Stella Gets Out Of The House !!

Thursday morning started like all the others. I can say that things really are back to normal and it's nice to be able to get out when I want and go when I want. These first two pictures were taken with the same camera (Nikon) but the second one I used the flash. That made the sky just as I was seeing but I didn't care for the bright fence the camera captured. Thursday proved to be a very interesting day and Stella provided most of the entertainment.

I wasn't planning on riding my bike while I was drinking morning coffee but I was planning a road trip back to a town I had visited in June with the two hounds. The problem was it was too hot to keep the hounds in the car while I walked around to check out Patagonia. So we drove through it and around it then but just a quick look. Yesterday I went alone and looked a little bit closer.

So far the mornings after riding my bike the previous day a little further each time, my hip is feeling normal. No signs of swelling, no soreness and and no pain the hip area. It seems like I have been doing something active almost every day and in my mind that can't do anything but help getting those hip muscles stronger. Yesterday was Day 60 since my surgery. They say that hip joint where the ball fits into the pelvis takes two to three months to totally heal, so I might have another month go to go.

Heidi has come up with her own routine after breakfast or after the sun comes up. She will smell the entire fence line so slow it's almost like she is taking in each rock.

Once she reaches the corner of the backyard fence she will then cut diagonal towards the house.

I decided I would do test #2 with Stella. I mean what did I have to lose, just time to have the installers come back and install any vertical blinds she might tear down? I still thought she would be okay even if I were away for three to four hours. Everything was set up the same way as Wednesday when I was gone for a little over two and a half hours. Now to some this might not seem blog worthy but long time readers will remember she has driven me crazy with her destruction at times. It is totally random when she does this.

It was a great day to take a drive. This is heading west on Hwy 82, a highway that has turnouts just at the right spot to take some photos.

When I was searching for a small town to move to in Arizona I'd asked my friend that lives in Phoenix and at one time traveled the whole state for a job he had years ago. I would mention a town I found and he would give me a review in full detail. At times he would suggest some based on what I was looking for. Patagonia was a town on my list until I decided I needed more conveniences. I was tired of having to drive 25 miles to get to the stores I liked. I would have had to drive further than 25 miles in Patagonia.

I like traveling in this open country as I have mentioned before. I find the scenery beautiful and the open skies are beneficial to me.

Just past the 82/83 intersection in Sonoita there is a rest area that the hounds and I stopped at in June. Today I stopped for different reasons. I needed to make a point of getting out of the car and stretching my lower back and hip area. Sitting too long in a car or a chair is not a good thing, so this rest area is the perfect place to get out and walk around a little. Of course there are mountains to look at on both sides of the car.

I was a little surprised just how short of a drive it was from the house. The trip meter said a little over 35 miles. As I entered the town, the small high school was there to greet me. The orange and black school colors of the Patagonia Lobos. There is something about seeing a small school baseball diamond that makes me want to pull over and watch a little bit of the game ... but no baseball is being played today, it's November.

The biggest change I saw as soon as I pulled into town, a LOT less people and cars than what I saw in June. Tourist season was over and parking spaces were basically anywhere I wanted to park. I decided to start my exploration at the west end of town and walk eastward. The RAV4 drove smoothly, very quiet even with the off-road tires on them. My gas mileage is almost at 28mph from the time it hit the showroom floor.

This nice park splits Hwy 82 and the main street of town. I could have sat here for hours but I wanted to this to be a four hour trip for Stella's sake not eight hours like I would want. Even with the main highway next to the park, it was extremely quiet. It wasn't quite 10am and it seemed like I had missed the morning rush.

The health food store on the right was tempting to go in and take a look around but what caught my eye was the lot next to it that had all kinds of stuff for sale. No plans to buy anything and no cash in my billfold for a reason, I decided to go take a look.

There must be something about me and bicycles. What are the odds of walking into a 'flea-market' type of business and finding a very nice and very expensive 'road' bike in a place called Patagonia? I knew it was expensive so I asked the business owner David, "how much?" ... He was told by a friend that gave him the bike to sell it would bring $2,000. It would have cost much more than that new but this is a used bike, a good used bike. I had NO plans on buying this bike under any circumstances. Besides, I could tell the frame was too big for me and I was right ... I ride a 54cm-57cm depending on the bike and this bike was a 58cm. Yes ... that 1cm makes a world of difference.

I didn't bother looking around at much he had for sale. I wasn't in the mood to buy anything but he had some great stories about Patagonia and the area. He had 33 years worth of experience in that town and it was amazing to hear all of the changes that he had seen from the time he moved there. I had the impression he did not have any interest in having his picture on my blog so I didn't ask.

To get a 'feel' for a town, especially a small town, is there any better place than stopping in a coffee shop? I thought I saw something and headed that way. Luckily the coffee shop was that second business building with the yellow painted building. As you an see in this town you will find all kinds of vehicles, from 'vettes to FJs. As I was lining up this picture I dropped my month old overpriced iPhone ... the Tech21 case not only protected it but helped it bounce a couple of times off that hard dirt gravel you see. No damage and not even a scratch on the corner of the case itself. I immediately looked at the three lenses for the camera ... not even a scratch.

I was not even inside the door when I could smell good coffee and good food.

Of course that friend I told you about that traveled the state of Arizona for his state job years ago, stopped in this place many times he said and if nothing had changed, just their basic house coffee would fit the bill. As I stood in that short line to pay I came up with another plan. The food they were carrying out of the small kitchen just to the left of those coffee cups (were for sale) looked fantastic.

I knew I had time for two huge pancakes and their 16oz cup of coffee. They tasted just as good as they looked.

Somewhere during that time spent in the coffee shop I lost interest walking to the other end of town. There is a large old hotel just down the street but I had seen that in June. The park on the east side looked just like the west side, so I turned left and slowly headed back to the car.

This town has some nice old buildings, a few run down buildings and a few 'fixer upper's for sale.

One thing I do miss where I live is the butterflies. I might see one occasionally on our morning walks but nothing like I would see in August while walking through the field behind the house in 'in the tropics'. For those that are reading this blog from a computer instead of a phone, you can search "butterflies" and find all the photos I took of them while taking our afternoon walks.

It was the wrong time of year, I didn't see one butterfly anywhere near the "Butterfly Garden"

Well it was time to go. My inner clock told me I had seen enough of Patagonia and it was time to hit the road home. I had one more stop to make though .. Elgin AZ, just a few miles off of Hwy 82. This is another place my friend suggested I check out when I was trying to decide where to move. A short trip on Google Maps satellite view last winter, told me all I needed to know ... beautiful area but I am not sure the word "town" would apply. They do have a very nice large vineyard outside of town after passing through what I guessed to be the town.

With little traffic I was able to stop the car to take his picture. I love all the formations out here in the high plateaus.

By the time the wheels pulled up in front of my house I had been gone a little over three and half hours. I noticed the window was still intact and the blinds were still hanging in their proper position but I didn't see Stella at the fence gate nor did I see her at the window looking for me. I quietly opened the door and neither hound came running to greet me. Heidi was back on her bed sleeping and I could see looking straight ahead that Stella was out cold with her afternoon nap.

So again ... no damage for the 2nd day in a row.

That would all change a couple of hours later. I had the urge to ride my bike so I grabbed my helmet, I let Stella sniff it and from that she knows I am going riding. In fact she knows so well that she walked down the hallway to the bedroom thinking I was going to put her in her crate like I had done before every bike ride until the past two weeks.

I didn't do laps around the neighborhood where she could see me pass the house every 7-8 minutes. I rode 38 minutes through residential streets as I slowly increase my time on the bike. I suspected nothing was going on at home while I rode the bike. She never had issues with me leaving before and would stand by the window waiting for my return ... with the window open and a cool breeze coming through the screen window.

I was probably a block or two away from my house when I noticed something about Stella's color was over on one of the driveways but at that time I could not tell what it was. Once she raised her head with drool hanging from each side of her mouth I knew it was Stella. She was trotting nervously on the sidewalk to the next garage door ... she was looking for me I guess.

When I called her name she looked confused. She stood motionless looking at me and didn't move toward the bike. I kept riding and she followed. Once I stopped and gingerly moved my surgical side leg up and over the seat of the bike ... she came up to me wagging her tail a mile a minute, happy that I was home.

I was so happy that I saw her before she got any further away. The school buses had arrived a few minutes after we were inside letting kids out to walk the sidewalks to their home. Stella would have followed any kid that wanted to take her home and of course she would have stayed if they had any kind of food. So I felt very fortunate that I found her when I did.

When I looked at the screen window that had been pushed out I was really happy that the screen had not been torn out like she did in Indiana 4 years ago. I was also happy that the window went back into the window frame with ease and was not bent beyond repair. Funny that a few months ago I tired getting that screen out to clean it and it wouldn't budge. They probably had not been taken out of the frame for the age of the house.

She was able to take the screen out of it's track with no problem at all.

So will I leave her out to roam the house while I am gone next time ... yes I will. Only I will continue to close that window so she cannot get to the screen. Will I let her roam the house on my next bike ride or a walk to the mailbox?  Yes I will ... only this time I will close that window every time I leave so she can't get to the screen.

If she finds a way to bite the door knob and get out that way ... then all bets are off and back in the crate she goes every time I leave ... but the difference here than the door in Indiana where she did open a locked door ... this door as a deadbolt that is locked.

No matter, what it was a great day on Thursday in the Wild West.

Do you like the change of the new post first thing in the morning or at the end of the day writing about that day? I find I have more time to write in the morning than I do at the end of the afternoon. I also don't stay up as late as I use to, so posting late at night about the day doesn't seem like an option. So at least for now, this is how I am writing ... about the previous day and posting early in the morning.

Stella's Wild Surprise !!!!

I first started noticing it in September as I took my short walks outside, maybe 10 minutes long, slowly building up time and distance to make it to the mailbox and back. At the time possibly not strong enough yet to walk with Stella but under the doctors orders I was not to have a 90 pound hound with the leash in my hand. But EVERY walk I took, she stood at the open living room window waiting for my return.

That was so much different than the time I left her like I did today. Front window blinds pulled to the side, the patio door left open for easy access in and out of the house, whatever she chose. Back then when I tried that, I came home to three windows having their blinds ripped out of the rails at the top, laying on the floor.

Then a few weeks ago when I started riding laps around my neighborhood getting up to 30 minutes long, she stood at the living room window waiting on my return and seeing me pass the house with each new lap. The patio door was open, which it is most of the time so the hounds can come and go as they please instead of being their doorman.

The blinds stayed in tact after those rides. She showed no signs of stress while I was gone that short period of time. Yet a little over three weeks ago I left her outside in the backyard with a full gallon pan of cold water in the shade, Heidi with her to babysit but I shut the patio door because I didn't want my blinds tore down.

Well what I had was a 26 minute video on my phone of a stressed out and sad bloodhound while I was gone. I have tried multiple time to send that video to friends by email or text and even tried loading into this blog for you to see or listen too but I was not successful in any of my attempts.

After I had completed my 33 minute bike ride this morning I returned to find my blinds still hanging normally. I had not done the usual laps around the neighborhood but expanded my ride a little to roads I had ridden before. I was out of her sight for 33 minutes. She was happy when I returned and I was even happier that the house was as I left it. I praised her like a new 8 week old puppy. She was happy.

I had plans to go to the bike shop to buy a bike carrier that hangs over the tailgate of my truck. I figured at most it would be a 30 minute trip. A perfect time for a Stella Anxiety Test. Lets see if she would be as good as she was this morning. I left the patio door open, the blinds pulled to the left and took off. I had no doubt that she would be okay for the 30 minutes I was gone.

I ended up being gone from 10:34am to 1:04pm !!!!!

Good discussions at the shop, met some new people that also ride, more discussions and then they offered lunch, more bike discussions and before I knew it I had been gone over two hours and a half. I will say in the 4+ years that I have had her, she has never tore up my furniture. She may have tried to dig through the bedroom drywall in Indiana, but no furniture was destroyed.

I figured at the worst I'd come home to find my vertical blinds ripped out of the rails and would laying on the floor. The company that replaced the previously damaged blinds told me my new ones had a lifetime guarantee and a "one time only" policy that they would replace for free, any blinds that would be tore down by a certain bloodhound.

I figured I might have to call and have them activate that "one time only" policy today.

As I drove past the house about to turn into the driveway, I saw her standing at the gate in the backyard. Had she been spreading the rock yard around trying to dig herself out? Or did she try to dig through the concrete patio floor like last week, when I left her outside with the patio door shut?

I could tell the windows in the living room all had their blinds the way I left them. That's a great sign!!! Lamps were still standing on the end tables. Nothing had been knocked off to the floor. Things seemed normal as I entered with Heidi barking to let me knew she had been taking care of things.

I checked each room of the house ... not a hint of paranormal activity. The rock yard was the same and no signs of wells being dug through the hard Arizona dirt by bear like claws at the end of a bloodhound paw.  The water bowl had half as much water as it had when I left but was not tipped over like past outings.

Things looked normal !!!

Gone two and one half hours and Stella was the perfect house dog!!!

A great day in the 'Wild West'

Morning Exploring & Hiking San Pedro

We started Tuesday behind schedule but still had time to do the things I wanted plus one project I didn't expect. I had a cup of coffee thinking Stella would be begging and whining to go on her morning walk since we were over an hour late. That puts us in a busy time of morning with people coming to work in the two buildings we walk behind and around. Some use the back road we walk on for their way to parking in the back. It was warmer Tuesday morning and that was a nice change.

When Stella didn't show back up in the computer room I was curious where she was hiding. Did she go back to one of her sleeping spots in the living room? The bedroom? No, I found her sunbathing on the patio and it was almost 8:30am. I guess she decided we didn't need the walk. That meant we could get an early start on my plans to explore all the dirt roads east of Sierra Vista.

She never moved a muscle while I made changes to her seat in the back of the truck, loaded water, the Nikon D3500 and a blanket on the passenger seat for Heidi. I had looked at the map for all the roads down by Hereford and up by the San Pedro House, and north of Hwy 90. I would find out later that some of those roads were not accessible to public traffic and had a locked gate crossing them.

With the cooler temps Heidi spends a lot more time checking out her back yard. She has adjusted well from a grass yard to a rock yard. Guess what has happened? Where she use to like to lay in the grass, roll around in the grass under the sunshine ... she had skin allergies. A constant battle from a lot of raw skin to hardly any at all. Well out here in the 'Wild West' and a rock yard with sunshine to lay under, all of that raw skin and those allergies have disappeared. She has had hair grow back where a vet told me once it wasn't possible.

On our previous trip to Montezuma Pass a few weeks ago I had folded down the back seat for Stella's area. That put it pretty high for her to get into with my help by lifting her hips while she climbed in. This way it's a good 6"-8" shorter by leaving the 'back' of the seat up, maybe not as comfortable but she didn't seem to mind. I have a fix for that lack of comfort, a small project.

We were on the road a little after 9am with the windows rolled down, only halfway for Stella. Both hounds enjoy smelling the millions of scents in the air. I cannot remember now how we got in this area. I know we started on Hwy 90, further north of these photos ... ah yes ... I turned off on Moson Rd heading south. While driving I was trying to remember the names of the roads that I had seen on the map that would continue for many miles instead of just dead end roads that led to someone's house.

There are so many roads like this in a 20 square mile area near Sierra Vista the local drives are unlimited. The truck that is just a few weeks old is getting broken in from a 'mall crawler' to 'a truck'. I can assure you from seeing the wheel wells the first time, that this truck has never been this dirty nor has it ever seen a dirt road in it's short two year lifespan.

The inside has basset hound and mostly bloodhound hair in it. The leather and plastic dash seem to be magnets for hound hair. With the daily brushing and Fromm's Gold dog food, the shedding has really decreased but for some reason it all settles inside the truck.

This is looking at the Mule Mountains and if you look closely at the end of the dirt road there is a fence so we were at a turn around point. For those readers east of the Rocky Mountains, some of you might not know that people live in these areas, school buses stop on these roads to pick up kids going to school. Many times the brush is tall enough to block out a view of their homes, some ranches. Barbed wire fencing usually marks their property line. We aren't talking one acre lots either. LOL

There is just something about the mountains in SE Arizona that are like magnets to me. I can't stop looking at them, driving towards them and taking photos. Stella must be enjoying her ride this morning ... she stayed in the back as I got out of the truck to walk for a better photo. Most of the time when I leave she hops up in the drivers seat. Have you ever had to move a 90 pound bloodhound over the console and back into her backseat before? They are a stubborn breed if that gives you a hint.

This is from me standing just on the right side of the truck, which is parked in the same position as the above photos. Those are the same mountains I see from my patio just a few miles closer. Each time that I travel this type of country or on the backside of Montezuma Pass, I do not see how it is even possible for anyone of any age, to cross the border and walk through this many miles to their point of being picked up by a car. It is not possible for anyone to care the amount of water they would need.

I would have liked to have taken that road to the right but didn't want to travel onto someone's private property. The map in my dash computer showed that road only went as far as that owner's driveway.

Heidi seemed to have enjoyed this trip much more than the first over the mountains. Once she realize that lower window in the corner was the the same height to her as she experienced in the Mini Cooper last year, she stood up with her nose out the window for most of the trip.

While I continued to head south on the dirt road I came to a point that I was crossing E. Ramsey Canyon Road so I turned right and decided I would check out my bicycle riding area. Once we crossed Hwy 92, this is the road I ride on almost every bike ride I took before my surgery. They have been busy while I was gone from riding ... they sealed the road and painted new lines. You can tell the rough texture of the highway makes it pretty vibrating on a 'road' bike. My new gravel bike will make riding a lot more comfortable and easier on the hips and shoulders.

I decided I would dive to the top of Ramsey Canyon. It's not nearly as high as the other passes and with the incline not so steep, it's a favorite for all bicyclists to ride to the end where the road dead ends as you pass campgrounds, cabins to rent and a B&B.

This is heading back towards town just past the turn off to the Brown Canyon Ranch House that I blogged about this past summer. I always take the highway when turning for home, riding on the right side of that white line or on the white line because I am riding between 27-35mph at this point. Going the opposite direction I will take that bike path you see over on the right side since I am going between 7-9mph ... it doesn't look like it but it's a long gradual climb, and gets the heart pumping to get you up there.

It was back home for lunch. I was going to leave the hounds home for the afternoon. They were already in the sleep mode by the time I finished a sandwich. I had thought the past few days of taking the bed cover off of my truck and for some reason it hit me to "do it now." I grabbed my tool box and some wrenches, slide the cover to the end of the bed and took a look. How hard or easy was this going to be? It turned out to be pretty simple and I had the cover off and stored in the garage in 15 minutes.

On the first one I took those nuts off the two screws facing me. then realized that wasn't needed since the screw facing the bottom of the truck is the one that needed to be taken off. Once I did that and loosened the other two, that piece slid right out of the end of the rail. There were four of them and that was all I need to take out to slide the cover off of the truck.

Yes, trucks do look nice with flat bed covers. They are convenient when hauling flat boxes to recycling, or tubs of plastic as long as it is shorter than the bottom of the cover. On three different occasions since I bought the truck just a couple of weeks ago, I have loaded and hauled things where the cover made the job much harder and one impossible. I decided you cannot haul stuff in a truck even with a bed cover that rolls back.

You never know when you might find some used furniture you would like to bring home, or a load of small landscaping rock for the yard or landscaping material if I can ever come up with a plan. Yes, the short 4' bed is a problem sometimes but it's not like I'll be loading 8' pieces of drywall or plywood. I was happy with my decision and so is my friend up in Phoenix who has been wanting a bed cover for her Tacoma TRD Off Road pickup.

She wants a cover because she hauls snowboards and camping gear along with a couple of friends that sit in her backseats. So the bed cover would be perfect for her use. In the meantime I'll store it out of the way in the garage until she can came down to pick it up. I'll install it for her before he heads back north.

Due to all but one of my bicycles being moved inside the house taking up the third bedroom that never turned into a guest room, I have plenty of space to store the bed cover until she has time in her busy schedule to make the 200 mile trip south.

It looks more like a truck now and I may not haul a lot of things but when I need to it's there. Plus they have something that folds over the tailgate that protects its as you sit a bike up in the bed with it's front tire hanging over the edge with this wheel folded against the truck. That will come in handier than buying some sort of bike rack. Why would I need to load a mountain bike or that new 'used' gravel bike when I can ride most places from home?

Because out at the San Pedro House there are many hiking trails that are wide and multi-purpose trails. While I was hiking one of those trails for an hour and a half yesterday afternoon, I had one bicyclists pass me, a jogger, I saw dog prints on the trail as well as horse hoof prints. I am not in good enough shape to hike the 4 miles one way to the Miller Backcountry Camp but I could walk for as long as I wanted. I'd find out what my turn around point would be as I walked.

I didn't bring my small backpack with me but I will next time. I had one trekking pole in my right hand (surgical side) and a 64oz water bottle in my left hand. My Nikon with the strap installed was slung over my shoulder riding on my back and my phone was in my left rear pocket for easy access for taking those photos. It was a beautiful day, 83° with a cool breeze ... 1:36pm.

As I walked along the path I would stop not only to take photos but also to listen to all the quietness. No sounds of traffic or barking dogs. No one talking on the sidewalk, no jets at least in that picture, and no sounds of construction ... just complete silence.

Soon after I started I see this sign knowing that as much as I would like to hike all the way to the Miller Backcountry Camp I wasn't going to be able to. My hip is not in that good of shape yet and I later found out at the end of my walk, neither were my calf muscles. Yet I could still walk for as far as I wanted, plus I wanted to get back to the car by 3:30pm. I had enough time to walk an hour and a half.

I kept track of the road so I would not stumble over a rock or run into a snake. I still spent enough time looking at the beautiful skies as I walked once I saw the type of terrain in front of me. Another thing I really kept a look out for was goathead thorns. A few weeks ago I had one come completely through the sole of my Merrell hiking shoes that I wear as my every day shoe. I didn't want that to happen again and would step over more than a few thorns laying on the path.

The park employees had recently cut back the brush from the side of the trail. There you can see the different kinds of traffic. This will be a great path to ride my mountain bike and I plan to do that very soon. I can also ride the gravel bike on a trail like this. Riding to the Hereford Bridge and back would be about 16 miles. I am not sure how long it will be before I can do that length of ride. The doctor told me to 'listen to your body' when I asked him "how far can I ride" on the 22nd of October.

As I continued a nice pace it was like I had the whole place to myself.

To think I am living just a few miles from the San Pedro River and can come out there to ride or hike as much as I want is just hard for me to believe sometimes. There are so many trails just in this area. When I was talking to the Park Ranger last week heading over Montezuma Pass, he told me I could hike the railroad track all the way from this San Pedro House to the border. That would be quite a hike and not sure I could do all of that but I'll put that on my list of hikes to do.

By the time I finished the hike I could feel some muscles that had not been used in 59 days. It was a good feeling knowing some muscles had gotten used and thus will get stronger the more walking I do. Needless to say the hounds had to check out my shoes before I took them off outside. These shoes are washable but with a brush I was able to clean  them enough for today's hike ... I am thinking Brown Canyon as I drink coffee this morning.

I am listening to my body as my doctor said and man is it screaming to ride, to hike, to walk, to do this or that. It will let me know when to take a day off, just like the Saturday morning I ignored what it was saying and went riding anyway only to wreck 20 minutes into the ride on the 7th of September and as they say "the rest is history."

Yesterday seemed like a turning point to where the day felt like a normal day.

Life is good here in the 'Wild West'