Another try with adding pictures

West Fireplace Lee Mountain in Distance

This time I am resizing all the pictures for the blog before writing and editing.

I try to ride one of my bicycles everyday here.

Fog during rain

Happy by bird feeder

In California I would not ride if it was cold and raining but sometimes you get caught while out. I prefer to ride when it is warm and hot weather is okay. October is nice as you have had plenty of time to get in shape. When we lived in Lake Forest (El Toro) you could ride mountains and trails or roads.

At our house on Shadyvale there was a trail right behind the house that led in several directions. You could ride to the beach or mountains.

Happy in the grass

Here in Arizona the County Road only goes west as we are at the end of the road. You can walk into the National Forest but you must go under a wired fence at the edge. Several times I have encountered neighbors protesting my walking or riding so for now I don't go that way. Keep Out and Private Property signs are everywhere. 

early riser

Outside one window by my writing and drawing desk I have a bird feeder and a bird bath. The first feeder was on a table and was constantly being knocked off so I built them higher using discarded bricks.

moon in yellow tree

Sun rises and sunsets can be very colorful but not always. I have three Nikons and take pictures almost everyday. If I go out without a camera hung from my neck I will usually miss a great picture. There are several Cardinals I have been trying to capture with the camera but they must know that and fly away. It is also difficult when you have a dog at your side.

stump rider

This morning I slept in past my early take the dog out at 5:30. For a while at that early time I was seeing a flashing light that was darting about in the sky over by Pine Valley which is on the other side of an Eastern ridge. I appeared to be some time of drone but my daughter said it might be an alien. There are vortexs and strange things in Sedona.

cloudy sky

Today I must take my cardboard from my EBay purchase to the recycling area behind the market.

This is where I see the drone

I bought some warmer tights for riding and wear them all the time. Most folks wear long pants but I am still stuck in "California Shorts year round". On Amazon I got a baseball hat with fur ear flaps to keep me warm.

Tree Top

When I first got into birding I would always search one of my birding books to find out the correct name and identification. Now I just take the pictures as I usually forget the names after a few days. I might have mentioned I forget everything after a few days.

Been Off Line

My Flat Tire Special

My German Shepherd likes to go out early in the morning when it is still dark. There isn't any daylight savings here in Arizona and when we go out it is very dark unless we have a bright moon.

During the day he is allowed to roam around but not in the dark. There are coyotes here and I often see them by the house and in the County Road. The little Yorkie can not go out as he would be a tasty meal so we always he an eye on him.

Using blogger with a slow internet connection can be problematic as unless the files size is small enough and has been resized the upload takes a day or two. So for now no more pictures. The air outside when we go out is about 25 degrees. I am not to used to that. The little dog stays inside until it warms up. 

My mailing address shows Sedona but main Sedona is about 10 miles away. The Village of Oak Creek is 2 miles away and many prefer to call this place Big Park. As I may have mentioned earlier this is not San Pedro by any means. Since August I have seen the sheriff's car twice here. 

My daughter's house and my smaller ranch house is located about a tenth of a mile from the County Road where the payment ends. It is not uncommon to walk to the mailbox and see someone who is lost having missed the turn on Jacks Canyon Road. Often you will see people out of their cars taking pictures of the buttes and mountains. Out county road is Lee Mountain Road and we are across from the mountain which is 6250 feet high while the house here sits at 4250 feet.

There is one market in the village that has been remodeling since I arrived. This week they had a grand opening and reduced prices through out the store. Some products here are lower than California and some are higher but the sales tax is much lower. Gas is much cheaper here. Might be four gas stations on the highway in the village Circle K sells liquor so you can fill up the gas tank and also get tanked,

I spend a lot of time changing tires on my 29 inch bike. Yesterday I put on a larger tire and a new slime tube. This is goat head country. If you have never seen these little devils you are very lucky. Beside being a pain in the bicycle tire they stick to your shoe bottoms and get carried into the house where they lie waiting for a stocking foot. 

Riding to the Library

Riding on the sidewalks

When I was living on my sailboat in San Pedro I used the Los Angeles County Library then when I started using Kindle I loaded books from Amazon FREE using my library card and the library web site. The staff there were always nice and helpful but the outside was kinda scary because of the always present homeless. Same with the Von's a few blocks away.

Gravel driveway to County Road

I now have a Yavapai Library Card. The main library is located in Sedona. Although I have a Sedona mailing address I am not close to the land of traffic signals and use the Branch located in the Village of Oak Creek (no traffic signals).

Lee Mountain Road

Lee Mountain Road is next to Lee Mountain which kinda makes sense. This road has its ups and downs and several curves as it heads to Jacks Canyon Road and the main highway.
The highway is lined with wide sidewalks and benches.

Lee Mountain in the distance at 6250

I ride on the sidewalk here as at times as there is traffic here.

leaving library

You can not ride on the sidewalk in San Pedro unless you can bunny hop the trash and passed out sleeping there. I don't mean to knock what is the truth.

Branch Library

returning to off-road mode

Confused Traveler

The move from San Pedro where my sailboat is to Arizona where my daughter lives started before sunrise as I hoped to miss some of the Los Angeles traffic.

The plan didn't work as I had a hell of time putting my MTB on the overhead rack because all the adjustments were frozen from not using them.

I left the harbor and headed north on the 110 Freeway then Joined the start of the 91 going east.That is when I became confused as I kept thinking I was on the 22. I used to have customers on the 91 and new the route rather well but that was not helping me any.

Traffic was at a standstill and the two dogs were not happy either. Stop and go, stop and go. It wasn't till I was past Riverside that I was able to speed up. Then we needed gas and I hit a Circle K and after buying ice I was greeted by a crappy smell in the car as the little dog got sick. 

Courthouse Butte

The ride was hot and my A/C doesn't work. At the rest stops in Arizona the dogs didn't like the hot pavement and quickly return to the Nissan. When we hit the capital in was rush hour and more stop and go. After we headed north on 17 the traffic stopped.

I stopped at a Big Mac to get directions and smashed the glass on my crap phone.

Lee Mountain

My daughter texted me directions and I took the wrong turn and needed more help. She came and got me and she led me to her place. By then it was dark and they don't have any street lights. So she was my guiding light in her white SUV.

Sunset with Nikon D90 on tripod

Not all the landscapes here are captioned as various names exist'