Tonight I am back out @ Beaverhead flats S of VOC. First desert night since Feb 11. Danny will be my city mouse to my country mouse. I fixed my black bean burrito tonight. Making the right arm work.

Dangerous Dave, a chiro buddy, called me back this AM and shared info on healing my shoulder. The real take away is he said another 2 weeks before the bone is 100% healed. I will add more arm use.

Tomorrow I plan on riding on paved roads tomorrow and find the Service Master truck up in Sedona and get my carpet cleaned.

researched a bit on line about javelina skulls and the external canals but turned up no info.

Sedona lacks almost all street lights, the major intersections are lit 1 light either side of cross road & some rotaries. Hardly any light pollution. Several times I walked back from New frontiers on 89 down Inspirational drive where Danny lives in the pitch black. Not even residential street lights. As kids we would have had a hard time playing hide and seek w/o even faint lights. Pretty cool.

4000′ is camping elevation. Sedona is 4500.

What’s that? A new activity inserted in title? Yes, today I snapped off my TIME pedals from the road bike and fitted them to the Turner. I lifted the bike off the rack and threw my right leg over the top tube and pedaled away down the street. I reached the grip comfortably and my hand worked the controls. I pedaled up the steep hill @ far end of the street several times. The spinning was of benefit. 7 weeks after break I rode, albeit on the street. This week I will work up to gravel roads.

My new lenses in my old frames arrived Fri. Picked them um late afternoon. They are clear, hooray for no photo gray. Progressives in glass. Not much correction. Much more enjoyable wearing glasses that all me to see close up and distance w/o having to put on and remove a pair of up close glasses. I carry these readers in my hydration pack to wear when I have close up work.

Oh, new hydration pack: Osprey Raptor 14. Met a salesman for the company who gave me a special screaming deal discount card. So far I have packed it but have not filled the bladder or put it on.

Yesterday after bfast @ ritual Sat bfast restaurant (forget the name right now) I stopped by Fat Tire in uptown to visit w/ Dave. Tomas stopped by. About 7 guys from Spearfish, SD stopped in for giggles. I told them I had ridden the Tinton trail, a hometown trail. This was the first trail I rode after putting on my PUSHed shock. I remember so well how the rear suspension worked when i hit the first root.

Drove down to BnB for visit & possible hike out Jack’s canyon. Jimmy had suggested it as a hike where I would see no one. Hot Loop trail. He & I had previously ridden the part of the trail that is out of the wilderness. Hot Loops made a hard left up a draw that was nothing but volcanic ejecta. Very hard to walk thru or on it. Could not see anyone riding it. Engineered the hike to get back to TH at 5:00. Out & back and made it back just b4 5:00. Returned to BnB after closing and drank a pint of keg beer. Visited w/ Jimmy & Jan for a spell.

Today I spun in the AM. Then my mtn bike ride. Just beautiful day. I added a hike in west Sedona from the recycle center. I bushbashed across the desert, checking out washes & some dense patches of scrub oak and cat claw bushes looking for a javalina skull. I followed their paths as I came across them. They are around as evidenced by their rootings and footprints. I spotted a white object across a small wash from me. I scrambled over to retrieve what it was and it was a bleached weathered skull. Interesting: check out the grooves in the muzzle where the scent gland ducts resided. They use the scent to tell each other apart and stink in the living.

At Dannys I park on a downhill, there is some of the bubble in the inner circle of my level guage. The frige temp was higher than I thought. Issue is gas bubbles form in the cooling system that interfere w/ cooling eficiency. A bumpy road might break up the bubbles. Great idea. I bought dinner groceries and drove out to Deer Pass. Somebody has my spot. Plan was just to enjoy early evening in the desert and fix dinner. Succeeded. Cooking skills are rusty after 7 weeks of eating prepared food.

Got a bit of a sunburn today.

Ah, Sedona weather. Some mornings Danny leaves early causing me to be up & out of bed so he can raise my bed b4 leaving. I have Bfast then try and get on the road bike mounted on the trainer by 9:00 for a 1 hour spin. Sweat drips from me onto the floor.  Yesterday was one of those days with added chill during my “ride”. 60 minute thrash, a shower, and I am good to go. Some days I stop @ Bagel shop for a bakery treat and read the AZ Republic newspaper, comics first and save the puzzles for later. Then the 8 mile drive down to BnB to hang. yesterday I planned a hike along trails I have ridden on. Beautiful day. I ran into maybe 20 hikers and 5 riders. Hikers are enjoying the biker made trails. Highline is a narrow path, so narrow it presents problems for 2 people to pass, let alone a hiker and a mtn biker. I walked along Highline then bushbashed down slope to pick up Made in the Shade up to Made in the Shade. 2 hour hike.

Ended up hanging @ BnB well past closing time. Danny went to bed b4 I arrived back @ his house hence loosing my bed lowerer. I managed to minimalize the load to my shoulder while lowering it myself.

Today I cook dinner myself in my van to share w/ Danny. A spin session in the AM & a shower and I am out of here.

The mechanic who worked on my van told me that my front brake rotors were undersized and should be replaced soon. I figure that I should have the rotors replaced here b4 I leave as this shop has already worked on my van. I will replace them just b4 I head out.

Fixed dinner for first time in almost 7 weeks. My arm works enough to dice and stir. Dinner was Captain Chicken on brown rice. Danny liked it and I cleaned my mess up. I showed Danny that I can cook in my kitchen. He has a VW Westi like I used to have.

I called the ortho voice mail 2 days now asking to coordinate care w/ the chiro. No calls back.

Chilly night.

I worked on my map today putting pushpins @ places I rode. I don’t remember the East coast very well. I have a tattered road atlas that I highlight the roads I have driven on this Odyssey and also over my lifetime. The highlighter bleached out off paper erasing my traveled roads. I have forgotten so much. I have been on the road 33 months.

Interesting fact: I have been in Sedona 93 days during this stay, a quarter of a year. Almost 7 weeks, almost half of that time spent crippled.