Driving trip to Yuma

We enjoyed sharing our behind-the-wheel duties, during a fairly long driving trip in Jennefer's newish CR-V hybrid, to visit her sister in Somerton, Arizona, just a little southwest of Yuma. Our route took us west and south to Kayenta, AZ, where we stayed the first night, then to Somerton for several days, then up through Las Vegas to Zion National Park for two nights, over to Moab for a night, and then home. 

I checked the weather a few times before we left, and while it looked like it would be snowing in the mountains before we left, it was supposed to be beautiful weather while we were driving, and that worked out exactly as forecast. I don't think our tires ever touched snow or ice, but we saw it all around us, in many places. Here's our beautiful view of the snow-frosted rock walls in Glenwood Canyon, while crossing over the Colorado River.

We passed near Monument Valley, and were fascinated by the strikingly beautiful geographic features that we could see from the road, in that part of the country. 

We continued the drive to Yuma on the second day, passing through snow-covered Flagstaff and "the 303 loop" around Phoenix. We stopped for lunch at Jacky's, a little food service truck with delicious Mexican food, in Buckeye. 

We spent several days visiting with Janine and Jerry, while staying at the Cocopah Resort in Somerton, which was far nicer than the Howard Johnson's where we stayed, the last time we visited. Jerry was kind enough to drive us around, so that Jennefer and Janine could make progress on their Pokemon GO tasks while we were there. We saw some cool looking Ringneck ducks at the Wetlands park, while we ate our picnic lunch.

He even took us down to the city of San Luis on the southern border, so we could look for a special Pokemon that was only spawning in Mexico. Jennefer did see one, when we got very close to the border, but it disappeared before she could catch it, and Jerry didn't want to appear to be loitering in that area, as that's apparently the kind of behavior that can get you adverse attention from the border patrol. 

We helped Janine harvest cabbage and cauliflower one morning, with her gardening group at the Yuma Agricultural Center. I learned a new skill of using the special stalk cutting knife, and got quite a bit of exercise bending down to cut away the heads, and carrying the full baskets to the large boxes. It looks like they will have donated around 25 thousand pounds of produce, when they finish the last few rows this week. 

We enjoyed hanging out with them at their house, with their two dogs and the one cat, all of whom were very shy the last time we visited, but came out of their shells this time. Jennefer was very happy that they seemed to recognize us, and had decided we were okay people after all. The cat, who was the most shy last time, even jumped up and spent some time purring in Jennefer's lap.

We drove through some pretty desolate country heading north from Yuma. It was quite a change, when we ran into some major stop-and-go traffic through Las Vegas.

We found our way through St George, and down along the Virgin River, to the lodge in the canyon at Zion National Park. 

It was raining and snowing at Zion most of the time we were there, so we didn't get to do much hiking. But we did enjoy walking around a little. I was struck by how almost everything in this view of the lodge went so well together, as we were walking back one evening. 

We enjoyed some gorgeous views of Mount Zion and Jacob Peak from our room. They were especially pretty, with their snow frosting.

The Red Rock Grill at the Lodge served us some delicious meals, and we also enjoyed the views of the peaks around us, while sitting there. 

We liked the way that the dining room had some beautiful photos arranged around the small view windows, and then when we focused on the windows, that view was even prettier than the photos, with the snow falling gently outside.

We stopped on our way out of Zion, and hiked out to the end of the Overlook trail. There were quite a few people on the trail, but the view at the top was amazing. 

Our last overnight stop was in Moab, where we went for a walk from one end of town to the other, then enjoyed a delicious barbecue dinner at the Blue Pig near our hotel. We were hoping to get some up-close views of the local area. Unfortunately, we didn't realize we needed to book a reservation to enter Arches Park, even during what we thought of as the off season, so the closest we got, was the long wait at the gate, only to be turned away. We shrugged our shoulders, and headed home a little early. 

We stopped for lunch in Glenwood Springs, at a tasty taco restaurant named Slope & Hatch, and due to limited parking, enjoyed a fun walk through town as well. We passed by the Glenwood Springs train station as we were walking back to the car. 

 

Here's one last look at the Colorado River, with a few kayakers enjoying their day on the water, before we got stuck in a long line of traffic trying to get over the Rockies, on the last leg of our way home.

Slam the Scam Day!

SLAM those SCAMMERS on March 9th (Slam The Scam Day), and on every other day as well! Yes, I realize I posted this way early, but it's a timeless message! Stick it to those slimeball scammers, by never losing your cash, passwords, or personal info to any of them! Remember the 4 Ps:

They PRETEND to be someone you trust. Look behind the facade, to the bogus email address or misspelled website behind the message. Be sensitive to ludicrous grammar and spelling. 

They reference a PROBLEM or offer a PRIZE. Be wary of those too-good-to-be-true offers, and too-crazy-to-be-true threats. 

They PRESSURE you into acting without thinking. Always take a deep breath, then take the time to examine the details for flaws in the message, before reacting. Consider asking a friend to help analyze a message. 

They require PAYMENT or PERSONAL INFO, in non-cancellable form such as gift cards, crypto, or cash-transfer apps. 

—————

When in doubt, delete and forget, or better still, mark as Junk or Spam, when that option is available. If you have the energy, forward phishing emails to the anti-phishing working group (APWG) at:

reportphishing@apwg.org

And/or to the US Gov Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) Spam fighters at:

phishing-report@us-cert.gov

—————

If you’re interested in some fun 😱 and relatively safe reading about scams, check out the subreddit r/Scams on Reddit, for some tales of woe and some great examples of the scams that people are seeing every day. Here's a link to that fascinating rabbit hole: https://www.reddit.com/r/Scams/

Cold Foggy Snow Day

We awoke to a thick layer of snow, on this cold 13°F Wednesday morning in Littleton, and it’s supposed to continue snowing all day. Sorry for the restricted view - the glass door fogged up, after Jennefer went out to feed the birds… It does seem to convey the general feeling of the morning, especially when I try to look across the valley, and barely see the trees through the fog. We’ve got an early afternoon visit to the gym on the calendar, but I’m wondering about this scratchy throat that developed yesterday afternoon, after our walk around the lake in the cold breeze. Hmm… yeah… no…

Chilly walk

We’re FINALLY getting out for walks again. There’s clearly a new dynamic: without Mandy to get us out, we’ve been letting the cold weather keep us inside for most of this year. The trail by the Littleton History Museum is still covered in packed snow and ice, and is super slippery in places. Not to worry - we’re being careful. 

Snow coming Wednesday

I just ran across this graphical snow accumulation forecast by Channel 7 News/Weather. It looks like we have an "interesting" couple of days in our near future... with somewhere between 10 and 27 inches of snow accumulation in the forecast. Oh, boy...

 

Here's a different hourly way of looking at the snow accumulation forecast, courtesy of AccuWeather. 

Here's an interesting graphical way of presenting historical snow accumulation numbers, from HowMuchWillItSnow.

Waiting for J's PET Scan

Taking a quick walk around the big block at Swedish Hospital, while Jennefer gets a follow-up PET scan. This seems like the proverbial O’Dark-30 time of day, although it's really a relatively normal 6:30am, compared to the old days… It feels a little weird and lonely, walking around the block here without my trusty companion dog Mandy, although it does allow for a much faster average pace… even with quite a few icy patches and piles of snow on the sidewalks and streets…

 

I've always enjoyed this view of Swedish Medical Center before sunrise, but was rarely happy about the reasons for being here.

 

 

Quick stop at Safeway, to load up on a few warm calories before my 26°F walk.

 

 

 

Looking West on Girard St, after coming down from the parking garage. Funny how the mountains look so magnificent to my naked eye, but it loses something in the translation to a photo. 

 

Billows of steam are coming out of the top of the hospital, as the heating system is working its magic.

 

There are still quite a few mounds of crusty snow piled up around the edges of the sidewalks and parking lots. I'm finding it relatively easy to avoid the slippery spots, as long as I keep my eyes on where my feet are about to land. 

 

Here's a slightly less obstructed view of the mountains in the sunrise, as I'm approaching the parking garage.

 

 

 

Update at 11:40am: Her doc just called - he said there is no evidence of cancer in her throat, just some scar tissue, which I assume is from the radiation treatments in 2020. Hooray!

Flicker

Cold 32° Sunday morning here, heading up to just 46°, with the 10-day forecast showing subfreezing lows every day. The star of this morning’s show is… the Flicker! They occasionally fly off, then come by low and fast, buzzing the other critters on the deck, and startling them, by appearing to be a predator. Then they land on the suet feeder, and nibble some more...

 

To misquote Skip Mackey, the flight commentator for our Atlas launch vehicle for many years, “The Flicker is in control!”

 

This House Finch was in the process of changing their mind about trying to land on the suet feeder.

ER visit

Jennefer’s had a nagging cough, ever since she accidentally inhaled some juice last week - one of the undesired side effects of the radiation treatments to her throat, is trouble swallowing - and lately it’s been sounding kinda wet, and we’re hoping it didn’t turn into aspiration pneumonia. Urgent Care’s X-Ray tech was out today, so here we are at the Littleton ER, to find out what’s going on in her lungs... 🏥

Here are my updates from the visit: 

* The initial check-in went ok - no unexpectedly weird vitals 👍

* The PA says her lungs sound ok 🤞

* He’s finally ordered an X-Ray of her lungs, and they sent us out into the lobby to wait 🥱

* I guess the PA got the X-Ray back, as they’ve pulled her back from the lobby, into a private room 😳

* And... it’s good news - the PA says he didn’t see anything bad in the X-Ray, so… he’s sending her home, and I guess we just hope it will resolve itself, over time. It does seem like her body takes longer to heal from things, since the radiation and chemo treatments. So… Woo hoo? And we’re off to home! (And we shaved 30 minutes off the usual 3-hour minimum ER visit!) 😅

Something fun

We had some minor excitement on this otherwise quiet Sunday morning… Jennefer was out squirting water at those rascally squirrels, and startled a couple of deer down below in the yard.

The deer had been quietly munching away, and started moving off cautiously, when they heard her using the squirt gun...

 

 

 

Jennefer’s Amaryllis is looking great, with all four blossoms out in full bloom, and a little blurry action going on at the tire swing bird feeder behind, as one House Finch challenges another, for that tasty perch.

Quiet Thursday

My fingers are crossed, for my west-coast family and friends, who just dealt, or are still dealing, with that weather bomb. Here are a few pics from our quiet 15° first Thursday morning in January.

Jennefer’s new Amaryllis popped up three of its January blooms in a hurry, once it got going, and we’re enjoying the rich color on our breakfast table! 

We’ve been experimenting with offering Cleo two different soft items to relax on - the blue blanket that Freddie made, and a little super-soft white blanket we picked up in Atascadero one Christmas. She alternated between them, with no apparent preference, so I tried stacking them, for the win! 

We watched Green Hornet last night. I had seen it perhaps a decade ago, and remembered that I thought it was really dumb. For some reason, I enjoyed it more this time (still dumb, though). Kato’s barista scene had me salivating…! Tonight, Cleo is preferring the blue blanket-bed that Freddie made... These paw prints in the fresh snow on Tuesday morning got to me. I'm not sure who came to visit, but for a brief moment, I was SO sad, when I imagined that it might’ve been Mandy, with no way to let me know she was out there in the cold. 

I finally put up another hook (far left), so we could hang the old bird feeder that I’d glued back together, after the squirrel-induced Great Fall to the rocks below. 

It’s hard for me to see both bird feeders at the same time, from my vantage point at the breakfast table. This is about the best I can do, if I lean back...

Mandy's things

Some people have been giving me recommendations on what to do with Mandy's beds and other items. So, just for the record, all of her things are going to good homes! 

I gave several bags of Mandy’s unused food, treats, and supplements like Cosequin, to Jennefer’s friend Sherry and her German Shepard Gus. 

Mandy’s widely varied collection of squeaky and fluffy toys are on their way to my sister Otamay and her four dogs Xena, Connor, Alfie, and Shakti. (Update: Received! Shakti is having a ball with her new toys!)

Mandy’s tall stack of beds and the remaining paraphernalia are going to her loving friend Jen and her little dog Stella. Jen used to care for Mandy, when I was working or traveling. 

I’m keeping Mandy’s name tag, the whimsical paintings that Sheila made of her about 10 years ago, and the plethora of photos I took of her doing things with us, over the last 15 and a half years.

The backpack

I just ran across the "Mandy supplies" backpack that I've been carrying around in my car for so many years. This one was really tough to go through, without completely losing my composure. It has lots of small and large compartments, all of which were full of the items that I wanted to have nearby, any time we left home with Mandy, including lots of dog bags, treats, and regular food, dog coats and a sweater, an extra leash, some small water bottles, medicine for stings or other injuries, a small "pets and people" first aid kit, a reflective leg safety wrapper band. And of course, the wonderful little doubled-up traveling dog bed that Freddie made for her, from a soft fluffy Costco fleece blanket, which I would toss down on any restaurant patio, and Mandy would plop down on it and relax, while we ate.

This backpack has gone with us on more outings than I can remember. For sure, I have fond memories of walking with Ken and Mandy down to Blueberry’s so many times for a turnover or egg sandwich and a latte, but also to Abe’s Cafe, IHOP, Littleton Cafe, Peaberry Coffee, Egg & I, Stone Creek Grill, and Born2Bake for breakfast. 

We visited Kristan at so many hospitals and long term care facilities, and explored their surrounding neighborhoods. This photo is from when I brought Mandy with me into St Joseph Hospital for a visit in late 2011. She learned to do so well with the elevators there, after her first few very anxious rides.

I brought Mandy to work with me, when dog sitting alternatives had dwindled to nil. Then there were walking adventures at Sand Creek / Northridge Park, Cheese Ranch Historic Area, Bluffs Regional Park, Chatfield Park, Roxborough Park, Cherry Creek Reservoir, Centennial Airport, Bible Park, Washington Park, Cheesman Park, Cherry Creek Farmers Market, Denver City Park, Sloan's Lake, Red Rocks Park, Meyer Ranch, Flying J Ranch Open Space, Devil's Head Lookout, Indian Creek, Garden of the Gods, Breckenridge, Saint Mary's Glacier, Echo Lake, Idaho Springs Reservoir, Estes Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, Zion National Park, Steamboat Springs, and Aspen. And of course there were our long driving trips to Atascadero, San Francisco, Benicia, Lincoln, and most recently, Yuma, Arizona. And the multiple airline trips to visit family in Lake Tahoe, Atascadero, and Florence, OR. 

So. Many. Memories. 🥲

Remembering

We’re doing something a little different this New Year’s Day - we’re burning a candle today, in remembrance of everyone we’ve lost over the years.

 

And speaking of remembrances, Mandy was such a big part of our lives, for being such a little dog, that the impact of her leaving is tremendous. Everywhere we look, we have a comfy little bed or other special place for her, so she could position herself to be able to watch our every move. It’s so painful, each time I pick up a bed and put it on the pile of stuff to go out... so here I go, itemizing them all, and maybe that will help me process, and then let go of, some of my more difficult emotions right now. Feel free to skip, or scroll down to read the individual photo captions, as you like…

 

Mandy’s (and now Cleo’s) water dish in the bedroom, and also, her first bed, a folding wire-frame dog kennel, which we only used once the first night to confine her, and then immediately let her out, and brought her up onto the trunk at the foot of our bed. The next night, she weaseled her way onto the foot of the bed, and then finally she was rewarded with a spot on the bed between us. The kennel, with its fluffy pillow, became one of her favorite and most comfortable places to hang out in the bedroom, for many years. We got her so many dog toys, which you can see on top of the kennel, but she rarely played with any of them, but we still kept them for all these years. She has an even larger collection of even smaller dog toys, under the table in the great room by the sofa. She rarely touched them, either. 

 

Mandy’s special blanket on our bed. After our first few days with her, and we realized she was going to end up on the bed with us, we always kept a small blanket on top of the bed for her. For years, I would just flip the blanket over her, after she got comfortable, which was only after I had settled down. Lately she had a much harder time getting settling in, which was one of many small and large clues that she was nearing the end.

 

Mandy’s bed and blanket in the back of my car, which was brand-new two weeks before we got her. She spent so many hours snoozing comfortably back there, as we were driving cross country, or just on the mornings while she was waiting for me to get out of breakfast, so we could go for our late morning walks…

 

Mandy’s bed in Jennefer’s closet. This was one of the earliest beds that we set up for her, in locations throughout the house, and it was the place she would patiently wait for me to get home from work, after our caregiver/housekeeper/dog-sitter left. When I started bike riding, she would wait in here for me to return.

 

Mandy had a bed behind the sofa, so she could hang out and watch us prepare our and her meals. Then there were two beds here for the past few years, as Cleo at some point started commandeering Mandy’s bed, which left Mandy standing on the hard wood floor, gazing at us morosely. Now this one bed is just for Cleo, if she wants it.

Mandy’s bed in my basement office, by my (now-vintage) desktop computer, which I’ve started using again for some activities, as the larger screen works much better for me at times. She followed me down, in spite of the blockade I’d put at the top of the basement stairs, and would snooze comfortably for hours, as I finished up my various e-chores here.

 

Mandy’s bed in the Study, near my (relatively new) laptop computer, which I was "forced" into getting, because the old computer could no longer keep up with my favorite activity, flight simulation. She would snooze here at my feet for hours, as I would plan and fly my many trips using the X-Plane and Microsoft Flight Simulators. This became her favorite place, especially recently, and she would often detour into here, when she was roving the house looking for where I must’ve gone, and I'd eventually find her here, waiting for me…

 

Mandy’s collapsible traveling dog house, usually in the corner of the great room, but currently in the Study, to make room for Christmas decorations. This became yet another regular place for her to hang out and supervise us. Cleo quickly decided that it’s also a fine place for her to get some rest in relative privacy, while keeping an eye on us.

Mandy’s airline carrier, by the fireplace hearth near the TV. She traveled quite a few miles with us by air, but when we got home, this became yet another place for her to hang out and supervise us, as we were watching TV, when she wasn’t cuddled up with us on the sofa. Now Cleo has decided she likes to hang out here, and has taken over the supervisory duties. Oops, I just realized, there is a bunch of Mandy traveling paperwork and other supplies stashed in the big pocket on the other end of the carrier - so I have yet another task of unpacking and dispositioning all those items. 

 

Mandy’s bed by the table in the breakfast nook. In her never-ending quest to keep an eye on us, she would settle down in this bed, any time we were sitting at the breakfast table. I found myself looking there several times today, as we were getting ready to go out for an errand, as lately I've picking her up from there, to carry her to the car, for our drive to pick up breakfast. She didn't need to be carried all the way, but it was expedient sometimes, to skip the extra time she took to get out of bed, stretch, stretch again, and again, wander behind us to the door, sniffing a few things along the way, and then for us worry about whether or not she would make it down the garage stairs without a misstep, and then pick her up and put her in her bed, in the back seat of the car. 

This is the pile of beds and blankets waiting to go somewhere. You can see that we've already made a little progress on removing some of these items that also have strong emotional ties, from the places where Cleo doesn't seem to want to use them.

Happy New Year 2023

I woke up in front of the TV, with Jennefer already in bed (after I fell asleep), and The West Wing running back-to-back, to loud booms outside… groggily wondering what’s going on… then I really woke up, and realized… oh, yeah, people are out there celebrating with their illegal fireworks, and it’s time to wish you a very Happy New Year in 2023! 

Devastating news - Mandy's gone

Mandy’s been having a really rough time the past few days, and thinking back, probably longer. Her regular Veterinarian hasn’t been answering their phone, and her regular Animal ER has moved far away, so I finally reached out to the new animal ER, CVSG, who took her in right away. It turns out to be bad - really bad - the kind of diagnosis where there will never be a good time without pain and drugs for the rest of her life. It is unbelievably difficult for me to say, but we came home without her. Rest in peace, my sweet little Italian Greyhound Chihuahua rescue dog. We had a pretty good run of nearly sixteen years, after her first two rough years. Jennefer and I are a couple of emotional wrecks right now. It’s helping a little to talk about it, while composing this announcement for all of you. Whew… This is a completely unexpectedly rotten way to end our year. Through my tears, I found some solace from knowing when she relaxed into my lap, that she didn’t have to suffer any more.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

 Quiet day for us. Jennefer still isn’t feeling all that well. She was a little better, so we went for a walk today, and the streets were all still icy from the snow on Tuesday. The sidewalks were pretty navigable though…

 We enjoyed a pretty sunset a little while ago, while we were talking to my sister's family in Atascadero. 

 Now we're just relaxing on the couch and watching an episode of the Netflix series The Crown, about Queen Elizabeth II...