Stardate 2019.022

Cambria Bluffs

2018... The Good The Bad And The Now What?
Lizardly greetings!

The Good...
A very brief 2018 summary follows. I wish I could blame the lack of blog posts on traveling the globe, but I can't. Now that I'm semi-retired — as of 11 days ago — I hope to do a better job posting. I certainly need the writing and grammar practice.

Off we go! January 2018 started with a lack of snow, allowing for mountain biking Front Range trails well into early winter.

Post fall rut and everyone was back to being friends.

April deposited us in California for a wedding. We visited two of our favorite coastal towns — Morro Bay and Cambria. Much of the coastal California Lupine was 3 feet in height, much taller than back in Colorado.


Cambria


Cambria


Mom eventually got junior out of the water.


Morro Rock dominates the view from the southern end of the bay.


Northern half of Morro Bay marina


Mid-July took us to 14,150-foot Mount Sneffels, my favorite 14er.

The Bad...
After a miserable summer progressing in body tremors and the "need" to crawl out of my own skin, I was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease in early fall. A decent med coupled with my long-time existing, and active, lifestyle has brought me back to life, and I hope to chronicle "things" a bit via this blog.

September and available food-nuts brought out foraging bruins.


The boys are back in town and waiting for the girls to arrive...


Mountain snow arrived in October. Lower elevation mountain biking was sublime well into December.


An eerie harbinger of what came in November.

The Now What?
Take out Parkinson's Disease with extreme prejudice. I will make a great Parkinson's enemy!

Thanks for reading! I wish you all cheery and exciting 2019!

Adios

Stardate 2018.858

Fall 2018 Is Going Strong

Doing a blog post a week didn't get far, did it? Oh well, I blame it on Parkinson's. However, in all fairness to my new disease, I've had a busy fall as well. Snowcatcher and I spent two weeks in travel to California and back. Both of us have been very busy at work. Instead of blogging, I've been watching old original series Star Trek episodes, et cetera, et cetera.

I've been doing lots of work overtime too, which needs to stop because it enhances Parkinson's irritation. I've now experienced two types of fatigue; the good fatigue, such as doing a 120-mile bike ride and being dog-tired, yet feeling good about it. Then the second type of fatigue is being dog-tired for no good reason and wanting only to curl up with depression and sleep for hours on end, feeling good about nothing.

Nonetheless, my mountain biking skills are slowly getting better. However, I don't, at this point, expect them to be where they once were. Time will tell.

Anyway, following are a handful of pics taken this past September and October. I would have taken the mountain bike out today, but I'm not quite ready for temps in the 30s. At least the sun is out. The first photo is of Waterton Canyon resident bighorn sheep lounging around chewing their cud pre-rut season. Currently, they're busy chasing the girls. Enjoy the pics.




We all know this girl. If you require a hint, she's the S*********r.



I grew-up skiing at a small ski area in western Colorado called Powderhorn. Below rises its eastern lift. I miss those years of skiing a lot. Things were different then.




The middle section of the ski area is kind of rolling.




I love seeing kids start so early. You go girl!



Cedar City, Utah, is almost halfway between Denver, Colorado, and Bakersfield, California. The town is on our retirement short list. It lies at the base of Utah's Markagunt Plateau and north of the whopping 20-mile drop onto the northeastern Mojave Desert. Many, many, years ago I thought I'd landed a job in Cedar City as a hydrologist for the Forest Service; it didn't happen. I've also spent time here doing geomorphic field work with a buddy working on his PhD.



See you next time!

Adios

Stardate 2018.729

Fall Is In The Air
Hi guys! Post Parkinson's blog number two. Nothing has changed. I have not yet discovered a cure. Give the Lizard some time. On the other hand, I'm learning strategies that make it easier to function normally, more or less. The number one thing to do/learn is to be very, very active. That will be easy for me. See, I'm already ahead. It's amazing what you can do with a tennis ball and walking, or a medley of aerobics moves, and even balance moves on my bicycles. Parkinson's is progressive over time and a major goal is to slow down its progressive nature.

Things are starting to look like fall, even though temperatures are far above normal for this time of year. As for leaf color, the high country (above 8,000 feet) is peaking, or has peaked. The higher terrain has already been blanketed in snow as well.


We have a good assembly of bears in Waterton Canyon. Occasionally you see one or two. However, those bears marauding tent and camp sites get a sign for having aggressive tendencies. Yes, I do have a loud bell on my mountain bike.


Upper Lenny's Bench is being replaced with a new memorial. Bears, bikers, hikers and time have all but demolished the existing maker. Lenny was kid doing service work in the area when he was killed in an accident. And, that's all I known about it.

That's it for now. See y'all on the next round. Be good!

Adios