Presque Isle, Maine to San Diego, California

This morning your Mom and I rode into downtown Tucson with our friends Barb and Gerry.  The ride was exactly 27 miles from our house.  It was an easy ride by our standards.  The Urban Loop is relatively flat, very smooth and well maintained, and we don't seem to experience the wind we do in the open range.  When we got home, I re-calculated all of my numbers with MapQuest.  According to MapQuest, the distance from Presque Isle, Maine to San Diego, California is 3,311.99 miles.  The 27 miles I rode this morning moved me to 3,312.35; I've made it from coast to coast in 2011.  With two months left in 2011, I may make it to Hawaii!  Your Mom capped 1,800 miles, 1,803.67 to be exact, and she's only been tracking miles since May! We enjoy riding with our friends Barb and Gerry as much as we enjoy getting the exercise.  Life is Grand.  May you all be blessed and motivated to stay fit and enjoy life with a passion.  That's why God put us here!

Catching the Wind of God's Breath

Sunday morning, Mom and I always take our 'power hike.'  That means at least five miles, more likely 10 miles through the Sonoran Desert.  We left the house this morning at 0930 with the intention of walking to the Redemptorist Center.  We agree that the 'worst part' of our journey -- what a poor choice of words -- is always the first half mile from the house to the gate into the Saguaro National Park.  As we walked up the street this morning, we chanced upon a couple who actually live within a stone's throw of the house.  They were photographing a very large rattlesnake in front of someone's home up the street.  After the snake made his way into the stone wall, we all proceeded up the hill.  He asked us if we had ever seen 'the windmill.'  We told him, 'no.'  He tried to give us directions.  Tym -- yes 'Tym' with a 'y' -- and his wife Ursula turned back after we got to the top of the hill and before we entered the free desert.

Marie and I followed our normal course toward the Redemptorist Center, but when we got to the large wash, we decided to turn left, instead of our normal right toward the Center.  About a mile later and several excursions off the beaton track into the open desert -- yes, I carry a compass, and Marie and I are becoming very familiar with our area of the desert -- we found the windmill.  Extraordinary to think that someone, some time -- I'm guessing 50 to 60 years ago -- constructed this windmill to water his livestock.  I'm sure it was horses, not crops.  I'll follow up later when I complete my research.  The current Aermotor logo says the company is from Texas, but it started in Chicago. 

Bottom line: here we are, in the middle of the desert along an unfrequented wash, and we come upon this windmill that someone constructed sometime for some reason. 

In the simplest of terms, he captured God's breath in the Sonoran Desert.