“I just wanted to make it home”—Candice

And she did.  After she had called her run because of insurmountable obstacles, she ran an ten extra hours and 20 more miles to make the last leg of her journey….to her home, our cabin in Pine.  She said "I wanted to run home."

As she finished her run, we met her and her crew at the Arizona Trail Pine Trailhead.

Candice’s pacers and crew….friends and so much more!

Candice had the strength, courage, and determination to attempt the Arizona Trail FKT (Fastest Known Time) attempt.  She had put together a great crew.  When she reached our cabin in Pine, she was easily on target to break the current record on this 800-mile trail.  

But she had the wisdom to know when going further could be harmful to her body and possibly dangerous.  Calling the run and stopping took more courage than continuing.

We are so very proud of our daughter!

We love you.

Email response to: Emily's email asking: “How are you doing?"

 I am feeling so happy.  

My body will never recover.  I am trying testosterone treatments now, in the hope that I will have my old energy and enthusiasm and staying-power back.  It involves putting a cream on my chest every day, and then being careful to not touch Vicky until it dries.  I don’t want her growing a beard (that’s not a joke, actually, it can happen).  then I have to take a shower every afternoon to wash it off so I can still hold Vicky when I sleep.

Last week I got two cortisone shots in my wrists because they are so full of arthritis.  And I can’t take anti-inflammatories.  I know this is some repetition, but it’s just so nice to talk to you!    I don’t think the shots are working, but maybe a little bit.  I”ll give it more time.

We are going to do what we can.  We are planning a camping trip this week, up to one of our favorite spots—a grasslands area where there is an old, abandoned farmstead.  We like to imagine the peoples’ lives.  This is the place we want to have our ashes spread, so we’ll get the coordinates and work on a map.  It’s not hard to get to.  

Candice is running her attempt at the record for women on the AZT, so we have been involved some in that.  Keep your fingers crossed.  We had been riding our bikes for one hour every morning instead of for two.  We continue to dance, nothing has interfered with that (thank god).  

We do less walking—hurts both of us too much.  We’ll find out about hiking this week when we camp.

After taking the body blows and the rapid deterioration in my body (and the slower one in Vicky’s body), I think we have reached a new point of peace in our lives.  We are, after all, getting older, and the only alternative to getting older is worse.

And mostly we realize how fortunate I have been, how incredibly fortunate.  Our families give us great peace and happiness, and doing things for grandchildren is now even more of a life focus.  And importantly, we keep in mind that I have been really really lucky in my health problems.  Except for that Urology PA I would have died 6 years ago of a heart attack.  It was ready to blow by the time we got into surgery, and he is the ONLY doctor who could hear my heart murmur, which got me to the Cardiologist.  And then it appears as if I have a really good chance of having caught my cancer early….good thing or I would be dead by now (it’s that aggressive, unlike most men’s prostate cancer).  

Then, to have a heart attack with Vicky there who did the CPR.  If we weren’t always together, I could have laid on that bed while she was playing pickleball or something like that.

Here is another thing I think about, in trying to figure out the meaning of life.  All of my life I have had prostate problems—infection after infection.  In fact, 30 years or so ago the urologists started just giving me antibiotics so I could diagnose and treat myself.  Yet, it was those same chronic prostate problems that made it so that I was seeing an urology office when my heart problem was first diagnosed.  So, what had been, all of my adult life, something that was painful and a hassle ended up being a life-saver.  What an amazing part of my life.

We moved to the cabin this week.  Getting too hot in the valley to be able to be outside except in the dark and early morning.  Lots of heavy lifting and moving.  Hard for me, hard for vicky because of her back that continues to deteriorate.  But we did it.  And had fun.  Rewarding in that way.  We are a great team, so could coordinate how we hauled stuff into the shed and into the house. yesterday we spent some hours sitting on our back deck, just looking at the trees.

I feel like we have both “come to terms with” (always hated that trite phrase, and now find I need it) our deteriorating bodies and my illnesses, and each day progressively look forward to what we have rather than feeling down about what we have lost.  

Vicky is making me a “book” of my childhood photos.  I am picking out the photos.  I have spent a lot of time on it, and am enjoying it.  Doing that has given me a deeper awareness that I had a really good childhood.  But not only that, I can see in the photos how happy I made my mom and dad’s lives.  Just like you and Jules did for me.  People to love, grandchildren, and loving other people is the best feeling on the planet.

Thanks for contacting me.  I obviously needed to be in touch with you today.  :)

Love, Dad and Grandma Vicky

p.s.  as we do everything in our lives, Vicky read through this and made suggestions.  She called it my “thesis.”  I don’t get that. She said next time you’ll text instead of email.

We have migrated north for the summer

Mid-April at Nuestra Casa, our home in the Valley, is absolutely beautiful. 

But every day the temperatures have been creeping up a bit more.  The last few days it has been in the 90’s….too hot for us to enjoy long afternoons sitting out on our back patio.

Time for us to load up the Rat (Toyota 4Runner), hitch our electric bikes on the back rack, and pack the Turtle (F350 with our slide-in camper) with all we’ll need for the next six months.

Today with me driving the Rat and my Danny following behind in the Turtle, we headed north on one of the most scenic highways in Arizona. 

The hills were still green from the winter rains….and they were covered with blossoming yellow brittle bush and purple lupine.  The majestic saguaro cacti marched up the mountainsides.

You can see our bike through the window hitched to the back of the Rat.  My love is in the distance behind me, always close and keeping me safe.

We will spend the next few days unpacking and getting settled in our cozy cabin, nestled beneath the tall pine trees.  

This life—loving each other, always together, is heaven.

My pitiful body....and how we can't let it determine our lives

I am 76 years old, which is the average age for someone born in my cohort.  50% of people born with me are now deceased.

This is a part of growing old.....my medical problems and operations over the past 15 years.

Here we are during my most recent hospital stay.  We have a reputation of always wearing the same shirts.....so of course we even had to do it there.  The staff loved it.

1.  Three foot surgeries.  In one foot I have about 18 inches of screws and a titanium plate.  For many months we hiked with me having to wear a hard-soled sandal.

2.  Three shoulder repairs, including one for a torn rotator cuff.

3.  Two eye operations.  One for cataracts and one a Yag something-or-other.

4.  Hernia repair.  Now my groin is really a "mesh"  (ha ha)

5.  Radiation treatment for serious prostate cancer.  9 weeks daily of it.

6.  Lupron--removes all testosterone, for prostate cancer.  For 2 years, with the effects being permanent for all over your body.  My muscles turned to mush. 

7.  "Chicken shots" in my knees.  The substance is no longer made from chicken crowns, but that's how they are still referred to, for fun. 

8. Open heart surgery, even though I had no heart disease.  One of my valves fused, explanation unknown, resulting in an enlarged ascending aorta that came close to killing me.

9.  Heart attack last January.  Had a stent inserted, and now take three pills twice a day to heal my heart.  NO risk factors (low blood pressure, low cholesterol, great high fiber diet, exercising 2 hours/day)

10.  Because of my blood thinners I can't take anti inflammatory medicines...which I have taken for the past 20+ years to control my chronic arthritis.  

 11.  Today:  A shot of cortisone into each wrist because my arthritis there is not allowing us to do what we want and need to do for our health and happiness.  It's getting more difficult to cycle, for example, because it hurts to pull the brakes.  Cross your fingers that they work.  If not, MORE SURGERY HERE I COME!

12.  Now that the worst of the risk of my cancer coming back is over, I am starting on Testosterone replacement therapy.  It is a daily, time-consuming task. You don't just pop a pill.

Between all of the medicines and attacks on me, it has left my body unable to do what we used to do.   We still do everything, but at a much reduced level.

Aging is gradual deterioration in one's body followed by rapid deterioration, followed by gradual deterioration, etc. etc.

BUT we are campers, and hikers, and dancers, and cyclists.......and did I say dancers?

We refuse to give up on these joyful activities together until they are no longer possible because we have exhausted every treatment.  

We have to know we did our best because our life is camping, hiking, etc. etc........and did I say dancing?

In fact, here is one of our dances we video taped yesterday.

https://youtu.be/gpzuXMpg7ZM  

 And today we cycled for an hour.  As usual, in the dark and watched the sun rise over the Superstition Mountains.

We are not ready to give up.  Life and aging holds back no punches.  Punch back.

Candice’s Arizona Trail FKT attempt

April 8th Candice left the Mexico-USA border and started running north on the Arizona Trail (AZT).  

Candice is attempting to set a record for the Fasted Known Time (FKT) on the 800 mile trail from Mexico to Utah.  The AZT  is a beautiful scenic route that climbs over several mountain ranges and National Forests, through the Sonoran Desert, through the pine forests and grasslands on the Mogollon Rim, down one side of the Grand Canyon, across the Colorado River and back out of the Grand Canyon, to finish on the 7500’ high plateau of the Kaibab National Forest which leads to Utah!

Candice has pulled together a team to help her complete this run.  The record that she is attempting to set will be for the fastest known time to complete the Arizona Trail for a supported run.  

This crew will be supporting her by providing supplies, taking turns pacing her, and helping to carry supplies during the long hauls in areas where no vehicles can access the AZT.  These incredible runners and friends will also be there to tend to her medical needs, bandage up her feet, and give her moral support.  

As her Mom and Dad, we’d like to give a big thank to all of her amazing crew!

Day1:

727.4 miles to Utah….go, Candice, go!

We hope to meet up with her along the trail.  And of course, Mom and Dad will bring along some breakfast sandwiches, homemade chocolate chip cookies, and lots of hugs and love!

Grand finale to our cowboy adventure….

 ….with Soren and Sebastian.  

A horseback ride through the beautiful Sonoran desert!

A rattlesnake decided to take a nap in the bushes next to the trail.  Since it had claimed the trail and refused to move aside, we gave it a wide berth and forged a new trail.

Grandpa was our rearguard.  His biggest challenge was keeping his pregnant steed from biting him, staying far enough behind my mount to avoid being kicked, and keeping his hungry horse from stopping every few feet to nibble on the desert bushes.  But Grandpa forgave her, as she was eating for two and soon to be a mama.  

In the midst of all his struggles to handle his temperamental mare, Grandpa was still able to drink his coffee….this is definitely one of his many super powers!

These two grandsons are always up for any adventure.  They are filled with joy and enthusiasm.  But even more special is that they are both kind, generous, and loving….perfect companions for their Grandma and Grandpa.

Soren and Sebastian birthdays this year are big milestones.  Soren will turn 16 at the end of May, and Sebastian will be 13, a teenager, in the middle of June.  Since we won’t be with them on their actual birthdays, we surprised them with an early birthday party on their last evening at our home.  Grandma made a cake for each of them.

Thank you, dear Soren and Sebastian, for choosing to spend your Spring Break with us.  We love you.

Haynes Arizona Ghost Mining Town….

…more cowboy adventures!

The Gold King Mine Ghost Town is located on the site of the old mining town of Haynes, Arizona.  It turns out that the man who created this ghost town loved old work vehicles.  Through the decades he had bought every antique working vehicle and mining equipment that he could find.  Then he towed them to the top of Cleopatra Hill, above Jerome.  He collected hundreds of them.  It’s an incredible collection.

 This old mining ghost town has the most remarkable collection of vintage vehicles and items imaginable.

This place is literally “a site to see!”

This cool truck is a year younger than Grandma.  Both the truck and I are a little rusty around the edges, but at least my motor is still running.

It’s sort of like a miniature petting zoo in the middle of this ghost town.

They always said that the dry desert air is good for you.  Petra, the woman who lived in this home, lived for 108 years.  If the desert air works for Grandpa and me too, we have over thirty-two more years ahead of us!

Vintage 1948….both this truck and Grandpa.

All the stores and homes were filled with furniture and items from the early 1900’s….very cool and interesting to walk through a time from long ago.

Here is an reenactment from December 2019 when Grandpa lost his car keys in this ghost town….and, luckily, Sebastian found them in a crack in the boardwalk.

December, 2019:

Today—April 2024:

The boys have sure grown up in the last 4+ years.  Good thing Grandpa and I haven’t aged as much as they have!

We weren’t done with our cowboy adventure in the mountains.  Our next stop was the Fort Verde State Historical Park.

The infamous Buffalo Soldiers were stationed at Fort Verde.  This was the first all black cavalry….and every one of these soldiers was a volunteer.  

Here is a Buffalo Soldier and his wife, in love, having a day of fun.  In this photo, 137 years ago, she wore his cavalry hat, and he donned her bonnet.  His life was cut short, all too soon.  We wonder what became of Louise, his wife….

Three of the original fort buildings were open to the public.  They were part of the officers' quarters.  All the buildings were furnished with original belongings and artifacts from the mid to late 1800’s. 

An historical event took place on the porch where we entered the home of the commanding officer.  In the days of the Indian Wars, an Apache chief and 300 of his braves had surrendered to the commanding officer on this very same porch.

We felt as if we had stepped into a time machine today and went back 150 years into the past.  It made us realize how important it is for each of us to live our lives in the best way that we can.  There will be a time, all too soon, that we will be a part of history.  Grandpa and I want to make a difference in the lives of others, particularly those who we love.