Doesn’t everyone need at least 4 Rad electric bikes?!!!

It’s a blast to ride our eBikes up at our cabin in Pine and on dirt roads on the Mogollon Rim.  But we also love riding them in the dark, just before dawn, through the labyrinth of winding streets in Leisure World. So it made sense (to us) to get one set of eBikes for each or our homes.  

We put together our new bikes…

We named my first eBike, Roadrunner, and Dan’s, Wily E, since Dan always rides behind me and is trying to catch me.  

Here are the names of our new bikes.  Can you guess which bike is mine and which is Dan’s?

Here we are headed out for a test ride on Sylvester and Tweety Bird.

We bought the step through model this time.  We thought they might be easier to mount and dismount—and we were right.  

We’re thinking that maybe we need to get two more brand new eBikes, because we love them so much!

Maybe we also need a bigger garage, since we now have FOUR electric bikes, two road bikes, our tandem, Daisy, and a ping pong table in the garage at Nuestra Casa.   

Happy Birthday, dear little ones!

Aryana and Easton are October babies.  Easton just turned one years old, and Aryana will be three in a few days.  Easton is all smiles and is now walking.  Aryana loves to dance, throw kisses to us, and is talking up a storm.

These little grandchildren of ours are a joy.  They grow cuter everyday and are so very precious to us.

Happy Birthday dear Aryana and Easton, we sure do love you!

Our grandson, Vernon, is born!

Mila gave birth to a baby boy yesterday, October 21st. 

Owen held and comforted his son as Mila watched father and son meeting each other. 

They named their son Vernon, after Owen’s grandfather, who was a loving man, a fantastic grandfather, and someone who made others happy.  Grandpa Vernon was always there for his friends and for those he loved.

Grandpa Vernon was born in 1913.  He lived to 2013, just a few months shy of 100 years old.  Owen cancelled a military deployment and stayed by his grandpa’s side the last few months of his life.

Owen’s middle name is Vernon.  Owen was also named after Grandpa Vernon.  Owen has all of the same characteristics as did his grandfather.  Baby Vernon has a name to be proud of.

Hannah now has a little baby brother.  She will be thrilled!

Vernon is absolutely beautiful….we are so happy today to welcome our 13th grandchild into the world.

Grandma and Grandpa got to meet Vernon…..

Hannah told us, “baby brother, no sister.”  But she loves her little brother and was giving him kisses.

Our last morning in Bears Ears

Weather in coming in—rain, high winds, and cold temperatures.  It’s time for us to go home.

Bears Ears had one more treat for us before we said “goodbye”.

We will return and explore more of this amazingly, wild National Monument that we love so much!

We don’t grow tired of each other

We spend every day and night together. We talk, laugh, and play together. We are never apart.

And every afternoon we sit together and celebrate life and each other.

And we talk and talk and talk, for hours…..and we don’t grow tired of each other.

The bear went over the mountain to see what he could see

That’s what we did today….we went over the mountain to see what we could see.

As we sat above the cliffs each afternoon in Bears Ears and looked to the west, we wondered—what is on the other side of that mountain in the far distance? 

So today, our last day hiking on this road trip, we set off to see what was on the other side of the mountain. And it was worth it!

Here we are on top of it.

We think WE are roughing it: Visit to 800-year-old Anasazi ruins

Today we decided to replicate a hike of 5 years ago, and visit the Anasazi ruins we discovered that are in a wash near where we are camping.

We had happened upon these ruins 5 years ago while hiking.  There are no signs indicating they are there, and they are not on maps. 

The main challenges of this hike are (1) getting into the wash were the ruins are located, and (2) getting back out....safely.

We started by walking down a road that went along the rim of the wash.  We knew that eventually the old road would bring us close to a point where we could find a safe path to the wash.

 

We found a way into the wash, after a few tries.  

 

 

Hiking up the wash was fairly easy. 

 

And then we came to them.  And, like 5 years, ago, we were awestruck. 

 

 

There was a window above me.  Vicky was inside looking out--with me at the "front door."  Two floors.  You can still see some of the floorboards for the second story in the photos.

 

 

Look at the quality of the window.  Wood framing above.  Still completely square.

 

It was very moving to be inside their home.

Then we had an arduous and challenging hike out of the wash.  The Anasazi did this probably every day:

A small Anasazi family, or two, or three, built this house out of mud and rocks.  Mud and rocks.  With stone-age tools.  But with far from “stone-age” knowledge and skills.

And it is still standing. The support timbers are, for the most part, still there, and still holding the structure together.  The walls feel like concrete.  Frankly, you could move into it now.  Put up a couple of curtains.  

You can read about the Anasazi on Wikipedia.  It has a lot of good information.  

But what Wikipedia or other sources you can read cannot convey is the “feel” of who these people were.  You need to go into their homes, built 800-1000 years ago, to get a better idea. They survived on their own.  Found ways of comfort.  Grew, hunted, or found food.  Had children.  Made drawings on the walls.  Lived their lives afraid of enemies, so their homes were also mini-fortresses that were difficult to find and get into.  

We have a lot of respect for them—carving out lives in this harsh environment.  We hope they had joys and feelings of triumph.  After all, none of our homes are going to be standing in 800-1000 years.  

Stone age?  What an insult.

p.s.  Thank you Presidents Obama and Biden for making this area where these hardy and powerful people lived into a National Monument.