Friday, October 30, 2015

Odds and Ends

 

Not much exciting going on in our world. We’ve been riding our bikes most days on the many trails here at McDowell Mountain Park, but we’ve thrown in a couple hikes for variety.

The lovely Bluff Trail.

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We joined about 25 people for the full moon ranger-led fitness hike on Tuesday evening on the 4.5 mile Scenic Trail. Clouds rolled in that afternoon so it turned out to be a full flashlight hike instead. Still a good workout and met some nice people. On a clear evening we should have seen the sun set and the moon rise over the mountains as we climbed up the ridge. This was as good as it got.

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If the hike had just been scheduled for Monday it would have been perfect.

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We’ve been slowly getting things cleaned up, but have lots more to go. We didn’t know the Subaru could ever look this good again, after all the mud and dirt it’s been sporting for months.

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The hummingbird feeders have been busy, but not only with hummingbirds. Watching them certainly helps keep the cats occupied. The male and female Gila woodpeckers take turns getting a drink, but this female visits more often.

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Jim is feeling better, having quit taking the Protonix for his heartburn. He thought it was causing a mental fog so he just stopped it and feels back to normal with only mild intermittent heartburn. He saw the gastroenterologist yesterday who said his endoscopy looked great, and the biopsies were normal. We wonder if the Xarelto was the cause, since he is doing better on the new blood thinner Eliquis, but the doctor doesn’t seem to think so. They want him to have one more test for reflux, which he scheduled, but may cancel if he continues to feel better.

When we rode through the trailhead staging area a couple days ago they were already setting up for tomorrow’s Javelina Jundred, a 100 mile or 100K costumed running race that must be completed in 30 hours. We’ll have to go watch and see what interesting costumes people are running in.

Housing looks a bit crowded. We heard there are around 600 entrants. Wonder how many people per tent?

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And I am going to volunteer at the local no-kill cat rescue while we’re here, but more on that later.

16 comments:

  1. You should enter the race :) Hope Jim continues to improve and can skip the reflux test.
    missing you both,
    Box Canyon Mark

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  2. Beautiful! What camera do you use for those great moon shots!!?

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  3. Bummer about the full moon hike but it looks like you saw it well the next night. Glad to hear Jim is feeling better. I'll bet the race costumes will be fun.

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  4. It all sounds pretty exciting to me. Especially the part about Jim's improvement. Bet the race will be a hoot.

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  5. Beautiful sunset and moon pictures. We were all clouded in for it too. Great news that Jim feels better. I've had that same experience that the drugs the give me make me feel worse than what they gave them to me for. I quit taking mine too. Looking forward to a costumed race. Guess they'll have to be things one could wear for 100K.

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  6. Glad to read that Jim is doing much better. Hope he continues to feel good.
    Great photo of the full moon. Boy was it a beauty this time.

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  7. So glad to hear that Jim is feeling better. That 'housing' looks horrible! Not sure I could stand it for even one night! Can't wait to see the pics of the runners!

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  8. Sounds like a neat run, hope you get to see some fun costumes!

    Looking for a new sibling for Sophie and Elvis??? ;-) That is exactly the kind of volunteer position I would like!

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  9. We love McDowell but hiked at Usery today. Glad Jim is well. Checking out the burrowing owls in Gilbert tomorrow. Have fun with the cats.

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  10. We love McDowell but hiked Usery today and the burrowing owls in Gilbert tomorrow. Glad Jim is better and have fun with the cats.

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  11. It is so good to see some saguaro again:) Please add lots of photos!! Love the full moon and sunset:) So good to hear Jim is feeling better:)

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  12. I googled the javelina jundred. Are those people crazy? Running 100 miles, is that even possible? Even the 100 kilometers is rediculous. Glad Jim is feeling somewhat better.

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  13. Right down your alley.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2015/10/31/the-ultimate-beer-drinking-road-trip-according-to-data-scientists/

    Cheers
    Ed

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  14. Your woodpecker is so funny :-) Hope Jim continues to feel better - great news! I have a friend who competes in those crazy long runs - I don't know how they do it. Should be fun to see them in "costume".

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  15. Love your photos of the full moon and looking forward to photos of the Javelina Jundred. So glad to hear that Jim is feeling better.

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