As I write this, we are on the road. As the weather heated up in AZ Megan and Devin headed east to the dreary weather of Iowa. Most recently they have been dealing with severe flooding of the lakes and canals. Fortunately neither they nor anyone else we know in the area have been directly affected but the devastation is heart breaking for so many. Don’t forget the tornadoes either. Before they left there was a BBQ at the park to say goodbye to many of the winter visitors as they packed and headed for other parts. The food was delicious and the company was great.

Never ones to sit around, we took a couple day drives up north of Payson to fish on the Tonto Creek. As usual, Teri pulled in a couple of fish while I had lots of casting practice.

On another weekend we took a drive to the AZ Sonoran Desert Museum in the Tucson area. This is an amazing outdoor zoo with animals all in habitat that is similar to their natural habitat. The best time to go is early spring or late fall when the weather is cool. The cooler weather is good for you because there is walking involved, but it also brings out the animals.

Teri and I continued to hike and bike as long as we got out early in the mornings. It’s always a pleasure to run into friends I haven’t seen in a long time on the trails in this case it was Victoria and Chris. This time of year you also need to be mindful of the slinky things on the trails that resemble sticks but actually move. Yes, I’m talking about snakes. The majority of the time, they just want to be left alone and given a few minutes, they will slither off the trail and into the desert.

Sarge continues to adapt to life on the road. Recently he had been out on his usual walk around the park but when he returned, he was all out of sorts. His left eye was swollen shut, he was lethargic, he had a clump of matted hair on his neck. We called our usual vet clinic who could not fit him in to their schedule. We then called 1st Pet and they immediately made arrangements to see him. They were unable to determine what had caused the issue as they could not find any puncture marks or any debris in the eye. They did a complete checkup and we have found a new vet. They did provide us with some antibiotics and after a few days, the swelling went away and he is back to being his usual self. He did not want to wander out of the motorhome though which leads us to believe some animal got a hold of him. We believe it was some type of bird. As the swelling went down, we were able to see some scabs on his face, above his eye and along the left side of his mouth. In any case, he is fine and living well.

Have you been to the Goldfield Station aka Goldfield Ghost Town? It’s situated on the Apache Trail outside Apache Junction and is a replica of the historic Goldfield mining town. Take a walk along the boardwalk and see if you can hear the spurs jingling or the miners whooping it up. In any case, it is filled with history. Callie, Brett, Teri and I jumped on the steam locomotive for a perimeter trip of the town and then we walked into a gun fight in the streets.

Always on the lookout for something new to do, we found the Hall of Flame, the World’s Largest Museum of Firefighting. It’s located in Phoenix near the old Phoenix Municipal Stadium (now ASU’s home baseball stadium). Inside you will find a huge private collection of firefighting equipment dating back to the 1800’s when the fire engine were drawn by men, later horses and finally the gas engine. Each of the display’s has a story of where the engine came from and a description of how it was used as there were some very intricately engineered engines. The collection consists of engines from the valley and across the country. FDNY Engine 4 from 9/11 is on display as well. There is also a nice display covering Wildland firefighter with a nice tribute to the Granite Mountain Hotshots. If you’re not familiar with this Team, the entire team from the Prescott, AZ sans 1 was caught in a wildland fire and all perished. The movie is quite moving.

It’s always a good time to catchup with friends and we had a wonderful lunch visit with Ron and Vonette to tell stories and share our plans for the summer.

As my hip continues to get stronger, I continue to work with Kevin to dial in my training and nutrition. It’s not all fun and games…. Well maybe it is for him. VO2 testing, FTP testing and race simulations are all part of the training as I have my eyes on racing in the fall. While I’m on the bike, Teri is out hiking. I try to keep up, but she runs me into the ground.

Our last outing before leaving the valley was a trip to Tortilla Flats and then a dinner cruise on the Dolly Steamboat at Canyon Lake with Callie and Brett. A nice, calm, couple hour cruise on Canyon Lake with some wonderful company and a very tasty meal. The icing on the cake, so to speak, was seeing the big horn sheep coming down off the canyon wall to the lake to drink.

Well, we’ve reached the end of this chapter. Stay tuned for more as we head out on the road for a couple of months. Yep, it is July as I write this. Try To Keep Up…. as you can see I am having trouble keeping up.

Stay Safe.