First house guest in a year!

Being well past our two weeks for our immunity to peak, the Woman decided she wanted a house guest for dinner. So, she invited one of her friends, Elaine, who she used to volunteer with at Sunrise Hospital – back in the day when you could actually do such things. The Woman whipped up some enchiladas, and we had a nice, maskless dinner on our back deck overlooking the glorious Las Vegas valley. It was awesome!

Talk to you soon.

Post Easter

After spending a wonderful Easter with Nick and Val, Mallory and Rudy, we headed back to one of our favorite spots – Wrightwood California, in the San Gabriel Mountains. We were surprised when we got there that the Mountain High Ski Resort was still open. While only one chair was open and a couple of runs, the parking lot was packed and the runs were busy.

Our main mission was to escape the growing heat in the Vegas valley. However, as we always do when we are anywhere nearby, we set out to find sections of the Pacific Crest Trail that we had not hiked before. The big bonus for us this time of year is that folks through hiking from South to North were often just setting out at this time of year. We actually stumbled on, and talked with, a fair number of folks coming by on their way to the Canadian border.

We managed to find quite a few sections of the PCT that were new to us. Of course, the Woman was beside herself with joy. Even the pooch wanted to get into the act. I don’t know exactly how many miles we checked off on this visit, but I do know that it was well north of 6 (12 round trip). What a nice visit, and the weather was awesome!

Talk to you soon.

Post vaccine Easter

Since the Woman and I had both received our second Pfizer vaccination dose, we headed to San Diego for our first dining indoors in over a year. The Woman’s niece Mallory also lives in San Diego with her man, Rudy, so we got together for some cornhole and some Wizard. We even found some time to head into the Gas Lamp District in downtown San Diego, and even entered a few shops. It’s been so long since we have ventured into a business for other than essential needs that we were a tad bit uncomfortable. But we enjoyed the brief feeling of normality.

We also hadn’t had any hugs (other than between the Woman, the pooch and myself) in over a year as well. Having a sit-down dinner in Nick’s condo, sharing lots of hugs, and playing cards at the dining room table are all things, again, missed for over a year. We had a grand time, and look forward to when this may become more the norm than the unusual rare exception.

Talk to you soon.

Moon set

With our view of the Las Vegas valley, we see all the beautiful sunrises over the city. However, the best view ever is once a month when the full moon sets near Mount Charleston. On some of the mornings, it is truly a sight to behold.

Talk to you soon.

First attraction in a year!

Since we left Biloxi last March, we haven’t gone anywhere you would need to go into a building, unless it was absolutely necessary. We met with our attorney to update our estate planning which had to be signed and notarized in person. We had to do the same to close on our new home in Sun City Anthem. But yesterday, given that we have both had our 2^nd dose of the Covid vaccination, we splurged and visited the Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve. We actually had to go into the office and check in, but we masked up and took the plunge.

We had a great time, even though it was a bit chilly. We walked the entire preserve, and despite the considerable number of cars in the parking lot, we bumped into very few people, most of them masked. We spotted the normal water birds, but had some fun looking for more unusual spots. We found a Red-Faced Coot, which is a jet black ducklike water bird, with streak of deep red on the front of its face, and a bright yellow tip of its bill. We spotted one Snowy Egret dinning in the shallows of Pool 5. For the time of year, we really felt like we did good!

Talk to you soon.

2nd dose in arm!

Yippee! I got my second dose yesterday morning. It was totally without stress or issues – just hanging around in Walgreens with a small number of folks waiting for my needle to be prepared. I didn’t feel it at all at the time, and had no reaction whatsoever. Even the injection site has only a slight soreness, mostly just to the touch. In two weeks, my immunity will reach its peak – can’t wait! Tomorrow morning, the Woman will join me as she gets her second dose as well.

Talk to you soon.

Continuing our pre-Pandemic experience

We learned that about half way to Zion National Park, just outside the small town of Rockville Utah is the historic town of Grafton. Established by Brigham Young and his Mormon settlers, in the 1840’s, Grafton became a farming community supporting itself and other nearby communities. By 1864, nearly 170 folks farmed the nearby fertile fields.

A handful of buildings and homes from the mid-1800’s remain, and a historic district was established to try to maintain the structures. We got to visit all the buildings and even to stroll though the historic cemetery. The structures and the setting near Zion Canyon attracted the movie industry, and in 1969, portions of the infamous Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were filmed in Grafton, including the iconic scene with Paul Newman riding the bike with Katherine Ross on the handle bars.

Next, we tried to find Glitter Mountain. Also known as The Old Gypsum Mine or Sparkle Mountain, it is an active Selenite mine operated on BLM land just across the border in Arizona. Selenite is a variety of Gypsum still used on the manufacture of sheet rock for the construction and homebuilding industries. It is called Glitter Mountain because the crystals of Selenite literally glitter in the sunlight.

Google seemed to know where it was located, even though there was no signage whatsoever. We diligently followed Google’s instructions until we were 2 ½ miles away, and Google told us to park there and walk – estimated time of arrival over an hour. I ignored Google and kept driving along unpaved, but decent roads. At about a mile from Glitter Mountain, we came to a deep, narrow wash that Google said we need to continue in. It was too narrow to drive, in my opinion, so we set out to walk.

The ravine was actually a fun and pleasant walk. While it took us a bit, when we finally emerged from the wash, there it was – glittering in the sunlight, right next to the parking lot, complete with informational signs. It turns out that we could have easily driven right to Glitter Mountain, but just couldn’t find any source of direction. All in all, I think the way we came may have actually been more fun than if we had just driven there. We got exercise and still got to our cool destination.

Talking to you soon.