A quiet New Year's Eve

 I had nothing special planned for today besides take Gretchen on a long walk.  It was her turn today.

It was another warm day, with an unseasonable 71F.  I had all six dogs tethered up outside in the sun with front and rear doors open to let the air through.  I got some cleaning done while the dogs were outside.

I didn't start my walk until 7pm.  We walked 4.15 miles in a large grid configuration.  We saw a few fire works off SR92 to the west but the immediate neighborhood was super quiet.  Not even the coyotes howled.

President Carter has died

It was another warm afternoon. At 3:30pm I had Hansel, Fritz and Zana in my Honda to drive nine miles to the San Pedro House North to let the dogs run for a bit.  I hadn't taken any dog down to the river since moving to my new place.

I turned on the NPR news while still in my driveway and learned that former President Jimmy Carter, our longest-living president, had died earlier in Plains, GA.  He had been in home hospice for two years, suffering from metastatic melanoma.  He was 100 years old.

He was president when I graduated from high school and the reason why I have always leaned left politically. It is not because I am for tax and spend - taxes are necessary for revenue- but because as a nation we must take care of our communities in which we live. Carter embolded that ideology perfectly.

tbc

Christmas Eve with Eric and Magaret

 Eric and I agreed to meeting halfway between Tempe and Sierra Vista.  Marana, a northwestern suburb  of Tucson, came up.  I chose to meet at Barro's pizza, an Arizona chain pizzeria I had never heard of before, with a start in 1930s Chicago. It was a 1:40 hour drive for both of us.  I took Zana.

I started the morning with a 10am walk with Gretchen to the mailbox and back.  She did fine today and seemed to appreciate the private walk.

I arrived at Barro's Pizza off Arizona Pavillions in Marana at 1:47pm.  Eric showed up three minutes later.  Perfect timing!  I parked in the shade as the rest of us went inside. Zana was content. She rides well..

We ordered a Barro's special large thick crust pizza.  This had pepperoni and ham among the veggies.  I pulled out the ham and gave it to Zana.

The place was quiet.  The dark wood interior reminded me of any Chicago-area pizzeria.  Eric and I also had one Angelo's Ale  each  (brewed by Four Peaks in Tempe). 

The place never got busy but we didn't want to stay long.  We also didn't want to drive home yet. Eric wanted to visit a nearby Barnes and Noble off Cholla Avenue.  We ended up staying in the cafe for almost three hours talking about family, Elon Musk (who seems to want to take over the incoming Trump presidency) and married life.  Both are interesting to talk to.  I watched the harmony between Eric and Margaret thrive today. I'm so happy he found a good partner. She understands his sarcasm.

This B&N is huge!  Walking inside it reminded me of the many times I took Erin and Eric to the local Borders in Monterey back in the mid 1990s for a cheap family night out, looking at books and then having juice or cocoa (or for me, cappuccino).  I'm glad this bookstore is still standing.

We finally went our separate ways at sunset at 5:30pm.  I wanted to take Zana on her private walk before heading home.  It was too dark to drive out to Tortolita Preserve north of town, which was the original plan, a mostly flat area of trails at the base of the mountain range.  Instead I opted for a quick three-mile power walk along the Rillito River Park.  It was 5:55pm when I started and a comfy 68F.  I kept my jacket in the Honda. We walked to Oracle Road east, a 1.5-mile section

A sign in the parking lot warned users to "secure valuables; high break-in area."  There were two other cars still in the lot.  A few homeless people were camped along the trail, but didn't bother me.

The Rillito River Park is part of Tucson's 54-mile circular Loop.  I completed the Loop in sections over an 18-month period last year but I always enjoy walking sections of it when I'm in Tucson.  While the path officially closes at sunset, there were still people walking or jogging after dark.  I let Zana off leash for most of this jaunt and called her back when I saw people approaching.  She did beautifully with her commands.  I could tell she enjoyed her walk, too.

Stores along my drive were now starting to close.  I cruised past empty, dimly-lighted parking lots.  I wanted to try out one more beer bar, Tucson Hop Shop, but when I came in at 7:50pm the owner said they had already had last call and were closing at 8pm, an hour earlier than usual.  It looked like a cozy place but I'll have to try it out another time.

At this point I decided to just drive home.  Zana slept in the passenger seat for most of the drive.  I think she appreciated the heated seat!

Winter Haven Festival of Lights in Tucson

Today would have been Kevin's 71st birthday.  We would have had  our annual meal at Texas Roadhouse and then gone home.  He did not like exchanging presents.

I drove into town at 10:30am to have my tires checked for proper inflation.  My rear left tire was down one PSI but all looked good.

This year was Winterhaven's 75th anniversary. I packed my CR-V with recyclables and drove with Gretel for this event.  It was 4pm. 

I had planned to get there at the official start at 6pm, but decided to grab something to eat first once I saw the heavy traffic.

I had a quick dinner at Istanbul restaurant, a Turkish place I had always wanted to try.  Food was good and filling and the place kept busy.  I left after 30 minutes to drop off my recycables and head back to Winterhaven.

I had a hard time finding a place to park.  All the usually empty lots of banks and 9-5pm businesses were taken over by private vendors asking $10 cash only to park in these lots.  I don't carry that much cash on me and went to the west side of Winterhaven, in a quiet neighborhood off Linde and Tuscon Avenue.  Homes here are modest middle class brick ranches on small 1/4 acre lots.

I was last to this event over ten years ago with co-worker Alicia and her dog Luna.  I remember the congested traffic around this housing area of modest middle-class homes on the North side of town.  A big difference year was the warn evening temperature. It was a mild 64F at 7:40pm. I wore a light Carhartt jacket and I was comfortable.

Gretel was on her best behavior today.  She is reactive to other dogs so I held her leash close to me, but she only lunged once and that was at a small dog.  She didn't bark, but she did sniff every person who got close to her, just to make sure they were safe people.

I kept track of my route via Strava and followed the crowd.  Most every street is lighted up.  There is a traffic circle in the middle of this district that had a few food and drink vendors..What this place needs is a hot grog vendor like they have at German Chirstmas markets.  I do miss my German KrisKindle markets.

I always enjoy the more spiritual displays.  I'm not fond of dinosaurs or plastic Disney figurines for Christmas, or large inflatables, but kids like them and it apparently sells.  Tonight I enjoyed the more creative or humorous displays and there were plenty of them.  I also enjoy mature pine trees decorated with lights.

By 8:30pm the area had quietened down.  Most of the families with young kids had left and now there were tourists. By 9pm my phone was running out of battery power so I made it back to my Honda and stopped at Casa Video for two beers in two hours before heading back home at midnight.  Gretel got complemented on her quiet behavior. 

https://winterhavenfestival.org/

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The crosses of Bisbee

I took Wolfie on a three-mile walk down my street in the late morning.  He does so well on-leash when it' just me and him.  He only pulls when he sees other dogs.  But I also had other plans with the dogs today

I had originally planned on driving to Tucson, but my low tire pressure light came on when I started the car. Since walking up to the shrines was on this week's bucket list anyway, I opted for the shorter drive. I took Hansel.

I should have driven to Bisbee an hour earlier, though, as the sun was already behind the mountains when I reached the crosses. I was too late for the golden moment.

I didn't stay on the hill top for long as I knew the way down would be steep and rocky. I stayed only long enough to see the street lights come on.

We followed a faint footppath that went down along the big white "B." We made it down back to the Gulch as darkness set in. Tourists were already leaving and the town was quiet. We walked to the lighted peace sign back to the Honda

The hike was 2.9 miles.  Only 1.2 miles was to the crosses and "B."  The rest was walking the dark streets looking at landmarks lighted up.  It gives the town a whole new character.  I even found Earl's Cafe!

 

Full moon walk with Wolfie

Mural Hill with Bill and Fritz

Update on Hansel:  He is back to his ornery self.  He managed to dart outside at 10pm last night when I went to let Zana back in.  Gretel was right behind him.  Zana then turned around and ran off with the other two dogs.  They didn't come back until 5am this morning.  He is no longer limping but has developed a palm-sized hot spot above his rear left leg. 

I don't mind when one dog gets outside as one will stay nearby.  But when two dogs get together, they tend to roam the area and I have no idea where they go. I try hard to keep more than two dogs from escaping at once. Every now and then they outsmart me.

So anyway, Bill and I met at 8:15am in front of the Old Bisbee Brewery to start this hike.  I took Fritz this time, who ended up doing a beautiful job all day.  We began this hike in front of the Old Bisbee Brewery, hiked up some stairs to OK Street to the end, then hiked the unmarked trail to our destination.  The trail is a connection of overgrown mining trails.

The land around Bisbee is owned by a mining company.  It doesn't officially allow hiking in the hills around town, but no one enforces that as there are trails everywhere.  As long as hikers don't camp, hunt or vandalize the area, we can continue to enjoy the area.

It was 40F at the start, upper 50Fs when we got done.  I never took off my jacket despite two other layers.  I was never cold, but I created enough sweat to get chilled when I took my jacket off at the top.

This was Bill's first time up Mural Hill.  He enjoyed taking lots of photographs so I would walk on ahead with Fritz (who stays by my side) while Bill would stop to take photos.  We averaged 26.34 minutes/mile.

There weren't any flowers out and there was a brown smokey haze to our north.   And despite the initial chill, it was a good day for a hike.  There were some clouds overhead, but what kept us cool was the shade in the last  two miles going up the hill.Fritz never showed any heat exhaustion.  He was thirsty when we got to the top, though, as there is no water along this hike. He drank most of the water in my quart Nalgene bottle.

We rested about 20 minutes at the top.  Fritz got some cooked chicken but I discovered that I had left my snacks back in the Honda.

The 7.3-mile hike took us 5:50 hours with 1968' elevation gain.  We took a short detour to see the Buddhist shrine which Bill enjoyed a lot.  Near the shrine is a beautiful thin-trunked long leaf pine.  I haven't seen others like that in our area.

⁸

I was tired and thirsty in the end and stopped in the brewery.  Fritz was tired, too. It 1:45pm and the place was quiet. People slowly came in during my visit. He was mellow the rest of the day.

https://www.strava.com/activities/13068291099

***

It was a busy week for news.  On  Wednesday morning an assassin killed the CEO of United Healthcare while he was in NYC for an investors conference.  He was shot dead in front of the Hilton Hotel.  Brian Thompson was 50 years old.  The killer is still on the loose.

On Thursday there was a 7.0 earthquake off the northern California coast. Not much damage on land and no tsunami followed.

And today the Assad regime in Syria collapsed.  Assad flew out of the country to an undisclosed location.  Rebels have taken over.  This is going to be a headache for Trump when he takes over again.

 

Bisbee 1000 with Bill and Gretel

 First an update on Hansel. His spirits are back up and so are his ears.Yesterday he insisted on sunning outside by my Honda and today he did much of the same.  He is walking faster but still with a limp in his front left leg.

Two nights ago Fritz and Wolfie were outside overnight.  Fritz came back with a limp in the same leg.  I'm thinking he may have hurt his leg jumping over the fence.  While both Fritz and Hansel have leg injuries and both are slowed down, that leaves me two less dogs to have to walk.

Today I took Gretel on the Bisbee walk with Bill. She's great on leash but she is very reactive to other dogs. I need to do some remedial training with her as there are always plenty of dogs in Bisbee.   

Weather started out at 49F but it warmed to upper 50s two hours later.

The autumn colors in Bisbee are now waning.

I came back home at 11am with a small crockpot of simmering Cajun chicken stew, my second meal in that new cooking device.  I'm really liking its practicality and convenience.  I want to explore with more recipes.  The 1.5 quart makes two meals at a much cheaper cost than microwave meals.  This keeps me from getting tired of leftovers but the pot is too small for a whole chicken.

I spent a few hours this past weekend watching  YT reviews of electric tricycles.  Once my backyard fence is complete, an eTrike may be my next purchase.