Wolfie's follow-up appointment

Today's 3:45pm appointment with Wolfie was a quick follow-up to see if the carprofen and gabapentin tablets have been helping him heal.  I got to the vet office early to enjoy the AC, but then didn't get seen until 4:15pm.

In short, he is healing but he may forever have a slight limp because of arthritis. His injury is a "partial cranial cruciate ligament injury" or CCL and is common.  He got that after a dog fight in late April   The good news is that he lost four pounds and is down to 101 pounds. I was happy about that.  I'm sure the other dogs also lost some weight because I discontinued the food bucket.  No more grazing.  I would like Wolfie to lose another ten pounds.  Two years ago at the ABC clinic the DVM told me 90 pounds would be ideal weight for a dog Wolfie's size.  Back then he weighed 98 pounds.

No surgery is needed but he has three more weeks of medication.  He's also still on kennel rest.  I'm to slowly get him on walks again, starting with five minutes at a time.  He's probably already getting that much when he walks around the back yard to pee.  I go outside with the dogs around midnight before I go to bed, so that all the dogs get a chance to pee.

He was so mellow with the DVM. He was a bit nervous but let her touch him.  Other dogs make him nervous and I made sure we sat away from other furry patients.  

I went to my old lot to put out the trash once I left the vet office.  Trash pickup is Thursday mornings. Lehman Lovegrass is growing out of control since the rain earlier this week.  That stuff gives me allergies!  Once I finished with pulling weeds, I took Wolfie on a 0.6 mile walk around the block and he did fine. That was a ten minute walk. There are so many weeds growing everywhere and the neighborhood is green.

Students go back to school next Wednesday.  I'm back to part-time work and that's perfect for me as I get to pick my own hours.  I'm easing into retirement for the next six months. I plan on doing some extended weekend get-aways once the weather cools this fall, but I'm done with full-time work.

Flash floods and late night storm

 My morning started as the routine: get up early for grocery shopping as some of the best deals are when the store .opens.  I was out of raw chicken for the dogs..

The weather forecast called for severe storms later in he day, but there were no clouds in the morning.  Instead, the clouds formed gradually and slowly in the late afternoon.  I was back home by the early afternoon, did some gardening, and then chilled.  I like being safely at home with the dogs when it storms.

I spotted one of the doves with one of her chucks huddled on my front porch railings.  It's so sweet to watch them.  I wasn't expecting this last clutch to leave the nest after only ten days as the chicks looked so small. 

The day was otherwise uneventful.  None of the dogs was walked.  I stayed with them in the backyard shortly after sunset.  The clouds along the southern sky were billowing and by 9:30pm it began to rain.  This rain slowly increased in intensity before my phone screeched three times to warn of flash floods in my area

By 10:30pm it was a steady storm with impressive lightning and thunder. This was the first overnight rain and we needed it.  We never lost power

Lehner Kill site trail head

We have been getting good rain every day all week  I have been avoiding my usual trailhead because of the mud. It's too slippery to walk along the river. Today I opted to take Fritz and Gretel to the river via the Lehner kill site parking area. It's a 13 mile drive and about 20 minutes of driving.  Along the way I saw a voting station at the Mountain vista Baptist Church off Moson Road.  I had completely forgotten about the state's primary today!

It was very humid when we got started. I kept my eyes to the ground to avoid stepping on snakes

 It was a quick out and back. The river was swift and muddy but not at record level yet. 

We were back by 11am and soon the storm began. It ended quickly 

er

I had a Yelp! event to attend in Tucson that started at 6:30pm.  This was my first event in a year. That was still hours away, but the weather forecast was iffy at best.  Rain in town does not mean it will rain in Tucson, 70 miles to the NW.  Or the other way around.  So I spent a few hours packing and organizing my recycables and realized that I had been remiss in keeping everything organized and clean in the kitchen area. This would only be my third time in Tucson this year, when normally I prefer to go every 4-6 weeks.

Clouds were looking rather dark as I left the house at 3:20pm.  I dropped off my mail-in ballot at the station and drove off.  I gave myself extra time for the drive because of the forecasted rain.  I-10 is a deadly stretch between  Lordsburg, NM and  Phoenix.  I hate driving to Tucson when it rains.

Luckily, the interstate traffic was flowing well.  I didn't hit a slo-go until I reached the Kolb-Irvington intersection in Tucson, where a two-car collision slowed traffic down.  That extra hour I took to drive into town saved me, as I got to the designated parking  area at 6pm.

 

The even was to promote the new Sister's Restaurant.  It was already open and customers were dining.  It's next door to the old Benedictine monastery; thus the name.  I sat near other older people and actually enjoyed chatting with Dolly, who had just returned from Israel, and Trevor, who is al aready a Yelp friend.  Trevor and Dolly hit it off since their spouses know each other.

The food was very good.  It's a place I would return to as I like the outdoor patio.  The frozen Pina Colada was also very good.  It serves a variety of specialty pizzas.

At 8pm the event was officially over.  I had been keeping check on the sky and was worried about more rain coming.  There were more dark clouds moving in from the south.

My last stop was a beer bar on Broadway, the Broadway beer and wine bar next to Rocco's new location.  I had hear good things about it.  It was just past 9pm and I had an hour to enjoy the place before closing.

I sat outside and sipped an orange Hefeweizen from Moorland park, CA.  It was good.  I didn't have enough time to enjoy a second different beer so I left at 9:50pm, walked  around the parking area to get a feel for the place before starting my drive home.   There are so many good eateries in Tucson to still explore.

The rain that came stayed to the East.  I had no trouble getting home except for fatigue.  I stopped in Benson to rest and finally made it home at 1:30am to six very happy dogs.

Gretel goes to the vet

I finally took the courage to take Gretel to the ABC pet vaccine clinic in Tucson.  I had been postponing this all week because of the threat of rain.  Driving in Tucson during a rain storm is not a pleasant experience as the roads are badly maintained and the  drivers are impatient and rude. The I-10 interstate across Arizona is also one of the deadliest in the western part of the country.

This was my  first trip to Tucson since the war with Iran started.  I missed the city.

I wanted to get there by noon.  Instead, Zana pushed her way out the front door with Gretel so I decided to change plans and run the girls down to the Lehner kill site  for two miles.  That delayed my departure by 80 minutes. I figured Gretel would appreciate the run before sitting in a car for two hours.  She's a great passenger as she doesn't whine or move around much.  She just finds a comfy spot and naps.

I used today's trip to pack up some recycables, but only took enough that wouldn't impede on Gretel's comfort.  I was on the road shortly after 11am. The clinic closes at 5pm so I still had time.

The day progressed near perfectly.  The overcast sky kept the temperature cool in my Honda and there was no stifling triple digit heat in Tucson.  The bridge construction slow-go east of Tucson was minimal.  The recycling bins by Ward 2 were recently emptied.  And when I got to the ABC vaccine clinic, I was told it would be an hour wait, but I ended up getting called in within 30 minutes! 

Gretel got her rabies, Lepto #1, DHPP, and Bordetella.  I also had her microchipped.  She was a good patient but I kept her muzzled because she gets nervous when strangers touch her.  She weighed in at 64 pounds.

I left the clinic by 2:45pm; a good time to get a late lunch  somewhere before the busy Friday night dinner scene.

I chose a dog-friendly restaurant on the NE side of town: Poco and Mom's.  It's a highly-rated NewMexican restaurant with a covered patio.  But by now it was just past 4pm and a flash flood warning screeched on my phone and dining al fresco was unlikely.

The host seated me inside where two other tables were eating.  My meal was good, Gretel rested, and I left feeling stuffed.

The restaurant was close to the Morris K Udall park so Gretel and I walked the perimeter.  The sky was dark and it did drizzle at first, but the rain bypassed us and stayed in the mountains.  We walked 2.2 miles around the perimeter to a cool 78F.

The park has all kinds of sports fields for young and old, but the lower one-third of the park is just dirt paths for BMX.  Here's also where I came across several homeless encampments.  Other than that, the park offers a lot of great options.

My last errand was a stop at the nearby Coffee Xchange for a large green mint and peach iced tea.  I wanted to wait out any rush hour traffic.  The sky was still looking dark, but once I got on the road by 6pm, I left the rain clouds behind.

We got back home just minutes before dusk ended and were welcomed by five happy dogs. They were all curious to smell Gretel's butt. They left my butt alone.

Sierra Vista was dry today, but heavy rains are back for the weekend.

Fritz, Gretel, Zana down to the river

Heavy rains were forecasted for the afternoon into overnight, so I took the half pack to my favorite trailhead shortly after sunrise.

Skies were dark overcast and storm clouds to the north and south of me provided not just a cooling trend, but pretty colors as well. The recent rains have greened up the flora, which contrasted nicely with the dark sky.

The dogs were loving the cooler weather and frolicked along the way.

The river bank was a little dryer than my last trip earlier this week but river was just as muddy and free flowing.  The paw prints from earlier had all disappeared into the damp mud.

d

I made the two mile mark my turn around as I didn't want to linger  While there was no immediate threat of rain, I had errands to take care of and needed to get into town before the deluge.

I lost track of time and finally made it into town to drop off Wolfie's urine sample from last week and to get groceries.  Clouds to the south were ominous-looking, and it even began to rain in big drops as I goti on Ramsey road,   This prompted me to drive a little faster to the vet's office and then Fry's foods.  It never rained while I was in town.

Then the forecast said rain after 3pm. Then 4pm. By 5pm it was changed once again to late evening and overnight.

z

It drizzled a bit after sunset, but we didn't get the deluge I was looking forward to.  That was a big disappointment as I've been holding off driving to Tucson to get Gretel's vaccines updated.  Her rabies expired on the 12th.

One good thing to report;  the second of two chicks hatched this afternoon.  The first one hatched yesterday.  This is the third clutch for the dove and both chicks are very small.  Their size seems to be determined by how many eggs the mother bird has lain in the season.  Both eggs took two extra days to hatch

Hunter Canyon with Hansel

Palominas Trailhead

After three days of decent rain, I opted today to check out the Palominas trail head, the same area I wanted to check out last week but changed plans when CCSO was in the area.  I wanted to see the water flow.

I took Fritz, Gretel, and Zana.  Fritz and Zana together like to explore, leaving Gretel behind who prefers to stay close to me.

All three were excited to get out of the Honda.  Getting to this trailhead is almost three times longer than the Ramsey trailhead, so all three were anxious to start running. 

This trailhead was once popular with equestrians as the wash is used to get to the San Pedro river.  It's mostly exposed until one reaches the shady canopy of the cottonwoods.

Recent rains etched into the banks, leaving behind water marks, fallen trees, and dead debris.  The closer I got to the river, the wetter the wash  until it became impassable and I had to walk up on the ridge.  I didn't want any of the excited dogs to knock me into the runny mud.  My clean pants were already mud-caked anyway, and my Keens coated with mud.

A week ago this was a dry wash.  Today the muddy river was flowing swiftly high above its bank.  I made the Palominas bridge my turn-around.  There was no dry trail now.  Tall grass cover the ground here and the soil was very saturated/ I wanted to get back to firm ground and away from the slick mud.

To extend the walk, I stayed in the wash and walked east-southeast, past the sandn cliffs that continue to erode with each storm, and made South Paloma trail my turn-around.  This dirt road travels south just shy of the border. There is a three-foot drop from the road into the wash here; not a safe place during a flash flood. I will explore the southern part of the road another time.

I took the maintenance road back to the parking lot, passing two red crosses noting were two border crossers died. 

We were moving for just over an hour.  It was already 80F when we got back to the Honda at 8:30am.

I will come back here once the soil dries.

Wolfie goes to the vet

I made this appointment the Tuesday after Memorial Day.  By then Wolfie's limp had already been going on for at least three weeks.  Yesterday I cut his usual three-mile walk down to two because he was limping badly and I had to constantly stop to let him catch up with me.  

The appointment was for 9am.  Getting a specific dog isolated is always a chore, so I began at 8am.  On the end it wasn't too challenging this morning with raw chicken to distract the other dogs.  I put a  muzzle on him when we got to the vet office as Wolfie is  reactive to other dogs.

I didn't have to wait long to be called in. I was called in to wait in the exam room so that Wolfie wouldn't stress out over the other dog in the waiting room.  I appreciated that gesture.  My DVM was Dr Sasso.  It's the first time we met.

As for the exam, I had a full blood panel and X-rays done of his rear right leg.  Because of his reactivity, he was sedated and I was to pick him up in a few hours.  That was fine with me as I used that time to get my hair cut and vacuum out my Honda.  Two hours later, finishing up my Honda, I was told to come pick Wolfie up at 11:30am.

In short, Wolfie has a partial tear of his knee tendon and arthritis forming on it.  Two weeks kennel rest and twice daily carprofen and gabapentin.  And I was sternly told to work on weight loss as he's 105 pounds (which is two pounds less than 18 months ago.)  The goal is to get him down to 90 pounds.

Where's the river?

I had Gretel, Hansel and Wolfie in the Honda on my way to the Palominas trailhead this morning at 6:30am for a quick jaunt down to the river.  I wanted to see how low the river was here.  But then a USBP helicopter and a CCSO vehicle were heading in the same direction so I opted instead to park by the Morning  Star Cafe and walk to the abandoned Mormon Boy's camp to see the river.  This camp is just south of the Palominas bridge on the west bank of the river.

The camp has been abandoned for as long as I have been here. It was closed in the 1980s after heavy flooding. Sadly, the abandoned camp is now gated shut with a NO TRESPASSING sign posted.   The directional sign to the camp has been replaced with a NO TARGET SHOOTING sign as well.

I continued on the overgrown path south and parallel to the dry river,  I went to the dry river bed once I was back on BLM land, just to keep the dogs in the shade.

They found one small pool of muddy water just before returning to the car.

This was a short walk of just three miles.  It was disappointing due to the lack of any water and the closure of the old campsite, but the dogs enjoyed the romp.  The cloud cover diffused any heat, but even the clouds faded once we got back home.