Right on top of all of them. Yes, my Merrell shoes are under her and not seen in the photo.

Heidi sinks deep into her bed that I bought in October (?).

Stella's way of begging for food or when she is waiting for me to finish a container of yogurt or ice cream. She will get the container to lick out every last drop that is left. You must admit, she is consistent and disciplined in her process. Yes that is a little bit of Arizona dirt on her nose ... that's her latest new thing ... eating the dirt under the rocks in the yard. Never a dull moment with her.

Once she is fed her breakfast and a short trip outside she is ready to start her day of relaxation. I think she looks much younger than 10 years old.

 

A few days ago I attempted to write a post. I load all of my photos first and then type between them. When I clicked the button to upload the photos from my computer to the blogger format, this is what I saw. It's the first time I've ever seen that screen in the 14 years I've been blogging. I blogged for my online business prior to starting this blog in 2011.

All it took was to turn my computer off and on, then log into the blog again for it to go away.

I still love seeing the new sunrises each day but they are also becoming routine. Like how many photos can you post on the blog of the same thing or things?

This is the ONLY reason I am woken up by a whining bloodhound every morning and a basset hound shaking it's head hard enough where I can hear her tags making noise. They like to eat no matter what time of day or night. That is their main goal first thing in the morning.

You can see they love the sunshine and have spent every afternoon outside sunbathing and taking siestas.

I admit I am surprised that Heidi has adjusted from a grass yard to one of stone. Her allergies are gone, her eyes are clear and she takes the daily walk with Stella and I every afternoon. We will move that walk back to early mornings once spring arrives. The move to Arizona has been good not only for her but all of us.

Besides what is posted here I don't have much more to say. Things are good, life is very enjoyable and I still love this area as much as I did the first days I moved here. The new hip continues to heal and I have finally been able to read the list of things they installed and read the step by step process without feeling sick to my stomach.

Things are back to a normal routine here in the 'Wild West'.

The Only Snow Left Is Up There

The snow from yesterday didn't last long as I described yesterday. By the time the sun had burned off the snow on the ground, the street and the cars, the mountains were covered with clouds. Since I am short on time today and tonight, here are some photos from yesterday afternoon that I took after my post plus what is left today. Some of the mountain roads have reopened, such as the on taking you to the Coronado Monument Visitor Center and up and over Montezuma Pass.

Cold winds continued to blow the rest of Friday afternoon. All of us found that out on our daily hound walk. Heidi set her best time at 19 minutes and trotted most of the way. She felt warm to the touch but it was obvious she preferred her blankets and bed to the cold wind. Stella of course was oblivious to the low temperature and was hopping each time she would turn to trot.

This morning I could finally see what the mountains had collected yesterday. Here are photos from this morning from different camera's and different lenses. Both hounds had no interest in going on the walk nor did they stay outside too long each time they 'thought' they wanted to go outside.

She thought she heard me say something about food ...

I am "this close" to "cutting the cord" as they say. I'll have to pay a fee for breaking my Cox Cable contract but after the recent increase and other mysterious billing they can't explain to me, I am now paying ~$60 per month more than I was quoted when I signed up for their tv/internet service last June. It will only take me 3 months to get my money back in savings for the fee I will pay up front.

I have double checked and find that times have really changed in streaming tv for sports addicts such as myself. I've had Amazon Prime for a long time but never checked out their tv aspect and was amazed of all the free movies available. AppleTV has some great programing of their own and it looks like YouTube TV is going to get my monthly payment for all the channels I get on cable.

I'll keep Cox internet since it is a great service. After a few hours of some serious studying I have figured out how to put all of these ballgames and movies on my tv plus all my devices. A pretty simple process that I should learned months ago.

It's been too cold or wet to ride my bike outside, so I've been riding inside just to keep the lungs and legs in shape. I do have a few local trips planned but will do them next week. Heidi's vet appointment was moved from this afternoon to early Monday morning. It should be nothing more than getting her rabies shot which here is good for three years, not just one.

It's cold and sunny today in the 'Wild West'.

Hounds See Their First Arizona Snow

Snow was in our forecast for sometime after midnight. We had a winter advisory warning out until Saturday morning for areas above the 4,500' elevation. By the time we woke up on Friday morning that prediction of 3" of snow had changed to 2-5". It would be our first snow since moving to Arizona. It was expected more than a surprise because of the weather data research I had done before deciding to move the this great area. Believe me this is nothing compared to what we were used to. Although ... the hounds acted like they had been Arizona hounds their whole life.

Stella was nudging my hand sometime around 4:30am wanting me to get up. She didn't need to go outside, she wanted to eat breakfast. Without moving a muscle I told her to go back to sleep in the room filled with darkness. Luckily she obeyed and I was able to get another 35 minutes of sleep before Stella officially called it the start of the day ... she started howling at 5:05am ... in the dark.

That howling was the same one I hear in the afternoons if I am late feeding her lunch so I knew she was wanting to eat. It was the first time I ever heard her howling before we were up for the day. I hope this isn't her new routine ... even if it is only for a few weeks.

This will give you some idea what that howling looks like. This is from Wednesday when I returned from my Miller Canyon hike.  Once she starts howling then Heidi will join her by barking until the kibble is in their dishes.

Scanning the fence line this morning once it was daylight, as you can see the mountains we normally see were no where to be found and I did not see any signs of overnight snow. I started thinking the weather forecasters were not any different than the forecasters back in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.

When I first glanced I thought my patio chair that was blown off the patio during the night might be filled with snow in the bottom. Those little white tabs on each chair leg looked like snow. I was wrong. Only white plastic pieces for the chair legs and that was nothing but rain on the chair. You can see a little snow residue on the blue towel. Nowhere near the 3" they talked about after midnight.

While I was back in the computer room I didn't realize the snow 'storm' had stated without me or the hounds. It was only when I got up to get more coffee did I see it was snowing outside. If we had a full day of this type of snowing I could see the 5" by the end of the day. It was going to get too warm to do that though. The scouting report I had about snow in this area, it is always gone by the end of the day.

After two attempts to go outside but immediately turning around on the patio to go back inside, Stella could no longer hold it and had to go out in the light snow fall to pee. Heidi ??? Not a chance. She did the immediate turn on the patio hours ago and was back on her bed in the deep corner of the bedroom sound to sleep. Both hounds had proved to me this morning, they were officially Arizona hounds.

Just for proof to text some out of state friends, I found the one place that had the deepest snow.

Some time during the morning she had moved from her bed to her other favorite sleeping spot in the computer room.

It wasn't 3 hours later I hear the water dripping from the rooftop. I look outside to see sunny blue skies and not a trace of snow in the yard. You can barely see the drops of water coming off the roof to the ground.

It looks like the foothills had some snow but all of this was much less than I expected.

It was a photo of a bird like this on a Facebook Group for The Wonders of Cochise County that I decided to try the Canon Power Shot SX70. I mentioned the other day in the right kind of light I get better results when zooming than I get on my Nikon D3500 70-300mm lens. If you look closely at the bird I think you will see the quality I am talking about.

Although the snow is gone, Heidi, Stella and I are dreaming for a day like this. Taken just a few days ago we all know it's possible to have some bright hot sunshine even when the temps are in the 50's. After all they are officially Arizona hounds and they LOVE sunshine.

If Heidi cannot get a good warm place outside to sleep in the sunshine after breakfast she will always find a warm sunny spot in her bedroom. She has a vet appointment tomorrow for an annual checkup, annual shots and hopefully a nail trim by one of the vet techs.

After getting serious about it, it was not really hard to connect my tv for the first time to my wifi. I could then access Amazon Prime Videos and found more free movies to watch than I had ever found on Cox Cable On Demand. I added a ton of them to my 'watch later list'. With my Best Buy award points that I had built up I only paid $29 for the 6Gb Apple Tv. I have that hooked up and am in the process of connecting it to some sports channels. Once I get that accomplished and see that I can watching the ballgames I want ... Cox TV will be canceled but I will keep their outstanding internet service.

Hard to believe we are just a few days away from 2020 (sounds weird) but that means we are also closer to warmer weather.

First now here in the 'Wild West' this morning.