Willcox, Arizona

I was up by 4am with very cold feet. I didn't sleep much after that.

At 7:40am I got out of the van to walk the dogs on the same route as the night before. Lynda was already awake and wanted to go with me, so together we walked our dogs on leash for 3.15 miles. I was now able to see what kind of stuff was along the route I had walked at night. The path goes right past the solar panels now along Wilmot Avenue, and behind a military housing area.

We didn't leave the FamCamp until 10am, when Lynda's friend Betsy (whom she met years ago when she was in the Air Force) joined us for breakfast. Betsy and her retired husband are year-round RVers originally from Texas. They are staying at a resort RV park off base because they like the outdoor activities the RV park she is with offers its RVers. Betsy is an avid hiker but has no dogs.

We had a nice breakfast/early lunch at Joe's Pancake house off Kolb. It's an old diner with old decor. We walked in and every table was occupied, with two other small groups waiting to be seated. By the time we were seated, we all knew what we wanted to order. Betsy and Lynda ordered breakfast; I had a gyro sandwich. What I really liked about the meal was the full-bodied coffee. Our server, Pat, said it was a new Colombian brand. The coffee made my average-tasting gyro exceptional. We chatted a bit. We all are women of the road, sharing our experiences across this country. Maybe someday I, too, will have a small RV, but that will come when I have fewer dogs and cats to tend to.

We finally got on the road by 11:20am, a rather late start. I was on Lynda's time,though, since I knew I couldn't go much farther than Las Cruces, NM with her, depending on how far we'd go tonight. After she gassed up, we were on I-10 going eastbound, with Lynda in the front as her Vanagon can't go as fast as my Dodge Caravan. Traffic was light and skies were clear.

We didn't get very far. I wanted to show her Texas Canyon and the hoodoo rocks off the rest stop, which was closed! I had to pee so I did so behind a parked road grader. We could see a dust storm coming from the Willcox playa and winds had gotten stronger. This scared Lynda as her van is too top-heavy to handle gusting winds well. I understood her concerns, so I suggested we stop in Willcox to wait out the duststorm. We ended up staying. Railroad Avenue impressed Lynda, as this is the kind of stuff she envisioned small western towns were like. We walked the dogs a bit on Rail Road Avenue, much to the chagrin of one pink-collared boxer who followed us a bit. The homes here were small and fenced with chain-link. Yard were cluttered with all kinds of once-useful items. We rested in the shade of a large cottonwood and chatted some more. I stayed with all four dogs at a bench in the shaded park while she went to an antique store.

That's when I realized I had locked my keys in the van. DOH! That's a first. I had locked them in the van when I went to get bully sticks for the dogs. Luckily I called AAA right away and within 20 minutes a local locksmith came by and was able to get the door unlocked. He was a grizzled older man perhaps my age, with tanned, leathery skin that has seen too many Arizona summers. I didn't realize it was that easy to break into a locked vehicle. At least we didn't loose too much time and a disaster was averted. By now Lynda must think I'm really scattered-brain with my keys. I admit, I am!

Lynda now wanted to get a room for the night. We stopped at Motel6 where a local man, David, sold us a room for $47.99, a deal off the marquee's lighted $79.99 for two people. We didn't say we had four dogs, just "cute" dogs. The first room was accidentally already occupied so we walked in on a sleeping couple and a gurgling scream. Oops. The second room was better. This room, room 110, had no carpet and instead a tile floor that was peeling off in sections, stained bed covers and a missing air vent in the bathroom. While superficially clean, this is the kind of room that would not earn even three stars, but we didn't care. It was perfect for dogs! Less hair on the carpet! It was 4:20pm and I wanted to show Lynda Massai Point in the Chiricahua National Monument 40 miles away. This is a scenic overlook with clear views west of Sulpher Valley. We piled up in my van and took off through the dust storm.

Oddly, the dust storm stayed over the playa. Once out of that, the sky was clear again. There was hope to see the sun set from Massai Point and see the hoodoos glow a golden red. That was not to be, as the road to the point was closed to road construction. No cars or hikers were allowed on the road past the barriers. We had no options but to turn around.

The only option here was a short walk along Bonita Creek, one of the few trails were pets are allowed. Lynda has bad knees, though, and wanted to quit at a 1/4 mile. We had already walked over 4 miles today and I was OK with a short hike. I had come to the Monument to show her the vista and a short walk along a dry creekbed was a meek alternative.

The dust storm coming back had intensified. The light grey was now a dark grey and blocking off the low run. Dust was packing up against the Chiricahua foothills as the sun was now glowing its last rays by 5:45pm. We ate dinner at Isabella's in the Historic old town as darkness enveloped the town. Service here once again was slow as one server waited on the entire tables. I never got a refill on my Diet Coke and getting more chips also took a while.

Winds were not bad yet, but tomorrow's forecasted high winds (thanks to Storm Kayla) concerned Lynda. We returned to the hotel room, now getting ready for the night. We both were on our laptops while we watched the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) awards. Half the actors were people I didn't recognize. I turned the lights off after the 10pm news. Thirty-four Mexican drug cartel members were arrested crossing into Arizona from Sonoyta, Sonora. The other big news, which concerned us more, was the powerful winterstorm and freezing temperatures for southern Arizona. A deep freeze is now in effect for Sunday night and Monday night. Flagstaff may get another ten inches of snow.

A day in Tucson

I didn't awake until 7:40am. Kevin was long at work. He will not wake me up if I'm sound asleep, and he knew I was off today. I didn't get much sleep the night before, always waking up to the sound of Sadie's whine. My original plan was to get up with Kevin, have coffee, and by 9am get ready, pack the van up and take off no later than 10am to meet Lynda in Tucson. Her Vanagon was still laid up at the European Auto Works on the north side. We had plans on meeting at noon and waiting to see if the van would be ready today. It had been in the shop since Tuesday afternoon.

I took Sadie and Zeke this time, leaving a crestfallen Minnie back at the house. Minnie would enjoy the mini roadtrip, but she is unpredictable around smaller dogs and can bark a lot. Both Sadie and Zeke have proven themselves to behave well around other dogs. (Sadie is more aloof, but at least she avoids confrontations with other dogs unless nose-to-nose with them on a hiking trail.)

Both dogs did well on the 100-mile drive to the Motel6 off Ina Road where Lynda was staying. It took me two hours driving, as I stopped south of Benson on SR90 to let the dogs walk for 15 minutes. Our usual rest stop is across SR90 from the Kartchner State Park, where the dogs can poop and pee on a dirt trail, and where even I will sneak a pee under the shade of a palo verde.

Traffic was decent for a workday. I got to Motel6 at 12:40pm, with 20 minutes to spare before Lynda had to check out. She was already waiting by her open first-floor window. She brought her two dogs Gracie and Buster. Sadie met Gracie when I road tripped across Oregon in 2014. The dogs all got along right away. There was no barking, no snarling. Only Zeke seemed a little nervous around little Buster.

For the afternoon we drove around Tucson with four dogs and a full-packed back area. Gracie,Sadie and Zeke sat close to each other in the back of the van. Buster sat up front on Lynda's lap. It was in the 70s and dry. We had a late lunch at Inn-and-Out, walked briefly along the Rillito River Wash, returned to the autoshop at 4pm as the van was ready, and from there decided to spend the night in town, at the Agave Gulch FamCamp (RV Park) on Davis-Monthan AFB. I've been here twice before when visiting Tuscon for the annual book festival in March, but would Lynda be allowed to come stay with me, since she is not military-connected?

Getting a pass for Lynda was quite easy and we were on base within 20 minutes. We didn't have to wait at all. We drove straight to the Agave Gulch FamCamp (RV Park), claimed site P-28 next to the Phantom Court Overflow parking, let the dogs in the dogpark (I took Zeke and Sadie on a separate walk as Sadie gets nervous around unfamiliar dogs), and then opted to have dinner in town, just as the fire red glow of the Catalina Mountains breathed its last colors for the day.

I suggested my favorite Italian place, Oregano's on Speedway, but Oregano's was packed with a 30-minute wait. That was too long with the dogs waiting in the van. We had gourmet pizza at the Serial Grillers on Speedway instead, two blocks east of Oregano's. Pizza was quite good! I had a vegetarian pizza with onions, spinach, tomatoes and feta cheese. Lynda ordered a Mr Brooks with various meats. The place isn't very big and the air was stuffy, but we both enjoyed a decent meal. A size small pizza would have been enough for both of us. Instead, we took the leftovers with us. We just had to keep the food away from the dogs, as both of Lynda's dogs are very food-driven.

It was dark as we got back to the RV park. We parked next to each other. While Lynda got herself ready in her Vanagon, I took the dogs on a dark but quiet walk along the dog path, a dirt road/maintenance road that went along the outside of a family housing area off Mustang Drive, making this a 3.79-mile flat walk on a pleasant winter evening. I cheated and even let the dogs off leash for two miles, along the darkest sections away from the homes.

Weather is expected to start storming tomorrow evening. We are still unsure of where we should go. Lynda's destination eventually is Austin, 905 miles to the east, but we may either make Silver City, NM or the Chiricahuas are destination for tomorrow.

Full moon hike to Brown Canyon Ranch

There's too much snow up Carr Canyon Road to lead people up to the reef safely. I had explored the Garden Canyon connector trail both last week with Sadie and yesterday after work by myself and deemed this scenic enough. Nine people signed up including new gal Melissa. HollyO, Marlena, EricS, Robert, Jeff, Jay also showed up. Zeke was my hiking dog, since he does well on leash and in large group.

We met at the Garden Canyon Park trail head off Cherokee Avenue. At 4:30pm we took off, with one person who had signed up, Karl being a no-show. Still, this was a good turn out for a new hike. We were quickly on the trail that followed a southwesterly direction. There were plenty of mountain bikers still on the trail.

Moon rise was at 5:50pm, so I had our pace timed just right. After a short water break before reaching the old ranch house, we made it to the overlook with ten minutes to spare. This was my planned rest break. But to our disappointment, the mooon quickly hid behind clouds after poking over the mountains' silhouette. Then it didn't pop back out again for ten minutes, after which we had to get off the rocky hill and resume our return hike. This was the darkest full moon yet!

Morelater

Brown Canyon loop

This is a hike that Nina had scheduled. Eight people showed up at the trail head: Robert, SteveT, Rick, SusanM, Marleana (new gal), Bill and Claire. Nine was running late so we took off at 3:10pm. For me it was making sure we would get out of the canyon before it got too dark. I was tired from yesterday's hike and walked slower than normal, hoping this would give Nina a chance to catch up. I brought Sadie and Minnie along, but in the future I'm going to take only one dog on a hike this big.

Weather was warmer than last week's Brown canyon hike. I wore a fleece sweater this time, underneath my thin Marmot rain jacket. Luckily, though, there was far less snow on the north side of the hills than last week. This week's 60-degree weather has helped melt away a lot of the snow. The water by the horse through, that was frozen over last week, had melted away. There were still some smaller ice packs in the shade of the trees, but nothing like last week.

Robert kept saying to us that he wanted to show us something at his RV and we all obliged. What could that be? A pile of dead mice? (He'd been fighthing the vermin as they were found chewing the insulation inside his truck). No, that was not it. He had surprised me with a birthday cake and the entire group sang Happy Birthday to me outside his RV before we went back inside to enjoy the cake. Both dogs were tied up outside, but I sat near the open door so that they knew I was nearby. They whined but did not bark and never took their eyes off the front door.

He bought the cake at the commissary and it was quite tasty, with a creamy white topping that didn't have the super-sugary topping of most cakes. We ate the entire cake before resuming the final mile back to our cars at the trail head.

I can't remember the last time someone acknowledged my birthday. This surprise was quite humbling.

Power walking the Fitness Trail (week 3)

I was actually looking forward to this. I took Tuesday off from walking due to fatigue, but after my day at the high school today working with students with behavioral issues, it felt great to get out and walk off any stress. I was so excited about getting started, that I got to the start point 15 minutes early. I kept thinking we were taking off at 5pm, but the start time is actually 5:15pm. I came early to my own event!

It was noticeably cooler today. There was a crispness to the breeze. I had Zeke with me, who is becoming my favorite work-out dog because he walks so well on a leash, is very friendly toward people and other dogs, and doesn't bark.

All six people showed up and we started on time: Jeff, Jay, HollyW and HollyO, and Tiffany and her two dogs (she is a foster for Arizona Cattle Dog Rescue). Jeff, Jay and I were up front and the other three gals were just behind us. This was HollyW's first power walk and she finished in 1:23 hours, which I reminded her was faster than my first time.

I wore the same brown vest I wore for school, and my arms therefore never warmed up, but I walked once again at a 15:20 minute pace. Once everyone was back, we departed and went our own way. I was very proud of Zeke, who sat next to me for the entire drive home, looking up at me with that "Did I do good again today, Mah?" look. I'm really falling for this dog. I am so glad both Kevin and I had patience with him when he chewed through everything during his puppyhood.

My ankles were sore when I got home, and fatigue once again overcame me. I fell asleep in bed trying to read a book I need to review for Amazon. I was up again at 11pm and then couldn't get back to sleep. It's time I start taking melatonin again!

French Joe Canyon (Whetstone mountains)

I had no specific plans for today. I quickly scratched the idea of driving to Marana to hike the Tortolita mountains' Ridgeline trail to explore. When I got up I didn't feel like driving far for a hike. Then I remembered that I hadn't been to French Joe Canyon for a few years and wanted to explore the access road. Was it still passable? That two-mile dirt road from SR90 can take 40 minutes to traverse. Mud pits, deep ruts, big boulders and obstinate cows and horses all slow down the driver.

French Joe Canyon isn't very big. It's only two miles before it ends in a box canyon and an intermittent waterfall. It's the beauty of this hard-to-reach place that makes it so enticing. Lots of varied birds, reptiles and mammals live here. It's so hard to reach that only determined drug smugglers get through here, on their way north and bypassing the nearby USBP checkpoint.

JeffP contacted me earlier in the morning asking if I had any hikes planned. I told him about my plans for French Joe and invited him along. It's always safer with another person. He seemed interested in this canyon, so we met at 12:30pm in town and together we drove to the mountain range. He followed me in his own car and his dog Migo, that spunky little pug from the last power hike.

Drivers coming from Sierra Vista and points south of French Joe Canyon have to drive through a USBP checkpoint before turning into French Joe Canyon from SR90. I turned left at the first left-turn turn-off after driving through the checkpoint. That was the wrong canyon, as we were now in Dry Canyon and not French Joe Canyon, the canyon just north of Dry Canyon. Instead of turning around and going the correct way, we continued on Dry Canyon Road until it Ts with FR369, then continued right (north) on this Forest road until we hit a cattle guard with an 18-inch drop-off I knew my Ford Escape couldn't make without some undercarriage damage. We decided to park here and walk in, adding FOUR MILES to the total hike.

Those four miles wouldn't be so bad, but these are exposed miles and the sun was out. I wore a thin sweater with hoodie but kept my hiking cap in the truck. That was dumb of me, as that heat quickly got to me.

Migo and Zeke had fun playing. Migo chased after some cows (bad dog!) but I kept Zeke on his leash until we got out of the cows' zone before I let him off-leash. There was no one in this canyon except for three ATVers who were returning to their base. There was no sign of recent smuggling. And, much to my delight, there was plenty of water in this canyon! The dogs had a blast jumping into the pools and I never had to stop and give Zeke water.

The canyon was cool along the shaded rock walls along the creekbed, but when we got away from the shade and climbed up the rock slabs toward an unnamed and exposed saddle, I quickly was overcome by the heat and slowed down. We turned around and continued hiking up the creekbed instead, stopping at the dry intermittent waterfall. Most people turn around here, but a few adventurous people climb up the rocks and get into Kartchner Caverns State Park this way.

Jeff's knees were hurting so he stayed at the base of the waterfall. It was 4pm so I climbed back down myself, knowing that we didn't have much daylight to safely saunter back.

We got back to the trucks at 5:30pm. I was cold and hungry. We stopped at Chili's in SV for a late meal. Both Zeke and Migo napped in the trucks. I got home by 7pm and Kevin was already asleep. Zeke looked tired and I was exhausted, too, but this was a nice way to end a three-day holiday. Now I must drive back there and make sure I find the correct Forest Road into this canyon. I really want to lead this hike soon. It's best after some rain, when the creek is running and all the flora comes back to life.

Power walk with the hiking dogs

Sunday's hike with the dogs was unspectacular. I didn't feel like driving far for a hike. What did I do? I fell back to my usual routine of taking the dogs to Oak Estates late in the afternoon. It's only a three-mile drive to the start. All three hiking dogs were beside themselves with glee, pushing each other to get out the front door first. Sammy wanted out at first, but then went back to the front door. That told me he was hurting too much, so he stayed behind.

With the three hiking dogs that meant I could let them loose and we all would be walking fast. Sadie even trotted along side me, although Minnie and Zeke's antics got her running around as well. We did the loop road twice for a 2.3-mile romp at a 15:21 minute pace in 35:58 minutes. I stopped a few times for cell phone pics and to pick up some strewn water bottles (who IS the offender? This is not the first time I've come across trash on this empty road). Next time I'm going for three laps around with the dogs to see if they hang on. They run around for the first loop but are more tame the second loop. By the third loop they should be all three right by my side.

The Garden Canyon connector trail to Brown Canyon

SteveA from the hiking club mentioned that walking this connector trail would be a nice moon walk. I decided to check the trail out this afternoon with Sadie, who hadn't had her solo hike with me this week. I parked the truck at the trail head parking lot off Cherokee Road and headed in a southwesterly direction. This is a single track that follows a dry but shallow drainage. Tall grass cover this area, with mostly dead mesquite trees dotting the landscape. Tire tracks revealed this is a popular mountain bike trail. Two cyclists and a lone hiker with dog came the opposite direction.

The view into Garden Canyon is lovely from this trail. The trail was originally built with aid from the city, and with help of the Huachuca Hiking Club volunteers. The trail was built to connect to the Perimeter Trail on Fort Huachuca, but access to the fort is now restricted to military-affiliated personnel. A fresh strand of concertina wire now block any public access.

The Garden Canyon connector trail is just a little over a mile long. It then follows the fence line of the post for almost a straight line into the Brown Canyon Ranch house. I had never hiked this in all the years living here. The trail lies low here with nearby slopes blocking the eastern horizon, so there is no direct view east of the Mule mountains from behind which the moon rises.

The sun was getting low once I got to the Brown Canyon ranch area. This is all too familiar area, though. I hiked into the canyon for a half mile, then started that short ascent to the trail head, from which one has spectacular views into the valley. The moon rise here would be nice. Sadie was off leash here as we then descended down, stopping at the two oaks with the three pet memorials underneath, and then circling back to the ranch house. I took the wrong trail back (I didn't go far enough around on the 1-mile Nature Loop at the house), so I missed the correct trail back. I knew I wasn't on the right trail because I was farther away from the military post than I should have been, as the aerostat was also farther away. But I knew the area I was in. What I did miscalculate was how far off in direction I was going.

The sky burst into pastel colors at sun set and I was walking due east. The homes around me were rather stately. It had been years since I had been in this area; perhaps the last time was when I did a local 5km run with the Thunder Mountain Running club one Thanksgiving. The homes lie on 4-acre lots, many of them lack fences. It's almost a sin to make any noise here, but the neighborhood dogs took care of that.

I was walking on Pocho Trail eastward and I knew I needed to be more northward, so I turned north on Whitewing Road, then east again on Yaqui Road which has a 35mph speed limit and no sidewalks here. Not good. Traffic makes Sadie nervous. I should have turned north on Calle Encina as a shorter spur trail would have gotten me back on the Garden Canyon connector trail. Daylight was waning, though, and I bit the bullet and stayed on pavement.

I ended up walking 7.65 miles and got back to the truck at 6:30pm. It was a nice walk and I got to see the wealthy part of Sierra Vista. Even with that wrong turn off the Nature Loop near the ranch house, I still got a nice walk in with Sadie and got to experience another beautiful sun set. The connector trail continues on another mile east from where I was parked. I want to check out the trail head there.

Brown Canyon Loop

I knew ahead of time that I was off work by noon on Thursday and scheduled a five-mile loop. I hadn't hiked this pretty canyon in a while and starting a five-mile loop hike at 3pm would give us plenty of time to finish in daylight.

We started promptly at 3pm. Seven people showed up: SteveA and SteveT, Nina, HollyW, Claire, Pat and SusanM (hadn't seen her in months!). We met at the trail head off Ramsey Road and walked this loop in our usual counter-clockwise direction. Weather was mild with a slight overcast. I wore my red Marmot rain coat as a jacket. Minnie was my canine companion for the day.

We quickly broke into two groups. SteveA stayed with Nina and Claire in the rear and the rest of us trekked in front. Despite the recent snow, we had no visible accumulation of water in the canyon. The trail in part was wet from melting snow and showed heavy tire grooves, but no additional water for Minnie. We didn't have any traffic going the other way to worry about, except for onie cyclist coming down Brown Canyon Road as we rested at the horse trough.

We didn't have snow until we hit the shaded parts of the trail. Some of the north-facing slopes showed some snow on the ground. There was a thick layer of ice around the trough, which radiated cold. Here is where the thin rain jacket failed me. Despite an undershirt over my blouse, the cold quickly swept through my body. My hands got cold and so did my torso. The cold was here to stay and I had to move on to warm up again.

The north side of this road was the iciest on the trail. How do the mountain bikes manage? There were frozen grooves here and we had to watch our footing. I didn't want anyone falling and hurting themselves on my watch. We were moving slowly, like an expedition across the Arctic Circle. The only one who didn't mind was Minnie, who seemed to still find sticks and stumps under layers of frozen snow.

It was 4:30pm as we reached the high point on this section and the shadows of fading sunlight were creeping over us. It seemed darker than it should be, with at least an hour left of sunlight and perhaps no more than 1.5 mile to go. We were not breaking any personal records today, but that also wasn't our intention. Our goal was to make it safely across to the southern part of Brown Canyon road where there would be no ice or snow.

SteveA showed us the off-road trail that would take us directly to the parking area, bypassing Ramsey Canyon Road. We didn't take the shortcut due to the waning sunlight. "It's too snarly" said SteveA about the bushwhack. But someday I'll explore that route.

I never could warm up again. My hands were in my jeans pocket as we closed in on the end. I had underdressed for this hike, leaving my red fleece pullover back at the house because it was too warm on me at 3pm. Big mistake! My backpack didn't leak water this time, so at least all the moisture against my back was sweat and not a leaking blister bag, but at 5:30pm, standing in the trail head parking area, I was cold! A large cup of hot tea would have suited me best, but instead I was coaxed to join Nina, Claire, SteveT and Holly for a post-hike meal at Native Wings where I had two cold Dos Equis with my chicken strips. Robert joined us later. We were at our table for over an hour, chatting and discussing other hikes. I didn't come home till after 8pm. How quickly time flies when among friends.

An afternoon with Chip

Chip is Carol's husband. He is still grieving her loss. I had been remiss at visiting him more often. I think the last time I saw him, it was October, and we sat outside and chatted. I worry about him.

I had a weekend workshop with the school district on Brain Injuries. I drove home, had lunch and then at 3pm drove out to Tombstone to see him. Never wanting to arrive empty-handed, I stopped by PetSmart to get him some Iams Original, the catfood that Carol preferred feeding her cats. (I don't know why she fed that brand to her cats, it's not even decent kibble with all the corn meal in it!)

Chip now has a little MinPin he had adopted from the Huachuca City shelter. He named him Stan. That little dog is a little demon! The entire time I was talking to Chip, Stan barked at me. He was pissed that I was close to Chip. Even when Chip put him in another room, Stan barked incessantly. When I was in the same room as Stan, that dog would attack me from the rear, nipping at my pantsleeves. "Ankle biter" is an appropriate term for this dog!

Stan aside, talking with Chip made me realize how lonely he is. He's holding up OK, but he told me repeatedly "If it weren't for the cats, I would have killed myself a long time ago." Those words haunted me all night long, that I couldn't sleep at all. Memories of Carol, her raspy voice (and that smoke-filled cough that ultimately was the first sign of her lung cancer) and her softness for cats came back to me.

Chip wanted me to take photos of her grave. Carol was cremated and her remains buried in the backyard, where her many other former cats and kittens, some whom she tried saving from the Tombstone Animal shelter, are also buried. A statue of an angle holding a goose is above her. Next to that, a happy cow. No other markers are here.

Driving back home was depressing to me, especially since one of the prettier sunsets broke out as I drove southwest on Charleston Road. I worry about Chip, but today I realized that it's not that I don't want to see him anymore, it's the intense sadness that overcomes me when I leave his house. Carol did not get the quality care she should have gotten when she was treated at the Tucson Medical Center. Doctors wrote her off as a warm body that will pay them their bills, and kept her alive solely for that reason. I just hope I don't get the same treatment when I reach the end of my life.

Power walking the Sierra Vista Fitness Trail

The Fitness Trail is a five-mile circular route that starts and ends at the city mall. It uses a paved multi-path the entire time. It's not marked as a "Fitness Trail," but it's an easy route city planners have decided to designate as a fitness trail. On my way to the schools I see people of all ages and abilities run, jog and cycle this loop. The only negative about this trail is that it's along the busiest roads in town and can get loud. At night the cars' headlights are blinding. I've walked it a few times myself, but always wanted to start organizing a power walk once a week.

So on Monday night I decided to host this walk for Wednesday at 5pm, risking rainy weather. By start time there were five people plus Zeke on a short leash. Not bad for just a day's notice. One of them, Jay, had just gotten here a week prior from Virginia and is looking for athletic groups to join.

All five people who signed up showed up on time: Jay, Bill K, Rick and Claire. Jay and I were quickly in the lead, but then Bill decided to jump from Baby Hares to the Hares and we averaged 15:40 minutes that first mile. Huh? I'd been trying to get below 17 minutes by myself since June but couldn't do it. Perhaps it was the group dynamics that made me go faster than I have in a while. The milder-than-expected weather also helped (rain was initially forecasted for tonight) and the pretty sunset at 5:32pm also was encouraging. Jay, Bill and I chatted the entire time. Claire and Rick were in the back and were slipping behind slowly, but I tried to keep a visual of them.

We walked the five-mile course in 1:18 hours. That's a record for me by 14 minutes! We never needed to turn on our headlights. I said good-bye to Bill and Rick and then walked back to make sure Rick and Claire were OK, adding another .6 mile to my total distance.

I was also proud of Zeke who kept up with the pace. I didn't give him any water until we were back home. The work-out energized me. This is what I need to do more often: seriously push myself to excel! It's so much easier and more fun when it's with a group.

I now have another walk scheduled for the following Wednesday at 5:15pm. I hope this becomes a regular walking group so that newcomers can join whatever group they can hang with: the Hares, the Hares Not and the Baby Hares.

Back home

My road trip to Chicagoland was a success. I got to see the family, spend some time with the grandsons (however short), and get a lot of walking in.

The weather started out dry, but after the heavy rains on December 23rd, a cold snap blew across the Great Lakes, we had a bad ice storm the day after Christmas, and highs the second week never reached the 30s. By then I was glad to get back to Arizona, where 40-degree weather seemed like a heat wave.

I had worried about Sammy while I was gone. The day I left, Thursday, December 17th, he struggled to get up on his hind legs and I had to push his legs up. Kevin mentioned in a phone call on the 23rd that he didn't look good, and that we should prepare for his demise soon. That saddened me, of course, especially since my stepmom's 18-year-old cat Frazier is also now losing weight and has arthritis in his hind legs. When Frazier dies, she will not have any more animals, and at her 72 years, said that was enough heartache.

So when I drove back to the house after 4256.8 miles, I wanted to open the door as quietly as possible. I wanted to surprise the dogs and revel in a boisterous homecoming. It was dark out, with little ambient light. The dogs recognize Kevin and my arrival each day by the sound of our car's engine and wait with excitement. When I say my usual "Hi, guys!" the dogs park and jump with glee to see their pack leader safely back home after fighting demons and dragons without them all day. The back porch was closed,the back light was off, but the dogs sensed someone was in the back yard. All ears were up and all eyes were on me, slowly approaching the back door. What would they do? Did they already know it was me?

All dogs got closer to the door's windows. Sadie stood in the middle, head slightly cocked. All five stood side-by-side, including Sammy. I growled noticeably at my audience while still away from the door, that low guttural growl Sara taught me, and the entire pack started barking loudly. Sammy howled. When I approached the window I said "Hi, guys!," my usual greeting when I come home, and the entire pack went wild. When I opened the door, I got ambushed. Zeke jumped the highest because he simply can, dancing on his hind legs and insisting on being as close to me as the other dogs wanted to be. Who ever said dogs aren't emotional should have seen my pack. Kevin knew I was home then.

The dogs' water and food bowls were completely empty. That didn't surprise me too much, as their bowls were empty when I got home
after my T-Day trip to Texas. Several brand-new bags of treats that I had placed high on the kibble shelf were opened and the remaining plastic wrapper a silent evidence that they helped themselves to all the treats I got for them via Amazon's holiday "lightning deals" on dog and cat food and treats. None of that stuff was cheap! I poured them fresh water from the bathroom's tub faucet that is still dripping, opened a fresh bag of kibble, and let them love on me the rest of the night.

The dogs showed me more gratitude than my own kids did. Never once did either of them thank me for brazing the long drive back to Chicagoland. I expected at least a "Thanks, Mom, for driving!" from Eric.