It wasn’t until we got ready for bed last
night that we realized our air mattress had a strange thing going on. It didn’t just lay there like a normal air
mattress…if touched or bumped, it rocked. It didn’t feel too squishy nor too hard. It was an odd thing but it was late and
beyond our brains to figure it out. We
both slept fine…no weird movement but this morning there was nothing graceful
about getting off it…the entire mattress had the same rocking/rolling sensation
and Kim was still laying on it as an anchor.
What gives?! Eventually Kim hit on the answer…the air in
it had probably expanded in the heat of the day which produced the rolling
sensation. And the trailer stayed warm
last night which didn’t allow for the air to contract to allow the mattress to
return to normal. I let some air out this
morning and no more rocking. Learning…always learning. 😊
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Kim started coughing yesterday and today woke
with a scratchy throat. Agh!…that’s
exactly how the flu started for us at the end of January. On the other hand, he has been out at the
telescope ‘til the wee hours of the morning …and it’s chilly compared to the
heat of the day. He’s usually awake by 8
a.m., which means not his typical 7 or 8 hours of sleep. He’s been getting more like 5, plus there’s
being out in the chilly night air. So we’re hoping it’s a cold, not the flu…and
maybe a cloudy night or two would allow him to catch up on his sleep.
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Kim
went up to the clubhouse this morning to work on processing his images from
last night. I stayed at camp, enjoying
the sunshine and playing Scrabble. I
play against the computer, which doesn’t play as strategically as one might
think but it makes up for that in sketchy word play. Today it played the word ‘pier’ and a couple of turns later
added ‘kem’
to it making a new word reading ‘kempier’. Really? Kempier? What universe are you
from?! Kim was nearby so I asked him to find me a definition for
‘kempier’. He could not find a
definition…even checked the online Scrabble dictionary, which apparently allows
it as a word but admitted it didn’t have a definition for it. Seriously?...the
dictionary allows words that have no meaning?
Aren’t those called made up words?! Come on!! I haven’t yet figured out what exact rules
we’re playing by…certainly not the rules that the board game defines. Tonight it threw the word ‘seiva’ at me…which
is a Portuguese word meaning ‘sap’, as in liquid from a tree.😕 So, it’s frustrating and I grumble but I keep
playing it because I like word games and, despite the fact the computer plays
weird words, it can be beat and I take a certain delight in doing just that.
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Today
we rode to the section of the Saguaro National Park known as Saguaro East--Rincon
Mountain District which is east of Tucson.
The section near us is Saguaro West—Tucson Mountain District. I didn’t know until a couple of days ago that
the park has two separate parts (mountain districts) with Tucson sandwiched in
the middle. Learning…always
learning. Anyway, the park map showed a
paved loop in the Rincon District so we decided to ride over to see what we
could see. Part of the Sonoran Desert
with lots of cactus/desert plants is what we saw. The nature loop is 8 miles long and one way so it was much easier to keep track of traffic on the hills and
curves. The park is a popular spot for
cycling…saw lots of people out on their bikes and as I watched one man pedal up
a decent sized hill in the 84o heat with the sun beating down on
him, I was grateful my bike had a motor. 😎 Although a person could wander out among the
desert flora anytime, the loop does have a couple of dedicated trailheads. We passed on those for a couple of
reasons: 1) we weren’t dressed for
hiking and 2) it was too darn hot to be
wandering through the desert heat.
However, if there was a javelina or gila monster to be seen, we may have
changed our tune on that one. 😏
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Kim
had another idea for editing the images from last night so he went to the
clubhouse when we got back to camp and since there were a couple of items we
needed from town, I jumped back on the bike for a ride to Coolidge, about 17
miles north on AZ 87. We’ve ridden 87
many times in the last two years so I knew the route...and I knew what I was in for. There are cultivated fields along that route…some
are already planted and some not. I’m
not sure of the crops, although some of the fields are already coming up green. And it’s interesting that in those green
sections, there is a noticeable temperature drop. I felt it on the way to Coolidge and on the
way home I not only felt it but watched it.
Zeus has a temperature feature, so I hit the button before I got to the
fields…82o. The fields are spread
out over about 10 miles…I watched the temperature drop to 70 in those 10
miles. And there was a dampness to the
air which may have contributed to the chill on my arms. I was very glad to get beyond the field area
because the temp climbed back up to 79o for the last 7 or so
miles. My arms had warmed up by the time
I arrived back at camp.
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We waited
until about 6:30 p.m. before taking our bicycle ride and we cut it short for a
couple of reasons…1) Kim wasn’t too excited about a 5 or 6 mile ride and 2) the
sun was setting fast and our clothes were not the appropriate color to be seen
in the fading light.
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Observations from the road:
*Even though I might be on a bike, the Tiny Dancer in me refuses to let me remain still when the song ‘Can’t Stop the Feeling’ comes on.
*The faces of kids staring at us through the
windows of a passing vehicle light up when we wave at them.
* Three year old boys get more excited about motorcycles
than about the desert.
*Things dry out quickly in the Land of Dry
Heat…for example: towels, bread, skin and dead skunks.
*Dried out roadkill doesn’t smell for long.
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Bicycle
miles today: 3.1
Bike miles
today: 186
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