End of the Week

I've been busy! On Tuesday, I went hiking with Jack up on Mt Lemmon. We went on the Aspen Trail, linking up with the Marshall Gulch Trail, forming a pleasant loop. This was supposed to be the same trail that Duane, Herb, and I took a few weeks ago, but .. this was different! Duane had led us up a very steep hill to start our hike, but this trail went up much more gradually. The day was wonderful for a hike -- hot down in the valley, but quite nice up on the mountain.

After our hike, we stopped at the Cookie Shack for a treat. Then Jack said, "Wanna go up and check out the Ski Resort?" "Yes!" And we drove on up. The resort lodge was closed that day, but we could still oooh and ahhh and photograph the scenery!

There is a road that takes off upward from the parking lot, and we decided, since it said that it was closed, to walk up this. We went probably a mile, with many cars going around us, up and down. So we went back down and took the car up! This road went to the very top of Mt Lemmon. A short trail took us to a rock which overlooks all of Tucson. What a cool place, and a great day!

Wednesday I drove up to Phoenix to meet Ron, whom I'd "met" on Yahoo Personals. We got along well, talking as he showed me around his house and then around his part of the city. We had lunch at a neat little restaurant, talked more, and went to the part of town where the Diamondbacks baseball team plays. A Rube Goldberg machine was displayed outside of the stadium, and we enjoyed watching it for awhile.

We parted with plans to meet again, and I made the drive home, singing along with my None Too Soon CD the whole way. I love the music I have, but I do need some new tunes.

Thursday I set about painting the rest of the deck (finally!) and John helped. We got the little deck tables painted, and the top deck edged and most of the railing painted. Yesterday, I finished the railing painting, though it still needs another coat. :/

Today I tried to make some headway on my email, but I'm still way behind.

And Dave's book, Miracle Myx, arrived this week! It's wonderful to see it in print, to hold it in my hands, finally, and to read it again! I just love Myx, the sneaky, fascinatingly quirky, frightfully intelligent young man who takes on the mystery of some grisly murders in his small Massachusetts town. Somehow Dave makes us like this fellow who stops at nothing to learn all he needs to know about people.

And I not only love Myx, but I love the storytelling! Dave weaves this tale in a way that keeps us thinking, wondering, and laughing. Every page is interesting and fun!

If this sounds good to you, put out the $16.47 and do this. (Read more about this book at DaveWritesBooks.com.) This is NOT a paid advertisement! LOL! And I don't love this book just because Dave is my friend.

Let's see.. so what was today? I didn't feel very good today. I'm having more breathing difficulties; I do hope this is not a new trend for me, but I rather think it's something that'll be "cured" when I get out of this very dry and very dusty air.

It's tough to think about leaving right now, though. The weather here is fantastic right now -- really perfect. Now at nearly 11 pm, it's 70° here and 44° in Bloomington. I'm thinking at least another week here, and I can still make it home by mid-May, or maybe the 20th.