More Desert and Sunshine

Thursday, we took another hike in the desert. This time is was the Pass Mountain Trail at Usery Mountain Park. The desert there is incredibly green and lush.



There was bright green lichen on the rocks.



We had lots more sunshine, both from above, as you can see from John's shadow here



and on the Pass Mountain hillsides, which had lots of poppies.





Of course, John had to take a picture of me taking pictures of all those flowers.



It was a great hike, but we were really, really tired by the end. We are delighted that we can, at this age, still complete a 7-mile hike. But we sure don't want to do it very often.

Alaska -- Day 62

Last Friday when we set up the trailer in Palmer, the slide made an awful squeaking and squealing noise when I pushed the button to move it out. The whole time we were there, we worried whether we would be able to close it up and leave. We both held our breath when I pushed the button to bring the slides in. They came in, but the sound was the same.

We had the same issue when we set up here in Anchorage, so yesterday morning we called an auto and RV mobile tech that was recommended by the office staff here. In the afternoon, James came out and lubed the slide rails again and again. The sound continued. So he set up an appointment for us to bring it to the shop today. No RV owner wants to see their rig in this location.



Wade, the shop owner, checked the work James had done yesterday and did some more lubrication.



When those awful sounds didn't go away, James did some adjustment to the alignment of the slide.



When we closed the slide to return to the RV park, the sound was gone. And everything sounded good when we set up again. Wade told us that if the problem wasn't completely solved, we should stop by after our time in Homer and they would tweak it then. We were very pleased with their service.

I have written several times about how everything grows in all the Alaska sun. We used to put out hanging baskets in our back yard when we still lived in the house. They never did as well as the ones in this RV park. Aren't they beautiful?







After our problem was solved, we made contact with John's cousin who lives in Homer and arranged to get together for lunch later this week. It will be good to see Ramona and her husband, Todd. It has been 6 years since we saw them last.

We heard on the evening news that tomorrow there will be 4 minutes and 23 seconds less daylight than today. What a difference! I'm glad it doesn't change that fast in Colorado or Arizona. But then, they have a lot more hours of daylight here, don't they?

Spring Forward

The sun reportedly came up at 7:45 am today in Alamo, TX. I say reportedly because we haven't seen it yet. The sky is overcast. But my issue is not with the clouds. It is with Daylight Savings Time. Who wants sunrise at 7:45 in the morning? It was bad enough when it didn't come up till 7 a month ago.

We are morning people. One of the first things we like to do, several days a week, is go for a 3-mile run. But not in the dark. Especially in an area known for drug smuggling and the entry of illegal immigrants from Mexico. We leave for our volunteer position between 7:30 and 7:45 in the morning. That would mean we would have to run about 6:15 or 6:30 so we could come back and clean up. Can't do that when the sun comes up late.

I prefer early morning light and don't care for long hours of daylight after dinner. How can I go out and look at the moon or the stars before my 9:30 pm bedtime if the sun just went below the horizon?

Enough complaints. Unless we spend all year in Arizona, we won't escape Daylight Savings Time. I guess I had better adjust my attitude and live with it.